Greater Long Beach
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THEY’RE CALLING THE ANNUAL CSULB STUDENT ART EXHIBITION “INSIGHTS 2013″ … BUT YOU SHOULD GO, ANYWAY
The annual student exhibition at Cal State Long Beach is Insights 2013. Yep, the University Art Museum and the School of Art put their heads together and named the student art exhibition after a 1960s-based Catholic television show. Get used to reading Insights 2013 because this exhibit, which manifests the restless passion, or if you [...]
LA COUNCIL HEARING ON APPEAL OF PROPOSED RAILYARD’S EIR LIVE ON LBREPORT.COM AT 10 A.M.
LBReport.com will carry live video of today’s 10 a.m. Los Angeles City Council hearing regarding allegations by neighborhood, health, environment groups, as well as the City and Port of Long Beach that there are defects, errors and/or omissions in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the massive Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) rail yard. Another [...]
STATE SENATE PASSES BILL GIVING JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS OPTIONS IN CASES OF DRUG POSSESSION
Moving more quickly than even its supporters anticipated, the California State Senate has approved a bill to reform the state’s drug sentencing laws for simple possession. The Local Control in Sentencing Act (SB 649) was approved by a floor vote of 23-14 last Thursday (May 2), and next will be considered by the state Assembly. [...]
IS FOSTER NEGOTIATING AND TAKING ACTION ON SCIG RAIL YARD WITHOUT AUTHORITY?
Los Angeles City Councilmember Joe Buscaino, scrambling to broker settlement between Long Beach and Los Angeles, their ports and BNSF railroad over the Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) railyard, indicates in an April 30 letter that several conversations with Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster lead him to “understand that the City of Long Beach has [...]
REYES URANGA’S FIRST FUNDRAISER FOR ASSEMBLY RUN TONIGHT
Tonia Reyes Uranga’s return to politics gets down to the nitty-gritty tonight when the former Long Beach City Council member holds her first fundraiser in support of her candidacy for the 70th district seat in the California Assembly. The event is being held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at a private residence in East [...]
MEGHAN FOLEY RUNS 4:25.55 IN 1,500 METERS FOR NEW LONG BEACH STATE RECORD
Long Beach State junior Meghan Foley broke the school record for the women’s 1,500-meters by nearly 1 1/2 seconds Sunday, clocking 4:25.55 during a second-place finish at the Steve Scott Invitational at UC Irvine. Rosa Del Toro held LBSU women’s previous 1,500 meters record, set in this same meet a year ago when she clocked 4:24.97 [...]
WHEN WE SAY “ALL WRITEY!” WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SPAMMERS, TOO
At Greater Long Beach, we have a policy of reading all our mail---even if whoever wrote it might not even exist.
ALL WRITEY: (SL)ICE PRINCESS, MAYBERRY-BY-SEA & OUR AGING QUEEN
We wrote about a 45-year-old mother and law student who plays roller derby, about election winners who blew the whistle on dicey voting practices, about possibly making the historic Queen Mary look like it did ... you know ... historically. Now, it's your turn...
UNLIKELY INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS TELL THEIR STORY TONIGHT
Free reservations are still available for tonight's appearance by Brian Hews and Randy Economy, the reporters who revealed massive corruption by LA County Assessor John Noguez. At McKenna's restaurant beginning at 7 p.m. E-mail RSVP@GreaterLongBeach.com to confirm.
ALL WRITEY! ON RESIGNATIONS, PORT UPDATES & CHURCHES IN SPACE
Our readers gotta write---seems there's something called the First Amendment that entitles them---and we think they look just adorable when they're mad.
HAVE-A-GREATER WEEKEND: BELLFLOWER IS THROWING A YARNIVAL!
YARNIVAL! [SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23] Yes, that’s right—Bellflower is throwing a just-like-the-olden-days Yarnival! If you’ve ever attended one, well, how nice for you, but there’s really no reason for suddenly acting so stuck up. But if you don’t happen to be familiar with the place the Yarnival occupies in American culture, can we just say that holding one [...]
LONG BEACH’S LGBT HISTORY EXHIBIT OPENS WITH GALA SATURDAY
The gala opening of "Coming Out In Long Beach," the history of the city's LGBT community, is Saturday evening at the Historical Society of Long Beach in Bixby Knolls.
RUNNING FOR STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT WAS A JOKE—UNTIL THEY WON
Although Student Body President John Haberstroh and Vice President Jon Bolin have been in office for nearly a year, it still sounds strange. From Cal State Long Beach's DIG magazine.
THIS IS 40: REMEMBERING BIRTH OF CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION
It's been 40 years since California voters passed the proposition that created the Coastal Commission, establishing their right to regulate development, ensure public access and protect the state's coastline for future generations. Long Beach's Mel Nutter was there, and he remembers.
GREUEL CAMPAIGN RESPONDS TO LCCN EXPOSÉ…BY GETTING PERSONAL
Los Cerritos Community Newspaper this week published an investigative piece on Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, accusing her of spending most of the last three years advancing her mayoral ambitions on taxpayer dime. Greuel’s campaign hit back by releasing the six-year arrest record of reporter Randy Economy, who broke the story. Economy responded today: [...]
BELLFLOWER EMERGES AS LOCAL LEADER IN ADOPTING CLIMATE-CHANGE PLAN
When members of the Bellflower City Council used their last meeting of 2012 to unanimously approve a Climate Action Plan, they propelled the city into 2013 as one of the area’s leaders in the fight against climate change. The Climate Action Plan (CAP) establishes a method of identifying the sources and amounts of greenhouse gas [...]
KNABE: COUNTY WATER MEASURE IS TAXPAYER RIP-OFF
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe explains his opposition to the Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure. It proposes an annual parcel tax on all property owners to pay for stormwater clean-up and anti-pollution efforts. County school districts aren't exempt from it. Unsurprisingly, educators are against it because it poses additional strain to school [...]
FORBES.COM FINDS PORTO’S BAKERY … AND FINDS IT TO BE WONDERFUL
No less than Forbes magazine has discovered Porto's Café and Bakery in Downey, and of course has added its voice to the choir of praise. And I don’t think they do too many bakery reviews.
LET YOUR “I’M FEELING GREATER!” T-SHIRT DO THE TALKING
You read GreaterLongBeach.com ... obviously ... so why not tell the world with one of our colorful t-shirts ... which will also tell the world how you're feeling about it. Only $15. C'mon, spring for it.
PRESSBURG’S OPINION: LB’S NAMES AND PLACES DON’T MATCH, ANYMORE
Lincoln Park and the Burton W. Chace Civic Center got their names from downtown Long Beach leaders who intended to honor America's 16th President and Long Beach's long-ago representative on the LA County Board of Supervisors. It hasn't exactly worked out that way.
RE-TELLING 2012: “TEXTS FROM LINE AT ‘HIRING SPREE’”
GreaterLongBeach.com is republishing some of our best journalism of 2012, which we believe once again told this area's most-important stories in the most-compelling, insightful and comprehensible ways. Here, again, are texts from a man who spent a day in April waiting with thousands of others to enter a Job Fair in Downey.
IMPLICATIONS IN U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION TO HEAR CALIFORNIA’S PROP 8
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday decided it will determine the constitutionality of two cases on marriage rights: California’s Proposition 8 and the federal government’s Defense of Marriage Act. Their decision, due no later than June 2013, could decide the validity of gay marriages in California, and possibly nationwide. Proposition 8, passed in November 2008, [...]
POLICE INVESTIGATORS, SHOPPING FACILITATORS GET THE ONCE-OVER ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO, 11 AM
Citizens police investigators and holiday shopping facilitators are the topics of today’s edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga, which comes to live at 11 a.m. from the Cal State Long Beach studios of KBEACH.org—well, it will if you get on a computer or a smart phone. Attorney Kimberly Olson, who is representing [...]
HISTORIC MOSAICS FOUND UNDER THE RUG AT LB AIRPORT
When workers renovating the Long Beach Airport pulled back the carpet in the main terminal, they discovered the floor inlaid with late Depression-era mosaics by Works Progress Administrationartist, Grace Clements.
THE HEALING FIELDS OF LONG BEACH’S CAMBODIA TOWN
The next generation of Long Beach's Cambodian-American community steps up to help its elders---and itself---writes Michelle Woo in the current OC Weekly cover story.
DREAMS OF A BLACK CHRISTMAS WILL COME TRUE SATURDAY
Lewis Black, the actor, author, social critic, standup comedian---and at this time of year, pretty-good-in-a-pinch Ebenezer Scrooge---delivers his new live show Saturday night at the Long Beach Terrace Theater.
THE GREATER LONG BEACH GUIDE TO HOLIDAY ARTS, EATS & EVENTS
Heeeeere's the Holiday Season! Nervewracking? O, Holy Night! But don't worry. Heeeere's the GREATER LONG BEACH HOLIDAY ARTS, EATS & EVENTS GUIDE---an everything-you'll-need list of the best ways to happy holidays.
IS TAX COLLECTOR HARRASSING PUBLISHER FOR HIS PAPER’S REPORTING?
Los Cerritos Community News publisher Brian Hews says this letter from LA County Tax Collector Mark Saladino is retribution for his newspaper's investigation into jailed County Assessor John Noguez.
LA COUNTY OWES 47 CITIES; STATE DEMANDS $17.1M FROM CERRITOS
The California Supreme Court this week ruled that Los Angeles County improperly withheld more than $10 million in property tax administration fees. Monday’s decision comes from a lawsuit (City of Alhambra, et al. v. Los Angeles County) filed by 47 cities, including Long Beach, Lakewood and Signal Hill, challenging the fee on the grounds that [...]
LAST TYPEWRITER MADE AT BRITISH FACTORY BECOMES INSTANT MUSEUM PIECE
From the Los Angeles Times: The last typewriter to be made in the United Kingdom—at the Brother factory in Wrexham, where 5.9 of the machines have been produced since 1985—has rolled off the production line and straight into London’s Science Museum, where it will join 200 other typewriters in the museum’s collection. “This object represents [...]
THIS YEAR, LET SANTA WAIT ON YOU—AND “SIR GAWAIN & THE GREEN KNIGHT”
Heeeeere's the Holiday Season! Nervewracking? O, Holy Night! But don't worry. Heeeere's the GREATER LONG BEACH HOLIDAY ARTS, EATS & EVENTS GUIDE---an everything-you'll-need list of the best ways to happy holidays.
The first installment of the "Greater Long Beach Holiday Arts, Eats & Events Guide" recommends a 14th-century tale performed by LB Shakespeare Company to avoid an early Santa overdose.
LA COUNTY OFFICIALS TRIED TO DISCREDIT LOCAL PAPER’S CORRUPTION PROBE
Hundreds of internal e-mails reveal LA County officials working with developer Rick Caruso's public relations team to discredit the Los Cerritos Community Newspaper's report on the relationship between Caruso and jailed County Assessor John Noguez.
SISTERS ARE DOIN’ IT FOR THEMSELVES ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TODAY
The lifelong love of storytelling that has fueled Renee McClellan’s rise out of poor and discouraging beginnings has finally made her a filmmaker. The daughter of a political kingmaker, TracyKittinger went on to manage campaigns that put crowns on the heads of her own clients, but retired suddenly—and happily—when she was able to acquire the historic [...]
REGISTRATION OPENS FOR TWO NEW ADAPTIVE RECREATION CLASSES
Registration has opened for two new adaptive recreation programs—an art class for young adults and a socializing opportunity for adults who, shall we say, are not as young—just added to the offerings from the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine department. In the ArtBeat for Humanity Drum Painting class, 18 to 22-year-old artists with disabilities [...]
VETERANS MEMORIAL TO BE UNVEILED THIS MORNING AT DOWNEY CITY HALL
A memorial to veterans of the United States’ armed services will be unveiled and dedicated outside of Downey City Hall this morning at 10 a.m. The memorial, commissioned by the City Council in March and still undergoing installation late Friday afternoon, depicts a 10-feet-high abstract eternal flame fashioned of stainless steel. It is mounted on [...]
TODAY IN QUEEN MARY HISTORY: BING CROSBY WEEPS BEFORE LADY LIBERTY
The Queen Mary, known as The Grey Ghost for the color of the camouflaging paint she wore when transporting troops during World War II, churns into New York to complete one of her trans-Atlantic journeys. Bing Crosby, like many of the stars who enjoyed her luxuries during peacetime, hitched a ride to do USO shows.
HAVE-A-GREATER WEEKEND: AN HOMAGE TO VETS, BEACHES, BIRDS & SHOPPING
It's Veterans Day Weekend, and GreaterLongBeach.com has a short list of tips to help you make the most of it---including a play at The Found Theatre, a parade in North Long Beach to the Patchwork Festival at Marine Stadium
OBAMA RE-ELECTED, LOWENTHAL AND ROHRABACHER WIN CONGRESS SEATS
President Barack Obama will move forward with a second term in office, defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney in a close and costly election that saw both parties spend about $6 billion. Locally, the competitive congressional campaigns of Sen. Alan Lowenthal and Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong concluded with Lowenthal’s victory to represent the 47th District. [...]
CALL HER COMMIE GIRL, WONKETTE OR CARETAKER FOR ONE CRAZY COOT
It’s been a busy year for Rebecca Schoenkopf---apparently, so busy that the erstwhile Commie Girl hasn’t had time to phone GreaterLongBeach.com while she became editor at Wonkette.com … and now, it seems, a caregiver for this crazy coot.
LECOURS HQ: GARY DELONG ON THE UPS AND DOWNS OF HIS CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN
Do mailers make a difference for the undecided voter? With Election Day less than 24 hours away, journalist Michelle Lecours in a two-part Lecours HQ interview sat down with Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong to discuss his election campaign. DeLong, who represents the city’s 3rd District, is up against Sen. Alan Lowenthal to represent the [...]
LONG BEACH CITY HALL DRAGS ITS HEELS OVER BANCAP PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
Since it reported on an Oct. 23 consent calendar item that would give BANCAP Marina Center, Inc. up to $95,000 in rent credits, LBReport.com’s public records request for BANCAP’s current lease with the city has given way to another question — why isn’t it available? After all, the lease is public record. BANCAP is the [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE ALAN LOWENTHAL
Would your current run for Congress be an easier election---for example, Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, a Democrat, has remained neutral---if you had voted differently on Redevelopment Agencies?
DEADLY DOWNEY SHOOTING RAMPAGE BEGAN WITH CAR SALE AD ON CRAIGSLIST
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the shooting rampage in Downey last Wednesday [Oct. 24] that left three people dead began with a Craigslist ad a family had posted in an attempt to sell their Chevy Camaro. Suspect Jade Douglas Harris remained in jail without bail today [Oct. 30] on charges which include three [...]
ALL WRITEY: OF SEETHING JOHNSONS, SMACKING CRONYISM & HOT AIR
These recent stories on GreaterLongBeach.com are among those that incited readers to make sure their points---some of them quite sharp---were registered.
