E-Verify - voluntary?

If you go to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security page for the U.S. government E-Verify program, you will read the following:

E-Verify is an Internet-based system that allows an employer, using information reported on an employee's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to determine the eligibility of that employee to work in the United States. For most employers, the use of E-Verify is voluntary and limited to determining the employment eligibility of new hires only. There is no charge to employers to use E-Verify. The E-Verify system is operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration.

And, later on the same page:

E-Verify is a voluntary program for employers, with limited exceptions. Companies can access E-Verify online and compare an employee's Form I-9 information with over 455 million records in the Social Security Administration database, and more than 80 million records in Department of Homeland Security immigration databases. E-Verify is an essential tool for employers committed to maintaining a legal workforce, and the number of registered employers is growing by approximately 1,400 per week.

Why do employers sign up for E-Verify? To stay out of jail:

In fiscal year 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement made more than 1,100 criminal arrests associated with workplace investigations, according to its website. Of those arrests, more than 100 were business owners, managers or supervisors.

Another reason to use it - even though it's voluntary, it's not voluntary for some.

Temecula businesses will have to make sure their employees can legally work in the United States after the City Council unanimously passed an employment verification law Tuesday night.

Mayor Jeff Comerchero said the E-Verify ordinance is no different than the city enforcing speeding laws that are already on the books.

"We're obligated to enforce the law, and this is the law," he said.

Temecula's ordinance, modeled after a law in the city of Lancaster, will require holders of business licenses granted by the city to use E-Verify....

And there's a move to make E-Verify mandatory in another Inland Empire city:

Several residents have asked that the city [of Ontario] look into requiring businesses to use the government operated employment verification system, E-Verify....

Ontario resident, Susan Terry, who is unemployed, said she has a personal interest in seeing the system integrated in the city.

"It would open up a lot of jobs for myself," she said.

Councilman Alan Wapner asked city staff to study the matter, but I'm personally not certain that Ontario is likely to require E-Verify.

Incidentally, David Allen's Friday column in the Daily Bulletin included a good line regarding one E-Verify supporter.

From his seat in the audience, one of the activists continually waved a small Arizona flag. Outrageous. Does he want us to be Arizona? This is California, pal. You need to assimilate, pronto.

Afternoon delight at @my_delight

Yes, I know that I've been talking about My Delight Cupcakery in a couple of my blogs over the last few months. Here's a February post here in the Empoprise-IE Inland Empire blog, and here's a December post in my Empoprise-BI business blog.

But until today I never actually HAD a My Delight Cupcake.

You see, as a small business, My Delight isn't exactly open 24/7. And since I don't work in Ontario, I'm normally not around on weekdays when they ARE open, except at dinnertime. And you know the rule - thou shalt not spoil thy dinner. (Once I left for work late, but not late enough).

And on weekends, I'm usually running around doing other things.

But today, just before 5:00 pm, I found myself in the area of My Delight, and figured that this would be my chance. So I checked in:

finally... (@ My Delight Cupcakery) http://4sq.com/crteBI

I ended up having a mint chip cupcake that was filled with ice cream. Definitely an indulgence, and definitely recommended.

Oh, and if you happen to see this post on Saturday, July 24, check out one of their rare Sunday openings on Sunday, July 25 (Facebook event page).

(And for you young whippersnappers who don't know where I got the title of this post - read this. And yes, if I eat too many My Delight Cupcakes, I'll end up living in Fat City. And no, Fat City is not a place where I belong.)

The story of John Rains (in the Carbon Canyon Chronicle)

Just a pointer this morning to a post in the Carbon Canyon Chronicle about John Rains, who co-owned the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino and later owner the Rancho Cucamonga (the rancho, not the city).

In case you're wondering why the Carbon Canyon Chronicle is interested in the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, read this post from April.

Identify a speedway's target audience (hint: some wear makeup)

I've never been to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, but even non-racing fans have to admit that it's a major part of the Inland Empire. However, when I wanted to find out a simple question - how many seats does the Speedway have? - I had to dig through some other information to find it. The "Track Facts" page started with some structural information:

Structures

Buildings
230,000 concrete blocks

Fence
17 miles

Concrete
51,000 cubic yards

Steel and Rebar
370 tons

Grandstand Foundations
1,600 ea. (enough concrete to cover 10 football fields 1 foot thick)

Perhaps I'm going out on a limb here, but I get the sneaking suspicion that the Auto Club Speedway caters to guys. But luckily for me, the next item in the list is "Seating."

