Dave Wielenga
Articles
OC WEEKLY STORY ON MEDPOT A DISTURBING LOOK AT LONG BEACH OFFICIALS
After approving medpot dispensaries in 2010 and conducting a fiasco of a lottery to determine their locations, the City Council is on the verge---twice delaying its vote--of outlawing them. Meanwhile, Long Beach collects millions in pot-related fees and fines, simultaneously permitting and prosecuting various dispensaries.
IF MONEY=SPEECH, RICHARDSON AND HAHN NEED RICHER VOCABULARIES
Political campaigns released their financial statements Wednesday, and the always-insightful Kevin Roderick of LAObserved.com points out a multi-million-dollar difference in contributions between two congressional primaries at opposite ends of Los Angeles County. Both races pit current Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives whose districts were redrawn, partially combined and renumbered. Down here in [...]
COUNTDOWN TO THE OSCARS WITH LB CINEMATHEQUE’S MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
Logan Crow beside the box office of the Art Theater, which is where LB Cinematheque is holding its Oscar Party on Feb 26---and which is next door to Art Du Vin, where from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight you can party and participate in the film organization's membership drive.
RAINEY HIRES LAW FIRM TO REMOVE HER NAME FROM SCHOOL BOARD BALLOT
Former Board of Education candidate Naomi Rainey announced via e-mail today that she has hired a specialized law firm to “do everything legally possible” to save the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) the expense of running an election by having her name removed from the ballot. Rainey announced the withdrawal of her candidacy for [...]
DON’T EXPECT DRAMA IN SCHOOL BOARD SEARCH TO REPLACE BARTON
Dr. David Barton’s resignation Wednesday from the Board of Education of the Long Beach Unified School District puts an unexpected item on the agenda—and perhaps atop the list of priorities—at the Board’s next meeting on Feb. 7: finding a replacement. Although there is a Board of Education election scheduled for April, voters will not determine [...]
IS TRIAL OF MAN SHOT BY LBPD OFFICERS STRATEGY TO REDUCE CIVIL DAMAGES?
Jonathan Cabrera, still recovering from the bullet wounds he received last May 14 when Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) officers opened fire into the apartment he shared with his wife, went on trial Thursday (Jan. 26) on a felony charge of obstructing or resisting a law enforcement officer. “The only reason for this felony charge is the City [...]
RAINEY: ELECTIONS SHOULDN’T BE CANCELED, EVEN WITHOUT COMPETITION
Former school board candidate Naomi Rainey asserted today in a statement released by the NAACP that the Long Beach Unified School District ought to conduct regularly scheduled elections for seats on the Board of Education even when all candidates are unopposed. “The Long Beach Unified School District should be having elections whether there is one person running or [...]
UNFORTUNATELY, LBUSD DIDN’T SAVE $200,000 FOR THIS ‘RAINEY’ DAY
Ten days ago Naomi Rainey, the longtime president of Long Beach’s chapter of the NAACP, announced she was running for Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Board of Education. Three days later, Rainey announced she was not running. On Friday, however, Rainey learned that there’s more to running for public office—or not running for it—than just [...]
HAVA•GREATER•WEEKEND: SOCAL’S FIRST PARKLET OPENS TODAY AT NOON
[EDITOR'S NOTE: HaveAGreaterWeekend is your preparedness guide for the most-important days of your life---the weekend. Suggestions are welcome, so long as you send them at least three weeks before the event---and never forget who makes the final call.] If you are anywhere but Fourth Street’s Retro Row today at noon, consider yourself doomed to a [...]
DELONG’S CONGRESSIONAL BID ENDORSED BY LB CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Long Beach City Councilmember Gary DeLong announced via a press release this morning that his run for the newly formed 47th Congress District against state Senator Alan Lowenthal has been endorsed by the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. “It is an honor to have the Chamber’s endorsement,” said DeLong, according to [...]
AL WILLIAMS: NOT JUST THE FACE OF LIVE JAZZ IN LB, BUT ITS HEART, TOO
Al Williams has made a name for himself--and pretty good money, too---as driving force of live jazz in Long Beach, but his support Maxie Viltz's upstart club in the Basement Lounge (where he headlines Thursday) is the true measure of his commitment to the music.
SUJA GETS CHALLENGER ON FRIDAY-THE-13TH DEADLINE FOR COUNCIL CANDIDATES
LONG BEACH (Via LBReport.com)—On Friday the 13th and, let’s hope only coincidentally, the final day for candidates for this year’s Long Beach City Council elections, the fields for races in the 2nd, 4th and 6th districts—were finalized. The biggest surprise heading into the final day was the emergence of a homeowners-group challenger to Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal in [...]
POOR RICHARDSON’S ALMANAC: IN TODAY’S ENTRY, GARAMENDI ENDORSES JANICE HAHN
Poor Richardson’s Almanac—the ever-expanding catalogue of Greater Long Beach-area Congresswoman Laura Richardson’s never-ending woes—received its latest entry from RollCall.com, where Kyle Trygstad reports: Congressman John Garamendi, a Democrat from a Northern California district, has announced his support for Janice Hahn in her attempt to win the congressional seat that Richardson currently occupies. It is the second endorsement Hahn [...]
HERE’S WISHING YOU HOT DOG OF A NEW YEAR—WRAPPED IN BACON, OF COURSE
DOWNEY (Via DowneyBeat.com)– There are fundamental questions one must ask oneself while trying to make sense of this mortal coil. What is the meaning of life? Do I matter? And, finally, “Got Bacon?” Papas and Dogs, a small, brightly decorated new gourmet hot dog joint at 8740Firestone Boulevard in Downey can now answer that third important query. [...]
LB COUNCIL STANDS UP FOR ZONING LAWS, ENCOURAGES COLLABORATION, KILLS SECOND+PCH PROJECT
The Long Beach City Council killed the proposed Second+PCH development late Tuesday evening with a 5-3 vote that supported master planning over spot zoning, laid groundwork for long-polarized community factions to collaborate on revised development standards and bore no resemblance to the alliances that had come to characterize this panel of governing officials. After more [...]
BEYOND GREATER:* CONGRESSMAN IS NUTSY FOR NAZI REFERENCES
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Via Rollcall.com)—Freshman Rep. Allen West is stirring things up by comparing the Democratic Party to Nazis again. In an interview with several reporters Thursday, the Florida Republican blamed Democratic messaging for a recent poll that showed Americans blame the GOP more for Capitol Hill gridlock. “If Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very [...]
JOHN DIXON’S JOURNALISM: DOING YOUR BEST TO TELL THE TRUTH
The profile of John Dixon by Jim McCormack compies slices of true life that are mostly examples of Dixon's concern about the state of journalism---and Dixon's typical response: to reach into his own integrity for the right thing to do, then to reach into his own courage to put that thing into action.
TIME FOR WOULD-BE CANDIDATES TO FILE—OR THEY WON’T BE CANDIDATES
Four seats on the Long Beach City Council will be assigned by voters who live in even-numbered districts in 2012—the ones currently being warmed by Suja Lowenthal (2nd), Patrick O’Donnell (4th), Dee Andrews (6th) and Rae Gabelich (8th)—and it’s just about time for would-be candidates to stop dropping hints and start throwing hats into rings … [...]
REMEMBERING DOUG ZERBY: NO WORDS TO WARN HIM, BUT PLENTY TO BLAME HIM
Tonight's candlelight vigil at the Long Beach Police Department marks one year since Doug Zerby---drunk and playing with a water nozzle at his Belmont Shore apartment complex---was gunned down without warning by officers Victor Ortiz and Jeffrey Shurtleff, who say they thought the nozzle was a pistol.
JUDGES’ NEW PARKING LOT IS A BEAUTY, BUT THE $1.156-MILLION BILL IS A BEAST
The 8,500-square-foot parking structure just built for judges at Norwalk Superior Court is beautiful—according to the Norwalk City Council/Redevelopment Agency, which has approved the finish project … and it has come in $51,000 under budget. That’s good news, although maybe not quite as indicative of financial frugality as it sounds. The new venue for the [...]
GREATER LONG BEACH GIFT GUIDE: IT’S WHAT WE GOT YOU THIS YEAR
Long Beach is crawling with interesting and unique places to pick up something for everyone on your list, and holiday shopping can actually be an interesting way to explore the city in all its quirky weirdness. To get started, check out this list of unique Long Beach shops.
SECOND+PCH WILL LIKELY HAVE TO RETURN ITS HOLIDAY GIFT FROM CITY
Second+PCH developer David Malmuth may have gotten a gift from Long Beach officials who scheduled a City Council hearing on the wildly out-of-code development for five days before Christmas. But Long Beach city code and California law prohibit the City Council and Coastal Commission from approving against-zoning-law plans. Eventually, he'll probably have to return it.
LAST CHANCE TO GET YOUR ‘MERRY GENTLEMAN’ ON AT LB SYMPHONY HOLIDAY CONCERT TODAY AT 2
No, dude, I don’t know if there is a dress code for the Long Beach Symphony’s exquisite presentation of holiday music, which—and I’m guaranteeing this, without even knowing you—at several points is going to feature musical notes in combinations that will function like sonic access codes to some of the most resonant moments of your life. [...]
JOHN DIXON’S DEATH SILENCES ANOTHER ECHO OF PRESS-TELEGRAM’S GLORY DAYS
John Dixon, whose 15 years as sports editor of the Independent, Press-Telegram (I,P-T) were arguably the greatest in that department’s history as well as the best of his four decades at the once-great Long Beach daily newspaper, died Tuesday afternoon at age 86. Dixon suffered a heart attack and stroke about a month ago. After [...]
FIRST OCCUPY LONG BEACH PROTESTER CONVICTED FOR REFUSING TO LEAVE PARK
Jonathan Glen Davidson of Cerritos on Monday became the first protester associated with the Occupy Long Beach movement to be convicted under the city ordinance that prohibits anyone from being in a public park after its 10 p.m. closing time. According to a press release from the City Prosecutor’s office, the jury deliberated only 23 [...]
‘O LITTLE TOWN OF BELLFLOWER…’ AND OTHER HOLIDAY FAVORITES
For 10 years, Bellflower's earnest December tradition of lighting the downtown Christmas tree has been the struggling city's holiday card to itself. This year, however, the Tree Lighting Ceremony is nothing less than a classic rescue-of-Christmas television special waiting to happen. Read about it in the GreaterLongBeach.com holiday calendar.
BELLFLOWER COUNCIL WILL RUBBER STAMP ITS CITY MANAGER CHOICE
The Bellflower City Council will meet Monday evening to rubber stamp the unanimous decision it has already made to appoint Jeffrey Stewart as city manager with a three-year contract—and options for two more years—that features an annual salary of $191,000, plus benefits. (For the time being, that salary is reduced to $171,000 by Bellflower’s ongoing [...]
GET YOUR ‘MERRY GENTLEMAN’ ON AT LB SYMPHONY’S HOLIDAY CELEBRATION CONCERT
No, dude, I don’t know if there is a dress code for the Long Beach Symphony’s exquisite presentation of holiday music, which—and I’m guaranteeing this, without even knowing you—at several points is going to feature musical notes in combinations that will function like sonic access codes to some of the most resonant moments of your life. [...]
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE … WELL, CERTAINLY NOT THANKSGIVING
The final countdown toward Thanksgiving has begun, and the anticipation is almost palpable. Families across America will soon gather at one of their homes, eat a mid-afternoon dinner---and give thanks that it's almost December, when the really good holidays arrive.
IN THE END, TRADITION RETAINS HER CROWN AT MISS LONG BEACH PAGEANT
Kristin Bopp, a 23-year-old student at Cal State Long Beach whose extensive experience as a beauty pageant contestant includes the Miss Greater Lakewood title of 2010, was selected Miss Long Beach on Sunday evening at the Grand Events Center. The crowning brought a dramatic—and traditional—conclusion to an event that had returned to the public’s radar this [...]
‘SUJAPALOOZA’ CANCELLED VIA E-MAIL BY ITS MUM’S-THE-WORD PROMOTER … BECAUSE IT MAY RAIN
The same somebody who employed the message board of a political website Friday to announce a Sunday-night concert/demonstration/costume party to criticize and mock Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal deployed an e-mail this evening to call the whole thing off. “Event cancelled due to high chance of rain,” read the e-mail—from somebody who says his name is [...]
‘SUJAPALOOZA’ PROTEST CONCERT CALLED FOR SUNDAY AT ROSE PARK, 6 PM
A free concert—dubbed “SujaPalooza” in reference to Long Beach Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal—is being planned for Sunday night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Rose Circle Park (8th Street at Orizaba Ave), according to a notice posted by a group called Conscious Cinema on the politically progressive website Democracy For America/Orange County. “Conscious Cinema [...]
HAVE A GREATER WEEKEND: GODDESSES, PAGEANTS AND REGRETS
From D.W. "El Imagenero" Gastelum's photographic tribute to Eve in the Garden of Eden at the Art Theatre ... to Greggory Moore's performance-style reading from his wonderfully titled first novel at Gatsby Books ... to Jenelle Hutcherson's bid to become the first lesbian Miss Long Beach at the Grand Long Beach Events Center --- this weekend ought to leave you feeling greater.
