lbskyliner It’s been barely six months since Greater Long Beach was launched—June 24, 2010—but in that small time we’ve taken some big strides toward preserving and continuing the kind of independent and insightful journalism that Long Beach and surrounding communities not only need, but deserve. Here are the 10 stories that were most-popular with readers. 

HOW A MATH-AND-MARCHING-BAND NERD BECAME A HALFTIME-SHOW STAR [ By Dale Johnson ] The story of Jamie Holly, an admitted high school nerd—favorite subjects: marching band and mathematics—who grew up to combine those talents an create his career as choreographer of high school marching band routines, got more hits than any other story on Greater Long Beach. Surprising? Sort of. We only happend to learn about Holly through a tip from another Greater Long Beach contributor, Susan Jacobs, who has a condominium in the same building as Holly. And he doesn’t work with any Long Beach schools. But maybe not so surprising, either, considering the story landed in the hands of Dale Johnson, whose treatment was both light and insightful—characteristics which are becoming part of the personal style of this recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach. Check out Johnson’s take when in November he took the bus to a pilots convention.  

BLANCHE DEATHEREAUX: QUARTERBACK PRINCESS OF LONG BEACH ROLLER DERBY [ By Ellen Griley ] The immensely successful debut of roller derby was one of Long Beach’s socio-cultural phenomena in 2010, and former District Weekly editor Ellen Griley—still getting used to the “former” part of that title—made sure nobody missed it with her up-close profile of the sport’s instant superstar, Sarah Scanlon, aka Blanche Deathereaux. 

DO YOU MIND THIS GUY WAITING FOR KIDS OUTSIDE THEIR SCHOOL?  [ By Dave Wielenga, Dec. 13 ] When Greater Long Beach photographer Jeanine Birong began taking photographs of a man who was handing out religious tracts on the sidewalk outside Rogers Middle School, the guy covered his face, scrambled to his van and sped away. A problem? Some seniors at Lakewood High think so. Motivated by several incidents of adults interracting with students outside schools, they are proposing a state law against it. Assembly member Warren Furutani has agreed to shepherd them through the legislative process.  

END OF AN ERA: DOWNEY’S SAMBI OF TOKYO RESTAURANT TO CLOSE [ By Eric Pierce / The Downey Patriot, Oct. 14 ] The unexpected end of this spectacular restaurant is still provoking wrenching reactions from readers, many of whom are only now finding out about it. 

LA SANTA CECILIA: A MUSICAL MISSION GUIDED BY A SAINT AND LED BY A DIVA  [ By Melissa Henderson, Aug. 16 ] Long Beach first caught La Santa Cecilia’s invigorating act during a performance at MOLAA, but Greater Long Beach contributor Melissa Henderson had been following along since 2007. Her profile traced the band’s progress from it’s patron saint to a place perhaps on the cusp of secular stardom.

ALL AROUND THE TOP O’ THE TOWN ON A FAREWELL TOUR WITH VAL LERCH  [ By Rachel Powers, July 21 ] After eight years as the 9th District’s representative on the Long Beach City Council—and a defeat in his attempt at a third term—Val Lerch was suddenly just a common citizen again. Well, a citizen, anyway. As Rachel Powers confirmed when she accepted Lerch’s-long standing offer of a tour of the “Top o’ the Town,” there’s not much common about Lerch—or, as she learned, about the surprising places he showed her. But Powers’ specializes in bringing such revelations to the pages of Greater Long Beach—check out her essay on election night with perennial congressional candidate Peter Mathews; the interesting insights she culled while being embedded in a protest at the Long Beach Hyatt; her insights into how a teaching moment she received at Franklin Middle School in the 1980s affected her reaction to a miscarriage of justice in Cambodia this year;  and how she suddenly found herself in a shouting match with a Tea Partier outside Wal-Mart. 

A VISION FOR LONG BEACH THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE HALLUCINATIONS? [ By Dave Wielenga, Aug. 25 ] When Alex Cherin proposed revitalizing Long Beach by capitalizing on its existing strengths—a world-class port, a major university, beautiful neighborhoods—instead of some massive makeover to make it like somewhere else, Dave Wielenga thought it was worth a story.

DOES BIG SHUFFLE OF SECOND+PCH TEAM SIGNAL A BIG CHANGE IN TACTICS? [ By Dave Wielenga, Sept. 30 ] Lead developer David Malmuth’s attempts to convince most local citizens to ignore decades of local zoning laws so he can build a massive retail, residential and hotel complex on the site of the Seaport Marina Hotel haven’t gone so well. So he reshuffled his management team, and the new members seem to signal a change of tactics—trying to convince local politicians, instead. 

STAR PARKER’S CANDIDACY IS AN INSULTING GOP PLAY FOR BLACK VOTES [ By Adreana Langston, Sept. 30 ] It wasn’t that Andrea Langston was a fan of Democratic Congresswoman Laura Richardson. But when Republicans challenged Richardson’s re-election in the 37th district with Star Parker, an African-American, well, Langston was mad enough to spit.

IT GETS YOU THINKING ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS—AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS [ By Dave Wielenga, July 12 ] When the Bellflower City Council unanimously allowed a well-connected religious group to use city land for an art exhibit promoting the Ten Commandments, Wielenga wondered if the elected officials had paused to consider the implications.  Turned out … um … not so much.