Gov. Jerry Brown Takes Aim at Environmental Protections pg. 4 Latino, Southeast Asian and Muslim Identities Explored at Grand Performances pg. 11 Balam Mexican Kitchen: Slanging Gourmet Street Tacos p. 14 The Killing of a One Trick Pony—Review of Long Beach Opera’s The News pg. 15
Victors of the Primary Election Look Toward November Congressional, State Senate Races Could Get Nasty
By Melina Paris, Music Columnist
Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
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n the Los Angeles Harbor Area, Sen. Bernie Sanders found broad swaths of support, particularly in Wilmington and San Pedro, though not enough to turn them into “Bernietowns.” More specifically, Sanders and Hillary Clinton finished in dead heats in precincts covered by the Central, Coastal and Wilmington neighborhood council districts, while Clinton had a commanding majority in the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council District.
Los Angeles County Supervisors Race
June 23 - July 6, 2016
[See Election, page 5]
[See Blues, page 17]
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W
ithin the first three months of his online radio program, Let’s Talk Blues, Henry Harris, aka South Side Slim, brought not only an engaging personality, but also the chops to showcase the entire timeline of the Los Angeles blues scene. This musician from the south side of Los Angeles regularly describes the balancing act that his radio show requires with his catchphrase, “Sponsored by Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, Let’s Talk Blues is dedicated to old school blues and artists true to the blues with the inclination to play jazz and beyond.” It wasn’t long after the show’s inception, that Slim found its authentic voice. His goal is simple enough—he wants to create an open and diverse South Side Slim, right, with Grammy nominated program to allow more people to artist Ray Brooks at Roscoe’s Media Center at participate. the Seabird Lounge. Photo by Linnea Stephan
In the county supervisor’s race, Rep. Janice Hahn won the primaries by 27,000 votes. Wins in the Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbor Area, assured victory for the congresswoman. She also edged out her nearest rival, Steve Napolitano, in the beach cities but the margins were much narrower. Hahn garnered 55 percent of the vote in the neighborhood council districts of Wilmington and San Pedro, where she served three terms as Los Angeles City councilwoman. Hahn focussed her campaign on Los Angeles County’s growing homeless and mentally ill populations, its transportation system and crime. She has frequently contended that with Congress locked in perpetual gridlock she believes she can get more done in local office. “My father, beloved County Supervisor Kenny Hahn, always stressed to me the importance of being a champion for the people,” said Hahn when she announced her candidacy in February 2015. “He instilled in me the values of courage, integrity and public service and, most importantly, the simple principle of always putting constituents and local neighborhoods first. With that philosophy in mind, I have decided not to run for re-election to Congress and instead enter the race for Los Angeles County Supervisor District 4.” Though the county supervisor’s seat is nonpartisan, Hahn is a Democrat and has been endorsed by fellow Democrats on the board, including Mark Ridley-Thomas, Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl The members of the dynasty opposing Hahn aren’t
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Community Announcements:
Harbor Area BARK Dogs BARK Dogs encourages children to better their reading skills by reading aloud to certified therapy dogs. Time: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 25 Venue: Los Altos Library, 5614 E. Britton Drive, Long Beach I Dig Long Beach 10th Street Tree Planting New trees are coming to 10th Street June 25. The Port of Long Beach has provided funding to plant 6,000 trees in Long Beach neighborhoods through 2020. Help plant them. Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. June 25 Venue: Northgate Gonzalez Market, 2038 E. 10th St., Long Beach CASA Volunteers CASA is hosting a volunteer information session in Long Beach. RSVP. Details: (323) 859-2888; volunteer@casala.org Time: 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. June 29 Venue: Total Wine Long Beach, Long Beach Towne Center, 7400 Carson Blvd., Long Beach Fitness Classes at Plaza Park Through Aug. 26, Plaza Park is offering free summer exercise classes. Tuesdays are dedicated to the Run Club, with an early morning boot camp on Wednesdays; CrossFit Kids meet on Friday and Saturday has early morning “Glute Camp.” Time: 5 p.m., Tues; 6:45 a.m., Wed; 4:30 p.m., Fri.; 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., Sat. Venue: Plaza Park, 7000 S. Beacon St., San Pedro
June 23 - July 6, 2016
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Leadership Applications Accepted Leadership Long Beach is accepting applications for classes in the Leadership Long Beach Institute program, which will begin in August 2016. Deadline is June 30. Cost: $25 Details: www.leadershiplb.org Venue: Leadership Long Beach, 743 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach
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Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 30 Years
Project Search Builds Careers By Adriana Catanzarite, Editorial Intern
Finding a job is challenging for most people. But people with intellectual developmental disabilities often have a harder time than the average Joe. Kaiser Permanente South Bay’s Project SEARCH is helping people like 21-year-old Michelle Rojas circumvent those challenges. “My teachers helped with my interview portion,” said Rojas, who has a speech impairment. “They’re taking me to a job fair to help me find work. I want to work at Target or Walmart, because I think I’d really like it there, and I’d be good at it.” Her communication skills have greatly improved. On June 8, Rojas and six of her peers graduated from the Project SEARCH class of 2016. Three of those graduates have already found jobs. The program provides job training and education via strategically designed internships for people with intellectual developmental disabilities. Kaiser Permanente South Bay is in its fourth year of Project SEARCH, which began in 1996. It’s the only site in the South Bay offering the program. Kaiser Permanente partnered with Best Buddies, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Harbor Regional Center to provide this
The Facts
Harbor City resident, Michelle Rojas, was among the graduating participants of Project Search. Photo Courtesy of Kaiser Permanente
internship. The program provides education and job training in three 10-week rotations. When students graduate, Best Buddies helps get them a job matching their skills and qualifications from participating employers like Trader Joe’s or Madame Tussauds.
State of District 2 In her final State of the District address, Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal will update the community members about the progress and challenges in Long Beach’s District 2. RSVP is requested. Time: 6:30 p.m. July 7 Details: (562) 570-6684; district2@longbeach.gov Venue: Terrace Theater Plaza, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach Community Planning Meeting Participate in the community planning meeting for Atlantic Avenue and 61st Street in Long Beach. Find out about a development being planned near Houghton and provide feedback to the city and the developer. Time: 6 p.m. June 22 Details: http://tinyurl.com/Communityplanning-atlantic-61 Crisis Counseling at the LGBTQ Center Long Beach The LGBTQ Center Long Beach is offering free crisis counseling. You may contribute monetary support to the victims of the Pulse Orlando Shooting through Equality Florida’s GoFundMe campaign at www.gofundme. com/PulseVictimsFund. Time: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday Details: (562) 343-4455; www.centerlb.org Venue: LGBTQ Center Long Beach, 2017 E. 4th St., Long Beach
Each week, students are given onsite job training in various departments throughout Kaiser. They try to find a match for each student. If the student has an interest in medical health or pharmaceuticals, the program gives them the opportunity to work in that department. One of the graduates dreamt of being a chef, for example. Now, he works as a cook at Kaiser Permanente’s food services division. Kaiser Chief Administrative Officer Ozzie Martinez said it’s exciting to be a part of something that has such a huge impact on the community. “When we started this program we thought we were going to come out with this internship and provide an opportunity for young adults so they can be successful,” Martinez said. “Very quickly we learned we were receiving a bigger gift. The impact our interns have on our culture is incredible. They bring an incredible energy and dedication to the job.” According to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, an intellectual disability affects intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. Basically a person with an intellectual disability learns at a slower rate. The Special Olympics estimates that about 6.5 million people in the United States are living with an intellectual disability.
San Pedro resident, Tyler Zuieback, was among the graduating participants of Project Search. Photo courtesy of Kaiser Permanente
PMA shoe vouchers expire June 30th
Though employers are not allowed to discriminate against applicants with disabilities, the unemployment rate for people with intellectual disabilities is 85 percent, according to National Core Indicators. But programs such as Project SEARCH may steadily change that statistic. Unemployment among those with intellectual disability is so high because society is largely misinformed about what they think people with an intellectual disability can accomplish, Martinez said. He’s also noticed that many incoming interns also lacked confidence in their abilities. By providing a support system, the majority of students were able to become more independent and follow their passions. “The level of professionalism in our interns is incredible,” Martinez said. “They show up, they are present; they’re dedicated and they have ownership and responsibility. They really become examples of the type of employees that we want to see.”
PATH Begins Canvassing, Servicing Homeless persons as homeless in the South Bay, a 39 percent increase from 2013. Veterans numbered 575. People with other special needs were also identified included 1,084 persons experiencing substance abuse, 825 with mental illness, 584 who experience domestic violence, 569 with physical disabilities and 25 people living with AIDS/HIV. For Carson specifically, PATH identified its greatest concentration of homeless persons, higher than 50, in northwest Carson along the Harbor Gateway border. Directly below are slightly lighter clusters — about 25 to 49 persons. The rest of the city is lighter still, ranging from some clusters of less than 25 to zero. Valarosi noted that the heaviest concentration of Carson’s homeless population is in close proximity to Harbor General Hospital in neighboring Torrance. She said there were some concerns about homeless individuals “harassing” persons in that area, but few public safety issues otherwise. “The team from PATH has started [canvassing],” said Valarosi about the city’s response. “It is not only Carson [but] the South Bay as well. We have been trying to get the word out regarding that program to the community and have had great response so far. We are also meeting with them as part of a Homeless Workforce once a week here at our City Manager’s office. Cecil Rhambo [assistant city manager] is the lead on that group.” “The [Los Angeles] Sheriff’s Department has been part of this workforce as well,” she added. “Being homeless itself is not a crime, but anything beyond that they have been more than happy to assist us with.” One of the concerns, Valarosi said, is that there is no transitional housing or emergency shelter in Carson.
