Transitional Housing Lost in Tiny Houses Uproar pg. 4 Street Art Exhibit on Police Shooting Leaves Long Beach Museum of Art on Edge pg. 11 Sweet Dixie Kitchen—A Destination Spot for Comfort Food pg. 12
Tianjin Tragedy Shakes Up Local Concerns
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Frightening Parallels with Threat Posed by Rancho Storage Tanks By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
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n Aug. 5, after months of delay, a group of citizens concerned about the public safety threat posed by Rancho LPG met with Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka and staff members. “Mr. Seroka expressed his abiding commitment to the safety and security of the port complex, as well as the surrounding communities,” said port spokesman Phillip Sanfield. “The group had an opportunity to share its views and concerns regarding Rancho LPG. Port senior staff is reviewing the information provided and will follow up in writing with the group.” Rancho LPG is a liquefied petroleum storage facility located near the confluence of Gaffey Street and the 110 Freeway. Local activists Janet Gunter, Noel Weiss and Adrian Martinez and other participants expressed cautious optimism in the immediate aftermath of the meeting. But a deadly explosion in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, just one week later, Aug. 12, renewed a looming sense of urgency and impending threat. “Why is 25 million gallons of highly explosive butane and propane gases being stored within 1,000 feet (333 yards) of residences, schools, shops and public highway?” Gunter asked in an email linking to a story about the Chinese blast. “Why is it allowed to sit on the inner harbor, threatening the destruction of both ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach…and all of those within a 3-mile blast radius?” Although entirely different explosive agents were involved, there were still strong parallels between the Tianjin blast—with a death toll now at 114, including 39 firefighters—and a possible disaster scenario at Rancho LPG. “China on Friday defended firefighters who initially hosed water on a blaze in a warehouse storing volatile chemicals, a response foreign experts said could have contributed to two huge blasts that killed 56 people,” Reuters reported. “Chemical safety experts said calcium carbide reacts with water to create acetylene, a highly explosive gas. An explosion could be caused if firefighters sprayed the calcium carbide with water, they said.” “Calcium carbide CaC2 and water react to make acetylene, C2H2, which is the material in welding torches,” said retired oil industry consultant Connie Rutter. “So, whatever first caused an explosion, when firemen trained water on more calcium carbide, they increased the explosion, rather than preventing it.”
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[See Corita, page 6]
August 20 - September 2, 2015
eginning Sept. 3, Marymount California University, in collaboration with the Corita Art Center and fINdings Art Center, will present Be the Change: The Corita Experience, an exhibition at the Klaus Center in San Pedro that surveys the work of artist, activist and educator Sister Corita Kent. More than 60 pieces of Sister Corita’s vibrant Pop Art serigraphs will be featured in the show, reflecting her passion for tearing down the walls that separate people, confronting injustice and promoting peace. Sister Corita’s work has been traveling around the world since about 2011, but “now is the time” for its message to really transmit, said Annette Ciketic, director of fINDings. I wanted a firsthand understanding of Sister Corita from those who knew her and had a relationship with her. I have found that many lionized heroes of the left, after many decades, tend to get diced, sliced, repackaged and then mass-distributed in a form palatable enough that even old, ideological foes can stomach and regurgitated at their convenience. That is, if they weren’t forgotten. I suspected that was part of the reason Sister Corita’s work has been touring around the world for the past few years.
[See Blast, page 10]
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Augutst 20 - September 2, 2015
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
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August 20 - September 2, 2015
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Community Announcements:
Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 30 Years
Fear and Loathing of Transitional Housing By Ivan Adame, RLn Contributor
Augutst 20 - September 2, 2015
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Homelessness is one of those intractable problems that requires bold action rather than words. That’s the main takeaway from the controversial Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting that took place Aug. 11. During that meeting, the council voted unanimously to turn its ad hoc committee on homelessness into a standing committee and allow it to move forward with the Tiny Houses project in San Pedro. Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council President James Allen said that the council support for the Tiny Houses project didn’t involve financial or any other material support, but rather it was a statement of moral support for the homes and the search for a suitable location for them other than on city streets. The tiny houses on wheels, built by the charity Helping the Homeless In Need in San Pedro, exist on legally ambiguous grounds. On one hand, the Harbor Division of the Los Angeles Police Department says the structures, which are about the size of a small car, are illegal on public streets. Yet, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office has not yet spoken on the legality of the structures. Proponents argue that the tiny houses on wheels, like motor vehicles, can stay in one location for 72 hours before having to move again.
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Harbor Area Inaugural Career, Resource Fair
On Aug. 21, the South Bay Veteran Employment Committee is hosting a free career and resources fair. Southern California Cement Masons apprenticeship program, Kinecta Credit Union, Stay In Home Healthcare and Terranea Resort will be among the employers present. Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 21 Details: http://tinyurl.com/Career-ResourceFair Venue: 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
“Get to Know Us” Receptions
The Banning Museum is hosting two free receptions on Aug. 21 and 22 that will take place in the conference room. Museum volunteers attend a training to conduct public tours and special group tours of the interior of the museum, stagecoach barn and grounds. Once the training class is completed, volunteers are able to participate in a full range of museum programs such as conservation and maintenance of antiques, participating in decorative arts exhibitions, special events, museum shop assistance, lecture and discussion committees, volunteer activities, the Living History Program and School Program. Time: 11a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Aug. 21 and 22 Details: (310) 548-7777 Venue: Banning Museum, 401 E. M St., Wilmington
Volunteers for Helping the Homeless In Need constructed and painted tiny houses for people who do not have a residence. They were moved Aug. 12. Photos by Adam Adame.
Autism Advocates in Action
In his written motion to the Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee, 15th District City Councilman Joe Buscaino requested from the city attorney “to report on the legality of the placement of such structures in both the public right-of-way and on private property, and recommend removal protocol for city departments to follow.” Up until the emergence of the tiny houses, there was no action locally or otherwise on providing transitional housing for people who are on the verge of attaining permanent housing. During the meeting, Karen Ceaser, head of Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s homeless committee, said that even under the best circumstances, it still takes several months to make the transition from living on the streets to living in permanent housing. Ceaser points out that the majority of homeless people on the streets have already been reached by the agencies in town—such as Harbor Interfaith Services and the Department of Mental Health—and registered into a coordinated entry system that matches them with a home. “Just because the form gets filled out for them, [permanent housing solutions] doesn’t happen overnight,” Ceaser explained. “These tiny houses we’ve been building [are] merely transitional housing. It’s just us trying to provide them that temporary housing so they don’t have to live on the street. It will be turned over once they go to permanent housing.” The only other solution that’s been offered has been Council District 15’s order of homeless sweeps and bulky item clean-ups. The people who were swept away tended to return a few days later. Meanwhile, the tiny houses, a step in the direction of creating transitional housing, had already come to the attention of area residents the previous week, following social media postings about them and their occupants near the San Pedro Post Office on Beacon Street, which generated hundreds of comments ranging from concerned to vitriolic. Volunteers working with Helping the Homeless In Need have reported [See Housing, page 6]
Autism Advocates in Action is hosting guest speaker Dominique DeBorba, director of Carolyn Kordich Family Resource Center, at its support group meeting. DeBorba will speak on the resources available at the Family Resource Center. The mission of the center is to offer emotional, informational and educational support to families of children with disabilities (from infants to 3 years of age). Refreshments will be served. Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Aug. 22 Details: www.ckfrc.org Location: Juanita-Millender-McDonald Community Center, 801 E. Carson St., Carson
Cultural Grants Program
The Department of Cultural Affairs is accepting proposals for its 2016-17 cultural grants program for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations (and for social service nonprofits partnering with arts organizations). The deadline for online submission is 11:59 p.m. Aug. 21. Hard copies should be postmarked by Aug. 24. These cultural grants support public-benefit arts projects, arts education initiatives, and cultural programming, to take place between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017. Guidelines: http://dcaredesign.org/grants
What’s Happening in Our Neighborhoods
Carson’s mayor and city council, along with Carson’s sheriff’s station’s captain, C.O.P.S. team and gang unit will be speaking on crime prevention, volunteers on patrol and extra patrols and the Crimestopper’s movement, “See Something, Say Something.” The meeting is in response to violent crime and focuses on what citizens can do to be a part of the solution. Time: 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24 Details: (310) 835-5039, (310) 847-8386 Location: Stevenson’s Park, 17400 Lysander Drive, Carson
Free PR Plan for Your Business
As a midterm project, Cal State Long Beach students in an upper-grade public relations class will develop a free, comprehensive and customized public relations plan for owners of local small businesses. A customized public relations plan can be an essential part of a company’s overall marketing strategy, and can accomplish many things, including raising awareness of, and generating demand for, the company’s products and/or services. If you are interested in having a free public relations plan developed for your business, please provide by Aug. 25 the following information: • Your name • Phone number • Company website URL address (if you do not have a website, please provide a brief description of your business (1-3 sentences). [See Briefs, page 5]
[Briefs, from page 4] Students will consider all submissions and select the businesses they want to develop PR plans for. If your business is selected, you will be contacted in September to set up factgathering meeting(s) at your office with the students. Final plans will be presented and submitted to you in late October. Details: (562) 243-2615; lissette@estrellapr. com
Long Beach Police Community Forum
Join Cmdr. Smith at the West Division Leadership Forum. A Long Beach Police Department gangs detective will give an overview on gangs. Spanish translation will be available. Time: 6 p.m. Aug. 26 Details: (562) 570-3461 Jose.Vazquez@longbeach.gov Location: Long Beach Police Department, West Division, 1900 Atlantic Ave., 2nd floor.
