p
Clinic Focuses on Serving Wilmington Community p. 4 Town Hall Puts Norman Mailer on Trial p. 13 Neno’s Norooz Serves Persian Delights in Wilmington p. 14
Dark Vision:
Trump’s Environmental Attacks Imperil the Planet By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum is going solar.
[See Dark Vison, page 8]
The Local Publication You Actually Read
By embracing the future of renewable energy, the museum, owned by Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, represents the antithesis of Donald Trump’s malicious attack on the environment — epitomized by, but hardly limited to, his promise to bring back coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. This is why Trump recently ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to eviscerate the Clean Power Plan, which would reduce carbon emissions from power plants by almost one-third by 2030. Coal is responsible for so much damage that a 2009 study of local mortality rates (“Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions”) found “The human cost of the Appalachian coal mining economy outweighs its economic benefits.” A broader 2011 study (“Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal”) found that “the life cycle effects of coal and the waste stream generated are costing the U.S. public one third to more than one-half of a trillion dollars annually … [which] conservatively doubles to triples the [real] price of electricity from coal.”
South Bay Rises Against the Fossil Fuel Status Quo p. 3
Fighting Entropy in Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park p. 9
Miners at UMWA Rally at Massey Energy headquarters in Richmond, VA. The photo is from Blood on the Mountain, a documentary about the struggles and injustices facing Appalachian coal miners.
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Community Announcements:
Harbor Area Calling All Indivisibles
Be sure to RSVP to Rep. Nanette Barragán’s town hall meeting. Also, weekly Indivisible San Pedro meetings take place at 7 p.m. Thursdays at Angel’s Gate Cultural Center, Bldg. H. Time: 6 p.m. April 19 Details: (310) 831-1799; RSVP.Barragan@mail. house.gov Venue: Dalmatian-American Club, 1639 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro
March for Science Los Angeles
Proposed budget cuts could send tens of thousands of scientists looking for work elsewhere. Help preserve the thriving, scientific economy of America and support March for Science Los Angeles. Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 22 Details: http://marchforsciencela.com Venue: Pershing Square, Los Angeles
Take Action Day
Take action to help our local environment on Earth Day. Learn about the impact of microplastics and help clean Cabrillo Beach. Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. April 22 Details: www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro Town Hall with Lieu With daily reminders that the Trump administration poses one of the world’s greatest threats, now is a vital time for us to discuss how we can get involved and act to protect our nation. Join Rep. Ted Lieu as he has a community conversation about how we can resist, organize and stop the Trump’s radical agenda. RSVP. Time: 6:30 p.m. April 24 Details: www.tedlieu.com/townhall_20170424 Venue: Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Redondo Beach
New Date Set for Port’s Environmental Grants Workshops
[See Announcements, page 4]
South Bay Rises Against the Fossil Fuel Status Quo By Christian L. Guzman, Community Reporter The Donald Trump administration may be committed to rolling back regulations That protect the environment, but Harbor Area and South Bay residents are ready to fight. The action at the South Coast Air Quality Management District meeting on April 1 regarding the PBF Energy Refinery in Torrance, is just the latest example. About 50 of the 300 people in the room resolutely waved “Ban Toxic MFH” signs whenever MHF was mentioned by the board or speakers. This meeting took place partly as a result of Torrance residents that became active following the former Exxon Mobil refinery explosion two years before PBF Energy took it over. In February, about 100 people marched in the rain to protest the refinery’s continued use of the alkylation catalyst, modified hydrofluoric acid or MHF. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Los Angeles County Fire Department and PBF Energy gave reports at the hearing. The main topics were the refinery’s MHF, and public opinion on the chemical. Speakers explained that in 2015, shrapnel from the explosion nearly pierced a tank containing MHF; a rupture or explosion of the tank would have released gaseous MHF that could have affected 30,000 people. “MHF not only burns because it is an acid, it is a systematic poison,” said Sally Hayati, panelist at the hearing and president of the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance. Fluoride ions from hydrofluoric acid easily absorb into human skin. They then bond with calcium in human bodies, making it unavailable; without calcium, cardiac arrest can result. Lungs
Residents outside the Torrance Civic Center protesting the continued use of Modified Hydrogen Fluoride at PBF Refinery in Torrance. Photo courtesy of the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance.
can also fill with blood and water. Laboratory scientists consider hydrofluoric acid to be one of the most dangerous chemicals to handle. Using EPA guidelines, Hayati and a team of other scientists determined that the worst case scenario from an MHF release would be lethal exposure. Since the explosion two years ago, the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance has informed the community of MHF’s potential danger as a refinery catalyst. Their campaign has been successful, prompting government officials to respond to the will of the people. “My No. 1 priority is to make the people safer,” said Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, who
represents Torrance. “I have introduced a plan to the Assembly to not just make [the PBF refinery] safer but all refineries. That includes a ban on MHF.” Muratsuchi’s plan consists of five Assembly bills: AB 1645, AB 1646, AB 1647, AB 1648 and AB 1649. In addition to banning MHF, the other bills would call for real time air quality monitoring, a community alert system, more refinery inspectors and codification of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Interagency Refinery Task Force. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who was also present at the SCAQMD [See South Bay Rise, page 6]
The Local Publication You Actually Read
The Port of Long Beach has rescheduled workshops for a new grant program that will foster new health programs for asthma, and empower schools, day-care centers and other facilities to purchase air filters. An air filters workshop and a health programs workshop are scheduled. Time: 2 to 4:30 p.m. April 19 Details: www.polb.com/grants Venue: POLB Interim Administrative Offices, 4801 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach Venue: The Nonprofit Partnership, 4900 E. Conant St., O-2, Room 208, Long Beach
Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 30 Years
April 13 - 26, 2017
3
Community Announcements:
Harbor Area [Announcements, from page 3]
LA Board of Harbor Commissioners’ Special Meeting
The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioner is scheduled for a special meeting. Time: 6 p.m. April 26 Details: www.portoflosangeles.org Venue: Port of Los Angeles Harbor Administration Building, 425 S. Palos Verdes St., Board Room 2, 2nd Floor, San Pedro
AOC7’s 5th Annual Literacy Fair
In preparation for AOC7’s 5th Annual Literacy Fair, the group, whose acronym stands for Anaheim, Orange, Cherry and 7th Street, is collecting new and gently used children’s books through April 28. Donation locations: Neighborhood Resource Center 100 Broadway, Suite 550 Lincoln Elementary School 1175 E. 11th Street Mark Twain Library 1401 E. Anaheim Street The Center Long Beach 2017 E. 4th Street
People’s Climate March
April 13 - 26, 2017
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Join the People’s Climate Movement in Washington D.C. and across the country to stand up for communities and climate. In Los Angeles, we’ll march in Wilmington to call attention to a local issue that has global climate change impacts. The Wilmington march starts at Banning Park and Recreation Center and it ends at Tesoro Refinery. Time: 11 a.m. April 29 Details: http://bit.ly/PeoplesClimateLA Venue: Banning Park and Recreation Center, 1331 Eubank Ave., Wilmington
4
Clinic Spells Community with a Capital W By Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor
Hilda Ávila (no relation to Random Lengths News Assistant Editor Zamná Ávila) arrived in the United States on vacation and fell in love. The object of her affection was an inconspicuous community in the heart of the Harbor Area: Wilmington. “I saw how the community does acts of goodness and I’ve seen change,” said Ávila in Spanish, referring to the grassroots community activism in the Los Angeles neighborhood. She found one such act of goodness when she was searching for a doctor to get a regular physical examination at the Wilmington Community Clinic. “I [now] have 15 years with the clinic [as a patient] and I haven’t changed [providers] for a reason,” Ávila said. “They make you feel as if you are family.” The clinic’s family has grown to serve several families throughout the years. This year marks Wilmington Community Clinic’s 40th anniversary. “It’s really a treasure in the community,” said Dr. Marco García, who practices family medicine at the clinic. “Some patients have been served for several generations…. We are really dedicated to Wilmington.” Dr. Xylina Bean and Rosa Montano founded the clinic on April 17, 1977, responding to maternal and pediatric health care needs in the community. The clinic first opened as a free clinic that helped about 3,500 patients per year. Since then, it has helped combat teen pregnancy, expanded pediatric programs through grant
Patients are being treated at the Wilmington Commun ity Clinic. Photo by Jessie Drezner
funding, offered educational parenting classes and provided lactation education. These days, the clinic also provides cancer and diabetes screenings. “What attracted me [to this job] is that it is an authentic community clinic and that it specifically aims to serve the underserved population — people without insurance or [who] can’t afford
[to pay for a regular office visit somewhere else],” said García, who has been working at the clinic for three years. “The mission has remained the same for all those years that it has provided service to the community.” In 2016, the clinic provided services to 22,939 low-income and uninsured women, [See Clinic, page 5]
[Clinic, from page 4]
Wilmington Clinic children and men. What Ávila appreciates the most is accessibility. Not only is the clinic open late and on Saturdays, but also the staff is very helpful, she said. Many of the patients are monolingual; they only speak Spanish. “The majority of the doctors are accessible and also, the work of the nurses can’t be minimized,” Ávila said. “If the doctor speaks only English, the nurses help with translating…. They not only have supported me with my medical issues, they’ve also given moral support.” It is with that understanding that García, whose family immigrated from Mexico when he was three years old, goes out of his way to treat each person with dignity and respect, “especially those below the poverty line.” In 2015, the clinic incorporated dental
services with two part-time dentists and one parttime hygienist. Within the first seven months, 485 patients used the new services. The clinic is expanding those services to include four more dental chairs. This year, the clinic also is providing mental health services that include psychological counseling and coping-mechanism therapy. In 2012, the clinic became a federally qualified health center, which allowed it to expand services and qualify for some reimbursements. With the Donald Trump administration cutting services, there is general concern about the future of funding. “The question is whether we will have enough funding to maintain the doors open,” García said. But clinic officials believe the type of services the clinic provides will remain the same.
“Providing integrated services is going to increase prospects for health for our patients,” Chief Financial Officer Jay Boyer said. “What is really important is that we diversify our streams of revenue.” One way to diversify is through grants and fundraising. This year, the clinic will celebrate its 40th milestone by hosting a fundraiser at Ports O’ Call Restaurant in San Pedro. The event, which includes a three-course meal for $75, will host about 200 people. It will include a silent auction and a raffle. Prizes include tickets to Disneyland, Universal Studios, a Dodgers game, an Angels game and to the Aquarium of the Pacific. There will be dinner vouchers as well. “The same people [who are part of the community] respond [to their call of duty] because they don’t want to be left without a clinic,” Ávila said. “It is the seal of Wilmington.”
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Teen Walking Home Beaten
SAN PEDRO — Detectives from Lomita Sheriff’s Station are investigating an assault with a deadly weapon that left a juvenile in serious condition. Shortly after 10 p.m. March 30, the victim, Evan Jimenez was walking home after leaving a friend’s house when he was confronted and severely beaten by two male suspects in an alley near the 900 block of West 2nd Street in the unincorporated area of San Pedro. The victim was transported to a local hospital and remains in serious condition. Officials believe the incident to be part of a gang initiation ritual. Lomita Station detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the two suspects. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call (310) 539-1661 or visit http:// lacrimestoppers.org.
Woman Found Dead Near Riverbed
LONG BEACH — Investigators suspect a drug overdose in the death of 17-year-old Leslie Hernandez of Santa Monica, whose lifeless body was found by Long Beach police on Aprile 6 near the Los Angeles River and Ocean Boulevard Bridge. A caller who alerted the LBPD said a vehicle had been seen leaving the area and patrol officers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle matching the vehicle’s description. The occupants were questioned, however, no arrests have been made relating to this case. Anyone with information regarding the incident should call (562) 570-7355 or visit www. lacrimestoppers.
Motorcyclist Dies from a Collision at LB Marina
April 13 - 26, 2017
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
LONG BEACH — On April 9, a 25-year-old man died a few hours after colliding with a minivan on Marina Drive, near the Marina Shopping Center, officials said. The incident took place at about 8 p.m. The motorcyclist, riding a 2016 Harley Davidson, was travelling northwest on Marina Drive when he struck a 2006 Buick Terraza turning left, southeast on Marina Drive. The motorcycle split in two pieces. Investigators say the motorcyclist was speeding and did not have a valid driver’s license. Police investigators believe he was under the influence of alcohol. The motorcyclist’s identity is pending next of kin notification.
