Premature meeting cancellation sparks uproar on Central Council p. 4 Carson has a night out against crime and violence p. 5 Wavy Gravy’s road to Woodstock p. 9
Environmental Groups Sue Phillips 66 Over Hazardous Waste Violations By Mark Friedman, Contributor
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor and James Preston Allen, Publisher
August 22 - September 11, 2019
[See Hollywood p. 8]
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Raymond Burr tours the harbor as Perry Mason, circa 1960. Above, downtown San Pedro was transported back to the 1930s for HBO’s new production based on the old Perry Mason series. Photo by James Preston Allen.
In the middle of August, San Pedro was the site for the filming of HBO’s prequel to the 1960s hit, Perry Mason, a limited series that follows the origins of American fiction’s legendary criminal defense lawyer. The series is set in Los Angeles circa 1932 and at least part of the backdrop used on Seventh street was made to look like South Central Los Angeles. While most of the country was struggling to climb out of the Great Depression, the city of Angels was preparing for the Olympic Games, oil wells were being drilled in every direction and the nascent “Talking Pictures” industry was starting to take root in Hollywood which ushered in the golden age of film and television. In more ways than one, this was also a period of transition, including huge migrations out of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and the South, the emergence of new ideas pushing against long held prejudices, changing religious beliefs and new ways of living. During this period stories abound of everyday people selling all of their earthly possessions to charismatic religious leaders – not unusual given the explosion of storefront churches in big cities that were feeding the apparent hunger for meaning in this period of change, growth, urbanization and segregation.
Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery will likely face a federal lawsuit from environmental groups alleging it has violated the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act since at least August 2015 by storing, treating, and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit and failing to properly operate and maintain the plant, among other violations. The Environmental Integrity Project and Environmental Advocates, on behalf of Communities for a Better Environment, took the first step toward such a suit by filing an intent to sue litigation for violations of hazardous waste disposal laws. The refinery, now known as the Mobil Torrance refinery, has been previously fined $650,000 for similar violations, but never paid them. The fines were carried over to the Torrance refinery, which has failed to pay the fines also. “Many of the documented violations illustrate very poor housekeeping practices at the refinery and indicate that required maintenance has been long deferred, which potentially can be dangerous to workers and those living nearby as well as harmful to the environment,” said Mary Greene, deputy director of the EIP.. “It’s not fair to the local residents to put them at risk of contamination.” The Phillips 66 Los Angeles Refinery in Los Angeles County includes the Wilmington Plant, located at 1660 W. Anaheim Street in Wilmington, which has been in operation for a century and produces gasoline, liquid petroleum and jet fuel. Neither plant has applied for or been issued a hazardous waste operating permit, even though the Environmental Protection Agency determined in August 2015 that Phillips 66 was storing, treating and disposing of hazardous waste. “These hazardous waste violations mean that Phillips has potentially exposed the surrounding community to hazardous waste for years,” said Ashley Hernandez, Wilmington resident and a community organizer for Communities for a Better Environment. “This is one more example of their un-neighbor-like ways," "On top of that, our regulatory agencies have failed to follow up for too long. Once again, we as frontline environmental justice communities have to rise up to hold Phillips 66 accountable for our health." The EPA has documented that Phillips 66 viola[See Phillips 66 p. 8]
1
County Triples Down on Safe Bet for School Violence Prevention By Leslie Belt, Contributor
In a bid to increase safety for millions of Angelinos of all ages returning to school this fall, the Los Angeles County Mental Health Department has significantly expanded the size and scope of its comprehensive threat prevention and management program. Known as the School Threat Assessment Response Team, START, program, this innovative partnership between county mental health professionals, schools and local law enforcement has proven critical to the prevention of school violence since its
the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. At the heart of the program’s innovative approach to preventing and managing the threat of school violence is START’s 24/7 access hotline. Teachers, administrators, counselors, students and parents can call this toll-free phone line (see below) with any information about possible threats or concerning behaviors. In response, START mental health professionals are immediately empowered to take a range of
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Supervisor Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger at the Aug. 12 press conference announcing the expansion of the conty’s School Violence Prevention Program. Photo by Leslie Belt
2
inception in 2009. This expansion was passed in a motion authored by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger. The START program is designed to address threat prevention and management challenges in school settings, including elementary, middle, high schools, community colleges, trade schools and university campuses. Within the City of Los Angeles, the START team works closely with the Los Angeles Police Department, and other school districts and law enforcement agencies countywide. With this expansion, which was formally announced by Hahn and Barger on Aug. 12, the START program staff has grown from 10 to 42 members to address recent upticks in school violence. During the 2017-18 school year, reported threats of violence in Los Angeles school districts increased by about 70 percent. More than half were directed at junior and high school campuses. Almost a quarter were made in the week following
actions to address any situations brought to their attention. “Students probably have the most information about each other,” Hahn said. “They are the closest. … My message to them is to speak up. If you feel like you have heard something that doesn’t sound right, or could be a potential threat to other students. We will respond to that. We will assess the situation and work on getting resources to that particular student. All students need to pay attention to their fellow students. We want our students to have a good experience in school. We want them to be nervous about what they are going to wear on the first day, not whether or not there is going to be a shooting at their school. That’s what we are trying to do here. We are increasing the number adults and resources to keep all students safe.” If you are in crisis and need help right away, call toll-free, 24/7 access helpline: 1-800854-7771
Community Announcements:
Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 30 Years
Harbor Area San Pedro Democratic Club
The next San Pedro Democratic Club meeting will be Aug. 26. The deadline for the 2019 legislative year is coming fast so we will review the latest and greatest bills our supermajority has to offer. Time: 7 p.m. Aug. 26 Details: 916-837-0920 Venue: Think Cafe, 302 W. 5th St., San Pedro
Census 2020
The Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Budget and Innovation, Census 2020 Initiative is hiring. They are seeking to fill two Outreach Project coordinators and one GIS coordinator positions to help carry out the Census 2020 outreach and education efforts in Los Angeles. Details: 213-473-7469 Venue: Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, 200 N. Spring St., Suite 2005, Los Angeles
District Representative Opening
Sen. Steven Bradford seeks a district representative for his district offices in Inglewood and/or San Pedro. Responsibilities include, but not limited to, constituent inquiries, representing the Senator at a variety of community events and meetings, developing relationships with local stakeholders, and organizing community events. Details: 310-412-6120; https://www.senate.ca.gov/senatejobs
Los Angeles Youth Council Applications
The Los Angeles Mayor’s Youth Council is an academic year program for Los Angeles high school students to promote civic engagement and inspire the next generation of civic leaders. The youth council empowers members to advocate for causes relevant to Angelino youth by giving them a voice in city hall. Meetings will cover various themes of public service, including Government 101, civic leadership and engagement, community organizing and public speaking. The council will meet once a month from October to May and each member is permitted one excused absence. Application deadline Sept. 19. Details: www.lamayor.org/myc; johanna. rodriguez@lacity.org or david.price@lacity.org
Come enjoy a cup of coffee and share your thoughts regarding state and legislative issues that affect the community. Find out what is happening in the district and what services can be provided to you. Time: 10 to 11:30 a.m. Aug. 24 Details: 310-375-0691; https://a66.asmdc.org/ event/upcoming-event Venue: Lomita Library (Don Knabe Room), 24200 Narbonne Ave., Lomita
Open House at Point Vicente
Alarm
Installation
in
Sign up to schedule an appointment for free installation of a smoke alarm. No requirements necessary. All homes are eligible. Time: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: Free Details: 562-490-4027
Rendering showing roof top view of AJ Khair’s planned hotel at 544 S. Pacific Ave., next to the Warner Grand Theatre at 6th and Pacific. File photo
“This is the area where we need this density, to drive more revenue to this area, to get more visitors to this area,” Kallick said. The hotel is designed to have a restaurant on the ground floor and a rooftop bar, Kallick said. It will be seven stories tall and will have one level of underground parking. It will have a neon sign that says “San Pedro” designed like the sign on the Warner Grand Theatre. Javier Gonzalez, a member of Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s land use planning and public works committee, said that
he believed the project had the potential to be part of the renewal of downtown San Pedro. “It will benefit the businesses in downtown, it will also benefit our local economy by bringing more tourism, something that is desperately needed,” Gonzalez said. The Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council wrote a letter in support of the project, and Diana Nave, chairwoman of the neighborhood council’s Planning and Land Use Committee, read a portion of it at the meeting.
[See Hotel p. 14]
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Free Smoke Wilmington
On Aug. 6 the Harbor Area Planning Commission unanimously approved a request from 544 Pacific LLC to build a hotel with 80 guest rooms on the corner of South Pacific Avenue and 6th Street, adjacent to the Warner Grand Theatre. This reversed the decision of the planning administrator. Theodore Irving, the associate zoning administrator, previously approved 544 Pacific LLC’s permit to build the hotel, with the caveat that the company could build it with just 67 rooms instead of the requested 80. “While the building would not be any larger with the added rooms, it would be too dense according to the municipal code,” Irving said. “The denial was a denial of the request for a zoning administrative adjustment,” Irving said. “Typically the zoning administrative adjustment is used to allow a mediation or a relief from the strict application of the municipal code in order to make a project more whole when the code itself, when it’s strictly applied, takes something away and does not allow them to have something fully.” Irving noted that the site area allows 67 guest rooms and there’s nothing unusual about its configuration. “The request to obtain extra density is a request for additional benefits to the site,” he said. “ And these are benefits that people who comply with the code will not enjoy.” Spencer Kallick, an attorney who represents 544 Pacific LLC, argued that downtown San Pedro needs more density.
