Business
OC WEEKLY STORY ON MEDPOT A DISTURBING LOOK AT LONG BEACH OFFICIALS
After approving medpot dispensaries in 2010 and conducting a fiasco of a lottery to determine their locations, the City Council is on the verge---twice delaying its vote--of outlawing them. Meanwhile, Long Beach collects millions in pot-related fees and fines, simultaneously permitting and prosecuting various dispensaries.
LB CITY GIRL: ONLY BUSINESS FRIENDLINESS WILL SOOTHE MY RAGING GRANNY
Although the Raging Grannies protested in 2010, they stayed far away from the site where Tesla Motors considered building a production line to replace Downey Studios, where workers reported illnesses they suspected were caused by contamination from the former NASA plant--the future home of Tierra Luna Marketplace.
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 [...]
FREEDOM’S JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR A DOWNEY TRAVEL AGENCY CLOSING
DOWNEY (Via Downey Patriot)—Freedom Vacations travel agency will move out of the downtown Downey location it has occupied for more than 20 years to become a home-based business—but not for the reason you probably think. “We don’t want to commute anymore,” said owner Robert Zavala, a former president of the Downey Chamber of Commerce, who [...]
HERE’S WISHING YOU HOT DOG OF A NEW YEAR—WRAPPED IN BACON, OF COURSE
DOWNEY (Via DowneyBeat.com)– There are fundamental questions one must ask oneself while trying to make sense of this mortal coil. What is the meaning of life? Do I matter? And, finally, “Got Bacon?” Papas and Dogs, a small, brightly decorated new gourmet hot dog joint at 8740Firestone Boulevard in Downey can now answer that third important query. [...]
LB COUNCIL STANDS UP FOR ZONING LAWS, ENCOURAGES COLLABORATION, KILLS SECOND+PCH PROJECT
The Long Beach City Council killed the proposed Second+PCH development late Tuesday evening with a 5-3 vote that supported master planning over spot zoning, laid groundwork for long-polarized community factions to collaborate on revised development standards and bore no resemblance to the alliances that had come to characterize this panel of governing officials. After more [...]
GREATER LONG BEACH GIFT GUIDE: IT’S WHAT WE GOT YOU THIS YEAR
Long Beach is crawling with interesting and unique places to pick up something for everyone on your list, and holiday shopping can actually be an interesting way to explore the city in all its quirky weirdness. To get started, check out this list of unique Long Beach shops.
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.
‘OCCUPY THE PORTS’ TARGETS SSA MARINE FOR MONDAY MORNING PROTEST
SSA Marine, the gigantic international shipping-industry company that is majority-owned by investment and banking firm Goldman Sachs, will be the target of protests on Monday (Dec.12) by Occupy the Ports, Protesters will convene at Harry Bridges Park (beside the Queen Mary) at 5 a.m.
SECOND+PCH WILL LIKELY HAVE TO RETURN ITS HOLIDAY GIFT FROM CITY
Second+PCH developer David Malmuth may have gotten a gift from Long Beach officials who scheduled a City Council hearing on the wildly out-of-code development for five days before Christmas. But Long Beach city code and California law prohibit the City Council and Coastal Commission from approving against-zoning-law plans. Eventually, he'll probably have to return it.
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 [...]
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 … [...]
FAMILY OF MAN KILLED BY DOWNEY COPS WANTS CITY BUSINESS BOYCOTT
Via DowneyBeat.com: Family members of Michael Nida, who was shot to death by Downey police on Oct. 22 after twice running from them, are calling for a boycott of Downey businesses. Police said that on the night of the shooting they were looking for suspects of an armed robbery at a nearby ATM when they stopped Nida as he [...]
FACING DEEP DEBT, LB ROLLER DERBY BEGINS RAISING FUNDS TO SAVE ITS LIFE
At the height of its popularity, Long Beach Roller Derby finds itself in a deep financial hole that threatens to shut it down. But the women who compete in the hard-hitting roller skating bouts are battling back by establishing a fundraising campaign on kickstarter.com. The two-year-old league’s debt has mounted from expenses that include rent [...]
COUNCIL VOTES TO SEND CITY’S MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE UP IN SMOKE
LBReport.com has learned that in an Oct. 11 closed session, the City Council voted 8-1 (Rae Gabelich dissenting) to direct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance that, if enacted, will repeal the city’s current medical marijuana ordinance — and ban medical marijuana collectives/dispensaries in Long Beach — with the understanding that the issue may [...]
