General

PV’s Botanic Garden Acts as Water-Saving Inspiration to Homeowners

It’s warm in Southern California, and we all know what that means: water-rationing. Whether mandated by the government or by the household bill-payer, hotter temperatures mean we all have to do what we can to conserve our resources and save money. 

That’s why Pedra Furmall, an expert gardener at the peninsula’s South Coast Botanic Garden, recently shared the strategies and techniques she uses to keep the grounds healthy and the water rationed with the National Fuchsia Society’s local branch. This advice-driven tour was chronicled by the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Meredith Grenier, who ran an Aug. 31 story on the meeting titled “Local gardens can thrive with little water.” 

Some of the drought-tolerant plants that Furnall utilized in the botanic garden include succulents, cactus, sedum Angelina, Sedum spurium, echeveria afterglow, aoniums, formiums and Cymbidiums.

Palos Verdes High School has One of the Highest CAHSEE Passage Rates

Palos Verdes High School is known for its tough academics and well-performing student body. These attributes were recently reinforced when the preliminary results of the CAHSEE were released. CAHSEE, which stands for California High School Exit Examination, is a standardized test that contains sections in English–language arts (ELA) and mathematics. High school students initially take the test during their sophomore years. They must achieve passing scores on both sections, which can each be taken up to eight times, before they can graduate. 

Approximately 45,000 California high school students were unable to pass this exam by graduation, according to the California Department of Education’s initial CAHSEE findings. However, very few, if any of those students were enrolled at Palos Verdes High School.

This school was actually acknowledged as a stand-out performer this year, with Department of Education noting that at least 90% of Palos Verdes High School sophomores passed both sections of the test on their first try. More specific passage rates were not available because only the preliminary results from this test have been analyzed so far.

Palos Verdes Home Prices Rise in July

The South Bay housing market is becoming more stable by the month as analysts forecast that an end to the recession may be in sight. Evidence of this can be found on the peninsula where two cities, Palos Verdes Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, were listed among the 10 California cities with the highest median home prices. 

Palos Verdes Estates came in with a median home price of $1.13 million in July, while Rancho Palos Verdes boasted a median of $945,000. According to the California Association of Realtors, sales of detached, single-family homes throughout the state increased 8.1% since June. 

Rancho Palos Verdes is one city that has showed significant growth. It closed at least 30 home sales in July – a feat that is difficult for a city with only 41,400 residents to achieve in a down economy.