Los Serenos de Point Vicente is a nonprofit organization that assists and supports the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. Docents will cover specifics regarding the Los Serenos docent program, including what kind of duties and services the docents partake in. They will also cover the junior docent program geared toward high school students who are interested in various subjects such as local history, geography, geology, zoology, marine biology and oceanography. Time: 7p.m. Aug. 28 Cost: Free Details: 310-544-5375; www.losserenos.org Venue: Point Vicente Interpretive Center, 31501 Palos Verdes Dr. W., Rancho Palos Verdes
By Hunter Chase, Reporter
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Community Coffee with Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi
New Hotel Plan Changes Approved in San Pedro
3
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
The Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council was supposed to meet at Port of Los Angeles High School on Aug. 13, but instead some board members and stakeholders attended a special meeting at Anderson Senior Center that lacked a quorum. Board member Jeff McBurney said that board President Maria Couch sent an email on Aug. 9, which said she was cancelling the meeting in the interest of respecting other people’s time. Without enough members to meet a quorum, the council is not able to vote on anything. Couch did not comment on this story. Frank Anderson, a member of the board, said that he did not see the email asking who would be at the meeting until after it was cancelled. Upon reading the email, McBurney called a special meeting on the date the regular meeting was to be held. There were seven board members at the special meeting, missing quorum by two. McBurney said he called the meeting because he thought the public should have a forum to receive information from public agencies like the police and to register complaints or post announcements. He wanted the special meeting to provide the same forum. Others believe Couch had more nefarious reasons for canceling the meeting. “My concern is there’s actually a strategic cover-up going on by a few members of the board,” said Lou Caravella, treasurer of the council. There was an item on the agenda about potential conflicts of interest with members of the board who are employees of the Port of Los Angeles, Caravella said. Couch is a payroll supervisor at POLA. When the agenda for the cancelled meeting
4
Neighborhood Council Round Up —
Premature Meeting Cancellation Sparks Uproar on Central Council By Hunter Chase, Reporter
was posted, the item involving the port was not on it, even though it had passed at the agenda planning meeting, Caravella said. Under the Ralph M. Brown act, a meeting of a legislative body must post an agenda on its website 72 hours before the meeting, as well as in a public place. The web manager who was responsible for posting agendas was not able to post the agenda on the council’s website. More Business Results, the company that is redesigning the website, prevented her from accessing the site, Caravella said. Only three board members can currently access the site. Carrie Scoville, a member of the board, said the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment has previously discouraged the cancelling of meetings. Before the meeting concluded, present members of the council planned a meeting to make an agenda for another special meeting. McBurney was unsure if DONE would recognize their current meeting as legitimate. NWSPNC — Train Horns and School Improvements The Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council elected Rock Ashfield to the business representative board seat on Aug. 12. Ashfield is a realtor who has experience in public construction. He says that now is a good time to buy real estate in San Pedro, as it is cheap for
Californian coastal property. Neighborhood Council
president,
Ray
Regalado, registered community complaints about train horns blowing in waking people in the middle of the night and his own experience with the problem. Boardmember Dan Dixon noted that the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation is looking at the scope of the problem. The Local District South superintendent for Los Angeles Unified School District, Michael Romero, reported that San Pedro public high [See Round Up p. 5]
Garcetti Nominates Beltran as General Manager of DONE LOS ANGELES — Mayor Eric Garcetti nominated longtime community leader Raquel Beltrán to be the next general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Beltrán will oversee department operations, including management of the Neighborhood Council system, development of the department’s budget, and all personnel, constituent and government relations. Beltran comes to DONE after serving as associate director for the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University L.A. since 2014 — her latest stop in more than three decades in community organizing, executive Raquel Beltrán management and public policy “The City of Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Council system is a unique and important part of the city’s democratic process,” said Beltrán. “I have worked with these committed community leaders for many years and admire their determination to strengthening L.A.’s distinct
communities. I look forward to collaborating with their dedicated leaders to advance a cooperative vision for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.” As the associate director of the Pat Brown Institute, Beltrán managed operations, community engagement efforts, and leadership programs — including Civic University, an initiative founded in partnership with Mayor Garcetti that gives Angelinos tools to understand city government and influence policy at Los Angeles City Hall. From 2006 to 2014, Beltrán served as the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles. She’s also worked in government for the City of San Diego; program manager for the American Red Cross in San Francisco; and as the co-founder of the United Domestic Workers Union of America. Beltrán’s nomination is subject to city council confirmation. She would replace outgoing general manager Grayce Liu. —Melina Paris, Editorial Assistant
[Round Up from p. 4]
Round Up
Carson Night Out Against Crime and Violence
Julian Soto, general manager for a boxing and fitness club bearing the likeness and name of boxing great Floyd Mayweather, was out to promote the gym to residents. Right now, the majority of the club membership in its only other edifice in Beverly Hills are women, Soto said. “We’re here today to share awareness with the community that we’re going to basically open up soon,” Soto said. “We’re still undergoing construction, so we’re going to be opening in about a month-and-a-half. It’s basically incorporating boxing with Mayweather’s technique and style. What got him 50-0, basically from his combo punches, his techniques. The way he trained is basically how we train our members in a groupstyle setting. What we’re implementing is more on the fitness end of it.”
By Dennis J. Freeman, Contributor
The activity just outside of the Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center and the Carson Sheriff’s Station was brisk with pedestrian traffic as residents took part in the Community Night Out on Aug. 7. The march and rally featured dozens of vendors. Starbucks handed out free cups of coffee. The Los Angeles County Library passed out books to grade-level students. J.C. Penny’s, a staple at the nearby SouthBay Pavilion Mall, staged periodic giveaways during the two-plushour event. “The larger issue is making the community safer,” Capt. Jason Skeen of the Carson Sheriff’s Station said.
Mayweather Boxing Gym was represented by Julian Soto, above, at Carson’s night out along with Carson Library on Aug. 7. Photo by Dennis Freeman
Divorce $159-$289 + Filing Fee Bankruptcy $695 + Filing Fee Living Trust $375 Will $175 • Probate $299 Basic Prices for Simple Cases
August 22 - September 11, 2019
“We’ve been doing this for 19 years, and done an amazing job,” Skeen said. “This is probably one of the most successful National Night Out events that you’ll see in Southern California. We have nearly 80 vendors. Typically, more than 500 people from the community come. “That’s pretty important; it tells you…part of our success has been the reduced rate in crime and community involvement and having the support of elected officials. We are on a 27-year low of crime in 2018. In 2019, is shaping to be even better so far. We’re only halfway through, but reduction in homicides by 40 percent, robberies by more than 20 percent, auto thefts are down, burglaries are down.” Skeen attributes the lowering of crime rate in the city to one big factor. “Trust,” Skeen said. “Trust is vital. When there is trust and the deputies know that they’re trusted, they’ll work that much harder for the community. That’s part of it…When they trust the deputies, they’re going to call, they’re going to report, they’re going leave better tips, they’ll be willing to hand over evidence like video, and they’re not going to be compromised in terms of their safety. That’s trust.” It was a pleasant family atmosphere. MB Landscaping was surrounded by large crowd of people trying to nab free garden plants. Angel Amor-Smart, owner of Bossy Bundts, provided residents with samples of her cakes. The Laker Girls were there. Fred Jefferson Memorial Homes was recruiting more foster parents. First Break Academy registered people for its Saturday tennis classes. There was a petting zoo and a train ride for youths. State Farm account manager Gilbert Nieves
said this event is vital to the community. “It’s very important,” Nieves said. “Carson seems to have a lot of community outreach programs, a lot of community support. Its important for people to support one another. We do this event every year, so we like to come out here and support the community and help people out with their insurance needs if they need it and be part of the community.”
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
schools had reached a graduation rate milestone of 90 percent. Romero oversees the public schools in San Pedro, Wilmington, Carson and Gardena. “We’re not satisfied with that 90 percent, we’re not going to stop until it’s 100 percent,” Romero said. By the end of the year, Local District South San Pedro schools cut suspension rates in half, and they were already very low, Romero said. They have also improved attendance rates, with 18,000 less absences than the year before. “When kids feel safe and welcome, when there’s procedures and routines and safety, kids come to school more often,” Romero said. Lou Mardesich, former principal of Harry Bridges Span school, will serve as the community school administrator for all public schools in San Pedro from kindergarten to 12th grade, Romero said. Romero also spoke about colocation with charter schools and said that they are not ideal. Romero said that he would prefer to not have them. “If there’s open space, we make sure that our kids, our communities would take advantage of any classroom we need,” Romero said. “In many of our schools there’s extra space because we’ve had declining enrollment for the last 10 years.” At LAUSD, enrollment has dropped by about 14,000 students per year. “There is open classroom space, and we have to identify it at the district level, and we have to share that with the charter community,” Romero said. “Colocations are not a good thing,” Romero said. “There’s a decent relationship in the schools, kids are getting a quality education, but it’s not ideal.” Nick Ferara of the Los Angeles Police Department, who was filling in for Senior Lead Officer Dan Brown, gave a report on crime statistics in Northwest San Pedro. During July 2019 there were no homicides, and there were four robberies. There were 10 aggravated assaults, the same number as July 2018. There was one rape during July 2019, as opposed to two during July 2018. There was an 18 percent decrease in burglaries compared to July 2018, as there were nine last July, and 11 the previous year. There was a 57-percent increase in grand theft autos — seven in July 2018, and 11 last month. There were 15 burglaries of motor vehicles during July 2019. Ferara noted that Gaffey is the busiest street for crime, with specific emphasis on the corridor between 6th and 10th streets. Mondays and Thursdays are the most common days that crimes occur, usually between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Council treasure Melanie Labrecque spoke about her lunch with Mayor Eric Garcetti. Labreque also reported that Los Angeles County is deciding how to spend $1 billion in unused mental health funding. The planning and land use committee chair, Diana Nave, reported that a new 23unit residential building is being planned at 335 N. Gaffey Street. It will have 28 parking spaces and all but two of the apartments will have one bedroom. The board unanimously voted to support the project.
5
Kakistocracy
When government is led by the worst and incompetent By James Preston Allen, Publisher
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
No, I didn’t invent the single word headline I’m using this week, and it isn’t a political term that you got wrong on your Advanced Placement government exam in high school. And it’s not the capital of Kakistan or even Kazakhstan. But it does resemble a communicable disease spread by social media affecting our society. Can you guess its meaning? If not, then you can always find it in the Webster’s and Oxford dictionaries. Kakistocracy is a word that explains how Donald Trump can give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to economist Arthur Laffer for his theories on cutting taxes to produce more revenue for government. Most people remember it as “Reaganomics” and it has been criticized by most economists nationally and was proved a disaster as recently as 2012 in Kansas. When Laffer was an economic adviser to Gov. Sam Brownback, he zeroed out state tax liability for about 330,000 of the top wage earners in the state, contending it would be a “shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy.” Well, that didn’t work. The state, which had previously had a budget surplus, experienced a budget deficit of about $200 million in 2012. Drastic cuts to state funding for education and infrastructure were implemented to close budget deficits and the Kansas economy tanked relative to neighboring states. Brownback’s tax overhaul was described in June 2017 as the “most aggressive experiment in conservative economic policy.” The drastic tax cuts had “threatened the viability of schools and infrastructure” in Kansas. The Kansas legislature eventually had to repeal the tax cut in June 2017, overriding Brownback’s veto. This is the very same theory that is driving Republicans to support Trump’s new tax cuts that have raised the deficit to new heights. So much for fiscal conservatism. It is also these policies that brought us the Great Recession under Bush II even though conservatives try to pin the blame on President Barack Obama, who only took office after the effects of Bush’s tax cut policies hit the nation. According to the New York Times, Trump praised Laffer for policies that he said brought “greater opportunity for all
6
Americans.” This only reinforces the core economic myth of “trickle down” prosperity that if you give more money to the wealthy that it will be spent to benefit the working class. What we have seen instead over the past few decades is that the wealthy only find new and better ways to hide their assets, leaving the working class with the burden. It also leads to the kinds of corruption that only having too much money can buy — think of Bernie Madoff, Jeffery Epstein or the “side-door” university admissions scandals. Money is power and having too much power corrupts. I can’t even count the number of times this Laffer theory has been proved wrong, but clearly this is a Wizard of Oz moment for America, waiting for Dorothy to pull back the curtain to expose government made up of the worst and the incompetent, employed to help the rich get richer. While attending the ersatz bronze Bukowski birthday party recently, I was reminded of a Charles Bukowski quote that seems as relevant today as when he wrote it years ago: “The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” This truism is an apt explanation of how stupid people rise to power at almost every level of governance and civic leadership. In this context, we label wrongheaded decisions and policies as “bold leadership” while thoughtful reflection and careful actions are labeled passive and weak. It is how tyrants rise to power in otherwise educated democracies. America today is being lead by a group of Kakis-rats (if I may coin a word). A group of corrupt incompetents are setting an example for the even more ignorant to boldly push for increasingly racist and violently hateful policies. Doubt should not be a barrier to acting intelligently and boldly. There’s no room for doubt if we are to resist the kakistocracy. Kakistocracy (pronounced \kak-uh-STAHkruh-see\) means “government by the worst people.” [And the incompetent or corrupt] It comes from the Greek root kakistos, which means “worst,” the superlative form of kakos, which means “bad.”
Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya
“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 Vol. XL : 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.
Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com Senior Editor Paul Rosenberg paul.rosenberg@ randomlengthsnews.com
On U.S. Militarism and the Legacy of the Cold War
By Rachel Bruhnke, this commentary was originally delivered on July 4 at the Joe Hill Memorial I have a little challenge for us. We have a problem. A problem of hypocrisy right here in the Port of Los Angeles -- our port. It’s a huge, 45,000-ton problem. We have a Trojan Horse of Militarism here, and that Trojan Horse is the USS Iowa. Consider all of the young people who are recruited into the military with that ship, all of the war that it is used to glorify through constant military events — especially through the contrived “Labor Day tradition” of Fleet Week. This is something we need to be looking at here in supposedly progressive San Pedro, my hometown. Sure, the USS Iowa helped hunt fascists and imperialists in World War II. Great! President Franklin Roosevelt rode on that ship. Great! (FDR rode it to Iran, incidentally, a country our US Navy is now poised to start a catastrophic war with.) Let’s talk about that on the Iowa. Let’s have a forum against fascism on that ship. Let’s have workshops on the Iowa to teach and reteach our people about the dangers and injustices of imperialism. Let’s teach our youth who FDR was, and of the forgotten-until Bernie Sanders-fight for an Economic Bill of Rights. In this era of Me Too, let’s champion one of the greatest peacemakers of all time, and America’s first ambassador to the United Nations, Eleanor
Columnists/Reporters Lyn Jensen Reporter Richard Foss Restaurant Reviewer Andrea Serna Arts Writer Melina Paris Staff Reporter Send Calendar Items to: 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Steven Guzman, Benjamin Garcia, Raphael Richardson Contributors Leslie Belt, Rachel Bruhnke, Hunter Chase, Dennis J. Freeman, Mark L. Friedman, Greggory Moore, Jason Pramas, Gretchen Williams
Roosevelt. Let’s make world war do some good. Let it help us work for world peace. This is what the USS Iowa should be celebrating and highlighting, not recruiting our youth for America’s now endless wars, nor glorifying and justifying the deadly machinery built by an $800 billion annual military industrial budget. A budget that is leaving our civil economy gutted, and our communities broke. The history of the USS Iowa after World War II is a dubious and costly one. The battleship was used in the controversial Korean War, the so-called “forgotten war” that killed 3 million people. A war that split a 1,000year old culture in two, allowed U.S. capitalism and culture to dominate for 70 years, culminating in the gift to the world that is K-pop. Alas, let’s have a discussion of the Korean War, its political causes and its legacy, on the USS Iowa, not a non-stop celebration of war itself. I’m a child of the M*A*S*H generation. The necessity of war is to be questioned. War is not to be celebrated. Perhaps most egregious and most ironic for our current state of affairs is the refugee exodus from Central America that has been caused primarily by decades of U.S. violent foreign policy toward the region — a foreign policy the USS Iowa was directly responsible
Cartoonists Andy Singer, Jan Sorensen, Matt Wuerker Design/Production Suzanne Matsumiya, Brenda Lopez Editorial Interns David Bellhouse, Steven Guzman, Pratyush Shukla Display advertising (310) 519-1442 Classifieds (310) 519-1016 Fax: (310) 832-1000 www.randomlengthsnews.com Random Lengths News office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731
[See Legacy p. 7]
Address correspondence regarding news items and tips to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email: editor@randomlengthsnews.com. Send Letters to the Editor to james@randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, letters must be signed with address and phone number (for verification purposes) and be about 250 words. For advertising inquiries or to submit advertising copy, email: rlnsales@randomlengthsnews.com. Annual subscription is $36 for 27 issues. Back issues are available for $3/copy while supplies last. 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. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2019 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
RANDOMLetters Notice of Passing
Dear Neighborhood Council, It is with a very heavy heart that we share the sad news of the passing of our beloved board member and brother Mr. Caney Arnold. Our sincere condolences to his wife, your board member, and our sister Mrs. Lori Bordenave-Arnold, his mother-inlaw Alice, daughter Ariana, son CJ and his five-year-old grandson Anthony. Caney was engaged, thoughtful, and courageous community member and leader. His work on the board and in the region continuously strived to uphold the principles of openness, transparency, and inclusiveness. His legacy will live on. “Caney’s passing is a personal loss, however, more importantly, a loss for the community. He was a person of integrity and high moral standards. He will be missed. Keep him and his family in your thoughts,” said Raymond Regalado, Commissioner, Board of Neighborhood Commissioners. In memory of Caney, please think about all of the good stories and photos of Caney and share with each other and the community. Octaviano Rios Dept. of Neighborhood Empowerment, City of LA.
From the Underground Letters
[Legacy from p. 6]
Legacy
So good to hear common sense citizen leadership, in an economically devastated California coastline town. We so desperately need citizens to rise up! Joe (and his betrayals), must thoroughly and finally be REJECTED by the Community. A Community that has ‘gone to Hell’ in his hands... Freddie, Harbor Area voters must “REJECT JOE” for a much greater reason than just teaching him a lesson, a lesson that he will never learn . We must “REJECT JOE” to end the bitter and vicious cycle of San Pedro being sold-out by the Council Office as a SOCIAL-SERVICE & INDUSTRIAL DUMPING GROUND, for LACity, and LA County... “REJECT JOE” so ALL others will see that we will no longer promote civic failures. Maybe then, we will start working our way out of this humiliating hole they have thrown us all into ... we need leadership that serves, instead of destroys... Our COUNCILMEN sell-out
Rachel Bruhnke ins a board member, Witness for Peace Southwest and co-founder of CODEPINK San Pedro
On Medicare for All
Medicare will not solve problems; it won’t lower costs. Health insurance itself drives costs upward, because patients don’t need to shop around for the least expensive medical services. My insurance has an annual allotment that must be used, or it’s lost. This drives expenses up, as we go to doctors to spend the insurance money. However, Medical costs usually go down when not covered by insurance. For example, LASIK eye surgery was not covered by my insurance, so I shopped doctors, compared prices and negotiated a price that was half of the first quote. Another example: dental implant costs are lowering, as dentists compete. Prices for these services decline when insurance is not
There has been a lot of unserious political talk about the investigation we are leading in the Judiciary Committee regarding President Trump. I want to be clear about two things: 1) This isn’t about political game playing at all. Our investigation is about protecting American democracy and the idea that no person — not even the president — is above the law. 2) We have begun an impeachment investigation. Depending on how our proceedings go, we will — as soon as possible — decide whether the evidence
requires us to send articles of impeachment to the House floor. The bottom line is this. Our investigation is under attack from its subject, President Trump, Fox News and the rest of the right-wing propaganda machine. We need millions of signatures to prove that our democracy is stronger than their authoritarian politics of hatred and division. Thank you for standing up for American democracy. Jerry Nadler United States Congress NY, Chair of the Judicial Oversight Committee
$24 $36 $70
August 22 - September 11, 2019
abroad, and now throw a party with the perpetrators on the USS Iowa and expect that callousness not to hit us here eventually. And, alas, economic violence has come home to our waterfront. Forced automation of shipping terminals, over which workers have no real control, is but one consequence of the power we continually give away to an aggressive, unjust system. It feels like a local bombardment—economic, political, cultural power— no? Who really has control over this in the United States? Peace abroad. Peace at home. The two are mutually inclusive. Which will we spend our time celebrating? We welcome all to participate with us in LA Harbor Peace Week 2019.
Notes From Congress
for enforcing under Ronald Reagan (remember the union-buster, my fellow San Pedrans?). The USS Iowa was recommissioned during Reagan’s presidency, loaded with Tomahawk cruise missiles and sent to patrol the Caribbean from 1984-1989. The Iowa repeatedly bombed Vieques, Puerto Rico in weapons testing, and conducted “drills and exercises” off Central America, threatening the poor of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras who were trying to get some justice into their warped and cruel economic systems. The U.S. Navy efforts were called the “shakedown cruise.” My goodness, San Pedro, what would Harry Bridges say to that? We can’t have it both ways, my friends. An injury to one is an injury to all. We cannot, in our name, allow aggression
A Response
involved, because clients shop for the best price. The free market system is best for lowering prices, not blanket government insurance. Also, Consider standing in line at the DMV, the US Post Office, the Social Security office; government health care will be similar. Robert Gregory Torrance Dear Mr. Gregory, I disagree with your premise that everything costs less in a “free market.” The mistake you are making is thinking that the big pharmaceutical and healthcare providers are not manipulating the marketplace as it is and will continue to do so without government involvement. The two best things about the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) was the mandatory coverage of preexisting conditions and extending dependent coverage until age 26. Neither of those two things would have happened without government mandate. The significance of Medicare for All as outlined by Bernie Sanders is that you could take your coverage to any doctor or clinic of your choosing, not as is currently done, to an HMO with fewer choices. As it is Medicare and Social Security are the two most popular government programs and have done the most good for the greatest number of people. As for the US Post Office it’s the only agency listed in the US Constitution. James Preston Allen, Publisher
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
The Mayor is a lost cause. He doesn’t need San Pedro politically and we can expect the same treatment we have been receiving from his office since he was elected. It’s been rumored and all but formally announced that our councilman Joe Buscaino is going to campaign for Mayor in the future. It’s possible that he will need the support of his home town
to be elected mayor. Unfortunately, for Mr. Buscaino, through his ultra liberal turnabout once he became elected, there is a large percentage of our community that would rather see anyone but he become our mayor. Apparently, after four years, all of your daily messages have fallen on deaf ears. Nothing has been done at a local level to address this problem and just about everyone would agree it has gotten worse. It would be a good time to start a “NO on JOE” campaign so that he fully understands the consequences for allowing downtown San Pedro to turn in to a toilet. Fred Di Bernardo, San Pedro
our futures, for the sake of their ‘own’ political futures... who have they served? PLEASE, LOOK AT THE DEVASTATION IN OUR TOWN, just over the last decade! Especially in view of the fact that Joe entered office promising 20 thousand new jobs, major corporate hotels and commercial corporate investment, to build out the BtoB , and the development of a “WORLD CLASS WATERFRONT” ! So, where is it? To gain office, Joe made promises that he never intended to keep. He had me fooled but NOW, how can we reward such public failures? When Joe took office, all of the elements were already fought for and completely in place to enable the building out of the Bridge to the Breakwater Plan. The EIR was unanimously passed in 2009 to reclaim the commercial potential of ‘our’ West Channel WATERFRONT. A whole two miles of the B to B Promenade was already built and completed! How much of the Promenade has been completed in the last decade (Joe’s tenure)? Answer: two blocks — the DOWNTOWN HARBOR! After a decade (2000 to 2010) of community efforts, WE neatly placed the Ball on the tee, and Joe has hacked and missed on every swing. The terrible (pro-poverty) choices Joe has made, have actually condemned the Waterfront to its present ‘monolithic’ Industrialized Use, and to the minuscule ‘monoculture’ of Commercial Use. Joe squandered, and trashed the opportunity of the century for the economic health of the City’s SeaSideSoul — SAN PEDRO! We remain, the only Slum by the Sea in this State - and SP is housed within the wealthiest Port in the Western Hemisphere. As our leader, JOE is responsible for this terrible reality. He became a true Divider! For he has made the divide between the Port’s Dominating Industrialized Power — and our Historic SeaSide Community’s economic and social failures, greater and deeper than ever before ... What a shame, and what a penalty to San Pedro and its people! John Papadakis Rancho Palos Verdes
7
[Hollywood from p. 1]
Hollywood Comes to San Pedro It is against this backdrop that Perry Mason emerges in the new miniseries based on the short stories and novels of detective fiction writer Erle Stanley Gardner, who was a lawyer. The new series is being written by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald, who last worked together on the film, The Knifemen, and Matthew Rhys, who gained acclaim in The Americans, is to star in the title role. In this prequel to the original Perry Mason television series, Mason is living check-tocheck as a low-rent private investigator. In this period of his life, he is haunted by his wartime experiences in France and suffering the effects of a broken marriage, when he lands a kidnapping gone wrong case that leads to him exposing a fractured city as he uncovers the truth of the crime. Strangely enough the plot sounds quite contemporary.