Emergency Preparedness
You are invited to participate in a training program designed for Long Beach community partners and neighborhood organizations to learn how to develop emergency response plans. This informative training will discuss: • Personal preparedness, and the four steps to getting ready for a disaster; • Organizing your community with the American Red Cross; • Preparedness training with Long Beach Community Emergency Response Team members Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27 Details: (562) 570-1010; http://goo.gl/forms/JsZUXkqxJV. Venue: Emergency Communication and Emergency Center, 2990 Redondo Ave., Long Beach
San Pedro Homeless Forum
Nutcracker Auditions
The Peninsula School of Performing Arts will be hosting auditions for The Nutcracker, to be performed at the Norris Theatre on Nov. 20, 21, 28 and 29. The performing arts school is looking for gingersnaps (children ages 5 to 7 years old) at 9 a.m.; for mice soldiers and clowns (children 7 to 10 years old) at 10 a.m.; for party scene boys and girls; angels (children 10 to 13 years old) at 11 a.m.; and more advanced roles at 12 p.m. Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sept. 13 Details: pspsdance@gmail.com, www. pspadance.com. Location: Lunada Bay Plaza, 2325 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates
By Melina Paris, Contributing Writer
Volunteers work in the Garden Church on 6th St. in San Pedro is the inspiration of Rev. Anna Woofendren of the Swedenborgian Church. Photo courtesy of Rev. Anna Woofendren.
hands in the dirt, some of these other things just fade away.” The reverend is particularly interested in mixing different classes together, which she feels is needed. She calls it an urban sanctuary here, a hub where good transformation can happen individually and collectively. The Garden Church is kin to the Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes. Both are part of the same Christian-based denomination, the Swedenborgian Church of North America. “You can come here with any faith background or no faith background at all and you’re welcome and are a part of it,” Woofendren said. “We are not about conversion; we are about transformation.” “What I love about Southern California is everything grows here,” Hughey said. “In this garden alone we have chard, basil, zucchini, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, fennel and sage. Winter squash beets and corn are coming. You name it. We either already grew it or we are growing it.” Hughey believes education is very important and every time they open the gates in this garden
it is an educational opportunity for San Pedro. Her expectations were surpassed. “We realized this space, given its proximity and location to the farmer’s market and being downtown, has just had such a synergistic effect on all of our goals here,” Hughey said. “So many people come in and interact with the soil and each other that this would not necessarily have happened in another location. I’m impressed. I’ve never seen anything like this.” “We hope to be doing this work here for a long time,” Woofendren said. “Whether it’s physically in this spot, or not, is unknown. This is a big experiment but we are very committed to this community and feeding and look forward to partner with anyone who wants to be part of that.” The Garden Church is open on First Thursdays from 6:30 to 9 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sundays from 3 to 6 p.m. The Garden Church builds out the hours as volunteers come. Its lease started May 1 and goes through the end of October 2015. Details: http://gardenchurchsp.org/
August 20 - September 2, 2015
The bustling Friday farmers market in San Pedro was starting to close. The prayer garden was the first area I saw as I entered the Garden Church. Bedded in the west corner, a space for offerings blooms in perennials of red, yellow and pink. Ribbons of the same color are tied on the lattice. Here you can plant a seedling or tie a ribbon on the lattice as a tangible way to offer a prayer. The Garden Church is the inspiration of Rev. Anna Woofendren of the Swedenborgian Church. She has partnered with Green Girl Farms to create this space for the community. Green Girl Farms is a group whose mission is to create a system that provides communities with food grown locally. Green Girl Farms designed this space. It collaborates with the Garden Church to help maintain this site. The Garden Church is looking for interns and volunteers who can come weekly. People who not only want to come and participate, but also to help form it and hold it for others to come and participate. Within three months, a vacant dirt lot on 6th Street, which was occasionally utilized, was transformed into a bountiful vegetable garden for the community. We sat in the garden as Woofendren told me about the Garden Church’s vision, which is to feed and be fed. Ninety percent of this garden of edibles is grown from seed, right here in town. Lara Hughey from Green Girl Farms is the master gardener. Everything happens right here, including the compost, which they started this past January. Gatherings take place from 3 to 4 p.m. Sundays. The reverend says there’s always gardening to be done as well as art projects, music and ways of engaging with one another in this intergenerational space. At 4 p.m. they gather around the altar, befittingly a tree stump in the middle of a seating area with benches. They have worship along with singing, prayers, scripture readings and a message, and always have communion. Woofendren explained her calling, which over the years has been to reimagine what church can look like. “I’m the tail end of Generation X,” Woofendren said. “Many of my friends have left religion and I get that. But I haven’t given up on God or the need to come together in spiritual community. I’ve been asking, ‘What are the needs in the world?’ ‘What is it that the church can be to not just respond, but be in conversation to those needs?’ Four needs kept jumping out at me… We are disconnected from our food, from the earth, from each other, and from God.” She wanted to create a place where people could reconnect with putting their hands in the soil. To know where our food comes from and connect with people who wouldn’t interact otherwise across race, class and/or ideology. “I thought, what is the best human leveler?’” she said. “When we put our
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As the entire City of Los Angeles struggles with an epidemic of homelessness, 15th District City Councilman Joe Buscaino would like to bring the community together to discuss the issue, answer questions and attempt to give a sense of understanding of what is possible— both short and long term—what is legal, and what residents can do to help. Three panel members will offer their perspective on the issue. They include Greg Spiegel, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “homeless czar;” Los Angeles Police Department Senior Lead Officer Deon Joseph, who has spent the past 17 years policing downtown’s Skid Row; and Shari Weaver, director of the Family Resource Center at Harbor Interfaith. Post questions here ahead of time so that they may be properly considered to be answered at the forum. Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 3 Details: (310) 732-4515 Location: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Garden Church Growing an Urban Sanctuary
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[Corita, from page 1]
Gipson Mailer May Have Violated Election Law By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter
Lawyers for Assemblyman Mike Gipson and his 2014 political rival, Prophet Walker, are resorting to formal mediation over a controversial Gipson campaign mailer. The mediation is scheduled for Sept. 3 at the Los Angeles Superior Court. The two sides hope to resolve Walker’s lawsuit against Gipson. The lawsuit, related to his run for the assembly this past year, was filed in February. Walker charged Gipson and his paid political consultant, Angel Gonzalez, with election fraud and libel over a mailer that Gipson admitted approving and disseminating in the final days of the Assembly District 64 campaign, which Gipson won this past November. The district includes Carson. Gipson is a former Carson councilman. What Gipson and Gonzalez admittedly did was Photoshop a picture of Walker’s face onto the body of another person wearing a hoodie and brandishing a gun. The picture was captioned, “convicted felon.” There was also a picture of Gipson in police uniform, captioned, “former police officer.” The remainder of the mailer contained nothing about Walker’s conviction 10 years ago, and only one other reference to Gipson’s police work 20 years ago. Under California Election Code, any campaign media that uses a doctored picture must state it “is not an accurate representation of fact.” The mailer did not contain that statement.
“This lawsuit is the opening salvo of the 2016 election campaign for the 64th Assembly District,” responded Gipson via court documents. During the campaign Walker, who’s AfricanAmerican, freely admitted that he was convicted of armed robbery when he was 16 years old— although he did not personally use a gun in the crime. Gipson is also African-American. Recently the court dismissed the libel portion of Walker’s case, but the first cause of action— the alleged election code violation—is being allowed to proceed. Walker has also appealed the libel decision, which his lawyer Bryan Freedman says could take up to a year. As filed in court, Gipson’s defense argues that the libel charge does not apply. “Gipson’s actions are highly protected free speech and are not actionable,” Gipson’s lawyer said. “That some find Gipson’s description of Walker’s past to be distasteful does not diminish its protection as free speech.” Thomas Long, Gipson’s lawyer, said the libel charge was dismissed because of California’s antiStrategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation law, “The court determined that the gist of the portrayal is true,” Long said. Long said if Gipson is found to have violated the election code, he’d owe Walker the cost of the mailer ($7,714 according to court papers) and attorney’s fees. Gipson’s staff said the assemblyman had no comment.
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
[Housing, from page 4]
Tiny Transitional Housing
Augutst 20 - September 2, 2015
being pelted with rocks by assailants because of their work. The comments at the neighborhood council meeting largely mirrored the comments on Facebook. One public commenter called San Pedro “a haven for druggies, thieves and ne’er- dowells that have no interest in seeking public assistance…” and blamed them for the increasing crime rates. “You are not helping them [by] putting these tiny houses out,” someone wrote. Another person wrote that, “A large majority of them…don’t care. They get everything for free, so why get a job? Everything comes to them for free.” Ceaser said she had been working with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s policy director on homelessness, Greg Spiegel, since before the Aug. 11 meeting. “He is going to propose to them that this be looked at as an interim innovative project throughout the City of Los Angeles,” Ceaser said. However, San Pedro is not the only place the tiny homes have been popping up. The tiny structures have been popping up around downtown Los Angeles, as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area. Elvis Summers, the 38-year-old founder of the charity Starting Human, has been building these tiny homes for the homeless in South East Los Angeles. He built his first tiny home for his 6 neighbor, a 61-year-old Irene McGhee, who
was sleeping in the dirt. The home is complete with a door and a lock. A time-lapsed video of the creation of the home went viral on social media and has led to more than $84,000 in private donations on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe to fund more tiny shelters. Ceaser invited Summers to the homeless committee meeting late July, where he gave a presentation. Inspired by the presentation, homeless advocates, Helping the Homeless In Need, along with Ceaser, formed a team to build a tiny home for a local homeless person. Since then, they have spent every weekend building new homes for those in need. Nora Vela of Helping the Homeless In Need said that the first recipient of the tiny home in San Pedro has already transitioned into permanent housing. The second person to receive a tiny home is Francis, a 61-year-old woman who lives with her West Highland White Terrier named Scottie. She has applied for housing two years ago and is now seeking approval for a Section 8 voucher. “They figured that I needed it,” Francis said. “I did need it. It’s scary out there when you’re a lady. It’s a godsend. I can put my blankets on the floor. When you lay on the cement, it’s bad for you. I have a sciatic nerve and two bad discs in my back. Cement drains you.” Despite the public backlash, the very presence of the tiny homes is spurring action on the issue. A community forum on homelessness is scheduled for Sept. 3, at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro.
The “Children” of Sister Corita
Annette is one of several San Pedro alumni of Immaculate Heart College, whose class graduated during the 1960s. The college, which operated in the Hollywood Hills, closed in 1981. Through Annette, I met her fellow alum and Sister Corita student, Laurine DiRocco. Laurine was named educator and artist of the year by the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce women’s conference this year. Both Laurine and Annette are dedicated to art and teaching other teachers using Sister Corita’s methods. Neither are gallery artists. These teaching methods eliminate the barrier between student and teacher and posits that a learning environment conducive to excellence can be achieved through diligence, hard work and engagement between students and teachers. Annette recalled Sister Corita telling her students, “I don’t want you to copy me. I want you to become the best you are.” “There was a famous [often repeated Balinese] quote in our art department, ‘We have no art. We do everything as well as we can,’” Annette explained. Annette recalled how Sister Corita and her class created their own rules. “We sat in class one day; it was in a space about like this,” Laurine said, carving an invisible three-dimensional space with her finger that included Annette’s office to the edge of the sidewalk outside. Annette then read off from a list of Sister Corita’s general rules for teaching, which Annette and Laurine abide by to this day: • Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for a while. • General duties of a student: pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students. • General duties of a teacher: pull everything out of your students. • Consider everything, and then experiment. • Be self-disciplined. This means finding someone wise or smart and following them. Be disciplined and follow in a good way. Selfdiscipline is to follow in a better way. • Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win or lose, there’s only make. • The only rule is work. • Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time. They are two different processes. • Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It is lighter than you think. There’s always a sense of celebration. • We’re breaking all of the rules, even our own rules. And how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for X quantities.