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As part of a larger plan to assist 450 homeless persons in the South Bay following a census taken last January, Carson recently started a Homeless Action Committee to work alongside the South Bay Council of Governments. The plan aims to help people on the route to permanent housing by February 2017. Meredith Berkson, regional director of South County at PATH, a non-profit statewide agency that assists homeless people, works with the city’s committee. She said the program is modelled on one introduced by several cities in southeastern Los Angeles County in 2012. Don Knabe and Mark Ridley-Thomas worked to provide the South Bay Council with county resources to address homelessness in the South Bay. Amanda Valarosi, senior assisted living coordinator of Carson’s Human Services, said that for the past four years Carson has worked with Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority on an annual count of the homeless, including on Jan. 16 this year. “We do not only count those ‘on the street,’ we also count those without a permanent address, or even sleeping in a recreational vehicle,” she explained. Valarosi provided a presentation that PATH made in April about homelessness in Carson. It showed the homeless count in Carson increased from 158 in 2013 to 192 in 2015. Additionally, it showed that the number of people on the street increased from 23 to 68, while people living in vehicles decreased very slightly, from 130 in 2013 to 124 in 2015. According to the data PATH presented, most of the homeless in Carson live in vehicles: 99 in campers or recreational vehicles, 25 in vans or cars, 37 live in makeshift shelters or tents and 31 adults (not families or youth) are “on the street.” Overall, the presentation identified 3,006
Ca
By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter
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Providing clean facilities to the boating community and protecting our waterways from pollution
June 23 - July 6, 2016
Office open 7 days
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Gov. Jerry Brown Takes Aim at Environmental Protections By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
June 23 - July 6, 2016
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Tangled up in California’s budget is Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest attempt to roll back the environmental protections and citizen participation guarantees of the California Environmental Quality Act. Although he’s long enjoyed an environmentalist reputation, Brown has repeatedly sought to carve out exemptions to CEQA, which would allow projects to be built without review or mitigation of their negative impacts. His latest effort—touted in the name of affordable urban housing, as well as eco-friendly “infill development”—follow a familiar pattern. It has now run into a storm of controversy, after initially flying below the radar. “The governor’s people weren’t really prepared for the outcry, and they’re trying to negotiate now with some of the bigger affordable housing groups,” said Jill Stewart of the Coalition to Preserve LA. “Again, the governor is contemplating making law, brandnew dramatic law, through the budget process, instead of legitimate hearings.” “If the problem is affordable housing, then facilitating the development of what is essentially market rate housing with a token amount of affordable housing will actually make it worse in some communities, because it can facilitate gentrification,” veteran environmental attorney Ellison Folk told Random Lengths. “The percentage[s] of affordable housing that are
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included are really miniscule, and far less than cities like San Francisco require.” Attempts to roll back environmental regulations routinely occur during economic downturns, and the aftermath of the Great Recession saw that happen here in California, Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California, told Random Lengths. “The governor, in the last five years, has taken an increasingly active role in trying to weaken CEQA, while the legislature has backed off,” she said, citing specific examples. Most prominent was the state’s high speed rail project, where the legislature declined to specifically exempt it from CEQA, but Brown argued for exemption in court. Similarly, Phillips noted that Brown had pushed for CEQA exemptions in the $177 million cleanup of the Exide battery lead contamination. Without CEQA review the cleanup process could actually increase the toxic exposure for some residents. Brown dropped his opposition in March. Brown is now leading the attack again with a proposal attached to the budget process that emerged out of nowhere, with no legislative hearings before committees familiar with the issues involved. A mere 5 percent of units set aside for very low-income renters would exempt projects from review under CEQA, the Coastal Act, or any local provisions, granting them an unfettered “right” to develop, provided they
Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to modify CEQA rules was met with stiff opposition from affordable housing advocates, environmentalists and labor groups. File photo
conformed to zoning and other broad standards. The lack of a hearing process produced a proposal “so broadly written that it doesn’t mean just infill development, it could encourage sprawl,” Phillips pointed out. Language treating a body of water as an “urban use” could open the floodgates on coastal development that’s been carefully restrained for decades under the Coastal Act. “That bill goes well beyond CEQA and would eliminate local control over land-use decisions, in large part, throughout California,” Folk said. “It could have really crucial impacts in the coastal zone…. I can just see this facilitating large projects in the coast with no environmental review, and no measures to take into account the coastal resources at issue. Could they require
public access? Would they take into account sea level rise? I don’t see that in the language there right now.” Brown’s proposal effortlessly passed the Assembly 46-7 on May 27. But the opposition of a broad coalition of forces prevented the expected state Senate vote from taking place on June 15. This was with the promise of a new negotiation process expected to take several months, as Brown withheld $400 million earmarked for low-income housing. On May 18, a letter from environmentalists and labor leaders warned that Brown’s proposal represented “a direct attack on local governments and local communities which could easily have the perverse effect of reducing affordable housing, [See CEQA, page 6]
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[Election, from page 1]
Harbor Area Primary Election Results related by family blood, but by political philosophy and orderly tradition. Napolitano, the former mayor of Manhattan Beach, has served as chief deputy on outgoing Supervisor Don Knabe’s staff since 2005. By pursuing his boss’s job—with his boss’s endorsement—Napolitano is also following in Knabe’s footprints. Knabe, a former mayor of Cerritos, was first elected to represent District 4 on the Board of Supervisors in 1996, when he succeeded his boss, Deane Dana, for whom he had served as chief of staff. Dana, who was retiring after 16 years as a supervisor, endorsed Knabe for the job. All three men are Republicans. Napolitano describes himself as a fiscal conservative but a social progressive. He and his family reside in Manhattan Beach, where he has lived all his life. While serving on that city’s council, he worked as a parttime teacher and put himself through Loyola Law School. He passed the bar in 2000. Napolitano’s three top priorities are fighting crime, homelessness, and addressing crumbling infrastructure and transportation.
State Senate District 35
Race—
Rep. Janice Hahn and Isadore Hall to fill the open Senate District 35 seat. He was the first African American elected to the Gardena City Council, where he served for 12 years. He was then elected to represent Assembly District 51 in a 2009 special election. That followed a fullterm beginning in 2010. After redistricting, he was elected in 2012 to the Assembly District 62. He helped pass 42 bills during that time. He served as chairman of the
Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color. In a Feb. 10 interview Bradford told Random Lengths he’s running because of his commitment to public service, especially in regards to unresolved issues and unfinished business he left in Sacramento. He said that the most important issues are employment—“making sure we go back to work”— quality of education, and reform of the criminal
Congressional Race— District 44
Isadore Hall III won the primary by a healthy margin—33 percent to Nanette Barragan’s 19 percent—but well short of the 51 percent needed to avoid the runoff in the general election in November. The time, effort and local endorsements paid off with a win in San Pedro for Hall. The state senator also won Compton, Carson, Long
Beach and Lynwood. Barragan won Wilmington, Harbor Gateway, South Gate, and trailed Hall by only a few percentage points in San Pedro. The former Hermosa Beach Mayor Pro Tem garnered enough votes to compete in the general election, but probably has more than a fighting chance of winning the seat as a real estate brouhaha exploded at Hall’s victory party on election night. Hall was served a subpoena by tenants of the Alameda Court condominium in Compton who are involved in a legal fight with the building’s owners to stay in their homes. In court documents—made available by the Barragan campaign— the plaintiffs alleged that Hall, also a tenant in the building, received preferential treatment. This was allegedly because of his role in getting the project approved almost 10 years ago, while he was a Compton city councilman. Interestingly enough, Hall was served an eviction notice in 2015 for nonpayment of rent and utilities by the owners of Alameda Court—documents also publicly released by the Barragan campaign. The tenants’ case is scheduled to be in court in October, just before the general election Nov. 8.
Primary Election Results by Harbor Area Neighborhood Council Districts: DEMOCRATIC Presidential Primary
Republican Presidential Primary
Coastal SPNC Registered Voters: 5,771 Ballots Cast: 2,735 (47%) JUDD STEINBERG SANDERS WILSON DE LA FUENTE CLINTON HEWES 5 6 1,336 4 2 1,294 6 0% 0% 49% 0% 0% 47% 0%
Coastal SPNC Registered Voters: 3,219 Ballots Cast: 1,104 (34%)
Central SPNC Registered Voters: 6,756 Ballots Cast: 2,493 (37%) 4 10 1,202 2 9 1,192 7 0% 0% 48% 0% 0% 48% 0%
Central SPNC Registered Voters: 2,269 Ballots Cast: 500 (22%) 339 14 67 48 5 68% 1% 3% 2% 0%
Northwest SPNC Registered Voters: 4,720 Ballots Cast: 2,229 (47%) 3 6 944 6 1 1,197 6 0% 0% 42% 0% 0% 54% 0%
Northwest SPNC Registered Voters: 2,836 Ballots Cast: 958 (34%) 636 25 100 112 12 66% 3% 10% 12% 1%
Wilmington NC Registered Voters: 9,859 Ballots Cast: 3,823 (39%) 14 6 1,806 9 13 1,850 13 0% 0% 47% 0% 0% 48% 0%
Wilmington NC Registered Voters: 2,871 Ballots Cast: 441 (15%) 260 15 77 40 6 59% 3% 17% 9% 1%
STATE SENATE 35TH DISTRICT
Carson Registered Voters: 54,161 Ballots Cast: 15,703 (29%) BRADFORD FURUTANI SVOLOS GALVAN 4,736 3,665 2,078 2,763 30% 23% 13% 18%
TRUMP 780 71%
CARSON 25 2%
CRUZ 95 9%
KASICH 130 ` 12%
GILMORE 16 1%
US REP. 44TH DISTRICT So. LA/LA Harbor Area Registered Voters: 262815
Ballots Cast: 68703 (26%)
BARRAGAN ORTIZ SOTOMAYOR SIEGEL DELGADILLO MAURICIO CASTILLO HALL MUSANTE GRIFFIN
566 13%
966 22%
Torrance Registered Voters: 33,197 Ballots Cast: 10,621(32%) 2,063 2,919 3,088 1,199 19% 27% 29% 11%
June 23 - July 6, 2016
917 21%
2,056 3% 245 3% 234 4%
14,049 3,791 6,228 3,477 3,716 550 2,245 23,830 1,421 20% 6% 9% 5% 5% 1% 3% 35% 2% Compton Registered Voters: 34048 Ballots Cast: 9022 (26%) Carson Registered Voters: 29,845 Ballots Cast: 8,380 (28%) 3,102 971 616 2,880 1,405 316 575 610 348 43 299 3,406 167 34% 11% 7% 32% 7% 7% 4% 1% 4% 41% 2% LA Harbor Area Registered Voters:106,765 Ballots Cast: 27,456 (26%) 17% 4% 5,559 7,648 4,998 5,059 Long Beach Registered Voters: 27,193 Ballots Cast: 5,700 (21%) 20% 28% 18% 18% 1,005 331 514 378 307 59 181 1,960 140 Long Beach Registered Voters: 18,035 Ballots Cast: 4,329 (24%) 18% 6% 9% 7% 5% 1% 3% 34% 2% 1,232 28%
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Warren Furutani came in second overall, after decisively winning nearly half the precincts in the Los Angeles Harbor Area and finishing second in Carson. Steve Bradford won overwhelming majorities in Carson, Compton, Inglewood, Gardena and the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Athens. Compton City Councilman Isaac Galvan also made strong showings in Athens, Inglewood, Long Beach and Compton, placing second behind Bradford in those areas, but a close third overall. Galvan was a couple of percentage points away from beating Furutani to make the runoff with Bradford. The close race may have resulted from the Galvan campaign’s misleading mailer to San Pedro residents trying to link former Assemblyman Furutani and Random Lengths News Publisher James Preston Allen to the tiny houses controversy that erupted in 2015. Galvan, the first Latino member of the Compton City Council, and also the youngest Council member at 26, was investigated by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Office regarding his ties to Pyramid Printers and its owner Angel Gonzalez. Reportedly Galvan was employed by Pyramid but Gonzalez, who was convicted in 2002 of sending out misleading campaign mailers, was also recently hired as Galvan’s assistant. Galvan’s campaign site says he runs his own graphics and printing brokerage firm but nothing about Pyramid or Gonzalez. Bradford has been endorsed by
Rep. Janice Hahn as a child, boarding a plane with her father, Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and her brother and former mayor James Hahn. File photo
justice system. Charlotte Svolos, a Republican schoolteacher and former Torrance commissioner, polled strongly in the precincts covered by Northwest and Coastal neighborhood council districts and won Torrance. This past April, Svolos explained that although Senate District 35 isn’t a Republican district, she considers herself a moderate. “I don’t take a hard line on traditional values,” she said. “I’m more a fiscal conservative, more libertarian.” Furutani, who served on the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees and three terms in the state assembly, may be the best situated to pick up votes in the areas Galvan won.
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[CEQA, from page 4]
C.A.R.E. Program Celebrates 30 Years, Appoints New Executive Director
LONG BEACH—In celebrating the 30th anniversary of its C.A.R.E. Program, Dignity Health-St. Mary Medical Center appointed a new executive director on June 16. Ace Robinson comes to Long Beach with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Duke University and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Robinson has previously served as the AIDS prevention director at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, as well as the vice president of Community Health & Research, Public Policy, and Legal Advocacy at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York City. The C.A.R.E. program was founded in 1986 as a non-profit program that helps meet the needs of those affected by HIV by providing comprehensive specialized HIV treatment, prevention education and invaluable supportive services. Long Beach is one of the communities most impacted by HIV in Los Angeles County. According to the LA County Department of Public Health, in 2012, Long Beach had more new infections than any other region in Los Angeles County.
