THE GARDEN GROVE
A ROUSING CHORUS THE ALL-AMERICAN BOYS CHORUS CELEBRATED AMERICA AND OUR MILITARY IN SONG. PAGE 1 1
JOURNAL ALSO SERVING WESTMINSTER AND MIDWAY CITY
AN EDITION OF
THURSDAY, OCT. 3, 20 1 3
OCREGISTER.COM/JOURNAL
PHOTOS: MACKENZIE REISS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Enders Elementary students Destiny Tana and Candice Biggs dig into a compost bin in search of worms during the first fall planting day at the Garden Grove school’s garden Friday morning. School lunch food scraps go to make the compost, which becomes nutrient-rich soil for the garden.
GROWING EDUCATION Food from Enders Elementary garden goes to students’ plates, local food bank.
BY DOUGLAS MORINO ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
T
he students gathered near the shade of the pepper and mulberry trees, dug their hands into the soil and smiled. Aaron Dinh, 11, stuck a bunch of onion chives into a hole he dug, securing them gently in place with the black dirt. He didn’t have to think long when asked why he liked the garden of vegetables he was helping to grow. “Just getting dirty,” said the sixth-grader at Enders Elementary as he kneeled alongside his classmates, who were taking turns putting small plants and seeds in the rows of soil. The school’s garden is among the largest in the Garden Grove Unified S E E G A R D E N ● PA G E 4
Crystal Taormina cares for the first plants in the school garden at Enders Elementary, pouring a substance called “worm tea,” which consists of water drained through the compost material.
Enders garden
Some foods grown there include:
The garden is at Enders Elementary School, 1 2302 Springdale St., on the west side of Garden Grove.
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Peppers Onions Cherry tomatoes Mint Lettuce
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Space for homeless OK’d
Map area
405
City Council approves zone change to allow temporary shelters.
A proposal to zone a parcel of land in an industrial area for the development of homeless shelters has been unanimously approved by the City Council. The move, done to adhere to state law, will allow space for temporary shelters to be potentially built in a 21.4-acre section near Goldenwest Circle off Bolsa Avenue. The area was selected because of its distance from schools, homes, public parks and commercial areas and its proximity to public transportation, according to a city staff re-
port. Under state law, the city would have the authority to regulate the number of people a shelter would be able to serve nightly. Emergency shelters provide temporary and transitional shelter, typically on a first-come, first-served basis. Although the new zoning law makes it legal for an operator to open an emergency or temporary shelter, it does not approve a particular homeless shelter. Because all the properties along Goldenwest Circle are already developed, a property owner would have to choose to convert their
Goldenwest St.
BY DOUGLAS MORINO ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Bolsa Ave. New shelter zone
Ve r
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St.
McFadden Ave. The Register
space before an emergency shelter could open. “It allows the opportunity for development, but there may never be a development of an emergency shelter at this location,” Planning Manager Art Bashmakian said. The ordinance will come back for a second and final reading at the council’s Wednesday meeting.
New deal reached with police Contract includes raises of more than 7 percent over two years. BY DOUGLAS MORINO ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Garden Grove leaders have approved a new labor deal with rank-and-file members of the Police Department, calling for what amounts to a salary increase of more than 7 percent over the next two fiscal years. The new contract with the Garden Grove Police Association includes officers and sergeants and runs to June 30, 2015. It calls for a 2 percent salary
FILE PHOTO: BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Garden Grove City Council approved a new contract with the police union for rank-and-file officers. The compensation increases will cost the city about $ 1.08 million.
raise in each of the next two fiscal years in addition to a one-time 3 percent salary increase to offset a state law requiring public employees to contribute 3 percent more to their own retirement accounts. “Both sides recognized the continuing difficult fi-
nancial circumstances facing the city and worked diligently to arrive at affordable and responsible terms,” wrote Human Resources Director John Clark in a memo to City Manager Matt Fertal. S E E P O L I C E ● PA G E 3