Home Care In Torrance, CA

TORRANCE, Calif. - The iconic Alpine Market in Torrance - which has been selling German groceries and goods to the Southern California community since 1968 - has shut its doors for good.

In a message posted to social media, Alpine Village thanked its longtime customers for their support.

"The Alpine Market has closed permanently. Thank you for your patronage over the many years," the market wrote on its Facebook page.

People who had visited the market were quick to share their memories of the historic establishment.

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"I spoke with the owner before they closed. She said many people were showing up when they heard about the closing, yet hadn't been there in years! Support your local/small businesses while they're open people!!!" one person said.

"This was the most nostalgic place for my family. My Opa and Oma brought their family from Germany to Long Beach. This was like home to them. My family would spend many Oktoberfests there. Make 2 hour trips from the High Desert to get Weisswurst and Leberkasse for Christmas Eve every year. I am truly heartbroken but I am so grateful for all the amazing memories built at Alpine Village. Gone but never forgotten.The end of an era. As a Belgian immigrant, the Market allowed me to enjoy many of the foods I missed and could not find here. Bavarian Weisswurst was an acceptable replacement to Boudin Blanc, and their Country Pate was absolutely legendary. The bakery was 100% the real deal, with rolls the likes of which were impossible to find anywhere else, and pastries like I knew them (their Napoleons were amazing). We would gather there twice a year and post up at one of the tables outside, spending a couple of hours eating picnic style, going in and out of the Market for supplies, it was always a great time. Thank you for many years of gastronomic delight. You will be sorely missed," another person shared.

"So sad. I remember going to Alpine Village since I was a kid, we'd have a meal, visit the shops. Later as an adult I visit the restaurant and bar, buy some meats from the market and of course the best Oktoberfest. Many fantastic memories here," another commented.

According to its website, the Alpine Village Shops will remain open.

A2Z Drone Delivery, Inc, developer of commercial drone delivery solutions, has announced the opening of its new worldwide headquarters in Torrance, CA. The expanded facility will allow A2Z Drone Delivery to continue its rapid growth as commercial drone delivery scales globally. The Torrance headquarters is the company’s base for research and development, product and software design, global sales and marketing, as well as customer training and support.

Initially launching the industry’s first commercial drone delivery winch in 2019. A2Z Drone Delivery’s RDS2 UAV winch is a drone agnostic solution that can be integrated with just about any commercial delivery UAV. The RDS2 is also available as a factory integrated feature with A2Z Drone Delivery’s growing fleet of ready-to-fly, off-the-shelf commercial logistics UAVs. The company is currently taking orders for its long-range RDSX Pelican hybrid VTOL delivery drone as well as the recently-released medium range RDST Longtail integrated delivery drone.

Combined with the A2Z Drone Delivery UAV winch, these platforms allow drone service providers and enterprise customers to scale drone operations while addressing the consumer-protection concerns with last-mile drone delivery. By conducting deliveries from altitude, A2Z Drone Delivery’s solutions protect recipients from spinning UAV propellers, while mitigating privacy concerns of low-flying drones and abating intrusive rotor noise. Depositing payloads from altitude also keeps the UAV high above trees, power lines and buildings enabling longer sight distances for missions requiring visual line of sight. Where regulations allow beyond-line-of-sight (BVLOS), A2Z Drone Delivery platforms are also able to conduct autonomous missions along prescribed delivery routes.

“We are thrilled to open our new worldwide headquarters in Torrance, C.A. where our growing team will continue to develop the next generation of autonomous commercial drone delivery solutions,” said Aaron Zhang, CEO and Co-Founder of A2Z Drone Delivery. “Planting our headquarters in the aerospace capital of the world ensures we have ready access to the highest quality aerospace talent and suppliers, and are able to continue the supportive relationships we have enjoyed with local government entities. From Torrance, we are able to provide in-person support for our customers, and have ready access to nearby flight test areas for flight trials and customer training.”