6
EPA Honors Seven SoCal Organizations for Energy Efficiency LOS ANGELES — The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy are honoring seven businesses and organizations from Southern California for their commitment to saving energy, saving money, and protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency achievements. The 2017 Energy Star Partner of the Year Awardees in Southern California are: KB Home (Los Angeles)—Sustained Excellence for New Home Builder: achieved a major milestone by surpassing a total of 100,000 Energy Star-certified homes built to date, with 8,000 homes certified in 2016 alone. The company builds homes in 38 markets across the nation, and its Energy Star-certified homes saved homeowners an estimated $30 million on their energy bills in 2016. CBRE Group, Inc. (Los Angeles)— Sustained Excellence in Energy Management: benchmarked close to 2,000 buildings with nearly 800 of these properties having earned Energy Star certification. Additionally, the company has reduced emissions by 16 percent, the equivalent of eliminating 9.8 million passenger vehicle miles over the past ten years. [See News Briefs, page 8]
Port Continues Game of Denial on Rancho LPG Risks The game of governmental obfuscation with regard to the public safety risks at the Rancho LPG facility continues, this time in the aftermath of a March 6 ruling by the Surface Transportation Board on rail operations serving the facility. On April 7, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka purported to “clearly explain the ruling of that board” in his report to the Port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners. “The Surface Transportation Board denied the San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United petition in its entirety,” he said. But Janet Gunter, an active participant seeking the ruling, sees things quite differently. “This decision that is supposedly against us has done the thing that we really wanted, which was clarify the most important thing, and that’s that the port absolutely can intervene in the exception to the pre-emption of the Surface Transportation Board on the issue of public safety,” Gunter told to the board in public comment on March 16. Pre-emption limits local authority over interstate commerce, but, as the Surface Transportation Board decision noted: “States and localities retain their police powers to protect the
Rancho LP facility in North San Pedro. File photo
public health and safety.” “The City of LA, the Port of LA, has an obligation to intervene now in a situation that for decades you have known is a high-risk potential, in multiple ways,” Gunter added. In his comments, Seroka dismissed Gunter’s argument in a novel way. “The decision re-affirms that states and
[South Bay Rises, from page 3]
South Bay Rises
hearing, supports Muratsuchi’s bills. an explosion, making it safer than either the “This is personal for me … it involves the gaseous MHF or sulfuric acid. safety of my constituents,” said Hahn. “It’s a Tisopulos estimated that converting the PBF common sense plan.” refinery to use solid acid would cost $120 million Elected officials from Torrance, including initially. Additional costs would come whenever the mayor, were in attendance as well. On March 28, the city council voted against a phase out of MHF. However, Mayor Patrick Furey told SCAQMD board members and the audience about two resolutions the council adopted. One encourages the refinery to adopt safety measures. The other supports regulations that include a safer catalyst than MHF. Safer catalysts include sulfuric acid and solid acid. Laki Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi testified at the SCAQMD hearing on April 1. Photo Tisopulos, an engineer courtesy of Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi’s office. with the SCAQMD, and Glyn Jenkins, a consultant with Bastleford the catalyst had to be replaced. Engineering and Consultancy, discussed each PBF Energy has not embraced the idea catalyst and its potential to replace MHF. of switching catalysts. In an advertisement in They said that sulfuric acid has been used the Daily Breeze, the company stated, “We are instead of MHF to refine fossil fuels for decades. confident that the many layers of protection, Out of the 18 refineries in the state of California, mitigation steps, and safety systems we have in 16 use sulfuric acid. Converting the PBF refinery place allow us to operate the MHF Alkylation would cost between $100 million and $200 Unit safely…” million. Their own estimate for converting to another Solid acid technology is newer. But Jenkins catalyst was around $500 million. said that there is a refinery in the United “The discourse [between PBF Energy and Kingdom that successfully refines fossil fuels the community] has been if the chemical is with it. The same refinery switched away from changed, we lose jobs,” Torrance Councilman MHF because it was considered too risky. Like Tim Goodrich said. the name suggests, the solid acid process uses a Fearing any potential job loss, various solid catalyst. No acid clouds would result from refinery workers and union members stood up
localities retain their police powers to protect the public health and safety, which was never in question,” he said. But it is precisely the failure to protect public health and safety that has been the crux of public activism ever since the facility was first proposed. In support, Gunter pointed to a letter from then-Attorney General Kamala Harris to the City of Benicia April 14, 2016, in which she addressed Valero’s claims that federal law prohibited Benicia from considering the public safety risks of the oil-train traffic its proposed refinery would create. “We disagree,” Harris wrote. “For Benicia to turn a blind eye to the most serious of the Project’s environmental impacts, merely because they flow from federally-regulated rail operations, would be contrary to both state and federal law.” — Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor during the hearing’s public comment section and said that they support the status quo. They feel the refinery is safe enough and that the explosion this past year was a fluke. “...[T]here is no reason why MHF can’t be phased out while jobs are protected,” Hahn responded. “I believe the switch will accelerate newer and safer alternatives, innovation, and lead to better jobs.” Muratsuchi agreed. He said he doesn’t want to see the refinery shut down, but it should be safer. In November 2016, the EPA inspected the safety of the PBF Energy refinery. “They were not following their own safety procedures,” said Dan Meer, assistant director of the Superfund Division of the EPA. The EPA released a preliminary report on the inspection in March. “There are issues the refinery needs to address,” Meer said. “If I had to a rate the current risk, with 10 being an emergency situation, [PBF] would be somewhere between a 5 and 7.” Meer went on to explain that PBF did not have permits to store certain chemicals it has on site. Management is also not effectively communicating with workers, which could be dangerous in an emergency situation. PBF has until the end of April to respond to the EPA and make changes. Otherwise, the EPA will take administrative and legal action. “This is an urgent public safety risk,” Hayati said. “The refinery should not be in operation at least until the EPA verifies that procedures are being followed.” Although the local United Steelworkers don’t want to change the catalyst, the steelworkers at the international level feel differently. A study completed by United Steelworkers found 131 HF releases or near misses and hundreds of refinery violations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules. “The industry has the technology and expertise [to eliminate MHF and HF],” the report stated. “It certainly has the money. It lacks only the will. And, if it cannot find the will voluntarily,
[See South Bay, page 7]
Dolphin Park to Install Playground for Disabled
Hundreds Participate in 6th People’s State of the City
By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter
As Carson Parks & Recreation begins another season of baseball, softball and T-ball, Dolphin Park at 21205 Water St. is getting something more — a $1.25 million dollar grant to design, construct and install playground equipment specifically for children with disabilities. Through a grant from the Tesoro Charitable Foundation, the City of Carson’s Parks and Recreation Department was presented with the first installment check in the amount of $250,000 on April 8. “I hope that this project will encourage all children, regardless of their abilities, to spend quality time in this park environment as the equipment is designed to unite children of all abilities,” Carson Mayor Albert Robles said. “The City currently does not have a playground with equipment that children with disabilities can easily access.”
Dolphin Park, one of 13 Carson parks, spreads more tahn 12 acres and includes a playground, ball fields, multipurpose rooms, and open space. The restrooms are already ADA compliant. Handicapped parking and access paths are also in place. Carson will be working with Shane’s Inspiration, a non-profit organization that works with communities to create inclusive playgrounds and programs for children of all abilities. “At Tesoro, we are committed to collaborating with our stakeholders to create cleaner, safer, well-educated communities where we operate,” said Stephen Konig, director of CA Government and Public Affairs for Tesoro. “We are proud to have partnered with the city on this initiative and for the opportunity to help make this community a more inclusive place to live, work and play.”
On April 5, about 500 Long Beach residents gathered to attend the 6th Annual People’s State of the City at First Congregational Church. Legislators and community groups, calling for fracking bans, housing ordinances and other issues also helped pack the church. Activists denounced Donald Trump’s administration, chanting, “Not my president!” and called for local action. Organizers also unveiled a new campaign aimed at increasing funding in the city budget for positive youth development. The program highlighted how community residents are leading efforts to increase affordable housing, implement justice reform, and protect the health of the environment.
[South Bay, from page 6]
South Bay
it must be forced by government action.”
Los Angeles Harbor
Americans United for Separation of Church & State Orange County Chapter presents a talk by
James Preston Allen Publisher of Random Lengths News
Allen will speak on the problems of making the pledge of allegiance mandatory at public meetings, in schools and at public events, as well as the overall topic of what it means to be a patriot today.
Community Room, Irvine Ranch Water District* 15500 Sand Canyon Ave., (at Waterworks), Irvine For more information: www.au-oc.org or mail@au-oc.org Call: (714) 299-4551
* Irvine Ranch Water District neither supports nor endorses the causes of organizations that use the District’s meeting rooms that are made available for public use.
April 13 - 26, 2017
Saturday, April 15, 1:45 p.m.
What Does It Mean To Be A Patriot in the 21st Century?
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The SCAQMD has plans to release an environmental impact report on the Tesoro Corporation’s desire to combine its Wilmington refinery with the former British Petroleum refinery in Carson. Environmental organizations view the report as flawed and will call attention to Tesoro’s plans at the Los Angeles People’s Climate March on April 29. In 2012, Tesoro purchased the refinery in Carson. Tesoro’s expansion into that site would include adding storage tanks to hold 3.4 million barrels of oil. Communities for a Better Environment and other climate advocates oppose the expansion. But the focus of the march will be to inform the people about Tesoro’s lack of accuracy and transparency in detailing the project’s impacts to the SCAQMD. “Tesoro has said that this project is going to reduce emissions and will be ‘cleaner,’ but they admitted to their investors that they are switching to a dirtier crude,” said Alicia Rivera, a community organizer with Communities for a Better Environment. In a presentation to investors, Tesoro called the type of crude oil, “advantaged crude.” The advantage is that it is cheaper than standard crude. The new type of crude will originate from the Canadian Tar Sands and the Midwest’s Bakken Formation. (About 75 percent will come from North Dakota and 25 percent will come from Canada.) “These fuels have different characteristics than what Tesoro is refining [in Wilmington] now,” said Julie May, senior scientist with Communities for a Better Environment. “They behave more like gasoline. They contain more benzene, which is a volatile organic compound that causes leukemia.” The draft environmental impact report that Tesoro submitted to the SCAQMD does not clearly mention a crude oil switch. In a comment letter to the SCAQMD, May explained that this failure does not meet the California Environmental Air Quality Act’s project description requirements.
Consequently, no one can properly analyze the switches’ impacts, environmental effects and risks to community and worker health and safety. Another major reason Communities for a Better Environment wants to march against Tesoro is the corporation’s failure to properly evaluate the scope of the project. If the environmental impact report is approved, the refinery will receive fuel via ships traveling from Vancouver, Wash. Vancouver is the site of a rail-to-oil tanker terminal in which Tesoro and Savage Energy invested. “That [terminal] is the bridge to bring dirty crudes from North Dakota and Canada,” Rivera said. “We call the rail cars that transport the fuel ‘bomb trains’ because some have derailed and exploded.” Refineries and projects like this undoubtedly have an impact on Harbor Area residents. The challenge now for Communities for a Better Environment is getting residents to come out to the march. Rivera and other Communities for a Better Environment members acknowledged that many of residents are immigrants or working class people; for them, climate change is not always a tangible concept nor an immediate concern. But Communities for a Better Environment is determined. “We have youth members going to elementary and middle schools and colleges,” Rivera said. “We are pamphleting markets and Catholic churches. When we inform [people] about this project, they want the expansion to stop.” On the day of the march, Communities for a Better Environment will circulate a petition to marchers. Its purpose is to pressure the SCAQMD to take Tesoro’s EIR back to a draft stage. Then it can properly detail the project and allow for public input. The SCAQMD has the authority to finalize the EIR before the march. But that won’t stop Communities for a Better Environment from trying to get the community engaged. “We need to bring attention to local industries trying to expand in a time when they should be cutting down their emissions,” Rivera said. “Tesoro’s Los Angeles refinery is the highest greenhouse polluter in the state. If the project goes forward, it will be the largest refinery on the West Coast.”
7
[Dark Vision, from page 1]
Dark Vision
The Coal Mining Museum with its new solar modules is a bridge connecting the past and the future where Trump would build a wall, trapping all of us on the wrong side of tomorrow. “We believe that this project will help save at least eight to 10 thousand dollars off the energy costs on this building alone, so it’s a very worthy effort,” Communications Director Brandon Robinson told local station WYMT earlier this month.
That practical assessment reflects just how removed Trump is from reality. If he really wants to create “jobs, jobs, jobs,” then he ought to be increasing support for solar energy, which is already creating jobs 12 times faster than the economy as a whole. The museum is a site for learning about history and culture, as well as technology. It’s in the former coal camp town of Benham, in Harlan County, Ky., made famous by the union organizing anthem, Which Side Are You On? The song was written in the middle of the night back in 1931 by Florence Reece, after company
two completely different things. “I suggested that he temper his expectations,” Murray told the Guardian, after meeting with Trump in March. “Those are my exact words…. He can’t bring them back.” In contrast, sustainability jobs — energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste reduction, natural resources conservation and environmental education — now represent an estimated 4 to 4.5 million jobs in the United States, up from 3.4 million in 2011, according to a January report from the Environmental Defense Fund. “Average wages for energy efficiency jobs
[News Briefs, from page 6]
Kilroy Realty Corporation (Los Angeles) — Sustained Excellence in Energy Management: reduced year-over-year energy use by four percent, saving more than 21.5 million kilowatt hours and $3.88 million since the launch of its energy efficiency programs in 2010. HCP, Inc. (Irvine) — Energy Management: operated healthcare properties with a total of 76 Energy Star-certified buildings since 2008. The company has achieved an average 1-100 ENERGY STAR score of 62, representing a 16 percent energy use reduction to date. Maximum Energy Professionals (Torrance) — Service and Product Provider: facilitated Energy Star certification for 200 properties, including more than 30 properties for the first time and more than 160 properties that have earned certification in previous years. Additionally, the company is promoting Energy Star tools and resources by providing in-depth training to 20 property managers and engineers. Other honorees include, CalPortland Company (Glendora) and Energy Upgrade California (San Diego). The awards will be presented in Washington, D.C., at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on April 26. Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd President and CEO, will give the partner keynote presentation.
