Season of Streaks for Matadores Culminates With Last Regular Season Game Deciding League Title

La Mirada~In a season that has had more ups and downs than gas prices, the La Mirada High Boys Basketball team plays the biggest game of their season-thus far-tonight at Mayfair High School.

The Matadores will face the Monsoons, with both teams at 10-1 in league and the Suburban League title on the line.

The Matadores only league loss was against Mayfair January 11th, 54-44 at La Mirada.

Mayfair lost to Norwalk January 25th, 67-53.

2nd year head coach Bryce Jones says the team is ready, "We feel pretty confident. We have had four straight days of practice. The guys know what to do and we know what we did wrong last time against them. There's a lot on the line. This is why we work hard all year."

A league title would almost guarantee a first-round home game in the CIF playoffs beginning next week.

La Mirada is looking for their first outright Suburban League title since 1982.

UPDATE: The Matadores lost to Mayfair 60-59 in a very exciting game Friday night. The Mats actually took the lead 59-58 with 38.6 seconds left but, couldn't pull out the victory. The Matadores (17-11,10-2), second-place finishers in the Suburban League, now await the release of the CIF playoff pairings on Sunday to find out where and who they play next.

La Mirada~There are five candidates running for La Mirada City Council.  The election is scheduled for March 5^th. In the race is Councilwoman Pauline Deal who was appointed to replace Susan Tripp in the summer of 2011; Mayor Gabe Garcia, seeking a second four-year term; Planning Commissioner and businessman Steve Keithly; Paramount Unified Schools Administrator Randy Gray; and Newport Beach Police Officer Andrew Sarega.

The Kiwanis Club of La Mirada has invited all of the candidates to speak at their weekly meeting, and all have accepted. We will provide a brief snippet and some insight to each of the candidate’s speeches.

The schedule is as follows: Andrew Sarega-January 23rd; Gabe Garcia-January 30th; Randy Gray-February 6^th; Steve Keithly-February 13^th; and Pauline Deal-February 20^th.

The following is the first of a five-part series in which we hope to provide you a snippet and some insight into each of the candidate’s speeches. As of now, there has been no candidates forum scheduled for the community.

The Kiwanis Club of La Mirada and the La Mirada Blog are not political organizations. These reports are for informational purposes only and do not reflect the views or opinions of the Kiwanis Club of La Mirada or the La Mirada Blog Network.

On January 30th, Mayor Gabe Garcia was welcomed to speak as the second of the five candidates running for a position on the La Mirada City Council. Gabe recalled that he was here at Kiwanis in 1993 when he was a candidate for a position on the Board of Education of the Norwalk-La Mirada School District. He has been married for 25 years with 2 children who were two and five at his last visit 20 years ago. Much has happened since.

In 1993 the district was upside down, and believed that he helped turn the situation    He served 12 years on the board, 12 years on the ROP board. For the city he served eight years on the La Mirada Planning Commission and four years on the Safety Commission. He has learned well how to be involved with the community and how it operates. He also spent time as a teacher of catechism at his church.

The following is the crime report for La Mirada January 28-February 3, 2013:

Aggravated Assault-An assault was reported on the 14200 block of Mansa Dr. A suspect was taken into custody at the location for pushing the victim to the ground.

Residential Burglary-Three residential burglaries and one attempted burglary were reported last week. A burglary occurred on the 14300 block of Foster Rd. A small amount of currency was taken from the location. A bicycle was reported stolen from a garage located on the 15300 block of Alondra Blvd.  A burglary was reported on the 15000 block of Tacuba Dr.  An attempted burglary was reported on the 16200 block of Incline Ct. The front double doors were possibly kicked in.

Other Structure Burglary-Three other structure burglaries were reported last week. A burglary was reported on the 14300 block of Rosecrans Ave. An incident occurred on the 13200 block of Parise Dr. A cell phone was taken. Entry was made through the side garage door. The incident remains under investigation. A shoplifting incident was reported on the 15200 block of Rosecrans Ave. Various cosmetics were stolen from the business.

La Mirada~There are five candidates running for La Mirada City Council.  The election is scheduled for March 5^th. In the race is Councilwoman Pauline Deal who was appointed to replace Susan Tripp in the summer of 2011; Mayor Gabe Garcia, seeking a second four-year term; Planning Commissioner and businessman Steve Keithly; Paramount Unified Schools Administrator Randy Gray; and Newport Beach Police Officer Andrew Sarega.