Long Beach No. 1 Port in North America
June 23 - July 6, 2016
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
LONG BEACH — The Port of Long Beach has again been recognized as the Best North American Seaport, receiving the honor at the Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards, held June 16 in Shanghai. The shipping trade publication Asia Cargo News hosted the event. The award is bestowed by importers, exporters, and logistics and supply chain professionals. Ports are judged based on service quality, innovation, customer relations and reliability, among other factors. The other finalists were the ports of Seattle, Houston and New York/New Jersey. This is the second consecutive year and the 18th time in the last 21 years that the Port of Long Beach has won the title “Best North American Seaport” from Asia Cargo News and the previous event organizer, CargoNews Asia. “This award speaks volumes about the satisfaction our customers have with our Port,” said Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners President Lori Ann Guzmán. “We’re always working hard to improve our services, and we’re pleased to be recognized for our efforts.” More than 15,000 industry professionals who read Asia Cargo News were invited to participate in the nomination and selection process for the awards.
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Hahn Calls on Ryan to Allow Vote on Gun Policy
LONG BEACH — On June 14, Rep. Janice Hahn called on House Speaker Paul Ryan to allow the House of Representatives the option of voting for stricter gun control. The request came after the June 12 deadly attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., when Omar Mateen entered Pulse nightclub and opened fire on a crowd. Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 people before a shootout with police ended his life. “Moments of silence are not enough to honor the victims we have lost and do nothing to protect us from future attacks,” Hahn said. “I am calling on Speaker Ryan to finally allow us to vote on legislation to ban military-style assault weapons and prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms.” [See News Briefs, page 7]
Affordable Housing at the Expense of CEQA exposing children to toxic air pollution, increasing traffic and urban sprawl, and preempting all local control over housing development.” As drafted, the bill would preempt stronger local ordinances in San Francisco and elsewhere—as Folk noted—and facilitate gentrification that could displace many more low-income renters than would be helped with new housing. Signatories included the California League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the California Labor Federation, and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. The letter pointed out that “CEQA already provides many exemptions for affordable housing—exemptions that incorporate standards to protect the environment, the public and affordable housing residents.” It then cited a dozen specific examples written into law. “Development ‘by right’ ignores the many serious environmental and public health impacts infill development can have in urban areas.... There are many such threats that are addressed only by CEQA,” the letter warned, starting with the fact that “Only CEQA requires an agency to consider disproportionate impacts on communities of color and low-income communities,” those who are supposed to benefit most from the proposal. This point was resoundingly echoed in a June 8 letter of opposition signed by more than 60 groups representing members in racially diverse urban communities, including a solid core specifically representing renters—the very constituency that’s supposed to be helped—as well as low-income developers. “This proposal represents a huge give-away to the real estate industry and at the particular expense of low-income residents and communities of color,” the letter stated. “We are staunch supporters of building more affordable housing in our own communities and elsewhere. But in our view a law that promotes building housing that is 90 percent or 95 percent unaffordable to the majority of people in our communities is not an inclusive ‘affordable housing’ policy.” They were also concerned that Brown’s proposal robs low-income communities of the only protections they have. “We believe it is profoundly unjust and undemocratic for the state to take away from our communities the ability to review and engage in the decisions about development proposals,” the letter continued. “Urban minority communities in particular have for too long been treated by developers and planners as a blank canvas for urban renewal, highways, shopping malls, office towers, and gentrifying development. All of these approaches share something in common with the current ‘by right’ proposal: they override the input of low income people of color in the service of some supposed ‘greater good’ defined by those in power.” The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment was one of nine statewide organizations who helped draft the letter. Random Lengths spoke with Beverly Roberts, a South Los Angeles resident and leader with Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. She was in the statewide meeting where the group decided to oppose this bill. “We discussed it at length, and we decided to vote against,” Roberts said. “There’s some good parts in it…. But they’re not really benefitting the low-income people.” As for excluding the organized involvement
“We discussed it at length, and we decided to vote against. There’s some good parts in it…. But they’re not really benefitting the lowincome people.” Beverly Roberts
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
Beverly Roberts, a South LA resident and leader with Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment was in the statewide meeting where the group opposed the bill. File photo.
of community members, “It would certainly be a concern, because that’s what we do,” Roberts said. Developers and their lobbyists have been deploying bogeyman arguments about CEQA for years, with little or no foundation in facts. For example, in 2012, Ethan Elkind, an environmental attorney at UC Berkeley School of Law wrote that “[M]aking CEQA Public Enemy #1 for infill development doesn’t make sense…. [W]hen it comes to the big factors stopping infill, at least in California, CEQA ranks below a host of other barriers, such as local zoning codes that outlaw infill, lack of infrastructure investment, high construction costs, tax incentives that favor strip malls over housing, and poor neighborhood schools.” This wasn’t just his opinion, he noted. “The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research released its 2012 annual survey results of California’s local governments. Of the 423 cities (88 percent of all cities) and 49 counties (84 percent of all counties) responding to the survey, less than 5 percent cited CEQA as the primary barrier to infill development.” A more recent attempt to demonize CEQA came last year in a report from the law firm Holland and Knight. The report assembled a virtually complete survey of all CEQA cases from 2010 through 2012, and concluded that CEQA actually harmed the environment and the economy. This claim was debunked by Sean Hecht, a UCLA professor of environmental law, who is also the founding board chair of the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation. The report’s claims fell into three parts: First that CEQA lawsuits disproportionately targeted environmentally beneficial infill development projects. Hecht noted that it was based on “an absurdly overinclusive definition of ‘infill,’” as “projects located entirely within one of California’s 482 cities, or located immediately adjacent to existing developed areas in an unincorporated county.” With that sweeping definition, “it is unsurprising that most CEQA cases would involve ‘infill,’” Hecht wrote. “In fact, it would be surprising if any significant number did not!” These two examples represent some of the best arguments CEQA’s critics have got. These may explain why they’re so eager to get things done behind closed doors, where no one will ask impertinent questions.
When Random Lengths contacted Hecht, he initially thought that his criticism of the Holland and Knight report wouldn’t be directly relevant to Brown’s proposed legislation, given how unrealistic the report’s definition was. But he double-checked the proposed language defining “infill” development and changed his mind. “You know, I’m wrong about that,” Hecht said. “It actually is just as broad.” But then he moved on to another crucial concern: The lack of balance the legislation would produce, placing “the need for more housing units over pretty much any other value that you could imagine.” As a result, a residentially-zoned project next to a freeway, factory or refinery would not be subject to any sort of review. “This law would allow housing to be built by the right as a requirement, even within 500 feet of a freeway or a factory,” Hecht warned. “Public health guidelines both from county department of public health, and the state Air Resources Board that basically say you shouldn’t build any new housing within 500 feet of a freeway, or other types of facility.” The Coalition to Preserve LA raised similar concerns in a late May press release: The Coalition this year criticized Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the city council for encouraging developers to erect family housing near freeways. These developments have been dubbed Black Lung Lofts. Brown’s attempt to detour around CEQA will hasten these dangerous housing projects. Specifically, it went on to note: In USC’s watershed Children’s Health Study of 3,600 children, scientists proved that children living near freeways suffer chronic lung damage, particularly within a block of freeways. UCLA researchers found a higher risk for premature babies. Experts say this tainted housing cannot be “mitigated” with air filters, trees or tighter windows — microscopic metal and rubber particles still lodge in the lungs and brain. But there are other problems as well, Stewart pointed out. “A lot of land in California that’s zoned for housing has Brownfield cleanup problems, things that happened 80 years ago, that need to be cleaned up,” she said. [See CEQA, page 7]
[CEQA, from page 6]
CEQA
Grandfathered environmental problems— such as the Rancho LPG facility—are one of California’s biggest headaches. It would be ludicrous to build on top of them, rather than clean them up. But that’s precisely what could happen if Brown gets his way. “It’s just not worth putting housing before health,” Stewart concluded. The larger problem may lie in the market mindset itself. As Folk pointed out, California’s housing problems vary significantly from region to region. There’s no reason to think marketbased solutions are going to solve them.
“This law would allow housing to be built by the right as a requirement, even within 500 feet of a freeway or a factory. Public health guidelines both from county department of public health, and the state Air Resources Board that basically say you shouldn’t build any new housing within 500 feet of a freeway, or other types of facility.” Sean Hecht
UCLA professor of environmental law and founding board chairman of the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation
On June 15, Goodwill Industries International named Tiarra Barrera-Hammond—a Long Beach nurse who was once a homeless, single mother—as its Kenneth Shaw Graduate of the Year. Tiarra Barrera-Hammond was selected as the 2016 Kenneth Shaw Graduate of the Year award recipient after an exhaustive search was conducted from a nationwide pool of Goodwill graduates. “During the training program, Goodwill provided me with a scholarship, tutorial assistance and support services to help me succeed as a CNA,” Barrera-Hammond said. “The program gave me the inspiration I needed to embark on an exciting new career in healthcare that helped me support myself and my children.” While enrolled in the Certified Nurses Assistant program, Barrera-Hammond found that her calling was care for and nurture others in need. She took prerequisite courses for the registered nurse program at Long Beach City College. After graduating from the Goodwill CNA program, she remained in school full-time to complete her Registered Nurse prerequisite courses. She was soon accepted into the college’s associate degree nursing program where she earned her degree two years later. Barrera-Hammond eventually passed the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nursing, and then began a two-year contract to work as an RN at Dignity Health-St. Mary Medical Center. Janet McCarthy, president Tiarra Barrera-Hammond, left, is pictured at the Delegate Assembly and CEO of Goodwill SOLAC, with Jim Gibbons, center, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International, and Charles Jackson, 2016 Achiever of the Year award praised Barrera-Hammond for recipient. being a compassionate, dedicated professional who took the initiative to achieve her professional goals beyond her CNA training. “Goodwill SOLAC provided Tiarra with the tools and support services to help her further her education and training as a nurse,” said McCarthy. “Tiarra is a role model for other Goodwill CNA students and we are proud of her hard work and the determination she demonstrated to earn her RN license.” Barrera-Hammond is now married with three children. Her family joined her at Goodwill Industries International’s Delegate Assembly conference earlier this month in Omaha, Neb. Goodwill SOLAC is a nonprofit organization that transforms donated goods into job training, education and placement services for individuals with barriers to employment. Goodwill SOLAC serves 22 cities and communities throughout Southern Los Angeles County. Goodwill SOLAC’s main facility houses its administrative offices, training programs, processing operations, transportation fleet, LiNKS Sign Language & Interpreting Services, a retail store and its e-commerce operations.
[News Briefs, from page 6]
Long Beach Lobbyist Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Return
LONG BEACH—Lobbyist Carl Kemp, whose publicrelations firm The Kemp Group represented several marijuana dispensaries during their controversial struggle to be legalized in Long Beach, pleaded guilty June 8 to federal charges of filing a false tax return in 2012. Kemp, 43, is a former student body president at Cal State Long Beach who made an unsuccessful run for the 5th district seat on the Long Beach City in 2014. In a deal with federal prosecutors, Kemp agreed to plead guilty to the tax offense to avoid other charges, leaving him with a debt to the Internal Revenue Service of $210,661. Kemp still faces a civic fraud penalty to the IRS to cover the back taxes due for the past six years. He also received a civil fraud penalty, for which he will be arraigned later this month.