Annette read the “Helpful Hints” addendum to the rules. They included: “Always be around, come and go to everything; always go to classes; read anything you can get your hands on and look at movies carefully and often; save everything—it might come in handy later; there should be new rules next week.” I found the first rule the most intriguing. It was also the one I remembered the most clearly. Annette’s and Laurine’s description of their time at Immaculate Heart College made the idea of “place” seem like something more than a physical location. It was as if the word “place” was really a description of a relationship.
Sister Corita Kent, circa 1964. Courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles.
“We were always a school without walls,” Annette explained. “Every Friday in the art department, we’d go somewhere as a group. It might be Buckminster Fuller’s house, Charles Hughes’ house, Mark C. Bloome’s place [and] other famous people’s homes... the park, the beach…” “She’s always giving us ways to see bigger, deeper, more…” Laurine added. Laurine recalled Sister Corita took her class to a car and tire shop in Beverly Hills owned by the wealthy entrepreneur Mark C. Bloome. It took up a whole city block. Sister Corita gave each of the students 35mm slides with the film cut out, called “findings” to frame the details of what they saw in ways they never saw before. “When you’re looking through something like that [the finding]…rather than getting this whole room, I can get a portion of this whole room,” said Laurine, attempting to explain the shift in perspective that comes from focusing your attention on a particular detail of an object. “We get out of our cars with our findings, people are getting gas, people are getting tires and we’re doing this,” said Laurine as she joined her left thumb and index finger with her right to form the square of a finding. “[Later] I realized I learned to see…that without the card... I would be driving along and I would be talking and then I would stop and say, ‘Look at that,’” Laurine said, describing the experience of seeing something new in a scene she had numerous times before from a different perspective.
Finding Sister Corita
Like the environment out of which Sister Corita matured as an artist and scholar, in which she helped foster her students during the late 1950s and ‘60s, her life’s work was a world without walls. Her medium of choice was serigraphy (silkscreen), a process that lends itself to mass production with the potential of reaching more people and traveling further than one-off fine art meant for gallery spaces. Her oeuvre was Pop Art. Andy Warhol’s 1962 iconic exhibition of Campbell’s soup cans was lightening in a bottle to Sister Corita. It [See Corita, page 7]
Sister Corita Kent’s “Enriched Bread Tea Towel,� 1964. In this image, Kent quotes a wife’s words to a miner in Kentucky in a 1964 Palm Beach Post story, entitled “Existence of Wretched Poverty, Concern for All Americans.� It’s bad you don’t know what to do when you’ve got five children standing around crying for something to eat and you don’t know where to get it, and you don’t know which way to start to get it. I just get nervous or something. Courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles. [Corita, from page 5]
opened up the possibility of inserting layers of meaning to the viewer, whose subconscious is already bombarded with advertising imagery. Sister Corita’s work was very much tuned in to the politics, culture and societal moment of the 1960s. Whether it was Civil Rights or the anti-war movement, she engaged it the best way she knew how: first through her teaching. When she left the order, she kept up that engagement through her art.
enough time to talk about this part of Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sister Corita’s legacy, but they recommended that I read the first-person account of Dr. Anita Caspary, who served as the order’s mother superior during this turbulent transitional period of the church. Sister Corita joined the order in 1936, earning advanced degrees in art and art history. What’s really important about Sister Corita’s biography is that she was a teacher inside the order during the period of transformation—almost in anticipation of Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI’s call for renewal of the church and the opening of Vatican Council II. One of the key things the Vatican Council II called for was experimentation on adapting religious life within the order and outside of it. This was to engage modernity while doing all that they were called to do as Christians.
That also meant addressing injustice, inequality, and suffering even as they shared their faith. This change meant changes in prayer life, favoring the vernacular as opposed to Latin to [See Corita, page 19]
My conversation with Annette and Laurine reminded me of conversations I have had with my greatest teachers in my academic life— teachers I’ve called close friends and mentors. This was the kind of relationship Annette and Laurine had with Sister Corita. I realize that I couldn’t fully appreciate Sister Corita’s legacy without understanding to some degree the environment in which she matured intellectually and professionally at Immaculate Heart. Annette and Laurine and I did not have
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Back-2-School Checklist: Uniforms Backpacks Goodwill! Goodwill Retail Store Locations
August 20 - September 2, 2015
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A Long Journey from Brighton Beach
Terminal Island—Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor By James Preston Allen, Publisher
Augutst 20 - September 2, 2015
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
Most of you have probably never heard of Brighton Beach. The name kind of conjures up images of languid summers in the South Hamptons, where wealthy families escape their mansions in the city for a vacation. Most people in San Pedro don’t even question the designation on the numbered streets indicating west 6th Street, as if there were an east part of that street somewhere past the Main Channel. And if you stand up on the hill overlooking the vast industrial complex of the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors, it might be incomprehensible to imagine that Terminal Island was once the preferred escape destination for the wealthiest of Los Angeles’ very rich and famous. Terminal Island circa 1900, as recounted by former Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, and Naomi Hirahara, in their book of the same name, was just such a beach resort town that offered large beachfront homes, grand hotels, sport fishing and yachting. Long before the canneries and shipyards—decades before the POLA became the No. 1 container port in North America–San Pedro, or at least that part of it, was “gentrified.” Long, sloping sandy beaches allowed for wading far out from shore with warm water and no riptides, and thousands of Angelinos made the excursion on passenger trains directly from downtown, a convenience that no longer exists today. Nearby, and directly across from what is now the San Pedro waterfront, was the town of East San Pedro. And, a little farther south, toward the jetty that connected the island with Deadman’s Island (which was demolished to widen the channel in 1929), was where the “not so well-to-do” squatted on idyllic waterfront property for free. These were a hearty, stubborn group of bohemians, outcasts, loners, artists and intellectuals who lived on stilted shacks made of driftwood and discarded lumber. They could fish from their front porches, according to Knatz and Hirahara, in this biologically diverse and plentiful bay. The famous journalist, poet and founder of the Southwest Museum, Charles Lummis, was one of the luminary squatters across from what now is Ports O’ Call. You couldn’t quite call these people “homeless.” They had constructed their
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tiny homes along what was unused land, but they didn’t pay any taxes and none carried a mortgage. What a life. Terminal Island recounts how at low tide, the residents of San Pedro could casually wade across the Main Channel to go fishing or swimming on the island, long before it was dredged. All of this started to change when the towns of San Pedro and Wilmington voted narrowly to annex to the “octopus” of Los Angeles. If LA was going to be the big city of its chamber of commerce’s boosterish dreams, it needed a major seaport, a harbor, even if 26 miles distant from City Hall. And the “big dream” of Los Angeles would have consumed the rest of the harbor and most of Long Beach, if the founders of that city across the bay had not fought back and built their own harbor. Their resistance proved more fruitful when oil was discovered there. The boom years between the annexation to Los Angeles in 1909 and the stock market crash of 1929 brought major changes to this harbor area. First, squatters along the Main Channel were evicted, the railroads purchased the land rights to wharfs in the harbor and Deadman’s Island was demolished. If you look around at most of the older parts of the communities surrounding the San Pedro Bay, the dominant architecture is of this period. But the past is never dead. With the dream of an industrial harbor, both cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach invested hundreds of millions of dollars, which was matched with federal dollars to build this vast port complex. These two ports now handle more than 40 percent of all imports into North America—cargo with an estimated value of $200 billion a year. This investment allowed Southern California to become the economic epicenter of Pacific Rim trade. The effort was visionary, but it came at a cost—decades of environmental destruction that only recently is being addressed after community activists fought back and sued the cities. The memory of Terminal Island, East San Pedro and Brighton Beach still exists in the subconscious of both San Pedro and Long Beach like a dream. The resonance of what came before is somehow instilled in this place and resurfaces with those who argue for “gentrification” of certain parts of these cities, while others hold stubbornly to a different vision of bohemian art culture. Both of these perspectives are competing Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com
“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.” —Mark Twain Senior Editor Paul Rosenberg Vol. XXXVI : No. 17 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.
Assistant Editor Zamná Ávila zamna@randomlengthsnews.com
against the economic imperative of international trade, global economics and the power of the city of Los Angeles. Oddly enough, Terminal Island was released almost at the same time as George and Carmela Cunningham’s Port Town—published by their respective harbor departments within months of each other. One seems to be the counterpoint to the other—two versions of the same history. In the end, however, both are documents of a drive spanning more than 100 years to industrialize the two ports—a drive that came at the expense of
limiting citizen access to the waterfront and nonindustrial uses, accompanied by environmental destruction of the San Pedro Bay. Sometimes, I look out over this vast harbor and imagine what might have been if our civic leaders weren’t in such a mad rush for profit. An astute reader will realize that the commercial success of the harbors has come at the expense of these competing visions. Terminal Island—Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor tells us how this happened.
Open Letter to Congress:
Support the Iran Nuclear Deal By Marcy Winograd
Congress, please join President Barack Obama, the UN Security Council and former Israeli military officers to support the Iran nuclear agreement. Don’t listen to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a special interest lobby group spending upwards of $50 million to kill the deal. What those AIPAC commercials won’t tell you is that under the agreement, Iran will be subjected to the most rigorous United Nations inspections imposed on any signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and will agree to reduce its uranium enrichment capability by 98 percent over the next 15 years. In return, the P5+1 or permanent members of the UN Security Council (U.S., Russia, China, UK, France) plus Germany will lift economic sanctions that have long crippled Iranian society.