SEARCHING FOR THE GREAT PUMPKIN AT LOS CERRITOS YMCA
The annual Pumpkin Patch fundraiser at the Los Cerritos YMCA has been moved behind the building---now it's more of a Pumpkin Porch---but the orange gourds are still selling like ... well ... like pumpkins at Halloween! But only through Tuesday (Oct. 30) at 9 p.m.
PUBLIC INVITED TO PLANE-SIDE CEREMONY HONORING U.S. ARMY RANGER SGT. MACPHERSON
The public is invited to a plane-side ceremony on Thursday honoring the late U.S. Army Ranger Sgt. Thomas R. MacPherson at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base’s Army Airfield. The ceremony is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. The public is asked to to arrive at the base by 10:45 a.m. to allow time for parking. [...]
MARIO GUERRA’S TOWN HALL MEETING ANOTHER “HE SAID-HE SAID” AFFAIR
Downey Councilmember Mario Guerra's annual town hall packed the Barbara J. Riley Community and Senior Center, and anybody anticipating an evening of loquaciousness and pugnaciousness was not disappointed. Guerra, who loves to talk, did.
ASSESSOR JOHN NOGUEZ ARRESTED, DETAILS COMING FROM DA COOLEY
Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez, the subject of a series of investigative stories by the Los Cerritos Community News that has spanned 2012, was arrested this morning (Oct. 17). following a corruption probe by the District Attorney.
BALLOT BOXING: PROP 30 A SMART RESTART FOR GOLDEN STATE
GreaterLongBeach.com reader Uduak Ntuk contends the passage of Proposition 30---which increases funding for public education through a tax hike on the rich---is essential to creating the educated and motivated work force California must have if it is to recover.
TAYLOR PARKER, ELIZABETH LAMBE TALK WETLANDS RESTORATION ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TODAY
Has public interest in Long Beach’s coastal wetlands receded as the long-raging controversy over their acquisition as subsided? Or is it just us and our addiction to drama? Taylor Parker of Tidal Influence, who just finished two public updates about the status of restoration projects in the Los Cerritos Wetlands and the Colorado Lagood, will [...]
LB COUNCIL TO CONSIDER 1-YEAR MORATORIUM ON CONTROVERSIAL LOANS
Three types of high-interest loans would temporarily be prohibited in Long Beach under a proposal scheduled to be considered by the Long Beach City Council on Oct. 2. The proposed one-year moratorium on Payday Lending, Car Title Loan Lending and Short-Term Consumer Finance Lending is intended to provide City staff and the Planning Commission with time to [...]
NOW AVAILABLE: LEE ADAMS TELLS THE STORY OF ‘SAVE BERTH 55′ ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO
Greater Long Beach Radio’s Sept. 20 program about the Save Berth 55 campaign can now be heard anytime—in the show’s archives and as a podcast—by [FOLLOWING THIS LINK]. The program retraces and further explores the story of a small group of Westside Long Beach locals whose fast-and-loosely mustered crusade against the Port of Long Beach [...]
DAN PRESSBURG’S OPINION: COUNCIL SHOULD REJECT PREDATORY LENDERS
Title loan companies tend to locate in areas close to low-income families, people who may be in such desperate financial difficulty that they are willing to put their automobiles in jeopardy by using them as collateral for short-term, high-interest loans.
ENDEAVOR’S PASS ABOVE THE QUEEN MARY WAS A MOMENT OF POETRY
There was enormous poetry in being on the Queen Mary grounds as Endeavor passed overhead---one historic vehicle and feat of engineering joining another in retirement---and there were many moist eyes amid the cheering. Besides a beautiful and moving moment, it was the kind of event that enhances the Queen Mary's standing.
MAYBE YOU YOU DIDN’T KNOW, BUT YOU’VE DEFINITELY GOT PLACES TO GO
What? You figured you'd blow off Joe Garem's swearing-in tonight as the newest executive member of the Downtown Residents Council? Dude, they're having it at KDB! And I hope we're not going to have this talk about the Deputy Registrar of Voters'
training being given Tuesday at King Park. Registering voters? It's like doing CPR on our democracy!
FLORES-GIBSON’S ASSEMBLY RUN DOES A LAP ON GREATER LB RADIO
The long-and-winding—and occasionally strange—campaign trail of California Assembly candidate Martha Flores Gibson this morning will take loop or two through Greater Long Beach Radio, where her conversation with host Dave Wielenga is likely to add to each of those categories. The program can be heard live at 11 a.m. on KBEACH.org, and will be available [...]
QFILM FESTIVAL: HEAR ALL ABOUT IT BY LINKING TO GREATER LB RADIO
Listen to Porter Gilberg, administrative director of The Center Long Beach, provide an insider's preview of the 2012 Long Beach QFilm Festival, which will present nearly 30 films at the Art Theatre and The Center this weekend---September 14, 15 and 16.
WITH SO MUCH DRAMA IN THE LBC, HOW DOES A LOCAL LIFER STAY UPBEAT?
A link is finally available to Uduak Ntuk's recent appearance on Greater Long Beach Radio, wherein he is asked why somebody who grew up in the LBC only to find it in this condition when he reached adulthood, continues to live, currently works for and is engaged to be married in the City of Long Beach.
LB QFILM FESTIVAL PREVIEWED ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TODAY, 11 AM
The 2012 Long Beach QFilms Festival, the city’s longest-running celebration of the celluloid art, is coming to the Art Theatre and The Center on Sept. 14, 15 and 16. Administrative director Porter Gilberg previews highlights and reflects the power of moviemaking on Greater Long Beach Radio today at 11 a.m.
ONE QUESTION … FOR ALL-AROUND EVERYMAN, GREGGORY MOORE
So now you're a drummer in a bluegrass band, Greggory Moore? All of that other stuff, all of that everything else---and you drum in a bluegrass band, too? What the hell, Greggory Moore? Seriously: What?
OUT IN 562: MOST AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTS IGNORE ANTI-GAY BULLYING LAW
Phillip Zonkel of the Press-Telegram, whose "Out In The 562" blog alerted GreaterLongBeach.com to his two-part series examining the bullying of gay students in Greater Long Beach area schools and how school districts are addressing the issue ... or not. Here is Part I.
OVERFLOW CROWD AT BERTH 55 OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSES PORT PLAN TO OUST LONGTIME BUSINESSES
More than 100 people overflowed a small restaurant in the Long Beach harbor Thursday evening for a community meeting in response—and apparently overwhelming opposition—to the Port of Long Beach’s plan to evict longtime businesses from Berth 55 to make way for a fire/police station. None of the community members who addressed an assortment of Long [...]
UDUAK NTUK: A LIFELONG LB RESIDENT ASSESSES THE CITY THIS MORNING ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO
Uduak Ntuk was born, raised, educated, still lives, currently works for and is engaged to be married in the City of Long Beach, and though he loves his hometown … well … let’s just say he doesn’t need any help counting the ways it’s become a hot mess. At times like this—when Long Beach’s shorter-and-shortercomings [...]
GARCIA WON’T JOIN HIS CONSTITUENTS AT BERTH 55 FORUM AFTER MEETING WITH PORT AND FIRE BRASS IN HIS OFFICE
Although some of Vice Mayor Robert Garcia’s 1st district constituents are among the organizers of Thursday evening’s Berth 55 Community Forum—intended to persuade Port of Long Beach officials not to demolish the longtime seafood-and-sportfishing gathering place—Garcia has indicated he does not plan to attend. Apparently, Garcia got all the meeting he needed on the subject on Aug. 14 [...]
LECOURS HQ: KNABE TALKS SEX TRAFFICKING, BUDGETS AND MED-POT
Michelle Lecours of LECOURS HQ recently spoke with Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe. Knabe, whose 4th district encompasses Long Beach and the greater Los Angeles area, in a three-part interview discusses child sex trafficking — the center of his office’s recent anti-sex trafficking public awareness campaign – as well as fiscal budgets. He also [...]
PUBLIC HEARING WEDNESDAY ON PORT’S EIR FOR ROCK & GRAVEL IMPORT FACILITY
Anybody got anything to say about the draft Environmental Impact Report—prepared by the Port of Long Beach and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—for a facility that would import construction-quality sand, gravel, granite and aggregate on a 8.3 acres of privately owned and currently vacant land on Pier D the Harbor District? If so, you can [...]
HAVE-A-GREATER-WEEKEND: OF SANDMEN, SHAPING UP, MAKING MOVIES
Why is the Great Sand Sculpture Contest---which turns 80 this year--so popular? Maybe it's the whimsical fun. Or could it be its metaphor for our fleeting presence on the planet? I'm scared!
HERE’S LINK TO “OUT IN THE 562″ BLOGGER PHILLIP ZONKEL’S APPEARANCE ON GREATER LB RADIO
Phillip Zonkel’s hour of interrogation by GreaterLongBeach.com publisher Dave Wielenga on the August 2 episode of Greater Long Beach Radio has been posted on KBEACH.org, where it can be accessed from the station archives as well as downloaded as a podcast. [CLICK HERE TO LISTEN] Zonkel’s appearance generated a discussion that ranged from the specifics of terminology to [...]
LAURA RICHARDSON REPRIMANDED, FINED $10,000 BY HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE
Laura Richardson, whose meteoric rise from the Long Beach City Council to the State Assembly to the House of Representatives in less than a year left a vapor trail of controversy, has been reprimanded and fined by congressional ethics investigators.
STREET ART, ABUZZ: ‘BUMBLEBEE LOVES YOU’ IN DOWNEY
From adorning abandoned buildings in his hometown with imaginative larger-than-life stencils, to museum exhibits, to magazine art work — a Downey original has been a busy bee. Urban street artist Bumblebee will be the centerpiece of Downey Arts Coalition’s first film event Aug. 19. His work inspired the short documentary “Bumblebeelovesyou,” shot by local filmmakers [...]
CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY CANCELS LAST CALL FOR PANAMA JOE’S
The Long Beach City Council voted 8-0 Tuesday evening to grant iconic Belmont Shore restaurant/bar Panama Joe’s an extension of its entertainment-with-dancing permit, but the unanimous decision by councilmembers did not signify consensus on the issue at City Hall. The Long Beach Police Department and the the city’s Department of Financial Management had recommended that the council deny the [...]
LECOURS HQ HEAD TO LEAD PBS SOCAL ELECTION COVERAGE
GreaterLongBeach.com contributor Michelle Lecours wears many hats. This week, she dons another. Lecours is a Signal Hill Tribune staff writer, political moderator and founder of LECOURS HQ, and the mind behind the Michelle Lecours Show. PBS SoCal this week named her as its senior interactive editor for the station’s 2012 online production “Checked and Balanced,” [...]
LECOURS HQ: REFLECTIONS OF PUBLIC OFFICE WITH RAE GABELICH
Is Long Beach Councilwoman Rae Gabelich really done with the dais? Journalist Michelle Lecours in cooperation with PBS Southern California chats with the 8th District’s two-term representative about her accomplishments in office, the political frustrations fracturing City Hall, and the city’s upcoming mayoral race. Gabelich confirmed she won’t run for a third term as a [...]
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SISTER ACT: ALICIA MURPHY & SE REED ON GREATER LB RADIO TONIGHT
Alicia Murphy (right) continues her residency at the Blue Cafe tonight at 9 p.m., as always with her sister Se Reed supplying background vocals. But first, both women spend an hour on Greater Long Beach Radio. Tune it at 6 p.m. on KBEACH.org.
PRIMAL FLOWER POWERS A DOWNTOWN TREND—LINK TO GR8R LB RADIO SHOW
It's just a little eco-conscious flower shop, but Primal Flower's first anniversary is a celebration of authenticity in downtown Long Beeach. Read this story and listen to the interviews on Greater Long Beach Radio at KBEACH.org
SOON-TO-BE COUNCILMAN AL AUSTIN TAKES QUESTIONS ON GREATER LB RADIO TONIGHT AT 6
What just shot to the top of Al Austin’s to-do list, only 11 days before he officially—and finally—sits down in the 8th district’s seat on the Long Beach City Council? An appearance on tonight’s edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga, which goes live at 6 o’clock on KBEACH.org, the on-line radio station [...]
SHE PUTS MUSIC ON, HE PUTS MOVES ON, SHE TELLS HIM TO CALL, AND SUDDENLY HE’S AXING HER … FOR SEX
By Jack Chavdarian / Daily 49er To some, “Call Me Maybe” may just be a dumb pop song that’s playing nonstop on the radio. To others, it may be just the push they need to hand their number over to an axe murderer. “I just met you, and this is crazy,” sings Carly Rae Jepson, [...]
GREATER LB RADIO LINK: HEAR “LOLPERA” CREATORS SEPARATE IDIOTIC FROM EPIC
Here's a link to the Greater Long Beach Radio episode on which "LOLPERA" creators Andrew Pedroza and Ellen Warkentine share their observations on the unlikely journey of their epic parable about cats, cheezburger and the search for meaning.
LECOURS HQ: REDEVELOPMENT 101 WITH SIGNAL HILL’S LARRY FORESTER
Journalist Michelle Lecours in a two-part interview sat down with Signal Hill Councilman and three-time mayor Larry Forester to talk about redevelopment in Signal Hill and Long Beach. Forester knows more than a thing or two about it — he’s chaired his city’s redevelopment agency three times. In layman’s terms, he explains the economic role [...]
“LOLOPERA” ADDS ONE MORE SUNDAY TO ITS HOLLYWOOD STAY
LOLPERA, which has sold every seat in the Hudson Theatre during a run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival that was scheduled to end this Sunday (July 24), has earned one more show on one more Sunday (July 1) at 5 p.m. The opera’s co-creators, Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza, announced the additional performance during their appearance Thursday evening on Greater Long Beach [...]
‘LOLPERA’ CREATORS ON GREATER LB RADIO THURSDAY TO EXPLAIN HOW THEY MADE A SERIOUS HIT FROM A SILLY MESS
Ellen Warkentine and Andrew Pedroza, creators of an opera with a premise so insufferably silly that GreaterLongBeach.com critic Greggory Moore finally saw it just to be nice, will be the guests on Thursday’s edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga beginning at 6 p.m. on KBEACH.org. Warkentine and Pedroza will answer questions about LOLPERA, which may or may not [...]
LB LIBRARY’S SUMMER READING CLUB: APPARENTLY, SO GOOD IT’S WORTH SHOUTING ABOUT?
The Long Beach Public Library’s annual Summer Reading Club has begun its eight-week run at 11 libraries around town, and from the looks of the promotional materials, the 2012 version is really something to shout. It’s called: “Dream Big, READ!” Just scanning those fat capital letters and the raised voices they imply can hurt your ears … almost as [...]
GREATER LB RADIO: PAMELA SEAGER ON WHY RANCHO LOS AL IS WORTH IT; LATEEFAH WIELENGA ON WHY YOU ARE
Pamela Seager, who in 1986 helped write a Master Plan for the accurate and relevant restoration of Rancho Los Alamitos—then spent the next 26 years implementing it—will discuss the impressive project during the opening half-hour of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga today beginning at 6 p.m. on KBEACH.org. For a little background, check [...]