Workers nstalling solar panels atop the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum. File photo
That practical assessment reflects just how removed Trump is from reality. If he really wants to create “jobs, jobs, jobs,” then he ought to be increasing support for solar energy, which is already creating jobs 12 times faster than the economy as a whole.
Environmental Bills Pass Committees
April 13 - 26, 2017
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
TORRANCE — In a 6-0 bipartisan vote, the Assembly Committee on the Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials passed Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi’s Assembly Bill 1649, which codifies and makes permanent the existing Interagency Refinery Task Force created by Gov. Jerry Brown. The bill is part of the California Refinery Jobs and Safety Action Plan, which includes five Assembly bills that will improve public safety at all California refineries. In addition to AB 1649, Muratsuchi’s “California Refinery Jobs and Safety Action Plan” includes the following important Assembly Bills: · AB 1645 will phase out the use of hydrofluoric acid by California refineries. · AB 1646 will require the maintenance of a publicly accessible community alert plan which includes notification to residents for emergencies (reverse 911, text, email, etc.) and public alerts (alarms, sirens, etc.). How far that notification has to be heard, ways by which the community must be notified, and a number of other community alarms will be included. · AB 1647 will require refineries to install and maintain air quality monitors at the refinery fence line and in the community, and require that the governing air quality agency publicly report the readings from the monitors in real-time. · AB 1648 will increase the number of state refinery inspectors at the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. A budget request has been made in conjunction 8 with this bill.
are almost $5,000 above the national median, and wages for solar workers are above the national median of $17.04 per hour,” the report states.
The museum is switching to solar in hopes of saving money on energy cost. File photo
thugs raided her house, searching for her union organizer husband, who had fled. In contrast, Trump’s closest actual connection to the museum comes through his Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who shut down six union mines taken over in a bankruptcy proceeding in 2004. The proceeding voided $800 million in health insurance benefits owed to more than 3,000 active and retired United Mine Workers of America union members. That’s which side he’s on. Trump tries to pretend otherwise. He says he’s on the miners’ side. But Robert Murray, owner of the largest privately held coal-mining company in the United States, knows better. He was quite pleased with the prospect of Trump reviving the coal industry, beginning with scrapping Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, also known as CPP, designed to cut the power sector’s carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030. But helping his own business and bringing back mining jobs are
Trump’s Rearview Future vs. a Just Transition
Trump is promising Appalachian coal miners—and those who identify with them — a rearview-mirror future that has three strikes against it: Coal-mining today is far less labor-intensive than before; natural gas is making it uncompetitive now; and renewables will make it even more so as their growth accelerates. Strike one: Productivity more than tripled from 1980 to 2015, while employment plummeted by more than half from 1980 [242,000] to 2000 [102,000]. It has fluctuated ever since. Wyoming — an open pit mining state — now produces roughly three times as much coal as West Virginia, with far fewer mine workers. Strike two: In 2000, coal accounted for three times as much energy generation as natural gas: 51.7 to 15.8 percent for natural gas. Last year, natural gas pulled ahead for the first time, 34 to 30 percent. Strike three: As Bloomberg News explained: “The cost of solar power has fallen to 1/150th of
its level in the 1970s, while the total amount of installed solar has soared 115,000-fold.” The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum is just one drop in an ocean of examples. Ye’r out: SNL Financial reported in June 2015: “The market value of publicly traded U.S. coal companies was sliced nearly in half over the past year,” and that “more than three dozen coal operations have been forced into bankruptcy in just over three years.” If all of the above means that Trump’s promises ring hollow, it doesn’t mean there’s no future for those he’s led astray. It just means they’ll have to look elsewhere — and strike new alliances — to fight for it. An article in the American Prospect this past summer — “A Just Transition for U.S. Fossil Fuel Industry Workers” written by Robert Pollin and Brian Callaci — points the way, building on a concept first articulated by the late Tony Mazzocchi, a prominent leader within the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union: The global climate stabilization project must unequivocally commit to providing generous transitional support for workers and communities tied to the fossil fuel industry. The late U.S. labor leader and environmental visionary Tony Mazzocchi pioneered thinking on what is now termed a “Just Transition” for these workers and communities. As Mazzocchi wrote as early as 1993, ‘Paying people to make the transition from one kind of economy to another is not welfare. Those who work with toxic materials on a daily basis … in order to provide the world with the energy and the materials it needs deserve a helping hand to make a new start in life.’ This would require a mere one percent of the annual $50 billion needed for a successful climate stabilization program, Pollin and Callaci explain. “[T]his level of funding would pay for income, retraining, and relocation support for workers facing retrenchments as well as effective transition programs for what are now fossil fuel– dependent communities.” A just transition for coal miners and other fossil fuel workers is just one of at least four significant facets of climate justice. The other three are: First, the climate dimension within the larger framework of environmental justice, the fair treatment and meaningful participation of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income in shaping environmental laws, policies and decisions; second, the just pricing of greenhouse gases, within the larger framework of just pricing for the social costs of environmental harms (Trump has ordered resetting the government’s estimate of such costs to an outdated 2003 standard); and third, intergenerational justice, so that future generations are left with a world at least as beneficial for their welfare as the one that we have inherited. Trump’s game — on climate issues and the environment generally, as on everything else — has been to stir up anger and resentment, point fingers, lay blame, promise simple, painless solutions, and claim that he alone can fix things. But if it’s really so simple, why is he the only one who can do it? And why don’t the numbers add up? Why is he so eager to say “You’re fired!” to a quarter of the EPA workforce — thousands of people who’ve devoted their lives to protecting the environment and the American people — and to roll back the protective regulations they’ve enforced? [See Dark Vision, page 21]
Saving Siberia:
Fighting Entropy in Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park By Kym Cunningham, Contributing Writer
Looking out over the green and blue expanse of Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, it is difficult to believe the transformation that has occurred since the groundbreaking ceremony three years ago. A shoreline covered in hazard-orange mesh nets to protect the adolescent plant life has replaced the jungle of invasive weeds, human refuse and toxic chemicals. Reggie, an alligator who eluded official capture for almost two years between 2005 and 2007, is nowhere in sight.
290-acre park was one of the few wetlands these migratory birds could access. “The park is a world-class birding area,” Byhower said. “The historic birding list for Harbor Park is larger than any other place I know of in the state.” But when Byhower first visited the park in 1984, this migratory menagerie was not what he encountered at all. Instead, he found a smogfilled sky above a lake contaminated with DDT, chlorine compounds, and levels of heavy metal capable of harming any unwary swimmers. The
A sneak peek of the nearly complete renovated Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park. Photo by Kym Cunningham.
How Everything Went Wrong
Byhower said that the park’s degradation stemmed from two different albeit entwined sources: the local lack of political advocacy and confusion between city and county jurisdictions.
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In 2004, Byhower succeeded in getting the Clean Water Bond, or Proposition O, passed, providing almost $130 million to restore the park. “Prop. O was supposed to support water quality, habitat and recreational activities,” said Byhower. “[It] was geared primarily at creating a sort of natural environment park. Other parks don’t even have the constraints of Prop. O.” To create this natural conservation area, Ken Malloy Park cannot have many of the other activities offered at parks unconstrained by Prop.O: pedal boats and the feeding of feral animals, including ducks, would force the local fauna from their natural breeding habitats. To accomplish this mammoth task, city
land wasn’t any better. Aside from the trash freckling the landscape, the park had become a nexus for so-called criminal elements: homeless people, prostitutes and drug addicts congregated — and sometimes lived — within the confines of the park after having been excluded from modern society. “The park was kind of a microcosm for everything that could go wrong,” Byhower said.
Starting with Clean Water
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Although backhoes and dirt plumes still mar the scenery, it is decidedly better than the motorcycles that used to crash, unimpeded by or unheeding of any apathetic government workers exiled to this wasteland. “It was Siberia as far as the city was concerned,” Martin Byhower said. A lifelong conservationist and scientist by trade, Byhower had been a staple at the park since 1984, when he first visited the area to watch the many species of birds that use the park as a migratory staging area. Home to the only natural lake in Southern Los Angeles County — Machado Lake, which itself spans 45 acres — the
When Byhower began pulling for the park in the 1980s, he found that local community members — from areas like Watts, Wilmington and Harbor City — who wanted to restore the park were shut out of big city Los Angeles politics. “All of those areas were basically ignored,” Byhower said. “They had no political pull. They had no political advocacy.” And those who actually did have power in city and county government were loath to take responsibility for an area that might not be a part of their jurisdictions. “Whenever something was wrong, each side blamed the other,” Byhower said. “No one wanted to know [about the problems]. No one took responsibility.” But Byhower didn’t believe that the government’s refusal to accept responsibility was malicious; rather, he called this game of jurisdictional hot-potato something common in
modern government: “benign neglect.” Byhower also attributed some of the responsibility for the truly atrocious state of the park — which once housed over 167 otherwise homeless occupants — to overall community neglect. “It was a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Byhower said. “If you don’t use it, it’s going to decay and then the people who come there are going to prevent people from using it.”
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On This Day May We All Join Hands Out of respect for the traditions of Passover and Easter, which coincide this week, and for this month of remembrance that reminds us of the humanity of the Arabs who helped save thousands of Armenian Christians from the first genocide of the 20th century, may we all join hands across the secular/religious divide and agree that Sean Spicer, press secretary for President Donald Trump, is one of the most ignorant morons to ever stand at a podium in Washington, D.C.? Spicer is the perfect example of why there must be a division between church and state — for his own ignorance of the Jewish holocaust, or anything else outside of his very narrow understanding of self-interest politics, is a threat to anyone he perceives as “other.” What is, of course, more horrifying is that Spicer’s ignorance embodies the lack of tolerance expressed by his master, who now holds the future of our country and the world in his small hands. Trump is attacking people of color, women and regulations that protect the people he has sworn to protect and even climate change itself. These are all expressions of his arrogance and ignorance. It is because of this and much more that I am donating my editorial column this week to those who are challenging these prejudices, delusions of the soul if you will, with a more sane approach to global warming — saving our planet for all of humanity regardless of religion, nationality or race. — James Preston Allen, Publisher
As White House Rolls Back Climate Rules, Congress Must Step In By Mark Reynolds, Executive Director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Earth Day arrives this year with serious questions about America’s commitment to preserve a clean environment and limit the risks posed by climate change. That’s because on March 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to start the process of dismantling several initiatives started during the Barack Obama administration to reduce emissions that drive climate change and pollution that jeopardizes the air we breathe and the water we drink. These initiatives became necessary when Congress failed in 2010 to enact legislation to price carbon. When control of the House of Representatives shifted to Republicans in 2011, efforts to legislate climate solutions came to a screeching halt. Faced with numerous impacts from climate change — rising seas, warmer temperatures, more severe weather, wildfires, health risks — Obama took several steps to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions under the Climate Action Plan. The most important of these steps was the Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants 32 percent by 2030. The plan became an essential element in the U.S. commitment to the Paris Climate Accord, whereby America pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent to 28 percent by 2025. Without the plan, the U.S. is unlikely to meet its Paris commitment, a tremendous
setback in global efforts to keep temperatures from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Crossing that threshold, scientists warn, will lead to catastrophic consequences that the world is ill-prepared to handle – food shortages, coastal flooding, epidemics, mass migrations, destabilized nations. With the executive branch now shirking any responsibility to deal with climate change, Congress must step into the breach. America can meet its obligation — and then some — with a market-based solution that appeals to policymakers across the political spectrum: a steadily rising fee on carbon with revenue returned to households. Known as Carbon Fee and Dividend, the policy would assess a fee on the carbon dioxide content of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – at or near the first point sale. The fee would start at $15 per ton of carbon dioxide and increase $10 per ton each year, sending a powerful signal to the marketplace that moves investments and behavior toward clean energy and efficiency. At the same time, revenue from the fee would be returned equally to all households, shielding families from the economic impact of the carbon fee, with many households actually coming out ahead. A study released in 2014 by Regional Economic Models Inc., examined this proposal to determine its environmental and economic impact over a 20-year period. The REMI study found that after 20 years, the policy would cut carbon Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com
April 13 - 26, 2017
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“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.” —Mark Twain Senior Editor Vol. XXXVIII : No. 8 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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dioxide emissions by half. In a finding that shatters the myth that carbon pricing would destroy the economy, the study showed that Carbon Fee and Dividend would add 2.8 million jobs. A similar plan was proposed in February by the Climate Leadership Council, a conservative group led by Republican luminaries that includes former Secretaries of State and Treasury George Shultz and James Baker. While the council plan is slightly different – the price starts higher and increases more slowly – the basic pillars are the same: Put a fee on carbon and give the revenue back to households. What are the chances that a Republicancontrolled Congress will consider climate legislation? Much better than most people realize. With each week, more and more Republicans are joining the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus, a place free of the toxic rhetoric surrounding the climate issue, where equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats come together to listen to one another, share ideas and find common ground for effective solutions to climate change. The caucus has 38 members, 19 of them from the GOP side of the aisle. This Earth Day, as we take stock of the state of our world and the steps needed to preserve a hospitable climate, Americans should be alarmed by the callous disregard the Trump administration has toward the threat of global warming. Fortunately, we have another branch of government that can correct Trump’s misguided policies. By enacting a fee on carbon with revenue returned to households, Congress can avert disaster, create jobs and reassert U.S. leadership on the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.