Calderon to Plead Guilty to Federal Corruption
LOS ANGELES—On June 13, former California Sen. Ronald S. Calderon agreed to plead guilty to a federal corruption charge. He admitted in a plea agreement that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for performing official acts as a legislator. Calderon, 58, of Montebello, agreed to plead guilty to one count of mail fraud through the deprivation of honest services to resolve a 2014 case against him. The plea agreement comes several weeks before Calderon was scheduled to go on trial on charges contained in a 24-count indictment. Calderon’s brother, Thomas M. Calderon, 62, also pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge for allowing bribe money earmarked for his brother to be funneled through his firm. Thomas Calderon was a former member of the California State Assembly who became a political consultant. Ron Calderon admitted participating in a bribery scheme involving two areas of legislation and the hiring of a staffer at the behest of those paying bribes. In the first part of the bribery scheme, Ron Calderon took bribes from Michael Drobot, the former owner of Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, which was a major provider of spinal surgeries that were often paid by workers’ compensation programs. Drobot was a client of Tom Calderon’s political consulting firm. California law known as the “spinal pass-through” legislation allows hospitals to pass on to insurance companies the full cost paid for medical hardware used during spinal surgeries. Drobot admitted that his hospital exploited this law, by using hardware purchased at highly-inflated prices from companies that he controlled. Drobot would then pass this cost along to insurance providers. Drobot also bribed Ron Calderon to use his public office to preserve the law, helping him maintain a long-running and lucrative healthcare fraud scheme. The payments from Drobot came in the form of summer employment for Ron Calderon’s son. He was hired as a summer file clerk at Pacific Hospital and received a total of $30,000 over the course of three years, despite doing little work at the hospital. In another part of the scheme, Ron Calderon accepted bribes from people he thought were associated with an independent
The Local Publication You Actually Read
June 23 - July 6, 2016
“In some areas the crisis is a lack of affordable housing, certainly San Francisco’s problem,” she said. “Just building housing alone will not address that problem, you’d have to build another city of San Francisco on top of it ... if you’re just going with the supply and demand approach. If they’re really interested in affordable housing, then there should be targeted programs to address that.” At the same time, Folk noted, other parts of the state are still overbuilt from before the housing bubble collapse. Both the bubble and the collapse came out of the market, and the failure to regulate it sensibly. Which is also the purpose of CEQA, in a way: To prevent the kinds of development that are more harmful than beneficial in the long run — and to help make worthwhile developments even better. That’s even how developers themselves see things, Phillips noted. “I talk to a lot of developers, who’re not lobbyists for developers, they’re just successful developers, and they say that if you go through the process the proper way, get people involved early, let them help you design the project, you end up with a better project,” Phillips said. “Those developers, who figure out how the process works, typically are not the ones you find demanding changes.”
LB Nurse Named 2016 Kenneth Shaw Graduate of the Year
[See News Briefs, page 10]
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Councilman Buscaino Discovers the Homeless Are His Own Emergency Response Team meets with 145 homeless people, 85% call the Harbor Area home James Preston Allen, Publisher
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
It has been more than 10 months since Councilman Joe Buscaino held his San Pedro Forum on Homelessness at the Warner Grand Theatre, where he reiterated the commonly held belief that neighboring cities were busing their homeless to the San Pedro area. He vowed he would stop this practice and called for greater cooperation amongst local cities to curb the importation of homeless people. Then he appointed a special task force to deal with the issue. The San Pedro Homeless Taskforce still hasn’t reported its findings. The homeless problem persists. Only it’s not what Buscaino expected. In Buscaino’s weekly e-news bulletin, he reports that, “In April, the Emergency Response Team (ERT) met with 145 homeless individuals, 85 percent of whom are from the Harbor Area.” The report continues on about the reported results in the month of May that, “the team met with 170 individuals, 88 percent of whom were from the Harbor Area.” These reports from his trusted sources are similar to, but higher than national statistics, that show that most people who are homeless live in places in which they were reared and lived in a home. The reality is that the people whom we have come to call “homeless” in our neighborhoods (at least some 85 to 88 percent) are in fact right at home because this is where they came from.They just don’t have a roof over their heads with a permanent address. This fact flies in the face of tightly held prejudices that perceive the homeless in our communities as outsiders. The councilman now must recognize them as his constituents. This is a hard fact to swallow for the indignant Saving San Pedro crowd after shaming the homeless on social media and having consistently called for more encampment sweeps to the tune of $30,000 per action. It was reported at one of the recent Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council meetings that there have been 27 such sweeps in the Harbor Area since the end of last summer, possibly more by now. By my estimation, the sweeps have cost the taxpayers of Los
Angeles somewhere around $810,000. In addition to this expense, the police routinely issue tickets for infractions for any of the 24 municipal codes of which the homeless could be in violation, just by existing in a public space. Most of these tickets go to warrant for failure to appear. This only adds to the public expense and burden to the superior courts, not to mention the cost to the homeless themselves. This criminalization of the poor has become a revolving door with a downward spiral. It’s part of what keeps the homeless homeless. None other than the U.S. Department of Justice has recognized this vicious cycle for what it is: a civil rights violation that jeopardizes federal housing grants to our city. Enforcement actions such as the ones this city has used do nothing but make city officials look responsive. In response to the Los Angeles Police Department’s growing awareness that we can’t arrest our way out of homelessness. Los Angeles Police commission and the Los Angeles police chief, Charlie Beck, issued new policy guidelines this week that change how officers approach the mentally ill and homeless populations. This policy change comes after two officer involved shootings of homeless people in the past few years. One of those shootings was judged “out of policy” and the officer is being criminally prosecuted. Clearly there must be more creative and effective ways to spend $810,000 in Council District 15 and the rest of Los Angeles. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the estimated $80 million spent on police and fire department to react to the homeless crisis isn’t working either. Homelessness itself is not a crime. We as neighbors and as citizens of this city and nation must not continue down this misconceived path. The homeless are our neighbors without shelter. If this were any other kind of crisis that left 46,000 residents countywide without shelter for even a day, someone would call for the Red Cross and the National Guard to step in. In Los Angeles, we talk the issue to death at city council meetings. Then propose three different bond or tax measures, one of which will be voted on in November. Yet, not one new emergency shelter or new low-income housing unit will be opened or built before then. If this is how Los Angeles handles a crisis, I’d hate to see how the city would respond to the next major earthquake.
June 23 - July 6, 2016
Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com
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Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com
“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.” —Mark Twain Senior Editor Vol. XXXVII : No. 13 Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communities of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations throughout the Harbor Area.
Paul Rosenberg Assistant Editor Zamná Ávila zamna@randomlengthsnews.com
After Santa Barbara Spill, Investigate Rancho LPG By Connie Rutter, Retired Oil Industry Consultant Plains All American, the parent company of Rancho LLC, the liquefied petroleum gas storage facility on north Gaffey Street in San Pedro, has been indicted on 46 criminal charges by a California grand jury in connection with the 2015 spill of 140,000 gallons of crude oil onto Santa Barbara’s beaches. An employee of Plains All American was also indicted on three criminal charges and may face jail time for failing to make a timely report of the spill. “Today’s charges serve as a powerful reminder of the consequences that flow from jeopardizing the wellbeing of our ecosystems,” said California Attorney General Kamala Harris to the Wall Street Journal. Harris said the indictment reflected what the company knew or should have known of the dangers posed by its action. Many local activists are watching developments with much interest and many questions. The first: What did Plains All American know about the Rancho site? “There was no greater example of (Plains’) disdain for public safety than the company’s purchase of the 25-million-gallon butane gas storage site of Rancho,” declared activist Janet Gunter, in an email. The company knew that the tanks were in an earthquake rupture zone. It knew the tanks were
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35 years old and built without permit review to a lower seismic standard. It knew that this highly explosive gas is on a site that is subject to liquefaction in the event of an earthquake. Rancho LLC (limited liability – remember that) is across from Home Depot. LPG, liquefied petroleum gas, is the most dangerous product from crude oil refining, because it readily reverts to a gas, when released, forming a vapor explosion, as it increases by 230 percent, and, if ignited, then forms a fiery explosion. The blast radius is 3 miles, according to the Environmental Protection Act Guidance. After that a pool fire occurs, which will take days to extinguish, or more likely, burn out as the 12 million gallons of butane burns. The three miles would take in several schools and many pre-existing homes, and would affect 27,000 people, according to the directions in the Guidance and the risk plans reported by previous owners of the site. The statistical probability of a release is more than one in 100, according to actuarial data. But it is even made more likely by the earthquake fault which underlies the facility, the likelihood of terrorist attack, because of its location adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles, and because of being short-handed—12 people, 24-7 for a 20-acre site. A group of activists have been trying for years [See Investigate, page 9]
Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com. Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @ randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email rlnsales@randomelengthsnews.com or reads@randomlengthsnews.com. Extra copies and back issues are available by mail for $3 per copy while supplies last. Subscriptions are available for $36 per year for 27 issues. Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We welcome articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right to express those opinions. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Reporting Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2016 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
Re: Across the Great Divide
RANDOMLetters Homeless in San Pedro
Thank for your excellent presentation on homelessness on the Saturday June 18 forum. You gave a very cogent and concise outline of the history and the current situation in San Pedro and generated a very fruitful discussion which included several people who are or have been homeless. As you said, clearly the millions of dollars talked about for more housing will not be housing people for several years and we need to think of what we can do now.
Community Alert
1,300 RNs to Begin 4-day Kaiser Los Angeles Strike Thursday
Some 1,300 registered nurses are set to begin a fourday strike Thursday at Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles hospital, as part of their campaign to move the hospital and health insurance giant to improve staffing and invest patient care. Los Angeles Medical Center (Kaiser Permanente) strike schedule: · Picketing begins 7 a.m. June 23, · Strike rallies at 12 p.m. June 23, and June 26, at 12 p.m. · Strike ends, 7 a.m. June 27
[Investigate, from page 8]
Investigate Rancho LPG
[See Letters, page 10]
June 23 - July 6, 2016
a remote location, has just petitioned the EPA to look at Rancho’s risk evaluation again. This may not be successful, since the EPA makes it possible for all LPG facilities to greatly understate their risks. (EPA made this change for LPG at the last minute in 1999, less than a month before the risk rule (Emergency Procedures and Community Right to Know) became effective. Many facilities had already calculated their risk according to the correct formula in the Guidance. This led to so much confusion, the EPA said it would not approve the risk plans of hazardous facilities, only that they had submitted something. This was because facilities could have used the old correct formula or the new reduced formula. (The new formula requires an LPG
facility to calculate the risk from only the first 10 minutes of a release. There’s no explanation for what happens to the rest of the tank contents.) We pray that the petition, which carries some important signatures, will make the EPA stop covering up and make their rules comply with reason and concern for the public. Many comments were submitted to the EPA while it was revising this rule in compliance with an executive order. Strangely, they have not changed this part of the rule, which leaves Rancho/Plains an intolerable threat and the federal EPA guilty of either stupidity or collusion or both. Rancho is the next facility Kamala Harris should look at. If there’s a release at Rancho, there will be bodies to clean up, not just tar balls. Better hope your body won’t be one of them.
trusted them to order, pay for and deliver another version. They did not perform their duty and they attempted to cover it up and protect you. My personal position on your copyright claim is that your work is not original enough to be individually unique. It’s a rip-off of someone else’s design. It is not I who stole anything from you. I advised DONE to fight your claim but the city attorney didn’t want to waste her time defending a $2,000 lawsuit. And so, you now stand as the only CeSPNC member to have monetarily benefited from having
to have the LPG removed, but have been unable up until now. It hasn’t helped that the federal EPA has incorrectly (and stupidly) allowed the American Petroleum Institute to use a weakened standard of risk, understating the risk by 1 in 36, to ‘inform’ the public. (The American Petroleum Institute, of course, is concerned with saving its members money, not with the safety of the public.) This error on the part of the EPA allows Rancho’s parent company, Plains All-American, to claim self-righteously that they are in compliance. That is only true because the EPA is out of line with reality. Tony Patchett, a pro-bono attorney for the activists group, which has been trying to bring these facts to light and have the site closed or moved to
RLn June 9 edition OK, Mr. Allen the gloves are off…you are a LIAR and the truth needs to be told. Here is the truth as it stands why I was paid $2,000 for copyright violations. Upon the selection of your previous personal slate two years ago as the new Central Board (whom you claimed you chose because YOU could control them) Written notification to the Board was served that permission for use any and ALL artwork I created as the Outreach Chair was rescinded and that once ANY existing stock was distributed it was NOT to be used again. As a professional artist this is my right to protect any and all of my creations. YOU took it upon yourself to try to circumvent this order by contacting the supposed creator of the San Pedro [Three eyed] fish and using HIS art, who his claims of trademark were made 14 YEARS after the supposed creation. If challenged I doubt it would stand the test of authorship by the way. Trouble is you did NOT use his, you used MINE. 6 months ago I received a delivery to my studio numerous boxes from a grocery bag maker we had used while I was on the Board. Upon inspection these boxes revealed MY art, NOT you’re [sic] supposed fish creator. This was an egregious and contemptuous act of willful disregard of my copyright. When you were notified of YOUR theft for what is LAWFULLY mine, YOU tried to justify your actions with your standard bullshit and lies. YOU WERE CAUGHT RED HANDED stealing my work Mr. Allen. I could have sued the Council and when the D.O.N.E was provided the facts they agreed and hence the payment. By the way, I have all of the correspondence and documentation if you need to have your memory
Ms. Vought, I never knew that the gloves were ever on between us. The truth is that you copied a popular San Pedro mascot image that has been previously copyrighted by Dave Butkus. You gave the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council permission to use your version of it but our of spite for me, you withdrew that permission once you were voted off the board. You blame me for the error of reusing your image. However, it was the fault of your current slate teammates Danielle Sandoval and Donald Galaz. They were responsible for the order of the bags with that image. The council
The Local Publication You Actually Read
No negotiations are scheduled. The registered nurses, who are members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, are seeking a contract that will improve staffing to protect patient care, as well as economic gains that will promote retention of experienced RNs and boost recruitment of new nurses.
