p
Mayor Garcia points to construction as emblematic of LB progress p. 3 Backdoor Medicaid cuts begin in Kentucky p. 6 Art comes alive in Representational Acts at MoLAA p. 11 Masterful barbecue found at Wilmington’s Smoky Doky BBQ p. 12
Dr. Mario Molina Speaks on Being Fired and his Takeover of the Healthcare Group’s 17 Clinics By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
N
died in 1996. John Molina guided the company when it went public in 2003. The company released a statement saying the firings were due to “poor financial results.” At the time, the Los Angeles Times reported that analysts had long viewed the local health insurer as a potential acquisition target of a larger insurer. Removing the brothers could make such a deal easier. “The board never gave me an explanation. I had an employment agreement that says I can be terminated without cause and that’s what they did,” Mario Molina said. “And they
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o one outside of the Fortune 500 company could have foreseen its rapid retrenchment after Molina Healthcare announced it would be moving one of its business units into the 100,000 square foot digs in San Pedro’s Topaz building in March 2017. Molina Healthcare Inc.’s board of directors unceremoniously fired Dr. J. Mario Molina and John C. Molina in May 2017. The men had served as the organization’s top two executives for more than 20 years. Their father, Dr. C. David Molina, founded the company in 1980 to address the special needs of low-income patients. Mario Molina steered the company when the elder Molina
Removed from the company founded by his father, ousted Dr. J. Mario Molina in front of Golden Shore Medical Group’s Pasadena office. Courtesy of Golden Shore Medical Group
[See Molina, p. 6]
What Really Caused the Shutdown? Lies, racial resentment and mainstream media duplicity are the culprits By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
The GOP’s increased extremism has caused it to lose the popular vote in six of seven presidential elections since 1988, but it maintains exceptional power by aggressively exploiting the weaknesses of American democracy, like the Electoral College, which gave them victories in 2000 and 2016. Budget-related processes have other weaknesses — shutdowns, shutdown threats and threats to block raising the debt ceiling — that Republicans have repeatedly used to try to pass unpopular partisan measures. This marks the first
January 25 - February 7, 2018
leave it, you have to be prepared for leave it.” “The [Senate] leader [Mitch McConnell] crafts a partisan approach without consulting us, and then tries to blame us for not going along,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a Senate speech the next day. “That kind of behavior would not pass in any part of civil society. It would be called ‘bullying.’” Such bullying, however, has become an integral part of GOP politics over the past several decades, as the party has moved sharply to the right, while Democrats have moved only modestly to the left
A
t midnight on Jan. 20, the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president, the federal government shut down. This was the first time this had happened while one party controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. Trump blamed Democrats and GOP congressional leaders echoed him. But conservative anti-Trump columnist Jennifer Rubin cried foul. “The notion [that] Rs are entitled to D votes to break 60 without negotiating with them is bizarre,” Rubin tweeted. “If you say take it or
[See Shut Down, p. 5]
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Hundreds Attend Hearing on Refineries Safety, AQMD Proposals By Mark Friedman, RLn Contributor
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January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
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Providing clean facilities and protecting our waterways from pollution
An overflow crowd of more than 400 community stakeholders gathered on Jan. 20 to advocate for or against the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s proposed Rule 1410, which would ban use of hydrofluoric acid alkylation at refineries like PBF Energy and Valero in Torrance. This was the sixth such meeting. This hearing, chaired by the refinery committee of the AQMD, Dr. Clark Parker, was the culmination of a series of meetings with the community, state safety organizations, refinery managers and prior public hearings over the past year. During the public comment period, the divide over Proposed Rule 1410 was clear, with one side comprised of local residents, teachers and environmentalist against members of the labor Aftermath of the Torrance Exxon Mobil refinery explosion in 2015. community like the refinery File photo workers represented by the The refinery committee chairperson for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and AQMD gave a PowerPoint presentation on an AQMD report which found that the “hazards management at the Torrance refineries. Torrance resident Steve Dillow blasted the and human health risk due to exposure to HF are greater than those of sulfuric acid”—a substitute regulatory response to the explosion. “My house was covered with ash in 2015, chemical used by many other refineries to I’m upset that the city had no monitoring nor perform similar refining processes. Sulfuric acid is a liquid with minimal evacuation plan in place,” Dillow said. “Exxon was fined, but the EPA issued many safety evaporation and a boiling point of 554 degrees violations last year. You won’t hear anyone from Farenheit. Modified hydrofluoric acid, on the the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance saying the other hand, boils and evaporates at 67 degrees Farenheit and has human exposure effects such refinery should be shut down, nor jobs lost.” as severe skin and deep tissue burns. When it Exxon was fined $566,000 in 2015. Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, searching for evaporates, it migrates into the body and changes the middle ground, expressed support for the ban bone structure.” The AQMD committee reviewed alternatives but seemed swayed by arguments that changing the refinery process could lead to the refinery to modified hydrofluoric acid use and proposed a series of mitigations over three stages to being shut down. “I would like to see HF banned, but at the reduce the dangers to refinery workers and same time,” Muratsuchi said. “I don’t want to the community. They determined that “even with modified hydrofluoric acid and current see the refinery shut down.” “Banning HF is the best solution; there is technology and ignoring all uncertainties, the no reason why a safer alternative to HF is not best-case scenario with all existing mitigation made available,” Mark Johnson, representing measures left 11 percent of hydrofluoric acid to Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s be released into the atmosphere.” A cloud of HF could potentially bring death and severe illness office said. More than just a few refinery workers spoke to thousands of local residents. Additionally, the committee proposed in opposition to banning hydrofluoric acid and multiple levels of mitigation to be implemented modified hydrofluoric acid. Ty Carlson, planning and economics manager within eight years. They presented these from at Valero, said the new requirements would amount detailed proposals for increased safety measures, to an unfair gas tax. “I’m very concerned that the along with the approximate costs to the Valero and proposed rule will increase gasoline prices for tens Torrance Refinery Co. for their implementation. The full report is available to the public online. of millions of Californians,” Carlson said. Several doctors and scientists also spoke They also compared alternatives to HF: challenging the myths of safe MHF and that the sulfuric acid, solid acid and ionic liquid. The issue of loss of jobs is a red herring. latter poses no known hazards and is being The proposed rule change is the result of implemented at several plants nationally and a 2015 refinery explosion, which injured four internationally. A review of existing costs of the contractors and coated neighboring homes and technology conversion to sulfuric acid reached cars with white ash. Damage from the explosion an estimate between $600 million and $900 could have been much worse if debris from the million. blast had pierced a nearby tank holding tens of Additional public comment will be taken at thousands of pounds of modified hydrofluoric its July 6 meeting, when the rule is scheduled for acid. ExxonMobil sold the refinery to the New adoption. Jersey-based PBF Energy Inc. later that year.
Community Announcements:
Harbor Area Coffee with Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell
Join Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell at Sirens Java & Tea for coffee. This is an opportunity for the community to learn and about constituent services. Time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Jan. 27 Venue: Sirens Java & Tea , 356 W. 7th St., San Pedro
E-Waste, Document Shredding
Hughes Middle School Environmental Science class will host a free e-waste collection and document shredding event. Long Beach residents and businesses can safely and securely dispose of two types of “special waste” in one simple trip. Proceeds from the event will go to the school’s eco-project to build a shade structure on campus and educational field trips. Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Jan. 27 Details: (562) 595-0831; andreatestahomes.com Venue: Hughes Middle School, 3846 California Ave., Long Beach
Clean Up Volunteers Needed
The West East Side Community Association will be hosting its monthly neighborhood clean up. Volunteers are needed to work from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., including people with pick up trucks. Tools will be provided. Location: 14th Street at Orizaba Avenue, Long Beach
Neighborhood Leadership Program Application
The Department of Development Services offers a Neighborhood Leadership Program to enhance the skills of grassroots neighborhood leaders. The five-month program focuses on effective communication and team building. The class will also complete four projects in North Long Beach. Applications are now being accepted for the 2018 class. The deadline to apply is at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 29. Details: (562) 570-1010; francisco.rodriguez@ longbeach.gov
AIDS Food Store Volunteer Opportunities
Carson Environmental Commission Meeting This is regular meeting on every first Wednesday. This is an opportunity to learn how your city is keeping you environmentally safe. Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 7 Venue: 701 E. Carson St., Carson
POLB Internships and Scholarships
If you are experiencing problems with illegal dumping or scavenging, sign up for the Long Beach’s locked bin program. A chain and a lock for your 2, 3, or 4 cubic yard trash receptacle will be provided. Details: (562) 570-2876.
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia’s fourth State of the City speech delivered Jan. 9 to a packed house at the Terrace Theatre, stuck to his tried-and-true formula: a couple of musical numbers, an extensive list of the past year’s achievements, five minutes touching on a couple of challenges, an assurance that just about everything is trending in the right direction and finally a “Go Long Beach!” While the State of the City is partly one big pep rally, with Garcia as Cheerleader-in-Chief, there were some worthwhile takeaways. Whoever chose the opening number apparently didn’t realize that the Tomorrow (from Annie), while hopeful, is partly about how dark things are right now. “Just thinking about tomorrow / Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow […] The sun will come out tomorrow / So ya gotta hang on ‘til tomorrow.” For the next 40 minutes Garcia would say little about Long Beach’s cobwebs and sorrow. Rather, the three-minute LBC sizzle reel of drone-shot aerial footage made it clear what the mayor’s main motif would be: Good development. Development good. “In my first State of the City and throughout 2015, I asked you to judge our performance by the number of construction cranes in the air and the hard hats you see on the streets,” Garcia said as soon as he hit the stage. “Today there are seven tower cranes across our skyline, $3 billion of developments under construction, and more than 3,500 units of housing have been either completed or approved.” He also pointed to the largest bridge project on the West Coast,
Long Beach mayor, Robert Garcia, during the State of the City on Jan. 9. File photo
upgrades to the Blue Line, expansion of the Aquarium of the Pacific, modernization of the Convention Center, construction of a new civic center, a bunch of infrastructure projects care of Measure A, etc. “You see, Long Beach is under construction,” he said. But when it comes to all this development in the LBC, there are three words on everyone’s lips right now: Land Use Element, an aspect of the City of Long Beach’s General Plan that plots how the city will change and grow. There is widespread concern that the push for increased density is unfairly crowding out longtime lower-income residents, a topic addressed in Gentrification, Renters and Displacement, an
episode of the documentary series City Rising airing on PBS stations. While Garcia touted “hundreds of new affordable housing units for seniors and working families” and claimed that this past year “the city council adopted an aggressive plan to build and preserve more affordable housing,” he signaled his awareness that not all of his constituents are convinced that it’s enough—and that, in fact, they may be right. “We must take up and debate the proposed Land Use Element,” he said. “[…] We can do more, so thanks to a new initiative by councilmembers [See Garcia, p. 6]
January 25 - February 7, 2018
Locked Bin Program
By Greggory Moore, RLn Contributor
Applications are now open for the Summer High School Internship Program at the Port of Long Beach, as well as the Port’s college scholarships. The summer internships, a partnership between the port and Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network, are a paid opportunity for Long Beach-area high school students to explore careers in the goods movement industry. The program runs from June 25 through Aug. 16 and is open to high school juniors and seniors in the Long Beach Unified School District service area. Applications for both programs are due by Thursday, March 1; no late applications will be accepted. Internship applicants must present their applications in person. Applicants are advised to read the instructions carefully. Details: academy.polb.com
Garcia Points to Construction as Emblematic of LB Progress
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The AIDS Food Store is looking for volunteers to help distribute food. Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 1 to 3:30 p.m. Jan 30 Details: (562) 494-3425; www.aidsfoodstore.org Venue: The AIDS Food Store, 3935 E. 10th St., Long Beach
Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 30 Years
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LBPD Shoots Suspect’s Leg
LONG BEACH — On Jan. 20, Long Beach Police Department officers shot a man in the leg after the suspect allegedly punched an officer in the face, near the westside of Long Beach. The incident took place at about 6 p.m. on the 2400 block of Baltic Avenue. Long Beach officials said Luis Perez, 25, of Long Beach was riding a bicycle when officers tried to contact him. Perez, who was on active felony probation for burglary, fled on foot. The officers chased Perez to an alley between Adriatic and Baltic avenues. When officers caught up to Perez, the suspect did not comply with commands. He punched and tried to disarm an officer, officials said. One officer fired his weapon and struck one of Perez’s legs. Perez was taken to a local hospital where it was determined the injury was not life threatening. He was arrested and booked for felony assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call (562) 570-7244 or visit www.lacrimestoppers.org.