DA WON’T FILE CHARGES AGAINST CERRITOS COUNCIL MEMBER BARROWS
CERRITOS—The Los Angeles County District Attorney has decided not to seek felony charges against Cerritos Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Barrows over a June 4 altercation with resident and city council critic Jay Gray after a budget study session. Barrows and Gray each filed police reports regarding the incident, during which the men exchanged heated words [...]
PRIMAL FLOWER + SHORTNIN’ BREAD = RECIPE FOR AUTHENTICITY ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT AT 6
Pastry chef Justina Fenton and eco-florist Shelley Anders, tenants of a downtown brownstone that is a cornerstone of the burgeoning movement toward a more-authentic Long Beach, will be the featured guests in the opening segment of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga this evening to share the joys, stresses and strategies of this grass-roots [...]
OLDA WILL PAY $500 FOR A NAME THATS … NEWA
Maybe you’ve heard of OLDA—that’s Orange Line Development Authority—the agency overseeing the proposed light-rail train line that would connect Santa Ana with downtown Los Angeles, passing through towns like Downey, Paramount, Bellflower and Artesia along the Pacific Electric right-of-ways that once carried the Red Car. Or … maybe not. OLDA, the agency, acknowledges that OLDA, [...]
RAY BRADBURY TAUGHT THE WORLD–AND A 7TH GRADE BOY—TO SEE THEMSELVES IN SOME NEW AND CREATIVE WAYS
BY KEITH HIGGINBOTHAM When I was in 7th grade at Whitney, I was selected with several other students as the winners of a school essay contest. The prize was breakfast with Ray Bradbury. He showed up, having read all of our essays and ready to talk about them. He was the first person to ever [...]
KNABE TWEETS A PEEK AT COUNTY’S ANTI-SEX-TRAFFICKING BILLBOARD
THIS JUST TWEETED: Don Knabe, who represents Greater Long Beach on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, says, “Here is a sneak peek at the anti-sex-trafficking signage that will be up on billboards in LA County.”
LOWENTHAL’S TAX-BREAK-FOR-SHIPPERS BILL ON TODAY’S STATE SENATE AGENDA
A bill by Long Beach state Senator Alan Lowenthal’s that would continue to free shippers from paying California’s sales/use tax on a portion of the fuel they buy for another 12 years—at an annual cost of between $92 million and $137.5 to the state—is on today’s agenda in Sacramento. LBReport.com will carry today’s state Senate floor session [...]
HAVE-A-GREATER WEEKEND
If the Alice In Wonderland theme of this month's First Friday in Bixby Knolls doesn't keep you up too late---and it shouldn't; this is a family event, people---get up early Saturday for the annual Wrigley River Run. It's your kind of run, no matter who you are.
ALAN & BONNIE’S SALES TAX BREAK ON SHIPPING FUEL COULD COST CALIFORNIA BETWEEN $92 MILLION AND $137.5 MILLION
LBReport.com reports that the Alan and Bonnie Lowenthal bill—SB 1243, allowing shippers to continue buying a category of fuel without paying state sales tax for 12 years—would cost California between $92 million and $137.5 million annually, according to an analysis by the State Board of Equalization. Alan Lowenthal, termed out as Long Beach’s state senator [...]
HAVE-A-GREATER WEEKEND: DAME JUDI RIDES AGAIN IN “EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL”
Dame Judi Dench leads a company of geriactors to India, where they run into the kid from "Slumdog Millionaire," who leads them through culture shock to self discovery, along the way reminding casting directors that they aren't dead, yet. Now playing at the Art Theatre.
HAVE-A-GREATER-WEEKEND
Friday, May 18 Think Pink Kick off Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Weekend at the 5th annual Pink Party in the East Village Arts District. This official Pre-Pride event hosted by the one-and-only Jewels Long Beach will feature a Drag Diva contest, DJ Barry Weaver spinning dance music, outdoor bars by Hamburger Mary’s and [...]
ST. JOHN BOSCO HIGH’S NEW PRINCIPAL IS NAMED “CASEY YEAZEL” … C’MON, ALTOGETHER NOW: CASEY YEAZEL!
BELLFLOWER (Via The Downey Patriot)—“St. John Bosco Names New Principal,” reads the headline in The Downey Patriot, and something in the blandness of that banner tamps down the chances that John Bosco—the 19th century Italian farmboy / tailor / baker / shoemaker / carpenter / seminarian / priest whose work with misdirected boys made him [...]
STEADY PROGRESS OF HMONG REFUGEES MAY CARRY XIONG TO CONGRESS
If Blong Xiong is elected this November, the Fresno city council member and Laos-born refugee would become the first Hmong American in Congress. No matter what happens, however, Xiong is energizing the country’s fast-growing Hmong community,
FORMER CITY EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLING A QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS IN PUBLIC FUNDS
Detectives from the Forgery/Fraud Detail of the Long Beach Police Department have arrested a former city employee for misappropriation of $251,000 in public funds, according to information released to the media by the LBPD. Jongluck “Lucky” Mutrais, 59, was arrested Thursday (May 10) morning at her home in Orange, according to the release, which said [...]
HAVE-A-GREATER-WEEKEND
THURSDAY, MAY 10 One of the best products ever to come out of Chicago (along with deep dish pizza and Schwinn bicycles), This American Life, the award-winning weekly radio show hosted by Ira Glass, will be performed on stage in NYC this Thursday and beamed live via satellite to more than 500 select movie theaters. [...]
BEN BAEDER OF DOWNEYBEAT.COM TALKS ONLINE JOURNALISM ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT AT 7
Ben Baeder, who has brought old-school newspapering’s traditional principles and ethics to an online local publication he calls the Downey Beat, will be the featured guest on tonight’s edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. Also joining the discussion is Elizabeth Glazner, whose journalism career ranges from the Los Angeles Times to the [...]
THE KILLING OF KELLY THOMAS: VIDEO OF BEATING BY FULLERTON COPS
A previously unreleased survelliance video of Fullerton police beating unarmed Kelly Thomas during an arrest July 5, 2011, was shown in court Monday on the first day of a hearing to determine whether two of the cops---Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli---should stand trial in connection with Thomas's death when removed from hospital life-support systems on July 10.
BELLFLOWER WILL WAIT FOR ITS MASCOT ‘TIL THE COW COMES HOME
Belle the Cow, the massive bronze mascot of the City of Bellflower, finally has a home—a spot near the trailhead of the city’s bike-and-pedestrian path, where Woodruff Ave., Flora Vista St. and Flower St. intersect—and tentative plans are to move her in within the next six months, according to a story by Arnold Adler in [...]
LIFE MAY BE RETURNING TO THE PRESS-TELEGRAM / MEEKER-BAKER BLOCK
Meaningful purpose may be returning to the Press Telegram block, where Michelle Molina of 6th & Pine Development, LLC, says negotiations are in progress to do a build-to-suit development.
KICK OFF BIKE FEST ON GREATER LB RADIO BY KICKING AROUND WHAT IT IS
Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga will kick off Long Beach’s celebration of National Bike Month on Wednesday night by spending an hour with a couple of its organizers kicking around what it is, exactly, that is being celebrated.
LISTEN TO LARRY MANTLE’S SEGMENT ON NEW RULES FOR HIRING PEOPLE WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS
Airtalk, the KPCC-FM (89.3) radio show hosted by Larry Mantle, today considered the new rules approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on April 25 that could make the search for employment easier for convicted criminals and others who have gotten into legal trouble. To listen to the program via the KPCC-FM archives or via podcast [CLICK [...]
SURE, LBREPORT.COM BREAKS NEWS, BUT WE WANT A PLAQUE OR A PARTY
After LBReport.com publisher Bill Pearl broke two big stories in as many days, GreaterLongBeach.com received this e-mail from a frustrated reader who's beginning to doubt whether Pearl will ever award everybody a plaque or throw a party.
SMITHSONIAN’S SPACE SUIT EXHIBIT CLOSES AT DOWNEY SPACE MUSEUM SATURDAY
This is the final weekend for the Columbia Memorial Space Museum’s first first-ever traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution: “Suited For Space” which is about space suits. The museum is pretty much all that’s left of the aerospace industry in Downey, where they built things like the Apollo series of rockets that took people to [...]
BASTARD’S OF YOUNG MARINE HAS SOME IN DOWNEY CONSIDERING REPLACEMENTS
“I wake up every day proud to be a bastard …” asserts Nick Velez, who is preparing to open a sports bar and restaurant in downtown Downey, in a story in today’s Downey Patriot by city editor Eric Pierce. So, there ya go—job applicants, beware. But apparently we’ve interrupted Velez, who hasn’t finished his sentence. [...]
HAVE-A-GREATER-WEEKEND: DEEP JAZZ, SPACE ODDITIES, OCCUPY EARTH DAY
"Have a greater weekend!" we cheerily well-wished them. "Don't tell us what kind of weekend to have!" they sharply bubble-popped us. So, instead, we're going to tell you to have a greater weekend ... and how.
WHAT TH–?? SUPERNAW RETURNS TO GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT
Daryl Supernaw, lifetime Long Beach resident and well-mannered Sustainability Commissioner, spent under $3,000 on his campaign for City Council---and emerged from last week's primary as the frontrunner. Hear his explanation tonight at 7 on Greater Long Beach Radio (www.kbeach.org).
TEXTS FROM THE LINE AT THE JOB FAIR … UM, MAKE THAT “HIRING SPREE”
"People in line are very nice, quietly conversational, realistic, resilient. Sharing stories of their fruitless job searches, not self-pityingly, but recognizing that the sum of their stories equals a very messed-up state of affairs."
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THAT FIRE AT THE COMPTON FIRE DEPT: IS IT GOING FROM WEIRD TO WORSE?
Compton City officials aren't saying anything about the mysterious fire that ignited at the City's fire department and destroyed $1.1 million in police radios---except that it's still under investigation.
KOOPS STRIKES OPTIMISTIC TONE IN FIRST REMARKS AS BELLFLOWER MAYOR
[From Herald American reports] BELLFLOWER—Dan Koops, a longtime business owner who became a first-time city council member in 2009, was installed as the mayor of Bellflower this week after a unanimous vote by his council colleagues. Councilman Ray Dunton was unanimously selected to be mayor Pro tem. Koops, 59 years old and married to his wife, [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR COUNCIL’S BUDGET OVERSIGHT CHAIR, GARY DELONG
Ten years after consultants informed the Long Beach City Council that it was spending more than it was taking in, Kerrie Aley has one question for Councilmember Gary DeLong, chairman of the Budget Oversight Committee: Is Long Beach in better or worse financial shape now?
“THE GREATEST OF LONG BEACH” IS COMING …ON APRIL FOOL’S DAY!
The Greatest of Long Beach, a collaborative hunting-and-gathering expedition into the ultimate of almost everything in Long Beach and its satellite cities, will be published a week from today—that’s Sunday, April 1—on GreaterLongBeach.com and LBReport.com. Yes, we realize that’s April Fool’s Day. Happy New Year! Meanwhile, for slightly more than a month Long Beach’s two best and [...]
DIANA CRAIGHEAD UNANIMOUSLY APPOINTED TO SCHOOL BOARD BY ITS OTHER FOUR MEMBERS
Diana Craighead has been appointed to the District 5 seat on the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education by a unanimous vote of the Board’s other four members, it was announced this morning via a press release from LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftychiou. Craighead is scheduled to be sworn into office during the next [...]
ALL WRITEY!! CAN WE GET A LITTLE LOVE FROM THE SPAMMERS? YES, WE CAN!
GREATER LB RADIO TONITE: FANYA BARUTI ON SUIT TO RESTORE 85,000 PRISONERS’ VOTING RIGHTS Quite fine publish. I just just simply happened at your website not to mention wished to say that have seriously loved reading your weblog content. In any case I will turn out to be subscribing to all your posts not to [...]
THE GREATEST OF LONG BEACH: NOMINATIONS CLOSE TUESDAY, MARCH 20
What's the greatest place in the Greater Long Beach Area to eat a meal, see a play, get your drycleaning done, watch the sun set, drink a beer, take an out-of-town visitor, buy a greeting card, ride your bike, play golf, go dancing, eat Cambodian food? Nominate it!
GREATER LB RADIO TONITE: FANYA BARUTI ON SUIT TO RESTORE 85,000 PRISONERS’ VOTING RIGHTS
Fanya Baruti of Long Beach, who discovered political activism while incarcerated and has made it his life’s work since his release, will cast light upon the greatest needs and obstacles facing our huge population of current and former prisoners—oh, and solutions, too—during his appearance tonight on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. The program [...]
WEDNESDAY ON GREATER LB RADIO: THE CENTER MOVES INTO THE UNFAMLIAR TERRITORY OF COMMON GROUND
Last Wednesday evening, Porter Gilberg literally put the LBGT (lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender) community at center stage of the People’s State of the City event that packed the Antioch Church in Long Beach. The new administrative director of The Center Long Beach not only led the organization into the unprecedented role as part of a [...]
LISTEN TO TONIA REYES URANGA’S PERSPECTIVE ON THIS WEDNESDAY’S ‘PEOPLE’S STATE OF THE CITY ‘
Former Long Beach City Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga appears on the current edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga to describe the living conditions that have prompted this week’s People’s State of the City event. Reyes Uranga’s delivery of the central address at the event—created by an unprecedented coalition of community groups—is her [...]
POLICE STILL INVESTIGATING DEATH OF 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL—APPARENTLY FOLLOWING AFTER-SCHOOL FIGHT
Homicide detectives from the Long Beach Police Department continue to investigate Friday night’s death of an 11-year-old girl, who was unconscious and not breathing when her family brought her to the emergency room of a local hospital. According to information released by the LBPD, a preliminary investigation indicates that the girl had been involved in [...]
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP THE GOOD TIMES ROLL SATURDAY AT MARDI GRAS
Volunteers are still needed to assist Saturday—that’s tomorrow—at Long Beach’s annual celebration of Mardi Gras—which is French for, “Fat Tuesday,” and which in Long Beach apparently means, “A Tuesday so fat that we celebrate it on Saturday.” “We still need a significant number of volunteers to help out,” wrote Mike Kamer, the Volunteer Coordinator for [...]
HEAR WHY JANET BALLANTYNE WANTS TO REPLACE SUJA LOWENTHAL ON CITY COUNCIL
Janet Ballantyne explains why she is running for the Long Beach City Council seat currently occupied by Suja Lowenthal during a Feb. 15 appearance on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. Ballantyne works as a sponsor-relations manager for a financial services firm and serves as president of a large downtown Home Owner’s Association called 133 Promenade Walk. She expands on [...]
SOMEDAY, NOT HAVING AN LB CINEMATHEQUE MEMBERSHIP CARD WILL MAKE YOU LOOK STUPID
[Editor's note: GreaterLongBeach.com is the media sponsor of Long Beach Cinematheque's membership drive.] Please don’t misread the tone or the implications of the big doings and the big discounts that are featured during the Long Beach Cinematheque’s month-long membership drive. That would be a big mistake. For example, as the membership drive passes its halfway [...]