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.
TEACHING SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS ABOUT THEIR BIG BIDDING ADVANTAGE
A new program that gives small businesses a big advantage on bids for Los Angeles County contracts attracted more than 250 people to a workshop offered Thursday by Supervisor Don Knabe. It was the area’s first county workshop since the Board of Supervisors voted to increase the county’s small-business bid preference from 5 percent to 8 percent. [...]
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 [...]
PRIMAL FLOWER: THIS ISN’T YOUR HIPPIE-MAMA’S ORGANIC FLORIST
Shelley Anders created this new addition the East Village from college art classes in Texas, 25 years in the floral industry and collaboration with local artist Jeremy West, who says his dark and edgy work is inspired by Rob Zombie, Geiger, and R. Crumb.
AS GRANATA’S RESTAURANT IS SOLD, A FAMILY—AND DOWNEY—TRADITION ENDS
BY HENRY VENERACION DOWNEY (Via The Downey Patriot)—After 58 years of family ownership—from father, Ralph, to son, Paul—that made their last name one of the most familiar in Downey, Granata’s Italian Restaurant is in escrow, a few shuffles of paper from being sold. The buyer is Frank E. White, a resident of the city for [...]
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 [...]
DOWNEY COUNCIL DELAYS SMOKING-BAN DISCUSSION, BUT MEMBERS TALKING
DOWNEY — The Downey City Council probably won’t discuss a possible citywide outdoor smoking ban until its meeting Aug. 23, but Councilman Mario Guerra has made sure his opposition is known. Guerra said it would be too costly to enforce the ban, but a full discussion was halted on a 2-1 vote with Mayor Luis [...]
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 [...]
HAND-WRITTEN SIGNS IN WINDOWS SAY SIPOLOGY IS GONE FROM EAST VILLAGE
A couple of simple handwritten signs attached with Scotch tape to the windows of Sipology Coffeehouse and Gallerie on the corner of Broadway and Linden Ave. made the announcement Wednesday night: “Closed Forever!” said one. Said the other: “Out of Bus. That’s all folks!”
TIMELINE FOR DOWNEY APARTMENTS INCLUDES ENTIRE YEAR OF DOWNTIME
They were wearing hard hats, but each of Downey's five city council members took only one swing of a sledgehamer at a publicity event that ceremonially initiated the demolition of the Verizon building to make way for downtown apartments. Actually, that's about the pace of the project, which will take a year off in September to raise more funds.
DOWNEY’S SECOND HOOKAH BAR IN THREE WEEKS OPENS TODAY
The Hookah Time Cafe, the second hookah bar to open in Downey within the last three weeks, will celebrate its grand opening Friday, according to its website. The latest hookah bar is at 8323 Firestone Blvd., next to Leeds mattress store. Its owners also appear to operate the Custom Cuts barbershop in South Gate. Mosaik [...]
DESPITE DENIALS, DELONG PUSHING ABC TO RESTRICT 2ND STREET BARS
GreaterLongBeach.com has obtained a March 18 letter from Long Beach City Councilmember Gary DeLong to the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) that runs contrary to his repeated assertions that he has not used his office to pressure the ABC to be tougher on Belmont Shore bars. [UPDATED WITH FULL TEXT OF DELONG'S LETTER AND REQUESTED CONDITIONS.]
THE CHERIN GROUP ACQUIRED BY ENGLANDER KNABE & ALLEN
The Cherin Group, a law firm founded in 2010 by former City Hall and Port of Long Beach official Alex Cherin, ostensibly to facilitate the attraction of green-technology firms to Long Beach, has been acquired by he public relations and lobbying firm of Englander Knabe & Allen. According to an announcement from Englander Knabe & Allen, [...]
OPINION FROM LBREPORT.COM: IS ARMORY PARK DISTRACTING PEOPLE FROM THE HI-RISING OF DOWNTOWN?
“Armory Park’ is a proposal to provide a patch of green space to a densely populated, park-scarce part of downtown Long Beach by closing about a block of Martin Luther King, Jr., Ave. between 6th and 7th streets. That part of the proposal may or may not make sense. But the real point—which went unmentioned [...]
POLITICIANS, PRESS IGNORE WORKERS FIRED AFTER HELPING STATE PROBE HILTON
The Long Beach Hilton is in Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal's district and across the street from the Press-Telegram, but Lowenthal and the P-T were no-shows at Wednesday's press conference for five housekeepers fired after cooperating with a state probe into the hotel's tax and employment practices.