And there are things we can do. My list coming out of the forum includes: learning about the legal issues of the police actions from confiscation of belongings to issuing of tickets which lead to heavy fines and un-payable debt; providing legal assistance to those who lost property or are ticketed; being present in the community to see that abuses do not occur and bear witness when they do; make sure there are hot meals (“soup kitchens”) 7 days a week, organized in a manner that works for all; see that seriously ill people living on the streets are provided with medical services and a bed in the hospital. Most needed and probably the hardest: work to have a legal space where homeless people can BE, with a secure place for their possessions and room for them to sleep and live--outside or inside, making use of un-used public space or other available spaces (using some of the millions that are promised). But really, could that be harder than the millions spent on police hours spent telling people they can’t really be anywhere and fining them. And what is the cost to each of us, each time we walk by a homeless person and do nothing. Can we put a call out to the community to organize? All should be welcome who support helping the homeless with generosity, respect, and kindness, and agree that the world belongs to all of us. A plan that a wide range of people-of varying political, religious, social backgrounds--would support could be based on some of the ideas above and input from people without homes on what would help them the most. Susannah Roff de la Cruz San Pedro
refreshed for you seem to conveniently forget the facts of the matter and twist the truth to fit your twisted ego. It was YOU Mr. Allen and not the Board who tried to violate my rights and you were caught…and any blame goes to YOU. So get your facts straight and tell the TRUTH for once in your life. You were called out and had to pay. Oh…and you DID lose the selection didn’t you, and for once San Pedro is finally getting wise to your true nature, one of self appointed importance that is nothing more than crap in a hat. Allyson Vought San Pedro
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RANDOMLetters [Letters, from page 9]
served on this board. The TRUTH as you like to shout it out is that you, Galaz and Sandoval got elected back on the council without any public accountability of this issue, except mine. The people on 6th Street are already “wise” to you but we all will have ample time to see exactly what your intentions are within the next two years. James Preston Allen RLn Publisher/CeSPNC President
Interesting Thought: 50th Anniversary of Cultural Revolution
Are we seeing something similar today from the far right “know nothings”? On May 16, 1966, Mao and his wife Jiang Qing issued a proclamation against “scholar tyrants” to be enforced immediately. By the end of May, China’s educational system came to a stop and juvenile mobs took over. It was a revolution of semi-literates against
“spectacle wearers.” Bad students took revenge on good teachers. Libraries and art museums were ransacked, closed or burnt. Western goods were burned. John Mattson San Pedro
It Goes Too Far
What if the construction of new housing in Los Angeles ground to a halt? What if rents skyrocketed? What if construction jobs suddenly disappeared? What if our city’s homeless problem got even worse than it already is? This could be LA’s new reality if the so-called Neighborhood Integrity Initiative is approved by voters in March. The initiative, sponsored by Michael Weinstein and funded by his AIDS Healthcare Foundation, will stop any project that requires General Plan Amendments or zoning variance. That means stopping nearly all major housing and development projects in our city. Signatures are currently being gathered to qualify the initiative for the March 2017 ballot. It’s a poorly-written measure that goes too far. It would stop the building of everything—from affordable housing, to hospitals, schools, and parks. This damaging measure would: • Create an infinitely more crowded city • Drive rents and housing prices higher and force more families to live on the streets • Eliminate rent-controlled housing • Result in $60 billion dollars in lost revenue and more than 300,000 lost jobs in the construction industry alone We can’t let a misnamed, poorly-written initiative effectively destroy our city. That’s why we’re asking you, today, to sign on and say NO to the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative—it just goes too far. We are the broadest coalition in the history of Los Angeles—many of whom usually are on opposite sides—all working together to oppose the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative. Small businesses, environmentalists, homeless advocates, labor unions, urban planners, and public transportation experts all
June 23 - July 6, 2016
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
[See Letters, page 19]
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[News Briefs, from page 7]
film studio, but were actually undercover FBI agents. In exchange for the payments—including $3,000 monthly payments to Calderon’s daughter for services she never provided—Calderon agreed to support an expansion of a state law that gave tax credits to studios that produced independent films in California. In addition to the payments to his daughter, Calderon had one of the undercover agents make a $5,000 payment toward his son’s college tuition and a $25,000 payment to Californians for Diversity, a nonprofit entity that Ron Calderon and his brother used to pay themselves. As part of the agreement with the undercover agents, Ron Calderon performed official acts that led to the hiring of another agent as a staffer in his district office at an annual salary of $45,105. As part of Calderon’s plea agreement, federal prosecutors have agreed not to seek a sentence of more than 70 months in federal prison. However, Judge Snyder would not be bound by any sentencing recommendation and could sentence Ron Calderon up to statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Tom Calderon pleaded guilty to money laundering and admitted that he agreed to conceal bribe payments for his brother from the two undercover FBI agents. As part of Tom Calderon’s plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than one year in prison. However, when Judge Snyder could impose a term of up to 20 years in prison, which is the statutory maximum penalty for the money laundering count. Sentencing is set for Sept. 12 for both Ron Calderon and his brother.
This year, Grand Performances is putting on the Evolución L.A.tino series which explores Latino and Chicano culture, power, influence and experiences through the arts. Visit www.grandperformances.org for upcoming events.
Grand Performances Brings Cultures Together By Adriana Catanzarite, Editorial Intern
Leigh Ann Hahn, the director of programming, said the events would focus on local historical events that don’t receive a lot of notice, like the Chicano Moratorium, a movement that started in the late ‘60s in East Los Angeles. The moratorium hosted several protests against the disproportionate number of Chicanos drafted into the military and sent to Vietnam. The largest demonstration ended with a police riot that killed four people. On June 24, at 8 p.m., Grand Performances will be celebrating the movement, while also focusing on voices that may have been disregarded in the past. “The Chicana Moratorium: Su Voz, Su Canto is a completely brand new work, with songs that haven’t ever been heard before that all revolve around that movement,” Hahn said. “But what’s different about it is that it’s focused on how women lived through that
period of time. The moratorium is seen as primarily a male-driven story, and a lot of people don’t talk about women’s role in that protest, and how they were there, not just as support for the men, but as vital voices in their own way.” The Chicana Moratorium will feature original songs and spoken word poems led by Martha Gonzalez. Gonzalez is the lead singer, percussionist and songwriter of the Chicano rock band, Quetzal. But Hahn says the concerts will not exclusively center on Latino culture. Southeast and Central Asian Muslim culture will also be explored through Re: ARRANGED—Muslim Cultures Illuminated. The program features mainstream pop stars as well as traditional musicians. On Aug. 7, Sanubar Tursun will introduce Los
Everyday
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[See Grand Performances, page 12]
The Local Publication You Actually Read Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment >> INDEPENDENT AND FREE
I
t’s officially summertime and the living is easy. Sort of. We still have to slog our way through work and other unspeakable acts of responsibility. But there’s no need to surrender to the depths of despair. You can still enjoy this magical season. Grand Performances, a non-profit organization, returned to downtown Los Angeles this month with another one of their dynamic summer concert series. For the following 11 weeks, Grand Performances will feature a lineup of local and international artists chosen to celebrate the diverse array of cultures in Los Angeles. And, all the performances are free and open to the public. This year’s program was curated to address several social and racial issues, particularly the experiences and issues of Chicano and Latino cultures.
$ 99 NOW OPEN SUNDAYS From 8 am to 8 pm LIVE MUSIC THURSDAYS If It’s Thursday, It’s Beach City Grill!
Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 376 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (424) 287-0645 • www.BeachCityGrill.net Tues. & Wed. 6 am-8 pm • Thurs.-Sat. 6 am-9 pm • Sun. 8 am-8 pm • Mon. gone fishin’
Draft Beer & Slice of Pizza June June2323- July - July6,6,2016 2016
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[Grand Performances, from page 11]
Grand Performances
Angeles to Chinese-Muslim culture in her U.S. debut. Sanubar is known as the diva of Uyghurs music—a Turkic ethnic group in northwestern China. Sanubar’s music is rooted in the traditional, with long-necked lutes and frame drums as the only instrumental accompaniment for her lilting vocals. The result is beguiling, with an almost eerie quality to Sanubar’s singing. Grand Performances describes the experience as “one-of-a-kind.” Hahn said the concerts are a kind of melting pot. They create a safe space for people to come together and just enjoy different cultures, music and of course, art.
“We believe that access to the arts is a right, not a privilege,” Hahn said. “Arts are really a way for us to share and understand that we are all a part of the same human race. It’s about giving people the opportunity to find communal experiences in a way that is safe and welcoming to everyone. It makes no difference who you are, or what your cultural background is.” The concerts will take place at the California Plaza, 350 Grand Ave. in Los Angeles, with performances running until Aug. 21. Seating is determined on a first-come-first-serve basis. For a complete schedule of events call (213) 6872190 or visit www.grandperformances.org.
Favorite hits by the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean and more! Check out the Surf City Allstars in action— https://youtu.be/HMGiYGtk8fI
THRU 6/26 GET $5 OFF/TICKET at wgt.tix.com Discount Code IMANALLSTAR at Checkout
2016 June 23 - July 6, 2016
Serving the Seven of•the Harbor INDEPENDENT AND Communities FREE >> Arts Cuisine • Area Entertainment
SAT JULY 9, 4pm SAN PEDRO BLUES CONCERT
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The first annual Blues Festival in San Pedro benefiting kids in our community. Enjoy legendary blues performers, such as James Harman, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers— great music to help a great cause! Tickets: www.sanpedroblues.com. Info: www.worldclassyouthfoundation.org
SUN JULY 10, 5pm BRAVE NEW WORLD: THE TIME IS NOW
Full Moon Rising presents Daniel Tyler Pohnke and Friends in a truly unique theatre experience combining entertainment and culture to make the world a better place. Tickets and info: www.bnwshow.com
SAT JULY 16, 8pm
BRENTON WOODS’ 75th BIRTHDAY BASH Celebrate with the King of Oldies (The Oogum, Boogum Song, Gimme Little Sign) and enjoy classic oldies including Hey There Lonely Girl, Meetin’ in the Ladies Room, Boogie Oogie Oogie and I Do Love You, performed by the original recording artists—a truly special event! Tickets and info: www.purplepass.com
The Warner Grand Theatre 310-548-2493 • www.WarnerGrand.org 478 W. 6th St. at Pacific Ave., San Pedro The Warner Grand Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles. Events, performers, dates and showtimes are subject ot change without notice. Grand Vision Foundation is the “Official Friends Group” of the Warner Grand Theatre.