Columnists/Reporters Lyn Jensen Carson Reporter B. Noel Barr Music Dude Lori Lynn Hirsch-Stokoe Food Writer Gina Ruccione Restaurant Reviewer Andrea Serna Arts Writer Melina Paris Culture Writer Calendar 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Phillip Cooke, Diana Lejins, Betty Guevara Contributors Ivan Adame, Marcy Winograd
Cartoonists Ann Cleaves, Andy Singer, Matt Wuerker Design/ Production Adam Adame Suzanne Matsumiya Advertising Representatives David Johnson rlnsales@randomlengthsnews.com Adam Adame reads@randomlengthsnews.com Editorial Intern Arlo Tinsman-Kongshaug Display advertising (310) 519-1442 Classifieds (310) 519-1016 www.randomlengthsnews.com
What those “United for a Nuclear-Free Iran “commercials won’t tell you is that the UN inspectors only need to give 24 hours notice before showing up at a suspicious site. What Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his U.S. lobbyists won’t tell you is that dozens of former Israeli military and intelligence officers support this deal. For example: Dov Tamari, former military intelligence chief and former head of special operations: “The Iran deal is an opportunity to strengthen the ties with the U.S. ...We will have positive results only if the government will understand that Israel has to integrate and not to segregate itself from the international community.” Yitzhak Ben-Yisrael, chairman of Israel’s [See Iran, page 9]
Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com. Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @ randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email adv@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 2015 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
RANDOMLetters We Are OUTRAGED!
In a colossal act of ignorance the LA Parks and Recreation Department [sic] and the Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division colluded together and ripped out the concrete built-in tables at Anderson Memorial Park! These tables have been installed in the park for over 20 years! We as a community will not tolerate this ignorance by those we have placed our trust in. They began
Community Alert Statement By LADWP General Manager Marcie Edwards Regarding Settlement Of Customer Billing Class Action Litigation
[Iran, from page 8]
Before striking scattered underground nuclear facilities, military analysts argue the U.S. would need to destroy Iran’s air defenses with the use of long-range bombers, drones, carrier aircraft and submarinelaunched cruise missiles. If the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities were unsuccessful the first time around, more strikes would follow to “continue a sustained campaign over a period of time,” defense analysts Anthony Cordesman and Abdullah Toukan write in a 2012 Center for Strategic and International Studies report. We’re not talking about surgical strikes; we’re talking about inciting the next regional, if not world war. Meanwhile, neither the CIA nor international inspectors have yet to find nuclear weapons in Iran. Only one nation—the United States—is responsible for nuclear annihilation, and we still have 7,200 nuclear warheads. Israel, widely assumed to be a nuclear-armed nation, refuses to sign the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty to open its facilities to UN inspectors. To those concerned about the spread of international terrorism, the solution is not to reject diplomacy but to embrace it in the hopes of building common ground and global cooperation while controls and inspections are in place and a new generation comes of age in Iran. Congress, please do not be fooled by big-money special interest groups pushing for a fictional better deal that disguises their plan for war on Iran. Iran has not attacked another country in 200 years. Choose diplomacy over military strikes, the default position. Support the Iran Nuclear Agreement.
Iran Deal
Space Agency and former Israel Defense Forces general: “The agreement is not bad at all, it is even good for Israel... It prevents Iran from getting a nuclear weapon for 15 years. Bottom line: The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency will have access to Iran’s nuclear sites to both inspect and verify that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons. If Iran refuses to cooperate, the same nations who lifted the nuclear sanctions can re-impose them by majority vote. AIPAC says scrap this deal and push for a better one. Not happening. The European Union nations agree with former Israeli military officers that this is a good deal and they’re ready to return Iran’s frozen oil money and carve out new high tech markets. The sanctions will collapse like a half-baked soufflé. So what will it mean if the United States refuses to sign on to this agreement? First, it will mean the American people will cut themselves off from a dialogue with the greatest hope for change in Iran, its youth, for 60 percent of Iran’s 75 million people—that’s 45 million—are under the age of 30. Second, it will mean U.S. politicians, ever fearful of the power and money behind the AIPAC, will more likely support a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. This is the end game—total elimination of Iran’s nuclear program and regime change— for the hawks, the naysayers like former UN ambassador John Bolton who reappeared from obscurity, full of bluster and balderdash, to test the war waters with Los Angeles Times readers (Sun., July 26, 2015). “If the real objective is stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons, preemptive military action is now inescapable,” writes Bolton. Preemptive war? Isn’t that what Bolton called the U.S. invasion of Iraq?
Marcy Winograd, a public school teacher, mobilized 41 percent of the Democratic Party primary vote in 2010, when she ran for Congress as a peace candidate challenging incumbent Jane Harman’s support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
the removal of the tables at our park. Then we can move on to several other mean-spirited things these people are doing to our community, especially the poor who own no property, who seem to be the main target these people want to break apart for their own misguided agenda. Daniel Ofold San Pedro
Huge explosion at Chinese Port of Tianjin
The recent explosion in China underscores the potential dangers to local communities here in the Harbor Area from the two tanks
holding 25 million gallons of liquefied gas stored at Rancho LPG Holding LLC. The tanks are too close to homes and schools, which poses a high risk for residents. Rancho LPG was cited in 2014 for $260,000 for violations related to risk management, plan requirements, inspection and test equipment. Councilman Joe Buscaino has said in 2/23/13 that “he will do everything in his power to make sure that all these tanks are safe and those that live nearby will be safe.” On that same note, there is a limit as to guarding against disasters that we have no control
over such as earthquakes and terrorists attacks. The accidents, like the recent oil spill in Santa Barbara, are Rancho’s parent company, Plains All American Pipeline. It seems like that environment disaster should have been avoided, although it happened. Our city officials need to continually work to find a solution to this problem. We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation like the explosion in Tianjin, as it would be much worse. John Winkler San Pedro [See Letters, page 19]
August 20 - September 2, 2015
tables are in current use, serving their purpose. All the tables where in good condition; none [of them] cracking or chipping off. These tables were removed by those who are supposed to protect us and those who are supposed to maintain the parks for our continued enjoyment. We deserve some public accountability for this horrendous act. Just who is behind this attack on the citizens of our community, who take our public facilities away, who continually complain but offer no solutions to the problems they complain about? Let them try and justify their actions, starting with
The Local Publication You Actually Read
The proposed settlement makes good on a commitment I made to our customers when I was appointed to review every account and make whole any customer who was overcharged by our new billing system—no matter how small the error. With this agreement, every customer who was affected will receive 100 cents on the dollar. It is important to note that the vast majority of credits and refunds under the proposed settlement will be quite small, amounting to less than $10 for most customers who were affected and the total remaining credits and refunds owed to customers amount to approximately three tenths of one percent of total billings since we began using the new billing system. However, we know that the problems associated with our billing system caused problems and headaches for far too many of our customers and we apologize to each and every customer who was affected. We are continuing our legal action to seek recovery of all costs associated with the proposed settlement as part of ongoing litigation against Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), the firm hired to perform the system integration and replacement of LADWP’s customer information and billing system. The settlement makes clear specific areas where PWC failed to provide key functionality or made critical errors that resulted in overcharges or the inability to quickly refund customer credit balances. Through this settlement, we have also entered into a binding commitment to stay on the path of improvement by setting benchmarks and key performance indicators and by appointing an independent monitor who will report to the court on our progress every six months. While the vast majority of system integration defects that led to our billing problems have been fixed, we will continue to make additional improvements to the system.
with removing one of the tables, to gage public reaction. When no one seemed to reject, they removed the other three tables. What kind of stupidity does such a thing to the patrons of our park? I have lived across the street from this park for over 15 years, and daily almost without exception there is a group of men (2-10) playing cards, waging their bets with twigs. This is the place where these men enjoy themselves, using the park for its intended purpose. Additionally, people go to the deli across the street, pick up some sandwiches and eat at these tables. I could go on and on how these
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[Blast, from page 1]
Risks Parallel Tianjin Blast
Augutst 20 - September 2, 2015
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area
This recalls Rancho’s ill-considered reliance on the standard response, fire-fighting foam, which is generally effective against gasoline fires, but is not recommended for LPG fire, as Random Lengths reported in June 2012. “The reason is that foam is warmer than the liquid butane, which is not yet evaporated, and hastens evaporation, and therefore, burning,” Rutter explained at the time. “There are lots of parallels between the risk from Rancho and the explosion in Tianjin….For one thing, they’re both in port facilities, but Rancho’s position has the added threat of being a good target for terrorists, because an explosion of even one of the smaller ‘bullet’ tanks would do damage to the port property nearby.” The multiple tanks also set up the risk of multi-explosion disaster, as occurred at Tianjin. Rutter also noted that the position of the bullet tanks violates industry standards which require them to be lined up so that if they explode and become “airborne, like a jet plane,” they cannot hit passerbys. “Rancho’s bullets line up with the ball field,” she pointed out. “As people near the site in Tianjin describe the explosion, they talk about feeling the first pressure wave. This is what would also happen if a butane tank—the large ones at Rancho—were to release its contents.... Although initially the liquid would be caught in the impound basin, it would very rapidly vaporize as it picks up heat from the air and the ground, and increase 230 times in size.
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“This rapid increase in volume would first form a pressure wave, invisible, but strong enough to knock things over…. This will happen before it ignites! If it finds a source of ignition— even a static charge, or car engine—it will form a fiery explosion. Now, that extra heat will cause whatever butane has not already evaporated to evaporate, creating a pool fire. This unfolding, multistage disaster is very much like what occurred in Tianjin,” Rutter noted. “Other similarities between the Tianjin site and Rancho are that the public was closer to the site than the Chinese environmental rules allow,” according to the New York Times report. “There are no limits to how close people should be allowed to live in the U.S. rules…but the American Petroleum Institute standard holds that no tank or equipment should be closer than 200 feet from the facility border. Rancho fails that on 3 sides. This reflects the fact that it’s never gone through a permit review by the city.” Finally, Rutter noted that both here and in Tianjin the rules on the books fail to protect the people. “That’s not surprising in a totalitarian system like China, but we’re a democracy,” she said. “We should expect to be protected, for the rules to be transparent and for them to be enforced. But that’s not been the case.” “In the wake of China’s massive destruction, deaths and casualties in their port city…and recently what seems like a never-ending stream of ruptured pipelines, toxic contamination and
The devastation of Tianjin, China, following the Aug. 12 explosion that left more than 100 dead and hundreds more injured. A significant number of the dead were first responders. File photo.