Hollywood fiction and contemporary Los Angeles
Raymond Burr in the series that made him famous. Perry Mason’s back story is the subject of HBO’s new series which was filmed in part in San Pedro. File photo
[Phillips 66 from p. 1]
ronmental Advocates explained, “This problem needs to be addressed to protect the local community and the workers in the plant.” “It has been two years since Phillips 66 received a notice of hazardous violations by the EPA,” said Hernandez of CBE. “Every day that goes by without any action is another day that frontline environmental justice communities' safety is ignored by these major polluters and regulatory agencies.” In addition, there have been two fires at the Phillips 66 Carson plant and failure to properly and safely manage hazardous waste contributes to the risk of dangerous explosions and fires. Details: 323-826-9771; www.cbecal.org
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
tions include: improper treatment and storage of hazardous waste; failure to determine whether wastes are hazardous; failure to follow regulations that control air pollution from tanks; failure to manage run-off from waste piles; and failure to maintain an operating record. However, the federal EPA and California EPA has failed to take any enforcement action against the company, impose any penalties on the company, or compel it to fix the problems. Christopher Sproul, attorney for Envi-
8
entitled to effective counsel and in Norris v. Alabama (1935) blacks may not be excluded systematically from jury service. But this did not stop prosecutors from eliminating black jurors through the use of peremptory challenges. Or from them not being represented in TV juries. Nevertheless, the Perry Mason television show offered the vision that justice was possible but not often practiced, in the American legal system. The Perry Mason reboot goes a step further by recasting Paul Drake into a black police officer with a knack for detective work. This development of the character is not outside the realm of possibility in the 1930s, since there were black police officers who worked on cases in black parts of Los Angeles. Passion for justice, love for the law and superior powers of deductive reasoning is the basis of Perry Mason’s genius. Although none of the syndicated reruns featured people of [See Perry Mason p. 14]
Wages and Costs of a Hollywood Invasion
Perry Mason’s back story is a curious vantage point to view Los Angeles in the 1930s, a boomtown in the era of the Great Depression segregated, racist and corrupt. It was a place where migrants flocked to escape the dust bowl or the Jim Crow South and the police force was sent to the border of California to stop them
Phillips 66
Murder She Wrote, the long running Law and Order and the CSI franchise, How to Get Away With Murder owe a debt to Perry Mason. Part of the fascination of watching Perry Mason reruns was identifying or guessing what parts of 1950s-60s Los Angeles was being featured in any given episode, whether it was downtown Los Angeles, Wilshire Boulevard or the docks in San Pedro. Watching these reruns is like tapping into a collective consciousness that feature all things Los Angeles in that particular moment. At the end of every episode, Perry got his client off the hook by finding some new piece of evidence that pointed the finger someone else and who often dramatically confessed on the witness stand. Black people, let alone other persons of color were disallowed from serving on juries involving white defendants until 1935 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Powell v. Alabama (1935) that criminal defendants are
from invading the Golden State. Does this sound familiar to recent events at the southern border? The show was groundbreaking as a police procedural. Shows such as Matlock, Columbo,
By James Preston Allen, Publisher
For locals, a film shoot in San Pedro can also feel like a case of injustice. Often like a Hollywood studio invasion, complete with street closures and manned by location managers, security guards, grips and gaffers, teamsters and trucks; sometimes a cast of hundreds. From the local perspective, the mitigation of these impacts are a mere pittance compared to the cost in lost foot traffic, inconvenience and stolen Street in San Pedro transformed into Depression era 1930s parking on their blocks. As the 7th for HBO’s Perry Mason production. Photo by Mayon Hanania permitting agency for the Los Angeles region, FilmLA is not involved with matters of compensation. Agreements of this kind are negotiated between the production company and the business owners or landlords on a case-by-case issue. Linda Alexander of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce is charged with “liasoning” between the parties but often does not represent the businesses adequately, according to some on 6th Street. FilmLA, the agency that acts as the go-between for production companies and cities in the agency’s service areas throughout the county of Los Angeles, says there are some 260 Hollywood film shooting days a year in the San Pedro Harbor area. The shoots run the gamut of Edison power company commercials overlooking Point Fermin from the basketball courts near the Korean Bell of Friendship to film shoots at the Cabrillo Marina or the city hall building on 7th and Harbor Boulevard. Production studios for a 36-hour shoot would, at minimum, pay $5,200 to shoot in Los Angeles, but the permit rates could be much higher depending on the location. The breakdown of cost as of July 1, 2019 is as follows. • The pay for FilmLA monitors, assuming only one is needed, is $2,647, this includes the application of double-time rates for jobs that last 12 hours or longer • Filming permits in Los Angeles start at $699 • L.A. County road inspection fee: $370 • Road application fee/issuance fee: $168 • Road encroachment permit processing fee: $306 • Flood control use fee: $937 • Permit issuance fee: $135 • The Warner Grand Theatre, a city facility, has a flat rate of $2,500 per day, plus staff time This, of course, does not include the negotiated money the studios pay to individual business owners that are impacted. The sticking point for some local businesses, however, is that not all the business owners that are impacted are paid ― and by impacted, we’re talking about street closures and lost parking resulting in lost business. Most of the disgruntled business owners in the recent filming refused to speak on the record fearing retribution from the council office. Still, with these fees and the negotiated settlements with business owners, Hollywood studios are still getting off cheaper than building a 1930s Los Angeles replica on a backlot or shipping all the talent and equipment out of state. Parts of old San Pedro are perfect for many period films and the location scouts have a catalogue of places they often use like the Warner Grand Theatre. And the San Pedro civic leaders should be circumspect about too much gentrification changing the look of the town. While some are awestruck by the glow of the lights-camera-action in the neighborhood, there are some who have become immune to it all and often annoyed by the disruption. The [See Costs p. 14]
c k o t s d o o W o t d a o R By Stephanie Serna, Contributor
It was his famous line from Woodstock that Entertainment Weekly crowned one of the top 10 lines of the 20th century: “What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000!” That line remains in the hippie history books forever linked with Woodstock and Hugh Romney — who was renamed “Wavy Gravy” only weeks later by B.B. King at the ‘69 Texas International Pop festival. Hugh Romney was the soothsayer, the merry-jester guardian and the intermittent announcer at Woodstock— turning situations of seeming panic into childlike fun and wonderment. He recalls, in Michael Lang’s book The Road to Woodstock: … the only times I ever went up there (on stage) were when I had something to say to the collective consciousness. Later when the rains came and they were announcing it was a disaster area, I said, There’s a little bit of heaven in every disaster area.
Lang talks about their initial “job interview” in his book, “I asked, ‘How would you deal with a fight breaking out in the campgrounds?’ When Hugh answered, ‘With (cream) pies in faces!’ — I was sold!” Although already well-known at the time, Romney’s popularity was gaining momentum from a few years earlier as the co-schemer at one of Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests in Watts, Los Angeles. As recounted, in Tom Wolfe’s book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, it was Hugh’s idea to serve up the goods in two separate barrel trash cans full of
The legendary Wavy Gravy, aka Hugh Romney, keeping it real at 83. File photo
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Romney was at Woodstock with his hippie entourage, The Hog Farm, on the recommendation of co-organizer Stan Goldstein. He was hired by Lang to run the free kitchens, the free campgrounds, the free stage and be part of the first-aid area which included talking down drug-blown hippies — And in addition, he was to implement... security? Hugh recalls: We had no concept of the magnitude of things until we got to the airport and there was just all this world press — a wall of it. They’re asking me if we’re doing security and I thought, Oh my god—we’re the cops! I can’t believe it! And off the top of my head I said, “Well do you feel secure?” And he said, “Well, sure.” And I said, “Well, it’s working then!”
[See Wavy p. 13] August 22 - September 11, 2019
9
O
Heartburn:
The Common Dietary Challenge that Restaurants Ignore By Jason Pramas, Contributor
heartburn before, it’s not that bad.” To which I would reply, there’s a big difference between what most people think is heartburn and what people with chronic heartburn experience. Consider the reality of what gastroesophageal reflux disease. To quote the American College of Gastroenterology, “To understand gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, it is first necessary to understand what causes heartburn. Most people will experience heartburn if the lining of the esophagus comes in contact with too much stomach juice for too long. This stomach juice consists of acid, digestive enzymes and other injurious materials. The prolonged contact of acidic stomach juice with the esophageal lining injures the esophagus and produces a burning discomfort. Normally, a muscular valve at the lower end of the esophagus called the lower esophageal sphincter or ‘LES’—keeps the acid in the stomach and
out of the esophagus. In gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, the LES relaxes too frequently, which allows stomach acid to reflux, or flow backward into the esophagus.” To summarize, the valve between the food pipe and stomach doesn’t work correctly. It relaxes when it shouldn’t, allowing acid from the stomach to come up into the food pipe and literally burn its more sensitive tissue. That hurts. Gastroenterologists are generally terrible at explaining what they call “lifestyle modifications.” But together with medicines that we’re really fortunate to have had for over 30 years now, people with GERD can live reasonably normal lives without often ineffective surgery. Those lifestyle modifications include several major changes, but the biggest one is the change to what people like me can eat to avoid pain and damage from the condition. But gastroenterologists are particularly bad at imparting to chronic heartburn sufferers not only which foods to avoid, but which foods are OK to eat. That’s why many people have to go through what I’ve gone through: Painful trial and error with food and drink until we answer those questions for ourselves. To give you an idea how complicated this process of adaptation gets, here’s a list of foods and drinks that can trigger GERD: • Anything acidic—especially acidic fruits and vegetables like citrus fruits, peppers (including chiles) and tomatoes, and ubiquitous food additives like citric acid, malic acid, etc. • Anything too fatty—including fried foods • Anything with caffeine—that’s right, I haven’t had coffee once (ok, I had it literally once) in the last 21 years… and you probably won’t be able to either if you have GERD • Carbonated beverages—which are made
acidic by carbonation in addition to the acids and other triggers present in most fizzy drinks • Anything with mint—sorry, that’s the way it is • Any alcohol—the stronger the booze, and the more you drink, the worse you can be hurt • Any chocolate except white chocolate and Dutch process cocoa • Garlic, onions and quite a few spices and aromatics Keep in mind that triggers can also affect people differently or not affect them at all. Even foods that seem safe may have other chemical compounds in them. Watermelon and cucumbers are good examples. They both seem like they should be safe to eat given their higher pH values, but they both have other things in them that can hurt me and others. In addition, each trigger has its own pain—fat causes me to feel a kind of dull discomfort and acid makes me feel like someone shoved a steel spear through my sternum (which is why I get annoyed with well-meaning hippies that suggest apple cider vinegar as a “cure” for GERD). Most amusing of all, the digestive tract is innervated by the vagus nerve that also innervates the heart and lungs. And our brains can’t differentiate between heartburn pain and scary major disease symptoms very well—explaining how heartburn can make you feel like you can’t breathe or like you’re having some kind of heart attack. The best way to avoid such distressing pain is to avoid triggers. But at the nice restaurant like the one my wife and I were at last Saturday, again, every single dish had at least one GERD trigger in it. And I get it, chefs at fancier places like to experiment with innovative combinations. And they often seek a balance of sweet, salty, bitter, acidic and umami flavors. But acidic foods are the worst heartburn triggers and current trends in fine dining have seen an explosion of dishes featuring preserved foods like pickles and all kinds of vinegars. However, like most people with dietary restrictions, people with GERD don’t want to make life difficult for restaurant staff. Thus we tend to nibble whatever garnish or bread or side we can—or not eat at all—when confronted with a difficult menu like I was last weekend.