Seating
280,000 lbs. of aluminum

Uh, that doesn't exactly tell me what I was looking for. But dude, that's pretty cool.

After scrolling through some other structural facts, as well as some communications and facilities information (hey ladies, there's an infant care center!), I eventually got to an entire section on seating information.

Seating Information

Grandstand
Upper Level 36,030

Grandstand
Lower Level 42,490

Auto Club Speedway Club
12,530

Total Number of Disabled Seating
1,050 w/Companion

Total Grandstand Seating
92,100

Pit Lane Deluxe Corporate W/Handicapped Access
63

Skyboxes
28

So I got my answer - 92,100 not counting the special facilities. (I didn't know that racetracks had skyboxes; I guess everyone does now.)

And those 92,100 seats aren't used for just racing. The oddly named EPICENTER Twenty Ten (odd because there is a much smaller facility in Rancho Cucamonga that happens to be called the Epicenter) may not have a lot of cars, other than some sound effects in "Detroit Rock City." Featured artists include KISS, Eminem, Bush, Blink 182, Bad Religion, and Suicidal Tendencies. Not sure how well KISS' makeup will hold up in September, but the crowd will still like it.

Game theory in airline promotion

Now note that I'm not talking about gaming theory - I'm talking about game theory, which is somewhat different. At least in my mind.

Companies offer incentives to employees and other companies all the time, but incentives need to be carefully designed. For example, some incentives can have detrimental side effects - if you promise to offer bonuses to people who stay at work the longest, sooner or later you're going to have cots in cubicles, wet towels in shower stalls, and probably a satellite TV subscription buried in the accounting records.

San Bernardino International Airport, despite its grand name, is still trying to...um...get off the ground. Because of this, it decided to offer incentives to the first four airlines who initiated regular passenger service at the airport. I alluded to these incentives in a post I wrote last October. (I've also written about the airport at other times, including a detailed post in May 2010 and an "Empoprise-IE" rooster mention in June 2008.)

Unfortunately, the risks of starting business at a brand new airport had an unintended consequence regarding the incentive:

When San Bernardino International Airport offered incentives to the first four airlines that brought a schedule of flights with them, none wanted to be the first when they could be the third or fourth instead....

Yeah, let two other airlines take the risks, then march in and pocket the millions that the airport offers with minimized risk to yourself.

So the airport modified the offer:

Officials will now reward up to $2 million annually for two years and $1 million in startup and marketing costs to just the first two airlines to offer at least 12 flights a week.

Cause, effect, and airport policies

If I wanted to, I could spin a really really good cause and effect story regarding the policies that airports follow.

In the past I've commented on the high fees that Ontario International Airport is charging to the airlines that use the airport. But two recent stories indicate a possible change in the trend.

Fees lowered at ONT

Passenger traffic rises slightly at Ontario Airport

"Well, duh," you may be saying. "Of course if you lower the fees, then the airlines will be more apt to use the airport, and passenger traffic will start to grow again."

Only one problem - I listed the stories out of order.

The story about the rise in passenger traffic is the FIRST of the two stories, and talks about a one percent increase in May 2010 over May 2009.

The story about the lowering of the fees is the SECOND of the two stories, and those reductions are just now taking effect. Plus, as the article notes, even if this results in a significant cost savings for the airlines, it could take some time for this to be reflected in lower ticket prices.

Still, any good news about Ontario airport is good - provided that you live in Ontario.

Ontario Music closing - what will the competitors do?

On Wednesday, David Allen blogged about the closing of Ontario Music later this month. He said that he'll have more information in Friday's column, so go to http://www.dailybulletin.com/ to check for his column when it comes out.

Two comments:

First, as I suspected, David Allen himself was the source of my information regarding Zappa's association with Ontario Music. (See my post).