OCCUPYLONGBEACH BOISTEROUSLY DISRUPTS LB CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Participants in OccupyLongBeach cranked up the volume on their ongoing protest during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Long Beach City Council by calling upon city officials to permit camping in local parks and establish a so-called “free-speech zone.” When those demands were not immediately met, disrupting the meeting to the extent that it was temporarily [...]
BELLFLOWER’S LATEST STAMPEDE FOR SCHOOL BOARD ENDS TODAY
Eight candidates are seeking three seats on the school board of the Bellflower Unified School District, but incumbents in the Downey and Paramount Unified School Districts are unopposed. The flurry of interest surrounding the available seats on the Bellflower Unified board is rather typical for the district, which has a history of campaign histrionics that [...]
PATCHWORK IS TODAY, RAIN OR SHINE—PLEASE DON’T BE A WUSS
The Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival features about 100 booths stuffed with creative people and the stuff---clothing,
accessories, art, pottery and glassware, pet items, jewelry, soaps, candles, stationary and paper goods, plushies, purses, handbags, gourmet chocolate with sea salt on it---they have created. Sure hope it doesn't rain..
PROMOTER SAYS CITY’S DEMANDS WEAKENED ZOMBIE WALK, LEFT HIM 40K IN DEBT
In an interview with Logan Crow that will be featured tonight on 'Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga,' the promoter of last Saturday's (Oct. 29) Zombie Walk charges that incessant demands and fees by the City of Long Beach diminished the event and left him $40,000 in debt. Listen tonight at 7 p.m. on KBEACH.org
LARRY ALLISON’S DEATH AT 77 ENDS 54-YEAR-CAREER AT PRESS-TELEGRAM
Larry Allison, who at one point or another during a 54-year career with the Press-Telegram did just about every job in the newsroom, died Sunday evening. According to the Press-Telegram website, Allison died after a two-week battle with pneumonia. He was 77. Allison’s career at the Press-Telegram began in 1957 and included stints as a [...]
SECOND BIXBY PARK HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL SHOWED PROMISE AND PRACTICE
The arrival of the second annual Bixby Park Halloween Carnival shows promise, not only for the event, but for efforts to revitalize the historic park. It's good practice, too, getting people back in the habit of coming to Bixby Park as it recovers from some difficult times.
TODAY’S PEACE & JUSTICE SUMMIT CONSIDERS RE-ENTRY ISSUES OF EARLY-RELEASED PRISONERS
The Long Beach Community Peace & Justice Summit convenes this morning in the Seaside Ballroom of the Convention & Entertainment Center, where challenges and opportunities presented by the early release of perhaps 30,000 prisoners in California will be identified, discussed and, perhaps, even solved. Admission is free, and not only open to the public, but [...]
KNOW YOUR HISTORY: THE HALF-DOZEN GREATEST ZOMBIE HUNTERS EVER
You don't have to have brains to be a great zombie hunter. In fact, a certain empty-headed quality seems to help. And so it is that the half-dozen greatest zombie hunters, stalkers and killers in history turn out to be a motley collection. Wherever in the world they come from, they also come from the edges of society, the edges of sanity, the edges of life itself.
ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: ONE QUESTION … FOR COUNCILMAN ROBERT GARCIA
We ask comic-book-geek and Superman fan Robert Garcia (that's him on the right) who would win if Superman and Zombie Superman (that's not him on the left ... is it?) cross paths during Zombie Walk/Comic-Con weekend and get in a fight. Of course, the Long Beach City Council member has an answer. A couple of 'em.
IF YOU’RE NOT OCCUPIED, LONG BEACH IS AVAILABLE THREE TIMES THIS WEEKEND
According to a press release, Occupy Long Beach will stage three marches this weekend—two Saturday, one Sunday—to emphasize the lopsided distribution of wealth among the people of the United States and to confirm the continuing commitment of its members in Long Beach. The first march is scheduled for Lincoln Park—part of downtown’s civic center complex—on [...]
ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: KNOW YOUR ENEMY–WATCH ZOMBIE FLICKS
The best odds of survival against any enemy or scourge---from the Mongols to the Magyars to that damn Dancing Baby---are rooted in learning as much as possible about the adversary. When facing an attack of zombies, that means watching lots of movies. For more tips, search: Zombie Survival Guide
TONIGHT! RICKY HARRIS’ COMEDY BENEFIT FOR V.I.P. RECORDS AT LAUGH FACTORY
Comedian Ricky Harris, who 20 years ago was among a crew of kids who passed through V.I.P. Records on their way to stardom, will host a benefit show at The Laugh Factory this Sunday at 8 p.m. in hopes of helping to save Long Beach’s iconic record shop.
A GREATER CALIFORNIA: MIKE EVANS SEES IT GROWING IN YOUR FRONT YARD
California native plant expert and missionary Mike Evans---a sort of Johnny Appleseed to the salvia set---will share simple instructions (and very good reasons) for replacing a grass lawn with a garden of indigenous plants at 6:30 p.m. on November at the Groundwater Treatment Plant. The free event is co-sponsored by GreaterLongBeach.com and the Water Department.
OCCUPYLONGBEACH: IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL–THAT IS, UNTIL THE 10 PM CURFEW
OccupyLongBeach deployed its first official occupation Saturday at Lincoln Park, where approximately 300 people convened, marched, demonstrated and dispersed without any of the conflict that seemed to have been foreshadowed in prickly press releases from the social-justice movement and the Long Beach Police Department.
ONE QUESTION … FOR LAKEWOOD HIGH CIVICS TEACHER WENDY SALAYA
Last year she and Assemblymember Warren Furutani helped her senior students conceive, write and lobby a bill through the California Assembly. This year's senior were supposed to take the bill through the state Senate and the Governor's desk. But Furutani is running for LA City Council who knows if the new kids will be into it. What's Salaya going to do?
LOWENTHAL’S SPEECH LIFTED BIXBY PARK BEYOND REHAB … TO RELEVANCE
By delivering her State of the Second District address from the historic band shell at Bixby Park, Council member Suja Lowenthal gave the park's restoration movement the best kind of validation---re-establishing it as a center stage for Long Beach's most-important events.
LA PALMA COPS SUE CITY, COMPLAIN TO STATE AND TAKE THE INITIATIVE
LA PALMA (Via Los Cerritos News)—The La Palma Police Association has filed two lawsuits against the city, registered an unfair labor practices complaint with the state and is gathering signatures for an election initiative that would earmark some of the city’s utility tax for public safety—money that currently goes to the general fund. The flurry of [...]
VAL LERCH FINDS LIFE AFTER CITY COUNCIL: WORKING FOR LAURA RICHARDSON
There was relief in the voice of former Long Beach City Council member Val Lerch Friday when he was hired as a field representative by Congresswoman Laura Richardson, ending well over a year without a job. "It's been a long and difficult time," said Lerch, "But politics is what I truly enjoy."
HIP-HOP COMEDIAN RICKY HARRIS TALKS ABOUT V.I.P RECORDS TONIGHT AT 7 ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO
Ricky Harris, who may have epitomized the wave of show-business stars that rose out of Central Long Beach in the 1990s—and is second to none in acknowledging the debt they owe Kelvin Anderson of soon-to-close V.I.P. Records—is the featured guest on tonight’s episode of Greater Long Beach with Dave Wielenga. The hour-long show goes live [...]
ON THE DAY THERE IS NO MORE V.I.P., CAN WHAT’S LEFT REALLY BE THE LBC?
A few years after Kelvin Anderson built a small recording studio V.I.P. Records to keep the neighborhood kids out of trouble, those kids became some of the biggest names---Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Daz---in the world of popular music.But business has gone bad, and Anderson says he is closing V.I.P. Records.
OC DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO REVEAL OFFICIAL VERSIONS OF KELLY THOMAS’ DEATH, COPS’ INVOLVEMENT—AND …
Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) Tony Rackaukus will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. today to discuss what charges—if any—he will file against six Fullerton Police Department officers in conjunction with the death of homeless schizophrenic Kelly Thomas in July. Rackaukus received a report Tuesday from the Orange County Coroner regarding the cause of [...]
AS JOHNSON FACES RECALL, A LOOK BACK AT HIS CANDIDACY
A version of this article---based on an interview with James Johnson when he was running for the 7th District seat on the Long Beach City Council---first appeared in January 2010. It is re-published to provide context to a citizens' group's attempt to recall Johnson.
RECALL JAMES JOHNSON GROUP GOES PUBLIC, IN A PRIVATE KIND OF WAY
Proponents of an effort to recall 7th district city council member James Johnson made their first public statement Wednesday during a press event outside Johnson’s field office at Admiral Kidd Park, but still kept their cards close to the vest. Mike Kowal, a longtime activist in the 8th district—in fact, the only announced candidate for [...]
RECALL JAMES JOHNSON COMMITTEE TO PRESENT CHARGES THIS AFTERNOON
The Recall James Johnson Committee, which on Tuesday announced its intention to circulate recall petitions against the 7th district’s representative on the Long Beach City Council, says that it will present a list of charges this afternoon—among them “Neglected Duties; Incompetent Performance; and Misuse of his Office.” The group’s media advisory states that “community leaders [...]
LB THEATRES WILL COLLABORATE…WHEN MARLON DELEON FINDS RIGHT DATE
Before the Long Beach Theatre Arts Collaborative can work together to strengthen the local theatre community, somebody's got to find a time and date and place for the group to meet---one which fits into every representative's schedule. That somebody is Marlon DeLeon. On Tuesday, he gave it a try . . .
WHAT DOES DOWNEY TASTE LIKE? I’LL PUT IT THIS WAY: YOU JUST MADE ME REEEEELLY, REEEELLY HONGRY
DOWNEY (Via The Downey Patriot) – What does Downey taste like? And don’t say “chicken” … unless we’re going to Toyitos—and you’re buying. Otherwise, it kind of depends on what you’re in the mood for. And if you can’t make up your mind, simmer down until Sept. 30, when the area around city hall will be transformed [...]
BIXBY PARK NEIGHBORHOODS SAY PUBLIC-SAFETY CUTS HURTING RESTORATION
In a letter to council member Gary DeLong and Suja Lowenthal, seven neighborhod associations say cuts in public safety measures at Bixby Park are contributing to increasingly flagrant illegal behavior at Bixby Park, including public drinking and drug use, drug dealing, overnight camping, littering and loitering, and a gang fight during a children’s theater festival.
ONE QUESTION … FOR SNIPPED-FROM-HIS DISTRICT CANDIDATE MIKE KOWAL
The back story: Back in April, Mike Kowal became the first candidate in the 2012 campaign for the Long Beach City Council. Kowal filed to run in the 8th District, where Rae Gabelich faces the term-limit ordinance after serving eight years. Kowal has lived in the 8th district—in the same home—for nearly 30 years while [...]
DEFENDING THE CAVEMAN—AND THE DOWNEY CIVIC THEATRE LINEUP
"Defending the Caveman"---straight from the GEICO commercials, we're assuming---is among the acts booked for the Downey Civic Theatre by a company with a $400,000 contract from the City Council to manage the long troubled facility. The other acts? America, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and two dudes from Los Lobos. That's right, $400,000.
NO MORE $100,000 RAISES: BILL WOULD LIMIT SALARIES OF CSU PRESIDENTS
Responding to the $400,000 salary recently awarded to the incoming president of San Diego State—over widespread objections led by the governor and at the same meeting where tuition was again sharply increased—state Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) has introduced a bill that would limit the salaries that California State University trustees can pay to campus presidents. [...]
JENSEN’S PLANE CRASH RECOVERY CONTINUES: HE’S GETTING STRONGER, GIVING THANKS
Mike Jensen, the lone survivor of a March 16 private plane crash at the Long Beach Airport that killed the five other passengers, posted an online update on his recovery Tuesday—the first one on the site in 2 ½ months. Jensen gave the new accounting of his condition on CaringBridge.org, which his family has been [...]
LB COUNCIL ALLOTS 90 MINUTES FOR 5 BUDGET ISSUES, BUT MAKES TIME TO KISS KNABE’S BUNDT
LONG BEACH (via LBReport.com)—Someone inside City Hall has crammed five of the most-significant subjects in City of Long Beach budget debate—police, fire, code enforcement, libraries and parks—into a special Council meeting … that will last only 90 minutes … and begins at 3 in the afternoon. Yes, this afternoon. Such curious scheduling obviously raises some [...]
MEET THE NEW-FI … SAME AS THE LO-FI—AND THAT’S A GOOD THING
The New Fidelity remains as relevant a presence and influence on the Long Beach music scene today as it was more than 10 years ago, when Dan Perkins’ outfit was called Lo-Fi Champion and shared bills with an almost completely different cast of contemporaries.
LONG BEACH AND PARAMOUNT SEAL DEAL ON JOINT WATER-WELL PROJECT
The objective of the joint project is to reduce both cities’ reliance on the faraway---and increasingly expensive---water sources tapped by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), which transports water from Central California via the aqueduct and from the Colorado River.
ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO: COUPLE WHOSE CASTLE WAS BLASTED BY LBPD
Jonathan Cabrera and Elizabeth Bustamante were just back from church and preparing for bed just before midnight on May 14 when Long Beach Police Department officers opened fire on them in their central-city home, wounding Cabrera. On this week's Greater Long Beach Radio, the couple recounts the horrific details of that night and shares their hopes for transforming it into a positive experience.
