City High School Football Championship at Fabled Coliseum

Councilmembers LaBonge, Hahn and Parks surrounded by students and staff from Narbonne and San Pedro high schools in front the Los Angeles Coliseum. The schools will compete there for the city football championship on Saturday.

Councilmembers Tom LaBonge, Bernard Parks and Janice Hahn welcomed the City Section Championship Division football final to the Los Angeles Coliseum at a press conference on Thursday. The game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 1 p.m.

Last month, the City Section and the Los Angeles Coliseum had been unable to negotiate a fee for the Coliseum for this important game. Mr. Parks, a member of the Coliseum Commission, and Mr. LaBonge, an alternate member, worked to ensure that the championship game would be played in the venerable Coliseum. Councilmember LaBonge raised $5,000 to cover the cost gap between the Coliseum and City Section.
On Saturday, the Narbonne Gauchos and San Pedro Pirates will play for the city title. Both schools are in Councilmember Hahn’s 15th Council District.

“High school sports bring communities together and ignite civic spirit," said Councilmember LaBonge. “We want everyone to know that this important Los Angeles game will be played here on Saturday. Come out and support your high school athletics.”

Added Councilmember Hahn: "It's no coincidence that both of these top teams hail from the 15th Council District. The battle between the Pirates and the Gauchos is sure to be intense. But the good news is, I win either way."

“As the hosting Councilmember, I am pleased that the historic Los Angeles Coliseum will once again be home to this year’s round of championship play,” said Councilmember Parks. “I look forward to the great competition between this year’s teams as they have the opportunity to play in one of the world’s greatest sporting venues. I would like to congratulate the teams and the great schools that they will be representing here in the historic Los Angeles Coliseum.”

The Councilmembers also called on all alumni of LAUSD schools to donate to the LAUSD Education Foundation to fund athletic programs throughout the city. Checks should be written to: LAUSD Education Foundation, and on the memo line, put "Athletics". The checks can then be sent to: Dale Petrulis, Director of Civic Engagement/Partnerships, 333 South Beaudry Avenue 18-178, Los Angeles, CA 90017.

Berlin Air Lift Candy Bomber Gale Halvorsen Honored in Council

Col. Gale Halvorsen led the "Candy Bombers" over Berlin during World War II, who brought hope and joy to hundreds of German children courtesy of the United States.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge and Consul General of Germany Christian Stocks honored WWII flier Col. Gail Halvorsen in City Council Chambers today.

Col. Halvorsen is in Los Angeles to participate in a roundtable discussion on the 60th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift that is sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles. In 1948, the Soviet Union prohibited food and needed supplies from reaching the parts of the City which it occupied. Germans were starving and medical supplies were in great demand. The United States Air Force and its allies initiated an airlift that dropped much needed supplies into the friendly landing strips.

Colonel Halvorsen approached an airfield, he noticed hundreds of young German children enthusiastically watching the planes land and decided on his next flight that he would make small parachutes with gum and candy attached to float down onto the children before landing.

Councilmembers Give Downtown Tour a Test Drive

Councilmembers Jan Perry and Jose Huizar (seated l-r) joined Councilmember LaBonge and Starline Tours President Vahid Sapir on the first Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour ride in Downtown.

In an effort to promote tourism in Downtown Los Angeles, Councilmembers Jan Perry and José Huizar joined Councilmember LaBonge and Starline Tours in launching a new downtown bus tour. Starline Tours is offering the Downtown Hop-on, Hop-off tour after tremendous success with a similar service in Hollywood over the past year.
“After working with Starline Tours to launch a hop-on, hop-off service in Hollywood, I am very excited to see this happening Downtown,” said Councilmember Tom LaBonge. “Tours like this are popular in cities around the globe. Good for Starline Tours for taking the initiative and making it happen here in Downtown Los Angeles."
The London style double-decker bus tour is narrated and has 14 stops where guests can hop-on and hop-off over a 24 or 48-hour period of time. As part of the new service and at no extra cost, Starline Tours will connect the Downtown LA route with the Hollywood Hop-on, Hop-off tour using a shuttle service between Hollywood and Downtown LA. This will make it possible for visitors to see the sights from Beverly Hills to Downtown LA, all on one Starline Tours Hop-on, Hop-off ticket. "Downtown Los Angeles is home to some great cultural and historic treasures. Iconic buildings like City Hall and the Walt Disney Concert Hall coupled with new entertainment venues like L.A. LIVE make Downtown an ideal tourist destination," said Councilmember Jan Perry, who represents a large portion of Downtown Los Angeles. “Exploring our urban core via an open-air bus is an ideal way of seeing all the outstanding sites that we have to offer.”
LA INC., the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, will sell tickets for Starline Tours Hop-on, Hop-off service at its Visitor Information Centers in Downtown LA (685 S. Figueroa) and Hollywood (6801 Hollywood Blvd.). 24 hour tickets cost $30. 48 hour tickets cost $40 for adults and $30 for children. Family ticket packages covering transportation for 2 adults and up to 3 children cost $90 (24 hours) or $125 (48 hours).