Second, I want to call your attention to a comment from Richard Firman:

This is a sad story! As a private instructor I used to send kids there all the time! Now, as a competitor, we sent people there all the time for things we ran out of because they always had it!

Now Firman didn't say where he works today, but it's clear that his employer is one who is focused on helping the customer (rather than just helping themselves). I know it sounds all Miracle on 34th Streety, but isn't it nice when Company X will send customers to Company Y in an attempt to help them?

But after Ontario Music is closed, where will Firman send his customers?

One David Allen reader has lived in the IE a REALLY long time

On Tuesday, David Allen requested participation via a blog post entitled "How to know you've lived here a long time."

Based upon my 1983 arrival in California, I added a few items. My personal favorite:

...there was a place called Licorice Pizza that didn't sell food.

I also mentioned the time when the area code changed to 909, but several other people not only mentioned this change, but also mentioned the change from phone numbers that started with two letters (e.g. "YU" for Yukon).

But it's not necessary for you to have lived here forever to contribute. Kristen McConnell arrived in the area in 1997, but even she has noticed changes in the last few years. Two examples:

--when there were open, thriving antique stores in B Street in Ontario

--The Ontario police WERE in downtown Ontario.

I don't know if the changes in the Inland Empire have been accelerated because of our suburban/exurban location, but the comments to Allen's post document a variety of changes in the area - some recent, some not so recent.

In the "not so recent" category, you have to include Bob House's contribution:

Tectonic forces along the San Andreas Fault created Mt. Baldy.

Well, that one's certainly before my time.

I encourage you to read all of the contributions here.

Does your sign spin around, revisited

I was checking my analytics and noticed that this 2008 post was getting a lot of traffic, so I figured I'd revisit the topic of sign spinning (a/k/a "human directional services") and Tryden Staffing in particular.

It turns out that Jobster has posted details on the secret to getting hired at Tryden Staffing. (Hint: there is no secret.)

Tryden Staffing has its own website, but it's for employees only. (westher.msn.com is a recommended resource for employees.)

Another firm, Builders Marketing Group, does have a public-facing website that speaks of their human directional services in detail.

BMG provides the best Human Directional Service available anywhere. We consistently achieve 98-100% attendance across the board, and have many quality control systems in place to ensure that you are getting the highest level of service available from anyone....

With a pool of over 7500 employees in California alone, BMG is large enough
to handle any and all of your Human Directional needs, yet small enough to
care about always doing whatever it takes to keep your business.

But, in an interesting turn of events, Tryden Staffing and Builders Marketing Group are actually the same firm.

Tryden Staffing is California’s Premier Marketing, Advertising and Promotional Staffing Agency. We are the inhouse recruiting firm for Builders Marketing Group.

A WHOIS search of buildersmarketinginc.com (plus one of trydenstaffing.com) reveals an underlying firm, JL Enterprises of Temecula (third-party info here and here). But they do seem to conceal their identity a bit.

Unless, of course, there's a sign spinner in front of 43218 Business Park Dr # 105.

Why John Adams wouldn't be mad about Ontario's July 3 celebration

Decades ago, when I was in the Boy Scouts, my friend and I went to play flute and drum at a Veterans Day event for a service organization. I can't remember if it was the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars or who, but whoever it was, they were pretty traditional.

You see, they celebrated Veterans Day ON VETERANS DAY. And they made a point of saying so. Even back long ago when I was a Boy Scout, Monday holidays were the rage, but not for everyone.

Of course, there are other reasons to move a holiday. In a nation where a good number of people self-identify as Christian, there is often a reluctance to celebrate on Sunday. This affects my home city of Ontario, California:

Residents will start celebrating Independence Day on July 3 with a Fourth of July parade. The celebration will begin at 9 a.m. and feature community floats and equestrian teams. Following the parade there will be a "bring your own picnic," gathering along the Euclid Avenue median.

Yes, my city is celebrating July 4 on July 3. (Although for some odd reason, the fireworks will still take place on the 4th. The fireworks take place in the newer part of Ontario, though - perhaps they're a bunch of Satan worshippers or something.)

