Special Advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Torie Osborn addressed the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Greater San Fernando Valley Chapter, at their monthly luncheon meeting on August 3 at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. Osborn, a member of the Mayor’s senior staff, has worked as the liaison to the philanthropy community and is now the strategic point person on homelessness for the city of Los Angeles. Osborn is also coordinating with the County, City Council offices, non-profits, the business community, foundations and other agencies and stakeholders essential to making progress on the homelessness issue. Coordinating the AFP event was Joanne David, Director of Development for Haven Hills, Inc., located in Canoga Park, which serves victims of domestic violence in the San Fernando Valley. Among those that attended the event include representatives of non-profit organizations: E. David Migocki, the Chief Development Officer of the Morbrook Institute, Brian Miller, Director of Development for Wheels for Humanity and Evan Press, Director of Public Affairs for Valley Community Clinic. The purpose of AFP is to advance philanthropy through education, training and advocacy. Project Playhouse HomeAid Los Angeles/Ventura will be displaying its Project Playhouse at The Lakes in Thousand Oaks as a fundraiser from September 16 through October 22. Four one-of-a-kind playhouses will be open for tours before they are auctioned. Funds raised will go to the HomeAid’s shelter development program. HomeAid has completed 16 other homeless shelter projects to date, including one in downtown Los Angeles and in Compton. Among those donating to the construction of the playhouses that will be auctioned are New Urban West, Inc., Pardee Homes, Lennar Homes and Shea Homes. Landscaping will be donated by Landscape Development Inc. other sponsors include Countrywide, Caruso Affiliated, Weston/Mason Marketing, Outdoor Dimensions, One Eighteen Advertising and Stock Building Supply. The co-chair of the Project Playhouse event is Joyce Mason of Pardee Homes and Tina Rosen of E. Rosen Construction, Inc. Rosen said: “This is a phenomenal opportunity to showcase and auction off the playhouses donated by these generous builders. Their dedication to this powerful cause benefits the community as a whole.” Mason said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for builders to come together to improve the lives of others that find themselves temporarily homeless.” HomeAid also works with the Building Industry Association to donate labor, materials and services for homeless shelters. HomeAid has aided 95,000 homeless people in the Los Angeles and Ventura Counties to date. HomeAid works with a number of emancipated foster care youth, victims of domestic violence, and abandoned teens. Teradyne Scholarship Teradyne, an electronics testing company in Agoura Hills, has awarded Michael Watts, a resident of Oak Park, a $5,000 scholarship in honor of its co-founder, Peter Hashem. Teradyne established the scholarship in memory of Hashem, who was a victim of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Watts is the son of Leah and David Watts and will be majoring in physics at the University of California, Berkeley.

FCB Bancorp reported its net income for the second quarter ended June 30 rose to $1.1 million or $0.33 per share, a 70 percent increase from the like period last year when the bank earned $629,000 or $0.29 per share. FCB, which operates as First California Bank, attributed some of that increase to the acquisition last year of South Coast Bancorp, which also helped to increase the bank’s assets to over $500 million. FCB said its net interest income for the second quarter of 2006 was $5.2 million, a 56 percent increase over the same period last year. FCB, which previously announced a merger with Mercantile National Bancorp, said it expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter.

Home buyers were scarce in July. Sales of single-family homes in the San Fernando Valley plummeted nearly 33 percent compared to a year ago, signaling a reluctance to pay current prices, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. In July 809 single family homes sold, compared to 1,203 homes sold in July 2005. The SRAR report also indicated that on a month to month basis, home sales fell 12 percent, in what the organization called the busiest time of year for residential real estate transactions. Condominium sales fell almost as much, down nearly 30 percent in the month, with 317 units sold in the month, versus 415 condominium sales in July, 2005.

City of Glendale Commission on the Status of Women 6:30 p.m. City Council Chambers, City Hall 613 E. Broadway (818) 548-4844

The head of the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital has recommended converting a hospital unit used by recovering patients into one for emergencies, a controversial decision that had been met with fierce opposition from some in the community. Hospital President and CEO Roger E. Seaver told the hospital’s board of directors that the 27-bed transitional care unit should be turned into a ward for patients with serious needs, said Andie Bogdan, a spokeswoman for the hospital. Hospital officials said the space could be better used as an acute care facility, which the Santa Clarita Valley is lacking. The ward currently houses mostly senior citizens and patients not well enough to be discharged. The proposed conversion has brought outcries from a group of elderly citizens and supporters called the Committee Against Closing the TCU, which staged a series of protests outside the hospital. The controversy is chronicled in the Aug. 14 edition of the “San Fernando Valley Business Journal.” Click here for the story. Bogdan said the board still has to approve the change. No firm deadline or operational plan is in place, she said.