Beck to Reitre in June
LOS ANGELES — On Jan. 19, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck announced his retirement from the department. Beck’s last day will be on June 27, after 42 years in law enforcement. Beck is Los Angeles’ 56th chief of police. He was first appointed in November of 2009. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Beck will help identify candidates to replace him, but ultimately it is the Board of Police Commissioners that will forward recommendations to the mayor’s office.
Gubernatorial Candidates Speak at Town Hall By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter
Six gubernatorial candidates presented their views at the University of Southern California on Jan. 13. The event was billed as town hall — as opposed to a debate. Criteria for the candidates’ participation in the town hall was to either have held public office or have a campaign war chest of at least $100,000. Democrats who spoke included Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, State Treasurer John Chiang, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and former Superintendent of Schools Delaine Eastin. Republicans included District 72 Assemblyman Travis Allen and John Cox, a wealthy accountant and attorney who’s running primarily on his advocacy of advocating a ballot initiative to turn the state legislature into a network of about 14,000 representatives. It would replace the legislative districts with hundreds of volunteer neighborhood councils. Mark Brown of ABC and Mary Plummer of KPCC moderated, and asked the candidates for their views on homelessness, transportation, immigration, education, single-payer healthcare and criminal justice. The filing period just opened for statewide office candidates, but these six have already been campaigning for some time. For state offices, campaigning is largely about name recognition, donors, endorsements, polls, and fundraising.
Six California gubernatorial candidates participated in a town hall at USC. From left, Republican Travis Allen, Democrat John Chiang, Republican John Cox and democrats Delaine Eastin, Gavin Newsome and Antonio Villaraigosa.
The state Democratic Party has positioned Newsom as the candidate favored to continue the policies of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. Newsom’s comments during the town hall often reflected this. Villaraigosa, Chiang and Eastin are running as Democratic outsiders, hoping to make inroads on Newsom’s support. One of the more divisive issues proved to be healthcare, with Newsom and Eastin advocating single-payer healthcare, while
Layoffs Probable for Local Mainstream Papers
January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
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TORRANCE — On Jan. 15, Southern California News Group announced probable layoffs in the communing months to several mainstream newspapers in the area. The Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Daily News, which owns the Daily Breeze and the Press Telegram, are part of the Southern California News Group. It is expected that this will have significant impact on news coverage in the Harbor Area. In 2012, Tribune Co., which was renamed tronc in 2016, emerged from bankruptcy. The Los Angeles Times, owned by tronc, voted to unionize on Jan. 19. The news of the company’s unionization came days short of an announcement that its publisher, Ross Levinsohn, was taking an unpaid leave of absence due to misconduct allegations that included sexual harassment.
4
Brown Unveils Proposed Budget
SACRAMENTO — In a letter to the state legislature dated Jan. 10, Gov. Jerry Brown called for $131.7 billion in spending, including a $3.5 billion “supplemental” transfer payment into the state’s “rainy day fund,” beyond what is normally required. The California Budget and Policy Center identified the following “top lines” in the proposed budget: • Forecasts revenues $4.2 billion higher over a three-year “budget window” than previously projected • Places heavy emphasis on building up state reserves, including a major discretionary deposit to rainy day fund • Funds full implementation of K-12 funding formula while proposing new allocation system for community colleges • Includes various types of one-time funding across budget • Contains no new investments in many key services that help families make ends meet and advance economically
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Chiang favored adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act. “Single-payer won’t work unless we get significant contributions from the federal government,” Chiang said. That didn’t play well with some members of the audience. Criminal justice proved another wedge issue for the Democrats. “Mass incarceration must end,” Newsome said. “The war on drugs must end.” Eastin said she favored ending the cash bail system. In contrast, Chiang focused more on “ownership of the community,” and proposing paths in education as an alternative for at-risk youth. The Republicans spent much time mounting their party’s standard attacks on Democrats— too much taxing, too much spending, too many “special interests,” too much waste, too much influence from organized labor, too much money spent on pensions. The Democrats collectively defended a controversial new gas tax, saying the funding to repair roads and bridges was long overdue. “If you’ve got a leaky roof, you replace it,” Chiang said. Both Republicans attacked the tax. Allen said two years ago, the Republicans came up with a plan to cut $7 billion in “excessive waste” from the budget that could have been used, in place of raising taxes. He didn’t specify what the “excessive waste” was. Allen and Cox took time away from attacking Democrats to argue with each other about how much they opposed the gas tax, and about Cox’s scheme for thousands of volunteer legislators. “If you think they’ve got problems with sexual harassment now,” Allen quipped. Cox responded with a speech about dedicated volunteers. Cox also spent time arguing he’d run government like a business. Echoing ploys made by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump, Cox often said he would “solve the problem” without offering any specifics. Polling shows Newsom and Villaraigosa are the only candidates with support in double digits. They are expected to be the victors in California’s top-two primary on June 5. The front-runners are already so dominating this race that some Republicans are considering boosting Villaraigosa, who was friendly to business interests and charter schools, and not so friendly to labor, during his time as Los Angeles mayor.
Shut Down
This “evolution” reflected a common assumption: that implicit (“coded”) racist messages were much more effective than explicit ones, because people rejected messages they perceived to be racist. That’s changed for a combination of reasons, including the election of Barack Obama. A recent study headed by Nicholas Valentino, a University of Michigan political scientist, found that: “Whereas explicit racial rhetoric once seemed aversive to large swaths of American society, such messages are no longer as widely rejected. Racial conservatives recognize the hostile and conflictual content in explicit messages, but are not angered or disgusted by it.” Trump’s success in the GOP primary reflects the fact that he alone grasped this amongst the 2016 GOP hopefuls. His general election success reflects a related finding by political scientists Adam Enders and Jamil Scott, explained in a recent entry in the Monkey Cage blog at the Washington Post: “White racial resentment has remained remarkably stable over time. But that racial
[Shut Down, from p. 1]
Trump’s Constellation of Lies
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (right), speaking with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. File photo.
Trump’s and the GOP’s Reliance on Racial Resentment
But Trump doesn’t exist in a vacuum. For decades, Republicans followed an evolving
“Southern Strategy,” as explained by one-time party chairman Lee Atwater explained in a 1981 interview: You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger” that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”
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January 25 - February 7, 2018
winning!” But making Washington work for Americans again—and keeping the government working is certainly a part of a “great deal.” So, Trump lied about that, too. “Nobody knows the system better than me,” he said. “Which is why I alone can fix it.” Then, in September 2017, when his administration acted to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, he told a strikingly different lie. He said that he loved the DACA recipients, and was actually ending DACA to help them. “It is now time for Congress to act!” Trump said, as if Congress couldn’t act without him threatening to deport 800,000 people. “We will resolve the DACA issue with heart and compassion…. I have a love for these people and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly.” Then, nothing much happened until Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury came out, portraying Trump as a hopeless incompetent. On Jan. 9, Trump staged a televised hour-long meeting to discuss fixing DACA with congressional leaders, doing his best to act presidential. “You folks are going to have to come up with a solution and if you do, I’m going to sign that solution,” Trump told the 25 lawmakers, even “If they come to me with things that I’m not in love with.” Two days later, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Dick Durbin came to see Trump in the White House, with the deal they’d struck, only to be blindsided by hardliners who Trump agreed with, while referring to African and Latin American countries as “shitholes,” “Trump is a self-proclaimed dealmaker who struggles to close deals, an unreliable negotiator who seems to promise one thing only to renege days, or even hours, later,” Washington Post White House reporter Ashley Parker tweeted, as the shutdown began. “And on Friday night, he watched as yet another deal slipped away.”
Trump’s first lies contributing to this shutdown revolved around his pledge to build a border wall and have Mexico pay for it. This was based on his claim that Mexico was sending “rapists” and “murderers,” who were driving crime through the roof. But both violent crime and property crime are down 50 percent from their early 1990s peak, and most of that decline happened before 2007, when undocumented immigration peaked. Since then, about one million undocumented immigrants have left the country. There is no rising crime, no flood of undocumented immigrants and no connection between the two in the first place. Immigrants — documented or not — have significantly lower crime rates in comparison to native-born Americans. Trump’s whole immigrant-scare narrative was nothing but a paranoid racist fantasy, with two added layers on top: the claim that Mexico was intentionally flooding America with criminals and that it would pay for the wall. Trump’s campaign also revolved around another set of contributing lies: those about him being a super deal-maker, an outsider who could do what a broken Washington couldn’t, who would make so many great deals that people would cry, “Stop! We can’t stand any more
[See Shut Down , p. 6]
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time in history that Democrats have turned the tables and tried to use the budget process to pass an overwhelmingly popular bipartisan measure: legalizing the status of Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought here by their parents as young children, who are working, in school, or in the military, and have no criminal record. A CBS News poll just before the shutdown found 87 percent of the people polled support for legalizing Dreamers, so called due to a failed “Dream Act” first introduced in 2001. The shutdown can be understood as a product of four factors: First, Trump’s far-reaching pattern of lying; second, the GOP’s rightward trajectory, which made Trump’s presidency possible; third, coverage by the so-called “liberal media,” which, in the guise of “balance” provides enormous political cover for GOP extremism and bad faith; and fourth, a constellation of demographic forces (all connected to inequality), which have characterized periods of state breakdown, civil war and revolution for thousands of years. Before examining those factors, we need clarity about just where we are and how we got here. This is the first shutdown ever when one party controls both Congress and the White House. Republicans had two simple ways to avoid this. They could have negotiated with Democrats to get broad bipartisan support in both Houses, which is how appropriation bills have been handled throughout most of our history. Or, they could have pushed through a partisan budget with only their own votes. But Senate rules only give them one chance to do this. “Senate Republicans had the option to pass a budget bill with a simple majority,” Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell explained, responding to Trump on Twitter, “It would have been through the budget reconciliation process. Instead, they decided to waste the reconciliation process on tax cuts.” Rampell is right. By choosing tax cuts without Democratic support, Republicans chose to depend on Democrats for the budget — and then chose to ignore.