NO BUTTS ABOUT IT, CORDERO’S HARBOR COMMISSION CHAIR STILL EMPTY
Mayor Bob Foster ignored a public-access provision of state law when he appointed Doug Drummond to the Harbor Commission, and Councilmember Gerrie Schipske has postponed today's meeting of the Personnel & Civil Service Committee until he complies. Meanwhile, former Commissioner Mario Cordero's chair remains derriere-less.
A WIDE, WILD RANGE OF “STEWARDS” MAKE 2ND DISTRICT A SPECIAL PLACE
(UPDATED TO EMPHASIZE CEREMONY IS TONIGHT): A diverse assortment of more than 50 residents, groups, businesses and city staff will be honored by Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal as Stewards of the Second District this evening at Bixby Park Band Shell. The 7 p.m. event is open to the public. Honorees range from Jewels, Long Beach’s [...]
BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES/LB FIRST IS BUILDING STEERING COMMITTEE
Fourteen people have been elected to two-year terms on the steering committee of Building Healthy Communities/Long Beach, a 10-year initiative that will spend millions of dollars in the central and west parts of the city to improve health through support changes in policy and awareness of healthy foods and physical activity. Seven slots on the [...]
BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES GROUP ELECTS STEERING COMMITTEE TODAY
Members of Building Healthy Communities/Long Beach are gathering downtown at St. Luke’s Church this morning to eat a continental breakfast and to elect 21 people to their steering committee—that is, to guide the group toward the best ways, places and programs to spend millions of dollars in grants during the next two years. The Building [...]
RENE CASTRO RE-ELECTED UNOPPOSED TO CHAIR LB GRIP ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Rene Castro was re-elected as chair of the Long Beach Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Project (LB GRIP) Advisory Committee without opposition during the group’s meeting Monday night at the Center For Working Families, located on Atlantic Avenue at 19th Street. But new faces were elected to the other offices—Claudette Powers as vice chair and [...]
COUNCIL QUARTET WANTS CITY MANAGER TO DEVISE VIOLENCE PLAN IN 90 DAYS
With police numbers falling, replacements deemed unaffordable and bullets flying in his district, Long Beach City Council member Robert Garcia—Mayor Bob Foster’s choice to chair the Public Safety Committee—has come up with a proposal for dealing with the city’s violence: make City Manager Pat West solve the problem … and fast. Garcia and three colleagues—Patrick [...]
THE MAN WHO SAVED THE ART … UNTIL THE MAN WHO SAVED THE ART
In the uncertain days before the row was retro, the most-constant sight on 4th Street was the Art Theatre box office, which glowed as reassuringly as a lighthouse. Inside was Howard Linn, the frail, bald man who for years nurtured the faded-glory movie house until its ultimate rescuer came along.
LB CITY MANAGER’S POST-RDA REVIEW AND ANALYSIS NAMES NAMES OF CITY’S REPRESENTATIVES IN SACRAMENTO
In the wake of the Governor Jerry Brown’s signing of budget bills that discontinued California redevelopment agencies, Long Beach City Manager Pat West sent this letter to elected officials, city management and staff, providing an early sense of what the change will mean. Despite its litany of challenges, the straightforwardness of West’s assessment is refreshing—as [...]
DESPITE DENIALS, DELONG PUSHING ABC TO RESTRICT 2ND STREET BARS
GreaterLongBeach.com has obtained a March 18 letter from Long Beach City Councilmember Gary DeLong to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) that runs contrary to his repeated assertions that he has not used his office to pressure the ABC to be tougher on Belmont Shore bars. [UPDATED WITH FULL TEXT OF DELONG'S LETTER AND REQUESTED CONDITIONS.]
OUTSIDE LB POLICE AWARDS, SMALL GROUP PROTESTS COP VIOLENCE
About a dozen people from the Long Beach Campaign to Stop Police Violence demonstrated Wednesday afternoon outside the 43rd annual Long Beach Police Awards ceremony at the Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts. The group is a subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based ANSWER Coalition. In a statement on its website and e-mailed to media outlets, [...]
ON FATHER’S DAY, A TRIBUTE TO MY DRIVING FORCE
My dad and I have often spoken to each other loudly and self righteously, although not always very effectively. But when it comes to driving, our perspectives seem to merge---and merging is the maneuver that tests the skills and attitudes my dad holds dearest, in driving and in life. He knows we all share the same road. He believes we can share it peacefully. Me, too.
REDESIGNING THE 710: EVERY (HIDDEN) PICTURE TELLS A STORY, DON’T IT?
Taxpayers are funding a massive expansion of the 710 Freeway, but the consultants and public employees who are designing it (their salaries also paid by taxpayers) have announced that the public (that is, taxpayers) will not be allowed to see illustrations of the project until 2012.
PROJECT ERANOS TO PERFORM AT RELAY FOR LIFE LUMINARIA CEREMONY
As if walking, jogging, skipping, running—the point is, moving—with hundreds of others toward a cure for cancer in a Relay for Life weren’t its own reward, participants in the American Cancer Society event at California High in Whittier on Saturday will be treated to a performance by the musical group, project ERANOS. The classically trained [...]
FUNDRAISER TONIGHT AT PIZZA PI FOR FIRED LB HILTON HOUSEKEEPERS
A fundraiser for the Fired Hilton Five—the handful of housekeepers who allege their April 20 firing by the Long Beach Hilton was retaliation for speaking up about their working conditions—will be held this evening at Pizza Pi, 649 E. Broadway, Long Beach, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Pizza Pi will donate 15 percent of food [...]
THE CHERIN GROUP ACQUIRED BY ENGLANDER KNABE & ALLEN
The Cherin Group, a law firm founded in 2010 by former City Hall and Port of Long Beach official Alex Cherin, ostensibly to facilitate the attraction of green-technology firms to Long Beach, has been acquired by he public relations and lobbying firm of Englander Knabe & Allen. According to an announcement from Englander Knabe & Allen, [...]
PIECES OF A MAN: FOR GIL SCOTT-HERON, THEY WERE FRAGMENTS OF TRUTH
There was a time when, if you truly wanted the world's long-hidden to be revealed, if you were truly ready for the world's long habits to be rethought, Gil Scott-Heron could show you, provoke you, with an anger so truthful it was ultimately pure love.
SUNDAY FUNDRAISER AT CURLEY’S CAFE TO SAVE LBUSD MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS
A dinner to help raise the $380,000 needed to restore middle school sports programs to the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) will be held June 5—that’s this Sunday evening—at Curley’s Café in Signal Hill. The suggested donation is $35; all proceeds go to the Long Beach Education Foundation. The event is presented by Progressive [...]
MARY THOITS AMONG 27 SENIORS HONORED FOR LIVES OF VOLUNTEERISM
Mary Thoits of the Long Beach City College Senior Studies Center is among 27 seniors honored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe on the 46th annual Older Americans Recognition Day for the contributions they make to the quality of life by volunteering.
‘WATCH THIS BOOK’: FREE SERIES STARTS SATURDAY WITH ‘TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD’
Sure, everybody always says they liked the book more than the movie, but sometimes the movie is so perfectly cast and executed that you can never read the book again without imagining the characters as anyone else but the movie actors and the scenes as anything but the Hollywood sets.
BELLFLOWER’S GOT BLUES SO BAD ITS COUNCIL WON’T LET YOU SING ‘EM
The Bellflower City Council has overturned the decision of its planning commission and unanimously rejected an application by the owners of Long Beach’s sorely missed Blue Dog Tavern to reopen in a long-empty former firehouse in the struggling city’s ghostly downtown. After a two-hour interview with the Blue Dog’s co-owners, Cheri Dessero and Robert Martinson, the council decided the blues club does [...]
ON THE DAY AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD, THE PEOPLE PARADED WITH PRIDE
On the day after the end of the world, the people held a parade. A big crowd showed up, and it seemed to include just about every kind of somebody. They found happiness in the silliest of things---even stuff that was just plain stupid---and they just couldn’t seem to get enough.
WELL, I’LL BE DAMNED … THEY WERE RIGHT!
The world really ended Saturday, just as a small segment of Christians predicted. The lack of preparedness left lots of issues unresolved---the outcome of the NBA playoffs, the success of Oprah's cable channel and whether Long Beach would ever really be America's most bike-friendly city.
HOPE & FREEDOM FILM FESTIVAL IS A GOOD FIT WITH PRIDE WEEKEND
The Hope and Freedom Film Festival returns to the Art Theatre this Saturday (May 21), and in its second year it shares the same weekend as the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival. That’s appropriate—according to its website, the mission of the Hope and Freedom Film Festival is “to help create a society where [...]
GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO: HERE’S AN EARFUL OF WHAT YOU’VE MISSED
Did you miss Dave Wielenga's interview with Long Beach Post publisher Shaun Lumachi about the effects a media outlet owned by a city councilman and Chamber of Commerce advocate could have on local journalism? Inside is a link to that show and others on Greater Long Beach Radio.
DOES THE RISE OF THE LB POST MEAN THE FALL OF JOURNALISM IN LONG BEACH?
The Long Beach Post, the fastest-growing information outlet in town, was co-founded and is co-owned by City Councilman Robert Garcia and Chamber of Commerce government affairs consultant Shaun Lumachi. As other news organizations struggle, what does that mean for for the city?
AGAINST LONG ODDS, GARCIA GUARANTEES: ‘ARMORY PARK IS GOING TO HAPPEN’
Four years since the high-flying proposal for Armory Park had its wings clipped by a collapsing economy, a city that's amputating its way through a budget deficit and the veto of the city traffic engineer, the project has its mojo back ... ummm, "mojo" means "money," right?
COUNCIL MEMBER PATRICK O’DONNELL READS ‘ROBERT THE ROSE HORSE’
Only a few hours after 4th District Councilmember Patrick O'Donnell wrapped up another week of teaching history at Paramount High, he was back in front of a room full of children at the Dana Branch Library for the First Books segment of First Fridays in Bixby Knolls.
ARMORY PARK: ALL THESE YEARS LATER, HAS ITS TIME FINALLY ARRIVED?
Four years after it seemed to reach a stalemate, Armory Park is back---although to what extent we won't know until a press conference Monday. While you wait, here's a slightly updated version of a 2007 story that explains just how things were left at the time.
JENSEN’S RECOVERY FROM PLANE CRASH ADVANCES FROM BURN UNIT TO REHAB
Mike Jensen, the lone survivor of a March 16 private plane crash at the Long Beach Airport that killed the five other passengers, has been moved from the intensive care burn unit at the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange to begin rehabilitation, according to a website being used by his family to provide updates on his [...]
DAMN YANKEES: LB RENAISSANCE HIGH PRESENTS ‘ONLY MUSICAL WORTH SEEING’
More than 50 students of Renaissance High School for the Arts will collaborate this weekend on two performances of "Damn Yankees," the 1955 Broadway musical about baseball that a bunch of boys who grew up in Bellflower hailed as "the only musical of any kind worth seeing."
POLITICIANS, PRESS IGNORE WORKERS FIRED AFTER HELPING STATE PROBE HILTON
The Long Beach Hilton is in Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal's district and across the street from the Press-Telegram, but Lowenthal and the P-T were no-shows at Wednesday's press conference for five housekeepers fired after cooperating with a state probe into the hotel's tax and employment practices.
THE BUTLER PLAN: SPIN QUEEN MARY’S MANAGERIAL MERRY-GO-ROUND INTO ONE OF THE SHIP’S “FUN” ATTRACTIONS
As the Queen Mary looks for another manager/operator—that will make four in the past four years—a contributor to an online discussion group devoted to the historic ship believes he has found a way to transform all this instability into an attraction. Chris Butler is the blogger’s name, and he calls his game “a concept that would put some fun [...]
LB HERITAGE NAMES SEAPORT MARINA HOTEL TO ITS ENDANGERED LIST
The Seaport Marina Hotel, a midcentury expression of Southern California’s informal elegance that has become an eyesore under its latest owners, is among 10 Long Beach buildings on an Endangered Properties Watch List.
PLANNING COMMISSION DENIES REQUEST TO SUBDIVIDE MARKETPLACE CENTER
The Long Beach Planning Commission denied by a 5-1 vote Thursday evening a request to subdivide a small slice of the MarketPlace shopping center, located on Pacifice Coast Highway between the proposed Second+PCH development and the Los Cerritos Wetlands. Alan Fox cast the dissenting vote against a majority that consisted of Melanie Smith, Charles Durnin, [...]
ACTIVISTS WANT MORE AND CLEARER INFORMATION ABOUT SUBDIVISION OF MARKETPLACE SHOPPING CENTER
A request to subdivide a small slice of the Market Place shopping center is item No. 1 in your program—that is, the agenda—for this evening’s Long Beach Planning Commission meeting, but it’s also something like the ump-tillionth time that what appears to be a straightforward piece of land-use business is being blurred by the confusion [...]