Now I'm sure that some people are horrified about celebrating July 4 on July 3, but I imagine that John Adams wouldn't be one of them. (And not just because of his Unitarian leanings.) Because, you see, the U.S. didn't declare independence on July 4.

We declared independence on July 2 - an act that caused Adams to state:

"The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival."

Adams was wrong on his celebration date, because we ended up celebrating on July 4, the date that the final approval, with edits, was given.

By 12 of the 13 colonies. New York waited a few days to approve.

Oh, and the document wasn't signed until August 2.

By 53 of the people who approved it. Three signed later.

So if you want to choose a day to celebrate American independence, take your pick.

Trigger to be sold? Say it isn't so!

For some reason Roy Rogers entered my mind this evening, and I idly searched my FriendFeed friends to see how much they talked about Roy. After seeing the paltry response, I wrote:

Only three of my FriendFeed friends have mentioned Roy Rogers in calendar year 2010. I need new friends.

So I searched outside my friend circle to see what people were saying about Roy.

I wish I hadn't.

You see, I ran across this article, which mentioned:

...a weekend clear-out at the former Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum, which closed last year.

Last I heard the museum had relocated from Victorville to Branson in 2003. The former Victorville site is now an auto mall. Apparently the museum didn't succeed in Branson either. Here's part of what Roy Rogers Jr. said:

The decision to close the Museum has come after two years of steady decline in visitors to the Museum. A lot of factors have made our decision for us. The economy for one, people are just not traveling as much. Dad's fans are getting older, and concerned about their retirement funds. Everyone is concerned about their future in this present economy. Secondly, with our high fiscal obligations we cannot continue to accumulate debt to keep the doors open.This situation is one I have not wanted to happen. Dad always said- “If the museum starts costing you money, then liquidate everything and move on.” Myself and my family have tried to hold together the Museum and collection for over 15 years, so it is very difficult to think that it will all be gone soon.

But the article was not about the museum closure. It was about something even more shocking.

One of Hollywood's most beloved animal stars is to be sold off at auction -- even though it's dead.

Country cowboy and singer Roy Rogers had his trusty equine sidekick Trigger stuffed when the animal died in 1965.

A taxidermist was commissioned to mount the animal in a rearing position.

Now, the creature is to be sold off next month....

Yes, they're auctioning off Trigger.

And you know how the joke goes...there's a likely buyer.

Avoiding the three letter "t" word in Ontario hotels

Cities that market themselves as travel destinations have to maintain a fine balancing act. The purpose of the marketing is to make money, but at the same time you want the destination to be attractive.

Of course, when you make money, you have to determine whether it's more important for city businesses to make money, or the city government to make money. The cities themselves can make a case for the latter, saying that the income is not only needed to continue to promote the city, but is also needed to maintain all of the services that the visitors and the residents require.

And when you're in a recession, everybody loses. In the case of Ontario, the city lost 27% of the revenue that it gets from its transient occupancy t - wait, I'd better not say that three letter "t" word.

As a result, the city of Ontario has increased its transient occupancy...you know...rate from 11.75% to 12.75%. It is expected that this will result in a $680,000 revenue increase.

As for my reluctance to use the t-word, I'm taking this from Councilman Alan Wapner:

"I don't see the TOT as a tax as much as a user fee, and, right now, we don't have as much users as we use to," Councilman Alan Wapner said.

However, this isn't a case in which you'll have to pay the tax, whether you like it or not. No, this will have to be voted upon by the people on November 2. Unfortunately, according to Liset Marquez, the vote itself will add $125,000 to election costs.

Riverside and Upland Footy Fun

LiveSoccerTV.com includes a list of soccer-friendly pubs in North America. Two local pubs are listed:

Auld Dubliner in Riverside

The Black Watch Pub in Upland

But will either place be open early for the 7am (in our time zone) World Cup games?

How local can you get?

I've had the day off of work today, and I've taken care of a few tasks here at home, built some Apollos and Poseidons in Starfleet Commander, and sent this tweet:

@OntarioCA did howard snider stop by YOUR house?

Now @OntarioCA didn't answer my previous tweet (see this post for the story behind that), so I'm not holding out hope that this one will be answered either.