THE BUTLER PLAN: SPIN QUEEN MARY’S MANAGERIAL MERRY-GO-ROUND INTO ONE OF THE SHIP’S “FUN” ATTRACTIONS
As the Queen Mary looks for another manager/operator—that will make four in the past four years—a contributor to an online discussion group devoted to the historic ship believes he has found a way to transform all this instability into an attraction. Chris Butler is the blogger’s name, and he calls his game “a concept that would put some fun [...]
DOWNEY COUNCIL SELLS CITY LAND TO ATTRACT A NEW FIAT DEALERSHIP
DOWNEY—With gasoline prices ever increasing, the Downey City Council has agreed to sell four acres of city-owned property at 9715 Firestone Blvd., near the San Gabriel River to Paul Antepara, who plans to open a Fiat dealership by July. The selling price is $3.8 million for the property, once occupied by a Suzuki dealership and [...]
MARKETPLACE SUBDIVISION WOULD ACCOMODATE UA THEATER OWNER
Suspicion was aroused this morning when a proposal to subdivide the MarketPlace shopping center suddenly popped up on the April 21 agenda of the Long Beach Planning Commission. That’s the go-to reaction to any perceived shift in the landscape of southeastern Long Beach, home to the Los Cerritos Wetlands and a constant procession of suggested [...]
SUBDIVISION OF MARKETPLACE POPS UP ON PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA
A proposal that would subdivide a portion of the MarketPlace shopping center will be considered at the April 21 meeting of the Long Beach Planning Commission. The item was agendized by City of Long Beach staff, which recommends its approval. The proposed subdivision is almost surgical, snipping 1.2 acres from the MarketPlace, which currently covers 18.2 acres. [...]
LOS CERRITOS WETLANDS LAND TRUST RAMPS UP OPPOSITION TO SECOND+PCH
After doing a low boil for a few years over the slick website that the 2nd+PCH development team has been using to promote its controversial multi-use proposal, environmentalists opposed to the project now have one of their own. The Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (LCWLT) has launched the specialized site on a separate page of [...]
7/ELEVEN ROLLS THE DICE AND CRAPS OUT TWICE IN BID FOR PARAMOUNT STORE
The Paramount City Council has upheld a decision by the Planning Commission to deny the request of a 7-Eleven convenience store to operate in a vacant 2,450-square-foot site at 14139 Downey Ave.—the northwest corner of Downey and Rosecrans avenues, across from Paramount High School. Council members agreed with a Planning Commission ruling of Jan. 11 [...]
SECOND+PCH’S PLAN FOR THE ZONING LAWS IT VIOLATES: REWRITE ‘EM!
Second+PCH developer David Malmuth concedes that, in a perfect world, zoning laws would be rewritten first so as to permit a project that was in accordance with them. "Yeah," he says, "but it’s not gonna happen that way.”
DELONG’S CONSTITUENTS LUNCH WITH SECOND+PCH DEVELOPER SO COZY THAT SOME OF THEM FEEL CROWDED OUT
It’s no wonder all tickets for Thursday’s meeting of Councilmember Gary DeLong’s 3rd District Neighborhood Association were sold out more than a week ago. The guest speaker is David Malmuth, developer of Second+PCH, the hugely controversial proposal to construct a huge hotel/residential/retail consortium on the corner of Long Beach’s most congested intersection. Also? There were [...]
BULLETIN: SECOND+PCH’S PROJECT’S (SECOND) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT TO BE RELEASED THURSDAY
The long-awaited environmental impact report (EIR) for the Second+PCH development—the second such document for this long-proposed hotel/retail/residential project—will be released Thursday, GreaterLongBeach.com has learned from lead developer David Malmuth. “My enthusiasm has been renewed,” Malmuth says. “I can finally see that we’ll formally start the comment period and hopefully be successful [in getting approval] through [...]
RAYTHEON WILL LOCATE NEW FACILITY—AND 150 JOBS—IN DOWNEY
Raytheon Company, an aerospace and defense company with sales of $25 billion last year, will open a 27,000-square-foot research-and-training facility in Downey and hire 150 people to staff it, city officials announced Monday. The Public Safety Regional Technology Center, to be located at 11899 Woodruff Ave., just north of Stewart and Gray Road, will provide [...]