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Marijuana Policy Reform is a Welcome Endeavor By Matt Garland, Guest Columnist
Medical marijuana celebrates its 21st anniversary in California this year. The conversation about cannabis policy is showing its maturity. In an effort to create a legal pathway for our local cannabis industry to conform to the newly created medical marijuana state licensing system, the Los Angeles City Council’s Rules, Election, Intergovernmental Relations and Neighborhoods committee is drafting a municipal regulatory framework for both medical and adult-use commercial cannabis businesses. Under Los Angeles City Council file 14-0366-S5, the committee is soliciting input from stakeholders, policy advocates, neighborhood councils and industry leaders in an effort to hold an inclusive process and bring Los Angeles cannabis regulations to the forefront the drug policy reform movement. This is a welcome and long overdue action by our city government. By most accounts, Los Angeles is the world’s biggest cannabis marketplace, a place where marijuana entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the ambiguity of state laws and Proposition D’s failure to meet consumer demand. Passed by [See Marijuana, p. 11] 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 2017 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
RANDOMLetters Trump on Bombing Syria
I voted for the moron Trump, but it is becoming crystal clear that the guy has his head up his ass as he continues to reverse his major policy decisions that got him elected. Trump thinks that he is still on The Apprentice TV program where he can state his desire, and it is achieved without question. Trump repeatedly stated that getting involved in the Middle East crises was a mistake by both Bush [number 2] and Obama. Trump has now reversed his position of letting the Arabs solve their own problems by getting involved in the conflict by launching 49 missiles against Assad, with projected American boots-on-the-ground in Syria. Not only is Trump escalating the conflict into a probable Third World War, but he is taking a position against Assad who is fighting internal rebel groups and ISSL, which are also our enemies.
The USA should be supporting Assad in his endeavor, not dropping bombs on him. Further, the issue should have been taken to the UN for debate and decision before any action was taken by the U.S. The chemical attacks killed rebel and ISSL fighters, and their family members; it’s better to kill the rebels when they are young instead of waiting for them to grow up to become trained terrorists. Removing Assad from power will benefit ISSL and culminate in the Koran and Hadith’s prophesized Caliphate being solidified under the rule of Iran. The Caliphates’ first order of business, along with its allies Russia and China, will be war with Israel. This action will lead to the Third World War when the USA intervenes on the side of Israel. The biblical prophecy of Armageddon appears to be at hand! Richard Paoletti Redondo Beach
[Marijuana, from page 10]
Marijuana Policy
But in its dealings with property-owners, it acts as a criminal enterprise engaged in a form of racketeering. There’s no sufficient due process for property owners. It seems as if it’s only
there to line the pockets of city connected contractors. I bought two properties on a single lot on the lower half of San Pedro on an “as is” basis three years ago: one a single family bungalow
built in 1900 and the other a duplex with two garages built in 1963. I bought the properties with the intention of living in one of the apartments as an owner occupied [See Letters, page 20]
HCIDLA Bias Against Property Owners
The Los Angeles Housing Community Investment Department, or HCIDLA, oversees human services programs ranging from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, Community Services Block Grant and Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program.
allowing rogue operators to comply with licensing regulations and enforcement. Folks who are figuring out their economics in the black market will do it through the legal market, contributing tax revenue and investing in our communities. To do this, we need to push aside our stigma about marijuana, about who is and isn’t a drug dealer. Commercial cannabis needs to be regulated just like any other commodity. In my perfect world, a cannabis plant is no more or less exciting
than heirloom tomatoes. The cannabis industry is ready to embrace community stewardship and equitable economic empowerment for residents. The existing industry is locally owned, but it needs fair, responsible and equitable licensing. Our city needs to get marijuana regulations done right. With responsible regulations, enforcement and community safeguards, we will have an industry to safely serve consumers and respect responsible business regulations.
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a sustainable marketplace comprised of businesses guided by a stewardship ethic, not a simple profit motive. Our local neighborhood councils have heeded the call to participate in the conversation about marijuana policy. Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council has created an ad-hoc committee on marijuana regulations to advise the city council on how the cannabis industry and marijuana culture writ large can coexist in our community, as well as how the cannabis industry can shed the negative stigma perpetuated by the rogue dispensaries that blight our street corners. The conversation on marijuana policy needs to include how to responsibly cultivate local ownership and job opportunity alongside community safeguards and protections against youth exposure. Drug policy needs to be regarded as a complex issue linked intimately with poverty and social inequality. From a community safety and social equality standpoint, prohibition has been a failure. It has always been a proxy war on marginalized people. California voters passed Proposition 64 in November 2016, recognizing that it is important to take the cannabis trade from the black market and bring it under some semblance of control. From a community safety perspective, dissolving the unregulated market is the single biggest step we can take to reduce street crime and youth exposure. This act will take this revenue from organized crime and give economic empowerment to city residents. As the Los Angeles City Council crafts marijuana regulations, social equality is a key concern. Alongside strong penalties for illegal businesses and community safeguards, the city council is determined to craft regulations which encourage local ownership and job opportunities in the expanding cannabis industry. A cottage industry of unlicensed locally-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs is currently thriving in Los Angeles. It is important that marijuana regulations avoid taking economic empowerment from these folks and giving it away to people who already have the financial means to obtain licensing. Alongside strong penalties for illegal operators, cottage industry licensing needs to be available as a pathway for current black market participants to crossover to the legal marketplace. Low licensing fees for small businesses is a key feature of
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voters in 2013, Proposition D offered limited immunity from prosecution for about 250 retail medical marijuana dispensaries. Out of deference to federal law, Los Angeles has never made legitimate cannabis business licensing available. Though estimates of the number of cannabis related businesses operating in Los Angeles range from 800 to more than 1,000, the actual number — from the retail end to transportation — is unknown. Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson began the process of addressing our failing cannabis policy in May 2016 with a committee motion to analyze options for the March 2017 ballot measure. Measure M was the result of this effort. Among the policy changes of Measure M were the repeal of Prop. D, the increase in penalties and enforcement on illegal business, and the extension of gross tax receipts to create a new revenue stream that would provide city residents with enhanced constituent services and a better quality of life. Measure M passed in March with overwhelming voter support. The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on a draft of these regulations in July, which will be followed by a 60-day public comment period. The city is expected to begin accepting cannabis license applications by September 2017. The drafting process has so far been an example of best practices and due diligence fostering an inclusive process. The committee has been hosting town hall meetings to solicit stakeholder input. The evolving draft regulations have been vetted at working group meetings within the city government which included representatives from neighborhood councils, local industry leaders, unions, and marijuana policy advocates. The Los Angeles City Council recognizes the importance of creating fair, responsible and equitable cannabis regulations for Los Angeles. As the world’s biggest marijuana marketplace, what we do here with our licensing and regulations will reverberate throughout the larger drug policy reform movement. We have an opportunity to create model legislation to bring this industry out from the shadows of 80 years of prohibition. We have an opportunity to create a diverse marketplace that turns injustice into opportunity for people most impacted by prohibition. We need
Dear Mr. Paoletti, The old calculation that the enemy of our enemy is our ally just may not be true in this instance. I applaud and am actually amazed that someone like you, who voted for the Orange Man, now is against him and doesn’t support his military solution. But I do find it curious how right-wingers, such as yourself, break this down and just how long you will tolerate Trump scamming the American people before you start calling for his impeachment for any number of reasons. James Preston Allen, Publisher
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In honor of Armenian History Month, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, in partnership with Los Angeles Harbor International Film Festival, is sponsoring a screening of the acclaimed documentary
Crows of the Desert
A Hero’s Journey Through the Armenian Genocide
Sunday, April 23 • 4:00 p.m. Warner Grand Theatre 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
April 13 - 26, 2017
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
In March the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously supported a motion offered by Supervisor Janice Hahn and Supervisor Kathryn Barger to name April Armenian History Month. The screening of Crows of the Desert will take place on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
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The film tells the true story of Levon Yotnakhparian’s struggle to survive and save others during the Armenian Genocide. Director Marta Houske will be present for a discussion after the screening.
Box office opens at 3 p.m.
Free General Admission
“It has been an honor to create this documentary based on the heroic efforts of Levon Yotnakhparian, who saved thousands of innocent lives during the Armenian Genocide a century ago. His bravery is an inspiration to all and what we can aspire to do to help one another in times of strife, regardless of race, religion or creed.” —Marta Houske, Director
www.laharborfilmfest.com
SAN PEDRO OFFICE 302 West 5th Street, Suite 200 (310) 519-6021
The Warner Grand Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles, operated by the Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Town Hall Affair Debates Culture Wars By Melina Paris, Contributing Writer
The Wooster Group’s The Town Hall Affair, based on the 1979 documentary, Town Bloody Hall plunges its audience into the women’s liberation movement of the early 1970s. The REDCAT Theater presented the play, capping Women’s History month. The play opens with a first-person account from the perspective of Jill Johnston, a panelist who was also a dance critic at the Village Voice (cofounded by Norman Mailer). She explains why she participated
in the debate. The play that depicts the film as the world’s first reality television show set in a loosely structured space with known antagonists and provocateurs as they broadly engage in conversation about sex and women’s liberation. All of it was moderated by Trump-like public intellectual Norman Mailer. The Town Bloody Hall is set in the wake of Kate Millett’s feminist exposition, Sexual Politics, which was published in1970. In Sexual Politics, Millett argues that “sex has a frequently neglected political aspect” and she goes on to discuss the role that patriarchy plays in sexual relations. She particularly takes shots at the works of D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller and Norman Mailer. She called Mailer “a prisoner of the virility cult.” Mailer publishes Prisoner of Sex as a retort to Millett and a defense for himself, Miller and [See Town Hall, page 18]
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A still from the Wooster Group’s The Town Hall Affair. File photo
April 13 - 26, 2017
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Although there’s no firm agreement about the healthiest diet, there is consensus that the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern traditions come pretty close. Both involve meals rich in olive oils, simply prepared vegetables, pasta, seafood and moderate amounts of grilled meats. The fact that Italians tend to live long despite consuming oceans of strong black coffee, lots of red wine and too many cigarettes has to prove something about what they eat. If you feel like performing an experiment to see which diet is better for you, Neno’s in Wilmington will be your laboratory. Neno’s was once a typical pizza joint, but in 2007 new owners added Persian food to the menu. In the process, they also remodeled the interior, which is decorated with enough elegance and taste to inspire other businesses in Wilmington. This is undoubtedly the prettiest and most upscale place in town, the date night spot for the heart of the harbor. I went there with my wife. She was attracted to the Italian side, while I was drawn to the Persian. She looked longingly at the pizzas but eventually decided on fried zucchini and fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, while I was curious about a baked eggplant starter and decided to follow with a lamb shank accompanied by basmati rice with sour cherries and barberries.
Neno’s Norooz is Pure Delight in Wilmington By Richard Foss, Cuisine and Restaurant Writer
The first thing to arrive at the table was something we hadn’t ordered: thin lahvosh flatbread with raw onion and pats of butter. On the theory that things that arrive together probably should be eaten together, I started to butter my bread and put onion on it. Our server volunteered that the bread was intended to be eaten with the eggplant starter, the butter was for the rice, and Persians like to eat bits of raw onion to cleanse their taste buds between nibbles of lamb. The zucchini was exactly what we expected: spears of vegetable breaded with an herbed crumb batter and fried. It was made from fresh ingredients and crisp— a well executed classic. The eggplant item called kashkeh bademjan was more interesting but might not be for everybody because it has strong, albeit well-balanced, flavors. The eggplant was baked without being de-seeded, which gives it an intense vegetable flavor, then mashed and mixed with sautéed
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
BEACH CITY GRILL
Let the culinary adventure begin anew—Beach City Grill has reopened featuring your favorites along with soon-to-be favorite new additions. Now serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and Sunday Brunch. Famous for Caribbean, Cajun specials, fresh seafood, salads, vegetarian and world cuisine. Be sure to try the awardwinning desserts. Beach City Grill, 376 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (310) 833-6345 • www.beachcitygrill.net
Buono’s Authentic Pizzeria
A San Pedro landmark for over 44 years, famous for exceptional awardwinning pizza baked in brick ovens. Buono’s also offers classic Italian dishes and sauces based on tried-and-true family recipes and handselected ingredients that are prepared fresh. Dinein, 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
April 13 - 26, 2017
Happy DineR AND HAPPY DELI
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The Happy Diner isn’t your average diner. It’s the idea of fresh creative dishes in tow 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 like. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner: Happy Diner #1, (310) 241-0917, 617 S. Centre St., San Pedro • Happy Diner #2, (310) 935-2933, 1931 N. Gaffey St., San
[See Neno’s Norooz, page 17]
Pedro • Open for breakfast and lunch: Happy Deli, (424) 364-0319, 530 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro.
