New LEGO Store is Now Open at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park

Please, don't tell my kids that there's a new LEGO Store at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park! I've lost track but I believe my house contains a college education's worth of LEGOs!

Yes, for several weeks now, the newest and now closest LEGO Store to Ventura County has been open. It is located on the first floor of the Topanga Mall near Target and across from the Baby Gap store. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m on Sunday. Call 818.884.8597 or visit stores.lego.com/en-us/stores/us/topanga for more information. The mall is located at 6800 Topanga Canyon Road.

Previously, the closest LEGO Store to us here in the Conejo Valley / Greater Ventura County area was at the Glendale Galleria. My kids have an insatiable appetite for LEGO sets and nearly every room in the house shows signs of LEGOS.

Roughly 1% of the LEGOs in my house.

But wait...you can celebrate the grand opening of the LEGO Store at Westfield Topanga on September 27-29, 2013 with a huge LEGO Master Build event!

Join in and help a real LEGO® Master Builder construct an 8-foot tall model of Yoda™ completely out of LEGO bricks! You'll receive a free Certificate of Achievement for participating! This event will take place on Friday, the 27th from 11am-7pm, Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday from 11am-7pm.

Be one of the first 300 people each day to make a qualifying purchase at the LEGO Store and you will receive one of the following giveaways:

• Friday, September 27: Free Collectible LEGO T-Shirt with a $50 Purchase!*
• Saturday, September 28: Free Limited-Edition LEGO Store Set with a $75 Purchase!
• Sunday, September 29: Free Exclusive LEGO Minifigure Set with a $50 Purchase!

Offers valid while supplies last only. *T-shirts are available in child sizes only.

Interesting and Amazing Facts and Tidbits About LEGO® Blocks

Evolution of Bench at Upper Sycamore Canyon Overlook at Rancho Sierra Vista

The Springs Fire started the morning of May 2nd along the 101 freeway on the Conejo Grade and burned over 28,000 acres through portions of Camarillo, Newbury Park and the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Aea until it was fully contained the following week.

Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa and other trails in Pt Mugu State Park were re-opened in mid to late May. It will take time for the vegetation to grow back and for structures that were burned to be rebuilt. One such structure is the bench overlooking Upper Sycamore Canyon. The bench was burnt severely and was rendered unusable. However, lo and behold, the bench has been replaced! Happy trails!

The healthy, new bench overlooking Upper Sycamore Canyon in September 2013

Bench overlooking Upper Sycamore Canyon in August of 2013.

The not-so-healthy looking bench overlooking Upper Sycamore Canyon after the fire.View from the new and improved bench at Upper Sycamore Canyon Overlook in Sept 2013

Bench at Upper Sycamore Canyon Overlook on May 14, 2013Bench at Upper Sycamore Canyon Overlook prior to Springs Fire on February 10, 2013

All sorts of benches in and around the Conejo Valley

Footage of the 2013 Ride to the Flags in Newbury Park Today, September 14th

Since 1998, the annual Ride to the Flags event has taken hundreds of motorcyclists on a well organized ride to the Pepperdine University 9/11 Waves of Flags Memorial Display.  This is a charity event that raises funds and donates to persons and organizations affected by the tragedy of 9/11.

Between soccer games and errands, I was able to catch the 2013 Ride to the Flags the well organized calvacade at the corner of Lynn and Reino Roads in Newbury Park on its way to Potrero Road. Quite an impressive, patriotic sight!  For more information about the event and to make donations, visit www.ridetotheflags.com.

And speaking of the Pepperdine University 9/11 flag display, if you haven't seen it, you have to! It is on display this year until September 23rd.

Photos of the Pepperdine University 9/11 Waves of Flags Display From Scott Harrison

For the sixth year in a row, Pepperdine University has staged a dramatic display of flags on its expansive lawn at Alumni Park, Malibu, to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Each flag, reflecting each victim's nationality, represents each of the nearly 3,000 lives lost on that tragic day.

Photo Credit: Scott Harrison www.harrysonpics.comThe installation of the flags, which will be on display until Monday, Sept. 23, was conceived and led by the University's chapter of the College Republicans in 2008. Since that time, the display has come to be a focal point in the Malibu community to gather in remembrance and meditation of the innocent lives lost on 9/11, including Tom Burnett, alumnus of the Graziadio School of Business and Management.