devastating explosions and fires…our society’s reckless ambivalence to disaster prevention appears to be catching up with us!” Homeowner activist Janet Gunter wrote in an email after the explosion. “By their own admission…Plains All American Pipeline, AKA Rancho LPG, in LA’s Harbor area stores…(at their 42-year-old, 25- million-gallon butane and propane gas storage location) the energy equivalent…of over 50 atomic bombs… all on the back doorstep of pre-existing homes and schools, on the precipice of the 110 Freeway, within one-quarter-mile of the inner harbor of the Port of LA…and amazingly a mere 150 feet of the ‘active’ Palos Verdes Fault (magnitude 7.3) on [U.S. Geological Survey] designated ‘landslide’ and ‘liquefaction’ areas….Its two massive 12.5 million gallon butane tanks were built without building permits over 4 decades ago to a seismic substandard of 5.5, the email noted. “When will the relentless disregard for public safety end? When will the political “will” to prevent these cataclysmic losses kick in?” On Aug. 17, Sanfield provided additional assurances of port safety, in contrast with Tianjin. “The Port of Los Angeles works with all levels of government as well as other maritime stakeholders to inspect and monitor hazardous materials coming into the port complex,” he said. He ticked off a long list of agencies, starting with Homeland Security and the Coast Guard. “Through a variety of federal, state and local laws, as well as inspection and enforcement procedures, the agencies work collaboratively to keep the port complex safe,” he said. “All dangerous cargo that passes through the port requires a permit….Tankers and hazardous materials coming into the port are inspected by the Los Angeles Fire Department. Additionally, explosive shipments are inspected by Port Police hazmat units. Additional preventative, inspection and safety measures are handled by Customs and Border Protection, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. “If an incident were to take place, all the above-mentioned agencies train regularly through a unified command model to react swiftly with whatever resources are necessary…. This multilayer agency prevention and inspection approach makes the port complex as prepared as possible to prevent an accident and respond with appropriate resources if one were to occur.” As for the Tianjin tragedy, Sanfield said,
“Details have yet to be confirmed but it appears that exceeding large volumes of multiple hazardous materials were stored in a factorylike setting. Partner agencies here will dissect information as it becomes available from China and review for lessons that may be applied in the port complex.” “In truth, the port has performed a mammoth job in the coordination of container inspections and the litany of regulatory obligations set forth to protect it on that level,” said Gunter, in response. “No small job to be sure. That does not go unnoticed nor unappreciated by community residents. “However, there appears to be a huge gaping hole in their guardianship…. A simple look at the Plains All American Pipeline-operated Rancho LPG facility and its storage proximity (within one quarter-mile of the port) of over 25 million gallons of highly explosive butane and propane gases, clues you into the incredible vulnerability of the port from the mere presence of it,” Gunter said. There are “two rubs” here for the local communities, Gunter said. First, “The port introduced this hazardous and highly explosive operation into our community over 40 years ago, (without a public process and exempting it from various regulations) and then more than a decade ago terminated its ocean shipping opportunity based on the much delayed realization that it was a ‘far too dangerous cargo’ to be shipped out of their port.” Second, Gunter said, “When the port refused to renew the pipeline to the ocean shipping wharf, which transported 68 percent of its gas by sea, the facility’s business model changed “dramatically” with the gas suddenly shifted entirely to transport by rail and truck. This major change should have triggered a new environmental impact report, but, did not.” The rail transport now used is “more inherently dangerous” than the pipeline was, but nothing’s been done to protect the community—in stark contrast to how much effort is put into other safety measures such as those Sanfield laid out. Chinese officials have promised a thorough investigation into the causes of the Tianjin tragedy. So far, American officials have promised nothing better than to protect Harbor Area neighbors of Rancho LPG. So far. But there’s still hope that this will change.
Missed Opportunity at the Long Beach Museum of Art
By Andrea Serna, Arts and Culture Writer
RANDOM LENGTHS
[See MISSED Fest, page 14]
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
I
t wasn’t that long ago that street art was just considered the scribbles of street vandals on private property. In the past few decades these “vandals” have become “artists,” and their works have moved from the street to the interior walls of art galleries and museums. The Long Beach Museum of Art was the latest venue to exhibit such art, called “Vitality and Verve.” When the Long Beach Museum of Art decided to host the exhibit, curators seemed to be unaware of the origins and intentions of street art, which is to attract attention toward a cause, or to be used as a form of provocation. Street artist Saber achieved that goal with one mural in particular, “Too Many Names.” In contrast to the aesthetically appealing murals in the rest of the museum, Saber’s mural confronts an unsettling subject with a grizzly artistry. His monumental mural covering an entire wall, contains the names of the more than 557 people killed by police in the United States in 2015. The names, written in the spray painted technique of taggers – and emblazoned with the name of Long Beach tagger Hector Morejon – is controversial for it’s subject matter and its stylistic symbology.
In the midst of a timely and national conversation about victims of police shootings, the museum passed on an opportunity to participate in the dialog. The question remains: Why is this mural so controversial for the Long Beach museum? “I think at first it was difficult to absorb,” Saber said. “This particular piece draws a line in the sand between people who support the museum and people who support the artists,” The suspicion is that donors are uncomfortable with the subject matter. When a reception was planned on July 31 for members of the group Families for Justice, the museum slammed on the brakes. The families invited the press to help promote the young organization and the issue of police shootings in the nation, particularly shootings in Long Beach. The group was founded by the families of Morejon, whose name is in bold blue letters, as well as the families of Donte Jordan, and Feras Morad, who was killed when he experienced an extreme reaction to psychedelic mushrooms. The press was greeted by a museum employee who passed out a statement from the museum that read: “The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) is not affiliated with Families for Justice: LBC. The press release that was issued by Families of Justice: LBC on July 31, 2015 was not approved by the Museum nor does it reflect its views.”
August 20 – September 2, 2015
August 20 – september 2, 2015
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Photos by Tommy Kishimoto
Sweet Dixie Kitchen: Cozy, Comfort Food in Downtown Long Beach G
By Gina Ruccione, Cuisine and Restaurant Writer
oing out to breakfast on the weekends is a big deal, but there are a lot of breakfast joints that just don’t have it figured out. That’s fine—we also don’t have to eat there. I have a hard time wrapping my head around paying $12 for eggs, bacon, toast, and dry (or way too greasy) potatoes that just don’t taste good. I’d rather stay in bed and chew on my arm. Whether it’s Long Beach, San Pedro, or anywhere in the Harbor Area, we all know the deal and we own it. We wait in line and don’t complain, because when we put our name down for a party of four, we know we’re waiting for
greatness. And let’s be honest, if you drive past a place and no one is outside waiting, you probably shouldn’t be there. So, stop what you’re doing right now and go to Sweet Dixie Kitchen. I’m serious, you need to drop everything and go there. For those of you who haven’t tried it, you’re in for a treat. They do breakfast and lunch, and to say they do it well would be a severe understatement. They do it the best. Located in the Arts District in Long Beach, this cute-as-a-button eatery almost made me shed a tear. I swooned over the homemade
August 20 – September 2, 2015
Independent And Free.
[See Dixie Kitchen, page 16]
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september 3
Richard A. López Studio Art Sale
The estate of artist Richard A. López announces a major studio sale. All works 50% off. Visit ralopezart.com. Image: Nude in Pink, by R. A. Lopez. The collection contains landscapes, figurative works and abstract acrylic on canvas paintings. Richard A López studio is located at 372 W. 7th St., San Pedro. Call (562) 628-4334.
Michael Stearns Studio 347
New Constructions and Assemblies By James Preston Allen
August 29 – November 2 (opening reception Saturday, August 29, 4-7 pm) New Constructions and Assemblies is a conversation on mortality that realizes the quintessential link between procreation and death. These new works combine elements of assemblage, dimensional construction and painting. As with Allen’s earlier body of work, this collection has clear historical references to many influences— from Dada to Surrealism, found object assemblage and abstract expressionism, reminding the viewer that, as with all art, they exist within a historical context and are to some extent a humorous or a pointed take on the works they reference. Michael Stearns Studio 347 is located at 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro. Call (562) 400-0544 for information or appointments.
South Bay Contemporary
VIA NEGATIVA: THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE UNREAL
Negative theology is an attempt to clarify religious experience and language about the Divine Good through discernment, gaining knowledge of what God is not (apophasis), rather than by describing what God is. Opening: September 3 – October 10 .Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thurs., Fri. and Sat. (call when you arrive) (310) 429-0973. South Bay Contemporary, At the LOFT, 401 S. Mesa St., 3rd floor, San Pedro. www.southbaycontemporary.com
Studio Gallery 345 Sammy Davis Jr. the Ultimate entertainer Lambus Dean is joined by a talented cast of singers , dancers and live Big Band for a perfect portrayal of one of the greatest entertainers ever. This is a whirlwind tour de force production directly from Las Vegas! Sunday September 13, 3 p.m. For Tickets / Information (702) 742-6109 AllTalentproductions.com
Pat Woolley and Gloria D Lee Studio
Gallery 345 and Pat Woolley and Gloria D Lee offer paintings, books, prints and other contemporary art pieces. 1st Thursdays 6-9 p m; appointments please call Pat 310 374 8055 or Gloria 310 545 0832. 345 W 7th Street San Pedro CA 90731
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
All Talent Productions
August 20 – September 2, 2015
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[MISSED, from page 11]
Missed Opportunity A request for an interview with the museum director was met with an emailed statement. Aug. 7, which read: “The media was not barred from the museum. There were several of them here on campus with Saber and the organization Families for Justice. Some of them took photos of the group in front of the mural, which we allowed. Since we are not affiliated with Families for Justice we conveyed to Saber that we would not allow any interviews conducted on campus regarding the formation of their organization.” “It shocked me (that they wouldn’t allow interviews in the museum). When somebody else is paying your bills, I guess you have got to toe the line.” said Michael Brown, a member of Families for Justice. “I’m sure media has come into the
museum before. This issue is in the headlines and it’s not going away. We are glad that they showed enough fortitude to leave Saber’s work on the wall. There’s 557 names on that wall. People are being exposed to this problem.” Pamela Fields, mother of Donte Jordan, was hopeful that her son’s story could be told that day through the mural. The families had grouped together for support following the devastation and loss of their loved ones. “I felt alone, like nobody felt my pain,” Fields said. “I needed to be one-on-one with the mothers of those killed. In Long Beach, police brutality is our reality.” They want the police department to know that families have been affected. After her son was shot 10 times in the back, and twice more on the [See MISSED, page 15]
Too Many Names Editors Note: the following artist’s statement was disallowed by LBMA:
I
August 20 – September 2, 2015
Independent And Free.