CHERIN CO-HOSTING BAY AREA RECEPTION FOR FOSTER, BUT INSISTS IT’S NOT A POLITICAL FUNDRAISER
Mayor Bob Foster, who has formed a political committee allowing him to raise money for a 2014 run for state treasurer, is scheduled to appear at an invitation-only reception next week at the San Francisco law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, LBReport.com has learned. Alex Cherin, a former Long Beach government official whose [...]
WHAT WOULD A STRONGER COASTAL COMMISSION BE LIKE? IN A WORD, “FINE”
What's chilling about the proposal are the priorities of the Legislative Analysts Office. Never mind the impact of fines on Coastal Act enforcement, never mind the issue of whether a state agency ought to have this power---to the LAO, administering fines is first and foremost a matter of raising revenue.
DID GARCIA KEEP PROMISE TO PROTECT RESIDENTS NEAR PUBLIC SERVICE YARD?
Did 1st District City Council member Robert Garcia live up to his re-election campaign promise to protect residents living near the City of Long Beach’s now-former Public Service Yard from potential negative impacts from a transfer into private ownership? We may soon find out, now that businessman Tom Dean—who acquired the property little more than [...]
SECOND+PCH SAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS… OH, AND EIR WILL BE TWO MONTHS LATE
'Twas the night before Christmas, and the already paralyzed Second+PCH project took the opportunity to inform supporters that the pivotal rewrite of the Environmental Impact Report will miss its end-of-the-year deadline by two months. The bad news came in an e-mail titled "Happy Holidays."
COUNCIL WRESTLES BEFORE ADDING RESTRICTIONS TO MEDPOT ORDINANCE
In a lengthy item marked by multiple motions and divided (and in one case reconsidered) votes, the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday night voted 6-3 (Andrews, Johnson, Gabelich dissenting) to approve amendments to its medical marijuana ordinance. If approved on a second council vote, the amendments will expand allowed hours of operation, require surveillance [...]
AFTER 25 YEARS, ALIN’S PARTY DEPOT PUSHED OUT OF DOWNEY BY WAL-MART
Turns out, the reason Alin’s Party Depot couldn’t renew its lease after 25 successful years in Downey was that Wal-Mart, Inc., had quietly bought the Paramount Blvd. property. And while Alin’s continues to liquidate its inventory, the largest retailer in the world is preparing to open one of its new, smaller-format Wal-Mart stores in the [...]
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 [...]
BEACH’S MARKET—ANOTHER DOWNEY BUSINESS ICON—ANNOUNCES ITS DEMISE
Citing a sluggish economy and a competitive business market, two more Downey businesses, Beach’s Market and Alin’s Party Depot, have collapsed, as an intransigent recession continues to cripple local restaurants, supermarkets and retail centers. Sambi of Tokyo, a fixture among Downey eateries since it opened on Firestone Boulevard nearly 40 years ago, closed on Oct. 24. [...]
DOWNEY ‘GATEWAY’ DEVELOPMENT PLAN APPROVED BY PLANNING COMMISSION
The layout for the Downey Gateway Center, 1.5-acre restaurant and shopping area on the southwest corner of Firestone Boulevard and Downey Avenue, has been recommended for approval by the Planning Commission, paving the way for construction next year. Plans for the development were announced last April. Site plan approval clears the way for the developer [...]
CERRITOS HONORED AS LA COUNTY’S MOST BUSINESS-FRIENDLY CITY
Cerritos was honored as Most Business-Friendly City in Los Angeles County for cities with populations under 60,000 people Wednesday night during a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, receiving an Eddy Award from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). Alhambra won the Eddy among cities with populations over 60,000, a category in which [...]
CERRITOS, DOWNEY & CARSON ARE FINALISTS FOR LA COUNTY’S MOST-BUSINESS-FRIENDLY CITY AWARDS
Three cities in the Greater Long Beach area—although not Long Beach, itself, this year—are among 12 finalists for Eddy Awards in the 2010 Most Business-Friendly City competition sponsored by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). Representatives of Cerritos, Downey and Carson will be at the Beverly Hilton Hotel tonight to await the announcement [...]
A LONG-AWAITED BUT GRAND OPENING FOR PORTO’S CUBAN BAKERY IN DOWNEY
A gaggle of Downey city officials, a couple of movie stars and a whole lot of Cuban pride greeted the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Porto’s Cuban Bakery and Café, which finally opened Tuesday nearly a year after breaking ground last Nov. 23. In some ways, the wait seemed even longer. Since the disappointing demise earlier this [...]