10
GAFFEY e Sr
DINER
Enter parking lot from N. Gaffey St.
y Fw 11 0
N. Gaffey
Sepulveda St. Cabrillo Ave.
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
n a recent Saturday night, my wife and I went out for drinks and snacks at a wellknown local restaurant. It’s the kind of place that can get expensive if you’re having a full meal, but isn’t too pricey for a couple of small plates. So hanging out there is an affordable luxury now and then. One of the attractions of such a hip room is that its chef works overtime to change the menu with the seasons and available ingredients. This generally makes for an interesting experience. Problem is: I have heartburn. Not like “ow, ow, I ate four-alarm chili and need some Tums.” The real deal. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. GERD. A sometimes debilitating condition. It doesn’t go away, and there is no cure—although symptoms can be alleviated. Decades of nasty reactions to certain foods and drinks that sometimes stop me from sleeping, make me look at a restaurant menu completely different than people without heartburn look at a menu. Except for a very small list of more or less “safe” cuisines, I mentally label most of every menu I see “off limits.” The challenge for people with chronic heartburn is to find something to eat. Nothing sucks worse than having to sit at the table for an hour sipping water while everyone else is eating, drinking and making merry. Unfortunately, the restaurant industry— from the cheapest greasy spoon to the grandest destination dining room—has made absolutely no accommodation for people with GERD and related conditions. Out of over 30 dishes, I could not eat a single one without modification. And most dishes were cooked in such a way that I could not reasonably ask for a change that would allow me to eat them. Some readers may think, “C’mon, I’ve had
N
1st St.
SEPT 5 Brought to you by the artists and restaurants of the Downtown San Pedro Waterfront Arts District
Michael Stearns Studio@The Loft PLACES WITHOUT WALLS TERRY BRAUNSTEIN AND DINAH BERLAND
Cannery Row Studios
Studio Gallery 345
PAINTINGS BY PAT WOOLLEY AND GLORIA D. LEE
SCHISM
Richard Stephens splits his studio in two to feature works by Wilfred Sarr and Patty Grau. Artists receptions First Thursday Art Walks Sept. 5 and Oct. 3, 5 to 8 p.m. Closing reception Oct. 26., 6 to 9 p.m. Cannery Row Studios @ The Loft, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro. Details: 310-291-5316; canneryrowstudios.com
Pat Woolley
Terry Braunstein
In Places Without Walls artist Terry Braunstein and poet Dinah Berland take turns with image and text, Braunstein making a photomontage, Berland writing a poem, Braunstein responding to the poem with another image, and so on, eventually resulting in a sequence of alternating images and poems. The show opens Sept. 5. Artists’ reception Sept. 15, 2 to 6 p.m. with a poetry reading at 3 p.m.
Studio 345 presents paintings by Pat Woolley and Gloria D Lee. Open 5 to 9 p.m. on First Thursday and by appointment. Studio 345, 345 W. 7th St., San Pedro. Details: 310-545-0832 or 310-374-8055; artsail@roadrunner.com or www.patwoolleyart.com.
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
The exhibition runs through Oct. 26. Michael Stearns Studio@ The Loft, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro. Enter the Loft at the loading dock on 4th St.
The Basement Gallery
SEVEN BOXES & SIX CURIOSITIES
Assemblages by James Preston Allen are selected from a 40-plus-year career of making art. A fascination with found materials and the use of the container are a recurring element. The functionality and banality of the found objects are reinterpreted on intuitive and metaphorical levels — like the images one remembers from a dream that can’t be explained. Basement Gallery, 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro. Open on First Thursday and by appointment.
1ST THURSDAY HAPPY HOUR 8 pm to closing
1ST THURSDAY SPECIAL 1,000 FULL COLOR POSTCARDS 4 x 6” Art supplied
$65 (plus tax)
$5 Appetizers, Well Drinks, Wines by the Glass $3 Domestic Beers, $4 Imported Beers $7 Specialty Drinks Specialing in large parties
Serving Dinner Tues.-Sun. 5 to 10 pm
810 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 831-0246
RLn BRINGS YOU DEDICATED COVERAGE OF THE ARTS IN THE HARBOR AREA. FOR ADVERTISING, CALL 310. 519.1442
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Details: 310-561-7811
11
doing everything in their power to support their clients. Time: 7:45 p.m. Aug. 23 Cost: Free Details: www.feedandbefed.org Venue: The Garden Church, 429 6th St., San Pedro
Aug. 31
MUSIC Aug. 23
Strange Days Rarely, if ever, do tribute artists get to play with the actual artists. But the Doors tribute band Strange Days got to play with Doors guitarist Robby Krieger for three years. Time: 9:30 p.m. Aug. 23 Cost: $10 Details: longbeach. harvelles.com Venue: Harvelle’s Downtown Long Beach, 201 E. Broadway Harold Greene With a Chapman Stick, an electric guitar, loop pedal, and percussion implements, Greene will open the Fortnight 2019 Concert Series. On Aug. 24 Greene welcomes a special guest for a different performance. Time: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 23, 24 Cost: $30 Details: http:// fortnightconcerts.com/ Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro
Aug. 31
Incendio The acclaimed Los Angelesbased group Incendio performs original “world guitar” compositions, featuring virtuoso guitarplaying across a variety of genres: Latin, Middle Eastern, and Celtic grooves. Time: 8 p.m. Aug. 31 Cost: $20 Details: www.alvasshow room.tix.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Aug. 24
Cave of Voices Cave of Voices is an original rock band from Riverside. The group’s collection of songs is an inventive brand of the brazen rock of the American 1960s and ‘90s. Time: 8 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: $10 Details: alvasshowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
12
The Killer Queens The world’s only all-female tribute to Queen will open the show for Dead Man’s Party (Oingo Boingo tribute band). Time: 9 p.m. Aug. 31 Cost: $20 Details: 562-596-4718 Venue: Gaslamp Long Beach, 6251 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach
Sept. 1 Oskar Cartaya, The Ricannection Join the return of Latin Grammy-nominated Oskar Cartaya. His latest project, The Ricannection, bridges his Puerto Rican heritage with musical influences from
around the world. Time: 4 p.m. Sept. 1 Cost: $20 Details: www.alvasshowroom. tix.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
Sept. 5
First Thursday Open Mic Every first Thursday of the month the stage will open to musicians, singer, songwriters and poets from all walks of life. Time: 7 p.m. Sept. 5 Cost: $5 Details: 310-833-4813 Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro Rupert Wates Join an evening of live original music by Rupert Wates, an eclectic mix of acoustic, melodic art and folk, with flavors of jazz, vaudeville and cabaret. Time: 7 p.m. Sept. 5 Cost: Free Details: www.tamizastreats.com Venue: Tamizas Treats, 3525 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite Q, Torrance
Sept. 6
La Bella Vita Trio Top Scandinavian string players violinist Aleksander Koelbel, and cellist Lauri Rantamoijanen join Italian pianist Jacopo Giacopuzzi in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50. Time: 12:15 p.m. Sept 6 Cost: Free Details: 310-316-5574; www.palosverdes.com/Classical Crossroads/FirstFridays.htm; Venue: First Lutheran Church & School, 2900 W. Carson St., Torrance Dave Widow Dave Widow, an established guitarist, singer and songwriter, will bring a rich soulful sound to the second weekend in th Fortnight series with his unique finger-picking style and strong impassioned vocals. Time: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 and 7 Cost: $30 Details: http://fortnightconcerts. com Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro
Sept. 7 Journey Tribute DSB See and experience the band, Next Best Thing To Journey. Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 7 Cost: $20 Details: www.tinyurl.com/journey tributegaslamp Venue: Gaslamp, 6251 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach The Eric Johnson Trio A mixture of swing, blues, pop and soul music. Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 7 Cost: $20 Details: www.alvasshowroom.tix. com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
AUG 22 - SEPT 11 • 2019
Post your event at: www.randomlengthsnews.com/calendar
Sept. 8 Second Sundays At Two Robert Thies is an artist renowned for his consummate musicianship and poetic temperament. He first captured worldwide attention in 1995 when he won the Gold Medal at the Second International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. Time: 2 p.m. Sept. 8 Cost: Free Details: 310-316-5574 Venue: Rolling Hills United Methodist Church, 26438 Crenshaw Blvd., Rolling Hills Estate Hot Fusion Jazz Ezzi/Jazz brings its unique brand of entertainment to The Whale & Ale. Time: 4 p.m. Sept. 8 Cost: Free Details: 310-832-0363; www.whaleandale.com Venue: The Whale & Ale, 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro
Sept. 12
Listen Up! New Artist Night Introducing the Grand Annex’s showcase of musicians on the rise. Featuring Abby & the Myth, Phygg, and Mari Dennis. Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 12 Cost: $15 Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
THEATER Aug. 22
Lonesome West First Look Journey to the west of Ireland where McDonagh’s vision of small-town despair, restlessness, and plain old boredom inspire behavior of the homicidal sort. The show runs through Sept. 15. Time: 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Aug. 22, 23 Cost: $26 to $28 Details: www.littlefishtheatre.org Venue: Little Fish Theatre, 777 S. Centre St., San Pedro
Aug. 23
Titus Andronicus Revenge begets revenge in this gory play about the feud between Tamora, captured queen of the Goths and the Roman general, Titus Andronicus. Time: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sunday, through Sept. 14 Cost: $12.50 to $22.50 Details: lbshakespeare.org. Venue: Helen Borgers Theatre, 4250 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach
Aug. 31 Othello A tragic play of love, jealousy, lies, manipulation and murder where a powerful Moorish general, elopes with the Venetian lady Desdemona. Time: 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday 2 p.m. Sunday Aug. 31 to Sept. 28 Cost: $14 to $24 Details: 562-494-1014; www.lbplayhouse.org
Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
ART
Aug. 22
The Art of Bloom Long Beach’s first immersive popup exhibit focuses on the special relationship between humans and nature. The exhibit runs through Sept. 29, closed Monday and Tuesday. Time: 12 to 10 p.m. Aug. 22 Cost: $12 to $24 Details: www.theartofbloom.com Venue: The Edison Theater, 213 E. Broadway, Long Beach
Aug. 23
Resonance Join the opening Reception of Art@Work’s third rotation will include Long Beach-based artist Daniel Barajas and San Pedro artist Vanessa Madrid. Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 23 Cost: Free Details: 310-519-0936; www.angelsgateart.org Venue: Art@Work Gallery, 100 Oceangate, Suite 375, Long Beach
Aug. 24
Pandora’s Box Artists were encouraged to create art about their perception of Pandora opening the box during this time of political turmoil. The theme of this show is centered around “the box.” Time: 6 p.m. Aug 21, Sept. 5 and 2 p.m. Sept. 22 Cost: Free Details: 562-225-8535; www.galleryazul.com Venue: Gallery Azul, 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro Todo en Ti Fue Naufragio The exhibition will host a viewing of On Death, video footage of a onenight-only performance reflecting on the existential question “why stay alive?” Time: 12 to 4 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: Free Details: 310-519-0936 Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro
Sept. 4 Johns Canyon, A Survey of Work by Harrison Storms Underlying the rich surfaces in the Johns Canyon works and through inscribing horizontal and vertical lines into the surface of each piece, boundaries are established that act as signifiers of classical human anatomy, embodying a state of order. The exhibition runs Aug. 26 through Sept. 19. Time: 5 to 8 p.m., Sept. 4 opening reception Cost: Free Details: 310-660-3010 Venue: El Camino College Art Gallery, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance
Sept. 5