n 2015 there have been 534 people killed by police in America and the year is not over. This is not a fully compiled list. These numbers are not unusual as every year hundreds of people’s lives are senselessly cut short due to the violent tactics implemented by these officers. Hundreds of millions of dollars are paid out to the victims’ families in civil suits at the expense of the
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taxpayers. To be fair, police have a difficult job. Most of the time their good deeds go unnoticed. This is a thankless job. In some cases the killing of another person is Saber justified if it means another life is saved. Of course, it is easy to blame the bad apples within the police force but unfortunately the statistics speak for themselves. These numbers are so consistently overwhelming that the conclusion leads this discussion away from the individual officers to the bigger problems within the system and structure in which they are trained. If the tools given to these officers were more focused on de-escalation as opposed to “shoot first and ask questions later,” then thousands of lives could be saved as well as millions of taxpayer dollars. New body camera legislation is being put forth, which could help lead to more transparency, saving lives in the end as well as millions in taxpayer dollars. Billions of dollars worth of military equipment, as well as the failed “War On Drugs” campaign, has led to the police acting as an occupying force within our communities. The relationship between the police and the communities they serve are strained to a breaking point. Long Beach is no exception to this strain on the community. In the last couple of months, two young people have been tragically killed in violent circumstances due to these police tactics. Both of these kids were unarmed and posed no threat to the officers. If only restraint and tactics of de-escalation were implemented then maybe these young lives could have been saved. The mantra “To Protect and Serve” gives us the feeling that we could trust these officers in these difficult circumstances. But until the system is overhauled, this vicious cycle will continue and the body count will only grow. – Saber #JusticeForHector #HectorMorejon
[MISSED, from page 11]
ground, she lost her job as a nurse and Fields found herself homeless for 19 months. During this citywide exhibit, 21 artists were invited to participate. The mural project is presented in collaboration with Thinkspace and Pow! Wow! Ron Nelson, museum director, described an effort to spotlight artists who are stepping out of their studios to paint on a grand scale using outdoor walls as their canvas, as well as urban artists who are beginning to work in a traditional studio setting. Muralists were not simply given access to the museum walls. As a result of this exhibit, murals cover walls all over the city. The stunning murals have added the desired aesthetic to downtown Long Beach. Street art has become more accepted by the general public due to its artistic recognition, and the high-profile status of Banksy and other graffiti artists. This has led street art to become tourist attractions in many cities. “Street art is very popular right now,” Saber said. “It is used as a vehicle for gentrification. It’s something that looks great on T-shirts and it looks great on Coca-Cola bottles. I’m happy that it has opened doors for the artists, but it has watered down our message. At the end of the day, this was never meant to be commodified. This was meant as a way to express ourselves on our own terms.” Saber was especially drawn to the tragic death of Hector Morejon, a 19-year-old, who was killed while tagging. Although Saber is an internationally recognized artist, he began as a tagger, leaving his marks on trash cans.
“I felt an affinity to Hector because he was killed tagging,” he said. “I have had friends killed tagging. I talked to his family and he was not a gang member. He had no gang affiliations. He was a kid trying to fashionably fit into his environment.” The artist is concerned that, since this genre of art has achieved popularity, many have turned their backs on the roots of the work. Young taggers take inspiration from renowned artists such as Saber. Street art exists worldwide. Cities and towns throughout the world are home to street art communities, from which pioneering artists emerge. It is in every city now, but taggers are still being killed for misdemeanor infractions. “We’ve turned our backs on them,” the artist said. “It’s not cool to be them.” Saber considers it a victory that his mural remains on the wall of the museum. Although he is grateful that his art remains, he admits that during the weeklong installation, concessions were made. The artist was asked to change the color of Hector’s name from red to blue and was not allowed to add finishing touches that were meant to create a memorial at the foot of the mural. Most troubling, his artist’s statement was taken down off the wall. In the world of conceptual art, the artist’s statement serves to summarize the artist’s message. Random Lengths News has decided to print his statement in entirety for our readers. See page 14.
Entertainment
Venue: Grand
Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Aug. 28
Aug. 21
South Bay Country South Bay Country covers a mix of classic and modern country music. Time: 10 p.m. Aug. 28 Cost: $3 Details: http://sanpedrobrewing.com Venue: San Pedro Brewing, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Paseo at SP Brewing Rock band Paseo plays this local brew hub on Friday night. Time: 10 p.m. Aug. 21 Cost: $3 Details: http://sanpedrobrewing.com Venue: San Pedro Brewing, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Street Corner Renaissance From Sam Cooke and Otis Redding classics, Street Corner Renaissance’s, soulful, velvety voices blend together in classic a cappella doo-wop melodies, transporting audiences back in time. Time: 8 p.m. Aug. 29 Cost: $20 to $50 Details:www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
South Side Slim This premier Los Angeles-based blues player was recently featured in Random Lengths News. Time: 9 p.m. Aug. 21 Cost: No cover Details: http://seabirdjazzloungelbc.com Venue: Seabird Jazz Lounge, 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach
Hollywood U2 Hollywood U2 is the only U2 tribute to be endorsed by Mark Cuban as seen on the AXS TV show The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands (hosted by Katie Daryl). They are the only band to date of the TV show’s five seasons to be selected to perform twice. Time: 9 p.m. Aug. 21 Cost: $15 Details: (562) 239-3700; http://longbeach. harvelles.com Venue: Harvelles, 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach
Aug. 22
Sunday Soul Revue This soul, lowrider oldies, reggae, band has played at the local brew hub before and just turned the spot out. They’re back this Saturday. Time: 10 p.m. Aug. 22 Cost: $3 Details: http://sanpedrobrewing.com Venue: San Pedro Brewing, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Aug. 23
The Walking Phoenixes The Walking Phoenixes pay tribute to Johnny Cash. Time: 4:30 to 7 p.m. Aug. 23 Cost: Free Details: (562) 570-1755 Venue: Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach Robert Incelli Enjoy the Latin jazz rhythms of Robert Incelli, Time: 7:30 to 10 p.m. Aug. 23 Cost: No cover Details: http://cafesevilla.com/lb-events Venue: Café Sevilla, 140 Pine Ave., Long Beach
Aug. 27
Aug. 28
Molly’s Revenge Known for its unique and infectious enthusiasm, Molly’s Revenge fires up the stage with lively Celtic jigs and reels. Based in Santa Cruz, the trio commands traditional musical styles of Scotland and Ireland. Time: 8 p.m. Aug. 28 Cost: $20 to $50 Details: www.grandvision.org
Los Pinguos Take a wild ride with Los Pinguos as you enjoy tapas and hit the dance floor. Time: 8 to 10 p.m. Aug. 29 Cost: No cover Details: http://cafesevilla.com/lb-events Venue: Café Sevilla, 140 Pine Ave., Long Beach
Sept. 2
Goldenvoice Presents Miguel San Pedro native and Grammy Award-winning recording artist Miguel is coming to the Warner Grand Sept. 2 with special guest rock band, Dorothy. The theater’s concert is one of the final stops on Miguel’s North American tour, in support of his highly anticipated third studio album, Wildheart. Please visit www. officialmiguel.com and hear why this San Pedro product has become one of the most highly regarded performers in modern rhythm and blues. Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 2 Cost: Start at $49.50 Details: http://tinyurl.com/Miguel-tix Venue: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Sept. 5
American Monster Burlesque and Blues Show This amazingly fun burlesque and blues show guarantees a jaw-dropping good time. For guests 21 years and older only. There’s a twodrink minimum. Time: 9 p.m. Sept. 5 Cost: $10 Details: (562) 239-3700; http://longbeach.harvelles.com Venue: Harvelle’s, 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach
Community/Family Aug. 22
2nd Annual Horton’s Hayride The event includes a classic car show, shopping, pin-up contest, motorcycle show, two stages, full bar and a craft beer area, food trucks and amazing music. Children 10 and younger get in free. Time: 12 p.m. Aug. 22 Cost: $15 Details: http://tinyurl.com/2ndAnnualHayride Venue: 3600 Miner St., San Pedro Nature Walk with LA City Rangers at White Point Nature Preserve Enjoy a family-oriented walk led by Los Angeles City Rangers. No reservations required. Time: 10 a.m. Aug. 22 Cost: Free Details: info@pvplc.org Venue: White Point Nature Preserve, 1600 W. Paseo del Mar, San Pedro
August 20 – September 2, 2015
Robert Jon & the Wreck Southern California natives, Robert Jon & the Wreck, began their musical journey together in February 2011. Within 6 months the band had not only embarked on a national tour, but also released their debut album, Fire Started. Time: 9 p.m. Aug. 27 Cost: $5 Details: www.alexsbar.com/event/927997-robertjon-wreck-long-beach Venue: Alex’s Bar, 2913 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
Circus of Sin This is where all appetites are fed! Fire dancers, contortionists, aerialists, all machinate in this Femme Fatale cabaret. Time: 9 p.m. Aug. 29 Cost: $15 to 25 Details: (562) 239-3700; http://longbeach.harvelles.com Venue: Harvelles, 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
The Amy Winehouse Experience Denice RamageKlaus of DRK Events, presents The Winehouse Experience, featuring Mia Karter & the Hits. Amy Winehouse was, known for her distinctive, warm vocals, soulful songwriting and signature style. This live concert is a tribute to the late, great icon with all of her greatest hits taking center stage. Time: 9 p.m. Aug. 22 Cost: $20 to $40 Details: (562) 239-3700; http://longbeach. harvelles.com Venue: Harvelles, 201 E. Broadway, Long Beach
Aug. 29
Backyard Birding Workshop at White Point Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy
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presents Backyard Birding Workshop at White Point Nature Education Center. Learn tips from Bob Shanman of Wild Birds Unlimited. Free workshop. Time: 10 a.m. Aug. 22 Cost: Free Details: info@pvplc.org Venue: White Point Nature Preserve, 1600 W. Paseo del Mar in San Pedro 4th Annual Uptown Latin Jazz and Blues Festival Back by popular demand, this annual musical concert takes place in Houghton Park, and is known to draw a large crowd each year. This year, we will be featuring the musical talents of Tito Puente Jr., DW3, BoxCar 7, Halle Johnson, Brown Suede and Sit Down, Servant. Time: 12 to 8 p.m. Aug. 22 Cost: Free Details: (562) 570-6137; info@emissarymediagroup.com Venue: Houghton Park, 6301 Myrtle Ave., Long Beach
Aug. 25
Tales Between the Tides Preschool children (ages 3-5) are invited to discover the wonders along the shore at Cabrillo Beach with hands-on exploration, stories, and puppets in the Tales Between the Tides workshop. The workshop includes a snack, stories and an arts and crafts project to make and take home. Fun activities will focus on teaching children about Southern California marine life. Children must bring their favorite adult to join in on the fun. Time: 10 to 11:30 a.m. Aug. 25 through 28 Cost: $26 Details: (310) 548-7562; www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M White Dr., San Pedro
Sept. 5
Light at the Lighthouse Celebrate Labor Day Saturday at Point Fermin Park at the 11th Annual Light at the Lighthouse. There will be music, food trucks, a graffiti art demonstration, a BMX performance and activities for children. Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 5 Cost: Free Details: (310) 241-0684 Venue: Point Fermin Park, 807 W Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro
August 20 – September 2, 2015
Independent And Free.