But while @OntarioCA may not know who Howard Snider is, long-time readers of Empoprise-IE certainly know. Snider is the former mayor of Ontario and an active member of Kiwanis, and he has come door-to-door in 2009 and 2008 to promote an early June Kiwanis breakfast event.

A few weeks ago he made his annual visit to our door, and we bought tickets for this year's event, which will take place on Euclid Avenue tomorrow. He happened to visit just after the L.A. City Council announced its intent to study selling Ontario International Airport back to Ontario. Sadly, Snider had no special knowledge of the L.A. City Council's actions.

Is the original Vince's Spaghetti not the original Vince's Spaghetti?

In the process of writing my Monday post about the @OntarioCA Twitter account, I performed a Google search for "vince's spaghetti." When I did, the first search result was Vince's Spaghetti...in Torrance, California.

The first part of the Vince's Torrance story sounds familiar to a lot of us:

It has been over 55 years since Vincent Cuccia and his two brothers first opened Vince's Restaurant in Ontario, California.

Built on Holt Boulevard near the corner of Mountain Avenue, the original Vince's was a six-stool, open-air roadside stand which put to good use the acres and acres of orange groves that comprised Ontario in the middle 1940's. Along with orange juice, Vince's originally served a French Dip Sandwich, based on an Au Jus recipe created by Vince's mother, to the many movie stars as they traveled along the highway to Palm Springs, and to the members of the Armed Forces stationed at Edwards Air Force Base.

But ever the visionary, and frustrated by an inability to find spaghetti and meat sauce comparable to that in his native Chicago, Vince convinced his mother to help him develop the meat sauce recipe that is still used today. After almost two years of trial and error and taste tests, to which the family would add their opinions: "add some more of this," or "it's got a little too much of that"—Vince and his mother created exactly what they—and apparently a lot of other people—were looking for.

At the same time, the menu was not the only thing marked for expansion. As word of Vince's fabulous spaghetti sauce spread, people would line up to get take-out of the same generous portions that are still served today. Before long, the original idea of orange juice and fresh fruit was absorbed by the almost 600 plates of spaghetti served daily—a total of almost 11 tons of spaghetti served per week.


But fast forward a few decades after 1945, and the story...um...forks:

After 25 years of working with the family, Vince and his brothers agreed to go their separate ways; Vince sold his interest in the Ontario location and moved with his wife Louise, daughter Rosemary (affectionately known as DeeDee), and her husband Bill, to the South Bay.

Hawthorne Boulevard looked attractive to Vince, so he settled on the corner at 23609, and in April, 1973, Vince's Spaghetti Restaurant of Torrance was opened.

So if Vince himself (who has since passed away) moved to Torrance, then is the Torrance location the original Vince's?

Interestingly enough, the Ontario version of this story seems to be lacking one particular word. See if you can spot it.

The Cuccias arrived from Chicago as WWII was ending.

Once in California, the Cuccia's opened a family sandwich stand in late Summer 1945. Frank Cuccia's father John was still in Europe in the Army when Cuccia's uncles and aunt opened the stand. Two months later Cuccia says, one of those uncles happened to be eating a plate of his mother's spaghetti when a customer spied it and asked if the plate of pasta and meatballs was on the menu. It wasn't, but anything for a good customer and a plate of spaghetti was brought in from the family's home. The rest is history.

Yes - if you scan the entire history, you will never see any of Frank's uncles mentioned by name. And, needless to say, the Ontario website says nothing about the Torrance location.

I don't know if this apparent schism is accidental, if there's a simmering feud, or if the two branches of the family are lobbing meatballs at each other.

Have any of my readers been out to Torrance? Can you offer a comparison?

Pretending to be local?

If you choose to do so, you can use the Internet to target a very small vertical cross-section of the total Internet audience, allowing you to focus on just those things that are of interest to you. Therefore, since the Inland Empire of California is one of four chosen Empoprises focus areas, I was very pleased when my Twitter account was followed by @OntarioCA. But as I read the tweets, I noticed something. See if you can notice it also.

