The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance
Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 7, No. 35 - August 31, 2017
Inside
This Issue
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Sunny
90˚/75˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
87˚/73˚
Sunday
Sunny
85˚/73˚
Torrance Girl Scouts Host Thank-
You Party for Pediatric Nurses
Torrance Girl Scouts used a portion of their cookie sale proceeds to host a special party to celebrate Torrance Memorial Medical Center pediatric nurses for all the care and compassion these wonderful
professionals provide to help children overcome illness. Nurses were gifted “survival kits” to bring cheer to those who have the big job of caring for Torrance Memorial’s young patients. In the photo,
Torrance Memorial Medical Center staff and clinicians pose with Girl Scout Troop 1095 during the appreciation visit. Photo Credit: Ann O’Brien. •
An Unforgettable Adventure
Experiencing the Solar Eclipse
By Gregg McMullin
My son Kyle and I made plans to view what
has been described as a once-in-a-lifetime
event: the totality of an eclipse of the sun.
There are two main solar eclipses--a total
and an annular eclipse. An annular solar
eclipse happens when the moon covers the
sun’s center, leaving the sun’s visible outer
edges to form a “ring of fire” or annulus
around the sun. The total eclipse occurs
when the moon passes between the sun and
earth and when the moon fully or partially
blocks the sun.
The totality of an eclipse happens periodically
Useful Outdoor Ants
Can Become a Nuisance
By Rob McCarthy
Occupants of home and businesses
should be on the lookout for an uninvited
visitor that walks in announced,
invades the kitchen and won’t get out
of the bathroom. This public nuisance
is well known to South Bay residents,
but a call to 911 isn’t going to help. It’ll
take a pest exterminator or a visit to the
hardware store.
The South Bay is experiencing a summer
ant invasion, with these beneficial insects
heading inside dwellings, warehouses and
anywhere that affords them food, water
and cover from the beating sun. The Julythrough
September period is their busiest
time of the year, pest control companies
say. Ants live outdoors in colonies they
build underground in garden planters
or lawns, and all except biting ants are
harmless to humans.
Ants are the most common insect found
in homes, and there are 210 species of
them in Southern California. The summer
heat and dry soil conditions signal it’s
time for the ants to find water and food,
according to the University of California’s
pest management experts. As long as they
stay outside, these insects quietly go about
their business keeping termites and flea
populations under control, the UC bug
experts tell us.
These beneficial insects become a
around the globe. The last total solar
eclipse viewed from the contiguous United
States was on February 26, 1979 with the
path passing through the northwestern states
of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and
North Dakota. The next annular solar eclipse
that can be seen in the Continental United
States will be on October 14, 2023 and
will be visible from Northern California to
Florida. Following this, we will have a total
solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 visible from
Texas to Maine.
We flew to Medford, Oregon and rented a
car the day before the big event. Since motels
were sold out starting at $399 a night at Motel
6, we planned on car-camping in Madras,
Oregon. Madras was one of the best places
to view the eclipse in the nation. A friend
in Shady Cove suggested we borrow their
spare Astro van (yes, they’re still around),
so we gladly exchanged my 2017 midsize
for his 1998 van.
Expecting extreme longer-than-normal traffic,
we made the 215-mile drive in four hours
and not the anticipated nine hours. Winding
our way through Madras, we witnessed a
number of pastures/turned campsites and
signs that read, “Camping $60 per night.”
Then at Kyle’s insistence, we drove a short
way outside of the residential and business
district and saw acres and acres of pastures
turned into a mass of humanity campsites.
It was estimated to be 50,000 to 60,000 cars
in these pastures. The mass of humanity was
supported by tents, RVs and a long line of
blue port-a-potties.
Each of these pastures were sold out thankfully,
so we drove down a dirt road next to a
parachute school. There, off in the distance,
was another family renting out space in their
pasture. “One-hundred dollars a night,” said
a whimsical 10-year-old girl. Her mother
asked how many nights and I responded,
“I’m driving an old Astro van, we have no
camping gear, an ice chest with four bottles
of water and a bag of Kettle corn for dinner.”
I guess she felt sorry for us and said, “Okay,
don’t tell anyone else…how about $60?”
She knew she was the last place available
to stop overnight for the eclipse that would
occur the next morning.
We parked next to a Mercedes luxury RV
owned by Deborah and Sam Appel. Actually
it was a strategic ploy on my part since the
only portable restroom was nearby. We made
friends with the Appels instantly.
Kyle set up the cameras for the next morning
and explained the process of the eclipse to
our neighbors. Then the parachutist gave us
a show by making continuous jumps before
See Solar Eclipse, page 2
See Outdoor Ants, page 7
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................2
Classifieds............................6
Crossword/Sudoku.............6
Food.......................................5
Legals....................................7
Politically Speaking............5
Real Estate...........................8
Sports....................................3
TerriAnn in Torrance..........4