Westlake Village homework help and self-study guide provider Academy123 has been acquired by Discovery Education, the company has announced. This new arrangement expands Discovery Education’s content and technical capabilities in allowing it to utilize Academy123’s skills in the development and distribution of interactive educational content for schools and homes. Academy123 specializes in the development of curriculum and textbook aligned homework help and study guides for middle and high school students with a particular emphasis on math and science. Academy123 President and Chief Executive Officer Johannes Larcher said the arrangement will help more students who are struggling with math. “Moreover, our multimedia technology platform will be used to create compelling new educational products and services for Discovery Education’s home and school distribution channels,” Larcher said. Discovery Education is a division of Discovery Communications, a global real-world and knowledge-based media company.

Nature is the great equalizer. It usually levels the playing field between the rich and the poor, exposes our frailties. We saw it at work during the Northridge Earthquake when the poorly built buildings crumbled. We saw it again during the recent heat wave. Some places you couldn’t find water or Gatorade. But even worse, a woefully inadequate power distribution system was exposed as thousands of residents across the Valley and other parts of Los Angeles were left without electricity for days. The cause, according to officials: The city’s power distribution system was insufficient to keep up with demand. Yes, it’s been hot to an unusual degree, but we do get hot temperatures for an extended period of time here in Southern California, especially in the Valley. A world-class city such as L.A. should not find itself so exposed to such predictable things as hot weather in the summer. There has been no long-range planning at the city’s Department of Water and Power and among our elected officials over the years who oversee that department to prepare us for an extended heat wave. This is a city of extremes fires, earthquakes, heavy rain in the winter, and heat in the summer. That’s why our infrastructure and public services should be top-notch to deal with crises that do occur here. We too often are unprepared and residents and businesses pay the price. No wonder many businesses don’t want to stay here. We often can’t even get the basics right. Infrastructure is the basics and our elected officials need to understand this. They need to pay attention to it and in a long-range manner. If the DWP had prepared for the worst, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Too many of our problems are due to poor infrastructure. And it’s all preventable. Traffic is a good example. We’ve wasted too many years ignoring a steady increase in traffic on our freeways and streets. We always look for a quick fix rather than take care of the problem for the long term. When will we learn? I was talking to a high-ranking L.A. city official recently about the biggest challenges to L.A. city government. She said there’s been a lack of vision over the years. Not preparing adequately for the future is an example of this. Why in a creative place such as L.A. do we suffer from a lack of vision at the top? And why does Mother Nature always have to keep us in line? Our Bread and Butter Talk about a total lack of vision. When will some of our public officials learn that L.A. is special largely because of our entertainment industry? That’s what makes the city known all over the world and what sets it apart from any other city in the world. That’s why the recent news that local production activity in L.A. County for movies, television shows and commercials dropped by 6.8 percent during the second quarter of 2006 is frustrating. FilmLA Inc., which tracks these figures, says activity rose in other regions particularly in the areas that give tax incentives to film there. Meanwhile, the Legislature fiddles and does nothing on stalled legislation that would provide incentives to filming here. Some lawmakers feel they shouldn’t help out the entertainment industry. It’s got too many rich people. Yeah, tell that to the below-the-line technical worker in the Valley who’s just trying to make a living. These are the people that such short-sightedness hurts. Poaching of our film industry is not going to go away. And the makers of our filmed content would be stupid not to save money by going elsewhere. They’re not in the business to lose money. The only way to beat competition is to be aggressive and not be so damned arrogant to think that L.A. will always be the entertainment capital of the world. Women’s Board The Valley Economic Development Center’s Women’s Business Center has set up an advisory board to help guide it. Those appointed provide the needed outside business experience and contacts so that the center can be as effective as possible. The board members are: Wayne Adelstein of the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, Michele Chavez of Prudential Financial, Liz Florio of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, Yelena Gazal of Gazal Consulting Bookkeeping, Cynthia Ibarra of the VEDC, Raja Amy Marhaba of Martec Construction, Beth Orenstein of Hair Incorporations, Debra Sakacs of the Executives’ Association of the San Fernando Valley, Nancy Hoffman Vanyek of the Mid Valley Chamber of Commerce, Kathleen Sterling of Valley News Group and Jave Tripp of JNK Services. The members will help develop programs, seek out partnerships and secure speakers for the center which offers services such as one-on-one consulting, workshops and financing assistance as well as a web site that gives women a chance to learn from one another in an online forum. The Mayor I, too, like Listerine Breath Strips. But I prefer my staff to be more than five feet away from me at all times if not more. I get claustrophobic. Can’t help but comment on the L.A. Times article that went over an internal memo for Mayor Villaraigosa’s staff that deals with how to “handle” the mayor throughout his busy schedules. Seems he’s as peculiar and popular as a rock star. Memo has great stuff like his aides must remain within Villaraigosa’s line of sight at all times so he can “call you over if need be.” Three to five feet away is the suggested distance. Aides must also carry such things as a small hand sanitizer, two pens and Listerine breath strips. Such things are easy to make fun of but the memo also reveals that the mayor is organized as he goes about his day. He likes to know what’s coming. Details are important. And that’s not such a bad thing. Remember, this is L.A., and a lot of things are scripted and choreographed. Everybody is a star.