Art
16
Watts: 50 Years after Rebellion Through a collection of publications, correspondence, reports and books chronicling the six days of destruction in the Watts community in 1965 alongside an intimate portrait of Watts today, Cal State Dominguez Hills has put together an archives and photography exhibition, Watts: Then and Now, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Watts Rebellion. Time: Through Jan. 28, 2016 Cost: Free Details: (310) 243-3895 Venue: Library Cultural Art Center at CSUDH, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson Receives Collection from Longest-Running BlackOwned Bookstore The Department of Africana Studies and University Archives and Special Collections at Cal State Dominguez Hills present The Font of Black Culture in Los Angeles: The Alfred and Bernice Ligon Aquarian Collection. Alfred and Bernice Ligon were proprietors of the Aquarian Book Shop from 1941 until it closed permanently in 1994. The longest-running blackowned bookstore in the country, the Aquarian Book Shop was often described as the “Font of Black Culture in Los Angeles” and the “Citadel of Black Intellectualism on the West Coast,” not only for its inventory of black literature but also for being a gathering place for a who’s-who of African American writers and thinkers Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, through Sept. 1 Cost: Free Details: (310) 243-3895 Venue: University Library South Wing, 5th Floor, CSUDH, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson Garden of Excesses: Ángel Ricardo Ricardo Rios Ángel Ricardo Ricardo Rios’ massive paintings and deft drawings blend organic, vegetal forms with allusions to the erotic in Expressed in vibrant colors
with a, sure hand, or made using his body to apply paint, his meld of Expressionist and Neo-Baroque are part abstraction and part dreamscape, recalling the theatrical presence in the Spanish Baroque. Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 4 Cost: Free Details: (310) 541-2479; pvartcenter.org Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes Collaborations: Prints from Mixografia Works on paper by Helen Frankenthaler, Ed Ruscha, Kiki Smith, Rufino Tamayo, Donald Sultan, Jason Martin, Mimmo Paladino, Joe Goode, Kwang-Young Chun and Kcho. The exhibit is presented by the Palos Verdes Art Center in partnership with Beyond Borders Art Exchange and Mixografia Workshop. Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 4 Cost: Free Details: (310) 541-2479; pvartcenter.org Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes Sextet Group Show TransVagrant and Warschaw Gallery present Sextet, a group exhibition of paintings by Katy Crowe, William Mahan, Yong Sin, Gary Szymanski, Marie Thibeault, and Ted Twine. Curated by Ron Linden, a painter living in San Pedro. Time: 10 a.m through 9 p.m. through Aug. 29. Cost: Free Details: transvagrant.com Venue: TransVagrant and Warschaw Gallery, 600 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro Via Negativa: The Transcendence of the unReal Negative theology is an attempt to clarify religious experience and language about the divine good through discernment, gaining knowledge of what God is not (apophasis), rather than by describing what God is. Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 3 Cost: Free Details: www.southbaycontemporary.com Venue: South Bay Contemporary at the Loft Gallery, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro Exuberance Group Show: Featuring artists: Echo Lew, Erika Lizée, Brian Mallman, Melissa Manfull and Hilary Norcliffe. These images show the invisible links between cause and effect driven by instinct, compassion, thought, language and emotion. Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during First Thursday Art Walk Cost: Free Details: (310) 541-4354 Venue: Angel’s Ink Gallery, 366 W. 7th St., San Pedro Vitality and Verve Vitality and Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape examines the current developments in of urban contemporary art. It will feature sitespecific murals and multi-media installations by established and emerging artists who will be demonstrating the skilled and nuanced application of their craft. Time: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays Cost: $7 for adults, children younger than 12 get in free Details: lbma.org Venue: Long Beach Museum of Art, 2300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach
What sets RLn apart from the rest?
[Dixie Kitchen, from page 12]
Sweet Dixie Kitchen scones, jams and coffee cake. Their pastries are adorably hand-crafted and delicately placed in a little display case that made me want to scoop everything up and run out the door like a kid in a candy store. I’m pretty sure I drooled; I should probably be embarrassed. I ordered inside and commandeered a little table. As plates emerged from the kitchen, I made some customers pause before eating just so my photographer could snap photos. We furiously uploaded all of this food porn onto Instagram. If you haven’t been following Random Lengths News on Instagram, this would be a good time to start. The food at Sweet Dixie Kitchen is like mom’s cooking, if she knew how to really get creative. It’s Southern, it’s comforting, but redefined to be lighter and healthier. They don’t use lard, or gross additives, or any other nonsense, for that matter. All of the recipes are developed in-house; everything is fresh and made with love and from the finest ingredients. If there are slices of turkey on your plate, it was roasted in their kitchen. It’s that kind of Southern taste, with the same passion, but without the heart attack. I hate using kitschy sayings like “family owned and operated” and “farm to table” but sometimes that’s the only way to explain the restaurant’s intent and execution. I will tell you this: Sweet Dixie Kitchen gives “family-owned and operated” a new meaning. The entire family down to their significant others runs this shop and you can taste the emotion, dedication and downright perfection that cranks the food out of this place. Kim Sanchez, the owner, opened her cozy eatery about two years ago, but that wasn’t her
first jaunt in restaurant business. She married into the Mama’s of San Francisco family, a popular restaurant in the North Beach. Eventually the family moved to Atlanta, where she was the general manager of a Zagat-rated restaurant. A Francophile at heart, Kim started experimenting with different recipes that encompassed her love of French and Southern cuisines. Sweet Dixie’s breakfast sandwiches come in different shapes and sizes. BiscuitWitches and WaffleWitches are just what they sound like, and they are perfect in every way. Try the Brett’switch, a homemade biscuit sandwich with scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese and spicy sausage gravy. The Sunrise Skillet is also amazing. Think rosemary home fries smothered with cheddar, scrambled eggs and house-made salsa. My favorite dish was the SOB: scrambled eggs with melted cheddar over zucchini cakes topped with tomatoes, black beans, avocado and homemade corn salsa. Don’t leave without trying the coffee cake or the scones. The scones are absolutely heavenly. I actually heard one guy say, “This is the best food of all time,” and then took a huge bite of DixieBBQ Chicken & Waffles—the craziest waffle sandwich I’ve ever seen. Sweet Dixie Kitchen is at 401 E. 3rd St., Long Beach Details: (562) 628-2253 Gina Ruccione has traveled all over Europe and Asia and has lived in almost every nook of Los Angeles County. You can visit her website at www.foodfashionfoolishfornication.com.
Long Beach Jazz Festival Changing With the Times
T
Melina Paris Music Columnist
he 28th annual Long Beach Jazz Festival was blazing on two stages simultaneously this year Aug 7 through 9. The event brought new artists, some we know and love well, and some surprises to the lineup. This beloved event has seen changes over the years, some in music and some on the festival grounds. And, 2015 was no different. The Rainbow Promotions event program is talking about it too. On its welcome page it notes, “Rooted in jazz and reaching beyond, we are pleased to present diverse genres for your listening pleasure.” It lists jazz (straight-ahead and smooth), jazz-funk, Latin jazz, neo-soul, rhythm and blues and more. The festival started with a smaller crowd this year, new volunteer faces around the grounds and some familiar ones too. Friday night was a lighter crowd. Even though there have been minimal R&B additions in years past, it’s gradually increased like at so many other jazz festivals. The Long Beach Jazz Festival historically kept Friday night’s lineup for well-known, admired jazz musicians, for the serious fans. But it’s loosened up.
This year’s Friday night, which is always chill, included the Stanley Clarke Band and Earl Klugh in the lineup. It was a low-key crowd, easy to move about the grounds and people were happy to see each other once again, hanging out near Rainbow Lagoon under the moonlit sky. Meanwhile at the Pavilion stage things were heating up with the first band, That Fire. Their sound is reminiscent of George Clinton. The main stage grooved with straight-ahead and contemporary-style jazz performed by impeccable artists. Between those sets, the Pavilion stage was escalating its own kind of R&B and funk. That’s how it went in tandem all weekend. The festival has offered the second stage for at least a few years but this is the first time the performers and wellness speakers have received reference in the program. It is fitting and helps festival goers choose what they want to see and listen to. The Health and Wellness Pavilion is another recent addition to the event. Local practitioners of [See Jazz, page 17]
[Jazz, from page 16]
Long Beach Jazz Festival diverse wellness options participated on discussion panels: medical doctors, Ayurvedic practitioners, dieticians and cooks, including moderator Dr. Parthenia Grant, talk radio host of the nationally syndicated show, Divine L.O.V.E. TALK. A large Wellness Pavilion near the Pavilion stage was welcomingly covered with a tent. The food vendors were many of the same businesses with the addition of salad offerings and Middle Eastern cuisine. By 6 p.m. Saturday, many more people showed up. This was now starting to look more like the
festival that fans love. Jonathan Butler was on the main stage with people up dancing to his music. Saxophonist Eric Darius, who always guarantees a great show, came on next. Darius is extremely grateful to his audience and always tells them so. His most recent album, from 2014, is called, “Retro Forward,” about old school and new school coming together. The record reflects his vision to honor jazz greats and push jazz concepts forward to innovative approaches for younger generations.