The new Torrance, CA headquarters mark another benchmark for the company’s rapid growth. A2Z Drone Delivery also recently expanded its Ground Zero Test Facility in Anji County outside Shanghai, China where company engineers conduct advanced autonomous BVLOS trials under real-life conditions. These consumer deliveries not only provide a valuable service to residents of the rural area but allow A2Z Drone Delivery developers to learn how people interact with its drone systems in real life, and adapt its designs to more seamlessly fit consumer demand.

In addition to residential parcel delivery, A2Z Drone Delivery solutions are being put to work by customers conducting medical deliveries, supporting first responders and search and rescue operations, streamlining offshore logistics, water sample collection, and more.

About A2Z Drone Delivery, Inc.

With its patented delivery system, A2Z Drone Delivery, Inc. is developing innovative solutions to enable safe, accurate and low-noise drone deliveries. Focused on last-mile UAV delivery systems, A2Z Drone Delivery is creating UAV delivery platforms capable of pushing drone delivery into the mainstream of logistics operations. Based in Torrance, C.A., A2Z Drone Delivery originated as a drone delivery project at Brown University in 2016 and now services customers around the world which are leveraging its technology for a diverse array of applications.

For more information visit: https://www.a2zdronedelivery.com/.

Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF) has gone live with new geospatial and drone technology from Esri UK to help it better prepare for emergencies across the county, including flooding, loss of critical infrastructure, pandemics or severe weather. Image recognition and drone software are among new applications helping to create real-time intelligence and an improved understanding of potential catastrophes.

Covering over 2,000 square miles and a population of more than 750,000, the LRF’s objective is to save and protect human life, relieve suffering and contain emergencies, limiting their escalation by ensuring comprehensive readiness. One of 38 Local Resilience Forums in England, the multi-agency partnership consists of over 30 category 1 and 2 responders, including local authorities, government agencies, emergency services, NHS and health bodies, utilities and transport providers.

New systems are being used to identify unknown caravans using drone and satellite imagery, to gain a more accurate understanding of where residents need to be evacuated from the event of a major flood. Preparing for tidal inundation is a top priority for the LRF due to Lincolnshire having one of the largest single landmasses in the country at risk of such an event, along with Europe’s highest density of static caravans at more than 34,000.

Esri drone software is making aerial data capture faster and more accurate to create 3D digital twins of potentially higher-risk zones, supporting better understanding of access and evacuation points in relation to homes and other properties. The new deployment means the LRF can create digital twins more quickly, particularly for Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) locations, which involve dangerous substances such as gas and oil refineries.

“Responding to large emergencies – particularly flooding but also major transport incidents or the loss of critical infrastructure – is a crucial role of public services. With the climate crisis comes more extreme weather events, which means community resilience is even more important,” explained Steve Eason-Harris, Emergency Planning Officer at Lincolnshire County Council, who is the lead officer for GIS and Resilient Communities for the LRF.

“Lincolnshire is a large county with no motorways and few dual carriageways so response and evacuation planning is critical. These new innovations are enabling emergency planners to model risks affecting the county to maximize response, improve communication and coordination and reduce, as practicably as possible, the impacts on the wider communities of the county. Creating the new caravan dataset in particular will dramatically improve intelligence.”

Identifying static caravans is traditionally difficult due to licensing regulations, land ownership and registry data. Now with new deep learning tools available, the LRF is exploring and developing ways of employing drone and satellite imagery and GIS to identify previously unknown caravans. Tourism is the lifeblood of many coastal regions in the country but this can increase risks to coastal populations residing in caravans when holiday seasons lengthen into storm periods. In Lincolnshire, this traditionally runs from October to March.

“We’re aiming to solve a huge challenge and having the latest geospatial technology means the LRF can respond more effectively. Constant innovation is critical at the LRF, the objective being to use new systems to ensure we get the right resources to the right people at the right time,” continued Eason-Harris.

At the core of the solution lies an Esri real-time mapping dashboard, providing a common operating picture, which went live in summer 2022 and was used extensively during Storm Babet in October 2023. Available online, on mobile devices and giant touch screens in the County Emergency Centre, it integrates data from over 30 agencies to allow rapid decision-making. The system provides a faster and more advanced method of showing partners what the situation is before, during and after an emergency, compared to paper maps and spreadsheets.

