SAN FERNANDO VALLEY Burbank Green: Burbank Water and Power is accepting proposals from community-based non-profit organizations and schools located in the City of Burbank to sponsor water-efficient demonstration gardens. The BWP believes many residents would benefit from visiting a local and easily accessible demonstration garden to see optimal irrigation products, plant material, and practices in use. Grants of up to $15,000 will be made per site, with no more than two per year being awarded. Northridge Literacy: Oprah’s Angel Network has awarded $35,000 to a California State University Northridge program dedicated to training educators about how to best teach reading and writing to at-risk children. The program itself was at risk with the state’s funding uncertainties, said Elizabeth Adams, associate dean of CSUN’s College of Humanities. “More importantly, it means that we are going to have another 20 Literacy Scholars out in the community making a difference,” Winner: The CSUN System and Operations Management team won first place in the Association for Operations Management (APICS) case competition last month. There are more than 100 students currently majoring in SOM which is in the College of Business and Economics. Next up: the international finals competition to be held in October in Memphis, Tenn. Van Nuys Surface: A CaesarStone product was featured in the Culinary Pavilion of the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York City the weekend of March 26 to March 29. Encino Monsters: AvatarLabs has created an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch based on the new DreamWorks Animation SKG film “Monsters vs. Aliens.” There are two versions of the application available. The LITE version is a free download that allows users to learn more about the film, watch videos, view downloadable film stills and find show times at nearby theaters. A paid version includes additional games and other interactive activities based around the film character B.O.B., the indestructible gelatinous mass hidden from the public eye by the government. The applications allow iPhone and iPod Touch users can interact with the film characters wherever they are, said AvatarLabs Executive Creative Director/Founder Rex Cook. “Not only will this create more goodwill towards the brand, but it will also act like viral marketing, with friends and family being introduced to the character via this very fun and interactive medium,” Cook said. Woodland Hills Safety: Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine presents the 7th annual “Z” Awards For Exzellence on April 23 at the Warner Center Marriott. The awards honor those who serve and work for the safety of citizens in the 3rd District and in the greater community. Honorees this year are Officer Andre Baydaline, LAPD Valley Traffic Division; Deputy District Attorney Nicole Flood, L.A. County District Attorney’s office; Deputy Brad Johnson, L.A. County Sheriff’s office; Captain Bob Mihlhauser, LAFD; Detective Joel Price, LAPD, West Valley Community Police Station; Detective Clarence Speer, LAPD, Topanga Area Robbery Unit; Sergeant Adrian Torres, CHP West Valley The event is open to public and tickets are $40. Valley Glen Sports: Los Angeles Valley College has announced this year’s inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame. The hall recognizes excellence in sports by athletes who got their start at Valley College. Among the honorees are the 1995 Football Team who, with head coach Jim Fenwick won the Metro Conference Title with a 10-0 record; the 1975/76 men’s volleyball team that won 3 United States Volleyball Association tournaments; Billy Reed, a recipient of five varsity letters from 1951-54 that included Football, Basketball, and Track and Field; and Roberta Mulkey, a softball coach in the 1960’s that won several conference titles including the 1962 Southern California Junior College Championship. The induction takes place June 27 on the Valley College campus. Tickets will be available beginning May 20. CONEJO VALLEY Calabasas Design: Huitt-Zollars in Westlake Village has received a notice to proceed with design of a $23 million freeway bridge widening and interchange project at Lost Hills Road and U.S. 101. The City of Calabasas is the contracting agency for which Huitt-Zollars will prepare planning approval and environmental documentation, as well as plans, specifications and estimates for the widening of the two-lane bridge to five-lanes. The company will also be responsible for landscape design services within the footprint and right-of-way of the interchange. The project is within the city’s Bridge and Major Thoroughfare Construction Fee District adopted in 1996 to fund roadway and intersection improvements. Construction is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2011. Thousand Oaks Guildmaster: Westside Remodeling, Inc. is the only Los Angeles County general contractor winner of the national 2009 Guildmaster Awards. The firm was founded in 1985 by Bob Sturgeon and currently has 10 full-time employees working from its new Thousand Oaks showroom. The Guildmaster award, presented by GuildQuality, is based on responses to independent customer satisfaction surveys. Westside received their award in the Highest Distinction category, meaning that more than 90 percent of customers surveyed responded with positive comments about the company’s design/build remodeling services. ANTELOPE VALLEY Palmdale Wireless: AT & T; celebrated the opening of its new retail store at 38003 47th St. East in Palmdale on March 26 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the donation of $1,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Antelope Valley. The Club said it will put the money toward the purchase of a van powered by compressed natural gas. Hours: The City of Palmdale will move to a new 4-day a week schedule beginning March 30. Most city functions including development services, the administrative offices of parks and recreation and the maintenance facility, and human resources will not be available on Fridays beginning April 3. Not affected by the change are Sheriff’s Department; Fire Department; code enforcement; library services; Palmdale Playhouse programs; and parks and recreation programs. The schedule change is expected to save $2,600 in the current fiscal year, and $10,000 in each succeeding fiscal year. Memorial: Signs and Designs will begin work on a new mobile Vietnam Veterans Memorial to be debuted at Joe Davis Heritage Air Park in November. The memorial wall is a half-scale replica of the memorial in Washington, D.C. It will be turned over to a veterans group for keeping and maintenance and will be set up at various Antelope Valley locations for parades, events and educational activities. Signs and Designs will engrave the 58,000 names on the memorial, a job that is expected to take 101 days with a router running non-stop. “We’re very excited about the project and dedicated to making it the finest traveling memorial ever constructed,” said company owner Craig McNabb. The Committee for the Mobile Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the Antelope Valley raised the funds for project through donations from individuals and companies, a poker run, a Red Cross chapter chowder, two “Holiday Tables by Design” events and “Pennies For Soldiers” in Antelope Valley schools. Lancaster Marketing: The Antelope Valley chapter of the Jaycees brought in Geektime Design Studios to redesign the chapter’s website. The site features general information about the Jaycees, as well as membership tools such as an event calendar and photo gallery. The chapter also signed on as brand ambassadors for Donato Family Vineyards’ new D4 wine label. AV Jaycees President Drew Mercy sees partnerships such as these as the key to continued success. “We are very excited to be working with both Geektime Design Studios and Antelope Valley Winery,” Mercy said.