Statement from National Park Service in Remembrance of Mountain Lion P-22

The National Park Service joins its partners, friends, and community members here in Los Angeles, and around the world, in remembering mountain lion P-22. 

(Note: Today, Saturday, December 17, 2022, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that P-22 was compassionately euthanized today following complete health evaluation tests. After these tests, CDFW obtained a clear picture of the mountain lion’s medical condition and overall health. He had several severe injuries and chronic health problems. Based on these factors, compassionate euthanasia under general anesthesia was unanimously recommended by the medical team at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and CDFW officials made the decision to do so today. See complete press release at https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/mountain-lion-p-22-compassionately-euthanized-following-complete-health-evaluation-results.)

Mountain lion P-22 was more than just a celebrity cat. He was also a critical part of a long-term research study and a valuable ambassador for the cause of connectivity and for wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond. 

He was one of the oldest mountain lions in a study that the National Park Service has been conducting since 2002 and one of its most interesting. When he was captured and collared in March 2012 by National Park Service biologists, he was estimated to be about two years old. 

Likely born in the Santa Monica Mountains as the son of adult male P-1, he somehow found his way to his tiny, nine-square-mile home in Griffith Park, separated from the Santa Monicas by the 101 and 405, two of the busiest freeways in the world. Defying expectations, he persisted for more than 10 years in the smallest home range that has ever been recorded for an adult male mountain lion. 

Although he made frequent appearances on the streets of the Hollywood Hills and even, more recently, of the Silver Lake neighborhood, he was also clearly a wild cat, doing so mostly late at night, and subsisting largely on natural prey such as deer and coyotes. 

In the end, he found his way into many Angelenos' hearts and home surveillance camera footage. 

Park biologists aim to understand and conserve the species that live in and around the park for generations to come. Although P-22 is now physically gone, scientists will be analyzing his data for years to come. 

This animal's life and safe passage to Griffith Park are a testament to both the challenges and the possibilities for wildlife in Los Angeles. He showed us what mountain lions must do to survive in our urban landscape, as he dispersed through it to find a remaining island of habitat. 

He also showed us what they are capable of: surviving and co-existing with millions of people in a city as dense and sprawling as Los Angeles. 

Goodbye, P-22. Your scientific legacy will live on. 

Filming for New Movie at Newbury Park High School Leads to a Double Take

Newbury Park High School has been replaced....temporarily, that is, with Waymont High School, Home of the Warriors (wait a second...isn't that the Westlake High School mascot!?). Filming is going on at the school for a high school comedy movie called "Incoming."

From Variety: “Incoming” follows four incoming freshmen as they navigate the terrors of adolescence at their first-ever high school party. The cast also includes “The Black Phone” actor Mason Thames, Bobby Cannavale and fellow “Mick” alum Kaitlin Olson. Directors are Dave and John Chernin, known for the show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," in their feature filmmaking debut.

variety.com/2022/film/news/chernin-brothers-incoming-thomas-barbusca-1235318924/

Don’t worry, Newbury Park residents! This sign will never be replaced!

Angel City Football Club to Train at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks

Cal Lutheran alumna and ACFC’s Director of Corporate Partnerships Alex Mallen, second from the left, played a key role in bringing the university and the club together. With her on North Field are Cal Lutheran Director of Athletics Holly Roepke, ACFC Supporter Relations Manager Austin Hilpert, ACFC Director of Soccer Operations Marisa Leconte, ACFC Vice President of Player Development and Operations Angela Hucles Mangano and Cal Lutheran Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success Matthew Ward. (Photo credit: Tracie Karasik)

Today, Angel City Football Club (ACFC) announced that California Lutheran University will serve as the inaugural training site for the National Women’s Soccer League team.

Angel City, which is bringing women’s professional soccer back to Southern California, will begin practicing today at Cal Lutheran’s Thousand Oaks campus as it prepares for the 2022 season kicking off this spring.