The Kiwanis Club of La Mirada has invited all of the candidates to speak at their weekly meeting, separately, and all have accepted. We will provide a brief snippet and some insight to each of the candidate’s speeches excerpted from The Kiwanis Chronicles.

The schedule is as follows: Andrew Sarega-January 23rd; Gabe Garcia-January 30th; Randy Gray-February 6^th; Steve Keithly-February 13^th; and Pauline Deal-February 20^th.

The following is the first of a five-part series in which we hope to provide you a snippet and some insight into each of the candidate’s speeches. As of now, there has been no candidates forum scheduled for the community.

The Kiwanis Club of La Mirada and the La Mirada Blog are not political organizations.  These reports are for informational purposes only and do not reflect the views or opinions of the Kiwanis Club of La Mirada or the La Mirada Blog Network.

At the January 23rd meeting, candidate, Andrew Sarega expressed his pleasure at being allowed to speak to the members concerning his reasons for running for a position on the La Mirada City Council.

He was raised in La Mirada, attended Escalona Elementary School, Benton Jr. High, and La Mirada High School.  He studied for a time at Biola which he interrupted to play professional soccer in Europe.  After a debilitating injury he returned to La Mirada. He then was accepted into the police department in Newport Beach and remains there after five years service.  Due to his honorable record he received a Life Savings Award, is on the Board of the Police Action Committee, and is a Reserve Coordinator. Sarega is a graduate of Cal St. Fullerton with honors in Criminal Justice.  He speaks three languages and is working on a fourth.  He has Real Estate and Appraisers licenses, owns his own appraisal business, is president of a corporation, and is involved in a used car business.

La Mirada~Crime in La Mirada has dropped by 37.7 percent since 2005, according to a review of statistics from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

La Mirada's low crime rate is attributed to the cooperative efforts of the City and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, crime prevention programs such as Neighborhood Watch, and active community support for crime fighting efforts.

Major crimes dropped by three percent in 2012. The number of total major crimes fell from 891 to 864.

Statistics detail the number of major crimes reported in the eight most serious crime categories: arson, 4; homicide, 2; rape, 4; robbery, 20; assault, 70; larceny, 491; burglary, 170; and automobile theft, 103. La Mirada experienced a drop in thefts and stolen vehicles in 2012.

Members of the La Mirada City Council are scheduled to review a report on local crime trends at a meeting this month.

"We appreciate the strong support we receive from the La Mirada City Council and members of the community," says Sheriff's Captain Patrick Maxwell.  "Our crime prevention partnership is producing excellent results, and we will continue working with the community to make La Mirada an even safer."

For information on how to become more involved in crime prevention efforts, call the La Mirada Community Sheriff's Station at (562) 902-2960 or visit the City's website at www.cityoflamirada.org.

The following is the crime report for La Mirada January 21-27, 2013

Robbery-A robbery was reported near Foster Rd. and Marquardt Ave. The incident is under investigation.

Aggravated Assault-An assault was reported near La Mirada Blvd. and Tacuba Dr. A male suspect was taken into custody in connection with the incident.

Residential Burglary-Nine residential burglaries and one attempted burglary were reported last week. An incident was reported on the 13200 block of Edwards Rd. A window was shattered to gain entry into the residence. A burglary was reported on the 13200 block of Clearwood Dr. Entry was gained to the residence while it was being fumigated. An incident was reported on the 15900 block of Algeciras Dr. A security door leading to the garage was pried open. A burglary was reported on the 14400 block of San Ardo Dr. A door was pried open at the rear of the residence. An attempted burglary was reported on the 14100 block of Ratlifee St. The suspect attempted to gain entry by removing the screen of a bedroom window. Two separate burglaries to the same residence were reported on the 14800 block of Barnwall St. within a 12 hour period. Entry was made through a window. Electronics were stolen from a residence on the 14400 block of Plantana Dr. Entry was made through a kitchen door window. A laptop computer was reported stolen from a residence on the 14800 block of Tacuba Dr. A burglary was reported on the 14500 block of Gardenhill Dr.

La Mirada~Living Faith Church of La Mirada will be conducting a one-hour open prayer meeting in front of City Hall on behalf of our community from 7-8 p.m. Monday, February 4^th.

Pastor Jack Miranda is inviting all-faiths to participate and will lead and assign prayers of petition for:

-The fiscal emergency and the economic welfare of our municipality and businesses.

-The safety of our campuses and public meeting places, along with the first responders, our peace and safety officers.

-The upcoming City Council elections.

-The current challenges of our city leaders and staff (Men and women of faith always temper justice with mercy).

-The favor and grace of God in our City, County, California and Country.