Home Care In Agoura Hills, CA

Taking care of your home can be scary! Tackle those household demons with professional help this fall.

The arrival of fall not only marks a change in season, but also reminds us of spine-chilling spider webs, ghoulish decor, and the thrill of Halloween. While many of us like our homes to be festively scary this time of year, we certainly don’t want it to give our neighbors the creeps year-round. Fortunately, Thumbtack, a home services app used by millions, has Agoura Hills residents covered.

Burst water pipes, the dryer that shakes, and creaks in the floorboards are household woes that can turn up the scary factor in your home. But with a reliable partner like Thumbtack, these house horrors can be handled — no exorcist required!

Thumbtack connects homeowners with local professionals who can fix malfunctioning appliances, tame unruly landscaping, and repair structural troubles that haunt your everyday life. Whether you're looking for a one-time home improvement project or regular lawn maintenance services, Thumbtack makes it simple to search for and hire a professional who caters to your specific needs.

The Agoura Hills community has plenty of pros ready to handle the horror and help with:

You can contact pros and request free cost estimates, allowing you to compare prices and choose the professional that best fits your budget. You can also read reviews, view how many times a business has been hired by others, and identify how long a business has been open.

Find out what's happening in Agoura Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Remember: It may be Halloween, but that doesn’t mean your home has to be scary! With regular, proactive maintenance, Thumbtack can help you continuously care for your home so it’s in perfect shape all year long.

Caring for your home can be scary! Find and hire top-rated Agoura Hills area pros to tackle even the most haunting of home projects.

LA HABRA, Calif., March 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Howard’s, Southern California’s premier independent appliance retailer, today announced the grand opening of its new Experience Center in Agoura Hills. The largest ever location in Howard’s portfolio of high-contact customer engagement centers, the Agoura Hills store offers the widest selection of major appliances in California, catering to the shopping needs of affluent West Los Angeles County consumers in Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Calabasas, and other neighboring communities.

Howard’s is pleased to introduce its latest retail location to residents of this sophisticated and affluent community, completing its domination of the greater Los Angeles market with 17 locations and two outlet stores. The expansive 35,000 sq. ft. Agoura Hills’ beats out even the Laguna Hills store, the previous largest location, by 2,000 sq. ft. The new Agoura Experience Center suits the uniquely vibrant, and historic community with 12 stunning fully functional luxury kitchens and immersive showrooms. The retailer invites the region’s most discerning shoppers to test drive the latest appliances, TVs and mattresses before making a purchasing decision.

“We are excited to continue to grow Howard’s footprint and serve the retail needs of customers in Agoura Hills,” said John Riddle, CEO, Howard’s. “As we introduce new Southern California stores, we fuel our brand partners’ expansion, particularly over the next five years as the pandemic-high use of major appliances and consumer durables hastens the end of life for these products.”

Howard’s Agoura Hills Experience Center brings high quality products, greater selection and better value to customers, encouraging shoppers to see and explore connected appliances, in-store kiosks and live product vignettes of active kitchens, laundry suites and premium high-performance brands as they would function in a home.

The new Experience Center is located at 28610 Canwood Street in Los Angeles County. Centrally located in the shopping corridor along the 101 freeway, Howard’s Agoura Hills grand opening event will take place March 30-April 2. Residents of Agoura Hills and the surrounding communities are encouraged to attend and enjoy hands-on immersive product demonstrations, special savings, gifts-with-purchase and prize giveaways.

“Independent, regional major appliance and CE retailers like Howard’s introduce customers to a broader product array than what can be offered by big box stores with their limited inventory, need to carry many thousands of products and difficulty pivoting to meet the needs of GenX and Millennial customers. By necessity these locations cannot offer in-depth product knowledge,” adds Riddle. “Howard’s, though, provides comprehensive product displays, knowledgeable staff and professional home delivery and installation services. Our teams are fully trained in our innovative RARE initiative, meeting customers where they are for a flexible, straightforward and friction-free shopping experience.”