"It’s wonderful to have a new home in Cal Lutheran, which provides the elements of a practice facility that an elite team needs to train at peak form,” said ACFC Vice President of Player Development and Operations Angela Hucles Mangano. “Finding so many high-quality features in one location in the greater Los Angeles area is rare, and Cal Lutheran has those elements.”

ACFC will provide internships to undergraduate and graduate students at Cal Lutheran, which began offering a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 2020. The organization’s staff members will guest lecture in a variety of Cal Lutheran classes, and club members will participate in chalk talks with student-athletes. The club’s leadership also will host students and staff at Angel City’s Los Angeles headquarters for an entrepreneurial workshop.

ACFC is one of the first majority female-founded, female-owned and female-run professional soccer teams. The team’s founders are Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman; technology venture capitalist Kara Nortman; media and gaming entrepreneur Julie Uhrman; and venture capitalist, Seven Seven Six founder and former Executive Chair of Reddit Alexis Ohanian.

ACFC’s Director of Corporate Partnerships Alex Mallen, a Cal Lutheran alumna, played a key role in bringing the university and the club together.

As a component of the partnership, Angel City will support efforts to renovate the university's North Field, where it will practice, laying the foundation for the site of a future track after the club departs. The university has not had an on-campus track for its track-and-field teams since 2004.

The agreement allows the team to base its training operations at Cal Lutheran for at least two years with the possibility of an extension to a third year. In addition to North Field, Angel City will use facilities within William Rolland Stadium and Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center.

The university has a long history of partnerships with high-level athletic teams. Cal Lutheran has been home to the Los Angeles Rams training facility since 2016, and it hosted the Dallas Cowboys training camp from 1963 to 1989. The 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic men’s water polo teams trained in Samuelson Aquatics Center.

“Cal Lutheran is thrilled to develop this win-win partnership with Angel City. We take great pride in being a regional asset and having two professional teams currently using our beautiful campus as their professional training sites,” said Cal Lutheran President Lori E. Varlotta. “At the same time, we are pleased that this burgeoning relationship will provide our students with internships, access to stimulating guest lectures and a glimpse into what successful entrepreneurship looks like.”

ABOUT ANGEL CITY FOOTBALL CLUB

Angel City Football Club (ACFC), the 11th member of the National Women's Soccer League, will take the pitch in Spring 2022 and call Banc of California Stadium in downtown Los Angeles their home. Former England Women’s National Team forward Eniola Aluko leads the team as sporting director, and Freya Coombe is the team’s head coach. Learn more about ACFC at www.angelcity.com, and follow the team on social media @weareangelcity. Season tickets start at $180 for 12 home games, and group deposits are now on sale at https://angelcity.com/tickets.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY

Cal Lutheran is based in Thousand Oaks, California, with additional locations in Woodland Hills, Westlake Village, Oxnard, Santa Maria and Berkeley. With an enrollment of about 3,800 students, Cal Lutheran offers programs through its College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Psychology, School of Management, School of Professional and Continuing Studies and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary. Designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education, Cal Lutheran attracts students from across the nation and around the world from a diversity of backgrounds, cultures and faiths. For more information, visit CalLutheran.edu.

Farmers' Market at The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard to Open Every Saturday Starting June 19th

Beginning on June 19th, The Collection at RiverPark will be hosting a farmers’ market every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in partnership with California Certified Farmers Market and Raw Inspiration. Presented by Community Memorial Health System, the farmer’s market will be located on Collection Boulevard across from The Annex Food Hall.

On opening day, June 19, The Collection will kick off the farmers market with fun festivities for all ages, including live music, arts and crafts, photo opportunities and more.

The farmers market will be open weekly, rain or shine.

thecollectionrp.com/connect/events/detail/325/farmers-market

Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library Launches Online Bookshop, Good Friends, Good Books

Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library (FTOL) has launched an online bookshop, Good Friends, Good Books.

The Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library Good Friends, Good Books online bookshop currently offers over 4,000 titles, including children’s books, adult fiction and nonfiction as well as CDs, DVDs and gift books.

