Thanksgiving Day trash, street sweeping and city facility schedule changes

Holiday trash collection/street sweeping/city service schedule changes

La Mirada- Changes are being made to trash collection dates, street sweeping, and other city services in order to accommodate the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Edco will not collect trash on Thanksgiving Day in order to give their employees the day off.

La Mirada customers that normally have trash collected on Thursday will instead see service on Friday, and customers that normally have pick-up on Friday will have a Saturday collection this week.

City Hall and other city facilities except for Splash! will be closed on both Thanksgiving Day and the following day Friday, Nov. 29.

Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatic Center will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, then reopen the following day, Friday, Nov. 29 from 7 a.m. until noon.

The city has also announced there will be no street sweeping on residential streets on both Thanksgiving Day, Nov 28 and the following day Friday, Nov. 29. 

Commentary: The status of La Mirada's homeless Part 1 Stumbling across a camp that right under the nose of commuters

Originally posted with only minor changes on Facebook Mon. Nov. 18

Just feet into  Orange County a camp is located
under this Beach Blvd gateway marker.
(La MIrada News photos)

News media coverage of homeless encampments at Parnell Park and Leffingwell Ranch Park in East Whittier many local residents are fearful that the problem could take hold here too.

Who could blame residents here from being anxious after seeing images on Channel 4 of a tent city in a city park, a disheveled and belligerent woman lashing out at a news photographer, or a man that allegedly struck a school principal urinating in public as examples of what is taking place daily just a mile outside their city?  

After taking a close look across the city that totaled close to eight hours over a three-day period I feel comfortable saying as Whittier has seen the problem grow over the past year, La Mirada has experienced due to a team effort approach.

I welcome your comments and observations.  Your voice is important.  This is your community.

The first stop on the homeless tour was to be the Coyote Creek flood control, but as I walked towards to access the location I stumbled upon the camp that was pictured in a post early this morning that is right next to the sidewalk along the west side of Beach Bl. south of Rosecrans Av. just outside the city limits. 

Underneath the Buena Park gateway marker within two feet of the pedestrian walkway and less than ten feet of the road, I found a camp that was more elaborate than most featuring many of the comforts of home including electricity, a heater and my personal favorite, a microwave oven. 

The camp takes advantage of four separate and spread out electrical outlets attached to the ground that was easily popped open enabling the maze of electrical extension cords that was observed stretching around the campsite. 

While it's hard to say when the camp was established, I can guess based on the sophistication and the wear on the landscaping that this did not just pop up in recent days or weeks. 

You can point your fingers in the direction of Buena Park City Hall on this one. 

Coming up Part 2: What I found in La Mirada. Here's a spoiler: I was very happy with what I found.

Commentary: Why my visit to an illegal weed shop called 'Dank Dairy' Stank

Dank Dairy on Nov 3, 2019. A LMNews photo

It's no longer a surprise anytime I learn that an illegal weed shop has popped up in the unincorporated areas of Whittier near La Mirada while at the same time remaining amazed at how they open and operate just under the radar.

I was a bit surprised to learn that one has been operating for a month or two no more than 100 feet beyond the city line at a place I drive past regularly.  I had no idea that an even bigger surprise would greet me once I arrived to check out the location.

After moving out of the former Electra Burger site at Leffingwell  Rd. and Corley Dr., Organic Solutions has opened up shop in the old closed-up drive-thru dairy at Imperial Hwy. and Meyer Rd. and is now calling itself the Dank Dairy.

I arrived at this place just before 11 a.m. today and despite it being a perfect location for such an operation I found myself wondering if the information I had verified on Weedmaps had been bogus because there were no cars around and not a soul in sight.

Not to worry, it was very clear just seconds later that Weedmaps is still the leading resource for cannabis users. 

In the time it took to grab my camera a man in a car blasting thumping 'Banda' music parked right behind me in front of a row of well-maintained homes and church on Loma Dr. No more than a minute a shiny newer model BMW stopped on the opposite of the street near the old dairy a few feet from the curb.

Without a hint of shame, the fan of Banda music got out of his car and walked up to the BMW getting into the rear seat and with the car door still open began conducting what was clearly a drug transaction right in front of me as I stood just 40-feet away with a camera clearly in my hands. No more than a minute later both men drove off in their own cars.

No longer focused on the likely drug transaction that just went down I have now focused again on the old dairy and discover several cars are now parked and more are arriving and even more, people are coming to buy a quart of milk on foot. No less than a dozen people were seen coming and going in less than ten minutes. Business was so good it difficult finding a lull in activity so I could snap a few photos that did not show an image of any customers coming or going.

It's not hard to imagine why operators run the risk of a fine and the loss of their inventory once or twice a year in a raid with all this demand. This place is a gold mine. 

Just as I was about to depart I got a better idea of how attached the operators of the Dank Dairy must be to all the tax-free cash when a man emerged from the fenced-off area where the entry door is located and began to intimidate and ultimately make threats regarding my presence.

As I calmly walked off, I got a bit of a kick by the man declaring that I was violating the law and he would call the police if I took his picture without permission.  

Isn't that ironic?  

And to think that this was just intended to be a photo and a paragraph or two about five raids Sheriff's detectives have done in the past month on weed stores in the area last month and that two shops that were already on the Sheriff's Departments radar had relocated.

Now it's quite clear why cannabis stores need to be zoned, permitted, and held accountable for the ill effects they have in the neighborhoods they operate in.

Based on my experience over just ten minutes, Dank Dairy needs to be the first to go.