5
[Shut Down, from p. 5]
Shut Down
resentment has become much more highly correlated with particular political attitudes, behaviors and orientations.” Trump also broke with past GOP practice by rhetorically rejecting the courting of Wall Street and playing the part of an economic populist. “I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me,” Trump tweeted on May 7, 2015. He’s also repeatedly claimed that his tax cuts were aimed at the middle class. His actual record is quite the opposite. There were deep Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s failed Obamacare repeal, the tax cuts were everything Paul Ryan wanted and further deep Medicaid cuts are already planned. Finally, Trump’s chaotic disruption of normal governance is also part of a long-term trend. It’s visible in events like the 1995-96 and 2013 shutdowns, the 2011 near-miss on refusing to raise the debt limit, and Mitch McConnell’s refusal to have hearings for Obama’s Supreme Court nominee in 2016.
Disinformation From the Mainstream Media
January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
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The third factor, which Republicans were counting on, was anti-Democratic spin in the socalled “liberal media.” “Over twelve hours into a government shutdown, a look at the headlines and polls shows Democrats have so far borne the brunt of the blame,” the GOP’s website noted, citing the following examples: • Bloomberg: “Shutdown Starts As Senate Democrats Block GOP Funding Plan” • CNN: “Why Democrats May Be Making The Wrong Bet On The Shutdown” • The New York Times: “Senate Democrats Block Bill to Keep Government Open Past Midnight; Shutdown Looms” • The Associated Press: “Senate Democrats Derail Bill To Avert Shutdown” Coverage was strikingly different in 2013, when the New York Times headline read, Government Shuts Down in Budget Impasse. There was no hint of responsibility or blame in how the story began: “The federal government will shut down for the first time in nearly two decades after last-minute moves in both chambers of Congress failed to break a bitter budget standoff over the president’s health care law.” The 2013 coverage echoed a broader media adaptation to the sharply increased use of the filibuster since the 1960s: the need for 60 votes in the Senate is normalized and neither side is blamed. But this time the GOP highlighted the Democrats’ role in gridlocking the national government. Obligingly, the press coverage sharply shifted gears.
6
Demographic Forces Characterizing State Breakdown
Underlying all three of these factors is a deeper one: a constellation of demographic forces characterizing periods of state breakdown, first identified by historian Jack Goldstone. In his 1991 book, Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World, he identified the phenomena known as
[Molina, from p. 1]
“structural demographic theory.” The idea was later refined by evolutionary anthropologist Peter Turchin in Secular Cycles (2009) and applied to American history in Ages of Discord (2016). The key factors involved are: 1. Mass economic impoverishment resulting from labor over-supply 2. Elite overproduction, as elite incomes and numbers rise, resulting in intensified competition, fragmentation and conflict 3. Fiscal distress of the state, as elites grow increasingly selfish, competitive, anti-social, and unwilling to pay taxes for the national well-being. In a blog post, Government Shuts Down: It’s Not Just Schumer against Trump, Turchin presented two graphs from his book tracking proxies of elite fragmentation—one showing the fluctuation of polarization in Congress from the 1790s to 2000, the other showing the increase in Senate filibuster threats and votes since 1960. “Keep in mind that what is at stake now is only an extension of government spending for another 30 days,” he wrote. “Given the degree of intra-elite conflict we currently have in the U.S., I wouldn’t be surprised if we are soon in a permanent state of government shutdown.” While Goldstone and Turchin stress factors that far transcend the specific ideological divides of our time, they are not totally unrelated. The Republican obsession with tax cuts for the rich only intensifies elite overproduction and the political dysfunction to which it contributes. Pairing this with cuts to programs for the poor and middle classes only intensifies the problem. While both sides have contributed to political dysfunction, it’s primarily Republicans who have driven this process. Democrats created the basic framework of the modern American state from the New Deal to the Great Society and Republicans have been trying to dismantle it ever since, using increasingly aggressive methods, eroding the norms of cooperative government in the process. Democrats, in contrast, are torn between trying to maintain a cooperative process and fighting fire with fire reluctantly. This shutdown was a case in point. They had agreed to two previous continuing resolutions without any DACA fix, before finally pressing the matter. Democrats are ambivalent not necessarily because they lack spine, but because they have substantive and procedural motivations. These were aligned decades ago, but now are increasingly at odds. Republican policy positions like building the wall, cutting healthcare and taxes for the rich, are consistently unpopular with the public at large. Their success depends on exploiting the Democrat’s ambivalence, which is precisely what we’ve been seeing them try to do during this shutdown drama. We can expect to see similar dramas play out again and again in the days, weeks and years ahead. But for now — with shutdown resolved for almost another three weeks — there may actually be a chance to focus on solving a problem that almost nine out of 10 Americans agree on.
Molina
terminated me and my brother. It was clear the company was no longer interested in operating the clinics.” Molina noted he already owned a medical group (Golden Shore Medical Group) and that there was a clause in his contract that said if Molina Healthcare wanted to close or get rid of the medical clinics, he had the right to buy the assets. “So I simply exercised that right,” Molina said. “The clinics are valuable community assets. They are in low-income communities and they serve people in need of that care who would probably have a difficult time getting that care if it wasn’t for those facilities.” Molina insures 765,000 people, and until Jan. 1, it operated its own clinics around the state. The company has MediCare programs and has served more than one million customers who purchased a plan with a marketplace exchange created by the Affordable Care Act. In September 2017, the company announced plans for a reorganization that includes the elimination of some 1,500 positions nationwide — almost 600 of those in Long Beach. As part of the reorganization, the company also withdrew from a lease of space at the Topaz building in San Pedro and moved out of its headquarters in the World Trade Center in Long Beach. “They laid people off so they just don’t need the space anymore,” Molina said. “The easiest and fastest way to cut costs is to cut staff and
that’s what they did. Think about it, if you’re an insurance company, you’re paying claims for people for when they get sick, you don’t have a lot of control over that. You can decide how many employees you want and lay people off tomorrow. “I think that Molina Healthcare, like all the other large insurance companies, especially those that have participated in Medicaid in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, are concerned by the uncertainty over what the future holds,” Molina said, alluding to the attacks on the Affordable Care Act by the Donald Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress. “There was a tremendous effort by the Republicans in congress to repeal the law,” Molina said. “They failed, but they continued trying to undermine the law and I’m sure that was a concern to a company like Molina, which has a substantial portion of its membership covered through Medicaid and have a large marketplace presence. Businesses hate uncertainty. [If] it’s hard to plan, it’s hard to budget. “If you look at Certene, Molina Healthcare and even United and Anthem, they all saw growth in the Medicaid side of their business because of the expansion of the Medicaid program. So, for many of the insurance companies, they saw more membership and more revenue. Molina was not unique in this.” Molina wouldn’t speak on the particulars of Molina Healthcare’s case, but he singled out the Customer Sharing Reduction payment issue as an example of how the health care for the neediest is [See Molina, p. 7]
Back Door Medicaid Cuts Begin in Kentucky Other states lined up to follow By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
On Jan. 12, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved Kentucky’s application for a set of Medicaid waivers that are projected to deprive tens of thousands of residents of health care within five years. While Donald Trump has made cutting regulations and red tape a centerpiece his administration, this new move does exactly the opposite, putting the onus on people least prepared to deal with it. The move came just one day after the DHHS issued new rules allowing such waivers to be approved. Kentucky had some of the largest gains in health insurance coverage under Obamacare, so this action represents a giant leap backwards, with a number of other states lined up to follow, including Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Utah. “Coverage is at risk for large numbers of low-income adults and families, in Kentucky and in other states,” said Judith Solomon, vice president of Health Policy at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. “Kentucky’s own projections show a 15 percent drop in adult Medicaid enrollment by the 5th year. The state projects 1.4 million lost coverage months, that’s the equivalent of nearly 100,000 people losing coverage for a full year.” But numbers alone don’t tell the full story. “Many of those affected are likely to be older and many will likely be people who suffer from mental illness, substance use disorders and chronic health problems,” she said. This would represent a huge step backwards, in light of recent gains, as described by Susan
Republican Gov. Matt Bevin made Kentucky the first state to require Medicaid recipients to work or get job training in order to qualify for aid. File photo
Hayes, senior researcher at the Commonwealth Fund. “Kentucky was among the states that saw the greatest improvements in coverage and access following the ACA’s major coverage expansions. Including a 27-percentage-point drop in its lowincome adult uninsured rate (from 38 percent in 2013 to 11 percent in 2016),” Hayes said. “This was the greatest reduction of any state in the share of low-income adults without insurance.” The uninsured rate for low-income children dropped from 8 percent to 5 percent as well, according to data Hayes provided. “Uninsured rates tend to be higher in rural areas than in urban areas, and as a result rural areas and small towns in Kentucky benefited even more in metropolitan areas,” said Joan Alker, [See Kentucky, p. 19]
[Molina, from p. 6]
Molina
being used as political football. As the Golden Shore Medical Group founder explained it, if Mr. Jones, a health consumer on a the Silver Plan, goes to the doctor and has a $50 copayment, his health insurer would halve the cost so that Mr. Jones only has to pay $25. The health insurer would then bill the federal government, saying “You know, we paid half of Mr. Jones copay, we need you to pay us $25.” “But the Trump administration stopped paying those, then the insurance companies raised their premium rates. So that was one of the things that came out of all of this and so people in the marketplace saw higher premiums,” Dr. Molina said. “For most people in the market place who are
“Where we would have difficulty was if they didn’t have insurance to cover prescriptions or they didn’t have insurance to cover hospitalization. There is only so much we can do for them and that’s what I worry about with all of the discussion in Washington about further cuts to the Affordable Care Act.” Molina noted that the Trump administration is now talking about allowing people to buy association health plans that would be exempt from some of the rules and terms of the benefits are covered. “You might have insurance and find out that chemotherapy is not covered,” Molina said. “Nobody plans to get to sick. Nobody plans to get cancer and sometimes people don’t think about what is covered under their plan.” The doctor noted that because of Affordable Care Act’s 10 essential benefits the Covered
Ways Trump is Undermining the ACA
January 25 - February 7, 2018
[See Molina, p. 19]
California marketplace has very comprehensive insurance policies. “But you could end up, if you’re a small employer or self-employed getting one of those association plans and find out when you’re really sick, the services are not covered. It’s a real danger,” he said. Molina said there are two things citizens need to focus their attention on: • Congressional attempts to use budget gap caused by the Trump administration’s tax cut to cut Medicaid • And the further undermining of the Affordable Care Act through the rulemaking process. “The tax cut is going to increase the deficit,” Molina said. “Some Republicans are fine with that, but not all of them. [But] I think people like congressional House Speaker Paul Ryan are going to try to cut Medicaid ... to close that budget gap.”
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getting federal subsidies, it didn’t impact them very much. For the people not getting subsidies, the 15 percent or so not subsidized, it meant a huge increase in their insurance premiums. So, that’s one of the big things that happened in the past year.” Molina said he believes it’s the same challenge that all doctors face, especially in California where reimbursements for physician services are especially low. “California ranks down at the bottom in what they pay doctors to take care of MediCal patients,” Molina said. “That’s obviously something that concerns us.” He said he’s worried about people who have insurance right now in Covered California and those on Medicaid in California. “I would hate to see people go back to being uninsured,” Molina said. “Before the Affordable Care Act, we used to see people who were uninsured who would pay us cash for their care. That was fine. We could do that.”
