TORRANCE TRIBUNE October 26, 2017 Page 3
Calendar of Events A Scary Thing Is Going to
Community Briefs
Governor Signs Three Refinery Bills
Governor Brown recently signed Assemblymember
Al Muratsuchi’s (D-Torrance)
Assembly Bills (AB) 1646, 1647 and 1649.
• AB 1646 will protect communities surrounding
petroleum refineries by requiring
the development of effective community alert
systems to notify communities--particularly
schools, hospitals, and residential care homes-
-in the event of emergencies that may affect
their lives and safety. The systems will utilize,
as appropriate, the Emergency Alert System,
text messaging, phone calls, social media communications,
and audible alarms. Local first
responder agencies will operate the systems,
and refineries will pay for development, installation,
operation, and maintenance.
• AB 1647 will provide vital air quality
data to communities surrounding petroleum
refineries by requiring installation of air
quality monitors at refinery fence lines and
in the communities. The law will require air
quality management districts and refineries
to collect real-time data and to provide that
data as quickly as possible in a publicly
accessible format. Local air districts will
operate the monitors, and refineries will pay
for development, installation, operation and
maintenance.
• AB 1649 will make all California refineries
safer by requiring the California Environmental
Protection Agency to work with specified
federal, state, and local agencies to improve
public and worker safety through enhanced
oversight of refineries and to strengthen
emergency preparedness in anticipation of
any future refinery emergencies. This new
law is modeled on Governor Brown’s successful
Interagency Task Force on Refinery
Safety, formed following the 2012 Chevron
refinery explosion in Richmond, California.
– Source: Office of Assemblymember
Al Muratsuchi
Torrance PD Gets Grant for Traffic Safety
The Torrance Police Department has been
awarded a $240,000 grant from the California
Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long
program of special enforcements and public
awareness efforts to prevent traffic-related
deaths and injuries. The department will use
the funding as part of the city’s ongoing commitment
to keep roadways safe and improve
the quality of life through both enforcement
and education.
“The Torrance Police Department is proud
to partner with the California Office of Traffic
Safety. Funding from this grant will assist
in promoting public awareness and creating
special deployments to focus on traffic
safety”, said Torrance Interim Police Chief
Michael Browne.
After falling to a 10-year low in 2010, the
number of persons killed on roadways has
climbed nearly 17 percent across the state,
with 3,429 fatalities in 2015. Particularly
alarming is the rise in pedestrian and bicycle
fatalities that now comprise nearly 25 percent
of all traffic deaths, along with the growing
dangers of distracting technologies and the
emergence of drug-impaired driving. This
grant funding will provide opportunities to
combat these and other devastating problems
such as speeding and crashes at intersections.
“Unsafe behaviors account for 94 percent
of traffic crashes,” said OTS Director Rhonda
Craft. “This grant emphasizes the two most
effective ways to change behaviors – education
and enforcement. The Torrance Police
Department, with assistance from the Office
of Traffic Safety, will use these tools to help
keep Torrance streets safe.”
Activities that the grant will fund include
• Educational presentations
• DUI checkpoints
• DUI saturation patrols
• Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement
• Motorcycle safety enforcement
• Distracted driving enforcement
• Seatbelt and child safety seat enforcement
• Speed, red light, and stop sign enforcement
While alcohol remains the worst offender
for DUI crashes, The Torrance Police Department
supports the new effort from OTS that
aims to drive awareness that “DUI Doesn’t
Just Mean Booze.” Prescription medications
and marijuana can also be impairing by
themselves, or in combination with alcohol,
and can result in a DUI arrest.
Funding for this program is from the California
Office of Traffic Safety through the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
– Source: Torrance Police Department •
Deadline for Calendar items is the prior
Thursday by noon. Calendar items are $1 per
word. Email listings to marketing@heraldpublications.
com. We take Visa and MasterCard.
FRIDAY, OCT. 27
• Friday Fun for Kids, 10:00 AM. – 12:00
PM., free, Madrona Marsh Nature Center
& Preserve, 3201 Plaza Del Amo, Call:
310-782-3989.
• Toddlertime, 10:15 AM. & 11:00 AM., Katy
Geissert Civic Center Library, 3301 Torrance
Blvd., Call: 310-618-5964.
• Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce
– Economic Development Committee Meeting,
8:30 AM. – 10:00 AM., Torrance Area
Chamber of Commerce, 2300 Crenshaw
Blvd. #B.
• YMCA Halloween Carnival, 10:00 AM. –
12:00 PM., for ages 5 & under, Torrance
South Bay YMCA, 2900 W. Sepulveda Blvd.,
Call for more info & ticket prices: 310-325-
5885 X 2736.
SATURDAY, OCT. 28
• Torrance Certified Farmers’ Market at Wilson
Park, 8:00 AM. – 1:00 PM., 2200 Crenshaw
Blvd., Between Carson St. & Sepulveda,
Call: 310-781-7520.
• Pugtacular Spooktacular, 11:00 AM. – 4:00
PM., Admission: $10 Adults, $5 children 12
& under, Torrance Park, 2001 Santa Fe Ave.,
Dog Costume Contest, Food, Silent Auction.
SUNDAY, OCT. 29
• Big River, (Metropolitan Educational Theatre
Network), 2:00 PM. - The musical version
of Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, James Armstrong Theatre,
3330 Civic Center Drive, For tickets, Call:
310-781-7171. •
MONDAY, OCT. 30
• Hallowe’en Creepy Code, Visit all day and
crack the code, El Retiro Library, 126 Vista
Del Parque, Call: 310-375-0922.