MAYOR’S WIFE USES HER FACEBOOK PAGE TO PUSH LB CITY COUNCIL FOR TOUGHER MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE
The Long Beach City Charter doesn’t give her an official voice and she isn’t registered with City Hall as a lobbyist, but Nancy Foster is the wife of Mayor Bob Foster—and on Monday night she leveraged whatever influence comes with that connection to support additional restrictions to Long Beach’s medical marijuana ordinance. Three city council [...]
DOWNEY TO GIVE REBUILT BOB’S $100,000? BOY, THAT’S BIG!
Bob’s Big Boy, which successfully rebuilt the Johnie’s Broiler diner after it was illegally demolished in 2007, has met its requirement to maintain 30-40 full-time jobs and is expected to receive $100,000 as part of a package of economic incentives approved by the city of Downey last year. Jim Louder, owner of the local Bob’s [...]
BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY GIVES COMPTON ECONOMIC KICK IN THE PANTS
The opening of a Burlington Coat Factory and a seasonal Toys R Us store in downtown Compton were promoted Monday by the city’s redevelopment agency (RDA), which is predicting a breath of new life into the local economy—just in time for the holiday shopping season. After roughly three years of various delays, Burlington Coat Factory [...]
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.
DOWNEY COUNCIL OPTS FOR A MODERN THEME IN ITS DOWNTOWN MAKEOVER
The Downey City Council has dropped plans for an old-town central business district and instead approved plans for a modern, expanded downtown area. Its Tuesday night actions consisted of tentative approval of ordinances changing the zone classification, general plan designation, height and density restrictions and revoking an Oct. 24, 2000, ordinance calling for an historic downtown [...]
TWO COMPTON METAL-FINISHING COMPANIES FINED BY EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency has cited and fined two Compton industrial companies for violating federally mandated hazardous waste restrictions. The EPA has been conducting surprise inspections of metal finishing companies over the past two years in various communities in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties to ensure their compliance with the law. Bowman Plating Company, located [...]
DOES BIG SHUFFLE OF SECOND+PCH TEAM SIGNAL A BIG CHANGE IN TACTICS?
Cliff Ratkovich and Carl Kemp are out, Stephen T. Conley and Alex Cherin are in, and there is speculation that the shuffle signals a change in strategy by Second+PCH lead lead developer David Malmuth---an attempt to pull political strings rather than push for community support.
DON JERGLER: UNEMPLOYED 18 MONTHS AND I DIDN’T EVEN GET A CRUMMY T-SHIRT
I might be a little more critical of the Hire Me Tee idea if more revolutionary products or services had emerged during our economic slump. All I can come up with is the iPad, and that’s just a gimmick to entice people who own iPhones, MacBooks and iPods to go out and purchase yet another pricey product.
CLOSURE OF SMOOTH’S SPORTS GRILLE IS THE END OF AN ERA ON PINE AVE.
Smooth’s Sports Grille, the restaurant at 144 Pine Avenue that under a couple of names has been a crossroads of politics and culture in downtown Long Beach for a quarter century, was closed Sunday by owner John Morris, LBReport.com reported early today. “Smooth’s is closed and a new chapter begins,” Morris told LBReport.com. Morris made [...]
DON JERGLER: ANYBODY GOT A SPARE PAIR OF ROSE-COLORED GLASSES?
When you’re in the Long Beach area and the title of the latest UCLA Anderson Forecast Is "The Uncertain Economy" and you're already depressed about your economic future, well, maybe you ought to not bother even reading it. Then again, uncertainty is better than doomsday.
THE COMPTON BULLETIN LAUNCHES ITS FIRST-EVER SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE
The Compton Bulletin has become one of Southern California’s most dynamic community newspapers under the leadership of editor Allison Jean Eaton, but it isn’t immune to economic conditions that are threatening print journalism everywhere. So for the first time in its history The Bulletin is launching a subscription drive. Throughout the months of September and [...]
DON JERGLER: LABOR DAY, FROM ONE BUSINESS REPORTER’S EXPERIENCE
At the Press-Telegram, I was a member of the bargaining team, which fought for two years to secure a successful union contract. It was a long and bitter fight that led me to seek employment elsewhere as soon as the contract was at a point of being achieved.
DON JERGLER: THIS JUST IN—WE’RE BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Californians don’t need a report to know they are stuck between an economic rock and a hard place—or is it a rock and an economic hard place---but we’re getting one, anyway. To coincide with Labor Day, the California Budget Project will release a report later this week on the state’s economy and its workers. It ain't pretty.