Infographic by Brenda Lopez
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Ports O’ Call—
Destroying the Village to Save the Town By James Preston Allen, Publisher
January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
When I first moved to Pedro in 1973, there was a lying crook in the White House, massive demonstrations in the streets of America and an unpopular war in a distant land. The wisdom of pursuing that war and its most infamous alibi that “we had to destroy the village to save the town” was as arrogant and stupid then as it is now. Not much has changed except the players in this rather dark Shakespearean drama and the village this time is our own. Back to square one, it seems. The past is our future. Then, as now, San Pedro’s and Los Angeles’ civic leaders were hell bent on building a reimagined San Pedro. Beacon Street was one of our most notorious districts –– known by sailors from around the world as being one of the roughest ports on the coast. Did they actually call it the “Barbary Coast”? It was colorful and full of characters and a ton of bars and brothels to boot that totaled to 73 by one count before Beacon Street was destroyed. A few of the old names and buildings were saved. Years later, a new generation of community leaders would mourn the loss of old Beacon Street’s history and offer a newer perspective on the role of architectural history. The term “adaptive reuse” has become the buzzword du jour. The recent example of this is Pappy’s Seafood restaurant that took 301 West Sixth Street back to the bricks of its origins, making what was old new again. Part of the patio in my 1917 California bungalow home has some of the original bricks from Ol’ Beacon Street. My centuryold dwelling is now part of the Historic Preservation Zone in the blocks just south and west of old Beacon Street. Preservation is not what can be said for the Starbucks that was allowed to build on the corner of 9th and Gaffey streets after the demolishing of the aging Doggy Diner and TC’s Bar. We now have a brand new cookiecutter Fort Apache-looking prefab drive-thru on one of the most iconic corners of our Great Street. Progress at last! Now, the same is about to happen with our 61-year-old Ports O’ Call Village and restaurant. Unbeknownst to the public, that while we were awaiting progress on the
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popularly supported Waterfront Promenade, the L.A. Waterfront Alliance development team and the Port of Los Angeles were huddled behind closed doors and “negotiated” the lease for the Ports O’Call property. During those negotiations, the port guaranteed that the property would be scraped-clean before turning over the property. This seems almost inconceivable seeing as how both Wayne Ratkovich and the Johnson brothers of Jerico (the developers) have somewhat long histories in adaptive reuse and have done some reputable projects like the Wiltern building on Wilshire Boulevard, and the John T. Gaffey and Brown Bros. buildings in San Pedro. Why then would they allow for the destruction of some of the more interesting and historic structures along our waterfront just to create a version of — and I’ve heard them say this — San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf? We are getting caught up in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s exuberance. In a released statement, the mayor touted the city’s soaring economy, saying: We are powering Los Angeles’ economy to new heights every year, because we know that lasting prosperity means investing boldly in jobs, opportunity, and growth... The expansion of our travel and tourism sector, and the success of our port, tell the story of a city whose moment has arrived — and we will continue pushing forward as we expand our role on the world stage, and prepare to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028. This as the rumors swirl that his sights are set on running for the Oval Office. Yes, the Los Angeles economy in parts is expanding, evidenced by the housing crisis, pushing the growing population of homeless people on our streets and the influx of migrants from Echo Park and (the town formerly known as) Venice to the last affordable part of Los Angeles by the water — San Pedro. All of this boom-time economy will gentrify many of our neighbors out of their homes and jobs and we will end up losing both our history and culture in the process. Now, I’m not opposed to all development, redevelopment or even new architecture. But Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya Managing Editor
“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it Terelle Jerricks is, but to make people mad enough to do someeditor@randomlengthsnews.com thing about it.” —Mark Twain Senior Editor Vol. XXXIX : No. 2 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.
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it’s got to be smart development. It’s got to be culturally intelligent redevelopment and quality construction that preserves history or stands the test of time. Most of the time we get none of the above and until the “new” plans and designs for Ports O’Call Village are revealed — maybe as soon as the Jan. 25 Harbor Commission board meeting. We don’t know what exactly we are getting. This newspaper has filed a Public Records Act request demanding the port release these plans that have been privately circulated but not presented in a public forum as of this date. What we do know at this point is that 20some small merchants have been evicted and driven out of business and that Ports O’ Call restaurant and the commercial boat operators are under threat of the same action. This is not what I, and many others, remember of the promises made to the community. Stupidly we didn’t get it in writing. As of Jan. 23, the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council passed the following resolution: The Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council calls for the immediate halt of all Ports O’Call tenant evictions due to the Port of Los Angeles failing to adequately disclose subsequent amendments to the 2009 approved Environmental Impact Report regarding Ports O’Call redevelopment and keep the CeSPNC and the public informed. The POLA has also not revealed in advance how these amendments will fundamentally change the previous plans and commitments made publicly that will substantially alter the waterfront development.
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Therefore, the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council further resolves to call for transparency regarding Ports O’Call redevelopment, [that] a public hearing on renegotiations of the lease with LA Waterfront Alliance and their new plans be held including but not limited to the preservation of historic buildings, and a guarantee for the opportunity to retain existing tenants through the negotiations of new leases that would include Ports O’Call Restaurant, commercial boats, and others. And if the Port of Los Angeles fails to follow the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s recommendations the council demands decisions regarding the Ports O’Call lease to be transferred to the Board of Referred Powers, at Los Angeles City Council for review and approval. To date, this is the strongest community response to the destruction of Ports O’ Call Village and has the growing support of many in this community who both fear and desire redevelopment on the waterfront, but are increasingly posing the questions “At what cost and to whose benefit?” Clearly, we can not allow for the failed policy of destroying the village to save the town to be executed once again in such a way that demolishes both our history and culture just because some folks want to “rebrand” this town into something less than what it already is — authentic! Editor’s note: Just before press time we received the 2016 Ports O’Call plot plans which did not include elevations. We will post these to our website, www. randomlengthsnews.com. 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 2018 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
Women’s Rights, Trump are at Historic Crossroads By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter
about credible allegations of outright sexual abuse, including complaints about Trump, Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore lost to Democrat Doug Jones, party because of women’s votes. Moore’s defeat may or may not be an indication of a new need for both parties to take sexual harassment and other women’s issues seriously. Election season 2018 will tell whether voters will continue to allow Republicans to make war on women. The Trump presidency has put women at a historic crossroads.
Community Alert
Wastewater Transfer Permit Hearing
A public hearing regarding Clearwater Program Joint Water Pollution Control Plant Effluent Outfall Tunnel Project, which would transport treated wastewater to White Point/Royal Palms Beach in San Pedro will be conducted by the California Coastal Commission at its Feb. 9 meeting at the Cambria Pines Lodge in the Central California beach town of Cambria. Time: 9 a.m. Feb. 9 Details: (562) 590-5071; www. coastal.ca.gov Venue: Cambria Pines Lodge, 2905 Burton Drive, Cambria
2108 Women’s March in downtown Los Angeles. Photo by Jessie Drezner.
January 25 - February 7, 2018
A man whose fiancee was shot and killed beat a pro-NRA Republican. As 2017 concluded, Time magazine chose some women it labelled “silence breakers” for its Dec. 10 Person of the Year cover. Some were famous (singer Taylor Swift, actress Ashley Judd), others less known (engineer Susan Fowler, farmworker Isabel Pascual, lobbyist Adama Iwu, and an anonymous woman only partly seen). Together they represented what Time characterized as the #metoo movement, from a Twitter hashtag where thousands of women (and men) had recently begun sharing experiences of sexual harassment. The decade-old movement burst into the media spotlight on Oct. 5, when the New York Times broke the story that powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein had a history of sexual harassment. Judd, Rosanna Arquette, Lupita Nyong’o, Daryl Hannah, Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan and Gwyneth Paltrow were among the dozens of actresses and other working women who reported incidents with Weinstein. In the backlash he was run out of Hollywood. The fallout turned into a mighty stream that’s still cascading, as public accusations which a short time ago might have been scorned, mocked, or simply pushed aside are suddenly being taken seriously. The lasting effect on America’s political landscape is uncertain as the 2018 election season looms. So far, the outrage has only
down on the Senate floor in July, when both parties mustered every vote they could, Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii joined her fellow Democrats despite suffering from cancer. If three Republicans broke from their party, Obamacare would survive. Two GOP women senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins, Maine, did, along with John McCain of Arizona. The fate of Obamacare remains unsettled because Republicans, who never seem to understand what “no” means nullified the individual mandate in their tax bill at the end of 2017. The strength of women’s political empowerment was abundantly demonstrated in several states’ off-year elections in November: Democrats turned Virginia, New Jersey, Washington and even Oklahoma a little bluer. In December, Alabama joined the list. “The nation’s leading voter turnout experts said the [November races were] marked by women voting in historically high numbers and overall voter turnout exceeding expectations in non-presidential years,” said Steven Rosenfeld on Alter-net. On Keith Olbermann’s video-blog The Resistance, he noted about half of November’s election results could be seen as morality plays. In Oklahoma a young lesbian Democrat won in a district chock full of Trump supporters. In Virginia a Democrat, who identified as transgender, defeated a Republican who campaigned on keeping public restrooms safe from transgender intruders.