The shop includes books and other items that have been donated by the community and range in quality from like new to gently used. All proceeds support the Thousand Oaks Library; all sales are final.

Items ordered before Friday evening will be ready for COVID-safe pickup the following Sunday morning at the main entrance of the Library between 9:30 am and 11:00 am.

If you miss visiting the FTOL bookshop inside the Grant R. Brimhall Library, this is the next best thing! The Library is located at 1401 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks.

The mission of the Friends of the Thousand Oaks Library, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is to increase awareness of, raise funds for, and actively assist the Thousand Oaks Library and its branch(s) to promote learning, literacy and cultural knowledge via materials, programs such as Summer Reading, materials and technology and services made available to the community.

Visit the bookshop at shopftol.org.

Review of California Blueprint for a Safer Economy for Moving to Lower Risk Tiers

As mentioned in a previous post, the state of California has implemented a four-tier system for counties to move towards loosening restrictions on activities. The four tiers are shown in the image below.

Source: covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy

Every county in California is assigned to a tier based on its test positivity and adjusted case rate. At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least 3 weeks before moving forward. Data is reviewed weekly and tiers are updated on Tuesdays. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier.

Put a different way, a county will stay in each tier for 5 weeks at a minimum to move into a less restrictive tier.

As of Tuesday, September 22, 2020:

• The state overall is at 6.4 new cases per day per 100K (over a 7-day average) and a 3.6% positivity rate (percentage of positive tests over a 7-day average).

• Ventura County is at 7.4 new cases (unadjusted) per day per 100K and a 3.8% positivity rate. The positivity rate falls into the “moderate” (orange) category but the cases per day rate is in the “widespread” (purple) category.

Ventura County has a population of 856,287. Our current case rate of 7.4 new cases per 100K over a 7-day average equates to about 63 new cases on average per day, or over 440 cases in a week.

To get to “normal” again, there needs to be less than 1 new case per day per 100,000 people. That means we must average, on a rolling 7-day average, less than 8.5 new cases per day, or 60 new cases per week, for at least 5 weeks.

Looking at the historical statistics going back to the beginning of the pandemic, that puts us back at levels of new cases seen back in April 2020.

Updates on where Ventura County stands is at www.venturacountyrecovers.org in detail and at covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy at a summary level.

State of California Unveils "Blueprint for a Safer Economy" Plan for Reopening with COVID-19

Blueprint recognizes that COVID-19 will be with us for a long time and that we all need to adapt and live differently to get through this

New plan imposes risk-based restrictions on sectors across state; expands time between changes

On Friday, August 28, Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, a statewide, stringent and slow plan for living with COVID-19 for the long haul. The plan imposes risk-based criteria on tightening and loosening COVID-19 allowable activities and expands the length of time between changes to assess how any movement affects the trajectory of the disease.

This new framework makes a number of changes to the state’s previous resilience roadmap.

Californians can go to covid19.ca.gov to find out where their county falls and what activities are allowable in each county.

The Blueprint builds on lessons learned from the first six months of the disease – and the new scientific understanding that has been collected – to create a new system for regulating movement and COVID-19 transmissions. It includes:

• At least 21 days to expand activities beyond the initial tier to liimit the spread of the virus;

• Mandatory metrics – case rates and test positivity – to measure how widespread COVID-19 is in each county and guide what is allowed;

• A uniform state framework, with four categories instead of 58 different sets of rules;

• A more nuanced way of allowing activity: Instead of open vs. closed, sectors can be partially opened and progressively add to their operations as disease transmission decreases; and

• A new process for tightening back up again quickly when conditions worsen.

Based on recent data, each county will fall into one of four colored tiers – Purple (Widespread), Red (Substantial), Orange (Moderate) and Yellow (Minimal) – based on how prevalent COVID-19 is in each county and the extent of community spread. That color will indicate how sectors can operate.