MARIA’S RESTAURANT
If you are in the mood for authentic Mexican food, at an affordable price, try María’s Mexican Restaurant. The inconspicuous eatery on Pacific Avenue and 22nd Street in San Pedro offers a wide variety of savory, traditional dishes from tortas and burritos to chiles rellenos and camarones a la diabla. The exceptional service matches its wellproportioned meals. On a time crunch for lunch or dinner? Give María’s a call and they’ll have your food warm and ready for you within minutes. Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. María’s Mexican Restaurant, 2215 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro • (310) 833-6666.
PHILIE B’S ON SIXTH
Owner Phil Buscemi welcomes you to Philie B’s on Sixth, where New York–style pizza, Sicilian rice balls and pizza by-the-slice are the specialties. Fresh hot or cold sandwiches, gourmet pizzas and fresh salads are also served. Try the “white pizza” made with smooth ricotta, mozzarella and sharp Pecorino-Romano cheeses topped with torn fresh basil. Extended hours accommodate San Pedran’s unique work schedules. Catering and fast, local delivery ($15 min.). Philie B’s On Sixth, 347 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (310) 514-2500 www.philiebsonsixth.com
PIROZZI’S ITALIAN DELI
Walk into Pirozzi’s Italian Deli at Weymouth Corners and discover an ample selection of fine imported cheeses and salami, as well as a great assortment of imported prosciutto, pastas, sauces, olive oils and vinegars. Best known for homemade Italian sausages in five distinct flavors, Pirozzi’s also carries freshly prepared and frozen entrées and sauces available for take-out.
A chicken kabob and basmati rice plate at Neno’s Norooz in Wilmington. File photo
Pirozzi’s Deli offers a full catering menu, made-to-order deli sandwiches, homemade Italian cookies and desserts. Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10am-6pm; Sat. 10 am-5 pm; Sun. 10 am-2 pm. Pirozzi’s Italian Deli, 1453 W. 8th St., San Pedro • (310) 548-0000 www.pirozzisdeli.com
San Pedro Brewing Company
A microbrewery and American grill, SPBC features handcrafted award-winning ales and lagers served with creative pastas, bbq, sandwiches, salads and burgers. A full bar with madefrom-scratch margaritas and a martini menu all add fun to the warm 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
The Whale & Ale English Restaurant & Pub
The Victorian oak panels & elegant brass fittings will make you feel like you crossed the Atlantic. Featuring popular pub fare such as Fish & Chips (a regular “Best in L.A.” winner), 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. Try hard-tofind 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
Include Your Restaurant in the Dining Guide In Print & Online (310) 519-1442
Waterfront Dining
Boardwalk Grill
Casual waterfront dining at its finest! Famous for slabs of Chicagostyle baby back ribs, fish-n-chips, rich clam chowder, cold beer on tap and wine. Full lunch menu also includes salads, sandwiches and burgers. Indoor and outdoor patio dining available. Proudly pouring Starbucks coffee. Open 7 days a week. Free parking. Boardwalk Grill, 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 519-7551
PORTS O’ CALL RESTAURANT
Since 1961 this landmark restaurant has extended a hearty welcome to visitors from around the globe. Delight in an aweinspiring view of the dynamic 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 awardwinning 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 and starlight dancing—the ultimate excursion for any occasion. Free parking. Spirit Cruises, 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 548-8080, (562) 495-5884, www.spiritmarine.com
Whale
Daily Special Combos served 11am-4pm MONDAY
Chicken Sandwich Combo incl. Fries & Lrg. Drink
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$ 99 2Taco Combo
WEDNESDAY
EST. 1988
TUESDAY
Burger Combo incl. Fries & Lrg. Drink
incl. Lrg. Drink
THURSDAY
Salad Combo incl. Lrg. Drink
376 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (424) 287-0645 • www.BeachCityGrill.net Open: 11 am to 8 pm Tuesday-Saturday • Closed Sunday & Monday
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Italian & Croatian Specialties and Imports
The Local Publication You Actually Read
you r o f t s u j s ciou i l e d & h s Fre
SANDWICHES • SALADS • PASTAS • DESSERTS • CATERING
(310) 548-0000• www.pirozzisdeli.com
1453 W. 8th St., San Pedro (at Weymouth Corners)
Open daily: Mon-Fri 10-6 • Sat 10-5 • Sun 10-2
April 13 - 26, 2017
ration… For your Easter Celeb
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April 13 - 26, 2017
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Anyone who frequents the island of Catalina will attest that the food served there is mostly oriented to the tourist trade. With few exceptions, I’d rather eat somewhere with a view of the island than at most restaurants on it. Surprisingly, few places on the Palos Verdes Peninsula have a view of Catalina, and the restaurant named after that island isn’t one of them. Catalina Kitchen is angled so it has a view of Abalone Cove rather than the island, so you can’t see one from the other. But the dining experience more than compensates, offering attractively presented riffs on California cuisine with a few novel twists. Catalina Kitchen is on the pool level of Terranea Resort. Upon arrival, you’ll be offered a choice of dining indoors or out. We unhesitatingly chose outdoors despite the cool and were first offered an attractive table with cushioned benches on one side and chairs on the other. After we sat down, we discovered that the benches are several inches lower than the chairs. The people on benches found the table level awkwardly high. When we asked to move, our server indicated that this wasn’t the first time that happened. (Management should consider having additional firm cushions available to give a boost to those who prefer it.) We moved to a table with four chairs — much more comfortable. Although we were unfamiliar with the menu, the ocean view raised our expectations of seafood. Catalina Kitchen offers an impressive raw bar, chowder and seafood entrees. But the options are balanced with crepes, pastas, pizzas and meat items — basically, something for everybody. It was difficult to choose, so we bought time by ordering a starter of fried
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Get High Class Cuisine:
Terranea Resort’s Catalina Kitchen By Richard Foss, Cuisine and Restaurant Writer
A breakfast flatbread with egg, pork belly, charred jalepeño, manchego cheese and fingerling potatoes. File photo
deviled eggs and some cocktails to keep the body and soul together while we deliberated. Coating and frying the whites of hard boiled eggs before making deviled eggs is starting to catch on, and it’s more than a novelty. The crisp exterior adds a dash of style to what is usually a casual picnic item, an extra layer of texture to something that is otherwise all about cool creaminess. Each half-egg had a paper-thin slice of radish, a sliver of applewood bacon, a dusting of chives and sprigs of micro-greens to complete both the presentation and flavor. It was as stylish as it was delicious and a promising start to the meal. We considered ordering more starters but saw some substantial plates going to other tables, so we went straight to main courses. These were a steak salad, cavatelli pasta with eggplant, olives, chard, ricotta and black cod in a miso glaze, and a half-chicken in what was described as a tomato-mustard crust. I ordered the chicken because I was curious about the idea
The other two dishes were more about execution than innovation. The steak salad was just what you’d expect: a good spring mix salad with marinated sliced steak on the side. You might not expect that the spring mix over a potato salad owes more than a bit of inspiration to German tradition. As for the pasta, the kitchen played it straight here. The cavatelli (pasta that has been compared to tiny hot dog buns) was in a light tomato herb sauce with Japanese eggplant, green olives and Swiss chard. Ricotta cheese was sprinkled on top. Parmesan and red pepper were offered on the side. I thought the dish was improved with a little of each since the ricotta didn’t have quite enough flavor to sustain my interest. We ordered a carafe of Villa Oneiro Chardonnay, made from grapes grown only about a mile from Terranea. It seemed like the best thing to do in a restaurant that emphasizes local ingredients, including sea salt gathered from the property. It was a fine wine made in a Greek style, a reminder that most of this area was once agricultural. We saved enough room for dessert, and ordered a caramel cheesecake, a crème brulée, a cookie and ice cream combination called “Heaven in a Box,” a chocolate budino and a
of crusting anything with tomato, which can be very sweet when concentrated. In this case, the mustard counter-balanced it effectively, creating an appealing spicy-sweet combination. It’s a great trick and one I have never seen anywhere else. It Catalina Kitchen’s seafood linguini. File photo arrived with garlic spinach and a parmesan potato gratin. It was an excellent full meal. Nothing was innovative about the miso-marinated cod, because that combination is already just about perfect. Yet, the accompaniments made the dish: a medley of English peas with bacon and sweet-andsour pearl onions in tarragon butter sauce over Yukon gold mashed potatoes. The fish in the classic crêpe Suzette. caramelized glaze and the earthy, smoky and I’m not a big cheesecake fan, but this one slightly pickled flavors in the vegetables were was something special: the layer of cheesecake perfect together. was topped by a layer of crème brulée — a neat idea. It was served with a berry compote that added a nice tart fruitiness. The crêpe Suzette was delicate and light, the chocolate budino was a dense, rich pudding enlivened with a dash of caramel and sea salt and ornamented with very dark chocolate wafers. Heaven in a Box was huge and unbalanced in terms of flavors; the chocolate chip cookie was a bit too rich with the chocolate, strawberry and vanilla gelato. The combination might have been better with shortbread or an oatmeal cookie — something neutral to better complement each ice cream. Our meal for four, with four drinks and a small carafe of wine, ran $287, which is not out of line for the food, location and quality of the experience. Catalina Kitchen is good enough to flourish in any downtown location in the South Bay. That is the highest praise for a resort restaurant. They’re not just depending on the view to sell food; they’re delivering a worldclass experience. Catalina Kitchen is at Terranea Resort, 100 Terranea Way, Rancho Palos Verdes. It is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Valet, street parking and wheelchair access are available. The eatery includes a full bar as well as vegetarian and vegan items. Details: (310) 265-2836; terranea.com
[Neno’s Norooz, from page 14]
Neno’s Norooz
onions and herbs, topped with chopped mint and a type of thick yogurt called kashk or kashik. It’s not like the better-known Arabic baba ganoush, which has smoky flavors, tahini and garlic. This eggplant was modified by the sweet onion, olive oil and herbs with a little bright mint to round it out. I had to think about whether I liked it at first. The balance of flavors changed with every bite and I decided I did. We might have eaten it all except that we had seen plates at other tables and knew a lot more food was coming. When the main courses arrived, we realized immediately that a lot of food would be going home. The big bowl of pasta Alfredo had been offered with either chicken or shrimp, and there was a generous portion of seafood over the noodles in creamy sauce with little hints of red and black pepper. Sometimes Alfredo sauce tastes only of cream and a little cheese, but when it’s done right, there are hints of seasoning that elevate it. The pepper was on the assertive side for this sauce, but we completely approved. The lamb shank had plenty of tender meat and was fragrant from the herbed braising sauce; unusually, it was served on a separate plate rather than over the Persian style rice. The rich meat paired nicely with the tart barberries and sour cherries in the rice, so we combined the two thoroughly and enjoyed the mix. We also discovered the wisdom of having a bite of mild raw onion every once in awhile, as it rebooted our palates after the rich meat and let us taste everything as though it was the first bite. I didn’t think the rice needed the butter when it had that braising sauce, but would fit with something
unsauced, like a kebab. Neno’s Norooz has a minimal beer and wine selection. We had glasses of Chardonnay and cabernet. They were standard low-end wines but drinkable; if you want to bring your own, corkage is only seven bucks. A few desserts are usually offered, including tiramisu and Persian sugared doughnuts, but on the day we went they had run out of the most interesting items. Since we were full and taking leftovers from both entrees and the starter, we didn’t really need it. Our lavish meal ran only $60, which was remarkable for both quality and quantity. Had we been dedicated scientists, we might have resolved to return on a regular basis with my wife always ordering Italian and me always ordering Persian, just to test the health effects. In practice, this would be futile, since we always share our meals and also couldn’t control for other factors like the fact that I drink many more cocktails than she does. I’d also want to try the fried chicken and other items, which would damage the predictability of the experiment. We’ll probably return regularly, anyway, just because we like the food, environment and cheerful service. Neno’s Norooz is at 910 W. Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington. It is open daily at 10:45 a.m.; it closes at 9:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It has a small lot or side street parking, wheelchair accessible and many vegetarian options. Details: (310) 834-5577; nenospizzawilmington.com
Where Union Women in Solidarity Gather
Arts Cuisine Entertainment APR 13 - 26 • 2017 ENTERTAINMENT April 15
Rob Flax “One Man Band” Rob Flax is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist composer and educator from Evanston, Ill. He uses live looping of violin, percussion and other instruments. Time: 8 p.m. April 15 Cost: $20 Details: www.alvasshowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W 8th St., San Pedro
April 20
Local Band Hangout Enjoy food, drink and great music from Red Eye Redemption, Cali Conscious and Kevin Miso. They are performing at the Queen Mary’s Local Band Hangout. Time: 7 p.m. April 20 Cost: $15 Details: http://queenmary.com Venue: Queen Mary Seawalk Pavilion, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach
April 22
Jim Curry Jim and Anne Curry deliver the multi-platinum hits of the great John Denver in an evening full of familiar songs. Time: 8 p.m. April 22 Cost: $25 to $30 Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro Frank Stallone Grammy and Golden Globe nominated artist Frank Stallone’s explosive voice and his range from comedy to drama and rock to blues to big band, leaves audiences entertained and captivated. Time: 8 p.m. April 22 Cost: $28.50 to $60 Details: http://tinyurl.com/lxbjpr8 Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Miki Aoki, Rolf Haas Classical Crossroads’ The Interludes concert series presents Beverly Hills National Auditions winners, pianist Miki Aoki and violinist Rolf Haas. Time: 3 p.m. April 22 Cost: Free Details: (310) 316-5574; www.palosverdes. com/ClassicalCrossroads/TheInterludes.htm Venue: First Lutheran Church & School, 2900 W. Carson St., Torrance
the group. “I’m looking forward to what the future holds and willing to be first to the line along with my sisters and brothers if need be.” The March attendance was triple the attendance of the inaugural event.