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On Jan. 20, 2017, Donald Trump became president, Republicans dominated Congress and the outlook on any progress for women looked bleak. Republicans had been waging political war on women’s rights for more than a quarter of a century. Now they appeared able to pass and enforce any anti-women legislation they pleased, at least until the 2018 elections. Women wasted no time mounting opposition. On Jan. 21, millions of women — and others — took to the streets to peacefully and legally demand women’s rights. A protest that started as a social media post by some disappointed Hillary Clinton supporters morphed into a global action. Mobs of protestors thronged to great American metropolitan areas including Washington, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as red-state capitals like Little Rock, Ark., and small towns like Chelan, Wash. Some criticized the marches as having no practical effect, but organizing and networking continued. One of the outgrowths of the women’s march was a women’s convention, hosted Oct. 27-28 in Detroit. It attracted about 4,000 women, many of whom wanted to learn more about political campaigning. The website for Emily’s List, a fundraising group for pro-choice Democratic women, currently reports that about 22,000 women have signed up to run for office in 2018, many thousands more than in previous years. Many of those Democratic women are planning to challenge Republicans for red-state seats. In the Republican-controlled Congress, women figured prominently in a monthslong battle over Obamacare, as Republicans repeatedly attacked it and Democrats defended it. Many ordinary women lobbied to keep it, especially because it covers birth control. Republicans were even criticized for not including any of their women senators in a working group to draft a new healthcare bill — compared to only scattered criticism for excluding Democrats or ethnic minorities. At an Obamacare show
resulted in the downfall of two major politicians—both Democrats. Sen. Al Franken resigned after several women accused him of kissing them without their consent years ago. Rep. John Conyers, a civilrights icon who presided over Nixon’s downfall, resigned after his history of settling sexual harassment complaints was revealed. Both men were dependable votes for women’s rights, but their party told them they had to go. At the same time Republicans — the party and its voters — appeared to care little
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Garcia
January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
[Garcia, from p. 3]
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Lena Gonzalez, Al Austin and Dee Andrews, the “any project we undertake will restore the city council will be looking to adopt new policies ecosystem at our beaches while also protecting that help folks stay in their homes, more rental the homes and businesses along the coast.” The sizzle reel that prefaced the night’s assistance for seniors and support for renters to main event closed with a five-word caption: move into home ownership.” Garcia, who did Building a Better Long Beach. In the city not reply to Random Length News’ request for according to Robert Garcia, that is exactly examples of such policies, also singled out “a statewide homelessness crisis” as a local challenge, the state of things. Whatever challenges Long highlighting the need for a year-round homeless Beach faces, according to the mayor, bet your shelter, rather than the winter-only shelter that the bottom dollar that tomorrow there’ll be (even City operates. He correctly noted, “Long Beach more) sun. has seen a decrease in homelessness citywide.” But he saved his strongest language for the need to overhaul the trucking system at the Port of Long Beach, calling it a “crisis.” “Port leadership and industry experts all agree: we cannot sustain the current trucking system we have in place,” he said. “We currently have a broken system where trucks are not moving in and out of terminals efficiently.” Additionally, many trucking companies are misclassifying their drivers and paying them “poverty wages.” He asked the city council to partner with the state legislature to confront these unfair practices. The vast majority of Garcia’s speech Broadway Block project on Long Beach Boulevard between 3rd St. and is being developed by Ratkovich Properties and Urbana Developaccentuated the positive: Broadway ment. It will house apartments and a performing arts venue for California crime trending in the State University Long Beach and a separate 21-story residential tower. right direction, improved energy efficiency, an increasingly friendly climate for business and the Bonus fun facts: arts. The mayor’s State of the City address has • While introducing Garcia, when Vicebeen spinning positive in these areas every year, Mayor Rex Richardson quipped that no regardless of the nuances, long before Garcia took mayor seems more like a comic-book movie office. character than Garcia (a reference to Garcia’s Garcia did play some new material. For well-known Comic-Con side), you could example, he announced the formation of Long clearly see the spot on his teleprompter script Beach Justice Lab, an initiative aiming to develop that said “(Laughter).” new approaches to interrupting the cycle of repeat • In 2017 Long Beach cleanup crews offending by troubled individuals. hauled away almost 16,000 discarded “The research clearly shows that we see many mattresses. That’s about one mattress for of the same people cycle through our public safety every 30 residents—just this past year! services—and most of them for committing low• Garcia spoke with pride about Vision to level offenses like possessing an open bottle of Learn, an organization that has partnered with beer on the street,” he said. “In Long Beach—and the city to provide 8,000 low-income students in most of the country—it’s a small percentage with eyeglasses. Garcia brought one of the of people who are repeatedly committing crimes beneficiaries onstage and asked her what she and consuming a tremendous amount of resources. thought of her new glasses. “They’re pretty We can continue to arrest them indefinitely, or good,” she said, not exactly overflowing with we can try to understand and help these people enthusiasm. break these dangerous cycles. [… This includes] City of Long Beach’s General Plan placing a mental health clinician in our city jail. —http://www.longbeach.gov/lueude2040 We currently have no mental health services in our Gentrification, Renters and Displacement jail, yet we know it is a place where we can help www.kcet.org/shows/city-rising/citypeople access services and resources.” rising-trailer-gentrification-renters-andGarcia announced that “late this year” the displacement correctly, www.scpr.org/ Army Corps of Engineers will finally unveil their news/2017/04/27/71212/long-beach-cut-21preferred options for restoring the San Pedro Bay, percent-of-its-homeless-populati/ including breakwater reconfiguration. But before you could spell “NIMBY,” he hastened to add that
Art comes alive in Representational Acts By Melina Paris, Contributing Writer
Our Holy Waters, and Mine
Gosine’s work draws from his background as a queer Indo-Trinidadian man. In Our Holy Waters, and Mine, Gosine looks to the experience of South Asian migration to the Caribbean by referencing indentured servitude and Kala Pani (“black waters”), the Hindu [See Representational, p. 16] Jimmy Robert’s Abolibibelo. Courtesy of MOLAA
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Darko and Mark
e Fr e s h E v eryday
January 25 - February 7, 2018
We are a Family Team of Croatian butchers who, for over 30 years, have served the South Bay with the finest cuts of meat, sausages, fresh seafood and a full-fledged delicatessen
We carry imported Croatian groceries, hand made sarma and cevapcici
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This past Saturday, the Cuban-born, New York-based artist, Carlos Martiel, stood unclothed, alone in a dark room. A motion sensor triggered by people walking in, illuminated a constellation on the artist’s body. Stars from the flags of countries in the Western Hemisphere were fixed with string to his body. The artist stood completely still. Varioussized stars on his body and four more on the floor in front and behind him were lit in iridescent blue. The constellation represented a conceptual map in which no state is superior to another. Instead, they come together within a unified field. The visual of Martiel’s nakedness cloaked in galactic darkness combined with the unprejudiced constellation that was sewn on to him was striking in its beauty; it also implied peace and fixed nature. The performance was called América. Another perspective is that the performance asserted the legacy and history of the Western Hemisphere as if it’s written into the skin, indeed, into the very DNA of those of us rooted in the New World. Martiel was one of three artists, including Andil Gosine from Trinidad and Jimmy Robert from Guadeloupe (an island in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean), to stage a performance at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach entitled, Representational Acts, on Jan. 20. Representational Acts is thematically linked to the Pacific Standard Time exhibition at MOLAA, Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago, which runs through March 4.
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P
eople who bake from scratch can get sniffy about those who use shortcuts like packaged recipes or (shudder) frozen dough. I was talking with one such perfectionist who sneered at such practices with the memorable line, “You may be baking something when you use those, but you’re not a baker.” Shortcuts just don’t teach the reflexes of the craft, the understanding of the process that lets you make an extraordinary rather than average product. But baking snobs are far eclipsed by barbecue purists, who refuse to even dignify the weekend amateur’s tools with their common names. The metal thing in your backyard that sits on a wheeled tripod? It’s not a barbecue, it’s a grill, because you can’t use indirect heat to smoke the meat. That passel of chicken legs you tossed on a hot fire after dousing them with sauce doesn’t pass muster – you didn’t season them with a dry rub, smoke them for a few hours, and add the sauce at the last minute so it caramelizes but doesn’t burn. All this would just be chatter if those who really concentrate on barbecue didn’t make a superior product. Properly made chicken, pork chops, or steaks from that backyard grill can be delicious, but they can’t have the complex mix of flavors that hardwood smoke and dry rubs can impart. For a taste of master-level barbecue, you might visit Smoky Doky, a little spot in Wilmington presided over by pitmaster Daniel Jess. (Sure, pitmaster sounds like a title for a
January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Buono’s Authentic Pizzeria
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A San Pedro landmark for over 44 years, famous for exceptional award-winning pizza baked in brick ovens. Buono’s also offers classic Italian dishes and sauces based on tried-and-true family recipes and hand-selected ingredients that are prepared fresh. Dine-in, take-out and catering. There are two locations in Long Beach. Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Buono’s Pizzeria, 1432 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 547-0655 • www.buonospizza.com
The Chori-Man
Fourth-generation artisanal chorizo and meats. Purchase chorizo by the pound or try our burritos and tacos! Menu specials change weekly. Open Thurs,, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Fri. - Sun., 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For catering email: info@thechoriman.com for catering and special orders. The Chori-Man, 2309 S. Alma St., San Pedro • (424) 287-2414
Happy DineR AND HAPPY DELI
The Happy Diner isn’t your average diner. It’s the idea of fresh creative dishes in two San Pedro locations, and now a third—the Happy Deli. The selections range from Italian- and Mexicaninfluenced entrées to American continental. Happy Diner chefs are always creating something new—take your pick of grilled salmon over pasta or tilapia and vegetables prepared any way you
Smoke, Spice and Time at
Smoky Doky BBQ By Richard Foss, Food and Cuisine Writer
aflutter. The technique here is tried and true: rub the various meats with a mix of salt and pepper and then put them in a smoker for just the right amount of time. In the case of the brisket and ribs, add a crust of herbs dominated by chopped rosemary. Then let that aromatic, slightly sweet hickory smoke do its work for exactly the right amount of time. When the smoke has seeped into the meat and flavored it through and through, giving the exterior a caramelized crust that experts call bark, it’s done. When you cut into it, you’ll see the pink halo around the edge that is nicknamed the smoke ring. Most of the fats and collagen in the meat will have dissolved during the long, slow cooking process, so the meat will be very juicy and tender. The sauce will be offered on
[continued on p. 13]
Daniel Jess is the pitmaster at Smoky Doky BBQ. The Smoky Doky brisket lunch (right) includes mac & cheese, baked beans and beef brisket. Photos by Richard Foss
minor character in Game of Thrones; maybe the one who handles Daenerys’ dragons while she’s away. It is however the term of art for those who craft traditional barbecue.) Like most small barbecue joints, Smoky Doky doesn’t try to make a wide variety of
items. They’re specialists, and if you don’t want brisket, tri-tip, chicken, pork ribs, or pulled pork, you’re in the wrong place. They have the classic complementary sides — macaroni and cheese, potato salad, cheese potatoes, beans, and coleslaw, but nothing to set a vegetarian’s heart
like. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner: Happy Diner #1, 617 S. Centre St., San Pedro • (310) 241-0917 • Happy Diner #2, 1931 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 935-2933 • Open for breakfast and lunch: Happy Deli, 530 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro (424) 364-0319
and friendly atmosphere. Live music. Open from 11:30 a.m., daily. San Pedro Brewing Company, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (310) 831-5663 • www.sanpedrobrewing.com
JACKSON’S PLACE
The Victorian oak panels & elegant brass fittings will make you feel like you crossed the Atlantic. Featuring popular pub fare such as Fish & Chips, Shepherd’s Pie, & entrées of Choice Steaks, Roast Prime Rib, Beef Wellington & Roast Rack of Lamb. Seafood selections include Chilean Sea Bass, Atlantic Salmon, Jumbo Tiger Shrimp & Sand Dabs. International draft beers & ales, as well as domestic craft beers on tap. Full bar; free, gated parking lot. Open daily for dinner and lunch Tues.Sun. 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro • (310) 832-0363 • www. whaleandale.com
Jackson’s Place is the area’s newest Cajun eatery featuring Louisiana classics such as gumbo, jambalaya, po’boy sandwiches and grits. Recent menu additions introduced by Chef Scott Persson, include potato andouille croquettes, entrée salads, fresh seafood dishes and more. Live music five nights a week, Wine Wednesdays (half-off bottles after 6 p.m.), happy hour and a First Thursday after party makes Jackson’s Place an evening hotspot. Open for lunch and dinner Tues. - Sun. Jackson’s Place, 335 W. 7th St., San Pedro • (424) 477-5220
TAXCO
We are proud to serve our community for almost three decades. Generous plates of traditional Mexican fare are the draw at this homey, family-friendly restaurant. For a limited time: Combos #1-12—buy one, get the second for half off (of equal or lesser value. Exp. 2/25/18). Catering for every occasion, beer, wine and margaritas to your taste. Tony and Vini Moreno welcome you. Open Sun. and Mon. 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tues.-Sat., 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Taxco Mexican Restaurant, 29050 S. Western Ave., Rancho Palos Verdes • (310) 547-4554, www.taxcorestaurantpv.com
San Pedro Brewing Company
A microbrewery and American grill, SPBC features handcrafted awardwinning ales and lagers served with creative pastas, bbq, sandwiches, salads and burgers. A full bar with made-from-scratch margaritas and a martini menu all add fun to the warm
The Whale & Ale English Restaurant & Pub
and starlight dancing—the ultimate excursion for any occasion. Free parking. Spirit Cruises, 1200 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 548-8080, (562) 495-5884, www.spiritmarine.com
Waterfront Dining
PORTS O’ CALL RESTAURANT
Since 1961 this landmark restaurant has extended a hearty welcome to visitors from around the globe. Delight in an awe-inspiring view of the LA Harbor while enjoying fresh California cuisine and varietals. Relax in the bar or patio for the best happy hour on the waterfront. With each purchase of the award-winning Sunday Champagne Brunch, receive the first Spirit Cruises harbor cruise of the day free. Open 7 days, lunch and dinner. Free parking. Ports O’Call Waterfront Dining, 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor, Berth 76, San Pedro • (310) 833-3553 • www.portsocalldining.com
SPIRIT CRUISES
An instant party—complete with all you need to relax and enjoy while the majesty of the harbor slips by. Dinner cruise features a 3-course meal, full bar, unlimited cocktails
Let people know about your restaurant, specialty food shop or bar Call (310) 519-1442
[Smoky Doky, from p. 12]
the side for those who want it. You should try the meat unsauced before adding it. What Jess does is mostly traditional, except for the bit about adding rosemary to some rubs. That’s an interesting choice since rosemary crusts are usually used for roasting lamb or prime rib, not barbecue. The rub here is peppery compared to some others, so those who like a big herb and spice flavor will love it while others may max out on the cumulative effect of the seasoning. Your best first-visit tactic is to order a combination plate and ask for at least one of the meats that use that rosemary rub. I suggest a three-item with the ribs, brisket and chicken so you can try three critters and two rubs, though
if you want to sample everything get a five-item combo which ought to handle two people. I like the beans, which have a nice oniony tang, and the creamy macaroni and cheese. The coleslaw is pretty good too. I haven’t tried the other two sides, because I was saving space for the meats. All meals come with Hawaiian sweet rolls and a mildly peppery sauce that has a balance of vinegar and tomato in the base. I prefer Smoky Doky’s meat just as it comes out of the smoker, but it’s worth dipping a few times to enjoy the effect. Plates also come with your choice of soft
drink from the usual selections. The little storefront has minimal space to dine in, a pair of narrow and not particularly comfortable counters with stools, so most people get theirs to go. My recommendation is to drive a few minutes to Banning Park and find a nice bench under a tree. There’s something primal about eating barbecue outdoors. And while I can’t prove that it tastes better, it just feels right. (Sorry, no pits to throw your bones into at the park like a true cave dweller so please be sure to dispose of your containers properly.)