Darius is a big giver to his audience, bringing heavy doses of high energy to his show. His signature routine is to come into the audience as he plays his horn. This year he did even more so. Making his way into the audience, Darius stayed immersed among the crowd for at least 10 minutes or more. He was high-fiving people as he passed, sitting right next to ladies as he charmed them with fanciful expressions on his horn. He even jumped the VIP seating fence to take it deeper into the crowd. He played the whole time and did not miss a note of his rendition of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You.” It was a wonderful finale. Stephanie Mills’ performance added her own blend of adrenaline. This songstress is well known for her acting, singing and her Broadway chops, but she took full control when she doused the crowd with a super-electrified version of Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” In an interesting flip on the typical band, Mills had two drummers, one female and three backup singers of the male persuasion. Go ahead, Ms. Mills. Closing out Saturday festivities was the passionate, multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson. This man is a performing machine. He and his band channel James Brownstyle funk with their cohesiveness, timing and full-blown showmanship. This cat can groove hard, effortlessly switching between singing, keys synthesizer and trombone while dancing across the stage. Culbertson always makes a point to engage his audience with jokes and stories. He is a joy to see each and every time he performs. Saturday was a long and beautiful day at the Long Beach Jazz Festival. Both stages brought
exciting musicians that knew how to deliver what the crowds want. If they weren’t jamming on the main stage there’s no doubt the party was going on at the Pavilion stage. And the nicest part was that people could get up, dance and be free. On Sunday, Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds performed in his trademark black suit, and he delivered. A great showman with lots of energy, he can still hit those high notes. He took off his jacket, unbuttoned his shirt and ran down into the first rows of the audience singing “Whip Appeal.” Babyface performed all his great hits and even did a medley of numbers he wrote for other stars such as Bobby Brown. This audience could not get enough of Babyface. Of course, Al Williams and his Jazz Society played earlier on Sunday, as they do every year. They set a great standard in performing; you can expect to hear the best from them every time they play. This year they featured the extremely talented Barbara Morrison on vocals. She was great, with her voice crisp and clear. She is always so happy and engages the crowd. It seems all she has to do is walk on stage and people begin to smile. Both stages inspired dancing, partying and good vibes this year. Crowd numbers go up and down from year to year, but if you give the people an experience they love, they will love you right back for it. Enjoy the music.
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment August 20 – September 2, 2015
17
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SERVICES
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PERSONAL Single, white male handyman seeks Asian female. If your broken heart needs repair, I’m the man to see. I fix broken hearts, I know I surely can. 310-310-719-8884.
Real Estate FOR Sale Loads of Curb Appeal on this updated 3 bedroom 2 bath Craftsman Style Home. Light and Bright Open Floor Plan. 2 Car Garage and large Backyard Capable of Parking 4 cars or a boat and an RV. Future Potential with this R2 Lot to add a 2nd unit. Price to sell $469,000 Contact David Drorbaugh for more Information. 310-864-1488.
Attention Builders— Great Opportunity Rare, flat, R-2 lot in Holy Trinity area of San Pedro. Sewer connected, underground utilities, current surveys and reports. For more information please call Andrea Kowalski 310-433-3349
goldenwestsanpedro.com 1517 S. Gaffey St. San Pedro CA 90731
DBA Filing & Publishing $135 (310) 519-1442
Yoga business for sale in San Pedro, $32,000. 718 S. Weymouth Ave. Great investment property: 4 units, each 2 bdr/1 bath, 9 parking spaces, 5,003 sq. ft. lot. Building sold as-is. 927 W. 25th St., San Pedro. 10% of porceeds donated to USS IOWA
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Real Estate SERVICES Real Estate Investor seeks to purchase commercial or multi-unit residential properties in San Pedro. No Agents please. 310-241-6827
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DBA/legal filings Order to Show Cause For Change of Name Case No. NS030379 Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles Petition of: Elaine Anne Gismondi for Change of Name To All Interested Persons: Petitioner Elaine Anne Gismondi filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Elaine Anne Gismondi to Eurydice-Gitane Serrato The court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter i scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Notice of Hearing: Date: July 24, 2015, Time: 8:30 a.m. Dept. 27 The address of the court is 275 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, Ca 90802-4591. A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circula-
tion, printed in the county: Daily Journal Date: June 6, 2015 Ross M. Klein Judge of the Superior Court Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2015174362 The following person is doing business as: JCVR Joey & Clarks Vacation Rental, 3157 S. Alma Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Joey Murillo, 3157 S. Alma Street., San Pedro, CA 90731. Clark Wilson, 4577 Bancroft St., #4, San Diego, Ca 92116. This Business is conducted by a general partnership. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. 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/. Clark Wilson, owner-general partner.. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on July 02, 2015. 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
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RANDOMLetters
[Corita, from page 7]
Sister Corita communicate with the faithful, connecting authority to service and movement away from the kind of clericalism that can emerge in a 2,000-year-old institution. I can’t say that Sister Corita intentionally worked to be an activist. She was the tip of a sword that pricked all things unjust. The first conflict came from her religious art, which began to capture attention by the late 1950s, but was considered sacrilegious. Another seminal event that drew Sister Corita into conflict was the attention garnered by the 1964 Mary’s Day celebration. The order organized the annual event that included a day of prayer and procession dedicated to Mary, as mother
[Letters, from page 9]
Open Letter to POLA Commissioners
Courtesy of the Corita Art Center, Immaculate Heart Community, Los Angeles.
of God. The event was a fairly dour and low-key affair that would end with an evening procession winding up the college hill on the campus, and
DBA/legal filings [From page 7] 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: 07/09/2015, 07/23/2015,
08/06/2015, 08/20/2015
08/06/2015, 08/20/2015
Paying It Forward, Feeding the Homeless
Our group family is starting a bimonthly barbecue/meal program. Our first event will be at East Green Belt Park in Wilmington, at 12 p.m. on Aug. 29. I was homeless at the age of 13 years old due to circumstance. I’ve been on my own ever since. I am fourth generation from Wilmington. I am a single parent raising seven children, ages of 18 down to 5, on my own. I was an active gang member in Wilmington in my past. Now, I am a proud member of the ILWU Local 26 and have been for the last 17 years. I had a simple idea to pay it forward and barbecue two times a month for the less fortunate with my children and a friend, Nikki Fabella. I posted it on a few community
sites and my own Facebook page, and overnight, it snowballed. We now have a growing staff of volunteers of over 30 people and it’s getting bigger everyday. The response from Wilmington and the other harbor communities, and abroad has been huge. We will be providing a quality meal as well as blankets, clothes, hygiene kits, sleeping bags, camping equipment, basically anything and everything that is essential to survive on the streets. We have many other ideas for the holidays. We are also reaching out to families that reside in the lowincome hotels and motels that are located all over Wilmington; those people struggle also, and are just one step from being on the street. We are funded out of pocket. We get donations via social media and word of mouth. And by our group family members, which includes a diverse group of people from all walks of life. Some of our group are struggling themselves. We do not have a 501(c)3 status group. We are just concerned residents that see a growing problem in our community and we will be providing rehabilitation home resources and recovery home transportation on the spot if someone desires to get off the street. We will also provide info and hook-up with programs geared to help those in need get off the street. That is our goal: to give a hand to help get people back on track. We are not claiming to offer a solution, but through our group we desire to make those in need aware of the programs available to them and offer relief while doing so. For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/groups /1624813137790586/?fref=nf David Gonzales San Pedro
The Local Publication You Actually Read
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2015174325 The following person is doing business as: Pancho’s Tacos, 14626 Crenshaw Blvd, Gardena Ca 90249, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Abel Herrera, 1019 W. 60th Pl, Los Angeles Ca 90044. 3157 S. Alma Street. Abel Herrera Jr., 1019 W. 60th Pl, Los Angeles Ca 90044. This Business is conducted by a general partnership. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names
listed above: N/A. 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/. Abel Herrera, owner-general partner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on July 02, 2015. 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. 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: 07/09/2015, 07/23/2015,
August 20 - September 2, 2015
a crown of flowers would be placed on the statue of Mary by a specially chosen student. That year, Sister Corita was asked by the college president to create a new Mary’s Day festivity that celebrated the real woman Mary of Nazareth, as opposed to the solemn event it used to be. This break from tradition caused conflict with the traditionalist male hierarchy of the church and the order. This very public dispute led to the removal of all Immaculate Heart sisters teaching in Los Angeles diocesan schools, who were given an ultimatum: either conform to the standards of traditional religious life, or seek dispensation from vows. Annette noted that about 90 percent of the sisters that held advanced degrees in the order chose to leave their vows and reorganize as a nonprofit lay organization, the Immaculate Heart Community. In many respects, the forces with which the sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary had to contend were similar to the forces of Jim Crow, American exceptionalism and imperialism, and the patriarchy that allowed celibate priests to dictate when and where nuns should pray and the kinds of habits they should wear. The order, Immaculate Heart of Mary, ceased being a canonized order. As a lay community, it thrives and arguably it better fulfills the order’s desire to achieve what the Vatican Council II called them to do as part of the renewal of the church: comfort the afflicted, heal the sick, and extend the hand of friendship to all who need it. I asked Annette why we are now remembering Sister Corita Kent. But I know the answer: her work has never stopped being relevant.
My name is Washington and, like Uncle Sam, I want you to enlist in the drive to keep the San Pedro Waterfront Red Car running and expand it. But first I want you to don goggles and facemasks— complete biohazard suits, really—and go back to your drawing boards. And, I want you to gather up all materials in your offices pertaining to any current Red Car-destroyingHummer-hugger-cars-first Ports O’ Call project. We don’t want to ditch a real-life dream for desolate visions of nightmare— like another trackless Redondo Beach! I want you to transport all said items under heavy guard to Terminal Island. I want you to then stack them up at the exact same spot, where, so many years ago, the big Red Cars were stacked up, and then I want you to apply a torch to them, as the Red Cars had a torch applied to them! From the smoke and ash of their so richly deserved demise—from these Hummer-hugger-carsfirst plans—the new P.E. Railway will arise! It will be your very own in-house “POLA Express.” Besides looking out for possibly useful surplus Chicago “El” cars for ultra-quick Red Car expansion, its mission will be to retain the Red Cars and initially, at once, expand them along the existing tracks from Target/Home Depot down to Warehouse No. 1. Extension
to Harbor College, Long Beach via Wilmington and Cabrillo will follow in due course. Another task will be the use of idle surplus Metrolink equipment to implement commuter rail from Bob Hope Airport, Union Station and LAX to San Pedro. This would include the first at airborne world tourism, brought directly down the remnant of the Harbor subdivision trackage, with a one-seat ride from Metro Green Line Aviation Station. Finally, as a fair nod to improve auto access to Ports O’ Call and to serve decent lingering Burnhamesque civil adornment/ big plans aspirations, they will be catered by recreating an improved version of that landmark bridge that used to span the Red Car tracks from the bluff. This was known in the trade as a grad sep-a-ra-tion! James Henry Washington Jr. Long Beach
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Augutst 20 - September 2, 2015
Serving the Seven Communities of the Harbor Area