NICK SCHOU OF OC WEEKLY TO DISCUSS CONTROVERSIAL LB MEDPOT STORY ON GREATER LB RADIO WEDNESDAY
Award-winning reporter and author Nick Schou, whose current OC Weekly cover story about medpot dispensaries in Long Beach also serves as a disturbing case study of the institutional culture at City Hall, will be the featured guest Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. on KBEACH.org.Schou and Wielenga, [...]
BIXBY PARK’S TACTFUL ACTIVIST CLAUDIA SCHOU AND DODGEBALL’S RETURN ON GREATER LB RADIO WEDNESDAY
Claudia Schou, whose movement to rehabilitate Bixby Park is either disproving the sad-but-truism that “You can’t fight city hall” or completely disregarding it (see, the woman doesn’t want to fight), will discuss the inspiration and effectiveness of tactful activism tactics at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. The second half [...]
TO DO TODAY: THE SHORT LIST
Three things one person can do in one day: STEAMPUNK’D: Mixed-media art show that doesn’t wonder, “What if Ashton Kutcher did that show in the 1880’s?” Warehouse 1333, LB, 11am-7pm, Free. STAND UP FOR COMEDY: Debut of Long Beach Port of Comedy show, Club Cohiba, LB, 7 p.m., $10. MARATHON PREP: Early registration for [...]
TRAGEDY (POLICE SHOOTING) & COMEDY (LITERALLY) ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO–LISTEN HERE
It’s a tragedy-and-comedy edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga, the collaboration between GreaterLongBeach.com and the Cal State Long Beach internet radio station KBEACH.org that creates weekly hour of interviews and insight into our city’s most-important stories. The program, recorded at Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. in the studio of KBEACH.org, on the bottom floor of the [...]
FRIENDS OF UNARMED MAN KILLED BY DOWNEY POLICE WILL MARCH AGAINST BRUTALITY & PROFILING SATURDAY
DOWNEY—Friends and family of Michael Nida, the unarmed and innocent man fatally shot last Oct. 22 by a Downey Police Department officer wielding an MP5 machine gun, are inviting people to march two miles with them Saturday—from the site of the shooting at Paramount Blvd. and Imperial Highway to to Downey City Hall—to protest racial profiling [...]
POLICE-SHOOTING INVESTIGATOR TESTIFIES ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT, EVE OF CLIENT’S TRIAL
The police officer-turned-private investigator examining the shooting of Jonathan Cabrera by Long Beach Police Department officers who sprayed bullets into his apartment on the night of May 14 will discuss his findings and their significance on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga on KBEACH.org at 7 o’clock tonight. Thursday morning, Cabrera goes on trial before [...]
WHAT SECRETS WAS LB COUNCIL KEEPING FROM PUBLIC IN CLOSED SESSION?
When the Long Beach City Council went into closed session on January 10, it cited "existing legislation" as its legally permitted reason. Problem is, the case it cited had already received a final judgment from the California State Supreme Court on Dec. 29. So ,,, what gives?
CALIFORNIA’S NEW DISTRICTS SCARE OLD COOTS OUT OF CONGRESS
Veteran Representative Jerry Lewis of Redlands, the impeccably coiffed "dentured servant of the Inland Empire," was among three Republican congressmen from California who retired last week---consequences of the state's new redistricting process and plain, old age.
ADVERTISEMENT: OUR VALENTINE’S GUIDE—ONLY $100 FROM NOW TIL FEB 29
In honor and fear of the most unforgiving day of the year, GreaterLongBeach.com is compiling a Valentine’s Day Survival Guide, a strategy for assembling a February 14 that won’t end up feeling like a Friday the 13th or an April Fool’s Day. The Valentine’s Day Survival Guide will be a special section of GreaterLongBeach.com—a matchmaking [...]
THERE’S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN(S)
LAKEWOOD (Via the Herald American)— Capt. Merrill Ladenheim is the new commander of the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station, which patrols 24 square miles filled with 240,000 residents in the cities of Artesia, Bellflower, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood and Paramount. The 26-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will oversee 250 sworn officers and 50 civilian [...]
IT’S ANOTHER BUMPER CROP OF CONGRESSMEN-TURNED-LOBBYISTS
The shackles came off this week for early 100 ex-Members of Congress who left office in 2010. They are now free to cash in on their government "service" by lobbying on Capitol Hill. Said former Congressman Brian Baird of Washington state: "Yee-haw!"
POOR (LAURA) RICHARDSON’S ALMANAC: LITTLE MONEY, LOTS OF ANGER
The latest entries into Poor Richardson’s Almanac—an ever-expanding catalogue of Greater Long Beach-area Congresswoman Laura Richardson’s never-ending woes—come from the New York Times and Politico.com … oh, and local newsman Theo Douglas, who e-mailed a heads-up about the stories, as well as links to them. NY Tmes reporter Eric Lichtblau describes Richardson as “among the [...]
GAY-STRAIGHT STUDENT ALLIANCE: NOT JUST OUT AND OPEN, BUT MAINSTREAM
Through friendship and frank discussions traditionally unheard of on high school campuses, Gay-Straight Alliances like this one at Downey High are normalizing once-taboo subjects, shedding light on human complexity and helping people feel welcomed and accepted.
MEMORIAL FOR SEAL BEACH SHOOTING VICTIMS BECOMING PUBLIC POLICY
SEAL BEACH (Via Seal Beach News)—As the Seal Beach City Council plans a public memorial for the people killed and traumatized by the Oct. 12 shooting spree at the Salon Meritage it is also codifying those plans into a citywide policy on public memorials. Two months to the date after the tragedy, the council used its Dec. [...]
LBPD OFFICER SHOT IN LEG BY OWN GUN DURING STRUGGLE WITH SUSPECT
According to information provided by the Long Beach Police Department, an officer who was physically struggling to take a resisting suspect into custody just before midnight Thursday was accidentally shot in the leg by his own gun when the suspect struck one of the officer’s handguns, causing it to fire. The suspect, a 21-year-old parolee named Ajay Steward, who was not [...]
FROM ROLLCALL: IT’S ‘DICKENS-MEETS-RED-CARPET’ AT CHAMBER HOLIDAY BASH
Instead of eggnog and good will, business giants arriving at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Holiday Party were greeted by protesters, who taunted them and formed a human red carpet designed to force the well-heeled to tread on the less fortunate. Later, there were holiday carols sung by the unemployed.
WHY DOES HELEN BORGERS HAVE ALL THE FUN? IT’S ON THE RADIO NOW!
Helen Borgers,who has been having one hell of a time since she moved to Long Beach in 1958, seemed to enjoy herself on 'Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga' on Thursday night---well, all except that crack Wielenga made abouther not having any range. Open this story and click on the link to hear the show.
AD DEAL ON GREATERLONGBEACH.COM: $100 PUTS YOUR BUSINESS ON EVERY PAGE, EVERY DAY OF DECEMBER
Amid a holiday shopping season choreographed and code named things like Black Friday, Smallbiz Saturday and Cyber Monday, and complicated by time-warp store hours and window-of-opportunity specials, does anybody really know how far their advertising dollars really go? They do if they take advantage of the December Special at GreaterLongBeach.com, where $100 will get them from here to next year. Actually, that [...]
ESTRO JEN AND LB ROLLER DERBY ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONITE
Estro Jen, one of the founders of Long Beach Roller Derby, will be the featured guest on this evening’s edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga to discus how this sport has gone from instant success to what may be sudden death. Catch the show live at 7 p.m. via your computer or [...]
FEATURED SHOWS AT THE ART THEATRE FOR DECEMBER
FEATURED SHOWS AT THE ART FOR DECEMBER [Published as a courtesy by GreaterLongBeach.com] • THURS 12/1 9:15pm: THE SWELL SEASON – new rock documentary The world fell in love with Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová when their songwriting collaboration in the film Once culminated in a jubilant Oscar win. But behind the scenes, where Glen [...]
NBA OWNERS AND PLAYERS REACH TENTATIVE DEAL, SHOOTING FOR SEASON TO BEGIN ON CHRISTMAS DAY
CNN reported at 2:24 (PST) that National Basketball Association players and owners have reached a tentative deal to end the league’s months-long lockout. Details of the agreement were not immediately released, but Commissioner David Stern indicated there are plans to begin the season on Christmas Day. “We’ve reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals … [...]
UNCONFIRMED E-MAIL WITHDRAWS CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF DOWNEY BUSINESS
Someone claiming to represent the families of the man shot and killed by a Downey police officer investigating a reported ATM robbery, sent an e-mail message to GreaterLongBeach.com Wednesday evening retracting a call for a boycott of businesses in Downey. GreaterLongBeach.com is attempting to confirm the accuracy of this e-mail message. On Wednesday morning, GreaterLongBeach published a story, via [...]
GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO THIS MORNING AT 11: SECOND+PCH AND ‘FOR LOVE OF LIBERTY’
Environmental consultant Heather Altmanand documentary filmmaker Frank Martin are among the guests on this week’s edition of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga, which goes live this morning at 11 and will be rebroadcast this evening at 7 on KBEACH.org. The ever-controversial Second+PCH hotel/retail/residential development will likely get an up-or-down vote from the Long [...]
YES, COMPTON SCHOOLKIDS LOOKED AT SASHA GREY—BUT ONLY FOR THE STORIES
Officials at Emerson Elementary School in Compton are being asked to do some explaining as mortally offended parents demand to know why former porn star Sasha Grey was allowed to commit the sin of reading to a classroom of first-graders. Grey visited Emerson on November 2 as part of the Read Across America program. At [...]
ROSA DEL TORO SELECTED BIG WEST CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
[Editor's note: Although GreaterLongBeach.com loves sports---love-love-loves 'em---so far it hasn't done much sports coverage. It doesn't feel good about that. But there is one sport so close to GreaterLongBeach.com's heart that it will always receive coverage ... and that sport is cross country. GreaterLongBeacy.com loves cross country---love-love-loves it. GreaterLongBeach.com is weird that way.] Long Beach State senior [...]
FROM ROLL CALL: THOSE WHO “OCCUPYCONGRESS” GETTING RICHER
FROM ROLLCALL.COM: Members of Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion in 2010, a nearly 25-percent increase over the 2008 total, according to a Roll Call analysis of Members’ financial disclosure forms. Nearly 90 percent of that increase is concentrated in the 50 richest Members of Congress. Two years ago, Roll [...]
IT’S TIME TO PLANT CALIFORNIA NATIVES—MIKE EVANS TELLS HOW ON NOV. 10
California native plants do best when planted during the next few months, and Mike Evans of Tree of Life nursery is coming to Long Beach on Thursday, Nov. 10, to explain how and why to easily create a garden both beautiful and in tune with the environment. It's free!
NO VIDEOTAPE OF DOWNEY POLICE FATAL SHOOTING: TRAFFIC CAMERAS DON’T USE IT
On the chance that traffic cameras at the intersection of Imperial Highway and Paramount Boulevard might clarify how a Downey Police officer happened to fatally shoot Michael Lee Nida last Saturday, reporter Ben Baeder of the Downey Beat submitted a California Public Records Act request to view the videotape that was recording at the time [...]
SECOND MAN SHOT AND KILLED THIS MONTH BY DOWNEY POLICE UNARMED
A 31-year-old father of four was unarmed Saturday (Oct. 22) when he became the second man this month to be shot and killed by Downey Police officers. According to a report by the Los Angeles County Sheriff, the death of Michael Lee Nida of South Gate occurred after he twice escaped and ran from Downey [...]
THEY’RE BA-ACK FOR THE WORLD RECORD
The Living Dead return to Long Beach for the 4th time on Saturday, October 29 as LONG BEACH ZOMBIE WALK IV takes over Pine Avenue! The Long Beach Zombie Walk is an all-ages event that invites ghouls of all ages to participate in a night of creepy-crawly fun. This year’s event is expanding into a [...]
CITY PROSECTUTOR HAUBERT DISCUSSES EARLY RELEASE OF PRISONERS ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT
As the first of thousands of former inmates of California state prisons arrive in Greater Long Beach—released early by order of the U.S. Supreme Court because of overcrowding—Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert and criminology/sociology professor Dr. LaTanya Skiffer of Cal State Dominguez Hills will discuss potential problems, opportunities and strategies on tonight’s edition of [...]
ZOMBIES ARE GONE … BUT JUST IN CASE, OUR “ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE”
Zombie attacks are always remembered for massive casualties, usually after lots of runnin' and screamin'. As thousands of zombies prepare for Zombie Walk IV's downtown invasion on Oct. 29, we at GreaterLongBeach.com offer our Zombie Survival Guide. We suggest you shut up, calm down and read it.
DO A DOUBLE SHOT OF HABITAT SATURDAY AT NATURE CENTER’S NATIVE PLANT SALE
The El Dorado Nature Center’s annual California Native Plant Sale this Saturday is 2-in-1 opportunity to restore and recover natural habitat to urban Long Beach. Proceeds from the sale of every plant—from fragrant sages to serene ceanothus to colorful monkeyflowers—support restoration of habitat at the Nature Center. Putting those plants in the ground at your [...]
EX-7TH DISTRICT AIDE RELOCATES TO 4TH DISTRICT, WILL RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL
Herlinda Chico, once an aide to former 7th District City Council member Tonia Reyes Uranga, is now among three people running toward Long Beach' April 2012 election to choose the new city council member from the 4th District. The other two candidates are neighborhood activist Daryl Supernaw and former Long Beach Police Department officer John Watkins.
ONE QUESTION … FOR EX-REPORTER/FUNNYMAN THEO DOUGLAS
[Another in a trying-our-best-to-make-this-a-weekly series] The back story: In the good, old days when he was a member of The District Weekly staff—actually, even in the not-quite-as-good but even-older days, when he was a member of the OC Weekly staff … or way the hell back in the bad, as in going-Medieval on your ass, days [...]
8 DEATHS MAKE SEAL BEACH SALON SHOOTING WORST IN OC SINCE 1976
BY PAIGE AUSTION / BELMONT SHORE PATCH Eight people were killed and one critically wounded Wednesday afternoon—the worst human carnage in Orange County since a 1976 shooting in the Cal State Fullerton library—when a heavily armed gunman wearing body armor opened fire at the Salon Meritage in Seal Beach, police said. Shortly after the shootings, [...]
FORMER LBPD CHIEF ANTHONY BATTS RESIGNS AS TOP COP IN OAKLAND
Anthony Batts, shown here with Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, said he is considering a research position at Harvard University after resigning Tuesday as Oakland police chief. Batts resigned as Long Beach police chief in 2009 to take the top cop job in Oakland.In both jobs, Batts was frustrated by city council-imposed cuts to his force.
ON EVE OF 2ND+PCH DATE WITH PLANNING COMMISSION, PROBLEMS WITH EIR
A major obstacle for the 2nd+PCH project is the Final Environmental Impact Report’s (FEIR) compliance---or lack of it---with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The document includes 200 pages of “Final EIR Errata” (that is, corrections) and 1,345 pages of comments from government and the public, as well as the city staff’s responses.