Smoky Doky is the only place making traditional barbecue in the area, and they do it well enough to please the most exacting purist. After you try it you’ll still like properly grilled meat, which has its own charm, but you’ll understand the majesty of barbecue as it was meant to be. Smoky Doky is at 223 W. Anaheim Street in Wilmington. See the menu online at smokydokybbq.com. It’s open six days a week Tuesday through Sunday. Details: (424) 364-0588.
FREE DRINK
with Any Meal Valid only with this coupon, at the Happy Deli location only
Serving Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner Monday-Saturday, 6 am to 8 pm Sunday, 7 am to 4 pm
We deliver to your home or office Ask about catering your next event
HAPPY DELI Lunch Combo $8.45 1/2 Large Sandwich plus a cup of soup or garden salad and small drink
Happy Deli • 530 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (424) 364-0319
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Brought to you by the artists and restaurants of the Downtown San Pedro Waterfront Arts District
Blue Water Clay Studio
Michael Stearns Studio 347
SCULPTURAL Glaze Workshop with John Britt
ABOVE, BELOW AND AWAY — SKY PAINTINGS BY JON NG
Jon Ng, First Light, 2017, 60″ x 24″, acrylic on canvas.
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Join artist Jon Ng for a discussion about his Sky Paintings on Feb. 17, 3 p.m. Ng paints a certain reality, yet his works evoke a sense of solitude, displacement and transformation. “In these Sky Paintings, I set out to capture the experience of awareness and discovery. I watch cloud formations moving over land and sea, and observe their changing shape and color.” The show will be open on First Thursday, Feb. 1 from 6 p.m. Michael Stearns Studio 347, 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro. Details: (562) 400-0544; www.michaelstearsstudio.com
Renown studio potter, author and glaze specialist, John Britt leads a 5-day glaze testing workshop geared toward beginner to intermediate potters. Clays, slips, cones, kilns, f iring dynamics and principles will be discussed. The workshop is designed to show students how to test Potter John Britt a base recipe and get various colors, as well as vary the strength of colors. Other topics may include applications of terra sigillatas and washes, as well as high temp pencils and pastels. Blue Water Clay Studio, 803 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro. Details: (310) 200-4171, (310) 872-9854 www. bluewaterclay.com Cost: $450, plus $50 lab and firing fee.
Studio Gallery 345
Original illustrations by pat woolley Studio 345 presents Pat Woolley’s original illustrations from The Thif t Store Bears series and paintings by Gloria D Lee. Want to illustrate your own book ? Look for a class at Crafted that will be offered this spring. Open 5 to 9 p.m. on First Thursday or by appointment. Studio 345, 345 W. 7th St., San Pedro. Pat Woolley from The Thrift Store Bears For information, call (310) 545-0832 or (310) 374-8055; artsail@roadrunner.com or www.patwoolleyart.com.
.
Last Night in the Basement Gallery
January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
James Preston Allen will do a selective reading from his book Shadow Lands and hold a closing reception for collage exhibition, Death is the Last Orgasm.
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Feb. 1, 6 pm • Reading 7:30 The Basement Gallery 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro
Shadow Lands
Reflections on some people I’ve known 12 POEMS
By James Preston Allen Publisher of Random Lengths News
RLn BRINGS YOU DEDICATED COVERAGE OF THE ARTS IN THE HARBOR AREA. FOR ADVERTISING, CALL 310. 519.1442
JAN 25 - FEB 7 • 2018 ENTERTAINMENT Jan. 26
Hot House “Ameri-Gumbo” Hot House will be setting the house on fire. Time: 9 p.m. Jan. 26 Cost: Free Details: (310) 832-5503 Venue: Harold’s Place, 1908 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro Richard Smith National Fingerstyle champion and protégé of Chet Atkins, Richard Smith will perform solo guitar including fingerpicking to fiddle, swing and jazz, rock and pop. Time: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 Cost: $20 Details: (310) 833-3281; https:// alvasshowroom.com/events Venue: Alvas Music Store, 1413 W. 8th St., San Pedro
Jan. 27
Plini, Marco Minnemann, Mohini Dey Come join this unique musical journey with some of the hottest young virtuosos in the instrumental music scene today. Collaborative sets of music will be showcased featuring songs by each artist. Time: 8 to 10 p.m. Jan. 27 and 28 Cost: $40 Details: (310)833-7538; www. alvasshowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th Street , San Pedro
Feb. 2
Feb. 3
THEATER Jan. 26
Mark Twain Tonight Recreating the one man show that starred Hal Holbrook on Broadway, Jaxson Brashier portrays Mark Twain as a 70-year-old humorist in this 90-minute production. Adapted from Twain’s own words for a commentary on slavery, religion and politics, mixing the satire with comic yarns about life on the Mississippi. Time: 8 p.m. Jan. 26 and 27 Cost: $15 Details: www.lbplayhouse.org Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach Picasso at the Lapin Agile The clever off-Broadway hit play from comedian and writer Steve Martin imagines Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso meeting in a Parisian bar one evening in 1904, just before each man introduced the work that would make him famous. With rapier-sharp wit and hysterical one-liners, Martin paints a playful portrait of the two geniuses, with egos as big as their intellects, as they spar about art and science, their respective libidos, and the promise of the 20th century. Time: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays Jan. 26 through Feb. 8 Cost: $30 to $70 Details: http:// palosverdesperformingarts.com Venue: Norris Theatre, 27570 Norris Center Drive, Rolling Hills Estates
Jan. 27
Seussical Cat in the Hat, The Whos, Horton, The Grinch, Yertle the Turtle and a host of other Dr. Seuss characters travel the Seussian universe through the Jungle of Nool. Time: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 and 2 p.m. Jan. 28 Cost: $46 to $60 Details: grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 476 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Feb. 2
Forgotten Images: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow This year’s highlights include a special stage reading of Lady Patriot. The play is written and directed by Ted Lange, and tells the story of a freed slave and unlikely spy in the Jefferson Davis White House who helped to bring down the Confederacy with her intelligence work. The event will also feature the return of the powerful Forgotten Images, a traveling educational exhibit and museum. Time: 8 p.m. Feb. 2 Cost: Free Details: www.expoartscenter.org
Pablo Picasso, Au Lapin Agile, 1904-05.
Venue: Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach
Ongoing
Black Coffee In this seldom seen and intricately crafted mystery, Agatha Christie weaves scientific discoveries, international espionage and unimaginable murder together to give the audience a night of unraveling the knots of danger and suspense. Time: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 10 Cost: $20 Details: www.lbplayhouse.org Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach Pick of the Vine An exciting night of entertainment awaits you in these 7- to 15-minute short plays hand-picked by Little Fish Theatre from authors across the country. Time: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Feb. 17 Cost: $25 to 27 Details: (310) 512-6030; Littlefishtheatre.org, Venue: Little Fish Theatre, 777 Centre St., San Pedro
ARTS
Jan. 27
Making Social Making Social is an exhibition based on a pedagogic approach to social experience and art. The show is based on a course taught by Rich over the past decade about social experience as a medium in art. The opening reception is from 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 27. Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 12 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through March 17 Cost: Free Details: http://angelsgateart.org/ Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center Randi Matushevitz, Huss Hardan Closing Reception The final day for Urban Dilemmas, the incredible large scale mixed media paintings from Randi Matushevitz and Color of Money photographs by Huss Hardan.