AS MARIO CORDERO DEPARTS, HIS LEGACY MAY BE THIS SMALL ACT OF HEROISM
Mario Cordero's confirmation by the Senate last week to the Federal Maritime Commission brought back memories of the moment that epitomized his tenure on the Long Beach Harbor Commission---his commitment to personal integrity when he refused to rubber-stamp a back-room deal he didn't believe in.
MARKETPLACE SUBDIVISION WOULD ACCOMODATE UA THEATER OWNER
Suspicion was aroused this morning when a proposal to subdivide the MarketPlace shopping center suddenly popped up on the April 21 agenda of the Long Beach Planning Commission. That’s the go-to reaction to any perceived shift in the landscape of southeastern Long Beach, home to the Los Cerritos Wetlands and a constant procession of suggested [...]
SUBDIVISION OF MARKETPLACE POPS UP ON PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA
A proposal that would subdivide a portion of the MarketPlace shopping center will be considered at the April 21 meeting of the Long Beach Planning Commission. The item was agendized by City of Long Beach staff, which recommends its approval. The proposed subdivision is almost surgical, snipping 1.2 acres from the MarketPlace, which currently covers 18.2 acres. [...]
LEGISLATION BY LAKEWOOD HIGH STUDENTS PASSES ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE
Leaders of Lakewood High's so-called Sacramento Seven---from right to left, Terrell Snead, Assemblyman Warren Furutani, Kaitlyn Miller and Brandon Perez---testify in favor of their bill, AB 1174, Wednesday afternoon before the California Assembly's Education Committee.
LAKEWOOD HIGH’S “SACRAMENTO SEVEN” TO TESTIFY IN CAPITOL BUILDING WEDNESDAY FOR THEIR ASSEMBLY BILL
Nearly eight months after 45 students in a Lakewood High School civics began their final year at the school by batting around ideas for a worthwhile senior project, seven of them will spend Wednesday in the state Capitol Building lobbying and testifying in favor of a bill they have proposed. The Sacramento Seven, they are [...]
CITIZEN POLICE INVESTIGATOR SAYS HE WAS FIRED…FOR INVESTIGATING POLICE
Tomas Gonzales says he was fired as an investigator with the Citizens Police Complaint Commission for refusing to soften his investigations into citizen claims of misconduct by Long Beach police officers. He has filed a potentially expensive and embarrassing lawsuit against the City of Long Beach.
IF GANGS DON’T GET HAUBERT’S STRONG MESSAGE, MAYBE THE NEWS MEDIA WILL
Although City Prosecutor Doug Haubert asserted Friday that sending a 20-year-old man to jail for six months on a misdemeanor vandalism conviction sends a “strong message” to gang members, he actually made his point by sending a strong message to the news media. A no-words-minced press release that was e-mailed by Haubert’s chief of staff [...]
UP-AND-COMING RAPPER PAYS TRIBUTE TO DEARLY DEPARTED NATE DOGG
Clippah Duh Dam Gorilla is combining a Club Cohiba listening party for his debut album with a tribute to the late Nate Dogg, who came out of central Long Beach neighborhoods to become an international star.
POTENTIAL LUNATICS TO PLAY BLUE CAFE AND ALBUM IS ON THE WAY
The sister-and-brother punk duo of Long Beach teenagers Emma and Isaac Simons-Araya---whose music is in no way as kitschy as that description might suggest---have raised the last $400 they needed to finish their first album. Next stop: the Blue Cafe this Sunday
LOS CERRITOS WETLANDS LAND TRUST RAMPS UP OPPOSITION TO SECOND+PCH
After doing a low boil for a few years over the slick website that the 2nd+PCH development team has been using to promote its controversial multi-use proposal, environmentalists opposed to the project now have one of their own. The Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (LCWLT) has launched the specialized site on a separate page of [...]
NATE DOGG’S MEMORIAL: A LONG, EMOTIONAL FAREWELL TO LONG BEACH’S OWN
Nathaniel D. Hale, who became a hip-hop legend named Nate Dogg by birth into a family of Gospel singers and by bonds forged in the neighborhoods of center Long Beach, was memorialized Saturday during a long, emotional ceremony that intertwined those influences.
PHOTO ESSAY: SUNRISE BIKE RIDE BEGINS MEMORIAL FOR MARK BIXBY
A large contingent of cyclists pedaled out of a glorious sunrise at Alamitos Bay Friday morning on a memorial bike ride for the late Mark Bixby, who died March 16 in a private plane crash at the Long Beach Airport.
UPDATED: 1,000 TIX TO NATE DOGG MEMORIAL AVAILABLE TODAY BY PHONE
One thousand tickets to Saturday’s otherwise-private memorial service for Long Beach hip-hop pioneer Nate Dogg in the Queen Mary Dome are available by telephone today on a first-come, first-served basis. To order a ticket, you must call (562) 570-6147 before 3 p.m. today (Friday, March 25). To use it Saturday, you must have a valid [...]
SECOND+PCH’S PLAN FOR THE ZONING LAWS IT VIOLATES: REWRITE ‘EM!
Second+PCH developer David Malmuth concedes that, in a perfect world, zoning laws would be rewritten first so as to permit a project that was in accordance with them. "Yeah," he says, "but it’s not gonna happen that way.”
K-BEACH RADIO TO REVIEW, DISCUSS TODAY’S 2ND+PCH MEETING TONIGHT AT 6
GreaterLongBeach.com publisher Dave Wielenga will be among the in-studio guests this evening when Long Beach State’s online radio station, K-BEACH, presents a special feature on today’s 3rd District neighborhood meeting on the proposed Second+PCH project. The program begins at 6 p.m. and is accessible online at www.KBeach.org. It will also be available as a podcast. [...]
DELONG’S CONSTITUENTS LUNCH WITH SECOND+PCH DEVELOPER SO COZY THAT SOME OF THEM FEEL CROWDED OUT
It’s no wonder all tickets for Thursday’s meeting of Councilmember Gary DeLong’s 3rd District Neighborhood Association were sold out more than a week ago. The guest speaker is David Malmuth, developer of Second+PCH, the hugely controversial proposal to construct a huge hotel/residential/retail consortium on the corner of Long Beach’s most congested intersection. Also? There were [...]
BEER & POLITICS RETURNS ON APRIL FOOL’S DAY IN BIXBY KNOLLS
Keeping a promise he made in a one-question interview with GreaterLongBeach.com last December, Mike Clements is reviving Beer & Politics, the monthly thirst-quenching public-issues forum he’d been hosting in taverns around town—until he became 7th district councilman James Johnson’s chief of staff. Although Clements said then that he expected Beer & Politics to be back [...]
WHERE THE STREETS HAVE NEW NAMES …
The streets of Downey are suburban, almost obliged to be indistinctive, and yet driving them has begun to feel more and more … meaningful? Or maybe … inspirational? And then again, there’s always … corny? Well, at minimum, let’s hope it’s unforgettable—because committing all the new street names to memory is a challenge. Lately, the [...]
BILL BY LAKEWOOD HIGH CIVICS CLASS REACHES ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE
Lakewood High students who proposed AB 1174---which would prohibit adults from soliciting minor-aged children going to and from public schools---are raising money for an April 13 trip to Sacramento to testify before the Education Committee.
“THE USE OF REGRET:” COULD IT BE A HEART-SHAPED BLOOD STAIN?
Greggory Moore will be at { open } Saturday night to read from his first novel, "The Use of Regret," which he agrees has a very intriguing title---but about which he is otherwise inscrutable. Very cagey, Mr. Moore, very cagey.
NATE DOGG, WHOSE SOULFUL HOOKS SIGNIFIED LB’S G-FUNK SOUND, DIES AT 41
Nate Dogg's unmistakeable voice was deep and soothing, but it was also sonic camouflage for personal torments that were buried even deeper within him. Although he was a warm, honest and insightful conversationalist, Nate Dogg seemed to be constantly distracted and undermined by personal issues, even as he rose to personal fame.
BULLETIN: SECOND+PCH’S PROJECT’S (SECOND) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT TO BE RELEASED THURSDAY
The long-awaited environmental impact report (EIR) for the Second+PCH development—the second such document for this long-proposed hotel/retail/residential project—will be released Thursday, GreaterLongBeach.com has learned from lead developer David Malmuth. “My enthusiasm has been renewed,” Malmuth says. “I can finally see that we’ll formally start the comment period and hopefully be successful [in getting approval] through [...]
LB CITY COUNCIL ACCEPTS $180 MILLION WORTH OF REDEVELOMENT AGENCY PROPERTIES TO SHIELD FROM STATE
The City of Long Beach acquired some 222 parcels of land worth approximately $180 million Tuesday night when the City Council voted 9-0 to accept all properties, assets and development agreements that were transferred to it in a unanimous Monday morning vote by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency (RDA) Board. The actions by the two [...]
ELECTION DAY BRINGS SOME CHANGE, EVEN TO GOOD, OLD BELLFLOWER
“Sonny” Santa Ines was five years old when he made his first political speech---at a campaign rally for his father, who was running for a city government office in The Philippines---made his most-recent one Tuesday night when he was elected to the Bellflower City Council.
BULLETIN: LONG BEACH RDA VOTES TO TRANSFER ITS HOLDINGS TO CITY COUNCIL
By unanimous vote, the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency has ordered that all the properties and assets it owns—as well as all agreements to develop them—be transferred to the City of Long Beach, which will put them under the control of the Long Beach City Council. The vote, held in City Council chambers this morning, comes [...]
THAT ART WE THOUGHT MIGHT BE BANKSY’S? IT’S DOWNEY’S OWN BUMBLEBEE!
Bumblebee, born-and-raised in Downey (exit at Firestone, not through the gift shop), has been building such a high profile in the downlow world of street art---not only painting on walls, but sculpting in abandoned phone booths and newsracks---that he has recently brought his stuff into galleries.
THE DAY LONG BEACH BEAT WESTBORO BAPTISTS AT THEIR OWN FREE SPEECH
On the day the Supreme Court upheld the First Amendment rights of the despicable Westboro Baptist Church, it's worth remembering the way the people of Long Beach greeted the wacky Kansas hatemongers last year with more than a little free speech of our own.
WARREN FURUTANI LAYS DOWN THE LAW-MAKING FOR LAKEWOOD STUDENTS
“Who’s got a vote? That’s what counts,” Assembly member Warren Furutani told a group of Lakewood High students during a strategy session for a bill they have introduced in Sacramento. "Other questions are important only to the extent that our answers will help us secure the votes of committee members that will get our bill to the floor.”
WHAT ARE YOUR DEEPEST DESIRES FOR THE NEW LIBRARY IN NORTH LONG BEACH?
What do you like in a neighborhood public library? For me, it’s books, but I know a dude who goes just to get shhhushed by a secondarily degreed professional trained in information and library science. Anybody with other ideas and passions for libraries is welcome to suggest and confess them Saturday in North Long Beach [...]
GARAGE THEATRE SETS OSCAR MOOD WITH A COEN BRO (SINGULAR) PLAY
Ethan Coen’s Almost an Evening opens at the Garage Theatre on Friday, which of course is almost the evening—two nights before the Academy Awards—which of course is where Coen and brother, Joel, will be awaiting the outcome of the 10 nominations for their latest picture, True Grit, which of course makes the show the perfect [...]
WATCH HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGEST NIGHT AT LONG BEACH’S BIGGEST OSCAR PARTY
The biggest Oscar Party in Greater Long Beach this Sunday? In terms of square footage, it’s hard to enlarge uponthe bash Long Beach Cinematheque is throwing at Yankee Doodles. That ol’ sports bar is positively geographic!
DARYL SHAWN WILL BE INSTRUMENTAL TO A GOOD TIME AT VIENTO Y AGUA
If you like the music of Rodrigo y Gabriela, Tommy Emmanuel and Bill Frisell, you probably ought to be at the Viento y Agua coffee house Thursday at 8 p.m. for an instrumental show by guitarist Daryl Shawn. Shawn is based in New York, an alumnus of Boston’s Berklee College of Music and developed his [...]
DOUG HAUBERT: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN WINNING UGLY AND SITTING PRETTY
The job of city prosecutor is so complex that Doug Haubert can’t precisely explain how he---or Long Beach residents—ought to determine whether he’s doing a good one. "In my opinion," says Haubert, "the best way is whether people feel the neighborhoods are getting safer.”
LBUSD BOARD UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES POTENTIAL LAYOFFS, PROGRAM CUTS
A unanimous, 5-0 vote by the Long Beach Unified School District’s Board of Education approved roughly $30 million in budget cuts—with more expected—Tuesday afternoon before an overflow crowd. The action authorized LBUSD management to send notices of potential layoffs to 777 certificate-holding employees, mainly teachers, but also including librarians, counselors, and others. The action would [...]
FIFTY YEARS LATER, A BIRTH—AND A LEGACY—AT 14TH & CHESTNUT
The site of Long Beach's first great hospital has become its newest park, and many people born at Seaside Hospital came to the dedication of Seaside Park---some bearing their birth certificates---as witnesses and well-wishers to the repurposing of their sorta-sacred spot.
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS, CRITICISMS, LOVE NOTES & WITTICISMS
YOU DON’T HAVE TO REGISTER YOUR BICYCLE IN LONG BEACH, ANYMORE [ By Dave Wielenga ] Not having this chore will give you more time to register your cat. / THE COMMISH What’s with all the shameless self promotion? Long Beach–bike lanes are good. Quit saying you are (or are becoming) the “most bicycle friendly city [...]