Burnett's heroism as a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 has been well documented. As a result of the passengers' attempt to take control of the hijacked airliner and divert it from reaching the terrorists' target, United 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania rather than striking a building or landmark in the nation's capital, causing more loss of human life.

As it has annually since September 2001, the Office of the Chaplain, the Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Office of the President will host a brief memorial service at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at the Heroes Garden, a 14,880-square-foot outdoor sanctuary that overlooks the Pacific Ocean on one of the highest bluffs on the Malibu campus. The garden serves as a public space to pause, reflect, and honor those who sacrificed their lives on 9/11, including Burnett.

Source: Pepperdine University

Local photographer Scott Harrison has once again provided some great photos of the Pepperdine display below. See more of Scott's work at www.harrysonpics.com.

Tesco Announces Sale of Fresh & Easy Stores to Yucaipa Today

After signaling it was looking at "strategic options" for its money-losing Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain early this year, Tesco today announced that it is selling a substantial part of its Fresh & Easy operations, including its Riverside distribution and production facilities, to private equity holding company, Yucaipa Companies LLC.

Tesco indicated the sale is expected to be completed within three months. Yucaipa is purchasing over 150 of Fresh & Easy's 200 stores and is anticipated to retain over 4,000 employees. Currently Fresh & Easy employs over 5,000 people, including 1,300 at its Riverside facility.

On a positive note, this means that they are retaining over 75% of the stores...on a negative note, 25% Fresh & Easy's stores will be closed and 20% of its labor base will be on the job market soon.

WHICH STORES!!?? Yes, this is what everyone wants to know right now, as evidenced on Fresh & Easy's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/freshandeasy. Tesco and Fresh & Easy have not announced which stores will be closed yet but indicated that "those stores not included in the transaction wil be closed over the coming weeks."

So stay tuned, Fresh & Easy fans. There are 10 Fresh & Easy stores in Ventura County and directly adjacent areas.

Yucaipa has quite a track record in the grocery store chain arena, having acquired and/or sold Food 4 Less, Boys Markets, Alpha Beta, Smitty's, Ralphs and Dominick's grocery store chains in the past.

Pepperdine University's Annual Waves of Flags Display in Honor of 9/11 Victims

Once again this year (2013), Pepperdine University students and other volunteers staged a display of nearly 3,000 flags in honor of each of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The display was at Alumni Park, at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Malibu Canyon Road. Each victim is memorialized with a flag reflecting their nationality.

Whether you visit at night or during the day, this tremendous display is a sobering reminder of one of our country's darkest days.

CDC Reports Over 200,000 Preventable Heart Disease and Stroke Deaths Annually

More than 200,000 preventable deaths from heart disease and stroke occurred in the United States in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  More than half of these deaths happened to people younger than 65 years of age, and the overall rate of preventable deaths from heart disease and stroke dropped nearly 30 percent between 2001 and 2010, with the declines varying by age.  Lack of access to preventive screenings and early treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol could explain the differences among age groups.

• Age: Death rates in 2010 were highest among adults aged 65-74 years (401.5 per 100,000 population).  But preventable deaths have declined faster in those aged 65–74 years compared to those under age 65.
• Race/ethnicity: Blacks are twice as likely—and Hispanics are slightly less likely—as whites to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.
• Sex: Avoidable deaths from heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure were higher among males (83.7 per 100,000) than females (39.6 per 100,000). Black men have the highest risk. Hispanic men are twice as likely as Hispanic women to die from preventable heart disease and stroke.
• Location: By state, avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease ranged from a rate of 36.3 deaths per 100,000 population in Minnesota to 99.6 deaths per 100,000 in the District of Columbia. By county, the highest avoidable death rates in 2010 were concentrated primarily in the southern Appalachian region and much of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.  The lowest rates were in the West, Midwest, and Northeast regions.

To save more lives from these preventable deaths, doctors, nurses, and other health care providers can encourage healthy habits at every patient visit, including not smoking, increasing physical activity, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking medicines as directed.

Learn more about CDC’s heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure initiatives, and the national Million Hearts initiative.