Howard’s anticipates capturing 10-15 percent of the Southern California appliance retail market by 2024 and is well-positioned for regional development across the Western United States into new markets. Howard’s has transformed the retail appliance shopping landscape in Southern California through a combination of organic growth, the targeted acquisition of independent appliance retailers, builder channel growth, new investments in website and ecommerce development, and the introduction of the Experience Center concept.

For more information about Howard’s, visit howards.com.

ABOUT HOWARD’SHoward's was founded in 1946 in Los Angeles County, California. Due to the Company’s focus on customer satisfaction, the business has grown over the past 75 years to become Southern California's largest and most trusted independent appliance retailer. With knowledgeable product experts, the highest levels of service, the best brands with an expansive array of products, and 17 locations in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties, Howard’s goal is to help consumers simplify their experience to purchase great products for their home.

Media Contact: Sabrina Suarez714-573-0899 x227[email protected]

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/16cd5b5b-0231-414e-af23-acad0f641960

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/085c10c5-fa9e-40cc-bfec-d12df631b640

Some argue that government communication is an oxymoron — and for good reason. Public agencies deal with complex issues, operate in environments with a low-risk tolerance, and are governed by strict communication laws. And that’s before anyone brings up the dreaded F word: funding.

The city of Agoura Hills’ podcast, The Good Life Agoura Hills, challenges that assumption. The podcast shows that government communication can be fun and digestible, even when it comes to challenging topics. Just as importantly, communication is not just about information sharing. It is about building relationships and meeting people where they are.

The genesis of the Good Life Agoura Hills is rooted in a serious incident. On Nov. 8, 2018, the city (pop. 19,825) was in an all-too-familiar situation. It was a hot, dry, windy day. Late that afternoon, powerful Santa Ana winds turned a nearby brush fire into what would later become the Woolsey Fire. The massive blaze led to the unprecedented, total evacuation of several cities, including Agoura Hills.

According to Deborah Lopez, who was elected to the city council just two days prior, the fire underscored the need to modernize the city’s communication strategies. During the fire, the city mostly relied on email and landline phones to communicate.

The city began revamping its communication strategies in 2019. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic a year later accelerated these efforts.

The most immediate, visible change was an expanded presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Nextdoor. In 2022, the city built on that work by launching a monthly podcast, which brings on subject matter experts to discuss the biggest — sometimes most contentious — issues and projects in the city. Topics range from the city’s housing element and water conservation to the upcoming Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.

“We have to be in those spaces so that we’re giving people accurate, timely information and [the city’s efforts have] just come such a long way over the last four years,” Lopez said. I’m a believer that you have to meet people in various mediums to get your message across [and] to keep their attention.

“I don’t think you can overcommunicate with your residents … because everybody has a different manner in which they ingest information.”

Despite the sometimes-somber subjects, the city is not afraid to rely on levity to spread its message. In one opening skit about water conservation, David Pedersen, the general manager for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District was on the receiving end of a (staged) full-body tackle from the water district mascot. Not to be outdone, the school district asked to recreate the opening of Beverly Hills, 90210 in its episode.

"The Good Life Agoura Hills podcast is a sterling example of creative, effective communications by a forward-thinking municipality,” Pedersen said. “The entire team at the city of Agoura Hills should be commended for creating a series of informative podcasts that address issues of interest to the community in a fun, easy-going way. This is the future of communications for public agencies and a model for the rest of us to follow."

The podcast solves several long-standing problems. First, it allows the city to reach more people than it did through in-person and online workshops. These workshops are held when a large city project needs resident input and last about two hours. From 2020-22, 263 people viewed a live workshop.

“We would go through so many resources and only have, let's say, ten [to fifteen] people showing up,” said Ramiro Adeva, the show’s host and the assistant city manager. “Now, we’re a smaller city ... but when you are trying to reach the masses, that’s hard to do when you try to … get this information to [people] and there aren’t any bodies there to absorb it.

