The Paramount Education Partnership's College Scholarship Fund was recently presented with a donation in the memory of a long-time resident and received a substantial grant from Edison International.

Paramount residents Rick and Charlene DeBie, owners of Pipeline Plumbing, made a contribution of $1,000 to the scholarship fund in honor of the late Dr. Raymond Biel, who passed away this year.

The Department Valor Awards Program recognizes the exceptionally heroic acts performed by members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. These awards signify courage, acts of heroism while saving the life of another, traumatic physical injury while performing their job, preservation of human life, personal commitment, and sacrifice to help others.

The City of Paramount has changed its water conservation measures from Stage 2 to Stage 1. This is a return to the cutbacks that were in place at the beginning of the state-imposed move to require that all cities encourage residents to conserve outdoor water usage.

Here are the current measures.

If you haven't done so already, download the free app "Paramount Works" onto your smart phone to alert City staff about maintenance issues around town so they can be dealt with in a timely manner.

If you see graffiti, potholes, stray shopping carts, burnt-out street lights, furniture or debris in a street or alley, or similar items, Paramount Works is a quick and easy way to report them.

The app is available for free downloading from the App Store or Google Play.

By the way, the City also has a graffiti hotline. Call (562) 220-2233 to report the vandalism so City crews can wipe it clean. Reporting can be done anonymously.

Our graffiti removal team is out on a regular basis patrolling parks, alleys, large walls, and other areas that attract taggers. Our goal is to remove any graffiti within 48 hours (and it usually gets done quicker than that).

The Paramount Farmers Market is open every Friday at Progress Park from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 15500 Downey Ave.

It features fresh fruits and vegetables, and a variety of other food items. Vendors also accept EBT.

There is plenty of parking and Progress Park is a stop for the Easy Rider shuttle. For more information, please call (562) 220-2121.

Photographs taken at City events and gatherings are now available for viewing on the website SmugMug. You can find the Paramount "gallery" at www.cityofparamount.smugmug.com.

We have hundreds of photos from the most recent Halloween Carnival and all of the City's holiday events. And they can be downloaded for free. Click on the photo, then hit the download icon at the bottom right part of the screen. Enjoy!

All photographs taken by the City of Paramount at our programs and events may be used by the City for marketing of these programs and events on printed and electronic formats.

A line up of Paramount productions - from the city, not the movie studio - is now on the video-streaming website YouTube. Shows highlight such things as public presentations at City Council meetings, special community events, an oral history of the our town, and other Paramount profiles. Click this link to visit www.youtube.com/cityofparamount.

The City of Paramount has prepared its draft Assessment of Fair Housing in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations. The publication of this notice is the beginning of the 30-day public review period. The public review and written comment period begins Friday, September 2, 2016 and runs through Tuesday, October 4, 2016.

On January 28, 2016, the Oversight Board for the Successor Agency for the Paramount Redevelopment Agency approved the Recognized Obligations Payment Schedule (ROPS) for the period of July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. The ROPS was submitted to the California Department of Finance for review.

(ROPS 16-17)

(ROPS-January 2016 thru June 2016)

Additional information about the elimination of redevelopment agencies can be found on the California Department of Finance's website.

http://www.dof.ca.gov/redevelopment/