Culver City Observer -

It’s official. March 29th is permanently recognized as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The statute was signed into law by President Trump.

Please don’t be upset when I tell you the Council and staff will be in my opinion, working night and day to put a city tax on Netflix and probably 11 percent.

Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas’s bill in Sacramento to prevent local government from putting a tax on Netflix until 2023 was stopped cold, so get out your check book.

Oscar Meyer said it will no longer add nitrates and artificial preservatives to its hot dogs.

While messing around one of our file cabinets I came across the Culver City newsletter of the Friends of the Library from June 2003 which I thought was particularly interesting. During 2002 the executive board allocated or spent $5000 for public computers, $1200 for large print books, $3000 for children’s books, $500 for the Judaica collection, $500 for the Spanish language collection, $500 for Black History month, $1000 for Civil Service test books, $50000 for the Audio-Visual collection, and $500 for a photocopier for library work and $1050 for this year’s Summer Reading Program. It was noted our Friends group is one of the largest in the Los Angeles County System; 71 percent of our elected Culver City officials are members; and 80 percent of the elected members of the Board of Education are also members.

Your Friends had a Logo contest, a monthly newsletter and a quarterly membership meeting.

Officers of the Friends Executive Board

Offices Names

President Neil Rubenstein

Vice President Herb Rosenberg

Treasurer Mayor Scott Malsin

Corresponding Secretary Diane Rosenberg

Historian Efrem Violin

Book Store Wayne Pulian

Board Member at Large Pat Lundgren

The drone problem in Australia as it relates to eagle attacks is so acute the State of Queensland recently held the “World of Drones Congress” and gave Boeing almost $780,000 for drone testing. Drones costing as much as $80,000 are increasingly favored by big landowners such as mine and cattle ranchers. In the past three years a mining company lost 12 drones to eagle attacks at a cost of $210,000.

If you are an active or retired educator I just bet you have had a few sleepless nights. awhile back I read in the Long Beach Press Telegram about California schools are on the hook for $24 billion in future health care costs for their retirees, a mountain of debt forcing some districts to curb benefits or spend less on teacher salaries and classroom equipment. Chew on this, the Los Angeles Unified School District boasts a whopping 56 percent share -or $13.5 billion of the liabilities; California teacher pension fund is facing nearly $100 billion in future payments it can’t currently afford.

Do you have extra money in your checking account? If you do please send it to Governor Brown at State Capitol Sacramento, California. It just seems all those estimators working on the bullet train misjudged the construction costs for a 119-mile segment in the Central Valley. Originally figured to cost $6.3 billion it is now $1.7 billion, or a 27 percent overrun, and some feel it could zip up to $9.5 billion. Are you wondering whatever happened to Harriet Tubman and her face on the $20 bill replacing a slave holding President Andrew Jackson? Tubman not only escaped from bondage but rescued hundreds of people from enslavement as a conductor on the Underground Railroad; she also served in the Union Army as a nurse, an armed scout and as a spy.

If you are into the Los Angeles Punk Music scene then check out the Grammy Museum, 800 West Olympic Blvd. (grammymuseum.org) 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday through March 2018.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug ever for Sickle Cell. Endari will be available in November 2017 for patients over five years of age.

If we only subscribed to one magazine it would be Worst Pills, Best Pills News published by Public Citizen. Diabetes drug can gliflozin doubles risk of amputations the FDA warns in a drug safety communication issued on May 16, 2017. Also, being investigated the recently approved diabetes drug Invokana for increased risk of amputations.

Has anyone other than Maria AKA” Wild Gypsy Lady” noticed all those U-Haul trailers heading East on Interstate 10? It could be a active job market or perhaps it’s a new city ordinance eliminating jail time and reducing penalties for having small amounts of marijuana that will allow officers to focus on violent crimes, Police Chief Erika Shields of Atlanta said awhile back those cited by Las Cruces police for driving without a current license can pay the ticket with 80 ounces of peanut butter from October 23 through October 27, 2017. The peanut butter donation will go to the New Mexico College food bank.

For those who missed an article, all my commentaries can be found at http://www.culvercityobserver.com; strolling down the page and underneath Opinion look for Rubenstein.