CSLB Board Salutes Injured Contractor on Return Home

Karen and John Odom / John Tlumacki, Boston Globe

Longtime Southern California contractor John Odom is finally back among friends and family at his home five months after being struck down by a terrorist bomb at the Boston Marathon.

Odom, owner of Murray Company, a mechanical engineering firm in Rancho Dominguez, suffered severe leg injuries when the bomb exploded near the finish line of the Marathon on April 15, 2013. Odom was waiting for his daughter to finish the race when the bomb went off just yards from where he was standing.

He has undergone numerous surgeries and a long period of rehabilitation at Boston-area hospitals.

Members of CSLB's board and the audience applauded at the quarterly meeting held September 6, 2013, in Sacramento, when told by Board Member Robert Lamb that Odom was due to return home that night from Boston. Lamb previously worked 19 years for Odom's company.

News reports said Odom is walking with the help of a leg brace.

In the aftermath of the bombing, doctors were unsure if Odom would survive given the severe extent of his injuries caused by shrapnel damage and blood loss. But he has come miraculously far in his recovery.

Odom was just weeks away from retiring at the time of the bombing.

But Lamb said that Odom planned to resume work, despite his ongoing recuperation.

Those wishing to stay apprised of Odom's progress can check the family's Web page; https://www.facebook.com/JohnOdomSupportPageBostonMarathonBombingVictim?fref=ts.

CSLB Moving From Oakland Office to Berkeley

CSLB will move its testing center and Investigative Center from a downtown Oakland location to an office in Berkeley, by February 2014.

Work will soon be under way to ready the office at 700 Heinz Avenue in Berkeley and prepare for the move from the current location at 1515 Clay Street in Oakland.

Five CSLB employees will make the move, two who will staff the IC and three in the testing center. The new testing center will feature 25 computer stations for license applicants, the same number available now in Oakland.

CSLB will share office space with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.