Northridge Vision 2025

CSUN's “Acasola A Cappella” group kicked off the second-annual Matador Day of Service as approximately 400 CSUN students and volunteers took to the streets on Sept. 10 in a school-wide effort to clean the campus and neighboring communities.   Matador volunteers spread out around campus and the surrounding community after gathering at Bayramian Lawn.   The event, which was designed to clean up campus and the neighboring Northridge community, was a huge success and much bigger than in 2015, said co-event organizer Don Larson. Students gathered at Bayramian Lawn at 8 a.m. for free breakfast and to meet their groups. The volunteers spent the rest of the morning doing beautification projects such as street sweeping, litter pick up and weed removal. After their projects, students returned for free lunch, games and a chance to win prizes. “Last year was primarily for freshman students, but this year everyone could join in,” Larson said. “This year we had about 400 p...

The end of the summer sees a number of projects completed or nearing completion.    Northridge Sparkle and Council District 12 have coordinated a series of projects that include a new design for the Parthenia median area, including the installation of a new illuminated flag pole, which will be dedicated this fall.   At the same time, the median will be landscaped with drought tolerant plants, improving its appearance and saving water. Don Larson, co-chair of Northridge Sparkle, is promoting the flag dedication event as, “healing all Americans after the November vote”.    The flag pole installation has been made possible through the donation of services by various city agencies, including the Bureau of Street Services, as well as a number of individual donations of time and money.   The drought tolerant landscaping is the result of a grant from the Department of Water and Power. Phase Three street repairs by the Bureau of Street Services...

According to the LA Times, homelessness increased in 2015 in the city and county of Los Angeles, leaving nearly 47,000 people in the streets and shelters despite an intensive federal push that slashed the ranks of homeless veterans by nearly a third, according to figures released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Nearly two-thirds of the homeless people tallied countywide, or 28,000, were in the city of Los Angeles, representing an 11% jump in January from a year earlier, a report from the agency stated. The county's homeless population grew 5.7%. Homelessness has increased steadily since 2013, as local officials struggle to identify funding for billion-dollar plans they approved this year to solve one of the region's most intractable problems. Tackling the local homeless issue is the goal of a program which highlights the cooperation of Northridge Sparkle and the San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission.   Like other programs of the SFV Rescue M...