We love Ontario's unique local businesses & they need all of us. Make your Local Pledge now! http://ow.ly/1DQU6

Donate to a local charity? Love a local restaurant? Shop the farmers market? Make a My Local Pledge now & tell friends! http://ow.ly/1EgZT

If you read these and other tweets, you will note that these tweets are devoid of specific local content. The tweeter (or tweet committee) doesn't make explicit mention of Chaffey High School or Vince's or anything that is actually in Ontario.

The reason becomes apparent when you go to the linked website, My Local Pledge. On the one hand, the website strongly urges people to buy in their local communities. On the other hand, it covers a lot of local communities.

Agoura Hills
Anaheim
Bakersfield
Bellflower
Berkeley
Beverly Hills
Brentwood
Burbank
Calabasas
Carlsbad
Carson
Chatsworth
Chico
Chula Vista
Claremont
Clovis
Concord
Corona
Costa Mesa
Culver City
Daly City
Eagle Rock
El Cajon
Encino
Fremont
Fresno
Glendale
Glendora
Hermosa Beach
Huntington Beach
Irvine
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Los Feliz
Malibu
Manhattan Beach
Marina Del Rey
Newport Beach
North Hollywood
Northridge
Oakland
Oceanside
Ontario
Oxnard
Palm Springs
Palmdale
Pasadena
Pleasanton
Pomona
Redondo Beach
Reseda
Sacramento
San Diego
San Francisco
San Jose
Santa Barbara
Santa Clara
Santa Clarita
Santa Monica
Sherman Oaks
Silver Lake
Stockton
Studio City
Tarzana
Thousand Oaks
Torrance
Van Nuys
Venice
Ventura
West Hollywood
Woodland Hills

This got me wondering - where is My Local Pledge itself based? If I support My Local Pledge, am I contributing to Ontario? Well, according to a whois search, I'm not:

Registrant Info: (FAST-14284098)
City Sites LLC
Katherine Higgins
1011 East Olive Ave
Burbank, California 91501
United States
Phone: +1.8185667660
Fax..:
Email: kate@citysitesinc.com
Last modified: 2010-04-01 00:36:29 GMT

Well, let's see if I get a response to this tweet:

@OntarioCA Is Vince's open today?

Of course, if I were really smart, I'd tweet that on a Wednesday...

P.S. I just belatedly discovered Vince's Spaghetti's Facebook page.

In praise of San Bernardino International Airport...eventually

When Norton Air Force Base was closed, it converted to an entity with the grandiose name of San Bernardino International Airport. If it hadn't been for September 11, this airport could very well have become a passenger-carrying concern. However, the airport can't serve passenger traffic yet, and may not for some time:

The cost to make San Bernardino International Airport passenger ready for airlines has risen to $92.4 million and will likely rise again....

[T]he Inland Valley Development Agency overseeing the redevelopment of the former Norton Air Force Base approved spending another $5.93 million to finish the airport....

[T]he $5.9 million would mainly be used to secure the airport according to TSA standards.

Of course you can build an airport, but will the airlines come? The recent rocky history of Ontario International Airport, where airlines have departed because of low passenger traffic and high airport fees, suggest that there may be challenges. However, the airport is apparently offering incentives to airlines, and the Inland Valley Development Agency will continue to subsidize the airport.

But will that be enough?

In praise of Ontario International Airport

There are certain things that I will avoid saying if at all possible. For example, I try my hardest to refrain from using the name "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." (That is literally the first time that I have used this phrase in years.) In fact, I went so far as to rename Arte Moreno to emphasize my dissatisfaction with the name.

Another name that I try to avoid is "LA/Ontario International Airport." However, the airport name can be justified in a way that the baseball team name cannot - the city of Los Angeles actually owns the airport in Ontario.

But if Ontario City Council member Alan Wapner has its way, that might change.

ONT lost nearly 26 percent of its air traffic volume in the past year and also had to deal with a $7 million shortfall to its 2009-10 budget.

In recent years, Wapner said he has noticed a lack of communication when it comes to ONT between LAWA and the city of Los Angeles.

Wapner has also said LAWA has not done enough to lower operating costs and drive more air traffic to ONT.

As a result, Wapner made a request of the Los Angeles City Council.

The city of Los Angeles will study what it would require and what it would stand to lose or gain to return control of Ontario International Airport to the city of Ontario, according to a motion approved 12-3 Monday by the city council.

