LAX NORTHSIDE PLAN UPDATE TO PROVIDE BLUEPRINT FOR 340-ACRE VACANT PROPERTY

On June 14, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Councilmember Mike Bonin, airport officials, and community representatives celebrated City Council approval of the LAX Northside Plan Update, a comprehensive planning blueprint for 340 acres of vacant property along Westchester Parkway. “The LAX Northside Plan shows what we can accomplish when we work together to build the future of our economy and preserve the unique character of L.A.’s neighborhoods,” said Garcetti. “This plan will transform a vacant lot into a creative and economic hub that will help revitalize the neighborhood with new jobs, retail and green space.” Under the guidance of Lisa Trifiletti, LAWA has crafted the plan with the help of surrounding neighborhoods to produce a vibrant and sustainable center of employment, retail, restaurant, office, hotel, research and development, education, civic, airport support, recreation, and airport-buffer uses. The approved plan envisions 175,000 square feet of community and civic uses, and nearly 50 acres of new recreation and open space as well as an office campus ideally located for a natural expansion of the “Silicon Beach” high-tech creative hub.

LOOKING FOR NEMO? AQUARIUM LAX HAS CLOWN FISH, CORAL, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

For years, Kris Bunya’s father was one of Southern California’s leaders in the aquarium business. But as technology made it easier and easier for enthusiasts to order fish and coral on-line, the business started to wane.

But Bunya wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Technology had passed us by, but I wanted my dad’s legacy to continue. I didn’t want what he built to fall apart,” said Bunya, 33, who has been working alongside his father since he was just 7-years-old.

Last year, Bunya took over the business, renamed it Aquarium LAX and began a revisioning that he believes will make Aquarium LAX a major industry player again.

Bunya hand-picks each fish from wholesalers and has established an impressive “back of house” protocol to ensure the health of every fish and every piece of coral he offers for sale. He is in the midst of creating a new on-line store so he can compete with other stores across the nation and is even building out a new shipping department that, because of his proximity to LAX, will enable fish deliveries to happen as quickly as possible – something he says is critical to maintaining the health of the fish he ships.

All of this is happening at precisely the right time.

“I remember what happened when “Finding Nemo’ came out and what a big boost it was for business,” he said. “‘Finding Dori’ is going to do the same thing for us –it will set us apart.”

Bunya currently stocks a huge variety of fish, corals and invertebrates, so whether you’re looking for an octopus, a ray or even a shark, he has it. The store even allows visitors to feed the sharks in his massive 6,000-gallon shark tank for $2. LAX Aquarium works with those just starting out to assemble the supplies and tanks necessary to launch their first aquarium, designs custom aquariums for hotels and offices and will even provide turn-key maintenance and repairs for tanks in homes or business settings.

Aquarium LAX has a variety of essential and non-essential products and their on-floor staff is knowledgeable and friendly.  For more information, visit Aquarium LAX at 5310 W. Century Boulevard (just east of The Westin Hotel) or visit them online at www.laxaquarium.com.

GATEWAY TO L.A. AND LAPD PARTNER ON ACTIVE SHOOTER TRAINING FOR LOCAL EMPLOYESS, SECURITY STAFF

Nearly 200 local employees and security staff recently underwent a two-hour training in dealing with active shooter incidents as part of a program put on by Gateway to L.A. and the Los Angeles Police Department.

The training focused on the mantra: “Run, Hide, Fight” and stressed that there are many simple strategies to keep yourself and others safe in the case of an active shooter similar to the recent attacks in San Bernardino and Brussels.

“In an era when senseless killing seems to be far too common, training like this is critical,” said LAPD Pacific Area Captain Nicole Alberca. “The principles we teach those who attend might save their life.”

Among the concepts is the initial effort to run and to escape the area where an active shooter may be. Too many people fair to plan an escape route when they visit a theater, concert or other event that could be a target of an attack.

When escaping from the area is impossible, the training suggests that people hide in an area outside of the shooter’s view, lock the door or block the entry to the hiding place and turn off cell phones to avoid being detected.

Finally, if escape and hiding is not possible, participants in the training were instructed to fight in an effort to incapacitate the shooter.

Trainees also received details about how to act when law enforcement arrives at the scene and what information to provide to 911 operators.

“We felt this type of training was an essential part of being prepared,” said Laurie Hughes, Executive Director of Gateway to L.A. “We work regularly with the local security teams at our member hotels and office buildings as well as with law enforcement, so this type of joint effort was a natural extension of that cooperation.”

The training was a first for Gateway to L.A., but LAPD offers similar training through its local police stations or by calling the LAPD West Bureau Training Coordinator at (213) 473-0276.