Martha Gonzalez accompanied by fellow Quetzal band-mate, Juan Perez, on acoustic guitar. File photo
ART G ALLERIE S | OPEN S T U DIO S | LATE DININ G & S HOPPIN G | LIVE M U S IC ON THE S TREET S
TheLOFT Studios and Galleries If I were a carpenter
Gallery 478 and TransVagrant @ Warschaw Gallery NEIL NAGY: AN INTROSPECTIVE
Ellen Riingen, Redondo Beach Strolling.
Studio Gallery 345
new works on paper and canvas Pat Woolley and Gloria D. Lee show new work including watercolors from their extensive travels in France. Pat’s children’s book illustrations are displayed, as well as unique jewelry and other small gifts from France. Open 6-9 p.m. on First Thursday and by appointment. For more information, call Gloria at (310) 545-0832 or Pat at (310) 374-8055 or artsail@roadrunner. com. 345 W. 7th St., San Pedro, www.patwoolleyart.com
Poetic Illusions
Richard Parker’s Poetic Illusions will feature works including oils from the Pastel Sticks series, and charcoals and pastels from his latest series of large scale ink and pencil erasers. “ [ I ] h ave b e e n e s p e c i a l l y enchanted by his ability to transform the quotidian in our material culture, with its otherwise forgettable content, into a source of pure aesthetic delight,” said Selma Holo, director of the USC Fisher Museum of Art. Open July 7 First Thursday and Nationals Ink and Pencil Eraser #1, every Saturday through Aug. 31 30 x 44”, pastel and ink on paper. from 2-5 p.m. 374 W. 7th St., Cherry Wood Gallery, (213) 840- 5717.
Michael Stearns Studio 347 Michiel Daniel, Recent Painting
Painter Michiel Daniel has exhibited in museums and galleries throughout Southern California for over 30 years. His work is in private and public collections including The Long Beach Museum of Art, Western Michigan University, and The Laguna Beach Museum of Art. The exhibition of Daniel’s recent work will preview during the First Thursday Artwalk and includes an artist’s reception on Sat., July 9, from 4-7 p.m. Michael Stearns Studio 347 is Michiel Daniel, Locoweed, acrylic on wood at 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro. panel 16 x 16. www.michaelstearnstudio.
First Thursday Special
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of Pizza $ 99 Slice + Draft Beer From 3 pm to close Exp. 6/30/16
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347 W. 6th St., San Pedro www.PhilieBsOnSixth.com
Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment >> INDEPENDENT ANDRead FREE The Local Publication You Actually
The LOFT Studios and Galleries will be exhibiting a series of works by mid-career artists Mary Bonic, Michael Chomick, June Diamond, Mark X. Farina, Michael Giancristiano, Paul Guillemette, Rachel Lauren Kaster, Flora Kao, Chris Mercier, Hung Viet Nguyen, Ellen Riingen, Andrea Kitts Senn, Ginger Van Hook, Luke Van Hook, Marjan Vayghan, and Valerie Wilcox. Selected by independent curator Steven Fujimoto, the 16 artists are known for their innovative use of materials, motifs and styles. If I Were A Carpenter explores the intersection and overlap between art, craft and utility as interpreted by the selected artists. The exhibit previews on July 7 First Thursday Art Walk from 6-9 p.m. Artists’ opening reception July 9, 4-7 p.m. The Loft, 401 South Mesa St, 3rd floor, San Pedro. For information contact (310) 227-6554 or greeniearts@gmail.com.
Neil Nagy’s nearly 50year career has its roots in the Bay Area figurative movement, known for fusing abstract expressionism and figuration in psychologically charged canvases that explored human isolation and alienation. Whether working directly from life, or reconstructing memories where the figure appears only partially realized, Toro, oil on canvas, 2005. Nagy’s concern is with Neil Nagy, Reflection, oil on canvas, 2004. presence in the face of absence. The two-venue show runs through Aug. 27. Gallery 478, 478 W. 7th St., and TransVagrant@Warschaw Gallery, 600 S. Pacific Ave. Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Mon.-Fri. and by appointment. (310) 732-2150 or (310) 600-4873.
Cherry Wood Gallery, News Pilot Art Space
June23 23--July July6, 6,2016 2016 June
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Slanging Gourmet Street Tacos:
Balam Mexican Kitchen Opens in Lynwood
June June23 23- July - July6,6,2016 2016
Serving the Seven of the Harbor•Area INDEPENDENT ANDCommunities FREE >> Arts • Cuisine Entertainment
By Gina Ruccione Cuisine and Restaurant Writer
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Taco shops are ubiquitous in the Harbor Area. Anyone could pick up a rock, throw it, and it would hit a Mexican restaurant, but Balam Mexican Kitchen in Lynwood is unlike anything around for miles. In Mayan, “balam” means “jaguar” and at Balam Mexican Kitchen, Chef Manuel “Kornie” Bañuelos is the bearded beast of a chef responsible for cranking out tacos that are basically to die for. Bañuelos moved to Lywood from Guadalajara in October, just three weeks before opening Balam in a former fast-food stand. Originally, he was set to open a fine dining restaurant in Laguna Beach, but as it is with so many restaurants that are set to open on schedule, plans change. For my own selfish reasons, I’m glad he rooted in Lynwood. Chefs flock to affluent areas on the regular, thinking they’re going to be the next best thing. It’s nice to see a young, well-rounded, creative type nesting in our neck of the woods. The menu is simple—only 10 signature dishes, each served with custom garnishes and sauces. But any of them can be prepared and then plated as tacos, burritos, torta ahogada or quesadillas. June 11 was Tacolandia, the 4th annual taco festival in Los Angeles. There were more than 140 vendors from Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Baja California and about 9,000 attendees. Bañuelos took home the award for Best in Taco Innovation. How innovative could tacos possibly be? They’re just meat and tortillas, right? Wrong. The Tropical T taco is coconut shrimp, mango pico de gallo, toasted pumpkin seeds on a “tortilla” made from a carefully sliced, hibiscus infused Jicama root. It was out of this world: fresh, crisp and clever. Of course, there are the options that veer towards the classic—like pork carnitas or braised pulled pork shoulder—but it’s fun to play around with familiar flavors in a way one would least expect. The chicken tinga masala, a traditional Indian dish, but served up on a tortilla, fuses two wonderful, albeit similar cuisines in spice and garnish. That was unexpected but wonderful. Korean barbeque has been popularized by foodies and food truck followers for years, so
Chef Manuel “Kornie” Bañuelos dishing out fusion cuisine in tacos and burritos. File photos
the Korean asada with bulgogi beef is a perfect addition to an out-of-the-box taco menu. Don’t worry vegetarians, Balam also accommodates your kind also. The kuuxum (mushroom in Mayan) and rajas feature mushrooms and peppers, respectively. Both pack plenty of flavor and are unique, as opposed to the old potato tacos I see everywhere else. I ordered all 10 options (no surprise there) and I ate all of them (again no surprise at all)! There wasn’t one taco that I didn’t enjoy and at $2.74 a taco, the price is right too. Want some more good news? Their beer and wine license was approved, so they’ll be pouring craft brews from our very own Phantom Carriage Brewery in Carson. Tacos and beer just in time for summer. Looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time in Lynwood. Gina Ruccione is a Southern California Restaurant Writers Association member. Visit her website at www.foodfashionfoolishfornication.com. Got a food tip? Email her at gina.rooch@gmail. com. Follow her food adventures Instagram @ foodfashionfoolishfornication.
Killing a One-Trick Pony
Arts Cuisine Entertainment June 23 - July 6 • 2016
By Greggory Moore, Curtain Call Columnist
One-trick ponies are a curious species. If they have a good trick and perform it well, their lives may not—may not—be in vain. Otherwise, it’s best to take them out back and put them down. There’s no getting around the fact that The News is a one-trick pony. Composer JacobTV recognizes what we all recognize: mainstream TV news reportage has largely morphed into infotainment. The most impactful events and gut-wrenching tragedies are deep-fried and served up as sound bites and video clips by anchorpersons who spend more effort making sure their outfits and makeup are just right than educating themselves. With The News, JacobTV has packaged this idea as plotless operatic spectacle (could there
and done that. Several elements of The News are good for the duration. Front and center are the two anchors, rhythm vocalist Loire Cotler and soprano Maeve Höglund. There isn’t a single vocal misstep between them. Höglund makes her sometimes soaring vocal flights seem easy, and Cotler alternates between machinegun syllabification and tuneful warbles with mechanistic precision. Together they effectively skewer the reportage we see and hear onscreen with their individual efforts perfectly complementing each other. The only here is the sound mix. While the music (effectively performed by a non tet, including two horns, an electric guitar and bass, and digital beats) is passably balanced.
ENTERTAINMENT
Details: (310) 519-1314; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
Jimmy Hewitt and the Soul Dogg Band Hewitt and his band bring a mix of originals and specially arranged classics, as well as a variety of soul blues with drop, snap and bump blues funk. Time: 9 p.m. June 24 Cost: $7 Details: http://seabirdjazzloungelbc.com Venue: Seabird Lounge, 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach
¡Come Bien! Eat Right! Beloved children’s entertainer, José-Luis Orozco, leads an interactive musical feast of rhythm, rhyme, and culture blended with a bilingual message to eat right and live life to the fullest. Time: 7 p.m. June 26 Cost: Free Details: www.grandperofmrances.org Venue: California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
June 24
Chicana Moratorium: Su Voz, Su Canto The poetic and musical voices of Latina power light up the night with original songs, spoken word, and more led by Martha Gonzalez of the East Los Angeles band, Quetzal. Time: 8 p.m. June 24 Cost: Free Details: www.grandperofmrances.org Venue: California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
June 25
Jupiter 2.0 The band will be performing selections from their recent album Destiny, Free-Will & Chaos, as well as hits from Rich & Famous and the collectible album Multiple Choice. Time: 12 to 3 p.m. Cost: Free Details: (310) 832-2424; http://tinyurl.com/ Jupiter-2-CornerStore Venue: The Corner Store, 1118 W. 37th St., San Pedro
Cotler and Höglund are too quiet. Their voices aren’t so much layered in with everything else as they are slightly buried. The video element of The News is excellent. JacobTV has not only collected just the right news clips to make his case, his edits and effects (often reminiscent of Max Headroom) bring out the best angles. There’s most always something compelling
G RAND
[See Curtain Call, page 16]
First Thursday Artwalk, July 7 Live piano no cover
VI S ION
PRE S ENT S
Saturday, June 25
7:30 pm Door • 8 pm Concert
Yuval Ron shares the ancient connection between the musical traditions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Tickets & Info:
310.833.4813 | GrandVision.org
The Grand Annex | 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Classical Remix Classical music is reinterpreted on a Latin, gypsy and straight-up jazz tip for a hot night of cool. Time: 8 p.m. June 25 Cost: Free Details: www.grandperofmrances.org Venue: California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
June 26
Catina DeLuna, Fish To Birds, Ashley Maher Asley Maher will kick off the concert with her highly infectious brand of world-folk-jazz, accompanied by guitarist Federico Ramos. Time: 4 p.m. June 26 Cost: $20
COMMUNITY June 23
Techworking Join Uncoded and Long Beach’s tech community for an evening of networking and conversation. Open to any and all working in, tinkering in or interested in technology in Long Beach and beyond. Time: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 23 Cost: Free Venue: WE Labs at the Packard, 205 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
June 24
Dance Downtown: Line Dancing Grab your boots and step in line. Beginner dance lessons, live band or DJ and open dance floor. Time: 7 to 11p.m. June 24 Cost: Free Details: www.musiccenter.org Venue: The Music Center Plaza, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
June 25
Singin’ the Blues and Other PV Butterflies Learn about local butterflies from the Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society’s Jess Morton. Time: 11 a.m. June 25 Cost: Free Details: (310) 541-7613; www.pvplc.org Venue: White Point Nature Preserve, 1600 Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro
June 26
Concerts at the Rancho Pack a picnic dinner and invite friends and family for a free concert on the historic grounds. The adobe home will remain open for tours throughout the evening. No pets allowed. Time: 4:30 p.m. June 26 Cost: Free [See Calendar, page 16]
June June23 23- -July July6,6,2016 2016
Yuval Ron Ensemble
Mystical Music of the Middle East
John York John York is a singer, composer and instrumentalist well known as a former member of the Byrds. Time: 8 p.m. June 25 Cost: $20 Details: (310) 519-1314 www.alvasshowroom.com Venue: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
San Pedro Blues Benefit Concert The concert’s headliners include Big John Atkinson, an old school multi-instrumentalists bluesman; Mighty Joe and the Prophets, the mixed bag of nuts filled with superstar blues guys in the band, 2000 Pounds of Blues. Time: 4 p.m. July 9 Cost: $25 Details: Sanpedroblues.com Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
be a more fitting frame for today’s world?) conflating actual news coverage with music and movement meant to highlight the absurdly trivialized distillation of world events by a never-ending network news cycle that pauses only to hawk products such as hamburgers and artificial tears. It’s a good trick, and for the 3rd Thursday first half of The News it’s generally New Orleans Jazz Band well executed. But one-trick Fridays Rob on the Piano, 7 pm ponies often keep the stage too Saturdays long, and for the last third of the Jazz Guitar, 6:30 pm show we feel like we’ve been there
Mystical Music of the Middle East Academy award-winner, composer and oud player and peace activist Yuval Ron returns to the Annex to share the ancient intercultural connection between the musical traditions of Judaism, Islam, Christianity. With a quartet and vocalist, the concert features songs from Turkey, Morocco, Yemen and Israel. Time: 8 p.m. June 25 Cost: $20 to $120 Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
July 9
Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment >> INDEPENDENT AND FREE The Local Publication You Actually Read
The News at Long Beach Opera. Left cast members Loire Cotler and Maeve Höglund. Photos by Keith Ian Polakoff.