For example, in the Purple tier where the disease is widespread, restaurants can only operate outdoors. But once a county has achieved a lower level of disease transmission and moved into the Red (Substantial) tier, restaurants can operate with 25 percent capacity indoors or 100 patrons, whichever is fewer.

It relies on two leading health metrics: number of cases per 100,000 residents and percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back positive. In addition, counties will also be required to show they are targeting resources and making the greatest efforts to prevent and fight COVID in communities and with individuals with the highest risk, and demonstrate improvements in outcomes.

Counties must remain in every tier but purple for a minimum of 21 days before being eligible to move into the next tier. Each Tuesday, California will update each county’s data for the previous week and make corresponding changes to tiers. In order to move into a less restrictive tier, a county must meet that tier’s criteria for two straight weeks.

Conversely, counties that fail to meet the metrics for their current tier for two consecutive weeks must move to the next most restrictive tier. The plan also includes an “emergency brake” where the state can intervene more immediately for concerning factors like hospitalizations.

Purple (Widespread) is substituted for the previous County Data Monitoring List (which has equivalent criteria to Purple). Schools in the (Purple) Widespread tier aren’t permitted to reopen for in-person instruction, unless they receive a waiver from their local health department for TK-6 grades. Schools can reopen for in-person instruction once their county has been in the Red (Substantial) tier for at least two weeks.

The plan also emphasizes that no matter what restrictions the state puts in place, COVID-19 will get the upper hand if Californians don’t adapt their behaviors for the duration of the pandemic.

That means, until an effective vaccine is distributed, Californians must wear a mask every time they’re with people outside their household. Residents must take activities outside and maintain distance even with loved ones who do not live with them. Californians must realize that the safest place to be is still at home. And the elderly and those with medical conditions should still stay away from others as much as possible.

The Governor today also announced new PSAs highlighting the dangers of social gatherings during the pandemic and partnerships with Yelp, Facebook, Google and OpenTable, which will now encourage businesses to share COVID-19 safety precautions through new features so that customers can make informed decisions to protect their health and safety.

Higher Education Tax Credits Available For Certain Taxpayers

Tax credits can help offset the cost of higher education

Whether it’s online, in-person, part-time or full-time, higher education can be expensive. The good news is there are tax credits that can help offset these costs. These credits reduce the amount of tax someone owes. If the credit reduces tax to less than zero, the taxpayer could even receive a refund.

Taxpayers who pay for higher education in 2020 can see these tax savings when they file their tax return next year. If taxpayers, their spouses or their dependents take post-high school coursework, they may be eligible for a tax benefit.

There are two credits available to help taxpayers save money on schooling, the American opportunity tax credit and the lifetime learning credit. Taxpayers use Form 8863, Education Credits, to claim the credits.

To be eligible to claim either of these credits, a taxpayer or a dependent must have received a Form 1098-T from an eligible educational institution. There are exceptions for some students.

Here are some key things taxpayers should know about each of these credits.

The American opportunity tax credit is:

• Worth a maximum benefit of up to $2,500 per eligible student.: 100% of the first $2,000 in qualified expenses; 25% of the next $2,000 of qualified expenses.

• Only for the first four years at an eligible college or vocational school.

• For students pursuing a degree or other recognized education credential.

• 40% of the credit is refundable for most taxpayers.

• The catch: The credit is phased out at modified adjusted gross income of $160K to $180K (married filing jointly) or $80K to $90K (filing single). You can’t claim the credit if you are claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.

The lifetime learning credit is:

• Worth a maximum benefit of up to $2,000 (20% of the first $10K of qualified expenses) per tax return, per year, no matter how many students qualify.

• Available for all years of postsecondary education and for courses to acquire or improve job skills.

• Available for an unlimited number of tax years.

• The credit is non-refundable, meaning, if you only receive the credit to the extent you owe taxes.

• The catch: The credit is phased out at modified adjusted gross income of $116K to $136K (married filing jointly) and $58K to $68K (filing single). You can’t claim the credit if you are claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.

More information about these and other federal tax credits at www.irs.gov/credits-deductions-for-individuals.