About 75 community members, hospital staffers and union members gathered Thursday at a Canoga Park church to discuss the ongoing labor dispute at three area hospitals, including West Hills Hospital and Medical Center and Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks. SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, which represents nurses, technicians and other hospital staffers, has been in negotiations since April with hospital owner Hospital Corp. of America to hash out a new contract. They say Tennessee-based HCA, which has 276 medical centers and is the largest hospital chain in the nation, has severely understaffed its hospitals and have eliminated key support positions to save money. They say the cuts have forced nurses and other staff to log long hours and scramble to care for patients. Colum Gallagher, a respiratory care practitioner at West Hills, took part in the panel discussion at Our Lady of the Valley church Thursday and said his workload has increased several times in the past few years. It’s becoming unbearable, he said. “We can’t do it,” said Gallagher, still dressed in black scrubs from a full day at West Hills. He said patient care suffers. “You have to cut corners dangerously. And that’s what we are doing,” he said, sitting on the panel with five other workers who have worked at Los Robles and another HCA facility, Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside. “It’s an unworkable load.” Workers in July authorized a future strike, although no date was set. The union is demanding that HCA increase staffing levels at its facilities and give caregivers “competitive” pay and benefits. They also want more input on patient care policies. Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, whose 40th District includes West Hills, said he is concerned that the “chronic understaffing” is putting area residents in danger when they need care. “The hospital belongs to the community,” said Levine, who organized the event and served as its moderator. “It is not a profit generator for a corporation located out-of-state.” HCA management has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and has said that patient care has not been affected by staffing issues. Jill Dolan, a spokeswoman for West Hills, said representatives from the hospital were not invited to the forum. She said the community meeting has not had an impact on discussions between the two sides and is an effort by the union to draw attention to itself. “This is a tactic that the union uses,” she said. “It’s not uncommon for them to do this in negotiations.”

For the second quarter in a row, Crown Media Holdings Inc. reported a net loss. For the period ending June 30, the owner of the Hallmark Channel reported a loss of $227,000, or $2.17 per diluted share, on revenue of $50.5 million. That figure is an increase from the net loss of $56,225, or $0.54 per diluted share, on revenue of $45.6 million from the same reporting period in 2005. For the six month period ending June 30, Studio City-based Crown reported revenue of $95.4 million, an increase of nearly 11 percent from the $86.2 million in revenue for the first six months of 2005. The Hallmark Channel increased its subscriber base by 7 percent to 73.3 million by the end of the quarter. In June, the company announced it acquired the rights to a package of 39 Warner Bros. films, including the exclusive television premiers of “March of the Penguins” and “Troy.” “The fundamentals of our business are strong,” Crown Media Chief Operating Officer Paul FitzPatrick said, in a statement. “We are adding new subscribers even at these high levels of penetration, the appeal of our programming are driving record ratings, and the growth in our advertising revenues reflects the continued success of our programming strategy.”

A 9,500-square-foot Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant is scheduled to open Aug. 26 on CityWalk at Universal Studios Hollywood. The restaurant, based on the film “Forrest Gump,” seats 300 and includes memorabilia from the motion picture. It is the 22nd Bubba Gump restaurant for the San Clemente-based operator, which has local locations in Long Beach and Santa Monica. The space was formerly occupied by the seafood eatery Gladstone’s.

San Fernando Chamber of Commerce General Membership Luncheon Noon Casa Torres Banquet Hall 445 San Fernando Mission Blvd. (818) 361-1184

Passengers at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank experienced some delays Thursday following a last-minute change for more thorough screening of carry-on baggage, an airport official said. The Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration banned all liquids and gels from carry-on bags after British officials foiled a plot to blow up U.S.-bound aircraft using explosives smuggled in hand luggage. The change caused some problems at Bob Hope, where many passengers arriving for morning flights hadn’t heard of the changes, said airport spokesman Victor Gill. Some passengers missed flights because the airlines could not hold planes to wait, he said. Gill said flyers should arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes prior to their flight. “The passenger has to keep tabs with the airlines and is well advised to plan for extra time to ensure that whatever things crop up they’ll make it through on time,” Gill said. Although all beverages, toothpaste, creams, sunscreen, shampoo, hair gel and other products of similar consistency are banned from carry-on luggage, flyers are allowed to carry the products in checked baggage.