Time: 3 to 5 p.m. Jan. 27 Cost: Free Details: www.huzgalleries.com; www.randimatushevitz.com Venue: Huz Galleries, 341 W. 7th St., San Pedro
Feb. 1
7 Painters TransVagrant + Gallery 478 are pleased to present 7 Painters including the works by Katy Crowe, Ron Linden, William Mahan, Jay McCafferty, Marie Thibeault, Ted Twine, and HK Zamani. The exhibition will open with an artists’ reception from 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 3 Time: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, through March 11 Details: (310) 732-2150 Venue: Gallery 478, 478 W. 7th St., San Pedro
Feb. 3
Other Places Art Faire Fluid in definition, bonded by an intention to operate in other places outside the traditional commercial art gallery system, Other Places art fair 2018 features 24 participants presenting sitespecific booths encapsulating their projects and programming. Representing this growing movement of art project spaces, OPaf 2018 provides a custom structure designed specifically for unconventional projects. Time: 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 3 Cost: $5 donation / free for students with ID Details: http://angelsgateart.org/ Venue: Battery Leary-Merriam at Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S Gaffey St., San Pedro The Rebel Body Angels Gate Cultural Center presents, The Rebel Body, a solo show by Johanna Breiding. The Rebel Body, brings together multimedia works and various collaborations to explore historicized accounts of political persecution. The opening reception is Jan. 27 from 1 to 4 p.m. Time: Mon. to Fri. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekends from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., through March 17 Cost: Free Details: http://angelsgateart.org/ Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601S.GaffeySt.,SanPedro
Art Ongoing
Sky Paintings Artist Jon Ng paints a certain reality, yet his works evoke a sense of solitude, displacement and transformation. “In these Sky Paintings, I set out to capture the experience of awareness and discovery. I watch cloud formations moving over land and sea, and observe their changing shape and color.” Details: (562) 400-0544; www. michaelstearsstudio.com Venue: Michael Stearns Studio
347, 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro
COMMUNITY Jan. 26
2018 Walk for Kids Kick-Off Gladstone’s Long Beach is helping to kick-off the 7th Annual Long Beach Walk for Kids! RSVP to join. Learn more about the 5K walk benefiting the Long Beach Ronald McDonald House. You will hear how you can help us sustain the needs of families with seriously ill children undergoing treatment at a nearby medical facility. Time: 9 a.m. Jan. 26 Details: (562) 285-4308, www. rmhcsc.org/longbeach Venue: Gladstone’s Long Beach
Jan. 27
Third Annual Marley Festival The Marley Festival will again bring some of the best reggae bands from Southern California together for this one special day to support original reggae music. The event will feature reggae artist Don Carlos and the Soul Syndicate Band with Common Sense, and special guests. Time: 5 p.m. Jan. 27 Cost: $25 to $30 Details: GaslampLongBeach. com Venue: Gaslamp, 6251 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach Wheels & Heels 2 Join in for the second Annual Wheels and Heels event hosted by #Reign46 Queen Mothers Ginger Grant and Diana Prince. This special event will raise money for “Infinite Flow - A Wheelchair Dance Company” who pair ablebodied people as dance partners with people in wheelchairs to
AltaSea’s Quarterly Open House The executive director of the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System Scripps Institution of Oceanography will be in attendance as well as author Marcus Eriksen, who built the Junk Raft that is now on display at AltaSea. Eriksen will be recounting his adventure of building a ship out of trash then sailing it across the Pacific Ocean. Time: 10 a.m. Jan. 27 Cost: Free Details: rsvp@altasea.org Venue: AltaSea, 2456 S. Signal Street, San Pedro
Jan. 28
Whale Fiesta Come celebrate the 48th annual Whale Fiesta. This fun-filled family event, cosponsored by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Cetacean Society, celebrates marine mammals and the migration of Pacific gray whales along Southern California’s coast. Time: 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. Jan. 28 Cost: Free Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro Long Beach Vegan Chili Cook Off Come on out and taste some great vegan chili and pair em up with some delicious specialty beers, tapped just for the event. There will be up to $500 in prizes. Time: 2 to 8 p.m. Jan. 28 Details: http://lbvegan.com Venue: 4th Street Vine, 2142 E. 4th St., Long Beach
Feb. 3
4th Annual Great San Pedro Crab Feed Preparation for the 4th Annual Great San Pedro Crab Feed is under way. The San Pedro Rotary Club anticipates the best Crab Feed ever. A ticket provides an dungeness crab meal cooked in a savory cioppino sauce with pasta, salad and fresh baked French bread! There will be a silent and live auction to raise money for vocational scholarships, helping the homeless and supporting our troops abroad! Time: 5 p.m. Feb. 3 Cost: $65 Details: www.sanpedrorotary. org Venue: The Cabrillo Beach Youth Waterfront Sports Center, 3000 Shoshonean Road, San Pedro
January 25 - February 7, 2018
Feb. 9
De Lux After establishing a sound on their debut Voyage and then establishing an identity with the revelatory Generation, L.A. disco-not-disco duo De Lux took
Palos Verdes Performing Arts presents comedian and writer Steve Martin’s clever comedy that imagines a Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein meet-up in belle epoque Paris, before each man introduced the works that would usher in the modern world. The play runs Jan. 26 through Feb. 8, www.palosverdesperformingarts.com
create beautiful dances. Time: 3 to 6 p.m. Jan. 27 Details: (562) 436-7900 Venue: Hamburger Mary’s, 330 Pine Ave., Long Beach
The Hillbenders Bluegrass The Hillbenders perform a full bluegrass style tribute to The Who’s classic rock-opera, Tommy. Conceived and produced by SXSW co-founder Louis Jay Meyers, the band bridges the gap between rock and bluegrass while paying total respect to Pete Townsend’s original work. It’s Whograss at its best. Time: 8 p.m. Feb. 3 Cost: $20 to $30 Details: grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Pearl Charles Pearl Charles inhabits a Hollywood set built around late night revelry, love affairs, running away and running towards, serenading the sunrise through whirlwind stories of her native Los Angeles, the city, the canyon, the desert and the road. A pre-order her album Sleepless Dreamer, either on CD or colored vinyl is required to attend the event. Time: 7 p.m. Feb. 2 Cost: $12.99 to $16.99 Details: (562) 433-4996 Venue: Fingerprints, 420 E. 4th St., Long Beach
a moment to re-center and come back leaner, sharper, clearer and deeper on their new album More Disco Songs About Love. A preorder of More Disco Songs About Love on CD or vinyl is required Time: 7 p.m. Feb. 9 Cost: $12.99 to $21.99 Details: (562) 433-4996 Venue: Fingerprints Records, 420 E. 4th St., Long Beach
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January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Every January, Little Fish Theatre rings in a new season by offering Pick of the Vine, a program of short plays. This is my third year sampling the harvest, and it’s easily the best I’ve tasted. It’s highlighted by strong notes of humor and feeling. While previous years may have been weighed down by too much goofiness and too little variety, among the nine plays comprising this year’s Pick of the Vine are several that delve beneath the surface. The opener, David MacGregor’s Immersion Therapy, may not be one of them, but it’s a perfect kickoff to the evening. Every year Melissa (Rachel Levy) gets just what she wants for her birthday. But this year her husband (Daniel Gallai) gives her something she needs: immersion therapy to combat her coulrophobia. Unbeknownst to him, however, there’s an erotic side to Rachel’s fear of clowns that might make Freud blush. Contains excellent use of a rubber horn as a phallic symbol. There’s not a lot to the second play, Glen Alterman’s Ditmas, which follows a chance meeting of two former junior-high classmates, one of whom has had a sex change. There’s really nowhere for it to go after the big reveal, but its placement between the silliness of Immersion Therapy and the sentiment of Dagney Kerr’s Stay is a testament to Pick of the Vine 2018’s perfect flow. Initially, though, there’s no guessing that Stay’s reunion of an aged German shepherd (Mary-Margaret Lewis) and a three-year-old poodle (Olivia SchlueterCorey) would resonate with audiences. But what starts out seeming like just another cutesy people-as-dogs skit becomes surprisingly affecting as the senior canine helps her young best friend gain new perspective on both the bitter and the sweet in our too-short time on Earth. You know it’s slightly mawkish, so you feel a bit silly that you’ve got tears in your eyes. Lewis, Schlueter-Corey, and director James Rice play the scenario just right. George Sauer’s Most Popular, a fly-on-thewall view of a panicky parlay between a pair of middle-aged high-school-reunion crashers who’ve been mistaken for Prom King and Queen, is probably the weakest of the bunch. Yet, it works as a chance to collect yourself after Stay and set you up for J.C. Cifranic’s The Last Word, a Tarantino-inspired scene with a pair of hitmen (Gallai and Ryan Knight), one of whom can’t stand to go forward with the hit because their would-be victim (Perry Shields) won’t cough up some
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Curtain Call:
Perfect Pacing Makes 2018’s Pick of the Vine the Best Yet By Greggory Moore, Curtain Call Writer
Little Fish Theatre’s Pick of the Vine runs through Feb. 17.
pithy last words. The ensuing argument is funny, but the payoff is even better, including a lighting cue that shows you can work magic with even the most rudimentary of rigs. The perfect pacing continues after intermission with Mark Saunders’s The Case of the Missing Know-It-All. Although the title doesn’t make sense—no one’s ever actually
missing—in this comedy of manners, an insufferably arrogant and retired Sherlock Holmes (drolly rendered by Shields) is driving his wife (Lewis) and two grown daughters (Levy and Schlueter-Corey) crazy, so crazy that there’s nothing to do but off him. Ah, but it’s not so easy to outsmart the paragon of deductive reasoning. Saunders’s satire of Arthur Conan Doyle is pitch-perfect—and, quite
simply, funny. Until its final twist, there isn’t much to Mario Rivas’s Flat Earther, which has us eavesdropping on Cassandra (Kimberly Patterson) and Martin’s (Knight) first date as they make fun of conspiracy theorists. It’s a lark until it turns out that Cassandra believes that most mass shootings are “false flag” attacks.
But she’s about to learn a hard lesson. Rivas probably telegraphs the ending, but it works well enough anyway. In Mark Harvey Levine’s Wishes, a man (Gallai) is so addicted to his psychometric ability to divine the wish made on every coin he fishes out of a fountain that his girlfriend (Levy) is leaving him. This one is all about the conclusion, but if you’ve seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it’s going to seem overly derivative. Nonetheless, as a final tribute to the night’s ideal flow, Wishes puts us in the right mood for Irene L. Pynn’s The Train, a wordless tale of boy (Knight) meets girl (Schlueter-Corey) in a noisy, crowded subway car. It’s not the most original idea (for the last few months Apple’s been running a long-form iPhone commercial that is at heart the same story), but director Holly Baker-Kresiwirth, with some solid sound cues, makes it sing. If you’ve attended a previous Pick of the Vine and enjoyed it, you’re sure to be delighted with what they’ve got for you this year. If this is the first you’re hearing of this Little Fish tradition and it sounds worth checking out, your timing is impeccable. There are definitely diamonds in the rough, and the rough is never so bad and always perfectly placed. Time: Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through Feb. 17 Cost: $25 to 27 Details: Littlefishtheatre.org, (310) 512-6030 Venue: Little Fish Theatre, 777 Centre St., San Pedro
[Representational, from p. 11]
Representational Acts taboo against crossing the sea, and how that relates to his own history. Kala Pani belief implies that crossing the seas causes the loss of social respectability and corruption of cultural character and posterity. When slavery was abolished in British colonies, authorities went to India to find indentured labor to replace the emancipated slaves. To attract these laborers to Caribbean countries requiring cheap labor, the countries were presented as promised lands. The British strategy to dispel the doubts raised by Kana Pani was to place containers of Ganges River water on the ships, to ensure the continuity of reincarnation beyond the Kala Pani. To represent this, Gosnine entered by pouring water from a bucket into glass jars marked with names of 12 bodies of water. Six glasses referenced the ancestral journey from India to Trinidad and six marked his own ancestors’ travels to bodies of water in the United States, where they settled. The artist also utilized long-stemmed white hydrangeas to represent giving and the tension of social history G RAN D
VISION
PRE S ENT S
The Hillbenders Saturday, Feb. 3
7:30 Doors • 8 pm Concert
The Hillbenders bring to life The Who’s classic rock-opera, Tommy in full bluegrass style Tickets & Info:
310.833.4813 | GrandVision.org
The Grand Annex | 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
In Our Holy Waters Andil Gosine pours water into 12 glass jars marked with names of the bodies of water that reference the ancestral journey from India to Trinidad and to the U.S. where his ancestors eventually settled. Photo courtesy of MoLAA.
and individual desires in the Indian diaspora. Passing flowers out to audience members he chanted, “Our Holy Waters are not the Ganges.” He also repeated like a mantra, “I’m tired of…,” adding nearly two dozen physically and mentally arduous actions to end the phrase including, seeking, proving, arriving, thirst, pleading, labor and demonstrating. The performance was sweet and poignant. As water and life can often represent hope, the repeated phrase “I’m tired of,” presented a sense of weariness. He eventually laid bunches of flowers on the ground, faced out forming a rectangle. As he laid in the center in a resting pose, people to whom he gave the flowers silently walked up and placed them atop his body.