• Babytime at the Library, 10:30 AM. &
1:30 PM., free - no registration required,
Ages 6-18 months, Katy Geissert Civic
Center Library, 3301 Torrance Blvd., Call:
310-618-5964.
• Pajama-Rama Evening Storytime, 6:30
PM., free, kids can wear pajamas, Walteria
Library, 3815 242nd Street, Call:
310-375-8418.
TUESDAY, OCT. 31
• HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
• Torrance Certified Farmers’ Market at Wilson
Park, 8:00 AM. – 1:00 PM., 2200 Crenshaw
Blvd., Between Carson St. & Sepulveda,
Call: 310-781-7520.
• City Council Meeting, 7:00 PM. – 9:00 PM.,
City Hall, Council Chambers, 3031 Torrance
Blvd., Call: 310-618-2780. •
• Family Storytime, 10:30 AM., North Torrance
Library, 3604 Artesia Blvd. Call:
310-323-7200.
• Family Storytime, 10:30 AM., Henderson Library,
4805 Emerald St., Call: 310-371-2075.
• Family Storytime, 11:00 AM., Southeast
Library, 23115 Arlington Ave., Call: 310-
530-5044. •
Happen on Halloween Night
By Rob McCarthy
Look for sinister clowns roaming the streets
and driving around in cars on Halloween night,
straight from the movie It. That’s the prediction
from spirit stores that say Pennywise from the
Stephen King novel and movie remake is handsdown
the adult costume of the season. This
clown doesn’t put a smile on the children’s faces.
Clowns appearing after dark and holding
red balloons aren’t all that’s going to happen
once the sun goes down on October 31. Gas
stations must raise their prices at midnight
when California’s gasoline and diesel excise tax
jumps to begin paying to repair local roads and
the state’s aging highway system and bridges.
Few things unnerve Southern California
drivers like gas price increases, even if it’s
just a few pennies.
Gasoline and diesel prices are headed higher
on November 1, and motorists and truckers will
pay the freight on a $53 billion, 10-year deal
that Governor Jerry Brown and Sacramento
lawmakers inked in April. The ambitious plan
shares some of the new tax proceeds with local
cities and the county to fix roads.
What’s in it for South Bay drivers, truckers
and companies with fleets of delivery trucks?
Lanes of the 405 freeway are supposed to be in
good or fair condition when the tax ends in 2017.
Five-hundred bridges must be fixed, the plan
guarantees the taxpayers. All but 10 percent of
drainage culverts in the state will be rehabbed.
To reach those goals, the state is collecting
an additional 12 cents on a gallon of gas at
the pump and in higher vehicle registration
fees. Truck drivers and diesel motor operators
have an even higher buy-in than commuters. A
gallon of diesel ranged from 2.93 to $3.19 per
gallon at Inglewood stations earlier in October.
Truckers and fleet owners will be paying
between $3.13 and $3.39 on Wednesday with
the new pump tax. That 20-cent jump in tax
per gallon will hit the trucking and delivery
services hardest, and it’s uncertain whether
package delivery services like FedEx and UPS
will raise their prices. Shipping on Amazon
could be affected too.
The new pump tax comes as Southern
California gasoline prices were leveling
off after a spike caused by Hurricane Harvey,
according to the Automobile Club of Southern
California. The club reported the average
price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los
Angeles-Long Beach area was $3.06 per gallon
on October 12. That was four cents lower
than the previous week, and 14 cents below
September’s price, according to the AAA.
The decline in gas prices--which were 23 cents
higher for a gallon a year ago--led Brown and
Sacramento officials to act now to rebuild roads
and infrastructure rather than wait. The supporters
of the road improvement plan said the repairs
to streets, highways, freeways and bridges were
overdue, and delays would inflate the cost.
Normally on November 1, drivers start using a
winter blend of gasoline that costs them less at the
pump. However, the stations won’t be lowering
their prices after Halloween, says a AAA
spokesman. “We are not expecting that switch to
drive down prices this year because taxes on
gasoline will also increase by 12 cents a gallon
on November 1,” said spokesman Jeffrey Spring.
The station owners will have to hustle to
have the pump prices reset at midnight, said
Ken Pellman with the Los Angeles Weights
and Measures department. Changing the prices
is almost a daily chore for Southern California
stations, he said, and many of them have
switched to electronic signs that advertise prices.
Fuel sold in California is taxed three ways:
local sales tax, state excise tax, and a federal
tax on each gallons sold. The tax rate change
on Wednesday will look like this:
Gasoline: The state’s base excise tax increases
to 30 cents per gallon on November 1. That
doesn’t include local sale tax. That additional
per-gallon tax is due to hit 47.3 cents by midyear
2019. The current rate is 18 cents/gallon.
Diesel: The state’s base diesel fuel excise
tax jumps to 36 cents a gallon on November
1. The current rate is 16 cents. California also
collects 8.4 percent in state and local sales tax
on diesel, and levies an additional 1.75 percent
diesel-fuel sales tax on suppliers. That tax will
more than triple to 5.75 percent on November 1.
Starting next year, vehicle owners will pay a
new “transportation improvement fee” ranging
from $25 to $175, depending on the value of
their vehicle. Electric vehicle owners must pay
a $100 road improvement fee for their zeroemissions
cars and trucks, but that fee won’t
kick in until July 2020.
Pellman said inspectors with the Weights and
Measures department won’t be out checking
gas stations at midnight, however. Motorists
usually call his office with complaints if a
station’s price on the sign is lower than the
actual price at the pump. When there is a
discrepancy, he said the consumer is entitled
to the lowest listed price. •
This character from It should be busy on Halloween night, and
so will local gas stations.
HAVE A SAFE AND SPOOKY NIGHT.
From all of us at Herald Publications.