The podcast, which is available on major podcasting platforms and YouTube, has 2,611 views on YouTube alone. On average, viewers watch 70% of any given episode.

This greater reach naturally results in more effective outreach efforts. The city has always tried to stay connected with local businesses. However, scheduling a workshop about available resources and programs that works for the majority of business owners is functionally impossible. Creating a podcast episode about those resources with a high-profile community member is not.

The podcast’s format also means that business leaders can access that information on a platform and time that is convenient for them.

From a policy perspective, the podcast helps clarify complex topics and combat misleading information. “We are the liaisons between the legal, technical, wonky part of state policy and our residents,” Lopez said. “The podcast is able to bridge that and explain things that will affect [residents'] lives. We can’t ignore the housing element because it’s wonky. We have to be able to explain it to people because it will affect them."

Just as importantly, the podcast’s down-to-earth, cheerful nature allows people to put faces with names. This helps increase trust, transparency, and community. Greater trust, combined with better information, helps incorporate more voices into the decision-making process. It also makes it easier for city officials to get buy-in for public projects.

“We [made] it a very personal experience so that you are actually connecting with leaders you might not otherwise connect with in a different format,” Adeva said. “We show [residents] that these [officials] are people; they’re people just like you and [me] ... You can’t just walk into the superintendent’s office and meet the district head honcho.”

Perhaps the scariest thing for any prospective podcast personality is not the upfront costs. Rather, it is what to say when they are in front of the mic. Agoura Hills has had no shortage of material.

"The Good Life Agoura Hills podcast is a community treasure,” said Dr. Dan Stepenosky, the Las Virgenes Unified School District superintendent. “It brings in diverse voices and resources from our community. It has infectious energy and positivity. It's exciting to watch it grow, get better every day, and provide connection for all."

For Council Member Lopez, the podcast is a way to get closer to her constituents. She passes on feedback from her constituents to staff, who respond by bringing in relevant experts on the show. She then draws attention to the podcast through her own communication platforms.

For residents, the podcast is an easy way to stay informed about important local issues. “Being a busy mother of two kids and having a full-time job can be exhausting,” Karen Henderson said. “The city’s podcast has made it easy for me to remain informed on important issues affecting the community at a time and place convenient for me and I’m grateful for this resource. And the humor sprinkled into the episodes is entertaining and appreciated.”

The Cal Cities #LocalWorks initiative shines the spotlight on examples of local actions that are making a difference to their communities. Show how #LocalWorks in your community by emailing [email protected].

The westbound 101 Freeway remains closed in Agoura Hills Thursday morning, hours after a pair of crashes involving two semi trucks, at least one of which jackknifed, blocking the roadway.

The closure began shortly after 1:10 a.m., when two big rigs and a third vehicle collided on the freeway west of Chesebro Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The SigAlert will remain in place “until further notice,” the CHP added.

Footage from the scene shows that the trucks sustained major damage to their front ends, while the third vehicle, a dark-colored SUV, was on its passenger side in vegetation along the roadway.

At least one person could be seen as they were loaded into an ambulance, but their condition is unknown, as is that of others in the crash.

A woman at the scene told Key News Network that she witnessed the second collision when she stopped to help those involved in the first crash, which was between the SUV and one semi-truck.

“Another semi-truck came down the freeway and could not stop in time and went through the back end of the Amazon truck,” she said.

She added that she did not know how the first accident occurred.

AGOURA HILLS (CNS) - A tree trimmer was fatally injured Wednesday in Agoura Hills, authorities said.

Firefighters were sent to the 4000 block of Lewis Road, south of the 101 Freeway, at about 10:30 a.m. on a report that a person was trapped about 40 feet up a tree, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported. Information on his identity was not immediately available.

The circumstances of the death were under investigation.

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