DOWNEY MAYOR LUIS MARQUEZ TO ANNOUNCE ASSEMBLY RUN TODAY
Downey Mayor Luis Marquez, a senior aide to state Sen. Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach, will formally announce his candidacy today for the California State Assembly in the newly-created 58th District. Marquez’ candidacy was reported Monday morning by the Downey Beat and was confirmed Monday afternoon by The Downey Patriot. Marquez, who was elected as [...]
KINDE DURKEE: FRUMPY, FRIENDLY … AND SUDDENLY, MASTERMIND OF FRAUD?
Alleged political embezzler Kinde Durkee of Long Beach attracted little attention from her Bixby Knolls neighbors and was well liked by professional colleagues. "She’s a warm, accessible person,” said one. “You would describe her attire as frumpy. Drove a beat-up old car. Lived in a plain home. You don’t look at this person and say, ‘This person doesn’t look right.”
OCCUPYLONGBEACH AND GREGGORY MOORE WILL OCCUPY GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT AT 7 O’CLOCK
Two representatives of OccupyLongBeach, a spinoff of the social-justice movement that began on Wall Street last month, will be featured guests on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga tonight at 7 p.m. on KBEACH.org, the online radio station at Cal State Long Beach. The program will open with a long-awaited visit from Greggory Moore—yep, [...]
V.I.P. RECORDS EPISODE OF GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE AND VIA PODCAST
Anyone who missed last Thursday’s special V.I.P. Records episode of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga can now listen to the program at any time of any day via computer or as a podcast downloaded to a personal device. Simply follow this link to the website of KBEACH.org, the Long Beach State online radio [...]
V.I.P. RECORDS FOUNDER KELVIN ANDERSON—AND ALEX CHERIN?—ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT
Kelvin Anderson of V.I.P. Records, who will soon close the neighborhood store that launched the worldwide phenomenon of West Coast hip-hop in the mid-1990s, will be the featured guest tonight on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. The weekly hour-long program begins at 7 p.m. on KBEACH.org, the online radio station at Cal State [...]
DOWNEY’S POLICE MEMORIAL IS A VIVID DEPICTION OF ABJECT SORROW
DOWNEY (Via the Downey Beat)—With hundreds on hand as witnesses, the city on Thursday unveiled a memorial to fallen police officers, with a special emphasis on Officer Wayne Presley, the only Downey officer killed in the line of duty. The bronze statue in front of the Police Department depicts a kneeling officer in a sorrowful [...]
TODAY IS LAST SATURDAY ON 4TH STREET: FIGURE IT OUT AND GET THERE!
Hey, today is Last Saturday on 4th Street! Although that may seem intended to confuse you—as though maintaining that today is September 17, which was the date last Saturday—it’s actually intended to remind you that today is Last Saturday on 4th Street! Although that may seem intended to confuse you—as though suggesting that today may [...]
A COUPLE OF SANTAS HAVE ALREADY SAVED CHRISTMAS IN BELLFLOWER
Summer just ended, but it’s already beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Bellflower. Not in the commercialized way—there aren’t enough stores still open along downtown Bellflower Blvd. to commercialize Christmas … or unfortunately, any other time of year. No, the way in which Bellflower is beginning to look a lot like Christmas is [...]
TWO FULLERTON COPS CHARGED, ONE WITH 2ND-DEGREE MURDER OF KELLY THOMAS
[EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS REPORT COMES FROM MATT COKER OF THE OC WEEKLY] Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas just announced that Fullerton Police Officer Manuel Ramos is being charged with two felony counts—second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter—in the vicious July 5 beating that led to the death of of homeless schizophrenic Kelly Thomas five days later. Ramos [...]
SCHIPSKE JOINS LB COUNCIL MEMBERS’ STAMPEDE FOR HIGHER OFFICE
Fifth District City Council member Gerrie Schipske announced her candidacy for the newly drawn Long Beach seat in the California Assembly on Tuesday night, meaning that four of the 10 officials elected to steer the city’s course at council meetings are now running for higher office. In fact, Schipske’s entry into the race for the [...]
REDRAWN DISTRICT LINES DRAWING ATTENTION TO CALIFORNIA RACES
[Editor's Note: Kyle Trygstad of RollCall.com wrote this piece.] California has begun a new era of political theater that has caught the eye of both national parties as the decade-long drought of competitive Congressional elections comes to a close. Republicans could face a loss of as many as six seats because of the state’s new independent redistricting [...]
JOHNSON RECALL ORGANIZER ON ‘GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO’ AT 7 PM
Kate Braid, a founder of the Long Beach Rage Against the Machine Working Group (LB RAM) that has endorsed the recall of 7th district Long Beach City Council member James Johnson, will be the featured guest this evening on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. The hour-long program goes live at 7 p.m. on [...]
GOP REPS PAID ANTI-GAY-MARRIAGE GROUP TO TRAIN THEIR STAFFERS
Using Congressional office accounts to send staff to a conservative Christian group's training seminar is perfectly legal, but underscores the relationships that members of Congress can build with favored causes without violating rules against using taxpayer money to fund political activity.
JENELLE HUTCHERSON & MASA ZOKAEI ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TODAY
Jenelle Hutcherson, the first openly gay contestant in the history of the Miss Long Beach Pageant,will be the featured guest today on this week’s edition of "Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga." She will be joined by Masa Zokaei, who wrote an account of Hutcherson's candidacy and its challenges to their relationship. The show is live at 10 a.m. online at KBEACH.org, repeating at 7 p.m. and available in the KBEACH.org archives and via podcast.
KELLY THOMAS’ DAD PRESENTS MEDICAL RECORDS HE SAYS PROVE HIS SON WAS MURDERED BY FULLERTON POLICE
LOS ANGELES (Via OC Register)—The father of Kelly Thomas, the mentally ill transient who died five days after a July 5 altercation with six Fullerton police officers, displayed medical records Wednesday that he and his attorneys contend prove his son was effectively “murdered” by police assault. Ron Thomas, a former Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy, and [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR THINKIN’-ABOUT-IT COUNCIL CANDIDATE BILL ORTON
The back story: Bill Orton, a 1980 graduate of Cal State Long Beach who moved into Long Beach’s 3rd district a few years ago after 23 years in Seal Beach, announced on his Facebook page in February that he would be considering a run for Long Beach City Council in 2014. But incumbent Gary DeLong [...]
PORKY’S REVENGE? COUNCIL’S SPENDING WISH-LIST WOULD BLOCK PROPOSED BUDGET ALTERNATIVE
LBReport.com has learned that a list of Councilmember-desired spending items is quietly circulating on City Hall’s 14th floor—a list that would deplete surplus upland oil revenue and effectively prevent its use to avert the police, fire, parks and library cuts proposed by Mayor Bob Foster and City Manager Pat. Councilmembers Rae Gabelich, Steve Neal and [...]
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST PRESENTED WITH LIVE SCORE – MON 9/5 – LB CINEMATHEQUE
Monday, September 5, 2011 – Doors: 7:00pm / Film: 8:00pm Second Samoan Church – 655 Cedar Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802 After an almost year-long absence, Long Beach Cinematheque’s Sounds of Silence series returns with an amazing evening of sight and sound – a live-score presentation of Jean Cocteau’s beautiful, surreal, and legendary 1946 classic La [...]
DID TELEPHONIC TOWN HALL ON BUDGET OUTDRAW IN-PERSON MEETINGS?
LONG BEACH (Via LBReport.com)—Participants in the Telephone Town Hall held Thursday evening on the alternative Long Beach budget plan proposed by three city council members appear to have outnumbered in-person attendees visible at budget meetings held in some council districts. The office of 9th district representative Steve Neal, who along with Rae Gabelich (8th) and [...]
EX-PROSECUTOR TELLS ‘GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO’ WHY LEGAL SYSTEM GOES EASY ON COPS’ ILLEGALITY
Attorney Mark Cabaniss, who has authored two piercingly clear pieces of analysis and perspective about the Kelly Thomas case—the fatal beating of a homeless schizophrenic man by six Fullerton Police Department officers on July 5—expands upon the themes of those articles in the Sept. 1 episode of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. • [...]
HARBOR COMMISSION’S UNANIMOUS VOTE TO BUY WORLD CENTER STILL ISN’T OVER
LONG BEACH (Via LBReport.com)—If you missed the big moment—couldn’t be there for the Long Beach Harbor Commission’s special meeting Tuesday or couldn’t stop texting while the panel rolled through the only item on the agenda—maybe the 4-0 vote authorizing the Port of Long Beach’s purchase of the Long Beach World Center office/retail property seems as though the [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR LATE-ARRIVING LONG BEACH NATIVE SARAH BENNETT
The back story: When Sarah Bennett arrived in Long Beach from Los Angeles via Orange County back in—well, see, Sarah’s not sure precisely which year she finally got here, but figures it was four or five of them ago—either 2006 or 2007, she knew she had arrived. Sarah admits that her earliest clues were related [...]
JACK “AMERICAN DEMON” GRISHAM: STILL RIVETING, REVOLTING AND REAL
Jack Grisham has cannonballed into the pop-culture hot tub. The punk icon, breakthrough author and changed man is also the same person. With "An American Demon," as with his music-making, his art is alternately riveting and revolting. He is riding the momentum of a wave he created, which may again become more than he anticipated. Grisham will be interviewed by Elizabeth Glazner and Dave Wielenga on Greater Long Beach Radio on Thursday morning at 10.
WHAT HAPPENED? ‘DEATH IN CUSTODY REPORTING ACT’ DEMANDS ANSWER
The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2011 would mandate that details of every death in the custody of law enforcement must be reported to the attorney general. The bill would apply to people in the process of being arrested, inmates, and immigrants held in detention centers.
AMNESIA FILE: DURING LBPD’S 2010 CUTS CHIEF STILL HAD HOPE FOR ACADEMY
Maybe you've forgotten, but while accepting budget cuts last year, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell expressed strong hope for a Police Academy to replenish the thinning ranks of the LBPD this year. Anyway, forget it. Ain't gonna happen.
NBA’S FIRST LATINO TEAM OWNER IS DOWNEY RESIDENT AND LBSU GRAD
Multi-millionaire investor Alex Meruelo of Downey—at least, that’s his listed residence on the campaign finance reports he files when he expresses financial fondness for a particular political candidate—became the first Latino owner of a National Basketball Association team today when he reached agreement to purchase the Atlanta Hawks. Another local tie? Meruelo eaned a B.S. degree [...]
LBPD PRISONER DIES WHILE IN CUSTODY
EDITOR’S NOTE: GreaterLongBeach.com received a press release from the Long Beach Police Department on Friday, Aug. 5, at 5:42 p.m. reporting that a prisoner of the LBPD had died while in custody nearly 24 hours earlier. This is the complete press release: On Thursday, August 4, 2011, at approximately 7:00 p.m., a Long Beach patrol [...]
DOUGLAS DISCUSSES ‘BLOOD ON THE SHARROW’ ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO
Theo Douglas, the award-winning reporter who wrote this week’s GreaterLongBeach.com investigative update and analysis of the 2009 shooting of Belmont Shore bar patron Ernest Rodriguez by Long Beach Police Department officer Jonathan Steinhauser, discusses the story tonight on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga at 7 o’clock. The program is available online at the KBEACH.org [...]
GARDEN ANARCHY AT EPITAPH RECORDS
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LB COUNCIL MEMBER SCHIPSKE ELECTED SECRETARY OF STATE MEDICAL BOARD
The California Medical Board today elected Long Beach City Council member Gerrie Schipske as Secretary of the Board, as well as a member of the executive committee, during its quarterly meeting in Sacramento. News of Schipske’s election was disseminated via a press release from her 5th district council office. Schipske has been a member of [...]
JENNI RIVERA INDUCTED INTO POLY HIGH WALK OF FAME
Jenni Rivera, a Spanish-language singer/songwriter who has sold more than 20 million albums, will be inducted into the Poly High School Walk of Fame during an 11 a.m. ceremony Tuesday in the school’s football stadium. The event is open to the public and free.
STATE REDISTRICTING COMMISSION’S ETCHINGS PORTRAY LONG BEACH IN A MENAGE-A-TROIS, TIMES TWO
SACRAMENTO (via LBReport.com)—The latest tinkering by the California Redistricting Commission put parts of Long Beach into three state Senate districts and three Assembly districts—far from the unified representation for which local officials have been pleading. If ultimately adopted by the Commission and not changed further by possible litigation, these election district lines would determine how [...]
WILL STARDOM CHANGE SAM OUTLAW? BETTER SMILE WHEN YOU ASK THAT…
"When I inevitably rise to stardom, I will do my best to remember your names and pretend to recognize you. I'll even try to be "cool about it" when you prove to some girl that you know the famous Sam Outlaw by calling me, putting her ear to the phone and having me sing a few lines from one of my hits as she listens and giggles with delight."
TONIGHT’S LONG BEACH ROLLER DERBY BOUT IS SOLD OUT
All tickets have been sold for tonight’s Long Beach Roller Derby bout between the first-year Belmont Hot Broads and the defending champion Bixby Rollerettes at the Queen Mary Dome. Belmont made a name for itself at their debut bout on June 3, narrowly defeating the Terminal Island Tootsies, and a victory tonight would put the [...]
HEAR CLIPPED-AWAY CANDIDATE MIKE KOWAL ON GREATER LB RADIO
Mike Kowal, who was eliminated as a candidate for the 8th district seat on the Long Beach City Council when district boundaries were redrawn to exclude his longtime residence by a half-block, explains his reaction and his plans on the new episode of Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. The show is available 24/7 or as a downloadable podcast.
COMPTON BUDGET MEANS LAYOFFS, LAWSUITS, MAYBE INSOLVENCY, ANYWAY
[EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was written by Abby Sewell of the Los Angeles Times] COMPTON (via Los Angeles Times)—After a chaotic meeting full of reversals, the Compton City Council late Tuesday apparently moved to approve dozens of layoffs to avert a potential government shutdown. The council, acting as the redevelopment commission, voted 3 to 2 [...]
COURT SAYS 2009 PORT-TRUCKERS SETTLEMENT ON CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM VIOLATES ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
LOS ANGELES (via LBReport.com)–A federal district judge in Los Angeles has ruled that the settlement agreement between the Port of Long Beach and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) industry interest group—a deal in which the Port changed portions of its “clean trucks program” to settle a lawsuit by the ATA—violates the California Environmental Quality Act [...]
LBREPORT.COM GETS ANSWERS FROM CITY STAFF … WITH PUSH FROM DELONG
[Editor's note: Several hours after 3rd district Councilman Gary DeLong read LBReport.com’s editorial Monday morning---demanding that city staff answer the questions of two Long Beach residents---those answers arrived.] LONG BEACH (via LBReport.com)LBReport.com publishes in full below an emailed statement from Jacqueline Medina of the City of Long Beach’s Development Services Communications Division in response to [...]