Places Without Walls Terry Braunstein and Dinah Berland take turns with image and text, Braunstein making a photomontage, Berland writing a poem, Braunstein responds with another image, and so on. Artist talk and poetry reading, Sept. 15, 3 p.m. with reception 2 to 6 p.m. The exhibit runs through Oct. 26 Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 5 Cost: Free Details: 562-400-0544; michaelstearnsstudio.com Venue: Michael Stearns Studio @The Loft, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro At Full Volume Joyce Weiss’ work is imaginative and expertly created, with bright colors used “at full volume.” Time: 6 p.m. Sept. 5 Cost: Free Details: 310-519-0936 Venue: San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, 390 W. 7th St., San Pedro Schism Richard Stevens splits his studio in two for the works of Wilfred Sarr and Patti Grau at The Loft. Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Sept 5 Cost: Free Details: 310-831-5757 Venue: Cannery Row Studio, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro
Sept. 7 On the Surface: Wallpaper from 1797 to the Present This survey of applied architectural surface design—wallpaper —presents historic samples from European, English, and American wallpaper designers and manufacturers, as well as reissues of classic patterns and explorations in contemporary design. The exhibit runs through Oct. 26. Time: 6 to 9 p.m.. Sept. 7 Cost: Free Details: www.PalosVerdesArt Center.com Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 Crestridge Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes
Sept. 8 B.A.T. State III: Women Artists in Conversation Co-curators Anita Bunn and Francesco X are presenting a diverse body of prints by women artists from the archives of El Nopal Press in Los Angeles. The exhibit runs through Nov. 14. Time: 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 8 Cost: Free Details: https://tinyurl.com/BATStateIII Venue: Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach
FILM
Aug. 23
The Advocates The film follows homeless service providers working in Los Angeles;
Rescue In The Philippines Refuge from the Holocaust, a one-hour documentary of the untold story of Manuel L. Quezon, the charismatic president of the Philippine Commonwealth (19351944) who helped 1200 Jews escape the Nazis. Time: 6 p.m. Aug. 31 Cost: Free Details: 310-514-9139; www.philippinebookshop.com Venue: Philippine Expressions Bookshop, 479 W. 6th St., Suite 105, San Pedro Deconstructing The Beatles Abbey Road Scott Freiman as he takes the audience on a journey track-bytrack when Abbey Road screens at Art Theatre Long Beach. Time: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 Cost: $10 Details: www.arttheatrelong beach.org Venue: Art Theatre Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach
Sept. 5
Long Beach QFilm Festival The 2019 Long Beach QFilm Festival, Long Beach’s longestrunning film festival, celebrates its 26th year. Time: Sept. 5 to Sept. 8 Cost: $50 for five film pass Details: www.qfilmslongbeach. com Venue: Art Theatre Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach
Sept. 12 Great Unions Make Great Families The Harry Bridges Institute invites the community to alive screening of its second video, The Ybarra/ Cornejo family of the ILWU. Time: 5:45 p.m. Sept. 12 Cost: Free Details: 310-548-7562 Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro
DANCE Sept. 7
El Cabaret Flamenco Join a passionate evening of Flamenco dancing with the high energy and passion of Sarah Parra and Company. Time: 8 to 10 p.m. Sept. 7 Cost: $25 to $45 Details: 310-833-4813; www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Sept. 13
Nuestras Raíces A music and dance concert presented by Compañía Nuestras Raíces and the El Camino College Center for the Arts, in collaboration with Conjunto Hueyapan, Conjunto Chicontepec and Mariachi Los Reyes. Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 13 Cost: $15 to $30 Details: 310-329-5345; artstickets@elcamino.edu Venue: El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance
LITERATURE Aug. 23
Outdoor Book Sale Attention book lovers, join the
[Wavy from p. 91] Palos Verdes Library District book sale inventory for an afternoon of perusing and mingling. Time: 4 to 7 p.m. Aug. 23 Cost: Free Details: 310-377-9584 Venue: Miraleste Library deck, 29089 Palos Verdes Dr., E. Rancho Palos Verdes
Aug. 31
Book Talks Three different authors with diverse backgrounds but all rooted in their Philippine heritage will tell their stories. Time: 3 p.m. Aug. 31 Cost: Free Details: 310-514-9139; www.philippinebookshop.com Venue: Philippine Expressions Bookshop, 479 W. 6th St., Suite 105, San Pedro
FOOD
Aug. 24 2019 Taste of Brews Long Beach The festival features several brands and offerings that are not readily available at retail. Time: 12 to 5 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: $27.90 to $43.19 Details: 714-375-1132; www.go.evvnt.com Venue: Shoreline Aquatic Park, 200 Aquarium Way, Long Beach.
Aug. 25
Mascarpone Cheesecake Join Chef Turok, master of mascarpone cheesecake, for a demonstration and tasting of his signature work. Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: www.pacificfood.org Venue: Pacific Food & Beverage Museum, 731 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro
Aug. 28
COMMUNITY Aug. 22
Aug. 23
Aug. 24 Old Fire Station Museum #38 Open House Vintage Fire Fighting equipment
Los Angeles Urban Ocean Expedition Join NHM to explore the urban ocean off the Los Angeles coast. Natural History Museum scientists brings together the best taxonomists and local collectors to collect, identify and DNA barcode as many species as possible. Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 24, 25 Cost: Free Details: www.nhm.org/lauce Venue: AltaSea at the Port of L.A., 2456 Signal St., San Pedro Aug. 25: Los Angeles Maritime Museum Berth 73, San Pedro
Aug. 29 Music Center Grand Re-opening The Music Center will celebrate the grand re-opening of The Music Center Plaza with free public festivities throughout Labor Day weekend. join a colorful community procession dancing the cumbia and “Big Sing” along and relax at the Splish Splash Plaza Bash in celebration. Time: 4 to 7 p.m. Aug. 29 through Sept. 1 Cost: Free Details: www.musiccenter.org/ visit/plaza Venue: The Music Center Plaza, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
Aug. 31
Long Beach Greek Festival This event will include authentic Greek food, cooking demonstrations, live music, dancing, and much more. Enjoy one of the largest and most popular Greek celebrations throughout Southern California. Time: Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 Cost: $5 Details: http://www.lbgreekfest. org Venue: Greek Orthodox Church, 5761 E. Colorado St., Long Beach
Sept. 2 Labor Day Parade 40th Anniversary Jubilee Los Angeles Long Beach Harbor Labor Coalition celebrate its 40th anniversary with a March starting
LA Fleet Week Education Forum AltaSea will host an Education Forum during Fleet Week cohosted by Battleship Iowa. AltaSea will host two panels representing industry, academia, armed forces and non-profit organizations. Time: 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 29 Cost: Free Details: raube@altasea.org Venue: Space 455, 455 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Aug. 30
Festival of Sail This celebration of sail is held every Labor Day during LA Fleet Week in San Pedro. A “Tallship Village” is set up for the duration of Fleet Week complete with activities, demonstrations, ship tours, and general fun for all ages. All ships will be available for dockside tours. Dockside Tours Daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Harbor Cruises Daily 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Cannon Battles Daily 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Battleship Blast Back for its second year, Battleship Blast will dazzle with battling robots built by high school students over the Labor Day weekend. There will be three one-day competitions with the theme, Destination: Deep Space. The competition is a part of the STEM Expo hosted by the Boeing Company. Galley Wars Each team of service members will be tasked with making their best version of a “surf & turf” entrée, two sides and a dessert using ingredients that are “standard issue” in military kitchens. Time: 1:30 p.m Sept. 1 Venue: Battleship Iowa, 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
Aug. 30 Live Music Nights Cheap Trick on the Main Stage The Wing Tips of San Pedro will kick off Friday night’s crowd with vintage hits from the 1950s and 60s before Cheap Trick takes the stage at 8 p.m. Fast Times, will rock the stage on the night of Aug. 31 performing rock dance music from the ‘80s. Sunday evening’s concert brings popular Los Angeles-based DJ MissNinja to spin Top 40, Hip Hop, Disco and Classic Rock. All entertainment throughout the four-day LA Fleet Week event is free to the public. Details: www.LAFleetWeek. com
Sept. 2 11th Annual Conquer the Bridge Run Contestants can still sign up for the 5.3-mile walk/run over the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
Kool-Aid. Upon presentation to the crowd, he lyrically veiled the full ingredients of the one “spiked” with LSD by announcing, “This one is for kittens — and THIS one is for lions!” And he named it “The Electric Kool-Aid.” It was Romney’s spontaneous moniker that inspired the title of Wolfe’s book, which paints in detail the story of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters’ psychedelic experiments on the Further Bus. When Woodstock 50 was in the works, I asked Wavy G if he would attend the show and he said that if Michael Lang were producing it and asked him, then he would. But as production efforts kept hitting roadblocks, Lang had to call code blue — which has left many people asking: Can Woodstock ever really be recreated? It was a different time… an explosive age of enchanted mischief and innocent dripping-crackling-fried idealism. Very few people still embody that completely anymore without appearing contrived — except Wavy Gravy. He’s the real deal. In this feature, I hope to convey that continuous magic thread that has been woven through the life of Hugh Romney on his “Road to Woodstock” and his transformation into Wavy Gravy. These are highlights of an interview with Wavy G taken at his home in Northern California — known as the Berkeley Hog Farm He invited me into his whimsical art-filled room where he was working on collage art pieces mounted onto 1- to 10-inch thick sliced tree trunk sections taken from fallen trees at the Hog Farm Ranch in Laytonville, Calif. It’s where he and wife Jahanara (formerly Bonnie Beecher) conduct a children’s circus and performing arts camp for nine weeks during the summer with their skilled staff comprised of professional performers, artists and camp veterans. We sat for an hour and a half and talked amidst the explosion of memorabilia and chachka artifacts — Native American meets Eastern spirituality, hippie meets modern-pop culture — a whole encapsulated museum of remnants from decades of tuning-in, turning-on, dropping-out and being-here-now within the psychedelic OM. He graciously told me many of his stories that contributed to the construction of “The Temple of Accumulated Error” (as he calls himself). At 83, Wavy recalls with neon sepia tone clarity all the comical nuances of events, and his co-conspirators’ names — except in parts where he claims his “chromosomes have amnesia”
Wavy Gravy holds the famous photo from Woodstock. File photo
hot for Martha Graham!” [ It was in 1957 in Boston, after reading the Time magazine article “Poetry and Jazz” that Hugh Romney began his magical riff-tery tour—]
HR: I said, I know some musicians — I can write poems — Let’s do that! So I actually started —poetry and jazz — on the east coast (And then later) As I went to the Neighborhood Playhouse, I began reading my poetry in all these different coffeehouses, eventually ending up at Gaslight Café. I did my poetry there and, along with John Brent, became the poetry director of the Gaslight. [ After establishing position, he began yearning again to dose his audience with that transcendent euphonic combo of music and poetry.] HR: I said, ‘John, this is getting tedious, all these poets and stuff — how about having poetry and folk musicians…?’” [ It was around that time a young Bob Dylan walked into the Gaslight for the first time.]
HR: We were doing a hootenanny which means anyone can come in and perform, and he asked me if he could go on stage and I just grabbed the mic and I said, ‘Here he is — the legend in his lifetime — (whispering as if to Dylan) — what’s your name kid?’ (laughter) And we ended up sharing a room up over the Gaslight where many of us gathered and did everything from play cards to smoke dope — in fact Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall was written on my typewriter in that very room…. Bruce Springsteen once asked me (in a mimicked gruff voice), ‘Hey, you still got that typewriter?’… It was actually burned up in a fire along with the first draft of Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall — and Lenny Bruce’s couch. Lenny Bruce was my manager and friend at the time… We had many adventures together.