L.A.’S CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM—THE ONE L.B. BAILED ON—UPHELD BY JUDGE
A Los Angeles federal court trial judge has upheld the City/Port of Los Angeles “Clean Trucks Program” against a challenge by the American Trucking Associations (ATA). The trucking industry interest group had contended that the Long Beach/Los Angeles programs violated federal supremacy in maritime matters and interstate commerce regulation. To view the ruling by Federal [...]
A VISION FOR LONG BEACH THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE HALLUCINATIONS?
“I want Long Beach to become the green-technology capital of California,” says Alex Cherin of The Cherin Group. “It's perfectly positioned to attract the kind of venture capital to clean technology that Silicon Valley attracted to computer startups in the 1990s.”
CITY COUNCIL TO REFUND $50K FOR 2ND+PCH PROJECT’S ‘BABY HUEY’
Item 6 on the consent calendar at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Long Beach City Council authorizes a refund of $50,592 to Pacific Castle Long Beach LLP, which is apparently withdrawing its plan for a massive redevelopment of the MarketPlace Shopping Center—a project we dubbed Baby Huey last April, when we discovered it buried in [...]
UPSIDE TO UNEMPLOYMENT: FEWER PEOPLE ARE DYING AT WORK
If the recession has a silver lining, it may be the decline in workplace deaths: Fatal job injuries were down 17 percent last year, in large part because Americans worked fewer hours, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationwide, 4,340 workers died on the job in 2009, compared to 5,214 in 2008. The preliminary count [...]
THESE DAYS, A JOB IS A JOB IS A PART-TIME POSITION AT McDONALD’S
McDonald’s is hold a “Hiring Day” today to fill part-time positions for the company’s Downey-area restaurants. There are seven McDonald’s in Downey. A McDonald’s representative said the jobs can help employees “grow their skills with one of the world’s most successful companies.” “We provide every employee with valuable skills including time management, learning to take initiative and self-confidence [...]
562CITYLIFE.COM HAS ITS NAME TO ITSELF AGAIN
Publisher Jeremy Zachary will still begin printing a monthly arts-and-entertainment magazine in Long Beach this fall, but it won’t be called Long Beach CityLife. Just after 6 o’clock Tuesday evening, Zachary e-mailed Matt Saunders of the local social networking website 562CityLife to say he would be calling it … well … that part he didn’t say. [...]
562CITYLIFE.COM SAYS NEW MAGAZINE IS RIPPING OFF ITS NAME, AND LOTS MORE
Amid the still-settling fallout from The District Weekly’s demise in March, an updated, downscaled version of an oldtimey newspaper war may be breaking out in Long Beach—between a newsy/artsy social networking website and a monthly culture-and-entertainment magazine that hasn’t even published its first issue yet. The owners of 562CityLife.com, a three-year-old hub of information and [...]
710 FREEWAY EXPANSION MAY BE DELAYED BY RIGHT-OF-WAY, DESIGN ISSUES
LBReport.com has learned that a massive expansion plan for the Long Beach (710) Freeway—14-lanes total, with a four-lane truck “freightway” elevated through parts of Long Beach above 10 ground-level “mixed flow” lanes — has now raised right-of-way issues. Along with other redesign items, these could delay the project by up to 11 months … and if freightway right-of-way issues can’t be [...]
CATCH & RELEASE: DON JERGLER READS THE FLAKS, SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO
Business reporters who ignore press releases deprive themselves of information. Read discerningly, press releases provide insight into trends, political and social issues, new technologies---and sometimes clues about what businesses may be trying to hide.
EAT, PRAY, LOVE: INSIDE THE OTHER PROTEST AT THE LONG BEACH HYATT
Being embedded among the radicals was not as exciting as I had thought it would be: management may threaten and humiliate workers, but actual labor protests are downright cordial these days. After five minutes of chanting a manager politely requested that the protest be moved outside. An organizer smiled and explained they would be leaving as soon as the minister had led a prayer.
MASSIVE FARMERS MARKET PROPOSAL CREATING QUITE A PICKLE
A proposal for a massive farmers’ market on the so-called Pumpkin Patch property appears headed for a second and indefinite postponement...and considering the people involved, perhaps more than a little intrigue.