TRANSPACIFIC DIARY: BOUNDING-MAINING IT FROM LONG BEACH TO HAWAII
JULY 9 UPDATE: Paul Turang, Jr., of the Long Beach Yacht Club is a crew member aboard the Victoire, which departed Long Beach today (July 4) in the Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii. GreaterLongBeach.com will be linking to Turang's blog and photos during a journey that could take up to two weeks.
FAMILY OF UNARMED MAN KILLED BY DEPUTIES PETITIONS BELLFLOWER COUNCIL
Sheriff's Deputies opened fire on 23-year-old Dexter J. Luckett on June 16 at about 10 p.m. in the parking lot behind his apartment while he was being detained---and ordered to put his hands on the hood of a patrol car. Luckett was hit by three bullets and died at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.
DID RICHARDSON USE STAFF TO CAMPAIGN AND FETCH DRY CLEANING?
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach/Carson) is alleged to have forced her congressional staff to work on her campaign and perform personal errands by a not-for-profit legal watchdog group that is asking the Federal Bureau of Investigation to begin a criminal investigation.
SETH TANNER MILLER OF BELLFLOWER APPOINTED TO AIR FORCE ACADEMY
Bellflower resident Seth Tanner Miller has been appointed to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and expects to begin the four-year program this summer. Miller graduated from Valley Christian High School in Cerritos in 2010. He was accepted to the Air Force Academy Prep School, where he just completed his first year while [...]
ALAN LOWENTHAL RUNNING FOR CONGRESS—VS. RICHARDSON, SANCHEZ?
California state Sen. Alan Lowenthal told reporter Kyle Trygstad of the Washington, D.C., news site RollCall.com Friday that he is running in a proposed Congressional district in Long Beach, setting up a possible three-way Democratic primary with Reps. Laura Richardson and Linda Sánchez. The California Citizens Redistricting Commission released its first draft map a week [...]
ALL WRITEY!! OF HEROISM, LOW-WATER FLOWERS AND DEAD RINGERS FOR DEAD AUTHORS
43rd LONG BEACH POLICE AWARDS AT CARPENTER CENTER [ From Greater Long Beach ] Will the Long Beach Police officers who killed unarmed Doug Zerby be recognized for their heroism? Will the Long Beach Police officers who recently stole guns from the police property room be recognized for their heroism? Will the Long Beach Police officers [...]
INK-N-IRON: IN APPRECIATION OF TRADITION THAT’S KEPT ITS ROUGH EDGES
Brian Noonan reflects that an energetic set by the legendary 1960s garage band, The Sonics, highlighted a day of buzzing tattoo needles, Kustom Kars, classic cleavage, long lines, steep drink prices and a shortage of restrooms as Ink-N-Iron held its own as a distinctly Long Beach attraction.
43RD LONG BEACH POLICE AWARDS AT CARPENTER CENTER JUNE 22
Brave or unselfish acts of heroism and dedication to community safety during the past year will be recognized at the 43rd Long Beach Police Awards Ceremony on June 22—that’s a Wednesday—at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of Long Beach State beginning at 5 p.m., according to a press release from the Long [...]
QUEEN MARY STARS IN LATE-NIGHT TV MOVIE, ‘LORD JEFF,’ TONIGHT, 1 AM
This TV viewing tip isn’t for everybody—demographics include an obsession with the Queen Mary, a tolerance for Mickey Rooney, a subscription to the TCM (Turner Classic Movies) cable network, as well as, insomnia. For those who qualify, however, tonight’s middle-of-the-night showing of the 1938 film, Lord Jim, is can’t-miss appointment television. It begins at 1 [...]
CRIME, CRIME, EVERYWHERE A CRIME?
From a Naples office building to a man strong-armed in downtown Long Beach to a business in Bixby Knolls, burglaries topped this morning’s front-page news on LBReport.com. Police continue to investigate all three crimes. Have a nice Memorial Day Weekend!
ON QUEEN’S 75TH, GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO CONSIDERS LONG, STRANGE TRIP
Tonight's Greater Long Beach Radio show looks back on the Queen Mary’s first Atlantic crossing in 1936 and the long, strange trip that has transformed her from majestic British liner to unlikely icon of a gritty Pacific Rim seaport and unsuccessful tourist attraction. Also, how Long Beach might still save her queen. At 8 p.m. on KBEACH.org
GREATER LONG BEACH PUBLISHER DAVE WIELENGA HONORED BY HOPE AND FREEDOM FILM FESTIVAL
GreaterLongBeach.com publisher Dave Wielenga, whose career as a journalist spans nearly four decades and a variety of specialties but has never strayed far from Long Beach, will being honored Saturday during the Hope and Freedom Film Festival at the Art Theatre. “I would like to take the opportunity to recognize you for your work in [...]
THE FLING: IF YOU THINK THEY TALK A GOOD GAME, WAIT TIL THEY PLAY ‘SAM’
"Our stuff changes all the time but we never really think about it. There are four songwriters in this band now, so it will always remain eclectic. We're already recording a new EP and it's sounding a bit different. We're getting a little heavier, but still doing acoustic stuff."
LONG BEACH POST PUBLISHER SHAUN LUMACHI A GUEST ON GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO THURSDAY AT 8 P.M.
The second printed edition of the Long Beach Post has hit the streets—for now, very specific streets—as publisher Shaun Lumachi continues a march toward what he predicts will be media dominance of Long Beach. What does that mean? “The Long Beach Post will be Long Beach’s most-read media publication by Jan. 1, 2015,” Lumachi asserts. OK, [...]
LONG BEACH STATE TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE DIES IN SINGLE-CAR CRASH
Long Beach State track and field athlete Cameron Gillett, 21, died Friday morning after crashing his gray 1998 Nissan Altima into an embankment on a northbound 605 Freeway offramp in Long Beach, Assistant Chief Ed Winter of the LA County coroner’s office said. The crash happened about 2:20 a.m. at the East Carson Street offramp when [...]
CALDERON ACCUSED OF ‘DEGRADING’ COMMENTS ABOUT STATE CHIEF JUSTICE
California Assembly majority leader Charles Calderon, a Democrat who represents most of Downey in the state’s lower house, is accused of making “degrading and inappropriate” remarks about the personality, intelligence and physical attractiveness of California Supreme Court Chief Justice Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. Sen. Noreen Evans, a Democrat who represents Santa Rosa—and heads the Legislative Women’s [...]
HAVE YOU HEARD GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO? WHY NOT START TONIGHT?
Tonight’s installment of Greater Long Beach Radio will consider a bill brainstormed by senior students in a Lakewood High civics class---from its educational value for them to its freedom-of-speech implications for all Californians---that is making its way through the state legislature. The show can be heard live tonight at 8 p.m. on KBEACH.org,
WATCH DALAI LAMA AT CARPENTER CENTER LIVE ON LBREPORT.COM AT 9:45 AM
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is scheduled to be at Long Beach State this morning to receive a special human rights award from Amnesty International, and the event will be streamed live on LBReport.com beginning at 9:45 a.m.
AMID CELEBRATION OF BID LADEN’S DEATH, INT’L HUMAN DIGNITY GROUP SUGGESTS PRAYERS FOR HIS SOUL
At 4:11 this morning, amid the reflexive celebration that has dominated the early aftermath of Osama Bin Laden’s death, GreaterLongBeach.com received this e-mail from a Rome-based organization that calls itself the Institute for Human Dignity. This is what it said: PRAYERS, NOT REJOICING, NEEDED OVER BIN LADEN’S DEATH Following reports of the killing of Osama [...]
ALL WRITEY!! OF STUDENT LEGISLATORS, QUEEN MARY PRESERVATIONISTS AND HOTEL BLIGHTERS
QUEEN MARY GETS ITS BEST NEWS SINCE IT GOT HERE–A PRESERVATION PLAN! [ By Bill Cwiklo ] In these austere times to talk about much more than a coat of paint on this red and black elephant is simply silly. When we can properly fund our police / fire, fix streets, trim trees and keep [...]
“GREATER LONG BEACH WITH DAVE WIELENGA” ON K-BEACH THURSDAY @ 8PM
GreaterLongBeach.com publisher Dave Wielenga will debut as host of a weekly public-affairs radio program---the okay-maybe-we-could-have-put-a-little-more-creativity-into-the-titled “Greater Long Beach, with Dave Wielenga”---in partnership with Long Beach State’s online station, K-BEACH (www.kbeach.org) on Thursday at 8 p.m. That’s tomorrow.
A STAND AGAINST SILLINESS: O’DONNELL ONLY DISSENTER IN CITY COUNCIL VOTE FOR ‘LB HEALTHY FOOD POLICY’
Fourth District representative Patrick O’Donnell cast the only vote against a “Long Beach healthy food policy”—an item on Tuesday night’s Long Beach City Council agenda that was spotlighted by LBReport.com in the first installment of its new series on City Council silliness. Proposed by Councilmembers Steve Neal, Robert Garcia, Dee Andrews and Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal, the “Long [...]
LA TIMES OP/ED: PUBLIC HAS RIGHT TO KNOW NAMES OF COPS IN SHOOTINGS
A police officer on duty performs a consummately public responsibility. Officers wear their names on their uniforms because it's crucial that people in the community know their identities. Police are armed and allowed to use force, but they must do so in the service of the public, and under its scrutiny.
STATE SENATE TO CONSIDER WIDENING THE PERSPECTIVE OF HISTORY CLASSES
A bill requiring California schools to widen the perspective of history classes so as to include the role and contributions of many ethnic groups, sexual orientations and persons with disabilities has been approved by the state Senate Judiciary Committee and will now be considered by the full Senate. Awkwardly acronymed the FAIR—that’s Fair, Accurate, Inclusive [...]
FEELING FIRSTY? THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!
Let’s see … you’ve got the return of Beer & Politics with City Manager Pat West talking about Long Beach’s road (or sharrow) to bike-friendliness, an opportunity to make a mandala (or at the least, discover what the hell a “mandala” is), a chance to witness the one-year-anniversary renewal of wedding vows by Laura and [...]
PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR JENSEN IS BREATHING ON HIS OWN
Mike Jensen, the lone survivor of a March 16 private plane crash at the Long Beach Airport that killed the five other passengers, is breathing on his own and speaking, according to a website established by his family to provide updates on his recovery. “Super Mule is great, the [breathing] tube is out and of [...]
JENNY OROPEZA CENTER TO BE DEDICATED AT CESAR CHAVEZ PARK
The community center at Cesar Chavez Park will be officially named after the late state Senator Jenny Oropeza during a 3 p.m. ceremony Thursday at Cesar Chavez Park. Oropeza’s husband, Tom Mullins, will speak at the dedication, the kickoff event in the 10th annual Cesar Chavez Day celebration presented by Councilmember Robert Garcia, along with [...]
TALK-SHOW HOST LARRY MANTLE AT ‘LONG BEACH READS ONE BOOK’
The centerpiece of this year’s edition of the Long Beach Reads One Book program—the 10th anniversary of the nationwide project by StoryCorps—is tonight at the Centre Theatre: a program that will include the Dave Isay, the editor of this year’s book selection, “Listening is an Act of Love.” The event runs from 7 p.m. to [...]
THE TSUNAMI’S RIPPLES: AN EVENING OF SHARED HUMANITY AT JAPANESE GARDENS
No one knows why we must suffer, yet no one can deny that the ripples of our suffering often awaken revitalizing forces in our lives. So it was at Sunday's vigil at Long Beach State's Japanese Gardens for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. [ A photo essay by Jeanine Birong. ]
ADMINISTRATOR OF STATE COURTS’ $1.9-BILLION COMPUTER MESS RESIGNS
William Vickery, the longtime professional administrator of the California court system, has retired amid calls for his resignation due to severe problems with implementing a new computerized information system, reports the Sacramento Bee. The expensive problems with the system—and the resulting controversy—were extensively reported on GreaterLongBeach.com in February via a story by Katy Grimes of [...]
MEDICAL, EMOTIONAL UPDATES ON CRASH SURVIVOR MIKE JENSEN ON WEBSITE
Updates on the condition of Mike Jensen, who survived Wednesday morning’s private plane crash at the Long Beach Airport but remains hospitalized with critical injuries, are being periodically provided on a website designed for such purposes. Jensen was among five high-profile Greater Long Beach businessmen—all in some way associated with land acquisition, development and management—who [...]
TOO SOON? ARE COMMENTS ON POLITICAL FALLOUT FROM PLANE CRASH IN BAD TASTE OR FAIR TOPIC FOR DEBATE?
Reaction to Wednesday’s stunning plane crash at the Long Beach Airport—which took the lives of five men, including a few with high and sometimes controversial public profiles—has basically fallen into three categories: 1) expressions of grief and sympathy; 2) discussions of political implications; and 3) calls for those in category 2 to cool it. The people [...]
TOM DEAN, MARK BIXBY AMONG DEAD IN FIERY LONG BEACH AIRPORT CRASH
Tom Dean, one of the most controversial influences on Long Beach politics, and Mark Bixby, from one of the oldest families in the city’s history, are among five people who were killed at about 10:30 this morning when a private plane crashed on takeoff from Long Beach Airport, according to multiple media outlets. Also confirmed [...]
SO YOU WANT TO COMMENT ON EIR FOR THE SECOND+PCH PROJECT? HERE’S HOW!
Want to lodge an official comment on the Second+PCH revised Environmental Impact Report (EIR)? You don’t have to hurry—hell, the 45-day comment period, which began when the document was released March 10, doesn’t close until April 25. Then again, you know how you are. And don’t forget you have to look it over first. So [...]
ALL WRITEY!! COMMENT PERIOD ON SECOND+PCH’S BEGINS … YESTERDAY!
The clock is supposed to start today—the day the Environmental Impact Report for the Second+PCH project is scheduled to be released—on a 45-day period of public comment. But GreaterLongBeach.com readers got a head start yesterday, and their comments were in mid-45-day-period form: What does [lead developer David] Malmuth care how this monolith will violate zoning [...]
IT’S SHAPING UP AS A VERY FAT TUESDAY
Happy Mardi Gras … and it is shaping up as very Fat Tuesday: there are elections in Bellflower, Cerritos, Lakewood and Norwalk, and the Long Beach City Council will convene in special session to consider it’s response to Monday’s vote by the Redevelopment Agency to transfer all its properties and assets to the City. In [...]
LAST WEEK, NEXT WEEK WITH LONG BEACH STATE ATHLETICS
Long Beach State softball player Nalani St. Germain was named the university’s player of the week, hitting .643 to lead the 49ers to a 4-1 record and a tournament championship at the Campbell/Cartier Tournament in San Diego. St. Germain hit a 3-run homerun to lead LBSU past No. 24 Houston, one of three 49er wins [...]
ALL WRITEY!!! OF BIKE LANES, STUDENT POLITICIANS, STAR PARKER & $1.9 BILLION COMPUTERS
THE ROAD TO BIKE-FRIENDLINESS IS A FRUSTRATING CONSTRUCTION ZONE [ By Jeanine Birong ] If bike lanes along Broadway and 3rd are such a great idea, why was no environmental study completed? Where is the traffic study that shows the impact of going from three east/west lanes to two? What about the traffic that is now [...]