YOU DON’T HAVE TO REGISTER YOUR BICYCLE IN LONG BEACH, ANYMORE
Bicycle registration became voluntary in Long Beach on Tuesday night by a unanimous vote of the City Council. “We are now one step closer to becoming America’s most bike-friendly city,” said Council member Robert Garcia in a statement released by his office moments after the meeting ended. Garcia introduced legislation in December that directed the [...]
LB REACHES THE BOYLE-ING POINT, AND BY COINCIDENCE, HERE HE COMES
Father Greg Boyle's appearance in Bixby Knolls Wednesday night---scheduled before Saturday’s gang-related shooting---is pure coincidence ... whether you define that word as a) a sequence of accidental events that seems to have been arranged; or b) a miracle in which God chooses to remain anonymous.
SHASHIN DESAI: THOUGHTS ON A LIFE IN—AND NOW OUT OF—THE THEATER
“Whatever that passion is, whatever you call it, wherever you find it---whether there are five people in the cast or five people in the audience---it is OK, it is perfect. Nothing else is an issue. The issue is how sincere people are.” ---SHASHIN DESAI
WHEN WILL BLACKOUT BE LIFTED ON LBPD’S KILLING OF DOUG ZERBY?
Nearly six weeks after Doug Zerby was gunned down in Belmont Shore by two Long Beach police officers as he fiddled with a water nozzle on a friend's porch, nearly all the facts related to the case have become the secrets of investigating public officials and law enforcement agencies. When will the blackout be lifted?
CITY AUDITOR RUNS THE NUMBERS THAT QUALIFY HER FOR BOSTON MARATHON
City Auditor Laura Doud qualified for the Boston Marathon today, lopping 32 minutes off her personal best to finish the Phoenix Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon—that’s 26 miles, 385 yards—in 3 hours and 50 minutes. “It was just one of those days where everything lined up perfectly,” marveled Doud, 44, during a telephone interview from Phoenix [...]
INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATER FOUNDER SHASHIN DESAI WILL RESIGN MARCH 15
Shashin Desai, who in 1985 founded the International City Theater in a 99-seat, black box theater on the campus of Long Beach City College, announced his resignation—effective March 15—in a press release Friday afternoon. He will be replaced by his wife and the ICT’s current general manager, caryn desai, who spells her name that way. [...]
IN AFTERMATH OF ENVIRONMENTAL VICTORY COMES … BOREDOM?
The most-striking revelation to emerge from Thursday night’s meeting among environmental crusaders who last month finally saw the acquisition of 100 acres of the Los Cerritos Wetlands? Fighting for preservation of a delicate ecosystem is a lot more exciting than planning its restoration. For more than 20 years, activists had brought soulful passion, indefatigable dedication [...]
BRING QUESTIONS ABOUT WETLANDS ACQUISITION TO SEAL BEACH TONIGHT
Now that an environmental battle of more than 20 years has finally concluded with 100 acres of Los Cerritos Wetlands—located on the Hellman Ranch property—in the public hands … uhhh … what’s next? Bring that question to Seal Beach tonight and ask it during the Neighborhood Meeting at the Senior Center at the Mary Wilson [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR STACIA SAMARTAN: ARE WE NEARING THE END OF THE CUPCAKE TREND?
The back story: Everywhere you look, somebody is predicting the demise of the cupcake—or at least our decade-long obsession with them. As 2010 wound down, it was one of the most-common New Year’s prophecies. Of course, that was true near the end of 2008 and 2009, too. Since Stacia Samartan and her mother opened Frosted Cupcakery in [...]
THERE’S STILL TIME TO RESOLVE TO JOIN BIXBY KNOLLS LITERARY SOCIETY
Lots of New Year’s resolutions have already been trashed, but there are ways to recover—basically by resolving to do something for which, so far in 2011, there has been no opportunity to do … like, let’s saaaay … attending all 12 meetings of the Bixby Knolls Literary Society. The first one of those isn’t until [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR ROBERT GARCIA: DID YOU KEEP SERVICE-YARD PROMISE?
When he was running for re-election, Robert Garcia said he would support “restrictions” on the private use of the Public Service Yard property for trucking. But no restrictions were included in the deed or covenant. Did Garcia keep his promise? "Absolutely!" he says.
OROPEZA’S STAFF TENDING TO HER CONSTITUENTS—AND LOOKING FOR WORK
Monday would have been the day Jenny Oropeza began her second term in the California Senate.
Instead, for her staff, it was simply the first day back from the holiday break, a return to tending to the needs of constituents and a resumption of the countdown to their last day on the job.
BEYOND GREATER: MUST-READ STORY WE DIDN’T WRITE–DEATH OF ‘DISNEY DREAM’
Economic equality seemed within reach in 1956, at least for the vast middle class. The sense that the American promise of social and economic mobility was attainable to anyone who sought it permeates Robbins Barstow's home movie, “Disneyland Dream,” from start to finish.
NEW DOWNEY COUNCILMAN USES VETERAN’S EXCUSE FOR NOT REPORTING CONTRIBUTION
Fernando Vasquez, the newest member of the Downey city council, is falling back upon a well-worn excuse for his failure to report a $2,500 campaign contribution from a local auto dealership before the Nov. 2 election—blaming a subordinate. “It was oversight by the campaign treasurer , who handles our reporting of expenses and campaign contributions,” said Vasquez, [...]
LBPOA BLOCKS RELEASE OF LIST OF OFFICERS WHO FATALLY SHOT SUSPECTS
The December deaths of two suspects who were shot by Long Beach Police Department officers has apparently prompted an investigation by the Los Angeles Times, which is seeking the names of all LBPD officers involved in fatal shootings since 2005. But the Times reports that the Long Beach Police Officers Association (the union that represents [...]
GREATEST OF THE GREATER: MOST-READ STORIES FROM OUR FIRST 6 MONTHS
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.
DON’T WORRY, IF FARRELL’S DOES RETURN TO DOWNEY YOU’LL HEAR IT
Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlours became a crazy-popular chain in the 1960s by dressing its employees like they were in the 1890s and making them act like they were on LSD. There used to be a Farrell's at Downey's Stonewood Center, and rumor has it there may be again.
SECOND+PCH SAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS… OH, AND EIR WILL BE TWO MONTHS LATE
'Twas the night before Christmas, and the already paralyzed Second+PCH project took the opportunity to inform supporters that the pivotal rewrite of the Environmental Impact Report will miss its end-of-the-year deadline by two months. The bad news came in an e-mail titled "Happy Holidays."
ONE QUESTION … FOR RESTAURATEUR KAMRAN ASSADI: ARE THESE HOLIDAYS MAKING MERCHANTS HAPPY?
The question: From where you stand—on the downtown corner of First Street and Linden Avenue, where you and Amir Zee have co-owned Utopia Restaurant for 11 years—do these look like Happy Holidays for East Village businesses? Kamran Assadi’s answer: Compared to last year, it’s much, much better. It’s been a very good holiday season for [...]
SIGNS OF LIFE—THAT IS, A BREAKING NEWS STORY—AT LBREPORT.COM
A pulse has been detected on the website of LBReport.com, which on Sunday began to emerge from a brief coma—publisher Bill Pearl called it a “hiatus”—in encouragingly characteristic fashion: that is, it broke a story. Acting on an independent tip, LBReporter Sharon Katchen was first with news of the Long Beach Police Department’s second fatal [...]
LBREPORT.COM IS SUDDENLY GONE, BUT PUBLISHER INSISTS NOT FOR LONG
Bill Pearl, who essentially founded Internet news reporting in Long Beach when he launched LBReport.com in 2000, insists he is not through—that the website’s sudden disappearance Friday will only last a few more days. “I’m not going away,” Pearl said Saturday in a telephone conversation from his home. “This is going to be a very [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR MICHAEL CLEMENTS: WHAT HAPPENED TO BEER & POLITICS?
[ Another in a weekly series. ] The question: What happened to Beer & Politics, the thirst-quenching public-issues forum that you’d been moderating in taverns around town for the past few years on the last Tuesday of every month? Mike Clements’ answer: Beer and Politics was a casualty of real life. By end of 2009, [...]
GIFT OF THE MAD GUYS: THE BUMPERS ADD A CAROL TO THE HOLIDAY CATALOGUE
From somewhere in the mixture of The Bumpers’ made and missed holiday opportunities has come forth the Newest Christmas Song on Earth … or Long Beach, anyway: "I Need My Baby By My Side (On Xmas Night)."
DO YOU MIND THIS GUY WAITING FOR KIDS OUTSIDE THEIR SCHOOL?
Some Lakewood High students want a law against adults---like this man, covering his face with the religious booklets he was foisting on children outside Rogers Middle School last month---soliciting minors within 100 feet of public schools. Assemblyman Warren Furutani has agreed to take their proposal through the legislative process.
DOG GONE, BUT WHAT A WEEKEND FOR DEE AND HER BLUETICK COONHOUND!
“This is the biggest moment in my dog-showing career,” Dee Gunter reflected quietly after her Bluetick Coonhound won Best of Breed at the AKC National Championships. “Fifty years I’ve been waiting for this. I started when I was 10½ and I’m almost 62 years old. Yes, I am.”
ONE QUESTION (ABOUT PUNCTUATION) … FOR RYAN ZUMMALLEN
[ Another in a series. ] The question: What’s the deal with the spelling of your last name—ZumMallen—that is, a double-M with the second one capitalized? Ryan ZumMallen’s answer: ”That’s just the way the name has always been. I don’t know much about its history—my dad tried to trace it for awhile, but he hit a dead end. [...]
LBREPORT.COM SEEKING NOMINATIONS FOR THE BEST AND WORST OF 2010
Who should be Long Beach’s Civic Superlatives and Posterior Posterities of 2010? And why? LBReport.com wants to know—especially the why—for a feature will attempt to wrap a year that is fast slipping away. Personally, one of GreaterLongBeach.com’s nominees for a Civic Superlative would be LBReport.com, itself. Long Beach’s oldest on-line news source turned 10 years [...]
CIRIVELLO’S: SPORTS SPOT BY DAY, MUSIC VENUE BY NIGHT
A guy in a ball cap and a stretched-to-the-max jersey with his belly up to the bar was staring at a hi-def TV and making small talk with his virtual clone between bites and sips of the lunch special: business as usual for a Thursday afternoon at Cirivello’s. But Friday will be another day—or, more [...]
JACKSON BROWNE TO PLAY TERRACE THEATER
Tickets go on sale Saturday at noon for a concert by renowned singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, who will perform a solo acoustic show on March 8 at the Terrace Theater. Browne was raised in Orange County and his music epitomized the 1970s California sound, which soothed the wounds of the 1960s with laid-back melodies and lyrics [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR DIANE RIPLEY
Why haven't you registered as a lobbyist with the City of Long Beach, which last February instituted a Lobbyist Registration Ordinance by a unanimous vote of the City Council?
GARCIA, LOWENTHAL & DELONG PROPOSE BANNING PLASTIC BAGS IN LONG BEACH
After jetting to Sacramento for a press event supporting state legislation that would ban single-use plastic bags in California, Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal has joined with Long Beach City Council members Robert Garcia and Gary DeLong in proposing such a ban—along with a charge for recyclable paper bags—in Long Beach. The council members have placed their proposal, [...]
‘ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN’ RUN EXTENDED TO REPLACE CANCELED SHOWS
Alive Theatre has added three shows to its run of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, which had two weekends worth of performances postponed for “unavoidable” reasons the company still has not revealed. Remaining dates are tonight (Friday) and Saturday at 8 p.m., Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. and 8 [...]
SATURDAY’S CLEANUP AT BIXBY PARK MAY BE THE BEGINNING OF RESTORATION
The latest call for a community cleanup of a Long Beach public space—this one set for Saturday, from 8 a.m. to noon, at Bixby Park—is not just another call for a community cleanup of Long Beach public space. Claudia Schou, a resident who formed Friends of Bixby Park, which is co-sponsoring the event with the [...]
LONG BEACH THEATRES HAVE QUITE A FEW QUESTIONS FOR THEIR AUDIENCES
“We know that theatre audience numbers are shrinking and, naturally, theatres are concerned about that,” said Victoria Bryan, a Long Beach State professor who is overseeing the survey of Long Beach theatre audiences. “Talking to people who do attend shows seems like a good place to start to understand how we can build and sustain future audiences.”
{OPEN} HAS BEEN OPEN FOR SEVEN YEARS—AND IT’S SALE-A-BRATING
{open}, the little bookstore whose brackets have become pillars of culture and commerce on Fourth Street’s Retro Row, will turn seven years old on Nov. 15 and owners Sé Reed and Shea Gauer are celebrating today and Sunday with music, treats, sales and a chance to win $77 worth of books by purchasing $7 worth. [...]
ALIVE THEATRE CANCELS THIS WEEKEND’S PERFORMANCES OF ‘ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD’
The Alive Theatre has cancelled all three of this weekend’s performances of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead due to what a spokesperson for the company called “regrettable and uncontrollable circumstances.” The cancelled shows were scheduled for tonight (Friday Nov. 12) Saturday and Sunday. Also cancelled are performances scheduled for November 26 and 27. [...]