April 23
April 14
The Promise Romeo and Juliet meets Puerto Rican black magic. In a Puerto Rican enclave in the United States, over-protective and superstitious Guzman finds out that his daughter has fallen in love with his rival’s son. Guzman formulates a treacherous scheme using black magic traditions. Time: 8 p.m. April 14, 15, 21 and 22, and 2 p.m. April 23 Cost: $10 to $15 Details: www.csudh.edu/theatre/tickets Venue: Edison Studio Theatre, California State University Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson
April 19
Uncanny Valley Drawing on current research in artificial intelligence and robotics, Uncanny Valley charts the relationship between Claire, a neuroscientist, and Julian, a non-biological human. Time: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, April 19 through May 7 Cost: $25 to $35 Details: http://ictlongbeach.org/ Venue: International City Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way, Long Beach
April 22
Earth Tales Earth Tales, presented by We Tell Stories, will delight kids of all ages with its educational and entertaining stories. This one-hour show is free and open to all members of the community, but reservations are required. Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 22 Cost: Free Details: (562) 495-4595 ict@ictlongbeach.org Venue: Beverly O’Neill Theatre, 330 E. Seaside Way, Long Beach
April 23
Nora Nora, the adaption of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House shows a world where independence and feminism are outrageous ideas. The threeact play concludes with Nora, the protagonist, walking out on her husband and children to find herself. Time: 8 p.m. through April 23 Cost: $14 to $17 Details: http://tinyurl.com/mh3vm2e Venue: Cal State Long Beach, University Theatre, 1250 E. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach
April 30
Romeo and Juliet Elysium Conservatory Theatre opens in their new home with a reawakening of the greatest love story ever told, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Conceptualized and directed by artistic director Aaron Ganz. Time: 8 p.m. through April 30 Cost: $25 Details: (424) 535-7333; info@fearlessartists. org Venue: Elysium Conservatory Theatre, 729 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro
[See Calendar, page 18]
April 13 - 26, 2017
Love Stages Love Stages is a musical story of a woman’s journey through love with its highs and lows. Time: 4 p.m. April 23 Cost: $25 Details: https://alvasshowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
THEATER
More than 110 women belonging to the ILWU Locals 94, 63 and 13 gathered March 9, at Raffaello’s Ristorante in San Pedro. Attendees included Kathy Bridges, the daughter of ILWU founder Harry Bridges, a Rosie Riveter from Todd shipyard, Esther Ramirez, and her daughter Carolyn Moen. ILWU member Valerie Zaks formed Union Women in Solidarity, first as Facebook group, following the 2015 longshore lockout “to provide a platform for union women to share, vent and create new friendships.” The Facebook group includes almost 3,000 members. “Experiencing mutual support from our members first hand has brought me a sense of purpose and the community that has formed goes beyond measure,” said Zaks about
John Rzeznik John Rzeznik will be stopping by Fingerprints what he’s calling a “one-time only acoustic set.” It seems like we shouldn’t have to say much more about the Goo Goo Dolls, other than that they’re the Goos. Time: 7 p.m. April 22 Cost: Free Details: (562) 433-4996 Venue: Fingerprints, 420 E. 4th St., Long Beach
Doo Wop Legends Come out for a night of music with Doo Wop legends The Original Medallions singing their hits Magic Mountain and The Letter. Time: 8 p.m. April 29 Cost: $30 to $40 Details: http://tinyurl.com/Doo-Wop-Legends Venue: Marina Seafood Restaurant, 1050 Nagoya Way, San Pedro
The Local Publication You Actually Read
L.A.vation Check out the world’s greatest tribute to U2. Time: 8 p.m. April 22 Cost: $20 Details: https://alvasshowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
April 29
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[Calendar, from page 17]
Arts Cuisine Entertainment APR 13 - 26 • 2017
May 6
Seaward Ho! Long Beach Playhouse presents Treasure Island, the beloved classic by Robert Louis Stevenson. Time: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 6 Cost: $14 to $24 Details: (562) 494-1014 Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
FILM
April 23
Hahn Sponsors Crows of the Desert for Armenian History Month Supervisor Janice Hahn will partner with the LA Harbor International Film Festival to sponsor a special screening of the acclaimed film Crows of the Desert in honor of LA County Armenian History Month. The film tells the true story of Levon Yotnakhparian’s struggle to survive and save others during the Armenian Genocide. Time: 4 p.m. April 23 Cost: General admission is free Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
ARTS
April 24
Content Cal State Dominguez Hills’ annual design showcase and studio art exhibition features works of graduating seniors. An opening reception is scheduled on April 24. Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 24 through May 4 Cost: Free Details: (310) 243-3334 Venue: CSUDH, University Art Gallery, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson
April 13 - 26, 2017
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Continuing Exhibitions
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Ann Weber, Sculpture TransVagrant and Gallery 478 present Ann Weber, Sculpture. Ann Weber’s organic sculpture is abstract, formally elegant, and composed of inelegant salvaged cardboard. Weber’s technique is disarmingly direct. Time: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, through April 30 Cost: Free Details: (310) 600-4873 www.transvagrant.com Venue: Gallery 478, 478 W. 7th. St., San Pedro Threesome The exhibition Threesome features multimedia artist Brian Bernhard, ceramic artist Nora Chen and mixed media and digital artist Miyuki Sena at the Artists’ Studio Gallery at the Promenade on the Peninsula. The exhibition continues until May 14. Time: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, through May 14 Cost: Free Details: (310) 265-2592 artists-studio-pvac.com Venue: Promenade on the Peninsula, 550 Deep Valley Drive, #159, Rolling Hills Estates Artist/Mother Artist/Mother is a multi-media exhibition that presents the works of Calida Rawles, Julia Barbee, Camilla Løhren Chmiel and Megan Schvaneveldt, whose works confront the challenge of: “What do my identities of both artist and mother mean for my practice?” Time: 6 to 9 p.m. through May 20 Cost: Free Details: (310) 429-0973 www.southbaycontemporary.org Venue: South Bay Contemporary at the Loft, 401 S. Mesa St., 3rd Floor, San Pedro
Dreamland The Museum of Latin American Art presents a retrospective of the work of one of the original Los Four founders, Frank Romero, in the exhibition titled Dreamland. Time: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, through May 21 Cost: $7 to $10 Details: (562) 437-1689; molaa.org Venue: Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach
COMMUNITY April 14
2017 Green Prize Festival The Green Prize Festival is a one-day event celebrating and highlighting more than 75 green entrepreneurs in building, renewable energy, urban farming, cuisine, technology and environmental organizations. There will be live entertainment, educational workshops, demonstrations and guest speakers. Time: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 22 Cost: Free Details: www.facebook.com events/206863013119395 Venue: Houghton Park, 6301 Myrtle Ave, Long Beach
[Town Hall, from page 13]
Town Hall
Lawrence. This is the crucible that made possible the 1971 panel debate. Somewhere along the line, someone (likely Mailer) thought that this battle of the sexes that was taking place in the world of ideas might make for a lively panel discussion. The film received critical acclaim when it was released several years later. The place the film holds as an influence in activist and liberation circles bears this assessment out. “(This) could be a disaster for women and a minor triumph for me,” Johnston said. “I’m not sure I want to further acknowledge Mailer by promoting his sport … women’s liberation as a
African Americans, and other groups in his works without typecasting them from his own experiences. This particular attribute of Mailer’s combined with the explosive emergence of the women’s liberation movement in all of its diversity, served as a perfect foil for the drama that played out during that three hour panel discussion. “Are we good debaters? Do we hear each other?” is what the play ultimately asks its audience. In this reality show of sorts, Mailer provoked feminists with his responses to the panel’s’ opinions. He claimed more than once that they had misunderstood his writings. When Johnston launched into a stream of conscious monologue during her allotted time to
Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt Take a selfie with the Easter Bunny and join in on an evening of fun with games and activities for the whole family. The event is free for children between the ages of 4 to 15 years old. Bring your own flashlight. Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 14 Cost: Free Details: (310) 329-7717 Venue: 703 E. Del Amo Blvd., Carson
April 15
Orange County Chapter presents James Preston Allen The Orange County Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State presents James Preston Allen, publisher of Random Lengths News. He will speak on What Does It Mean to Be a Patriot in the 21st Century? Join in for this interesting discussion. Seating will be on a first-come, first-seated basis. Time: 1:45 p.m. April 15 Cost: Free Details: (714) 299-4551; www.au-oc.org Venue: 15500 Sand Canyon Ave, Irvine
April 22
The 12th Annual Freestyle Festival The Freestyle Festival 2017 will feature Naughty By Nature, Montel Jordan, Trinere, Debbie Deb, The English Beat, Stacey Q and Chubb Rock. Time: 3 p.m. April 22 Cost: $15 Details: http://queenmary.com Venue: Queen Mary Seawalk Pavilion, 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach
Barns in Spring Come see the Rancho animals. Learn about their care and about each animal’s role on the ranch. Space is limited. Advance reservations are required. Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. April 22 Cost: $7 Details: www.rancholosalamitos.com Venue: Rancho Alamitos Ranch, 6400 E. Bixby, Long Beach
April 23
Quartermania for Relay For Life This event is a mix between an auction and a raffle. Bust open that piggy bank and bring out those quarters because there will be tons of prizes. This will benefit the American Cancer Society. Time: 12:30 p.m. April 23 Cost: $7 to $15 Details: (310) 920-0354, (310) 346-8968 Venue: Carson Community Center, 801 E. Carson St., Carson
A scene from the Wooster Group’s production Town Hall Affair. File photo
debatable issue. It has the pretense of a trial.” Millet refused to debate Mailer. So did radical feminists, Ti-Grace Atkinson and Gloria Steinem. Johnston probably had similar thoughts, but she ultimately joined literary critic Diana Trilling, author Germaine Greer, Village Voice columnist Jill Johnston, president of The National Organization of Women Jacqueline Ceballos, and Norman Mailer. The three hour event was sponsored by the Theatre for Ideas, a series of events which hailed as the forum for New York’s intellectual elite which Mailer moderated. Greer referred to it as an idea founded on privilege. Johnston promoted the idea of “lesbian feminism,” which consists of understanding womanhood as perpetual lesbianism. Johnston argued liberation follows the ability of women to love themselves and from that position, practice self-determination. This makes them lesbians. Trilling focused on the intersections of gender and sexuality, arguing that women’s sexuality is consistently repressed and that sexual liberation, regardless of orientation, is required for women to be liberated from social norms. Ceballos focused primarily on second wave feminism, without any intersectional approach. Greer deconstructed gender roles and argued that women should strive to free womanhood, rather than for women to strive to become equal to men. It’s been said that Mailer was adept at identifying social and political phenomena but struggled to describe the experiences of women,
speak and declared that “all women are lesbians except those who don’t know it naturally,” Mailer interrupted and cut her off. He took an audience vote to see if anyone wanted her to continue. In response, two women suddenly ran onto the stage and began cavorting, rolling, kissing and groping in a display of sexual affection with Johnston. Mailer frequently offered soundbite descriptions on panelists’ philosophies and positions. He called Greer’s exposition of a feminist revolution, “Diaper Marxism.” When Trilling noted that nothing in the recent sexual culture has been more justifiably attacked than the idea of a single definition “normal” sexual desire or response, Mailer called it “left-wing totalitarianism.” Wooster’s Town Hall Affair provides a striking addition to the dialogue by making the footage of the original panel debate part of the play. As each actor approached the podium to speak— reciting highlights of the panelists’ speeches. They spoke in unison with the panelists in the film — every pause, stumble and laugh. Their voices, as well as the panelists in the film, were simultaneously audible. The skill in doing this accurately and emotively was remarkable. And it worked well leaving the unsettling effect that we still haven’t progressed. LeCompte noted that while these people could debate in public and make loud coherent responses, they were all intellects from the same race and class. Reality shows and social media have now opened the “debate” setting for all races and classes to talk.
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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES The animals at the Harbor Animal Shelter have ongoing need for used blankets, comforters, pet beds.* Drop off at Harbor Animal Shelter, 957 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro. 888-452-7381, x 143 PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PET! *In any condition. We will wash and mend.
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Effectively January 1, 2014, the Fictitious Business Name Statement must be accompanied by the Affidavit of Identity form. 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: 03/16/2017,
03/30/2017, 04/13/2017, 04/27/2017
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2017052148 The following person is doing business as: (1) Tony’s Plumbing, 25039 Vermont Ave., Harbor City, CA 90710. Los Angeles County. Articles of Incorporation or Organization Number: AI#
[Continued on page 19]
© 2017 MATT JONES, Jonesin’ Crosswords
“Hide Your Kids”— they’re in there somewhere.