STAR PARKER’S COMMENTS ON FOX REMIND US WHY WE DIDN’T ELECT HER
Former Republican congressional candidateS tar Parker was on Fox News today, checking in with her solution to the ongoing boycott of Wisconsin legislative sessions by a group of Democratic state senators: “we should fire them.” Parker’s comment was typical of the half-cocked cracks and loose command of the facts that characterized her opportunistic campaign for [...]
TO HELL WITH THE CHIEF: ON PRESIDENTS DAY, HERE’S A LIST OF THE 10 WORST
This is Presidents Day, and in recognition of the 44 men who have been President of the United States during the nearly 235-year history of the country, Greater Long Beach refers you to this list of the 10 worst to occupy the office, as compiled by U.S. News and World Report. 10. ZACHARY TAYLOR: A political novice, [...]
STEVE HORN, FORMER CSULB PRESIDENT AND CONGRESSMAN, DIES AT 79
Steve Horn, whose long record of consensus-building leadership in the Greater Long Beach area extended from academia to the halls of congress, died today at his home from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. He was 79. Horn was married for 57 years to Nini Moore Horn. They have two children, Marcia Horn and Steve Horn, Jr., [...]
HOW MANY CONDOMS PER SECOND ARE USED ON VALENTINE’S DAY?
LifeStyles Condoms estimates that 87 condoms are used each second in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day, which is lesser known as National Condom Day. Organic Bouquet (www.OrganicBouquet.com) estimates that over 200 million roses were produced for Valentine’s Day 2011. The US Census Bureau reports that only 11 percent of households celebrate by gifting each other jewelry on [...]
BATTS WILL STAY AS OAKLAND CHIEF, BUT DOESN’T SOUND VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT
Anthony Batts, who resigned as chief of the Long Beach Police Department last year to sign a three-year contract as police chief in Oakland—then shocked that city this month by applying for police chief of the San Jose Police Department—learned Thursday that his latest dream-job-come true … well … didn’t. San Jose city manager Debra Figone picked [...]
HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE ASKING CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES IN CERRITOS
What are the questions that citizens of Cerritos—at least, those who read the Los Cerritos Community News—want answered by the seven candidates for City Council? Here are four of the most-asked, as posted by editor Jerry Berstein: 1. Will you try and make it easier for the residents to get overnight parking passes? 2. Cerritos [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS, CRITICISMS, LOVE NOTES & WITTICSMS
HAS JOHNSON CHANGED HIS POSITION ON PORT RAILYARD EXPANSION? [ From LBReport.com ] WOW!!!! What a surprise. Seventh District City Council member James Johnson has gone back on his campaign promise. Did anyone really expect Johnson to honor his promises after his election? Compare this to Mayor Foster, Johnson’s sponsor, who promised increased city hall [...]
HAS JOHNSON CHANGED HIS CAMPAIGN POSITION ON PORT RAILYARD EXPANSION?
Eleven months after a campaign declaration that he did not support a proposal to expand the Union Pacific ICTS and BNSF railway yards, Seventh District City Council member James Johnson is now merely urging that a “zero emissions option” be included for consideration in an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the expansion proposal. LBReport.com notes [...]
DON’T HATE THEIR HOUSE—OR THEM—BECAUSE THEY’RE BEAUTIFUL
As if there weren’t enough reasons to admire/envy the life/style that the McMillans---artist Jeff/pregnant Liv---got going on in their 1,600-square-feet of tricked out vintage house, the Apartment Therapy website recently gave the couple its stamp of approval … that is, a featured spread.
ALL WRONGY!! PRESS-TELEGRAM’S FILLER ON INDONESIAN CHILD-RAPING TOY SALESMAN
THE HEADLINE: “Toy salesman admits to raping 96 children” THE STORY: Actually, there isn’t one—not one that’s legitimately relevant to readers in Greater Long Beach … unless they share the same jones for salaciousness (or web site hits) as whatever Press-Telegram editor decided to publish it. The prolific child-raping and score-keeping toy salesman did his [...]
WATCH MAYOR’S STATE OF CITY ADDRESS LIVE ON LBREPORT.COM TONIGHT
Mayor Bob Foster will deliver his State of the City address in the Center Theater at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center this evening at 7 p.m., and those without tickets can watch the event live on LBReport.com. This will be the third time that Foster’s State of the City will be free and open [...]
ALL WRITEY! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS, CRITICISMS, LOVE NOTES & WITTICISMS
STATE GRANT FINALLY COMES THROUGH FOR LONG-PLANNED BELLFLOWER PARK [ By Arnold Adler / Herald American ] What’s great about it is after the children spend an hour running and playing, they can come back to the picnic basket, have a sandwich, lay down on the picnic blanket, and allow the highly carcinogenic ammonia emitted from countless [...]
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP COUNT LONG BEACH HOMELESS POPULATION
Volunteers are needed to assist the City of Long Beach in its every-other-year count of homeless people—an assessment that is required of all jurisdictions that receive federal funds for providing supportive services to homeless people. The count is on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, but volunteers must sign up for a one-hour orientation/training session that must [...]
ON THE CANINE-TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS, CUB SCOUTS WILL GIVE TO ANIMALS
Bearing backpacks and pulling wagons full of supplies, Cub Scouts from Pack 658 will deliver some basic supplies today to the animals sheltered at Long Beach Animal Control’s P.D. Pitchford Companion Village. The items in these care packages—towels, blankets, toys, food and leashes—were collected during a month-long call for donations called “Howls For Towels” that [...]
BEYOND GREATER: MUST-READ STORY WE DIDN’T WRITE—IS JAMIE LEE CURTIS FULL OF … CRAP?
Jamie Lee Curtis simply gushed about the performance of her colon in ads for Dannon's probiotic-laced yogurt. Like, she loved going to the crapper! But Dannon's $21 million fine for false advertising makes you wonder what---if anything---was really going on behind Curtis' bathroom doors.
LOCAL ROCKERS IN ART THEATRE SHOW TO BENEFIT 4TH STREET PUBLICIST
Six months after she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, Diane Gershuny is in 100 percent remission. With good news like that, there is no such thing as bad news. But there is still such a thing as not-as-good news, and in Gershuny’s case, it’s a big pile of medical bills. Yet that has led to [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS, CRITICISMS, LOVE NOTES & WITTICISMS
[ By Dave Wielenga ]DO YOU MIND THIS GUY WAITING FOR KIDS OUTSIDE THEIR SCHOOL? It is good to make the students aware of what’s going on around them and especially to be able to discuss it in a classroom setting. Unfortunately, people have a right to the public sidewalk just like the students do [...]
FURUTANI’S APPOINTMENT PUTS HIM AT CENTER OF PUBLIC PENSION ISSUE
Assemblymember Warren T. Furutani, whose 55th District cuts across multiple cities in Greater Long Beach, announced via press release today that he has been appointed chair of the Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security (PERSS) by Assembly Speaker John Perez. The committee’s jurisdiction includes oversight of the public retirement administration and investment strategy, [...]
FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR FOSTER’S STATE OF THE CITY SPEECH JAN. 11
Mayor Bob Foster will deliver his fifth State of the City address—and the fourth in a row since Foster broke previous Mayor Beverly O’Neill’s dubious tradition of using the City Charter-mandated speech as a Chamber of Commerce fundraiser—on January 11 at 7 p.m.at The Center Theater in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. All Long [...]
SOME TIPS FOR NOT LOOKING STUPID AT THE AKC DOG SHOW THIS WEEKEND
The American Kennel Club has been holding its national championships in Long Beach for five years now, so there’s really no excuse for not knowing how to behave when you attend this year’s event today and Saturday at the Convention Center. Just in case you haven’t been—and this will be your last chance for awhile; [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS, CRITICISMS, LOVE NOTES & WITTICISMS
KRYLON AND ON … A SUPERHERO FOR OUR TIMES [ By Theo Douglas ] Sorry, Theo, we’ll have to disagree on this one. There’s nothing “cool” about vandalism, whatever form it may take. If you’re “dodging cops to get your shit done” then another term for your “shit” is most likely “crime.” There’s nothing “cool” [...]
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS DOG POOR OWNERS OF STOLEN PUREBREDS
THE HEADLINE: Pure bred show dogs stolen from Bellflower motel THE STORY: A Chevy Express cargo van with a black box on back and with dog-paw stickers on the windows—license: 8D50252—was stolen from the parking lot of a Motel 6 in Bellflower early Tuesday morning. Inside were four dogs (two Akitas, two Corgis) that were [...]
BEYOND GREATER: MUST-READ STORY WE DIDN’T WRITE—FACT-CHECKING JAY-Z
The bulk of Jay-Z’s new book,"Decoded," consists of a lyrical exegesis of 36 of Jay’s own works. What better source could there possibly be? Vulture.com turned to RapGenius.com, the world's premier rap-lyric-explanation website, to provide its Top 10 Decodings of “Decoded.”
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS, CRITICISMS, LOVE NOTES, WITTICISMS
“THIS THANKSGIVING, ONE MAN IS GRATEFUL FOR POLITICAL MAILERS,” Nov. 24 [ By Anthony Pignataro ] I think continuous robocalls are tantamount to harassment, not free speech. Theyshould be illegal. / LB CITY GIRL “STATE COASTAL COMMISSION ORDERS HITCHCOCK TO RESTORE WETLANDS HE ILLEGALLY RAVAGED IN 2009,” Nov. 19 [ By Heather Altman ] Darn. I was [...]
FORMER DISTRICT WEEKLY EMPLOYEES WIN $70,000 JUDGEMENT AGAINST SWAIMS’ PUBLISHING COMPANY
Six former employees of Long Beach’s former alternative newspaper, The District Weekly, have won their case before the California Labor Commission—and some $70,000 in unpaid wages, vacation interest and penalties—against the publication’s parent company, Seven Days Publishing, LLC, which was founded by Will Swaim and was ultimately [begin edit] put out of business [end edit] by his [...]
ALL WRONGY!!! P-T COMMENTERS WORK OVER KRIKORIAN’S WORK ETHIC
THE HEADLINE: Goydos is far from your typical pro golfer THE STORY: From the lounge of the Virginia Country Club, sports columnist Doug Krikorian profiles professional golfer Paul Goydos as an unassuming Everyman. PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS RESPOND: Another column written from a bar. And golf isn’t a sport, it’s a timewasting hobby for old men. / [...]
MODERN CONDO IN THE LONG BEACH SKY TOURED ON APARTMENT THERAPY
Kara and Ken Pearson---and their two kitties, Jack and Bean---took a great leap of faith in this new condo, when they decided to downsize from a three-bedroom house to an 850-square-foot condo. With an incredible view of Long Beach, this condo sits on the fifth floor of a classy multi-unit residence.
BEYOND GREATER: A MUST-READ STORY WE DIDN’T WRITE—PELOSI’S TRIUMPH
Writing in Slate.com, William Saleton says that "if health care did cost the [Democratic] party its majority, so what? The bill was more important than the election... The big picture isn't about keeping power. It's about using it." And he contends the health-care bill Nancy Pelosi pushed through is forever.
GREATER LONG BEACH PUBLISHER INTERVIEWED ON IMAGINE THIS RADIO
Greater Long Beach publisher Dave Wielenga is among the featured guests on the current episode of Imagine This Radio, a weekly online interview program hosted by Antonio Ruiz of The Creativity Network. Wielenga, 55, who has been covering local news, arts, sports and culture since 1972 for the Press-Telegram, OC Weekly and the late District [...]
ALL WRONGY!! THESE P-T COMMENTERS HAVE SHIP FOR BRAINS
THE HEADLINE: ‘Nightmare’ cruise passengers arriving in Long Beach THE STORY: Weary but unharmed after three days stranded at sea on a crippled Carnival cruise ship, thousands of passengers streamed back to Long Beach, where their ill-fated voyage began. PRESS-TELEGRAM READERS RESPOND: at lease everyone is safe and sound and it didn’t hit an iceberge [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
“MAYOR’S WIFE USES HER FACEBOOK PAGE TO PUSH LB CITY COUNCIL FOR TOUGHER MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE,” Nov. 8 [ By Dave Wielenga ] It’s real easy for someone who has all of their needs addressed to dictate to those who don’t. I wonder when she sleeps on her twenty mattresses if she can still feel [...]
ALL WRONGY!! THIS TIME IT’S NOT JUST A P-T COMMENTER WHO’S GOTTEN LOST
THE HEADLINE: Long Beach police seek 3 missing persons THE STORY: Three people are missing in Long Beach—56-year-old Miguel Palacios, 52-year-old Sarah Preston Schrock and 14-year-old Gabriela Gutierrez—and Long Beach police are asking for the public’s help in finding them. AN ESPECIALLY WRONG P-T COMMENTER RESPONDS: Police are flockin’ To find Palacios and Schrock in [...]
ALL WRONGY!! STORY OF HIGH-SPEED CHASE LOSES P-T COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: High-speed chase ends with capture of pair at Bloomfield and Del Amo THE STORY: A high-speed pursuit of a driver of an SUV stolen from North Long Beach early Tuesday led Long Beach and Los Angeles police on a wild chase that resulted in numerous hit-and-run crashes—and the arrest of two women. PRESS-TELEGRAM READERS RESPOND: I [...]
A SUPPOSED-TO-BE-WALKING ZOMBIE ARRIVES IN A ROLLING CASKET
It’s called the Zombie Walk, although not all of them do. And amid the gruesome shuffling and staggering along Fourth Street by hundreds of graveyard escapees Saturday night came tooling this cool ride---obviously a reincarnated relic of the cash-for-clunkers program.
BEYOND GREATER: TODAY’S MUST-READ STORY THAT WE DIDN’T WRITE—THE TURKEY SANDWICH REPORT
FAST-FOOD UNION FAILS BY TWO VOTES: Writing on his foul-mouthed blog, The Turkey Sandwich Report: Eat it, Bitch!, Neal Stewart provided some vitriolic background and context for Friday's election in Minneapolis, where an attempt by workers to unionize 10 fast-food restaurantsfell short, 87-85.
BEYOND GREATER: TODAY’S MUST-READ STORY THAT WE DIDN’T WRITE—MEG WHITMAN’S BARGAIN
MEG WHITMAN'S BARGAIN: Writing in the Sacramento News & Review, Rich Williams considers what California might look like if gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman actually applied a real-world business model to state government.
BEYOND GREATER: TODAY’S MUST-READ STORY THAT WE DIDN’T WRITE–PAVEMENT’S VICTORY
PAVEMENT'S RELUCTANT VICTORY: Sasha Frere-Jones looks back upon Pavement's triumphant reunion tour and wonders whether the band was really striving for the victory that everybody seems to have accorded it. Or even enjoying themselves.
ALL WRONGY!! A DRUGGED CARTEL OF P-T COMMENTERS
The headline: CVS hit with record $77 million fine for not regulating meth ingredient The story: The nation’s largest drugstore chain agreed to pay a record fine for selling a chemical used to make methamphetamine that resulted in a dramatic increase in Southland meth sales, federal prosecutors announced. The Press-Telegram commenters respond: Blame [...]