Other new GIS projects at LRF include developing a workforce application for deploying, tracking and communicating with volunteers in the field to support vulnerable people who need assistance the most. The system will update the control center via a mobile app when volunteer tasks have been completed and alert the team with any requests for medical intervention or transport assistance. Data from the app will also feed directly into the mapping dashboard in the control center.

Honeywell has been selected by regional air mobility leader Lilium to provide its thermal management system for the all-electric Lilium Jet. Lilium selected Honeywell’s MicroVCS (Vapor Cycle System) to optimize cabin cooling and manage the aircraft’s electric battery temperatures, both critical functions for enabling more efficient and sustainable flight.

Honeywell and Lilium will partner to integrate the system into the Lilium Jet, which will also feature Honeywell Anthem Avionics, Honeywell-DENSO electric motors and Honeywell flight controls. The all-electric vertical takeoff and landing Lilium Jet, on track to start production later this year, will help create a more efficient, sustainable and accessible mode of high-speed, regional transportation for people and goods.

“In our collaboration with Honeywell, we’ve tapped into the numerous advantages of the MicroVCS, reinforcing the synergistic value with a single, innovative supplier providing multiple subsystems for the Lilium Jet,” said Lilium Chief Operating Officer Yves Yemsi. “Honeywell’s innovative subsystems offer a renewed perspective on aerospace possibilities.”

Honeywell’s MicroVCS high-speed, oil-free centrifugal compressor technology allows the system to be 22% lighter than conventional screw or scroll compressor-based vapor cycle cooling systems. This weight savings avoids 9,900 lbs. of CO₂ emissions per year in an Advanced Air Mobility aircraft.* Additionally, the MicroVCS uses Honeywell Solstice^© zd refrigerant, with an ultra-low Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1, which is 99.9% lower than R-134a used in competitor systems. Honeywell Solstice^© zd provides 10% better hot-day power efficiency than the legacy R-134a refrigerant when used in an equivalent refrigeration cycle.**

“The MicroVCS is a ready-now solution that embodies Honeywell’s dedication to creating a more sustainable future for air travel,” said Dave Shilliday, Honeywell vice president and general manager, Advanced Air Mobility. “This technology is a great fit for Advanced Air Mobility vehicles, but its versatility also enables it to be seamlessly integrated into other applications, such as business aviation and defense aircraft.”

Honeywell’s close partnership with Lilium shows its continued dedication to developing solutions that herald a more sustainable and advanced future for aviation. From autonomous technologies to thermal management solutions, Honeywell’s extensive array of aerospace products and solutions are at the forefront of the industry’s evolution.

* For a ducted, vectored thrust electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, with an effective lift-drag ratio of 16, flying 4,000 hours per year, and being charged from a U.S. power grid.

** Based on hot day of 40°C = International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) conditions + 25°C.

About Honeywell

Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft. The Aerospace business unit builds aircraft engines, cockpit and cabin electronics, wireless connectivity systems, mechanical components and more. Its hardware and software solutions create more fuel-efficient aircraft, more direct and on-time flights and safer skies and airports.

For more information, visit www.honeywell.com

Smokers will soon have to think twice before taking a puff in some Torrance residential buildings.

The City Council this week gave final approval of an ordinance that will ban smoking in all multi-family residences, joining a growing trend of cities across the state and the nation to do so.

“I always believe that the government should play one major role in people’s lives,” Councilmember Aurelio Mattucci, who proposed the ordinance, said before this week’s meeting, “to protect their quality of life. And I think this is one of those situations where government should step in, in an attempt to protect people’s quality of life,”

The ordinance will become effective 30 days from Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Under the new law, smoking is not only prohibited in all multi-family residential units, but also on private balcony, porch, deck, patio, and common areas, such as lobbies, elevators, swimming pools, laundry rooms and eating areas.

Smoking can be allowed at designated places established by a landlord or homeowners’ association, but it has to be in an unenclosed area and at least 25 feet away from any doorway, window, opening and areas used for physical improvement, such as tennis courts and playgrounds.