Hugh Romney: I’m art school trained among other things. I was doing collage in the ‘60s when everybody did … I started at Boston University School of Theatre but when some of my teachers quit (after campus changes) they took me with them to New York … so that’s how I ended up on 54th Street at Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, which was the finest theatre school in the world. And, Martha Graham also taught dance there (as did Sanford Meisner and Daniel Mann).
HR: [As I hosted at the Gaslight] my poems got shorter and shorter and disappeared into haikus. And I started talking about all the weird stuff that happened to me on whatever day it was and finally this guy came up to me and said, “Look, skip the poetry — just talk about the weird stuff!” And he put me in a suit and mailed me around the country opening for rising stars in folk music like Ian & Sylvia. I opened at The Bitter End with Peter Paul & Mary… I put out a couple of albums and did a lot of stand-up — and then went out to California and joined up with Thelonius Monk at the Renaissance in Hollywood— that was a big thrill!” [ After leaving the touring scene, Hugh Romney decided to take a hiatus — some might call it a vision quest ]
HR: She was amazing! She had feet like cypress trees — I wanted to lick them! Oh I was
Continue reading online at www.randomlengthsnews.com/2019/08/21/ wavygravy
Hugh Romney
Performer and poet: Greenwich Village and the Gaslight years
Stephanie Serna: You’re a collage artist originally, is that right?
SS: Wow! So what was Martha Graham like?
August 22 - September 11, 2019
4th Fridays on 4th Street Come and squeeze out the last bit of summer for this month’s #FOURTHFRIDAYS. Join the summer fun on Retro Row. Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 23 Cost: Free Details: 4thstreetlongbeach.com Venue: 4th St., from Temple Ave. to Cherry Ave., Long Beach
Letterpress Wayzgoose and Surplus Sale Join the Letterpress Surplus sale, with free entry. Printing presses, windmills, wood and metal type, printing cuts, type cabinets and paper cutters will be for sale. The Letterpress Wayzgoose Celebration 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. is $20 per person, admission includes all activities, workshops and lectures. Time: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: $20 for celebration Details: printmuseum.org/ wayzgoose Venue: The International Printing Museum, 315 W. Torrance Blvd., Carson
2019 Fleet Week Activities and Events Aug. 29
Wavy Gravy
Shark Week Activities Extended Due to popular demand, CMA extended some Shark Week activities through the month of August. Come watch them feed the sharks. Time: 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Aug. 31 Cost: Free Details: 310- 548-7562 Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro
Railroad Museum Community Day Join Lomita’s annual Community Day with local entertainment, raffles, face painting and art activities for the children, local food trucks, live music and dance, museum tours and railroad memorabilia. Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: $4 Details: www.lomita-rr.org Venue: Lomita Railroad Museum, 2137 W. 250th St., Lomita
at 10 a.m. at Broad and E St. in Wilmington and a rally will begin at Banning Park at 12 p.m. including speakers, music, food and shuttle buses. Time: 8 a.m. Sept. 2 Cost: Free Details: 562-481-7275; www.lalblaborcoalition.com Venue: Banning Park, 401 E. M St., Wilmington
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Taste of Downtown: Waterfront Taste of Downtown showcases downtown Long Beach’s culinary culture, where restaurants come to a single place to offer patrons sample-sized portions of some of their best dishes. Time: 6 p.m. Aug. 28, 29 Cost: $1 to $40 Details: www.tinyurl.com/ tastedowntown Venue: Shoreline Village, 401 Shoreline Village Drive, Long Beach
will be on display at the Old Fire Station in the San Pedro City Municipal Building. Time: 10 a.m. Aug. 24 Cost: Free Details: 310-548-7538 Venue: Fire Station #38, 639 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
13
[Perry Mason from p. 8]
Perry Mason
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
color and faith and creed were never portrayed as determinants in guilt or innocence — this is a reality that most people who were alive then would not have found foreign. We just might wonder what if Cyntoia Brown, the woman who was released from prison after having her sentence for murder and robbery commuted to 15 years this past month, had Perry Mason as her lawyer? Brown, at the age of 16, was convicted of the murder and robbery of Johnny Michael Allen. Brown said that Allen had paid her $150 to have sex with him and that she feared for her life during their encounter, leading her to shoot him. Prosecutors argued that Brown killed Allen in order to rob him. Brown was found guilty and sentenced to 51 years to life. After renewed interest in her case in 2018, the governor of Tennessee commuted her original sentence to 15 years. She was released earlier this month. Before her arrest for Allen’s murder, Brown had become a runaway teen after spending time in her state’s Department of Children’s Services
14
between April 2001 and September 2003. She was a sex trafficking victim who fell between the cracks of the social safety net. If Brown had Perry Mason as her lawyer, or if she lived in his fictional universe, she might never have been convicted as he would have argued self defense. Such was not the case nor is it often in the way justice rarely is blind.
Just who was Erle Stanley Gardner?
Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was a lawyer and author who is best known for his Perry Mason series of detective stories. Gardner was born in Malden, Mass. in 1889 before he relocated to the West Coast with his family at the age of ten. Encouraged by his father to take up the law, he passed the bar at the age of 21 and settled in Oxnard, California where he became known for his spirited and creative defense of the Chinese community. His notoriety came to the attention of H.F. Orr who, in 1915, recruited Gardner to join his law firm, known today as Benton, Orr, Duval and Buckingham. By the 1920s Gardner was spending more
Erle Stanley Gardner at work at Rancho del Paisano in Temecula Calif.
and more time on his second career, writing short stories for pulp magazines. Many of these tales featured plots revolving around legal problems and obscure laws. In 1933 Gardner published his first novel: The Case of the Velvet Claw, featuring something previously unknown to detective fiction at the time: a crime-solving lawyer. The novel’s protagonist, Perry Mason, became an instant hit and was made into a feature film of the same name in 1936. Perry Mason became a recurring character in Hollywood films through the rest of the 1930s, after Gardner left the law firm to write full time. With the success of the Mason series, Gardner gradually reduced his contributions to the pulp magazines until the medium itself died in the 1950s. Gardner published a few short stories in Collier’s, Sports Afield and Look magazines but most of his postwar contributions were nonfiction articles on travel, Western history and forensic science. Gardner and his first wife had separated in the early 1930s, and after her death in 1968, Gardner married Agnes Jean Bethell (1902–2002), his secretary since 1930. Perry Mason’s fictional secretary Della Street, was a composite of Jean and her two sisters, Peggy and Ruth, who also worked as secretaries for Gardner. [Hotel from p. 3]
Hotel Plans OKd
“This is a hotel, it’s a commercial project, it’s not multi-family housing,” Nave said. “When we talked about density for this area’s part of the plan, we were assuming we were talking about residential density. [We] never considered that this would then be applied to a hotel.” Irving said he is not disappointed with the board’s decision, but believes it undermines the law. Robin Rudisill said it sets an unhealthy precedent that other projects will expect the same special treatment. Noel Gould of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council said the developers should add more parking spaces. The hotel will be parked to code with 62 parking spaces and 20 bike spaces, but Gould said this will flood the streets with people looking for parking. Scott Greenspan, vice president of 544 Pacific LLC, said that if they were unable to build the hotel with the full 80 units, they would have to take into serious consideration whether they would go through with the project.
Gardner, last major project was the dramatized court television show, The Court of Last Resort, the concept of which was taken from his true-crime column and Edgar Award-winning 1952 book of the same name. The Court of Last Resort sought to review, and when appropriate, reverse miscarriages of justice against criminal defendants who had been convicted because of poor legal representation, abuse, misinterpretation of forensic evidence or careless or malicious actions of police and prosecutors. The author collaborated extensively with his many friends in the forensic, legal, and investigative communities to ensure his work was on firm footing. Gardner’s body of work as a lawyer and a writer likely inspired an untold number of people to become police officers, lawyers, and judges with the uncynical belief that the wheels of justice turns slowly, but grind exceedingly fine. [Costs from p. 8]
Wages and Costs
intent of all of this is to keep Hollywood studios filming in LA and keep local talent working. The recent Perry Mason remake by HBO is a case in point. Several hundred actors, film crew and teamsters from southern California get hired; most of these are good union jobs. Yet curiously enough, two of the three leading actors the highest paid on most film shoots, Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason) and Tatiana Maslany (who plays Sister Alice, the leader of the Radiant Assembly of God) are both foreign born. This has become a tradition in Hollywood of importing talent yet seeking to keep productions “local.” Sort of ironic don’t you think? So for all of the disruption of the business area and buzz this film shoot created not much notice was taken of the overtly racist billboard planted strategically across from La Buvette Wine Bistro and the The Whale & Ale. Many people gawked at the antique cars and liked the fictional store fronts that made 7th Street “come alive” as one local said. But the huge advertisement with the “Colored Flying Circus” was politely ignored during a week when racism and white nationalism grabbed the headlines because of two mass shootings of people of color elsewhere. It wasn’t even a topic of discussion until this reporter posed the question — “So just what do you think about that?”
-shows not set in a specific state, for a long time.
CLASSIFIED ADS RLN SEEKING SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR Responsibilities include: • Advertising sales— print and digital • Selling event sponsorships • Developing and maintaining social media Requirements: • 2-plus years of advertising or marketing experience • Online marketing experience • Reliable transportation RLn offers: • Unlimited earning potential • Great work environment • Creative thinking Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States. Random Lengths News is an equal opportunity employer. Send resumé to james@ randomlengthsnews.com or drop by the office at 1300 S. Pacific Ave. in San Pedro.
CAREER TRAINING CAREERS begin here – Get started by training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Job placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 800725-1563 (AAN CAN)
LEGAL AID
Have $10K In Debt? Credit Cards. Medical Bills. Personal Loans. Be Debt Free in 2448 Months. Call NATIONAL DEBT RELIEF! Know Your Options. Get a FREE debt relief quote: Call 1-888970-0133
FREE Installation! Save HUNDREDS over Cable and DIRECTV. Add Internet as low as $14.95/mo! Call Now 1-800-373-6508 (AAN CAN)
MUSIC LESSONS
ROOM WANTED
Master violin lessons with concertmaster for John Tesh, Mason Williams, concertmaster/soloist with LOST orchestra and music professor at LA Harbor College. Exclusive Summer lessons for the serious-minded student. Call 310-548-1659. www.JimSitterly.com.
Single man, actor, needs room to rent on long-term basis for intermittant workrelated stays. Non-smoker, no drugs, no pets. Call Peter, 707-815-3640.
HOME IMPROVEMENT ENERGY SAVING NEW WINDOWS! Beautify your home! Save on monthly energy bills with NEW WINDOWS from 1800Remodel! Up to 18 months no interest. Restrictions apply. Call Now 1-855-900-7192 (AAN CAN) **STOP STRUGGLING ON THE STAIRS** Give your life a lift with an ACORN STAIRLIFT! Call now for $250 OFF your stairlift purchase and FREE DVD & brochure! 1-866-221-7595
MISC.
FOR RENT Furnished Room for Rent, separate entrance, bath, kitchenette near beach in San Pedro. No pets, no smoking or overnight guests. 310-514-2986.
REAL ESTATE FOR LEASE Autobody shop 2K sq. ft. w/ yard 6K sq. ft. in San Pedro. 310-377-2700.