FIRST CHANGE AT DOWNEY SPACE CENTER—LONGER HOURS
The new director of the Columbia Memorial Space Center has announced his first change—expanded hours of operation—since taking over for his fired predecessor. Beginning July 6 the glistening tribute to Downey’s space heritage will be open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission prices will remain the same at $5 per person, groups of 10 [...]
CITY HALL HEARING THIS AFTERNOON TO CONSIDER HUGE FARMER’S MARKET AT PUMPKIN PATCH
Dave and Ted Thacker, the Cottage Grove, Oregon, guys behind the Thackerberry Farms strawberry stands that bring a touch of country comfort to street corners all over Long Beach, are the guys behind an application to hold a large Farmer’s Market every Saturday and Sunday on the so-called “Pumpkin Patch” property just south of the MarketPlace [...]
BEER & POLITICS DEBATES SECOND+PCH PROJECT TUESDAY
The latest pivot point in the development of Long Beach—the proposed replacement of the tired, old SeaPort Marina Hotel with the high-rise Second+PCH hotel, residential and retail complex—will be the next topic of debate at Beer & Politics. Developers Cliff Ratkovich and David Malmuth, who are requesting a slew of exceptions to zoning law and traffic [...]
ELON MUSK WRITES THAT ‘DOWNEY IS AWESOME’—AND, PRESUMABLY, HOPES IT HAS A BITCHEN SUMMER
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has written a letter to City of Downey officials (title: “Downey Is Awesome”) that is apparently intended to soothe their feelings (typical reaction: we were “stabbed in the back”) after he stunned them with his May 20 announcement that his company would not be manufacturing cars in their town. The [...]
TESLA CHOOSES FREMONT–AND, SAY ANGRY DOWNEY OFFICIALS, MILLIONS IN CASH
Instead of formally ratifying a lease amendment with IRG, one of the final steps before Tesla Motors could begin work on its Model S assembly plant at Downey Studios, the Downey City Council on Thursday instead took turns blasting the electric car company for what Mayor Pro Tem Luis Marquez termed “underhanded negotiation tactics.” Downey [...]
TESLA WILL BUILD CARS IN DOWNEY, ACCORDING TO DEPT OF ENERGY DOCUMENTS
Documents filed with the federal Department of Energy—and obtained by the Downey Patriot—reveal that Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has every intention of building his company’s all-electric Model S in the city of Downey. “It hasn’t yet been finalized,” Musk, still playing coy, told Auto News in an interview that the LBReport.com linked to this [...]
SECOND+PCH HAS A PLAN, E-I-R-I-O! AND IN THAT PLAN THERE’S A TALL HOTEL, E-I-R-I-O!
(The Environmental Impact Report [EIR] for the proposed Second+PCH project was released this week, and local environmental activist Heather Altman—who also happens to read these types of documents for a living—is not impressed. “As I pick through it,” she says, “I am becoming increasingly aware that it isn’t very defensible—for a variety of reasons [...]
GATEWAY TOWNE CENTER—COMPTON’S NEWEST—USES TAX-CREDIT MECHANISM TO NARROWLY AVOID FORECLOSURE
Compton’s new shopping center, the Gateway Towne Center, narrowly avoided forclosure after it was able to secure $29 million in permanent financing through a new tax-credit mechanism. Community Development Financial Institutions Clearinghouse officials said this recent loan saved the shopping center, which would have gone into foreclosure had the permanent financing not been secured. City [...]
SURPRISE! SECOND+PCH EIR REVEALS PLANS FOR AN EVEN-BIGGER MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT AT THE MARKET PLACE
The Second+PCH project may be an Odd Duck—the just-released Environmental Impact Report (EIR) reveals that its promoters have designed a residential/hotel/retail complex on the site of the Seaport Marina Hotel that is loaded with even more deleterious features than its rejected predecessor—but just wait until you get a load of its younger brother. Are you [...]
BELLFLOWER TRYING TO REDEVELOP ITS ECONOMY WITHOUT RIPPING OUT ITS HEART
The City of Bellflower’s time capsule of a downtown is both heartwarmingly quaint and heartbreakingly … well without a heartbeat. Bellflower Boulevard’s well-preserved architecture and its embalmed business district can probably both be traced to its citizens’ long opposition to creating a Redevelopment Agency, an orientation rooted in their suspicion that eminent domain might be used [...]
WHY ARE LB TAXPAYERS BEING ASKED TO COVER THE RISK OF TWO WELL-CONNECTED MILLIONAIRES?