CERRITOS HONORED AS LA COUNTY’S MOST BUSINESS-FRIENDLY CITY
Cerritos was honored as Most Business-Friendly City in Los Angeles County for cities with populations under 60,000 people Wednesday night during a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, receiving an Eddy Award from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). Alhambra won the Eddy among cities with populations over 60,000, a category in which [...]
CERRITOS, DOWNEY & CARSON ARE FINALISTS FOR LA COUNTY’S MOST-BUSINESS-FRIENDLY CITY AWARDS
Three cities in the Greater Long Beach area—although not Long Beach, itself, this year—are among 12 finalists for Eddy Awards in the 2010 Most Business-Friendly City competition sponsored by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). Representatives of Cerritos, Downey and Carson will be at the Beverly Hilton Hotel tonight to await the announcement [...]
MAYOR’S WIFE USES HER FACEBOOK PAGE TO PUSH LB CITY COUNCIL FOR TOUGHER MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE
The Long Beach City Charter doesn’t give her an official voice and she isn’t registered with City Hall as a lobbyist, but Nancy Foster is the wife of Mayor Bob Foster—and on Monday night she leveraged whatever influence comes with that connection to support additional restrictions to Long Beach’s medical marijuana ordinance. Three city council [...]
C’MON IN, THE WATER’S … UHH … WELL THE HEALTH DEPT SAYS IT’S FINE AGAIN
Beach weather continued its unseasonal stay in Long Beach today, and you know the old saying: Last one in the water is a rotten egg! But what about the first one in the water? What is he—or she—only three days after local beaches were closed by the arrival of 50,000 gallons of raw sewage, which [...]
APPLICATIONS FOR NEW ROUND OF LAWN-TO-GARDEN REBATES ARE UNDERWAY
On-line applications began this morning at 8 a.m. for a new round of rebates—up to $2,500 per household—offered by the Long Beach Water Department to residents who replace their water-guzzling grass lawns with easy-on-the-H20 landscapes. To apply, go to http://www.lblawntogarden.com/ Admission to the Lawn to Garden Program will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, [...]
TEA PARTY STOMP? NOT HERE, WHERE DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS WALTZED
The Tea Party Stomp, a political dance craze that swept the nation---and lots of Democratic incumbents out of office---during Tuesday’s elections doesn’t appear to have caught on in Greater Long Beach, where voters came away from polling places doing the Same Ol’ Shuffle.
IT STINKS, AND SOMEHOW I BEAR SOME SCENTS OF RESPONSIBILITY
The latest sewage spill will close Long Beach's open coastal beaches for a few days while scientists monitor the water's bacterial levels. The good thing is, somebody warned the sea lions, birds and fish. And?When the percentages of poison drop to acceptable levels, everybody’s going to be invited back into the water!
LONG BEACH ST. MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM PICKED SECOND IN PRE-SEASON POLL
Last year, the Long Beach State men’s basketball team came within one victory of a trip to the NCAA playoffs—a loss to UC Santa Barbara in the finals of the Big West Conference Tournament—and a 23-member panel of sports reporters expects more or less the same outcome this season. In a pre-season poll released Thursday, [...]
JONATHAN JAQUES CHILDREN’S CANCER CENTER RECEIVES $50,000 GRANT
The Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center at Long Beach’s Miller Children’s Hospital has received a $50,000 grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to help child survivors of cancer cope with the various enduring effects of their treatment. “Unfortunately, what it takes to get children cancer-free can leave them with longstanding problems,” said Jayme Palumbo of [...]
OROPEZA’S FUNERAL IS THIS AFTERNOON, AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Funeral services for state Senator Jenny Oropeza, whose death at age 53 Wednesday night left a stunned stillness in the political circles she had enlivened with her energy for more than three decades, will be held today at 1 p.m. The ceremony will be conducted at Forest Lawn in Cypress (4471 Lincoln Ave.) in the [...]
AUCTION OF MARATHON’S MILE MARKERS TO BE EXTENDED AND EXPANDED
Absolutely unsurprisingly, mile marker 26 received the most bids from Long Beach Marathon participants last weekend during a silent auction to benefit the Artful Healing program at Miller Children’s Hospital. Twenty-six miles is pretty much what marathoning is all about—although those with experience never underestimate the additional 385 yards to the finish line. A whole [...]
UPDATE OCT. 19: AUCTION OF MARATHON MILE MARKERS TO BE EXTENDED AND EXPANDED
These mile markers are special. They were created and painted by young patients from Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach (MCHLB) as part of the hospital’s “Artful Healing for Our Heroes” campaign. Exactly 100 percent of the proceeds of the silent auction will benefit this program, directed by MCHLB artist in residence, Denise Clayton-Leonard.
COULD TERRY WATT PROVIDE A PATH TO WIN-WIN SOLUTION OF LOS CERRITOS WETLANDS DILEMMA?
The few open spaces that remain in Long Beach continue to dangle in the political breeze like piñatas, their fate frequently seeming to depend on nothing more than the blind swing of a lucky land developer. During the past few years, the biggest of these places—the 56-acre, so-called Sports Park site on former oil and [...]
YEASTIE BOYS CONTINUE ILLOGICAL MYSTERY TOUR TONIGHT AT ALEX’S
It’s difficult to explain the attraction of the Yeastie Boys, a bunch of over-the-hill punk rockers who get on stage costumed as circus clowns … hmmm … unless the band is actually a circus whose clowns affect the music of punk so they can get on stage! Aha! But wait—the attraction of that would be [...]
GOING TO THE DOG PARK? HOPE YOU AND POOCHIE HAVE READ THE FINE PRINT
Workers at Rio San Gabriel Park in Downey are putting the finishing touches on a new dog park—and hey, where do you think you and that mutt of yours are going? There’s a lot more to taking your dog to a dog park—this one, anyway—than simply taking your dog to a dog park. For instance: [...]
GET BUSY ON STEINBECK’S ‘IN DUBIOUS BATTLE’ FOR BIXBY KNOLLS LITERARY SOCIETY OCT. 13
Less than two weeks remain to finish reading In Dubious Battle before the next meeting of the Bixby Knolls Literary Society on Oct. 13. That doesn’t sound like much time, until you consider the John Steinbeck classic was published in 1936. Then it sounds like a major case of procrastination. In Dubious Battle came out [...]
DOES BIG SHUFFLE OF SECOND+PCH TEAM SIGNAL A BIG CHANGE IN TACTICS?
Cliff Ratkovich and Carl Kemp are out, Stephen T. Conley and Alex Cherin are in, and there is speculation that the shuffle signals a change in strategy by Second+PCH lead lead developer David Malmuth---an attempt to pull political strings rather than push for community support.
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS REVEAL THEIR OWN SAD SCALE
THE HEADLINE: Downey twins win by losing a combined 273 pounds THE STORY: After losing a combined 273 pounds in 20 months, identical 29-year-old twin sisters Tiffany Marie Elizalde (153-pound loss) and Tina Marie Konegni (120-pound loss) of Downey were named among 100 first-place winners nationwide in Weight Watchers 2010 “Role Models of the Year” [...]
GREEN IS GREATER FESTIVAL TODAY AT GASLAMP, NOON TO 6…AND FREE!
The Green Is Greater Festival convenes today at noon—eight musical acts, dozens of environmental groups, artists and vendors—in a first-of-its kind opportunity for the often-fragmented environmental movement to unite during six hours of celebration and fundraising at The Gaslamp Restaurant. The event is free. Korey Dane heads an exciting musical lineup that also features The [...]
COME FOR THE QUICHE, STAY FOR THE CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES
Dan Pressburg’s candidate brunches have become a unique and reassuring tradition in Long Beach politics, an opportunity to meet candidates for elective office over quiche, bacon, sausage and orange juice on the patio of a historic home that used to be a local dairy and creamery. Pressburg, an unflagging activist in North Long Beach, basically [...]
GREEN IS GREATER LINEUP FINALIZED: EIGHT BANDS IN SIX HOURS
The best in Long Beach music will be showcased Saturday at the Green is Greater Festival, when eight acts will appear on the Gaslamp Restaurant stage during six hours of non-stop tuneage—all to benefit environmental organizations from throughout the area. The final lineup: KOREY DANE & CO. This amazing songsmith and his excellent entourage comes [...]
WHEN BELLFLOWER COULDN’T AFFORD ANNUAL CAR SHOW, ANYMORE, THE NOON LIONS STEPPED IN AS SPONSOR
It’s still possible to enter a vehicle in the Bellflower Boulevard Car Show, on the very day of the 12th annual version of the event is held … well … on Bellflower Boulevard. That didn’t look very likely a couple of years ago, when a budget crisis forced the City of Bellflower to cut back [...]
THE COMPTON BULLETIN LAUNCHES ITS FIRST-EVER SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE
The Compton Bulletin has become one of Southern California’s most dynamic community newspapers under the leadership of editor Allison Jean Eaton, but it isn’t immune to economic conditions that are threatening print journalism everywhere. So for the first time in its history The Bulletin is launching a subscription drive. Throughout the months of September and [...]
HERE’S THE LINK TO ACRES OF BOOKS SEGMENT ON KPCC’S OFF-RAMP
Greater Long Beach contributor Theo Douglas will be among the guests Saturday when the public radio program Off Ramp examines the death of Long Beach’s iconic Acres of Books—from how it happened to whether it had to happen to why the hell it took so excruciatingly damn long … I mean, is the place actually [...]
BUSKERFEST WINNER KOREY DANE TO HEADLINE GREEN IS GREATER FESTIVAL
Fresh off his win in the Summer And Music Buskerfest last weekend, singer/songwriter Korey Dane is among three more highly regarded local artists who have joined the musical lineup for the day-long Green Is Greater Festival on Sept. 18 at the Gaslamp Bar and Restaurant. Admission is free. Dane’s musical stylings can tiptoe from folk [...]
ANTHONY CLARK HATED STREET-SWEEPING TICKETS SO MUCH HE WENT PRO
The Press-Telegram’s so-called special report Sunday on street sweeping in Long Beach—which contrasted the miles of roadways the machines clean against the millions in revenue the parking tickets glean, just like the many not-special reports that have preceded it over the years—made me marvel again at the enduring attraction of this topic. I wrote pretty much [...]
YEASTIE BOYS BRING THEIR PUNK A-LA-CLOWN ACT
"It's a real fun time,” says … well … one of the Yeastie Boys---impossible to say which one, behind all that makeup. “We do all the classic punk rock tunes, stuff by the Ramones, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, all while dressed in clown suits.” Yep, that's what they do. Tonight at 8 at di Piazza's.
A VISION FOR LONG BEACH THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE HALLUCINATIONS?
“I want Long Beach to become the green-technology capital of California,” says Alex Cherin of The Cherin Group. “It's perfectly positioned to attract the kind of venture capital to clean technology that Silicon Valley attracted to computer startups in the 1990s.”
CITY COUNCIL TO REFUND $50K FOR 2ND+PCH PROJECT’S ‘BABY HUEY’
Item 6 on the consent calendar at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Long Beach City Council authorizes a refund of $50,592 to Pacific Castle Long Beach LLP, which is apparently withdrawing its plan for a massive redevelopment of the MarketPlace Shopping Center—a project we dubbed Baby Huey last April, when we discovered it buried in [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES, WITTICISMS
VECTOR CONTROL: WOULD PRISON COOL LORRAINE CERVANTES’ BURNING DESIRES? [By Steve Lowery, Aug. 19] I worked as a copyreader and wrote for the Compton Bulletin during the summer of 1987, under the late great publisher, O. Ray Watkins. The paper, along with staff writers John Cordero and Ron (I forgot his last name), crusaded for [...]
GREEN IS GREATER FEST: ENVIROS UNITE OVER MUSIC, ART AND A 50/50 DRAWING
Greater Long Beach is partnering with The Gaslamp restaurant and Heather Altman of the environmental blog EgretsNotRegrets.com to present the Green Is Greater Festival---an event intended to help unite the often-fragmented environmental community. It's Sept. 18 at The Gaslamp.
MOVIE SING-ALONGS AND POETRY BOXES: CAN YOU IMAGINE ANYTHING VERSE?
Participatory art can be wonderful---although I enjoy it most when the participants are really good artists.
Dicier are situations like those this weekend in Bixby Knolls and on Fourth Street’s Retro Row, where everyol’body is being invited to compose poems and/or sing classic operettas by Rogers & Hammerstein.
COLORADO LAGOON: SWEET SYNCHRONICITY MAY SAVE AN ABUSED OLD SWAMP
In a sweet piece of synchronicity, the Colorado Lagoon restoration plan that is overwhelmingly preferred by the public is also the most environmentally friendly, the most likely to be funded and the least costly to the City of Long Beach.
ALL WRONGY!! THE LATEST POOR-MOUTHING BY PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: Californians’ income sees first decline since WWII THE STORY: The personal income of California residents declined last year for the first time since World War II, state officials said—down about 2.5 percent. PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS RESPOND: Liberal, Progressive, baby boomers, 60’s white and black scum achieving there evil design for California, The U.S. and [...]