SENIOR LIVING A PLACE FOR MOM has helped over a million families find senior living. Our trusted, local advisors help find solutions to your unique needs at no cost to you. 1-855-9932495 (AAN CAN)
Applying for Social Security Disability or Appealing a Denied Claim? Call Bill Gordon & Assoc., Social Security Disability Attorneys, 1-877-4190285! FREE Consultations. Local Attorneys Nationwide [Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington DC. Office: Broward Co. FL (TX/NM Bar.)
Live-in caregiver for elderly or children w/housekeeping service available in Harbor Area. Experienced care, references available, bi-lingual. 562-507-8612
Denied Social Security Disability? Appeal! If you’re 50+, filed for SSD and denied, our attorneys can help get you approved! No money out of pockets! Call 1-844-218-7289
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME Case No. 19LBCP00255 Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles Petition of: Joey Nathan GarciaVillela By Priscilla Garcia (Parent) for Change of Name TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner Joey Nathan
(AAN CAN)
HEALTH DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. NOT just a discount plan, REAL coverage for [350] procedures. Call 1-844-335-8400 for details. www.dental50plus.com/ lengths6118-0219
AUTOS WANTED
CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too! Call 866-535-9689 (AAN CAN)
PERSONALS A successful woman retired, attractive, financially secure, seeking similar gentleman age 65 to 80. (310) 684-1448. I don’t like online dating.
LEGAL FILINGS Garcia-Villela By Priscilla Garcia (Parent) filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Joey Nathan Garcia-Villela to Joey Nathan Garcia The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at
ROSY SCENARIO
q Vintage-Collectibles r Wed.-Sun., noon to five Brown Bros. Building 461 W. 6th St., Suite 106, San Pedro
GOOD STUFF • GREAT PRICES
V
W
Bulletin Board
REAL ESTATE INVESTOR seeks to purchase commercial or multi-unit residential properties in San Pedro. No Agents please. 310-241-6827
W
DISH TV - Over 190 Channels Now ONLY $59.99/ mo! 2yr price guarantee,
REAL ESTATE SERVICES
(310) 833-8977
Specializing in small businesses CPA quality service at very reasonable rates
www.donmarshallcpa.com
PLEASE HELP! The animals at the Harbor Animal Shelter have ongoing need for used blankets, comforters, pet beds.* Drop off at Harbor Animal Shelter 957 N. Gaffey St.,San Pedro • 888-452-7381, x 143 PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PET! *In any condition. We will wash and mend.
Worry-Free Tax & Accounting Service • Payroll • Income Tax • Notary Service
Save time. Save money. Save stress. Just Relax Tax Service
870 W. 9th St., Ste. 100A, San Pedro Call for appt. today 310.221.0034 • www.justrelaxtax.com
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 is 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: 8-27-19 Time: 8:30 am Dept.: S26 Room: 5500 The address of the court is 275 Magnolia Ave,, Long Beach, CA 90802 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 circulation,
DOWN
1 Collegiate URL tag 2 Desserts served in bars 3 African sightseeing trips 4 Boosler of stand-up 5 13.1-mile races, informally 6 Switch ending 7 Peter Shaffer play about a stableboy 8 “If I Ever Fall in Love” R&B group (1992) 9 Conduit under a road 10 “The House of the Spirits” author Isabel 11 Demolition expert 13 Ocean floater with a bell 14 Armenia and Georgia, once 17 Liar, relatively politely 20 Word before tender or guardian 21 ___ Recordings (label cofounded by Lil Jon)
26 Rainforest inhabitant 28 Sch. founded by Thomas Jefferson 29 “La mer” salt 30 Protective auto accessory 31 Put together 32 “___ Boot” (1981 film remade as a Hulu series) 33 Eggs in nigiri sushi 34 Magazine unit 35 Sleeping sickness transmitters 36 Emperor who abdicated on 4/30/2019 37 Movie theaters 38 Title for the Virgin Mary 39 What some music stores sell 40 Danson of “The Good Place” 42 “___ on both your houses!” 43 Comedian Eugene who plays Gene on “Bob’s Burgers” 46 Cpl. and Sgt., e.g. 47 “Fantastic” character in a Roald Dahl book 48 Traveler’s reference 49 Norw. neighbor 51 Agricultural warehouse 52 Nonchalance 55 First openly transgender NCAA Division I athlete ___ Allums
© 2019 MATT JONES, Jonesin’ Crosswords For answers go to: www.randomlengthsnews.com printed in this county: Daily Journal and RLn. Date July 16, 2019 Michael P. Vicencia Judge of the Superior Court 7/22, 7/29, 8/5, 8/12/2019
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2019222007 The following person is doing business as: (1) Unique Design and Promotional Unlimited, 435 W. 1st Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: David L. Soto, 435 W. 1st Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. 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/. David L. Soto, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Ange-
les on August 15, 2019. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of the 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: 08/22/19, 08/29/19, 09/12/19, 09/26/19
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Don Marshall, MBA, CPA
the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted.
50 With 54-Across, 1994-1998 Nickelodeon show set in the town of Paradise Valley 53 Valley that’s the site of the Reagan Presidential Library 54 See 50-Across 56 “And others” 57 “Alas” 58 Mark of “The Full Monty” 59 Okay, but not great 60 Ballot markings 61 The Big Board, for short
Don Marshall CPA, Inc.
ACROSS
1 To be, to Brutus 5 “___ Haw” (show with the segment “Gloom, Despair and Agony On Me”) 8 Wound remnant 12 Two-way 13 Root beer brand that “has bite” 15 1991 NHL MVP Brett 16 2004-2007 Nickelodeon show with Emma Roberts set somewhere in the eastern U.S. 18 Penne ___ vodka (pasta dish) 19 Long-running soap where the location of Salem wasn’t revealed until 2013 21 ___ New York (upscale department store chain) 22 Tallahassee-to-Tampa dir. 23 Sinus doc 24 Video game designer Sid who created the “Civilization” series 25 “En ___!” (fencer’s call) 27 Starter starter? 28 It helps connect older computers to newer devices 33 Current CW show set in “Rockland County” 35 Meals in a shell 38 National Coming ___ Day 41 Backgrounds for fireworks 42 Entertain 44 A in a Wagner opera? 45 Albuquerque coll. 48 Had high hopes
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Need Help with Family Law? Can’t Afford a $5000 Retainer? Low Cost Legal Services- Pay As You Go- As low as $750-$1500- Get Legal Help Now! Call 1-844-8218249 Mon-Fri 7am to 4pm PCT (AAN CAN)
Need IRS Relief $10K $125K+. Get Fresh Start or Forgiveness. Call 1-855-3992890, Monday through Friday 7AM-5PM PST (AAN CAN)
V
JOBS
“Unstated”
15
San Pedro spends a week promoting solutions of peace through activities, in attitude and as an alternative to the war party the U.S. military throws every Labor Day during L.A. Fleet Week. #PeaceOnTheLAWaterfront #LAHarborPeaceWeek2019 Contact and get involved: (310) 971-8280; sojournerrb@yahoo. com Aug. 29 Peace Table and Canvas Gather around JDC Records Shop and discuss the peace-making politics of today. Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Venue: JDC Records, 447 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Movie at the Garden: Paths of Glory A screening of Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 Paths of Glory honoring the late peace activist, radio host and former Maryknoll priest, Blase Bonpane will be shown at The Garden Church. Time: 7:30 to 10 p.m. Cost: Free Venue: The Garden Church, 429 W. 6th St., San Pedro Aug. 30 Literature Canvassing Come to the USS Iowa to share literary works with the community about peace week. Time: 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Venue: USS Iowa, 1st Street and Harbor Boulevard, San Pedro
4th Annual L.A. Harbor Peace Week 2019
Peace Vigil March Join San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice members march through Pedro spreading the message of peace for all peoples. Time: 5 to 6:15 p.m. Location: 1st and Gaffey streets, San Pedro Then march to USS Iowa at 6:30 p.m. for songs of peace at the Iowa.
Peace for the Planet Vigil Peace week participators will go to Banning Park and offer solace and prayer for those affected by militarism Time: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Venue: Banning Park, 1331 Eubank Ave., Wilmington
No War on Iran and Venezuela, Bring our Troops Home! Peace demonstrators will occupy the promenade and USS Iowa to contest messages of war against Venezuela and Iran. Time: 7 to 9:30 p.m. Venue: 2nd Street and Harbor Boulevard
All Peace Speak Out Teach-in and canvas Time: 3 to 5 p.m. Venue: Waterfront Promenade at the Iowa, 5th Street and Harbor Boulevard. Sept. 2 Rally for Victims of War V4P Crosses and Memorial Time: 1 to 3 p.m.
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Labor Day Sept. 3 Conquer the Bridge 5K Run Peace gifts for the runners. Promote Peace Not War in our town events. Time: 7 to 10 a.m. Venue: Harbor Boulevard between 2nd and 5th streets, San Pedro
3 Show Solidarity 3 Community Outreach 3 Educate Readers 3 Exclusive Distribution
Kaiser Permanente Workers Vote to Strike
August 22 - September 11, 2019
Peace with Iran Evening Persian food speakers and music Time: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Cost: $15 donation, sliding scale Venue: The Garden Church, 429 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Celebrate the 40th Annual Labor Day Parade
LABOR Notes The 38,000 workers who have voted to authorize an October strike at Kaiser Permanente facilities throughout California may be the first wave of a storm that becomes the largest nationwide strike in a generation. The nurses, doctors, technicians and maintenance employees planning to walk out are basic components of Kaiser’s core services, and their dissatisfaction likewise stems from the building block issues — higher wages, adequate staffing for patients and compassionate use of technology. Meanwhile, 40,000 more Kaiser employees are preparing to take a similar strike-authorization vote in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. This past December, the National Labor Relations Board charged Kaiser with no bargaining in good faith, and even more seriously, wrongly tying negotiations to a ban on political activity including picketing (informational). In a letter to employees, Kaiser Permanente alleges no proposed changes to wages and pension benefits. However, employees explain that Kaiser Permanente is offering a 3 percent wage increase while increasing medical copays, “The raises are tied to allowing future employees, beginning in 2021 to be hired at 15 percent less than what current employees make,” said James Bell, a radiologist in Downey and a member of the SEIU-UHW bargaining committee. New employees would receive less retirement benefits, fewer personal days for vacation and sick time and other takeaways reminiscent of the takeaway and giveback contracts of the past two decades. Importantly, the unionists are fighting for more staffing to better care for patients. The coalition of unions involved found that Kaiser’s chief executive salary had risen from $6 million in 2015 to $16 million in 2017. In addition, Kaiser has 36 executives with annual salaries over $1 million. According to the Los Angeles Times, management did not dispute these figures. Speaking for management, John Nelson, Kaiser vice president of communications said, “At a time when we are working hard to keep our care affordable, the coalitions demands are not fair to our members and the communities we serve.” Independent of these talks, KP mental health workers, represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, are in their own dispute and in July rejected KP’s latest offer. Send relevant news items to: mark. 16 friedman@randomlengthsnews.com
Venue: Peace Park, 6th Street and Harbor Boulevard, San Pedro
PUBLISHES AUG. 29 Reservation Deadline August 23
Reserve Your Space Today!
310-519-1442
rlnsales@randomlengthsnews.com DON’T MISS OUT — SIGN UP TODAY! Random Lengths News is the only newspaper that stands by the working men and women of the LA/LB Harbor Area and has for 4 decades. RLn is proud of the support and readership of the region’s labor unions, which allow Random Lengths exclusive distribution inside their union halls. REACH OUR NETWORK OF 120,000 READERS EVERY TWO WEEKS ON PRINT & ONLINE!
SAN PEDRO | LONG BEACH | RPV | WILMINGTON | CARSON | LOMITA | HARBOR CITY