HALLOWEEN HISTORIA RETURNS TO LB CEMETERIES FOR ANNUAL GRAVE TOUR
One of Long Beach’s most-special Halloween traditions will continue for the 15th consecutive year when the Historical Cemetery Tour visits the graves of 10 special residents of the city’s two oldest permanent resting places—the Municipal Cemetery and the Sunnyside Cemetery—on Oct. 30. The Historical Society of Long Beach (HSLB) presents the annual event and selects [...]
AFTER ALMOST 60 YEARS, ONLY 119 DAYS UNTIL FRED KOREMATSU DAY
January 30 will henceforth be known as Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, which is a mouthful, but still doesn’t come close to describing the brave stand this American citizen of Japanese ancestry took during World War II in defense of the United States’ fundamental principles of freedom and fairness. Governor Arnold [...]
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE STAR PARKER TO HOLD TOWN MEETING IN LB MONDAY
Star Parker, the Republican Party nominee for California’s 37th Congressional District, will host a community Town Hall meeting on Monday at the Long Beach Petroleum Club, located at 3636 Linden Avenue in Long Beach. The event begins at 7 p.m. and will run approximately two hours. Parker, who is challenging Democrat Party incumbent Laura Richardson, intends to share her [...]
JOIN COASTAL CLEANUP DAY ALONG LOCAL SHORELINE SATURDAY MORNING
One of the most-successful traditions in the environmental movement enters its 26th year Saturday when thousands of volunteers descend upon shorelines up and down the state—including several spots in Long Beach—to participate in California Coastal Cleanup Day from 9 a.m. to noon. Since the program began in 1985, more than 800,000 Californians have removed more [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
APPRECIATING RICH ARCHBOLD WHERE IT COUNTS MOST—AS A HUMAN BEING [ By Louise Cunningham ] Love the article on Rich; he is a very special person and so happy that you did this. I, too, many times use the “Once when I was at the PT … ” / KATHY BERRY At least Archbold was [...]
AN EVENING OF FINE DINING—HOLD THE CRUELTY—AT COMPASSIONATE CUISINE BENEFIT OCT. 1
Twenty vegan restaurants and food service companies—including three from Long Beach—will offer samples of their non-animal fare at the fifth annual Compassionate Cuisine dinner, an evening of cruelty-free dining and drinking at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Gardens on Oct. 1 from 7 p.m to 11 p.m. Tickets to the event are $35 if purchased [...]
ALL WRONGY!! LATEST DEFAULT NOTICES FROM P-T COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: Long Beach Councilman Steve Neal’s home in default THE STORY: Ninth District City Councilman Steve Neal has defaulted on his home and it is scheduled to be sold at auction Oct. 12. P-T COMMENTERS RESPOND: And yet he opposes gay marriage. / TOM what do you expect a black man to do when [...]
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS TAKE LAST R.I.P.S AT SUMMER THE OTTER
THE HEADLINE: Long Beach Aquarium’s beloved otter dies THE STORY: About 12 years after being rescued, a sea otter named Summer died Wednesday, ending the Aquarium of the Pacific’s tender tenure with one of its most beloved animals. P-T COMMENTERS RESPOND: That is a sea otter? I hit one of those with a boat in [...]
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS SPEW INANITIES FROM AN I-PADDED ROOM
THE HEADLINE: Two Long Beach schools teaching algebra with iPads THE STORY: iPads and software were distributed to about 150 students at Washington and Hudson schools as part of a one-year pilot program that will compare the academic performance of a control group of students using the paper version of the new algebra textbook with [...]
ALL WRONGY!! P-T READER MISSES THE CUT
THE HEADLINE: Free haircuts get LB students ready for school THE STORY: Mr. Baker’s Style Center gives free back-to-school haircuts for children ages 5 to 13. P-T COMMENTER RESPONDS: Shave your kids head to let all know his parents are from the bario and he has no future. / THE REAL LEROY
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
A VISION FOR LONG BEACH THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE HALLUCINATIONS? [Dave Wielenga, Aug. 25] “Cherin’s first clients were Pareto Energy (which creates municipally funded micro-grids—using technologies such as solar photovoltaic power and solar thermal energy—to create locally based power sources).” Hmmm. Does that sound like something the former president of the local electrical monopoly is going [...]
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS CRASH AND BURN AGAIN
THE HEADLINE: Witnesses describe scene of triple fatal crash in Long Beach THE STORY: Three people were killed Sunday when two cars that may have been racing each other collided on the Long Beach Peninsula just after midnight. P-T COMMENTERS RESPOND: Were ALL the partied involved legal??!! / ILLEGALS GO HOME Flames which burn but [...]
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS MISS THE POINT—AND POIGNANCY—AGAIN
THE HEADLINE: Saying goodbye THE STORY: Middle school science teacher Janise Anderson looks back with emotion on a teaching career that ended too soon when she became one of the 338 teachers, counselors and social workers laid off by the Long Beach Unified School District. PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS RESPOND: Another white teacher layed off to eventually [...]
GREATER LONG BEACH—HEY, THAT’S US—GETS A LITTLE NOD ON LA OBSERVED
It’s not the biggest headline in today’s edition of LAObserved—OK, so it’s not a headline at all—but it’s worth noting that Greater Long Beach got a mention and a link in Kevin Roderick’s all-about-LA website, in the Editor’s Blog. Well, it’s worth it to us, anyway.
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS RACE TO THE BOTTOM OF ANOTHER STORY
THE HEADLINE: Long Beach police ‘can’t wait’ to catch fugitive who allegedly stole from elderly woman THE STORY: Long Beach Police Department Forgery and Fraud Detective Stacey Holdredge expresses her determination to apprehend Li Ching Liu, a 54-year-old woman suspected of stealing millions from a 74-year-old Long Beach woman. P-T COMMENTERS RESPOND: What do you [...]
ALL WRITEY!! THIS WEEK’S SAMPLE OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
‘MARK TWAIN’S OTHER WOMAN’: A CREEPY TWO-TIMER, BUT STILL A GREAT READ [Jeanine Birong, Aug. 12] In this 21st-century age of child molestation paranoia, would Mark Twain be given such a get-out-of jail-free card if he wasn’t an iconic American author but rather a sad-sack photograph on the state’s Megan’s Law website? / WTF Pretty [...]
ALL WRONGY!! TODAY’S SAMPLING OF POINT-MISSING BY P-T COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: Police seek help in North Long Beach sexual assaults THE STORY: The Long Beach Police Department is seeking the public’s help in identifying a suspect who sexually assaulted seven women in North Long Beach apartment complexes between July 15 and Aug. 5. PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS RESPOND: I think LBPD Sex Crimes Investigator Jennifer Kearns [...]
ALL WRONGY!! ANOTHER SAMPLING OF CAN’T-SHOOT-STRAIGHT P-T COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: Long Beach liquor store employee shoots at person who grabbed beer THE STORY: A liquor store employee in Long Beach shot at a person who grabbed a case of bottled beer and ran, but no one was hit. PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS RESPOND: especially when you work 24/7 to support your family and some punk [...]
ALL WRONGY!! MILKSHAKE SEARCH GIVES P-T COMMENTERS BRAIN FREEZE
THE HEADLINE: “Tim Grobaty: We want the king of all milkshakes” THE STORY: The columnist waxes sentimental about the milkshakes his dad used to make while launching a search for the best of the beverages in the world (results due Monday). PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS REACT: Does anyone remember getting My Weekly Reader in school when you [...]
ALL WRITEY!! THIS WEEK’S SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
A HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCH PARTY FOR SCOFFLAW CATS? GET MEOWTTA HERE! [Louise Cunningham, July 31] This column deserves a “Purr-litzer” for sure! A real problem, but presented in a hysterically funny piece. Don’t government folks have better things to do than come up with this silly piece of law? Encouraging neighbors to turn each other in [...]
ALL WRONGY!! NEW DAY, NEW DRAIN-BRAMAGED BATCH OF P-T COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: Long Beach police officer arrested on grand theft charges THE STORY: Long Beach Police officer Damian Ramos was arrested Friday for grand theft of weapons. Ramos, a five-year employee, answered a found-property report at a Long Beach business but allegedly didn’t put all the recovered property into evidence. P-T COMMENTERS RESPOND: Isn’t this [...]
ALL WRONGY!! TODAY’S SAMPLING OF BACK-ASSWARD TAKES ON THE NEWS FROM P-T COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: Judge Rules Prop. 8 Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Unconstitutional THE LEAD: A federal judge overturned California’s gay-marriage ban in a landmark case that could eventually force the U.S. Supreme Court to confront the question of whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed. THE REACTION: now the lappers can lick and the [...]
ALL WRONGY!! A SAMPLING OF ACK-BASSWARD TAKES ON THE NEWS FROM PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS
THE HEADLINE: COUNTY OKs $2.2 MILLION SETTLEMENT FOR MAN SHOT BY DEPUTY IN COMPTON THE STORY: The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors approved a $2.2 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by a man shot May 24, 2009, by a sheriff’s deputy in Compton and left a paraplegic. The deputy said he thought Daniel Martinez [...]
ALL WRITEY! THIS WEEK’S SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
DAVE WIELENGA’S “BEVERLY O’NEILL TO SIGN AND DISCUSS HER BIOGRAPHY SATURDAY AT BORDERS,” JULY 29 “The Beverly O’Neill Story!” That title style is as antiquated as an IBM Selectric typewriter. Anyone remember “The Lou Gehrig Story” or “The Duke Ellington Story”? Here’s my idea for a more contemporary title: “Big-Box Bev!” / DWR I’m thinking [...]
ALL WRITEY! THIS WEEK’S SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
RACHEL POWERS’ “ALL AROUND THE TOP O’ THE TOWN ON A FAREWELL TOUR WITH VAL LERCH,” JULY 21 Rachel, What a beautiful story. You did NLB justice. Thank you. / VAL Enjoyed every paragraph of this story. / SILVIA BONILLA Val was always a likeable guy. Overboard sometimes, but he has a good heart. No [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
DAVE WIELENGA’S “IT GETS YOU THINKING ABOUT THE TEN COMMANDMENTS—AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS,” JULY 12 Fundie nutbags will never stop pushing the separation wall; we must be ever vigilant. / HOWARD X I struggle to see how allowing a piece of art, which contains no words and is open to interpretation by the viewer, [...]
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DAVE WIELENGA’S “MASSIVE FARMERS MARKET PROPOSAL CREATING QUITE A PICKLE,” JULY 8 I have been a customer of the current Sunday market [in the Alamitos Marina parking lot] since its inception and I don’t see any reason to have another market within walking distance on the same day. The current market is well-established and has [...]
ALL WRITEY!!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
JUNE 9, RACHEL POWERS’ “ELECTION DAY FOR PERENNIAL CANDIDATE PETER MATHEWS: MANY UNHAPPY RETURNS” Probably time [for Mathews] to give it up; Richardson was eminently beatable. The “lost” campaign mailers story sounds a little fishy to these ears. / HOWARD X Rachel, time to put your incredible talent to work on a fact-based novel about [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS
JUNE 4, BETTY PLEASANT’S “AGAINST OPINION OF VOTERS, DECLINING CRIME RATES AND EVEN ITS OWN CONSULTANT, COMPTON COUNCIL MOVES TO RE-ESTABLISH POLICE DEPARTMENT” The crooked Mayor (I’m just guessing but, it’s a safe bet) would like to have even more City workers to keep him and his accomplices, I mean, fellow City workers in power. / [...]
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MAY 27, DAVE WIELENGA’S “TONIA REYES URANGA’S ‘ONCE-IN-A-CHANCE LIFETIME’ AND THE BALANCE OF POWER IN LONG BEACH” Well written; you manage to tell the story with HER words, putting shape to someone who is, to say the least, multifaceted. I admire Tonia’s candor and chutzpah; sadly this kind of elected official is the exception and [...]
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MAY 21, SUSAN L. JACOBS’ “THE FASHION PUH-LEEZE: BACK AT MY ROOTS, NO HAIR MEANS NO BAD HAIR DAYS“ It all makes me thankful I entered this life with male genitalia. / HAIRLESS I love this. A woman’s hair is such an important symbol of identity—and here you have chosen to remove yours! How bold. Today [...]
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MAY 13, STEVE LOWERY’S “VOTE TO BOYCOTT ARIZONA PRESENTS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIANS WITH A REALLY-NOT-ALL-THAT HARDSHIP” “Leaving locals scurrying to figure out how the state will go on without 200 Arizonans in rented Ford Focuses unclear on the concept of merging while accelerating.” Brilliant! / HOWARD X Closing paragraph is the best. I would’ve extended it: [...]
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MAY 4, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EGRETSNOTREGRETS.COM—ONE YEAR LATER, STILL ‘KILLING A BUNCH OF BIRDS WITH ONE STONE’” Reliable information–that’s the key [to EgretsNotRegrets.com]. Straight talk. Helpful. Intelligent. To the point. Expertise with environmental documents. Humorous. A surefire formula for your successful blog. I know when I go to Egrets Not Regrets there will be no B.S. [...]
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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 [...]
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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 [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS/ CRITICISMS/ COMMENTS/ WITTICISMS
APRIL 11, LOUISE CUNNINGHAM’S “TWEET THIS! SOMEDAY THE DOGS OF SIGNAL HILL WILL HOWL MY NAME!” Citizen Journalist Question of the Day: Who killed Ron Settles? / DWIGHT K. SNYDER APRIL 17, “TOM MARCHESE RESPONDS TO MARCH 30 REQUEST FOR HIS RESPONSE TO DON MAY’S ACCUSATIONS AT WETLANDS LAND TRUST ELECTION” Both Tom and Dave [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS/CRITICISMS/COMMENTS/WITTICISMS
APRIL 5, HEATHER ALTMAN’S “GO RIGHT AHEAD AND SUPPORT THE 2ND+PCH PROJECT—BUT HOW ABOUT WAITING UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?” Your advice is correct, but lobbyist Carl Kemp–who works with the developers—is very savvy concerning the city, and has started one of the biggest PR campaigns for this project I’ve ever witnessed. / LAURA [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS/CRITICISMS/LOVE NOTES/WITTICISMS
A selection of snippets and full-on blasts from the feedback received from readers this week: MARCH 30, “MARCHESE ACCUSED OF TRYING TO GET NON-PROFIT WETLAND GROUP’S MAILING LIST FOR HIS CITY COUNCIL CAMPAIGN” The timing of Don May’s well-orchestrated letter, and the past and current actions of the LCWLT Board, should cause people to wonder [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS/CRITICISMS/LOVE NOTES/WITTICISMS
A selection from the feedback received from readers this week: MARCH 21, “DAVE WIELENGA BECOMES A BLOGGER” Awesome, Dave! I’m glad you are continuing your excellent coverage of Long Beach. I am certain this opportunity will inspire you to greater success. Now, how do we keep this site secret from Mr. Greet. / EVAN GOULD Dave: Best [...]