Free bus tours of Downtown Los Angeles

Tom on the top of a double-decker Starline Tours bus during a test run of the new downtown route that begins this week.

Please join Councilmembers LaBonge, Perry and Huizar as they help launch a new Starline Tours service in Downtown Los Angeles.
Beginning this week, Starline will offer a hop-on-hop-off service downtown, which will allow riders to visit sites at their leisure and then return to the route as they wish. The new service will ride in a 30-minute loop, stopping in Chinatown, the Civic Center, the Disney Concert Hall, the Grand Central Market, Little Tokyo and the Broadway Theater District, among other locales. It is modeled on similar services offered in cities throughout Europe and the U.S.
"This tour will help further the revitalization of downtown by showing off the great architectural and cultural landmarks of Los Angeles," Councilmember LaBonge said.
The service is being launched with a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 10 a.m. in front of the Plaza Firehouse on Olvera Street. Free tours will be available after the event. For more information, click here.

9/11 Events in CD4

Please join Tom, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and the Hollywood Beautification Team on Thursday in honoroing those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
A ceremony at the LAFD Historical Society Museum, 1355 N. Cahuenga Blvd., will pause in silence at the exact moments seven years ago (10:05 and 10:28 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time) that each of the World Trade Towers collapsed.
That event will begin at 7 a.m. The museum will open for the ceremony and close at 9 a.m. in honor of the 343 New York firefighters who gave their lives trying to rescue thousands from the burning towers.
At 10 a.m., the LAFD will hold a Remembrance Ceremony at the Frank Hotchkin Meemorial Training Center, 1700 Stadium Way, (90012).
At 6:00 p.m., the Hollywood Beautification Team will continue its United We Plant program with a tree-planting in North Hollywood Park. For more information, click here.

Historical Society Tours Downtown

Councilmember LaBonge with Rudy and Myrna Gintel of the Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society touring downtown on an open-air Starline bus.

Councilmember LaBonge and members of the Windsor Square Hancock Park Historical Society cruised the Broadway Theater District to test-drive a new service for Los Angeles tourists. The councilmember recommended that StarLine Tours, a fixture in Southern California tourism, offer hop-on-hop-off tours of downtown Los Angeles, as it does for Hollywood and Beverly Hills. About 35 members of the historical society took advantage of a sneak-preview of the service, which will debut later this fall.

Councilmembers LaBonge and Parks salute Olympic Games

From L to R: Jeffrey Cheung, Chairman of Guangzhou Sister Cities, Jin Fan of the Chinese Consulate, CM Bernard Parks, CM Tom LaBonge, runner Louis Zamperini of the 1936 U.S.A. Olympic team, 1956 silver and 1960 gold medalist decathlete Rafer Johnson.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge held a press conference today at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to officially salute the 2008 Olympic Games that are to begin tomorrow in Beijing, China.

“Los Angeles has hosted two wonderful Olympic Games before, in 1932 and 1984, and we know all about the hard work that goes into making the games a success,” said Councilmember LaBonge. “We hope this year’s Olympics in China are just as successful.”

Councilmember LaBonge was joined in this expression of good will by Councilmember Bernard Parks, Jin Fan of the Chinese Consulate, runner Louis Zamperini of the 1936 U.S.A. Olympic team, 1956 silver and 1960 gold medalist decathlete Rafer Johnson, and Jeffrey Cheung, Chairman of Guangzhou Sister Cities.

Added Councilmember Parks, "The Olympic Games is an every four-year life-changing event, whether a spectator or a participant. Many Angelenos remember 1984 and the glow that the Olympic Games brought to the City. I am encouraged by the accommodations provided by Beijing, China and I send all my good wishes to the US athletes who are in China to bring home the gold."

“Tour LaBonge” continues with Sister Cities downtown bike ride

Councilmember LaBonge ended the third ride of Tour LaBonge with popsicles at the Sister City Monument outside City Hall.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge took bicyclists through the best of downtown Los Angeles on the third in a series of summer evening bike rides on Wednesday as part of “Tour LaBonge.”

“It’s important that people can come together and experience their city like this in a healthy, fun way,” said the councilmember.

Councilmember LaBonge launched the bike series to promote good health, avoid the financial strain of high gas prices and enjoy summer in the city. As with the two previous bike rides, over 50 riders were on hand to make the trek with Councilmember LaBonge.

The 10-mile bicycle tour of downtown began at City Hall and included Los Angeles State Historic Park, the Arts District, the Fashion District, South Park and the Financial District. The riders made a brief stop in front of the Men’s Central Jail for a moment of silence in honor of slain Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Abel Escalante.