You’d think getting support for a sports stadium for the San Fernando Valley would be a cinch, what with traffic and travel time to downtown and Valley-ites’ frequent complaint that the area holds no local cultural attractions. But Mark Steele knows different. His Oasis Stadium project is still just a vision despite years of effort. After several efforts to find a location in North Hollywood and Northridge, Steele has now turned his attention to the Warner Center area, and in recent weeks he took his ideas to the Livable Communities Council meeting of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. Calling it a “mini-Staples for the Valley,” the Valley native is pitching a 10,000-seat arena that would serve as a venue for professional roller and ice hockey, boxing, collegiate and high school basketball and volleyball and other sports as well as concerts and other events. He told the group he has the financing in place to purchase the land for the estimated $207 million project. “If we are successful in finding a suitable location in Woodland Hills we will generate approximately $91 million a year in taxable revenues and create 175 jobs,” Steele told the Business Journal. “And of that $91 million, about $45 million will be generated by the hotels and restaurants and shops in the local area.” Previous attempts to locate the stadium in Northridge fell through when California State University Northridge officials chose a plan (since scrapped) to use their available land for a retail center, and hopes to build the project in North Hollywood were dashed when officials decided the concept did not fit well with the NoHo Arts District. Steele is now eyeing three sites in the Warner Center area: Pierce College, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne campus at Victory Boulevard and Canoga Avenue, and the Northrop Grumman campus at Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard where he believes a portion of the properties might be used for the arena. Steele stated emphatically that these are potential sites and that no discussions are currently taking place. Steele told the Business Journal that City Councilman Dennis Zine, whose district includes the potential site areas, has requested he pitch the concept of The Oasis Stadium to the Woodland Hills and Warner Center residential and business community, and he will begin doing that next month. Bob Scott, an Economic Alliance official who chaired the Livable Communities meeting, pointed out that Valley residents have not historically supported efforts to bring sports events to the area, and strongly opposed efforts to locate any 1984 Olympic events here. “Basically the NIMBYs came out in force and said they didn’t want anything in the Valley,” said Scott.

North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, Home Improvement & Real Estate Cluster 7:00 a.m. Marie Callender’s, 19310 Business Center Dr., Northridge Contact (818) 349-5676 EAPA San Fernando Valley Chapter, Pandemic Flu Planning 8:00 a.m. Tarzana Treatment Centers, 18646 Oxnard St., Tarzana Contact (818) 654-3834

Glendale, Planning Commission 3:30 p.m. Municipal Services Building, 633 E. Broadway, Rm 105, Glendale Contact (818) 548-2140

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said today that it will buy back three of its stores, including one in Burbank to settle a dispute with its Southern California franchisee, Great Circle Family Foods LLC. Under the terms of the agreement Krispy Kreme subsidiary Southern Doughnuts LLC will pay Great Circle $2.9 million for three stores and the related franchise rights to locations in Burbank, Ontario and Orange. The deal settles pending litigation between Krispy Kreme and Great Circle.

Teledyne Technologies Inc. purchased on Thursday the Thousand Oaks-based Rockwell Scientific Co. for $167.5 million cash. Rockwell Scientific provides research and development services for electronics, materials technology and information services. An imaging division based in Camarillo develops and manufactures infrared and visible light imaging sensors for surveillance applications. Rockwell Automation, Inc. and Rockwell Collins, Inc. jointly own Rockwell Scientific and will continue to fund research performed at Rockwell Scientific after the sale to Teledyne becomes final. Rockwell Scientific will become a core business of Teledyne, said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Mehrabian. “Rockwell Scientific’s extensive research and development capabilities for microwave and millimeter-wave semiconductors and very high-speed mixed signal circuits are complementary to several Teledyne business units manufacturing microwave components and subsystems for military radar, electronic warfare, and communications systems,” Mehrabian said.

The 409-acre community of Stonecrest in east Canyon Country will become part of the city of Santa Clarita. The Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission on Wednesday approved the annexation of the property. The neighborhood, which has 1,147 registered voters, sits within a mile of the proposed Cemex sand and gravel mine, which Santa Clarita wants to regulate. A total of 95 out of 662 landowners protested the change, according to the commission. The modification now must be filed with the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. It is the 28th time Santa Clarita has expanded its borders since incorporation in 1987.

K-Swiss reported that earnings rose about 21 percent to $20.3 million or $0.58 per share in the second quarter, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $0.46. But the company’s revenues fell short of The Street’s projections. Westlake Village-based K-Swiss reported revenues fell slightly to $124.2 million in the quarter, versus $126.5 million a year ago. K-Swiss attributed its earnings performance to belt-tightening and said that sales are expected to continue to be soft domestically. “The domestic business continues to be soft, and based on recent booking trends, indicate a more realistic timeframe for stemming the domestic downturn is now at least the second half of 2007,” said Steven Nichols, K-Swiss chairman and president in announcing the results. K-Swiss said it expects earnings in the range of $0.40 to $0.50 and revenues in the range of $119 million to $129 million for the third quarter of the year.

Video game publisher THQ, Inc. reported a net loss of $12.1 million for the first quarter ending June 30. The loss comes to $0.19 per diluted share on net sales of $138.8 million. The loss is an increase from the $3.9 million loss or $0.06 per diluted share for the same time period in 2005. The net sales were better than expected due primarily to better-than-anticipated sales of the MotoGP 2006 and “Cars” videogames, the company said. Net sales for the first quarter of 2005 had been $158 million for the Agoura Hill-based company. THQ President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Farrell anticipates continued high sales of the “Cars” videogame as it is sold in more foreign countries and bring the game to next-generation consoles in the winter. “Our confidence reflects the strength of THQ’s product portfolio, which offers a balance of new original properties for avid gamers on next-generation consoles and Windows PC, including the upcoming ‘Saint’s Row’ and ‘Company of Heroes,'” Farrell said.