ALL WRONGY!! TODAY’S SAMPLING OF FLIGHTY P-T COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: Angry JetBlue flight attendant left work in most unusual way THE STORY: After being cursed by a passenger, JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater cursed back over the intercom, grabbed some beer from the plane’s galley and left the plane via the emergency slide at Kennedy Airport. P-T COMMENTERS RESPOND: Estrogenized males are bad [...]
MEETING TONIGHT TO CONSIDER RESCUE PLANS FOR COLORADO LAGOON
The Colorado Lagoon was a popular swimming hole until the late 1960s, when water quality began to diminish. It was reconfigured during plans for a cross-town freeway. Now 11 storm drains empty into it, one for every acre of its water.
MAYBE GUERRA CAN SPEND THAT $14K ON A SUPER-BITCHEN VICTORY PARTY
The $14,200 that Downey City Councilmember Mario Guerra has collected for his District 2 City Council re-election campaign will be more than enough to assure victory. Guerra learned Friday—the last day for candidates to file for the November election—that he will be running unopposed. In District 4, the seat currently occupied by termed-out mayor Anne [...]
562CITYLIFE.COM HAS ITS NAME TO ITSELF AGAIN
Publisher Jeremy Zachary will still begin printing a monthly arts-and-entertainment magazine in Long Beach this fall, but it won’t be called Long Beach CityLife. Just after 6 o’clock Tuesday evening, Zachary e-mailed Matt Saunders of the local social networking website 562CityLife to say he would be calling it … well … that part he didn’t say. [...]
562CITYLIFE.COM SAYS NEW MAGAZINE IS RIPPING OFF ITS NAME, AND LOTS MORE
Amid the still-settling fallout from The District Weekly’s demise in March, an updated, downscaled version of an oldtimey newspaper war may be breaking out in Long Beach—between a newsy/artsy social networking website and a monthly culture-and-entertainment magazine that hasn’t even published its first issue yet. The owners of 562CityLife.com, a three-year-old hub of information and [...]
AT BIXBY PARK, A CAUTIOUS CELEBRATION OF A TENUOUS VICTORY
"As good as it feels today---and I hope all of us celebrate---this fight is going to go on a little longer," said Councilmember Robert Garcia. "Our excitement over this victory has to continue. But don’t ever forget how you felt when people stripped away our rights.”
PROP. 8 OVERTURNED BY JUDGE; RALLY FOR MARRIAGE RIGHTS AT BIXBY PARK TODAY AT 6 P.M.
United States District Court Judge Vaughn Walker has ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, and supporters of marriage equality and social justice will rally at 6 o’clock this evening at Bixby Park—intersection of Broadway and Cherry Ave in Long Beach. Prop 8 (or the California Marriage Protection Act) was a ballot proposition and California constitutional amendment passed by voters in [...]
PROPOSAL FOR MASSIVE FARMERS MARKET ON ‘PUMPKIN PATCH’ SITE WITHDRAWN BY THACKER
Local strawberry-stand magnate Ted Thacker—the guy behind the increasingly iconic Thackerberry Farms booths on street corners around town—has withdrawn his application to hold a massive farmers market on the so-called “Pumpkin Patch” property just south of the MarketPlace shopping center at 6701 E. Pacific Coast Highway. “He is going to pursue different plans in other [...]
LOWENTHAL ANSWERS LOWERY: SHE’LL TELECOMMUTE TO COUNCIL MEETINGS FROM FAMILY WEDDINGS IN INDIA
Suja Lowenthal plans to participate in several upcoming Long Beach City Council meetings via teleconference from India, according to an e-mail her chief of staff, Broc Coward, sent this evening to Greater Long Beach columnist Steve Lowery and cc’d to LBreport.com. Lowery referenced an LBreport.com story in criticizing Lowenthal in Friday’s edition of his weekly [...]
BEVERLY O’NEILL TO SIGN AND DISCUSS HER BIOGRAPHY SATURDAY AT BORDERS
Former three-time Mayor Beverly O’Neill, who was either the most-belovedly successful politician in Long Beach history or the slickest manipulator of her own image, will be at Borders Books in Los Altos on Saturday to sign and discuss her just-published biography. The book was written by Harry Saltzgaver, executive editor of Gazette Newspapers and a Parks & Recreation commissioner who was [...]
GARCIA’S GOT HIS REASONS: FIRST NATURE CALLED, THEN HIS FAMILY
Robert Garcia (center, between brother and mother) was on the phone with a family member during the Long Beach City Council's vote for vice-mayor---the second time in three months he's been out of the council chamber during a controversial vote. He insists it's coincidence, not calculation.
BILL PEARL CALLS THE BAHAMAS—THEY HADN’T HEARD ABOUT LB COUNCIL MEETING
Councilman Gary DeLong has opted not to interrupt his excellent Bahamian vacation to vote for Long Beach’s next vice mayor July 20, bending to the advice of the Long Beach City Attorney—but also to the excellent journalism of Bill Pearl at LBReport.com. Pearl phoned the Abaco Club—a timeshare at the Ritz Carlton in The Bahamas—to [...]
VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT FOR LB’S HUMAN DIGNITY ASSISTANCE TEAM
The City of Long Beach Human Dignity Program is now recruiting volunteers for the 2010-2011 Assistance Team. The program teaches volunteers how to assist victims of hate crime and bias incidents in the City of Long Beach. The effort is part of the City’s Human Dignity Program, founded in 1999 to ensure that all residents [...]
CHRIS KENDZIERSKI’S DIY STUDIO CHARMER: WOODWORKS FOR ME!
Apartment Therapy just featured Chris Kendzierski's Long Beach studio---all of 450 square feet of it---which he has transformed into an apparently airy and definitely enviable home with a lot of inspiration from architect/furniture-maker George Nakashima and his own talents as a woodworker. Me? I'm proud if I can keep the dishes washed.
IT’S LB FIGHT NIGHT, AKA THE FUNKY WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Another Long Beach Fight Night comes to the Long Beach City College Hall of Champions Gym on Sunday evening beginning at 4:30 p.m., and that always puts my head to humming songs from Tonio K.’s 1978 album, Life In The Foodchain---specifically, “The Funky Western Civilization.”
THE GALWAY HOOKER BAND
The Galway Hooker Band is named after a traditional Irish fishing boat---of course … and shame on you for assuming otherwise. Also? Thank you very much, says bassist Paul Wilson. “That’s what makes the name perfect.”
IT GETS YOU THINKING ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS—AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Hopscotching along the line separating church and state, the Bellflower City Council on Saturday presented a private group with free use of a prime plot of public land---for an art installation created in honor of 16th-century Christian leader John Calvin to promote the Ten Commandments.
MASSIVE FARMERS MARKET PROPOSAL CREATING QUITE A PICKLE
A proposal for a massive farmers’ market on the so-called Pumpkin Patch property appears headed for a second and indefinite postponement...and considering the people involved, perhaps more than a little intrigue.
CITY HALL HEARING THIS AFTERNOON TO CONSIDER HUGE FARMER’S MARKET AT PUMPKIN PATCH
Dave and Ted Thacker, the Cottage Grove, Oregon, guys behind the Thackerberry Farms strawberry stands that bring a touch of country comfort to street corners all over Long Beach, are the guys behind an application to hold a large Farmer’s Market every Saturday and Sunday on the so-called “Pumpkin Patch” property just south of the MarketPlace [...]
AT SALVATION ARMY, IT’S ON ‘N’ ON, BEAT DON’T STOP TILLA BREAKA DAWN
It’s not that the Salvation Army doesn’t have a long musical history, but the brass bands and tambourines it's famous for are nowhere to be seen at the Salvation Army Compton Corps Community Center, where a brand-new, state-of-the-art recording studio just opened.
BEER & POLITICS DEBATES SECOND+PCH PROJECT TUESDAY
The latest pivot point in the development of Long Beach—the proposed replacement of the tired, old SeaPort Marina Hotel with the high-rise Second+PCH hotel, residential and retail complex—will be the next topic of debate at Beer & Politics. Developers Cliff Ratkovich and David Malmuth, who are requesting a slew of exceptions to zoning law and traffic [...]
RETURN WITH THE BLASTERS TO THE MIDDLE OF THE EARTH—RECORD STORE, THAT IS
Subject: “I don’t like music I haven’t heard before” Yeah, someone really said that. We wish we had her name so we could attribute it. But instead, we held her up to ridicule by writing the quote on the infamous felt letterboard that greeted each soul who entered the hallowed grounds of Middle Earth Records [...]
‘RIDING BIKES WITH THE DUTCH’ TONIGHT AT THE ART THEATRE: IS IT BETTER THAN KOBE-HATING?
The timing of Michael Bauch’s documentary film, “Riding Bikes With The Dutch,” couldn’t have been better—unless you count the fact that tonight’s 7 o’clock encore screening at the Art Theatre coincides with Game 4 of NBA finals between the Lakers and Boston Celtics. I do. But a promise is a promise, and I invited my [...]
COMPTON RESIDENTS CONSIDERING BOYCOTT, LAWSUIT TO STOP POLICE DEPT COMEBACK
BY ALLISON JEAN EATON / COMPTON BULLETIN Aftershocks continue to ripple through Compton’s 10.5 square miles following the city council’s 3-2 vote last week to re-establish a local police department a plan that no longer has the backing of the consultant on whose study the plan is based. A majority of the community appears staunchly opposed [...]
ONE WOMAN’S RESPONSE TO THE SECOND+PCH ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT—COMMENTS DUE MONDAY
EDITOR’S NOTE: The period for public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the proposed multi-use (residential, retail, hotel) Second+PCH project closes today. Longtime resident and environmental activist Lisa Rinaldi has already submitted her comment, and has offered a copy to Redistricted! The DEIR can be read here and comments e-mailed to Long [...]
TONIA REYES URANGA’S ‘ONCE-IN-A-CHANCE LIFETIME’ AND THE BALANCE OF POWER IN LONG BEACH
These are the waning days of Tonia Reyes Uranga’s run for her political life—and perhaps the darkness before the dawn of a new balance of power in Long Beach. Too heavy? Maybe not. Defeat in Reyes Uranga’s June 8 showdown with well-connected newcomer James Johnson for the 7th district seat on the Long Beach City [...]
WHY IS ONE LITTLE SHOP OWNER BEING MOURNED SO DEEPLY? ONE WOMAN EXPLAINS WHAT SHE LOST WHEN PETE TOULIOS DIED
[Pete Toulios, owner of Lil' Devils boutique on 4th Street, passed away May 17 of still-undetermined causes. A reader of Redistricted! shares the light she lost when Pete passed away. For more remembrances, click here.] BY ELIZABETH BRIGNONI I met Pete Toulios at UC-Riverside, where we worked on a project for the “Healthy Families” study. [...]
O’DONNELL CHARACTERIZES LAND-SWAP DEAL FOR LOS CERRITOS WETLANDS AS A QUESTION OF LOVE-’EM-OR-LEAVE-’EM
Still got questions for Long Beach government officials about the city-land-for-wetlands swap they’ve crafted with local businessman Tom Dean as the long-debated deal travels toward its latest vote before the City Council tonight? Fourth District Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell suggests you ask yourself a question, instead: Are you for the wetlands—or against them? “Tuesday night you [...]
NEW SIGN IN COLLEGE PARK WEST POINTS TO ANOTHER DIFFICULT SPRING FOR COYOTE-HUMAN COHABITATION
Three weeks after a coyote alert was called in East Long Beach, officials from Long Beach and Seal Beach are about to post a warning banner at the entrance to the College Park West neighborhood (above). But coyotes are clever (right), not to mention more than a little bit deserving of our sympathy, cornered as [...]
IN MEMORY OF ARNOLD’S RESTAURANT, MY 2006 OC WEEKLY REVIEW, TITLED: ‘DID YOU TAKE YOUR PILL?’
PUBLISHED DEC. 7, 2006 / OC WEEKLY Kids 12 and under eat free—one with each paying adult—on Mondays at Arnold’s Buffet Restaurant in Long Beach. It’s a marketing strategy intended to whet young appetites for the dying experience known as cafeteria dining. But today is Wednesday, and the customers sliding their trays along the rail [...]
DISQUALIFIED FOR HER FRIENDSHIP BRACELET? THAT’S MY STORY (ON SPORTS ILLUSTRATED WEBSITE)–AND I’M LINKING TO IT
BY DAVE WIELENGA / SI.COM Remember the story of the college softball player who hit the game-winning homer and blew out her knee as she trotted around first base, but was carried to second, third and home by opposing players — even though she represented the decisive run in a game that determined the championship? [...]
CONFIRMED: MAYOR FOSTER ENDORSES JAMES JOHNSON IN 7TH DISTRICT RACE
Mayor Bob Foster officially endorsed assistant city auditor James Johnson for the Seventh District seat on the Long Beach City Council today, confirming a report published Thursday by Redistricted! The announcement came early this afternoon in a press release from the Johnson campaign and included this prepared statement from Foster: “James Johnson has the experience [...]