Abolibibelo
The performer, Jerome, appeared in a costume made of white rolls of paper
resembling carnival attire. His deliberate movements against a droning audio track contrasted with the simultaneously syncopated rhythms of Caribbean music and dance. The avant-garde performance merged with traditional festival arts and blurred boundaries between the modern and the ancient. As Jerome moved and posed within a zigzag pattern and a rectangle of yellow floor tape, he recited Jimmy Robert’s 78-line poem. Abolibibelo. It began with staccato utterances, then filled with contrary phrases combined with thought-provoking expression. Movement embodied his words and vice-versa. Abolibibelo was imaginative and matchless; the performance called on viewers to interrogate their surroundings and to cast a critical eye on representation. Details: www.molaa.org
Chavela Captures the Essence of a Ranchera Icon
Real News, Real People, Really Effective January 25 - February 7, 2018
By Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor parents divorced they gave her up to an aunt and Filmmakers Catherine Gund and Daresha uncle. Kyi are making sure ranchera great Chavela “I was a very sad girl, very lonely,” she said. Vargas is never forgotten. Their documentary, At 14, she ran away and moved to Mexico Chavela, explores the life of the singer through in search of opportunities. Chavela Vargas, her interviews, images and, of course, music. alter-ego, was born in 1942. The 25-year-project illustrates the life of “I used to dream of a paradise called a woman who used music as an instrument Mexico,” she said. “Mexico taught me to be to release her pain, which she gifted to her audience. The film, which was screened in early who I am, but not with kisses and hugs, but with kicks and slaps. Mexico took me and told January at the Art Theatre in Long Beach, will me, ‘I’m going to make you a woman. I am have an encore presentation in February. going to rear you in land of men… You want to Told in Spanish with English subtitles, sing? Well, you have to confront the best that Chavela is a mesh of interviews with the there is.’” Her former life partner, Alicia Pérez singer, friends and lovers, using photos and Duarte, remembered how Vargas had to assert translated lyrics of her songs to create a sense herself in that land of men. of self-reflective storytelling as the music icon “To be Chavela, you have to be stronger interpreted popular songs of the era. Rather than and more macha and more drunkard than any of a complete biographical documentary, Chavela the charro singer who were around her,” Pérez focuses on the life of the singer in Mexico and Duarte said. Spain, at the height of the resurgence of her Her talents did not go unnoticed. José career. While the documentary touches on her childhood it doesn’t go into great detail about her life in Costa Rica or how she arrived in Mexico and started her career. “Let’s start with where I am going,” said Chavela Vargas at the beginning of the film, which was set in 1991. “It’s more interesting to the whole world, not where you come from but where you are going.” Vargas, who had a cameo in the 2002 Salma Hayek film Frida, came back to the limelight in 1990s after more than decade of being retired. Chavela spotlights her personal struggles dealing with the homophobia (both internal and external), alcoholism, poverty and loneliness. With Vargas’ unique and heart-wrenching, raspy voice the song Soledad, meaning “loneliness,” prefaces an interview with her. The filmmakers begin to tell the story of Chavela Vargas through her Chavela Vargas. eyes, starting and ending the Alfredo Jiménez, a famous ranchera singer, film with Vargas saying, “My name is Chavela befriended Vargas and took her under his wings. Vargas; don’t forget it.” Her career took off. She performed and opened Like many artists of the time, Vargas started for some of the best acts in Mexico. singing in small venues in Mexico. At first Vargas was the only woman who dared she wore feminine attire, makeup and long sing to another woman. Frida Kahlo and Eva hair. That didn’t work well for the singer. It Gardner were among her known conquests. And was actually her masculine traits that caught yet, she didn’t officially come out as a lesbian the attention of her audience. She shook the until late in her life. traditions of women singers standardized by “It’s not about me being homosexual,” she elaborate dresses and feminine flirtation. said. “Consider that the human being loves and “I looked like a transvestite dressed as a that’s it. Don’t ask who or why. Leave it. That’s woman, really,” she said. “Time stood still. the beauty of things.” ‘What’s up with this woman wearing pants Chavela is a painstaking view of a woman before the 1950s?’ ... I put on pants and the who went against the norms through adventure, public was stunned.” love, friendships, sadness and music. Gund Vargas was born Isabel Vargas Lizano, on and Kyi’s film is a vessel of understanding and April 17, 1919, in Costa Rica. Her parents were acceptance. not able to deal with Vargas being naturally Chavela is showing at 11 a.m. Feb. 3 and 4 masculine. at the Art Theatre, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach “That Isabel, as my mother called me, that and at 7 p.m. March 8 at the Museum of Latin Isabel is the one I love and is with me,” she American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach. said. “Chavela is a cabrona (fucker).” Details: www.arttheatrelongbeach.org, www. As a child, she was hidden from visitors, molaa.org, www.chavelavargasfilm.com because they were ashamed of her. When her
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[continued on p. 19]
you’ll hear it in the middle.
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1 Mature insect stage 6 528i maker 9 Arrears 14 Once less than once 15 Noise at the dentist 16 Andrews of “Mary Poppins” 17 Port-au-Prince or FortLibertΘ, as an example of what to call cities? 19 “___ we all?” 20 City SE of Oklahoma City 21 Just the right amount of stellar? 23 Haves and have-___ 25 They may be removed in “premium” versions 26 Some smartphones 27 Uncool sort 29 Uncle, in Oaxaca 30 Software problem 33 Jazz combo instrument 37 Facebook action 38 Oscar news about “Reds” or “Bulworth” (or “Network”)? 42 Shirt sleeves 43 Journalist Cokie who appears on ABC and NPR 44 Afternoon break 45 Part of FWIW 46 Congo basin animal 50 Solar system center 51 Surprised sounds
54 Madeline of “Blazing Saddles” 55 Much, much smaller? 60 Fish eggs 61 “That’s ___ shame” 62 Go out with Carrie Ann of “Dancing With the Stars?” 64 Blue-gray shade 65 Back in time 66 Ambulance attendant 67 Scammed 68 Actor Jeong 69 Hard worker’s output Down 1 Under one’s control 2 Grassland 3 Do some flying 4 Figure out 5 First of its kind (abbr.) 6 Made some barnyard noises 7 Half of a 1960s pop quartet 8 Put a sharper edge on 9 “___ Unchained” (Tarantino movie) 10 Continent-wide money 11 Chicken Cordon ___ 12 Triangle sound 13 Late-night host Meyers 18 Program begun under FDR 22 Alchemist’s potion 24 Stadium capacity 28 Crispy sandwich 29 Mild
30 Drill piece 31 Island strings, for short 32 Diploma equivalent 34 Power in old movies 35 ___ about (roughly) 36 Show sorrow 37 Eye surgery acronym 38 Outlaw 39 Notable period 40 Current measure 41 Utmost degree 45 Put gas in 47 Holiday procession 48 Intense fear 49 Short play length 50 What a two-letter abbreviation may denote 51 “August: ___ County” (2013 Streep film) 52 Show interest in, in a way 53 Figure out 55 Laundry 56 “Alice’s Restaurant” chronicler Guthrie 57 Affirmative votes 58 Bismarck’s home (abbr.) 59 Wheel accessories 63 Word after “brand spanking” ©2018 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) For answers go to: www.randomlengthsnews.com
DBA FILINGS [from p. 18] true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/.Willie Cameron, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 29, 2017. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing:01/11/2018, 01/25/2018, 02/08/2018, 02/22/2018
[Molina, from p. 7]
Molina
[Kentucky, from p. 6]
Kentucky
January 25 - February 7, 2018
many reasons, but one key reason is that the majority of adults, close to 80 percent of adult Medicaid beneficiaries, are living in a working household,” Alker wrote in her blog, the day the waiver policy was announced. “It speaks to the misguided focus of energy and attention from the Trump Administration and the cynical political motivations behind this policy.” In fact, under Kentucky’s new rules, working adults could lose their coverage, simply for failing to report properly, or because they worked too few hours one month. Activists have said they’ll challenge Kentucky’s new rules in court. In a hostage-taking move, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is threatening to drop nearly 500,000 people from the state’s Medicaid rolls if they do—the total number added in the state’s Medicaid expansion under Obamacare. But Bevin originally campaigned on the promise to end Medicaid expansion if he was elected. He opted to pursue the waiver strategy instead—presumably because it would draw less heat. That strategy now seems to have failed.
executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University. Using a slightly different time-frame, rural uninsurance rates dropped “from 28 percent to 10 percent, while metro areas went from 18 percent to 8 percent,” she said. Medicaid is especially important to them. “We looked at the top 10 counties in the country, for percent of adults who are on Medicaid,” Alker said. “An astonishing 6 out of the top 10 in the country were in Kentucky. All of these counties have a percent of the adults on Medicaid, ranging from 40 to 45 percent.” They also “have a much higher unemployment rate than the national average…. Consequently, as more people lose Medicaid coverage in Kentucky … we would expect rural areas and small towns to experience a disproportionate share of the pain.” In short, people in the heart of Trump country—including the legendary Harlan County—are going to be hit the hardest. “Work requirements are misguided for
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
The doctor said that was especially a problem here in California because we’ve expanded Medicaid to cover people who are not insured. We could also see the roll out of a lot skimpy insurance plans. People might buy those plans thinking they are getting coverage at a lower cost. This is a situation in which these particular health consumers would find that the treatment they need may not be covered. “That’s a real danger and that’s something I think is going to fly under the radar screen,” Molina said. “A lot of people don’t understand or don’t realize, or they’re just not involved.” With the change of ownership over Molina Healthcare’s clinics, Molina said patients should expect the same quality of care going forward. “We accept MediCal patients and MediCare
patients and Covered California patients and that will remain in effect,” Molina said. “Really, what’s changing is the name. The locations are the same.” The doctor noted that about 90 percent of Molina Healthcare staff who worked under the old ownership have accepted offers of employment. “For the next few months we’ll be changing the signs and changing the name,” the doctor said. “It’s going to be the same people providing the same services [patients] were used to in the past.” What will possibly change under Molina’s Golden Shore Medical group is the number of insurance carriers with which they have contracts. “Right now it’s primarily Molina Healthcare,” Molina said. “In the future, we would like to have contracts with other insurance plans as well.”
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January 25 - February 7, 2018 , 2018
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