Why is the City Council being asked tonight to chop $3,000 a month off the rent it charges the mighty BANCAP Investment Group—headed by two of Long Beach’s most prominent and prosperous citizens, Stephen T. Conley and John W. Hancock—to lease a swath of Long Beach Marina-front property? According to city documents attached to the [...]
TOM MARCHESE RESPONDS TO MARCH 30 REQUEST FOR HIS RESPONSE TO DON MAY’S ACCUSATIONS AT WETLANDS LAND TRUST ELECTION
Nearly three weeks after his lopsided loss in a bid for re-election to the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust board of directors, Tom Marchese has responded to a request for comment that I left on his home telephone on March 30. Marchese, who four days ago lopsidedly lost a bid to represent the Third District on the Long Beach City [...]
DOWNEY’S BIG BOY, NEE HARVEY’S/JOHNIE’S BROILER, RECEIVES PRESIDENT’S AWARD FROM L.A. CONSERVANCY
The new Bob’s Big Boy in Downey has been honored with the President’s Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy, a prestigious recognition that confirms the restaurant’s triumphant comeback after it was decimated in an illegal demolition three years ago. [In the Nov. 18, 2009, issue of The District Weekly, Theo Douglas wrote about the special [...]
KEMP INSISTS THAT THE APPEAL FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT OF SECOND+PCH PROJECT IS THE SAME AS IT EVER WAS
Carl Kemp is the man behind the impressive public-relations campaign for the proposed Second+PCH project, and he’s very up-front about his strategy—even the parts that strike some people as a little surreptitious. Consider, for example, the ready-made letter of support that Second+PCH is sending to people—and offering on its Web site—with a request that it be [...]
COUNTY CLERK HAS NO RECORD THAT COMPTON RDA EVER FILED MANDATED STUDY OF $100 MILLION BOND ISSUE
The City of Compton Redevelopment Agency claims to have filed with the Los Angeles County clerk for public review of a study on the agency’s proposed issuance of $100 million in bonds, but The Bulletin has learned that county clerk’s office has no record of it. READ MORE
GO RIGHT AHEAD AND SUPPORT THE SECOND+PCH PROJECT—BUT HOW ABOUT WAITING UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?
As posted earlier, the Second + PCH development team has ramped up efforts to generate support in advance of the soon-to-be-released Environmental Impact Report (EIR). I believe that, in principle, the Second + PCH people have it exactly right: you need to make your voice heard. You need to speak out. I just find their [...]
OWNER OF FORMER COMPTON POT SHOP GETS 6 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
A man who ran half a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in the greater Los Angeles area, including one in Compton, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison. In a March 22 sentencing, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said that Virgil Edward Grant III used his licensed clinics to earn a profit selling [...]
MARCHESE ACCUSED OF TRYING TO GET NON-PROFIT WETLAND GROUP’S MAILING LIST FOR HIS CITY COUNCIL CAMPAIGN
TOM MARCHESE Tom Marchese not only lopsidedly lost his battle for re-election to the Board of Directors of the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (LCWLT) Tuesday night, but questions raised about his ethics in a letter from the organization’s esteemed founder may have cost him any realistic chance to be elected to the Long Beach City Council on April 13. Don May, [...]
ABOUT FACE: CITY OFFICIALS NOW SAY DOWNEY STUDIOS WON’T CLOSE FOR TESLA
BY ERIC PIERCE / DOWNEY PATRIOT After the Downey Patriot’s story last week that Tesla Motors is seeking to lease 51 acres on the former NASA site, likely spelling the end of Downey Studios, city officials are now saying the movie studios “will remain open even after the new tenant arrives.” The Planning Commission approved an IRG [...]
COMPTON SPENDING $5 MILLION TO BUY BACK PARKS IT SOLD TO RDA
COMPTON—In what some consider a fishy move, the City of Compton is spending more than $5 million to supposedly buy back city parks from the redevelopment agency. The City Council acting as the Urban Community Redevelopment Agency last Tuesday, March 16, approved a $5.2 million payout from the city to the Community Redevelopment Agency to [...]
TESLA’S EXTRA ACREAGE SIGNALS END OF DOWNEY STUDIOS
DOWNEY – If Tesla Motors can reach agreement on a lease deal, the electric vehicle manufacturer plans to lease 51 acres at the former NASA property, “more than likely” spelling the end of Downey Studios, according to a city of Downey staff report. The Planning Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved an application submitted by Industrial [...]