During a three-minute discussion toward the end of an 11-hour special Los Angeles City Council meeting Monday to talk about the city’s budget crisis, councilmembers Greig Smith and Bill Rosendahl introduced the motion. It requires the city administrative officer, chief legislative analyst and Los Angeles World Airports which owns and operates LAX and Ontario Airport, to research the feasibility of transferring control of the airport to the city of Ontario and report back before Sept. 1.

But does this study truly mean anything?

Rosendahl downplayed the motion as a “courtesy” to the city of Ontario. He said he had received a call from Ontario Councilman and Vice Mayor Alan Wapner.

“They’ve called me, the vice mayor of that, the other day, and he said blah, blah, blah,” Rosendahl said during the meeting, referring to the call from Wapner.

As the city spends a hefty sum to modernize LAX, Rosendahl inferred that traffic would naturally pick up at Ontario airport and, in that case, transferring the airport to the Inland city wouldn’t be necessary.

@YogurtimeUpland - I am eating my words

At one point I held over a dozen mayorships in Foursquare, but as the service has become more popular, I have lost every one of my mayorships except for one - the mayorship for Yogurtime, a frozen yogurt place at 110 South Mountain in Upland, California.

I've only written about Yogurtime once in my Empoprise-IE Inland Empire blog - in a December 2009 post that looked at the brouhaha between certain customers of Yogurtime and the Upland High Gay-Straight Alliance.

But I did write about Yogurtime at length in my Empoprise-BI business blog - in a post (also from December 2009) that noted that Yogurtime didn't really control the online marketing of their business. Search results for Yogurtime were dominated by results from Yelp and other sources - and by a Yogurtime Twitter page. Just one problem:

Yogurtime's Twitter account ranks very highly in Google search results. Only problem is that this @yogurtime Twitter account is for a Yogurtime in Hong Kong.

So, because I know how to spell SEO, I made a humble suggestion:

So all the folks in Upland need to do is to establish a @yogurtimeupland Twitter account, and hopefully all the third-party content on Yogurtime will be pushed down the search queue....

I'd email Yogurtime with these suggestions...but their email is not listed. Perhaps they'll find this post and at least set up a Twitter account to communicate with their customers online.

And maybe they'll implement privileges for FourSquare mayors. :) One can only hope...

Well, it's now several months later, and I spent a little bit of time on Sunday afternoon in Yogurtime (maintaining my mayorship, of course). While there, I noticed that Yogurtime HAS set up a @YogurtimeUpland Twitter account. While I seriously doubt that my post prompted them to do this - I don't even know if they ever saw my post - I'm glad to see that Yogurtime has joined its Hong Kong brethren in the Twitter world.

The first @YogurtimeUpland tweet was on April 10, and by April 20 they were already offering online specials:

Today only: whisper 3Free to the cashier to receive 3 ounces of yogurt for free!

Unfortunately, not many people know about the Twitter account yet. When I began following the account this afternoon, there were only two other followers. But even though there are only three followers, the Twitter presence is already yielding positive results. While a Google search of "Yogurtime" still results in the Yelp listing being the first entry, the @YogurtimeUpland Twitter account has climbed up to third (after the Foursquare entry). My December 2009 Empoprise-BI blog post has fallen to 19th.

Imagine what will happen when more people find out about the Twitter account. Yogurtime will have more control over their online presence and reputation. And that can be a good thing.

Claremont High School's Kori Carter featured in Saturday's Los Angeles Times

I was reading the paper today, and ran across this article on Kori Carter, a hurdler at Claremont High School.

Now I have never been to a Claremont High track meet, but I was talking to someone who happens to know Carter, and apparently the paper describes her fairly accurately.

Here's how Melissa Rohlin started her article:

Before Kori Carter annihilates her high school competitors with her speed, she disarms them with a hug.

The Claremont High senior, one of the top young hurdlers in the nation, approaches each of her adversaries before races, throws her arms around them and says a prayer. Her family said that some people find it endearing, and others find it mystifying.

"I'm just a hugger," Carter said. "It's just how I say hello. It's not that big of a deal to be nice to people."

More here.