Multi-unit residences are defined as lots with two or more units, such as apartments, townhomes, attached townhomes, condo complexes, senior and assisted living facilities, and long-term health care facilities. Single-family homes, duplexes on a single-family lot, accessory dwelling units and mobile homes do not fall under this category.

Violators of the ban could be cited and subject to fines. The ordinance, though, prevents the city from issuing monetary penalties unless the violator has previously been given at least three notices of violations.

The ordinance does include a grandfather clause as well, meaning that current smokers living in multi-unit housing can continue to smoke only within their unit for two years after the ordinance becomes effective.

Around 80 million people in the US live in multi-family units such as condos or apartments, and an estimated 27.6 to 28.9 million are exposed to secondhand smoke infiltration from neighboring units or common areas in the building, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of July 1, 79 governments statewide, at the city or county levels, have implemented laws prohibit smoking in all private multi-unit rental housing complexes, according to a report by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.

With the addition of Torrance, 19 Los Angeles County cities have now adopted a policy to ban smoking in multi-unit housing, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

This main purpose of the ordinance is to help protect the quality of life of renters who live in close quarters with other renters, Mattucci said.

“I respect people’s private property rights,” he said, “but when there’s a shared space between different families, between different groups, there has to be rules put in place to help maintain that good quality of life that people should expect and get.”

The ordinance is also designed to give landlords more power to enforce smoking bans, Mattucci said. Landlords often include smoking bans within their leases, but when the renter smokes outside of their units, the landlords have no way to regulate the act.

Alix Politanoff is a project coordinator at Behavioral Health Services Inc., a nonprofit health care organization that has been providing public education on the ordinance. She said it protects residents’ public health. It also gives landlords more credence to enforce smoking bans and gives neighbors the right to declare smoking a public nuisance.

“The neighbors themselves can take it into their hands and take it as a civil case or whatever,” she said, “if they want to go that route and declare it a public nuisance.”

The vote was 5-1, with Councilmember Mike Griffiths voting no and Councilmember Bridgett Lewis absent.

Griffiths said he is against smoking, but he’s concerned about enforcing the ordinance. To write a violation, an enforcement officer has to witness the smoking happening. What’s more, three warnings have to be given before the officer can cite the violator, he said Wednesday.

“And to me, that’s just a huge amount of effort by our staff to write a violation for no smoking,” Griffiths said. “I just see that that’s not likely to really happen and if it does, I think it will be a tremendous burden on our staff to run out and try to catch smokers in multifamily units.”

A more efficient way to deal with the issue, Griffiths said, is having the landlords be the enforcement arm and impose the smoking ban as part of their leases.

“It just seemed a little bit too much of a city overreach to end up being responsible for trying to enforce a law that’s very, very difficult to enforce,” he said, “considering you have to actually catch someone in the process of smoking in order to even give them a warning.”

A Torrance man is one of three charged with running a commercial sex ring on the East Coast that catered to elected officials, military personnel and other wealthy clients, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

James Lee, 68, of Torrance, along with Han "Hana" Lee, 41, and Junmyung Lee, 30, of Massachusetts were arrested Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to coerce and entice others to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity. Prosecutors said they made hundreds of thousands of dollars through the scheme.

The three allegedly facilitated the movement of predominantly Asian women across the country for sex trafficking, Acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said in a press conference.

"This commercial sex ring was built on secrecy and exclusivity, catering to a wealthy and well-connected clientele, and business was booming, until today," said Levy.

The brothels were allegedly located in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as outside of Washington, D.C., in Tysons, and in Fairfax, Virginia, according to prosecutors.

Han and Junmyung are accused of running the day-to-day operations of the Massachusetts brothels, and Han is also accused of overseeing the daily operations of the Virginia ones, according to court papers. That included arranging for transportation for the women and collecting proceeds, authorities allege.

SUGGESTED:

Prosecutors said James Lee leased several of the current and former brothel locations in Massachusetts and Virginia.

According to officials, one buyer described being provided a "menu" of women, services and an hourly rate.

Buyers allegedly paid approximately $600 per hour for services. Officials said that some even paid a monthly membership fee to be "pre-cleared for sex," a process described as similar to TSA PreCheck.

