Mac & Cheeza Opens in Downtown!

Yesterday, thanks to our Bringing Back Broadway efforts, a new business is ready to service the growing number of residents in Downtown Los Angeles. “Mac & Cheeza” is a great new restaurant in the Historic Core of CD14. It’s located at the beautifully renovated Chapman Building on 8th and Broadway and will allow customers to choose their own toppings for a customized serving of mac & cheese. What a great idea! The owners, Larkin Mackey and Joshua McBride also own “Larkin’s,” a soul food restaurant in Eagle Rock (also in CD14!), but as residents of downtown, they wanted to do something more local. I am very happy that we were able to help them launch their new food establishment as they are creating jobs and helping stimulate the downtown economy. They are already off to a great start with a pretty good review by Pultizer Prize food critic Jonathan Gold, which you can read HERE. Welcome to the Historic Core of CD 14 Mac & Cheeza!

Franklin High School Clean Up

I want to thank the students, administration, faculty and volunteers of Franklin High School in the Northeast for putting together a really great school clean up at their school this past weekend. Everyone did an exeptional job in getting ready for Earth Day and ensuring the school looked its best. Go Panthers!

Part of my commitment to ensure that CD14 continues to be an area of community beautification consitst of providing services and resources to residents, such as:

• Roving Truck for Bulky Item Pick Up
  Serving El Sereno the 2nd Saturday of the month, Boyle Heights the 3rd Saturday and the Northeast the 4th Saturday of the month.

• Bulky Item Drop-Off
  El Sereno - Every 2nd Saturday - El Sereno Park: 4721 Klamath St.
  Boyle Heights - Every 3rd Saturday - Talpa Church: 2914 E. 4th St.
  Northeast - Every 4th Saturday - Eagle Rock City Hall: 2035 Colorado Blvd. &
  Highland Park City Parking Lot: 5058 Meridian Ave

El Sereno Little League Opening Day!

The grand opening of the El Sereno Little League was this past Saturday and took place at the El Sereno Rec Center. This youth baseball league has been opeating for decades and is one of the biggest leagues in the City of Los Angeles - a fact all residents from local residents should be very proud of! This year the league has 31 teams, 24 which are co-ed and 7 girl teams, all of whom show great potential. I have always said that sports can play a big role in the develpment of child's self-esteem, leadership and teamworking skills. It was a great day for opening day, thank you to everyone that participated and best of luck to all the teams!

Delevan Drive Elementary Awarded Prestigious Blue Ribbon School Honor

I was fortunate enough to join with students, parents, teachers and administrators at Delevan Drive Elementary School in Eagle Rock this morning for a ceremony recognizing the school for winning a National Blue Ribbon School Award. The award is given by the U.S. Department of Education for superior academic achievement and in 2009, 264 schools nationwide were named. Locally, Delevan is one of only six LAUSD schools to receive the prestigious award and it is a major achievement. As a former L.A. Unified School Board President, I know firsthand what an amazing academic feat this is and I could not be prouder. Congratulations to Principal Patrice Velasquez, her staff, teachers, parents and especially the students of Delevan Drive Elementary School. You are a model for students and schools throughout the entire City. Way to go!