MAYOR FOSTER ABOUT TO ANNOUNCE HIS ENDORSEMENT OF JOHNSON OVER REYES URANGA IN 7TH DISTRICT RACE
After four years of behind-the-scenes political patronage, Mayor Bob Foster has apparently decided to bestow his official endorsement upon James Johnson for the Seventh District city council seat currently occupied by Tonia Reyes Uranga. The two candidates are facing off in a June 8 runoff election for the only undetermined spot on the Long Beach [...]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EGRETSNOTREGRETS.COM—ONE YEAR LATER, STILL “KILLING A BUNCH OF BIRDS WITH ONE STONE”
It was one year ago today that Heather Altman—an environmentalist at both work and play—laid out the first installment of her vision for a new local order by debuting her ultimatum-y sounding blog, EgretsNotRegrets.com. Results from the first 365 days are mixed. Egrets? The great-and-snowy coastal birds are still here. Regrets? Ditto. The darkly haunting [...]
CHECK OUT THIS LAKEWOOD COUPLE’S LITTLE BIT OF MID-CENTURY HEAVEN…
A Lakewood couple’s imaginative and oh-so-cool remodel of their small mid-century home is currently featured on the home design website, Apartment Therapy, as well as making me feel … ohhh, sorta lame. My home is a stucco box of about the same size and vintage as the one that Kristen James and Mike Dunn moved into a [...]
ALL WRITEY!!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS/CRITICISMS/LOVE NOTES/WITTICISMS
APRIL 24, “BELLFLOWER TRYING TO REDEVELOP ITS ECONOMY WITHOUT RIPPING OUT ITS HEART” Recently, I have been talking about this issue of the dying (or should I say dead) downtown with a few of my Bellflower friends. It seems like a classic case of they don’t care so we don’t care. Unfortunately this means that [...]
SECOND+PCH HAS A PLAN, E-I-R-I-O! AND IN THAT PLAN THERE’S A TALL HOTEL, E-I-R-I-O!
(The Environmental Impact Report [EIR] for the proposed Second+PCH project was released this week, and local environmental activist Heather Altman—who also happens to read these types of documents for a living—is not impressed. “As I pick through it,” she says, “I am becoming increasingly aware that it isn’t very defensible—for a variety of reasons [...]
SURPRISE! SECOND+PCH EIR REVEALS PLANS FOR AN EVEN-BIGGER MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT AT THE MARKET PLACE
The Second+PCH project may be an Odd Duck—the just-released Environmental Impact Report (EIR) reveals that its promoters have designed a residential/hotel/retail complex on the site of the Seaport Marina Hotel that is loaded with even more deleterious features than its rejected predecessor—but just wait until you get a load of its younger brother. Are you [...]
BELLFLOWER TRYING TO REDEVELOP ITS ECONOMY WITHOUT RIPPING OUT ITS HEART
The City of Bellflower’s time capsule of a downtown is both heartwarmingly quaint and heartbreakingly … well without a heartbeat. Bellflower Boulevard’s well-preserved architecture and its embalmed business district can probably both be traced to its citizens’ long opposition to creating a Redevelopment Agency, an orientation rooted in their suspicion that eminent domain might be used [...]
ALL WRITEY!!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS/CRITICISMS/LOVE NOTES/WITTICISMS
Most of the this week’s reader feedback was to a pair of reports on the Long Beach City Council’s 7-1 vote to grant BANCAP a $3,000 reduction of its monthly lease of city-owned waterfront property on the Seaport Marina because a sub-tenant, the Seal Beach Yacht Club, needs a break on its rent because of declining membership. BANCAP [...]
TONIA REYES URANGA OBJECTS, BUT COUNCIL BAILS OUT BANCAP AND SEAL BEACH YACHT CLUB
Seventh District Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga cast the lone dissenting vote Tuesday night in the Long Beach City Council’s 7-1 decision (First District Councilmember Robert Garcia was inexplicably out of the room) to lop $3,000 a month off the rent it charges BANCAP Investment Group to lease a swath of Long Beach Marina-front property. Locals [...]
WHY ARE LB TAXPAYERS BEING ASKED TO COVER THE RISK OF TWO WELL-CONNECTED MILLIONAIRES?
Why is the City Council being asked tonight to chop $3,000 a month off the rent it charges the mighty BANCAP Investment Group—headed by two of Long Beach’s most prominent and prosperous citizens, Stephen T. Conley and John W. Hancock—to lease a swath of Long Beach Marina-front property? According to city documents attached to the [...]
‘UP IN SMOKE” AT ART THEATRE TONIGHT: HELP DISTRICT WEEKLY’S UNPAID FREELANCERS WITH A HAZY TRIP DOWN MEMORY LAME
How did 420—otherwise translated as April 20 or 4/20…or more to the point, today—become known internationally as the day to celebrate the healing/relaxing/inspiring/cotton-mouthing/squinty-eying/Snoop-Dogging characteristics of cannabis? Why do we so anxiously await Fatty Tuesday? Contrary to many myths, 420 has nothing to do with police code for pot-smoking, the number of active chemicals in marijuana, Hitler’s [...]
TOM MARCHESE RESPONDS TO MARCH 30 REQUEST FOR HIS RESPONSE TO DON MAY’S ACCUSATIONS AT WETLANDS LAND TRUST ELECTION
Nearly three weeks after his lopsided loss in a bid for re-election to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust board of directors, Tom Marchese has responded to a request for comment that I left on his home telephone on March 30. Marchese, who four days ago lopsidedly lost a bid to represent the Third District on the Long Beach City [...]
BLAH-BLAH-BLAH, MARIO GUERRA RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION IN DOWNEY, YADDA-YADDA-YADDA
Downey’s chatterboxing city councilman, Mario Guerra, says he wants another term. Of course, Guerra doesn’t put it so succinctly as that. This guy’s got a mouth, and he likes to shoot it off. Guerra’s the guy who told me last Nov. 23 that Tesla Motors had selected Downey as the site of its manufacturing plant, [...]
link=”http://greaterlongbeach.com/08/04/2010/nick-schou-will-drop-a-little-orange-sunshine-saturday-evening-at-latitude-33-bookshop”]
NICK SCHOU TO DROP A LITTLE “ORANGE SUNSHINE” SATURDAY EVENING AT LATITUDE 33 BOOKSHOP
Nick Schou, my former colleague at OC Weekly, who has never let being a tremendous investigative reporter get in the way of being a great human being, will be at Latitude 33 bookshop in Laguna Beach on Saturday evening at 5 to read from his new book, "Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World."
KEMP INSISTS THAT THE APPEAL FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT OF SECOND+PCH PROJECT IS THE SAME AS IT EVER WAS
Carl Kemp is the man behind the impressive public-relations campaign for the proposed Second+PCH project, and he’s very up-front about his strategy—even the parts that strike some people as a little surreptitious. Consider, for example, the ready-made letter of support that Second+PCH is sending to people—and offering on its Web site—with a request that it be [...]
ARTHUR J. PAUL DIED OF A WHOLE BUNCH OF STUFF, BUT THE LIST DID NOT INCLUDE REGRET
My wonderful old friend, Arthur J. Paul, died early this morning—of bone cancer, congestive heart failure, double pneumonia, some kind of enzymes thing in his kidneys or was it his liver and I think at least one other thing, and as I recite this list I can almost hear Arthur cutting me off with the [...]
PRESENTING: THE DO-GOODER VIDEO AWARDS
A friend of a friend of mine who works in fundraising at the nonprofit, The Wooden Floor, sent this to me. Great award idea, wonderful videos. Check out the one from the Wooden Floor, and vote if you’re so inclined. The winning nonprofit receives $2500 in program support. http://www.youtube.com/user/nonprofitvideoawards
REDISTRICTED! 101: EXPLAINING THIS SITE’S ACCOUNT OF MARCHESE’S LOSS IN LCWLT ELECTION
Redistricted! has received lots of criticism in the last couple of days about its report of the election the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (LCWLT) held Tuesday night to choose its Board of Directors. Thanks for reading—and writing! Because of the tone of most responses—disappointment, betrayal and anger; one person accused me of “using people and ruining reputations to get attention”—let’s [...]
MARCHESE ACCUSED OF TRYING TO GET NON-PROFIT WETLAND GROUP’S MAILING LIST FOR HIS CITY COUNCIL CAMPAIGN
TOM MARCHESE Tom Marchese not only lopsidedly lost his battle for re-election to the Board of Directors of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (LCWLT) Tuesday night, but questions raised about his ethics in a letter from the organization’s esteemed founder may have cost him any realistic chance to be elected to the Long Beach City Council on April 13. Don May, [...]
QUESTION IS, WHY IS MIKE HEDGES RUNNING FOR LONG BEACH CITY COUNCIL?
Mike Hedges had three days to prepare for the question he knew was coming at Monday night’s Long Beach Press Club debate between the candidates for the city council’s 5th District seat. But when reporter Darcy Richardson of the Grunion Gazette asked Hedges about discrepancies in his campaign financing that have attracted the attention of [...]
NO. 1 QUESTION AT 5TH DISTRICT DEBATE TONIGHT: WHO’S FUNDING MIKE HEDGES?
Tonight’s Long Beach Press Club debate between Fifth District city council candidates couldn’t come at a better time—as questions arise about who is funding Mike Hedges’ challenge to incumbent Gerrie Schipske. LBReport.com broke the story of the mysterious money that’s powering Hedges’ campaign on Saturday (March 27), noting that the City Clerk’s Elections Bureau had [...]
JENSEN RESPONDS TO READER’S CHARGE THAT HIS TAKE ON SEADIP “SHOWS IGNORANCE”
Third District city council candidate Terry Jensen responded late Saturday night to a comment that a Redistricted! reader posted on March 25 regarding Jensen’s take on the proposed 2nd+pch mixed-used development—or at least the take Jensen expressed at last week’s candidates debate sponsored by the Long Beach Press Club. The reader, who self-identified only as “Laura,” charged that [...]
{OPEN}: LONG BEACH’S ALTERNA-INSTITUTION PRESENTS NEW ART BY MATTY BYLOOS TONIGHT ON RETRO ROW
The owner/operators of {open} might not like to admit it, but the quirky bookstore/art chapel they founded in downtown’s East Village in 2003 has become a institutional pillar/load-bearing wall of Long Beach culture/cool since its 2007 move to Fourth Street/Retro Row. And by “might not like to admit it” I mean that they “might prefer [...]
ABOUT FACE: CITY OFFICIALS NOW SAY DOWNEY STUDIOS WON’T CLOSE FOR TESLA
BY ERIC PIERCE / DOWNEY PATRIOT After the Downey Patriot’s story last week that Tesla Motors is seeking to lease 51 acres on the former NASA site, likely spelling the end of Downey Studios, city officials are now saying the movie studios “will remain open even after the new tenant arrives.” The Planning Commission approved an IRG [...]
DELONG COMES THROUGH WITH HIS ANSWERS TO 'UNPOSED' 3RD DISTRICT DEBATE QUESTIONS
[NOTE: A lot of questions from the audiences of Monday night's Third District debate sponsored by the Long Beach Press Club---people who gathered at the Gaslamp restaurant and those who watched the live Webcast on InstantPresenter---couldn't be asked before time ran out. After publishing those questions Tuesday morning, I e-mailed them to candidates Gary DeLong, Terry Jensen and Tom Marchese. With DeLong's responses here, all [...]
TOM MARCHESE RESPONDS TO ‘UNPOSED QUESTIONS’ FROM MONDAY’S 3RD DISTRICT DEBATE
[NOTE: A lot of questions from the audiences of Monday night's Third District debate sponsored by the Long Beach Press Club---people who gathered at the Gaslamp restaurant and those who watched the live Webcast on InstantPresenter---couldn't be asked before time ran out. After publishing those questions Tuesday morning, I e-mailed them to candidates Gary DeLong, Terry Jensen and Tom Marchese. Marchese responded about 11 p.m. [...]
FIRST RESPONDER: TERRY JENSEN ANSWERS ‘UNPOSED QUESTIONS’ FROM 3RD DISTRICT DEBATE—AND WITHOUT A STUTTER!
[NOTE: A lot of questions from the audiences of Monday night's Third District debate sponsored by the Long Beach Press Club---people who gathered at the Gaslamp restaurant and those who watched the live Webcast on InstantPresenter---couldn't be asked before time ran out. After publishing those questions Tuesday, I e-mailed them to candidates Gary DeLong, Terry Jensen and Tom Marchese. Jensen is [...]
WHAT QUESTIONS WENT UNPOSED AT THE 3RD DISTRICT DEBATE? WELL, NOW THAT YOU ASK…
BY DAVE WIELENGA The three candidates running for the Third District seat on the City Council ran their mouths for more than 90 minutes Monday night during the Long Beach Press Club’s Debate At Da’ Beach. But there were still more questions than answers—a lot more. That’s what happens when constituents care enough about an [...]
TONIGHT’S 3RD DISTRICT DEBATE MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT YET … TO THE MAYOR, ANYWAY
BY DAVE WIELENGA Tonight’s debate among candidates for the Third District seat on the City Council may be the most important of the Long Beach Press Club’s seven-part Debates At Da’ Beach series—well, to Mayor Bob Foster, anyway. He’s been telling people that he’ll “do anything” to see that incumbent Gary DeLong is re-elected over [...]