Azar Lawrence Join the Azar Lawrence group for a night of jazz and fun. Time: 9 p.m. June 25 Cost: $15 Details: http://seabirdjazzloungelbc.com Venue: Roscoe’s Seabird Lounge, 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach
July 1
Troker From Guadalajara to GP – this crew merges powerhouse funk, blistering horns, hard-hitting drums, and virtuoso turntablism into potent rock-jazz. Time: 8 p.m. July 1 Cost: Free Details: www.grandperofmrances.org Venue: California Plaza, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
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Arts Cuisine Entertainment June 23 - July 6 • 2016 Venue: Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach Torrance Antique Street Fair Shop, eat and enjoy your day with Grandmas WitchesBroom on Marcelina Street in Torrance. Time: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 26 Cost: Free Details: (310) 809-2382 Venue: On Marcelina Street, between Cravens and Sartori, Torrance Subaru Summer Solstice 2016 Join thousands of your Subaru brethren as they return to the Port of Los Angeles for the largest Subaru show around. Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 26 Cost: $30 Details: isubaru.com Venue: POLA, 3011 Miner St., San Pedro The Three Louies An East-LA riff on the joys and absurdities of life with Louie Perez of Los Lobos, LA Poet Laureate Luis J. Rodriguez and journalist Luís Torres. Part performance art, part “sitdown” comedy and part social satire chisme. Stay for the Music Movement Meaning post show discussion. Time: 7 p.m. June 26 Cost: Free Details: http://grandperformances.org Venue: Grand Performances, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
INDEPENDENT ANDCommunities FREE >> Arts • Cuisine Entertainment Serving the Seven of the Harbor • Area
July 1 Cars and Stripes Forever Free pre-Independence Day celebration with a car show featuring more than 100 classic cars, live bands, food trucks, beer garden and a grand fireworks finale. Time: 5 to 10 p.m. July 1 Cost: Free Details: http://tinyurl.com/Cars-Stripes Venue: Fanfare Fountains at Gateway Plaza, 600 N. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
July 4 Speaking Truth to Power Celebrate Independence Day at Liberty Hill in San Pedro. An irregular assembly of the San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Jusitce through speech and song. Time: 10 a.m. July 4 Details: (310) 567-3332 Venue: Liberty Hill Monument, 5th Street at Harbor Boulevard, San Pedro 66th Annual John Olguin Fireworks Spectacular Cabrillo Beach is the place to be for some of the best fireworks in the Southland — at the 66th Annual John Olguin July 4th Spectacular Fireworks Show. Time: 2 to 10 p.m. July 4 Cost: Free Details: lawaterfront.org Venue: Cabrillo Beach, 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro
THEATER
June23 23- July - July6,6,2016 2016 June
June 26
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Marat/Sade The Long Beach Playhouse presents its latest production, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis De Sade or Marat/ Sade. The play is written in the style of the Theater of Cruelty, the creation of Antonin Artaud, a French playwright and surrealist in the 1920s. Time: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, through July 9 Cost: $14 to $24
Details: (562) 494-1014; www.lbplayhouse.org Venue: Long Beach Playhouse’s Studio Theater, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach La Cage aux Folles The beloved Tony Award Winning musical comes to East West Players to close the 50th Anniversary season. Time: 8 to 10 p.m. through June 26 Cost: $55 to $70 Details: www.eastwestplayers.org Venue: David Henry Hwang Theatre, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike Fifty-something siblings, Vanya (Stephen Rockwell) and Sonia (Jennifer Parsons), still co-habit their childhood home and lament that their lives seem to have passed them by sans adventure. Time: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through July 3 Cost: $47 to$49 Details: (562) 436.4610 http://ictlongbeach.org Venue: Beverly O’neil Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach
Arts
June 25 Gallery Azul’s 10th Anniversary Join Gallery Azul for their biggest show, featuring artists that have had a hand in creating the gallery’s identity: Mark Metzner, Alexia Kutchner, Ray Vasquez, Cora Ramirez-V, Rick Rodriguez, Jonathan Bueno, MER, Tania Jazz Alvarez, Rachel Madrigal, Chuymosca, Alan Papaleo, Gerry Bonilla, Mado, Nancy Webber, Navia Alejandro, Reidar Schopp, Chatismo, Brandon Harrison, David Flores, Alex Rios, David Martinez, Velia Martinez, Estela Gama, Zuela, Robyn Feeley, Paulina and Daniel Quinonez. Time: 6 to 10 p.m. June 25 Cost: Free Details: www.galleryazul.com Venue: Gallery Azul, 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro
June 27
Artifice Journeys Enjoy an Artifice Journeys, featuring artwork from Beverly Holman, James Kao and Mary Tarango. Time: June 27 through Aug. 7 Cost: Free Details: (310) 265-2592 www.artists-studio-pvac.com Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center/Beverly G. Alpay Center for Art Education, 5400 Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes
July 7
Michiel Daniel, Recent Painting With this work, Daniel employs a broad range of influences including: the work of the pattern and decoration painters, Pop Art, California Finish Fetish and Surrealism. The exhibition will preview during the San Pedro First Thursday art walk and includes an artist’s reception from 4 to 7 p.m. on July 9. Time: July 7 Cost: Free Details: (562) 400-0544 Venue: Michael Stearns Studio 347, 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro Veriditas Veriditas is a solo exhibition by local artist Lin Lin Hu. Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, through Aug. 1 Cost: Free Details: HeleneEngage@gmail.com Venue: PacArts, 303 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro
[Curtain Call, from page 15]
Curtain Call—Long Beach Opera
onscreen. Some of the show’s most affecting moments, in fact, are when the subjects of field interviews in calamity areas are allowed to speak for themselves. JacobTV music provides a fitting ambiance. It’s inspired counterpoint to the kind of coverage these crises typically get from network infotainment. “I just want to know: why is [Assad] shelling us?” asks an 8-year-old boy standing after describing the gory deaths of relatives and neighbors from Syrian barrel bombs. “For the law of the powerful over the weak? Just for that?” Where The News fails is where JacobTV seemingly runs out of ideas. The show opens with You Know What? featuring Cotler and Höglund behind their anchor desk satirizing the Fox News-style of topical chatter that doesn’t actually tell you anything. The third song, Stock Market, executes a staccato rhythm reminiscent of a ticker-tape machine as we’re bombarded with visuals of New York Stock Exchange numbers and financial analysis that is little more than excited speculation. Before long, we’re into our first commercial (no less a song than the rest but cleverly timed at almost exactly 30 seconds). Then Si Wang immediately changes the pace, with stately music and red-flashing Chinese characters blended into news coverage of a terrible earthquake. Little by little, though, JacobTV seems to lose the thread. His anchors increasingly forsake their anchor roles, becoming generic frontwomen with minimal, uninspired choreography. Perhaps the point is that infotainment anchors are more showbiz folk than news reporters. However, that point was better made while the show stayed true to its central conceit. Musically, the problem is that JacobTV starts repeating himself, and the score becomes a bit stale. By the last two songs, the problem is so pronounced that the video themes are also recirculating. This is not a true bookending (there is no plot arc, and the only structure of any import is the flow), so bringing in a second round of
Composer JacobTV (Jacob ter Veldhuis) is the brains behind the Long Beach Opera’s The News. File photo
Donald Trump—from what appears to be the same speech, no less—feels like killing time. JacobTV has a good ear for speech grooves, a good eye for arresting images, a good sense of timing and a good idea. If this 75-minute show had come in at under an hour, it might have been great. But while less may never be more when it comes to true news coverage, the arts are a different story. Still, there’s something nice about The News. It may not leave you wanting more, but a strong start and several affecting and charming sections open a better window on our world than your average nightly newscast. Times: 4 p.m., June 25 and 2:30 p.m., June 26 Cost: Tickets $29 to $137.25 Details: (562) 432-5934 www.longbeachopera.org Venue: The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at Santa Monica College Location: 1310 11th St., Santa Monica, 90401
[Blues, from page 1]
Talkin’ Blues
launched only one week after the owner of Roscoe’s Media Center recruited Slim as host. Slim had absolutely no previous experience in radio but by the time the show debuted he did have a co-host: Carolyn Gaines, the daughter of the blues master Roy Gaines. “We pulled it together for that show,” he recalled. “Carolyn had one of B.B. King’s daughters call in. I had a blues singer and actor come in, Roy Jones Sr. The show was good.” No. Gaines did not continue with Let’s Talk Blues. But Slim carried on, learning to run a radio show from the same person who had taught him to play guitar—himself.