Authorities have not yet named anyone believed to have used the network's services, but said that none of them have been charged at this time. However, the investigation remains in the early stages and, according to Levy, officials are committed to charging both those who ran the ring, in addition to those who "fueled the demand" for their services.

In Wednesday's press conference, Levy did reveal that the network could have "hundreds of clients," including government contractors with security clearances, doctors, lawyers, elected officials, military officers, professors and executives at tech companies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Smokers will soon have to think twice before taking a puff in some Torrance residential buildings.

The City Council this week gave final approval of an ordinance that will ban smoking in all multi-family residences, joining a growing trend of cities across the state and the nation to do so.

“I always believe that the government should play one major role in people’s lives,” Councilmember Aurelio Mattucci, who proposed the ordinance, said before this week’s meeting, “to protect their quality of life. And I think this is one of those situations where government should step in, in an attempt to protect people’s quality of life,”

The ordinance will become effective 30 days from Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Under the new law, smoking is not only prohibited in all multi-family residential units, but also on private balcony, porch, deck, patio, and common areas, such as lobbies, elevators, swimming pools, laundry rooms and eating areas.

Smoking can be allowed at designated places established by a landlord or homeowners’ association, but it has to be in an unenclosed area and at least 25 feet away from any doorway, window, opening and areas used for physical improvement, such as tennis courts and playgrounds.

Multi-unit residences are defined as lots with two or more units, such as apartments, townhomes, attached townhomes, condo complexes, senior and assisted living facilities, and long-term health care facilities. Single-family homes, duplexes on a single-family lot, accessory dwelling units and mobile homes do not fall under this category.

Violators of the ban could be cited and subject to fines. The ordinance, though, prevents the city from issuing monetary penalties unless the violator has previously been given at least three notices of violations.

The ordinance does include a grandfather clause as well, meaning that current smokers living in multi-unit housing can continue to smoke only within their unit for two years after the ordinance becomes effective.

Around 80 million people in the US live in multi-family units such as condos or apartments, and an estimated 27.6 to 28.9 million are exposed to secondhand smoke infiltration from neighboring units or common areas in the building, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of July 1, 79 governments statewide, at the city or county levels, have implemented laws prohibit smoking in all private multi-unit rental housing complexes, according to a report by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.

With the addition of Torrance, 19 Los Angeles County cities have now adopted a policy to ban smoking in multi-unit housing, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

This main purpose of the ordinance is to help protect the quality of life of renters who live in close quarters with other renters, Mattucci said.

“I respect people’s private property rights,” he said, “but when there’s a shared space between different families, between different groups, there has to be rules put in place to help maintain that good quality of life that people should expect and get.”

The ordinance is also designed to give landlords more power to enforce smoking bans, Mattucci said. Landlords often include smoking bans within their leases, but when the renter smokes outside of their units, the landlords have no way to regulate the act.

Alix Politanoff is a project coordinator at Behavioral Health Services Inc., a nonprofit health care organization that has been providing public education on the ordinance. She said it protects residents’ public health. It also gives landlords more credence to enforce smoking bans and gives neighbors the right to declare smoking a public nuisance.

“The neighbors themselves can take it into their hands and take it as a civil case or whatever,” she said, “if they want to go that route and declare it a public nuisance.”

The vote was 5-1, with Councilmember Mike Griffiths voting no and Councilmember Bridgett Lewis absent.

Griffiths said he is against smoking, but he’s concerned about enforcing the ordinance. To write a violation, an enforcement officer has to witness the smoking happening. What’s more, three warnings have to be given before the officer can cite the violator, he said Wednesday.

“And to me, that’s just a huge amount of effort by our staff to write a violation for no smoking,” Griffiths said. “I just see that that’s not likely to really happen and if it does, I think it will be a tremendous burden on our staff to run out and try to catch smokers in multifamily units.”

A more efficient way to deal with the issue, Griffiths said, is having the landlords be the enforcement arm and impose the smoking ban as part of their leases.

“It just seemed a little bit too much of a city overreach to end up being responsible for trying to enforce a law that’s very, very difficult to enforce,” he said, “considering you have to actually catch someone in the process of smoking in order to even give them a warning.”