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Across
1 Baker’s buy 6 Group of periods 9 Pet sounds? 13 Threepio’s mate 14 McDonald’s Corporation mogul Ray 15 “Dog Barking at the Moon” painter Joan 16 Maintain the same speed as 18 Tree of Knowledge garden 19 Converse with the locals in Rome, e.g. 21 NBC show since ‘75 24 Lilly of pharmaceuticals 25 Undersized 26 Size in a portrait package 28 It keeps going during the Olympics 31 “You’re not ___, are you?” 32 Guy with a lot of food issues? 33 “Chandelier” singer 36 What regular exercise helps maintain 40 Layer of lawn 41 Mid-sized jazz combo 42 Blue material 43 Clunky footwear 44 Home of Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” 46 Muhammad Ali’s boxing daughter 49 Soundless communication syst. 50 U.K. tabloid, with “The”
51 “Hmmm ... I’m thinking ...” 56 Contends 57 What each of the entries with circles reveals 61 To be in France 62 Lago contents 63 Country divided since 1948 64 Hair band of the 1980s 65 He played Clubber Lang in “Rocky III” 66 Gift on the seventh day of Christmas
Down
29 Departed 30 “Entourage” agent Gold 32 Werewolf’s tooth 33 Long haulers 34 Onetime Trooper and Rodeo maker 35 John who was Gomez Addams 37 Acquired relative 38 Dove noise 39 Abbr. stamped on a bad check 43 Place for supplies, sometimes 44 “Back in the ___” (Beatles song) 45 The gold in Goldschlager, e.g. 46 What “-phile” means 47 Curly-tailed canine 48 Like xenon, as gases go 49 On the ocean 52 “Taken” star Neeson 53 Caltech grad, perhaps 54 Letter-shaped bolt link 55 Site with the tagline “Discover the expert in you” 58 Glass on the radio 59 “Steal My Sunshine” band 60 “___ Boot” (1981 war film)
1 Chatter away 2 Poet’s palindrome 3 Brunched, say 4 Absorbs, with “up” 5 Unbelievable cover? 6 “CHiPs” costar Estrada 7 Bread at an Indian restaurant 8 Eight, to Ernst 9 Audrey Tautou’s quirky title role of 2001 10 Chamillionaire hit that doesn’t actually have “Dirty” in the title 11 Lose one’s mind 12 Cher’s partner 14 “The Bridge on the River ___” 17 Hit with a barrage 20 Concede 21 Exchanges 22 Cheesy chip flavor 23 Bridges of film ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 27 “Stacks of wax” For answers go to: 28 Cabinet contents www.randomlengthsnews.com
April 13 - 26, 2017
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Professions code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)). S/. Rafael Ruvalcaba, President. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 23, 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. were to expires 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.
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Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2017046025 The following person is doing business as: (1) HAVIC IT, (2) H.A.V.I.C. IT, (3) Home Audio Video Integration Consulting, 664 1/2 21st Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. Los Angeles County. Articles of Incorporation or Organization Number: AI# ON: 3927176 Registered owners: Rafael Ruvalcaba, 664 1/2 21st Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 02/2017. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and
The Local Publication You Actually Read
Please help!
VACATION RENTAL
DBA FILINGS
19
RANDOMLetters duplex. Every year since I bought the property in 2013, HCIDLA inspectors have come out based on tenant complaints. Until this year, those complaints were deemed unfounded. I had all the necessary records showing every action I took to remedy the complaints were above board — records that shielded me from receiving any citations during my first two years of ownership. That changed this year when HCIDLA investigators arrived, who I didn’t recognize, and
inspected my property. A couple of months after the inspection, I received a letter from HCIDLA ordering me to demolish a pre-existing ¾ bathroom in the duplex and obtain a certificate of occupancy for the second unit in the duplex, among other issues. HCIDLA stated in the letter if I failed to get a building permit and certificate of occupancy, I would have to vacate the units and pay tenant relocation assistance fees. I appealed the order, partly because HCIDLA orders conflicted with other mandates from the Department of Water and Power
and Building and Safety. The other reason I appealed was because Los Angeles County Assessor records showed the building was always multi-unit residence. Records show that the 366 building was zoned as an R-3-1 property in 1963 with three units and only later was re-zoned to have two units. But HCIDLA refused to hear my appeal. They did, however, agree to conduct a walk through with the other departments to unwind the confusion. Still, HCIDLA refused to accept the ¾ bath on the first floor and required me to install an interior stairway connecting first and second floors, despite there
already being an exterior staircase as per original construction and permit plans. I couldn’t meet HCIDLA’s deadline. When I requested an extension from HCIDLA, they refused and they cited me again and assessed late fees. Throughout this entire time, HCID has assessed violation fee after violation fee without even hearing my appeals or granting any sort of extension to study or correct the problems. I did my best to comply with all of HCIDLA’s orders, but I felt bullied throughout the entire process. Judy Lan San Pedro
Becerra’s Misplaced Outrage
The Attorney General of California Xavier Becerra is prosecuting David Daleiden with 15 criminal felonies. The Times editor thinks this is overkill. Let’s take a look at this creepy Christian and his creepy organizations and ask why an editor for the Los Angeles Times would take his side. David is a Christian creep who doesn’t believe in abortion or stem cell research; he will do anything to discredit and interrupt these operations, including spreading false information. The edited tape of Planned Parenthood
was not truthful and gave creepy (Christian) republican legislators an excuse to investigate and talk about defunding planned parenthood. For years now, David and his organizations have encouraged action against abortion clinics, for example killing doctors and staff, bombing clinics, standing outside and spitting on women as they go into the clinics. They had the support of creepy (Christian) Republican politicians, Supreme Court justices and law enforcement officers, and suffered no consequences for their creepy actions. Thank you, Attorney General Becerra. Damian Walters San Pedro
DBA & LEGAL FILINGS [From page 18]
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
ON: 3953446 Registered owners:Tony’s Plumbing, Inc., 25039 Vermont Ave., Harbor City, CA 90710. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 10/11/2016. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)). S/. Antonino Sanzone, President. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 2, 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. were to expires 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.Effectively January 1, 2014, the Fictitious Business Name Statement must be accompanied by the Affidavit of Identity form. 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: 03/16/2017, 04/13/2017,
April 13 - 26, 2017
03/30/2017, 04/27/2017
20
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2017069202 The following person is doing business as: Barba Services, 717 W 33rd St., #207, San Pedro, CA 90731. Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Joshua Barba, 717 W 33rd St., #207, San Pedro, CA 90731. This
Business is conducted by an individual. The registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 03/02/2017. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)). S/. Joshua Barba, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 20, 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. were to expires 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. Effectively January 1, 2014, the Fictitious Business Name Statement must be accompanied by the Affidavit of Identity form. 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: 03/30/2017, 04/13/2017, 04/27/2017, 05/11/2017
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2017063976 The following person is doing business as: Quicksilver Drafting, 2272 Eucalyptus Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806. Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Quetzal Silver, 2272 Eucalyptus Ave., Long Beach, CA 90806. This Business is conducted by an individual. The registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 02/22/2017. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)). S/. Quetzal Silver, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 14, 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. were to expires 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. Effectively January 1, 2014, the Fictitious Business Name Statement must be accompanied by the Affidavit of Identity form. 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). 03/30/2017, Original filing:
04/13/2017, 04/27/2017, 05/11/2017
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2017071123 The following person is doing business as: Donut Kingdom, 2608 E Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA 90804, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Brandon Chhea, 457 W. 13th St., Apt. 1, San Pedro, CA 90731. Roathnear Tiv, 457 W. 13th St., Apt 1. San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a Married Couple. The date registrants started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 03/2017. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Brandon Chhea, husband. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 21, 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: 04/13/16, 04/27/16, 05/11/16, 05/25/16
Statement of Abandonment of Use of Fictitious Business Name File No. 2017071181 Current File No. : 2017050045 Date Filed: February 28, 2017 Donuts Stars, 457 W. 13th St., Suite 1, San Pedro, CA 90731 Registered Owners: Roathnear Tiv, 457 W. 13th St., Suite 1 San Pedro, CA 90731. Business was conducted by: An individual I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).) S/ Roathnear Tiv, owner This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on March 21, 2017. 04/13/16, 04/27/16, 05/11/16, 05/25/16
Statement of Abandonment of Use of Fictitious Business Name File No. 2017071201 Current File No. : 2016282904 Date Filed: November 21, 2016 Crawfish City Beers & Sandwiches, 457 W. 13th St., Suite 1, San Pedro, CA 90731 Registered owners: Brandon Chhea, 457 W. 13th St., Apt. 1, San Pedro, CA 90731. Roathnear Tiv, 457 W. 13th St., Apt 1. San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a Married Couple. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to
exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).) S/ Roathnear Tiv, owner This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on March 21, 2017. 04/13/16, 04/27/16, 05/11/16, 05/25/16
Statement of Abandonment of Use of Fictitious Business Name File No. 201071190 Current File No. : 2015213234 Date Filed: August 17, 2015 Fabulous Soft Skin, 457 W. 13th St., Suite 1, San Pedro, CA 90731 Registered owners:Victor Dominguez, 457 W. 13th St., Apt 1. San Pedro, CA 90731. Brandon Chhea, 457 W. 13th St., Apt. 1, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a general partnership. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true any material matter pursuant to Section 17913 of the Business and Professions code that the registrant knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).) S/ Brandon Chhea, owner This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on March 21, 2017. 04/13/16, 04/27/16, 05/11/16, 05/25/16
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2017083159 The following person is doing business as: (1) The EZBIT, (2) The EZ BIT, 2125 S. Cabrillo Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Frank Maimone, 2125 S. Cabrillo Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrants started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 01/2017. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Frank Maimone, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on April 4, 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: 04/13/16, 04/27/16, 05/11/16, 05/25/16
NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT/ ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR BERTHS 226-236 [EVERPORT] CONTAINER TERMINAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT (SCH#2014101050) Pursuant to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District (Corps) and the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department (LAHD) have prepared a joint Draft Environmental Impact Statement/ Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIS/ EIR) for Berths 226-236 [Everport] Container Terminal Improvements Project (the proposed Project). The proposed Project consists of various improvements to the Everport Container Terminal located on Terminal Island within the Port of Los Angeles to expand the terminal’s capacity and to accommodate larger vessels. Improvements include dredging at Berths 226-232, the addition of five new cranes, the raising of five existing cranes, the development of 23.5 additional acres of backlands, and an extension to the existing lease by ten years for continued operations until 2038. The Draft EIS/EIR identifies significant and unavoidable impacts associated with the following environmental resource areas: air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, greenhouse gas emissions, ground transportation and noise. The project includes facilities and sites that are identified on the State of California Hazardous Waste and Substances Site List (also known as the Cortese List, compiled pursuant to California Government Code 65962.5). Availability: The Draft EIS/EIR is available for review at: Port of Los Angeles Environmental Management Division, 222 West 6th Street, Suite 900, San Pedro, CA 90731; Los Angeles City Library, Central
Branch, 630 West 5th Street, Los Angeles CA 90071; Los Angeles City Library, San Pedro Branch, 931 South Gaffey Street, San Pedro, CA 90731; Los Angeles City Library, Wilmington Branch, 1300 North Avalon, Wilmington, CA 90744. The public notice is available online at the Corps website: www. spl.usace.army.mil/regulatory/ POLA.htm and the entire Draft EIS/EIR is also available on the Port’s web site: http://www. portoflosangeles.org under the Environmental tab. Public Meeting: The Corps and the Port will jointly conduct a public meeting will be held on May 10, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. in the Board Room at the Harbor Department Administration Building, 425 South Palos Verdes Street, San Pedro, CA 90731 Written comments on the Draft EIS/EIR can be submitted through June 5, 2017, and should be mailed to both of the following addresses. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District Regulatory Division ATTN: Theresa Stevens, Ph.D., 2151 Alessandro Drive, Suite 110, Ventura, California 93001 and City of Los Angeles Harbor Department Christopher Cannon, Director Environmental Management Division, 425 S. Palos Verdes Street San Pedro, CA 90731 Comments may also be sent via email to: theresa. stevens@usace.army.mil and/ or ceqacomments@portla.org. Please remember to: Send your comments in letter format as an attachment to the e-mail; Include a valid mailing address in the comment letter; and Use the project title as the e-mail’s subject line. For additional information, please contact the Corp’s Public Affairs Office at (213) 452-3920 or Tara Tisopulos, Project Manager at the Port of Los Angeles at (310) 7327713. CN936423 BERTHS 226-236 Apr 13, 2017
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[Dark Vision, from page 8]
Trump’s Dark Vision
Trump’s Early Actions Set the Tone
judiciary would be enforcing the law, said Wall. “Judges don’t care what the president tweets. Evidence matters, facts matter, the law matters. And, the judiciary will be a bulwark against lawlessness and efforts to take action to harm America’s environment health and economy.” Perhaps. Harbor Area residents have seen the courts work well but have also seen them badly misfire over the years. But they are one form of reality-based check on Trump’s anythinggoes fantasy-based approach to governance. And the marketplace, as noted above, is another one. Yet, courts and markets are politically malleable, as the just-completed theft of a Supreme Court seat reminds.