including the documentary Hot Love On Me So Strong about the last few juke joints in South Central,” Slim said. “She did a great job chronicling the scene there. Many artists from South Central that are unknown played on the album. A few years back I did a CD called, South Side All Stars Doing Barnyard Hits, which has about 15 players from South Central on it. It’s all original and has players who should be known.” When his good friend, Fretham died this past December, she left so much documentation behind. “We were like a tag team,” Slim said. “After she left, everything was in my hands, the documentary, my biography, Sweetback Blues, The Twelve Bar Tale of South Side Slim and my
South Side Slim, right, and guitarist Ray Brooks taping Let’s Talk Blues at the Seabird Lounge. Photo by Linnea Stephan
there are just so many shows out there now that seem to have forgotten the traditional blues, in my opinion.” One of the goals for Roscoe’s is to eventually have monitors, broadcasting the radio station in all of its establishments as an entertainment feature. Never one for redundancy, Slim has presented an eclectic variety of guest artists on his show. Because he knows so many musicians, he was able to call friends such as Dr. Hank, a bluesman from the south side in his early shows. Recently, he had Mighty Mo Rodgers, a classic bluesman from Chicago, with his latest CD, Mud and Blood. He also hosted the local Lester Lands and Roy Goren, a 16-years-old, guitarist. On June 15, local legend Ray Brooks appeared. Brooks was nominated for the Blues Grammy in 1979 for his recording of Walk Out Like A Lady. Willie McNeil, a drummer and Hollywood legend who was the catalyst for South Side Slim’s contribution in the Paul McCartney, Early Days jam session video also showed up on June 21. Slim has an interview June 28, with a great guitar player from the east side of town, Joey Delgado with The Delgado Brothers. Slim didn’t initially know if he would have a guest each week but it became a regular thing he
wanted to keep up. Now he pre-books his shows. Jazz and gospel singer and director of The World Stage in Leimert Park, Dwight Trible is coming on the show in July, as well as Alexander Gershman from the jazz band Sasha’s Block. Gershman just released a single called Runaway Blues billed as a jazz, gospel and blues crossover. It also features the a cappella band that sings everything from gospel, to R&B to jazz, Take 6. “I do a segment of old school blues from 1927 to 1940 on each show and I’ve also received CD’s from friends that I play, like Lucky Lloyd to Mike Wheeler and up and coming Chicago blues man,” Slim said. “I like to play some that are famous and some not so famous. So I play some up to date stuff from friends and I try to make it authentic. That is the basic goal. It’s only an hour show and there’s a lot of blues shows out there playing most of the stuff people hear all the time. Not too many radio stations are playing the old school blues anymore. Most play what is happening right now.” Check out Let’s Talk Blues at www.rmconair. com. To learn more about South Side Slim at www. southsideslim.com
Kos Takes Art to San Francisco By Andrea Serna, Arts and Culture Writer
June June23 23- -July July6, 6,2016 2016
Slim covers all eras of the blues, pulling from the mid-1920s to the 1960s He’s showcased greats such as Furry Lewis and Billy Lyons, with their song Stackolee. “I’ve heard a lot about that song,” Slim said. “It’s like an old folk tale. Stackolee is the kind of guy you don’t want to mess with. If you’re playing dice with him, as the lyric said, When you lose your money, learn to lose (or you might get shot). “I also played Jimmy Jackson and Larry Core and females like Bertha Chippie Hill, with Trouble on My Mind …. Of course, these artists are black, there weren’t many white blues men in 1927. Also Charlie Pickens, Lonnie Johnson and Petie Wheatstraw.” Covering records from 1940s to 1960s, Slim has played Big Joe Turner and his Fly Cats, Jay McShann, Walter Brown and Lewis Jordan and his Tympany Five. He also has played songs from the incomparable Dinah Washington, Muddy Waters and Larry Davis. Slim also tries to add a little of his own music into the mix. “It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about spreading the word, but of course, I have to give myself some props too.” With the online radio platform Slim is focused on representing not only the players he’s worked with in South Central, but elsewhere also. “I’ve done so much extensive work with the blues and with my late friend Kari Fretham,
CDs, including the ones I produced with Jerry Rosen. I was trying to figure out how to pull all of this together under one umbrella.” Out of nowhere, one day, Slim had a show at Roscoe’s Seabird Jazz Lounge in Long Beach and was talking to the owner of the club about how he worked with a lot of the artists that come through there to play. “So he told me he wanted me to do an interview on his radio show but when I got there, I was told, ‘No, he has different plans for you,’” Slim said. ‘He wants you to host an online blues radio show.’ He was shocked but recognized an opportunity to pull all of his past work together. “It was a blessing and it’s nice to have a voice to speak on all my experiences over the last 25 years,” Slim said. “Los Angeles is a big county and a lot of people have the blues, Latinos, Asians, white people, we all have the blues. I want to diversify and respect the scene that I came up in.” Slim’s scene has been diverse. He started around 1990, through Babe’s and Ricki’s on 59th and Main streets. A lot of players of all ethnicities came through there. However, further on the south side, at the Pioneer Club and Pure Pleasure Lounge, for example, mostly black players performed. They mixed it up with rhythm and blues, and blues. “It wasn’t like Babe’s and Ricki’s, which was a melting pot,” Slim said. “That’s how I want my show to be, a melting pot, but I do want to dedicate it to old-school blues because
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Harbor Area artist Diana Kos marks four decades of colorful abstracts with an exhibition of her paintings at Gallery 190, in the Memory and Aging Center of the University of San Francisco. The unusual venue—the Memory and Aging Center is at the forefront of care for the aging population—turns out to be quite appropriate. When Kos received the invitation to exhibit her paintings at the center, it allowed the artist to reflect on her own memories. Kos’ paintings reflect her Diana Kos, Orange Vessel. life intimately. She works mostly in soft pastel, in combination with watercolor, pencil and oil in factors, our elders represent the fastest growing a style she calls “organic abstraction,” which age group worldwide. We celebrate this she says is based on poetry. Kos has several transition and the wealth of new opportunities favorite subjects. Her inspiration comes from to share the experience and wisdom of our gardens, water, flowers, reflections, views, elders.” dreams, literature and the human body. Her art Working mostly in soft pastel, in is about creating beauty through the interesting combination with watercolor, pencil and oil, division of space. she has several favorite subjects. Kos said Kos and her husband, Dr. Steven Read, her style is “organic abstraction” based on also have an apartment in Bejing, where one poetry. son resides. The hardy and versatile bamboo Speaking of wisdom, one of Kos’ favorite plant shows up frequently in her work. literary quotes is from a poem by William Her images evolve through her use of line Butler Yeats that deals with the source of and color. She occasionally uses reflective inspiration. The poem is entitled The Circus material to transform the paintings illuminated Animal’s Desertion: by the light through which they are viewed. Now that my ladder’s gone, I must lie Kos said she was inspired by a visit to Stanford down where all the ladders start University to incorporate chapel style arches In the foul rag and bone shop of the which sometimes frame her paintings. heart The soft lines of the female figure are also The poem was part of Yeats final works. a lifelong subject for Kos. Ample sized nudes, However, it is doubtful that this portends the both in abstract and realistic styles hang on the finality of this painter’s works. walls in pastel and charcoal, sometimes framed Memories: Four Decades of Colorful in elegant arches. Abstracts by Diana Kos opens June 16 and On its website, the Memory and Aging runs through Sept. 16, at Gallery 190 in the Center states that “the global population is UCSF Memory and Aging Center, 675 Nelson undergoing a dramatic change. Thanks to great Rising Lane in San Francisco. advances in public health and socioeconomic Details: DianaKos.com. 17
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Community Celebrates the Life of Democratic Party Stalwart On June 21, about 150 people celebrated the life of longtime Democratic champion Eric Thomas Sean Bradley. The ceremony took place at the Long Beach Terrace Theater. Bradley died unexpectedly this past May in his Long Beach home. Celebrants focused on his community activism. A Southern California native, Bradley grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, graduated from Arcadia High School in 1982 and studied political science at the University of California Santa Barbara. He met Gail Schuster on a school trip to Europe and married her in 1992. They moved to Long Beach in 1995, and in 1997 their son Anders Patrick was born. Bradley began his political involvement as an aide to Sen. Alan Cranston in the 1980s. He later played a critical part in the successful elections of Rep. Alan Lowenthal, State Sen. Ted Lieu, Gov. Jerry Brown and other Democratic candidates. Bradley held a number of positions in the California Democratic Party from 2001 to 2016. Notable guests included Rep. Alan Lowenthal, California Treasurer John Chaing, former Long Beach Mayor Robert Foster and Long Beach Prosecutor Doug Haubert. Former California Assemblyman Hector De La Torre served as master of ceremonies. “Eric’s dedication to the Democratic Party is well known,” said De La Torre. “He would help out anytime there was a just cause…. He was a friend and mentor to so many.” Recently-elected Democratic Central Committee member Joan Greenwood reminisced about her friendship with Bradley. “I will always remember Eric as one of the outstanding gardeners of our time—someone whose deeds and memory will continue to make great things blossom,” she said. Eric’s wife Gail and son Anders remained pensive as Bradley’s friends spoke of his life and achievements. “Eric Bradley passed away doing what he loved—organizing for candidates and causes he cared passionately about,” said California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in a recent Facebook post. —Photo and story by Diana Lejins
RANDOMLetters [Letters, from page 9]
agree this is deeply worrying for the future of Los Angeles. Don’t let them do this to our city. Gary L. Toebben President and CEO, L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce Member, Coalition to Protect L.A. Neighborhoods and Jobs
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RLn, June 9, 2016 I voted for Hillary Clinton at Rancho San Pedro in the June 7th primary and according to a map created by the Los Angeles Times data desk, the majority of
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RE: Sanders’ 44 Percent Falls Short in California
But ultimately I would still beseech those Sanders supporters to vote for Clinton in November, so we can take the racist fascist back to his Palos Verdes golf course and push him off the cliff. Connor Thompson San Pedro
DESIGNS
YES, Richard Nixon had a role in the establishment of this environmental travesty, Rancho LPG Holdings, LLC at 2110 North Gaffey Street, San Pedro 90731, in 1973. Rancho LPG Holdings, LLC was established with connections to the highest office in the land. This relationship indirectly was able to neutralize oversight of Rancho by the Los Angeles Fire Department in the ‘70s. Beyond this ability to influence the fire department, Rancho has existed with little or no public support for over 30 years. I asked an activist who testified at the Carson Civic Center if anyone had ever gone to the TARGET Corporation (a store location directly across the street from Rancho) to express the danger of doing business in the blast/ explosion zone. A shareholder’s meeting on June 8 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa would be a great place to give TARGET local and regional and national executives and managers an opinion that they should be concerned with where they have a location. Likewise, this same message could be given to 7-11 Southland Corp, City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation, Home Depot, Los Angeles Unified School District (please see: LITTLEJOHN, Donna. SAN PEDRO: LAUSD Joins Butane Tanks Fight, Jan. 13, 2016) among many other businesses, in or near the blast/ explosion zone of Rancho. Peter Rosenwald Seal Beach
voters in that particular precinct made the same choice (http://www.latimes. com/projects/la-pol-ca-primary-2016-laprecincts/). Throughout the Democratic primary process, I was not particularly thrilled with any of the candidates—certainly not as I was in 2008 with Barack Obama. An entire class of young Democrats refrained from jumping into the race because no one wanted to look like they were standing in the way of breaking the biggest glass ceiling. It took an independent who merely caucused with Democrats to provide any sense of choice, and for that I respect Mr. Sanders and his personal integrity. However, Sanders’ policy proposals have always trafficked in the realm of speculative fiction (Utopian or dystopian? Debatable.) with no discernible connection to the reality of American governance. Once you begin to ask the HOW questions, his proposals crumble fairly easily. But that’s the subject of another letter entirely. My support for Clinton was sealed on May 4, 2016, when Donald CHUMP became the presumptive GOP nominee. We are facing a threat of bringing fascism into American government. I don’t use the word “fascist” glibly. The guy in the SUV who almost hit me on my bike is not necessarily a fascist, but Donald CHUMP absolutely is. Anyone who remembers the election of 2000 knows that we are placed in an uncomfortable binary as American voters, but in this case it is all-too-apparent to me what the right choice will be. I can’t respect anyone who will enable fascism, and unfortunately anyone sitting out this upcoming election is doing just that. I appreciate Mr. De La Rocha emphasizing that “this movement is bigger than Bernie Sanders” and that “whoever wins, we will have to hold
them accountable.” I have a lot of sympathy for those Sanders supporters who feel alienated by the process. That’s politics, folks. I sincerely hope they direct that energy to local elections and become the future leaders who change the system from within in the coming years.
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