On Thursday, February 23, all are invited to participate in the annual Latina Heart Health Conference to learn about the latest perspectives on heart disease — the number one killer among Latinas!

The Latina Heart Health Conference is an event designed to educate, engage and empower Latinas to lead heart-healthy lives.  Guest speakers will provide insight into simple lifestyle changes that can reduce risk for heart disease and stroke.

Don’t miss out on this important event. Registration is free, but required.

For more information on the event and to RSVP by the deadline (February 15) , please contact Yvette Lopez at 213-291-7033 or reach her via email at Yvette.lopez@heart.org.

The event will take place from 8:30 a.m.  to 12:30 p.m. at the Magnolia Place Conference Center (1910 Magnolia Avenue).

Draft boundaries have been drawn for all 15 Los Angeles City Council districts and now the Los Angeles City Council Redistricting Commission wants to hear from you!

Make your voice heard at a February public hearing.

For meeting dates and more information, please visit redistricting2011.lacity.org or call 213-922-7740.

On Sunday, January 29, come join friends and neighbors for a short work session to help prepare the new community garden in Elysian Valley for planting.

Plots are now available for reserve – stop by between 10:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M. on the corner of Blake Ave. and Rich St. for more information on how you can get involved.

Bring gloves, a hat and a friend!

On Saturday, January 28, learn how to pressure can with the Farmer’s Kitchen and expand your range of home-preserved foods to include meats, soups, stews, sauces, chilis, and much more.

Participants will hear about the different types of pressure canners, learn pressure canning safety, and take one or more pressure canned items home with them.

Registration is $90 and participants will receive a 10% discount on any purchases made during the class.  Visit the Farmer’s Kitchen website to learn more and register.

High school students and their families can get one-on-one help with completing college financial aid forms at the annual Cash for College Super Saturday this Saturday, January 28.

Trained volunteers will help families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Cal Grant GPA Verification Forms necessary to receive financial assistance for college.

There will be 38 workshop sites throughout the greater L.A. region, including one at Belmont High School (1575 West 2nd Street) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In addition to need-based financial aid, all participating high school seniors will become eligible to win $1,000 Cash for College scholarships through a random drawing with at least one winner at each workshop site.

Additional workshops will be held in January and February and all of them are free to local high school seniors and their parents.

For a complete list of workshops, please visit  http://www.lacashforcollege.org/workshops.

For more information, please contact Alma Salazar at 213/580-7566 or asalazar@lachamber.com.

What would Hollywood look like if we rebuilt it today?

The Hollywood Urban Planning Shop  is a community engagement project that asks the public to re-imagine Hollywood.  The project harnesses the power of the collective community imagination to create an interactive diorama of Hollywood as it could be.

Residents, tourists, and visitors can reflect on, explore, experiment, and ultimately craft their image of a city in the upcoming Hollywood Urban Planning workshops.

The 30-foot long interactive diorama will bring together participants to engage in creatively envisioning a newly built Hollywood.

Check out the Woodbury School of Architecture and Urban Planner James Rojas’s work all week at the Woodbury University Hollywood Gallery (6518 Hollywood Blvd.).

The Gallery will be open Monday through Thursday from 1:00pm to 8:00 pm and Friday through Sunday from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

On Saturday, January 28, the Friends of Silver Lake Library will hold its quarterly used book sale.
All proceeds from the sale will support the Silver Lake branch library!

The book sale will take place from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Silver Lake Branch Library (2411 Glendale Boulevard).

For more information or if you want to volunteer to help, please contact cheryl@cherylrevkin.com or visit www.fosll.org

Hollywood High School is now officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places!

The National Park Service, which manages the register, recognized Hollywood High for its historic integrity and architecture.

The high school’s Alumni Association funded the initiative to begin this process through charitable donations to ensure the preservation of the legacy of Hollywood High.  The Hollywood Beautification Team and Los Angeles Conservancy also worked with the school’s alumni to facilitate the nomination process.

Congratulations to the school’s students, staff, faculty, and alumni!

Did you know that trees help increase your property’s value up to 10%?  Or that trees clean the air and help reduce the green house gases that cause global warming?

The LA Conservation Corps is making it easy to realize the advantages of trees to both your own home and our community with a shade tree give away.

On January 21, 2012 between 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at 1400 N. Spring Street (corner of Ann St.), the LA Conservation Corps will be giving away shade trees to residents of the City of Los Angeles.  Come and take a beautiful tree home!

For more information, please contact Yasmin Mero-Corona at 323/224-2550 ext. 515.