People Power, the Ultimate Clean Energy
Miller said. But she does see cause for hope in the political response to Trump so far. “I see lots of pluses — the Indivisible movement, the collapse (so far) of the Obamacare repeal, everything that’s happening in California, the explosive growth at Climate Hawks Vote and many other organizations, the general sense that a previously silent majority has woken up and donned pink pussyhats and is prepared to march until the Trump regime ends,” she said. “But it’s not enough. I’m an optimist and a fighter by nature, but we haven’t been able to stop the head of Exxon Mobil from running the State Department, and that really says it all.” The way forward she pointed to echoes the message of “Which Side Are You On?” “Join the movement — your individual actions won’t save you,” Miller urged. “Take the fight to the state legislatures for the next year. Fight the rollbacks. Then get out to the midterms and vote like your life depends on it, and take back the House in 2018.” “At Climate Hawks Vote, we’re already vetting potential 2018 candidates,” added Miller to show how serious she is. “And, we’re running a candidate training at the People’s Climate March in D.C.” Trump’s attacks on climate science have spawned not one, but two major actions — the People’s Climate March on April 29 and the March for Science on April 22. Both have hundreds of sister marches. (For local details see Community Announcements.) There are marches in Kentucky, as well. But none in Harlan County. Yet. “Don’t scab for the bosses Don’t listen to their lies Us poor folks haven’t got a chance Unless we organize.” 21 April 13 - 26, 2017
the APA applies only to agency actions, and Trump could argue that this provides all the wiggle room he needs. “We’re expecting an argument that this was a presidential action and that that doesn’t apply to presidential actions,” Margolis noted, even though the State Department carried it out. However, Wall points out that there’s a parallel requirement that does apply to the president, which will be argued in the 2-for-1 case. “One of the things President Trump swore to do when he took office was uphold the Constitution,” Wall said. There are very few duties this explicitly entails, he noted, but “One of those duties is to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed.’ Trump’s executive order directs agencies in effect to violate the law, not to faithfully execute them.” The same could well be argued in the Keystone XL case and possibly others. Trump has a welldocumented habit of careless, impulsive actions which courts have note of, by striking down his Muslim travel ban, for example. Courts usually are highly sensitive to proper procedure, which is one thing that gives Wall a sense of hope. “I think many Americans who care about the environment and care about the health of their kids woke up discouraged the day after the election, because Trump has promised to launch an assault on bedrock environmental protections. I certainly did,” Wall recalled. “But by the end of the day I was buoyed…. Because the federal judge in Michigan had issued a preliminary injunction, declaring the state of Michigan to deliver bottled water door-to-door in every household in Flint, Mich., to address the local contamination in that city’s water supply.” That was a turning point for him. “I knew at that moment that the federal
“I need to pour cold water on the idea that ‘it’s going to be ok because of the market,’” said RL Miller, founder of the Climate Hawks Vote super-pac, a key early endorser of Rep. Nanette Barragan. “Politics has shaped policies, which shape the market, and will continue to do so.” This means that if the market is going to save us, it will take a lot of political struggle to ensure that result. And, time is running out. “This isn’t one step forward with Obama, one step back with Trump in a linear fashion the way it is with most other issues. This is one step up a mountain that is collapsing around us, because of the nonlinear acceleration of [climate change],”
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why we sued Trump.” Trump’s actions and proposals are so The suit is now pending in the District of damaging on so many fronts, it’s almost Columbia Circuit Court. impossible to grasp, but a few examples from his first days in office set the tone. On Day 1, Jan. 20, Trump’s White House issued a memorandum enforcing a regulatory freeze, regulations “One of the things President Trump routinely blamed for Trump swore to do when he harming the economy. But took office was uphold the four Department of Energy regulations put on hold that day Constitution. There are very were energy efficiency standards, few duties this explicitly approved under a law projected to save consumers enormous entails. One of those sums — $1 trillion by 2020 and duties is to ‘take care $2 trillion by 2030 — Michael that the laws be faithfully Wall, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told executed.’ Trump’s Random Lengths. executive order directs “That’s an extraordinary record that shows that good agencies in effect to violate environmental policy is good the law, not to faithfully execute for the pocketbook as well,” Wall said. “And I don’t think them.” —Michael Wall that would’ve been achieved Natural Resources Defense Council under this president’s apparent policies.” Also held up were 30 Illustration by Suzanne Matsumiya completed EPA regulations, whose implementation dates were delayed, plus a rule regulating mercury discharges into our waters, which had Haste Makes Waste In Pipeline been signed and sent to the Federal Register but Decision never actually printed. The Natural Resources As for the Keystone XL Pipeline decision, Defense Council is now suing to have it it’s also tied up in litigation for broadly similar enforced. reasons. It was found to not be in the national That was just on Day 1. On Day 4, interest in 2015, but under Trump, that finding Trump issued two memoranda to expedite was simply tossed out without any rhyme or the approval of the Keystone XL and Dakota reason. “In their haste to issue a cross-border Access Pipelines, directing action to be taken recklessly fast. (Two months later, following permit,” the complaint filed on March 29 alleged, Trump’s instruction to act within 60 days, the the State Department “violated the National State Department issued a permit authorizing Environmental Policy Act and other laws [including “the Administrative Procedure Act the Keystone XL pipeline.) On Day 10, Trump issued an executive order (APA)] and ignored significant new information instructing agencies to identify two regulations that bears on the project’s threats to the people, to repeal for every new one and to ensure that the environment and national interests of the United States.” total incremental cost of all new regulations is no As Jared Margolis, an attorney with the greater than zero. Center For Biological Diversity, told Random The absurdity of the two-for-one rule was Lengths, the State Department actions depended obvious. on an earlier environmental review from 2014, “Just because we discovered that asbestos is but “there are several things that have changed unhealthy, doesn’t mean that suddenly mercury really drastically” since then. The law requires and lead were healthy,” Wall pointed out. “The a careful review to make decisions based on reason we promulgate these rules is to protect current information. This includes a much lower people, protect communities, protect families, price of oil and drastically reduced chances to protect workers…. We promulgate these that oil train shipments could provide a viable rules because the benefits outweigh those costs. alternative, given the string of oil train disasters Congress has enacted statutes that require rules that’s occurred since then. to protect people in these situations.” The complaint alleged, “Keystone XL will The order just assumes that rolling back enable the mining, transport, refining, and consumption of millions of additional gallons of regulations is good. “But there’s nothing to support that,” Wall tar sands crude oil per day and cause significant said. “It’s certainly not lawful; they can’t rollback environmental harm that would not occur rules just because they want fewer rules. They otherwise.” Trump’s initial 60-day time-frame “seems to have to comply with the underlying statutes. And, none of the underlying statutes allow an be why they didn’t choose to do a reanalysis,” agency to decide to repeal two rules just to get an Margolis explained. “They were pushed very hard to approve this additional one rule. That’s not lawful, and that’s within that 60-day time, even though if they had
done a proper reanalysis and provided public input and all that, there’s no way it could have been done,” he said. “Rather than go through the correct process, they pushed it through without allowing [a reanalysis] to take place. So that’s one of our complaints.” Further issues may be added in an amended complaint. The violations of NEPA seem clear-cut, but
wanted people to use the park, but with a conscious respect for the natural habitat. He spoke of the misconception associated with being an environmentalist. “There’s this belief that us tree-huggers are trying to tie up the resource and prevent others from using it,” said Byhower. “But how could anybody not be an environmentalist? For me, it’s logical because I’m a scientist…. It’s being a survivalist…. It’s being someone who wants to live on a healthy, sustainable earth.”
[Harbor Park, from page 9]
Harbor Park
workers wanted to ensure that the park’s design included measurements for water conservation. Within one year, staff members hope that the entire park will be irrigated using reclaimed water from Terminal Island. To monitor such activities the old concessions building is being converted into an onsite ranger headquarters. Vacuum barges sucked up hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic sediment, replacing the lake’s benthic layer with gravel to foster a cleaner and more sustainable ecosystem. More than 400 trees were planted to improve the park’s air quality and visual aesthetics. After the heavy rains of this past winter, much of the area flooded. However, the storm drain system collected 25 tons of trash that would have otherwise polluted the newly cleaned lake water.
Almost There
On Jan. 30, Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino announced that 90 percent of the park’s cleanup and restoration is complete. However, unpredicted rains and flooding delayed construction and maintenance activities. Workers estimate that the project will be finished in May or June of this year. It will be more than a year before water quality tests allow the California Fish and Wildlife Service to stock the lake with bass, trout and catfish. Fishing will be allowed only on designated piers, and a catch-and-release policy will be instituted to prevent disturbance of aquatic plants and wildlife.
Avoiding Entropy
Martin Byhower during a clean up at the Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park before the renovation. Photo courtesy of Martin Byhower
Kaiser-Permanente is allotting a $100,000 grant to subsidize a number of fitness and health programs intended to help improve the health of the surrounding community. To promote community involvement, Buscaino plans to re-establish the previously intermittent Park Advisory Board, although many are skeptical as to this committee’s effectiveness. In Byhower’s experience, the board resembled many, often contradictory, voices screaming at one another in an empty room. Similarly, many people still do not understand the limitations placed upon the park by Prop. O. “There are people who are misguided about what the programming should be for the park even at this point,” Byhower said. “I have a lot of trepidation about it.”
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How It Could Go Wrong (Again)
Byhower’s trepidation stems from his experience with the Harbor City Greenway cleanup — a Prop. O project similar in restoration to although much smaller in scale than Ken Malloy Park. “[It] is turning out to be a real fiasco,” Byhower said. The Greenway’s problem originates from inattention to the importance of removing invasive plant species. During the restoration, workers planted local flora among the same invasive plant species that had killed it off before. Admitting ignorance, city officials claimed the Harbor City Greenway served as their ‘learning ground’ for Ken Malloy Park, admissions which make Byhower nervous for the future of Ken Malloy Park. “You still can’t get [Harbor City Greenway] right.” Byhower said. “What idea would we actually have that we’re going to get Harbor Park right?” Byhower also witnessed the same benign neglect after the Greenway cleanup that he cited as a cause of Ken Malloy Park’s degradation. “They build it and they go away and it falls into disrepair because nobody knows what to do,” Byhower said. “[Harbor City Greenway] is a mess and I don’t see a whole lot of movement to fix it, which makes me worried.” Byhower was also concerned with the fishing that will be offered at Ken Malloy Park. “Fishermen consistently leave fishing line and hooks and that kills the birds that nest there,” Byhower said. Byhower is still fighting Buscaino, among others, on the usage of pedal boats in the lake. “Because Joe wants to stay popular in the community ... he keeps bringing it up as something that the community might want there,” Byhower said. “If he’s going to bring things up, he has to bring things up that are feasible and that are allowable.” Homelessness has been another problem for Ken Malloy Park that many don’t view as having been solved. Thus far, the short-sighted and ineffective solution to remove the homeless has been to enforce curfews and ban overnight camping while clearing away any brush or overgrowth where individuals might hide. Short of providing them with free housing, little is to prevent individuals with no other place to turn from re-congregating in the newly restored park, a much more inviting place than, say, a highway underpass. More than anything, it seemed that Byhower
Byhower suggested that the park be subject to constant patrolling and maintenance of infrastructure by a mixture of civilians and government officials committed to the success of this park in relation to Prop. O. Byhower said that there needs to be a park staff to monitor the park’s attendees, programing, infrastructure and ecosystem. At the beginning of any new park or restoration project, the individuals hired to monitor parks are highly certified. However, they are also the first to go after budget cuts. “Because of the high turnover rate, there was no institutional memory,” Byhower said. “No one knew how to take care of things or solve problems that arose.” For Ken Malloy Park, Byhower only saw two potential outcomes: fostering the park into a flourishing environment or allowing it to dissolve into entropy. “Are they just going to go away and leave this project, or are they going to leave behind people who are going to monitor, clean up, enforce and educate,” Byhower asked. “If that stuff doesn’t happen, then it has all kind of been a waste.”
What It Could Be
But Byhower remained hopeful as to what Ken Malloy Park could look like, instead of what he was worried it might become. “There’s so many ways that the park can serve the community,” Byhower said. Byhower cited birding as a huge moneymaking venture in ecotourism. He also said that the park could provide a great opportunity for community members to become students of nature. “Of course, you’re never going to get a natural aquatic ecosystem back,” Byhower said. “It’s a storm drain and any time anybody dumps a critter down the toilet, it’s going to end up there.” But sometimes restoration is more about the environment’s health than its history. “The idea is that the water will be cleaner and purer and won’t support nearly as many [invasive species],” Byhower said. “It will be a different kind of ecosystem, hopefully, and it will support different species.” Byhower suggested that local government invest in a Friends of the Park organization, similar to the Friends of Madrona Marsh project. “That’s a huge and powerful organization that saves the city a lot of money,” Byhower said. “If the city just provided a little bit of funding to help it get started, they would probably get volunteers. Once people see what the park can be, they’re going to love it and they’re going to want to help it.” Byhower is still watching Councilman Buscaino, skeptical as to how closely the letter and spirit of Prop. O will be followed and for how long. “They’ve invested all this money in the park, you would think that they would take some pride in it,” Byhower said. “But it remains to be seen.”
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