Celebrate Peace Week or Fleet Week p. 14 Lowriders teach art not war p. 15
n Aug. 6, 2017, Honesto Silva Ibarra died in a Seattle hospital. Silva was a guest worker — a Mexican farm worker brought to the United States under contract to pick blueberries. He worked first in Delano, Calif. And then in Sumas, Wash., next to the Canadian border. His death and the political and legal firestorm it ignited has unveiled a contract labor scheme reminiscent of the United States’ infamously exploitative mid-century Bracero Program. In a suit filed January in the U.S. District Court in the state of Washington, the state’s rural legal aid group, Columbia Legal Services charged that Silva’s employer, Sarbanand Farms, “violated federal anti-
trafficking laws through a pattern of threats and intimidation that caused its H-2A workforce to believe they would suffer serious harm unless they fully submitted to Sarbanand’s labor demands.” Those demands, as described in the complaint, were extreme and Silva’s coworkers believe he died as a result. Sarbanand Farms belongs to Munger Brothers, a family corporation in Delano, Calif. Since 2006, the company has annually brought more than 600 workers from Mexico under the H-2A visa program to harvest 3,000 acres of blueberries in California and Washington. Munger, the largest blueberry grower in North [See Suffer, p.7]
as it was quick in coming By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor On Aug. 13, members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local #2375, known by most in the Los Angeles Harbor as the Piledrivers Union, were shocked to learn that Local #2375 was dissolved and assigned to a new chartered local without even having a say in the matter. Effective Aug. 14, Local 2375 and 14 other locals in the Southwest Council were replaced with seven new locals. All “affiliate local union” were restructured
Portrait of piledriver from noted labor photographer Slobodan Dimitrov.
August 23 - September 5, 2018
When casualties aren’t just a thing of war p. 13
O
Story and photos by David Bacon, RLn Contributor
Piledrivers Local 2375 Is No More The storied local’s dissolution was as shocking
Dems pursue four House seats in OC p. 12
The H-2A Farm Worker Program creates a pipeline of cheap, disposable labor
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
YAKIMA, WA — The hands of Manuel Ortiz, who came to the U.S. from Mexico as a bracero in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and spent decades working as a farm worker in California and Washington, show a life of work. Photo by David Bacon/The Progressive.
[See Piledrivers, p.3]
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August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Community Announcements:
Harbor Area Back to School: Veteran and Child
The Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is hosting a day focusing on how women vets can successfully complete their educational goals. Speakers and attendees will discuss issues faced when returning to school, including financial obligations, childcare, and how to successfully balance family, work and school. Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: Free Details: https://tinyurl.com/2018WomenVeterans Venue: U.S. VETS–Long Beach, 2001 River Ave., Long Beach
The Centrality of Race
Left Coast Forum addresses the challenge that considerations of racial justice need to be infused in every issue progressive communities address. There will be more than 45 panels and trainings. Time: 5 p.m. Aug. 24 to 6 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: $0 to $125 Details: https://tinyurl.com/LeftCoastForum Venue: Los Angeles Trade Tech College, 400 Washington Blvd., Los Angeles
Red Cross Urges Blood Donations
The American Red Cross urges community members to give blood and platelets now and help end an emergency summer blood shortage. To ensure life-saving treatments remain available for patients donations are needed now, especially type O. Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 24 Venue: PCPI Shoreline Square, LLC, 301 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach Time: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Aug. 24, 25, 26 and 31 Venue: American Red Cross Greater Long Beach Chapter, 3150 E. 29th St., Long Beach Time: 12 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27 through 29 Venue: American Red Cross Greater Long Beach Chapter, 3150 E. 29th St., Long Beach Time: 10:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Aug. 30 Venue: American Red Cross Greater Long Beach Chapter, 3150 E. 29th St., Long Beach Time: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 30 Venue: Port of Long Beach, 4801 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach Details: www.RedCrossBlood.org/Together
Give Kids a Chance
Prospective New Docent Open House
Discover how docents from Los Serenos de Point Vicente share their knowledge of the Peninsula’s natural history. Time: 7 p.m. Aug 29 Cost: Free Details: (310) 544-5265; losserenos.org. Venue: Point Vicente Interpretive Center, 31501 Palos Verdes Drive West, Rancho Palos Verdes
Port Master Plan Study EIR Public Meeting
Volunteers are needed for the Dana Point Tall Ship Festival 2018. Time: To be determined, Sept. 5 through 10 Details: (310) 833-6055 Location: Dana Point departing from San Pedro
into zip-code districts. Local #2375 was ‘signed over’ in compliance with the Regional Council Plan on Aug. 11 at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ San Diego Delegates meeting. The letter posted at the Wilmington business office stated that the Wilmington business office will be combined with Carpenters Local #630 to become Local #562 in Long Beach and members will be reassigned to others new local union districts by zip-code. No explanation was given, other than “This is the Plan.” A sign on the back fence summed up the general feeling of how this decision came about and delivered: “We own you, you pay us money so you can work, you have no say in the future of how this organization works, you work for us! To most in the Local, this wasn’t a restructuring. This was a ‘rude takeover.’” Outgoing president of Local 2375 Thomas Ledesma expressed with regret with the way the restructuring went down on an Aug. 13 Facebook posting. “[I] went by the hall this morning at 6 am. It’s already going down. As the outgoing President I feel very responsible. I wish I had more answers.” Past Local #2375 president, Bill Myers, was one of those shocked by the move, though not entirely surprised. He said he warned of something like this happening in the past and it now came to fruition. Myers noted that the change has made the geographical area broader but didn’t broaden the scope of the work. “If you take away the autonomy of the local union and its all under the regional council all the local workers are employees of the regional council,” Meyers explained. A map released by the regional council seems to confirm Meyers observation, but a letter attached to the map written by the Carpenter’s Union executive secretary-treasurer noted that the broadened jurisdictional map doesn’t affect wages or benefits. Myers said he struggled to get into the local’s building to retrieve private property that was on loan to the local, including photographs taken by famed labor photographer, Slobodan Dimitrov, and tools his father used during his day as an active member of the local. This action by the Regional Council of Carpenters closes the doors on 114-year history of Bridge, Dock and Wharf Builders and Pile Drivers as a specialty local union membership. Local #2375 was originally organized in 1904 in San Pedro and was instrumental in the construction of offshore marine facilities, inland water projects and roadway inter-structure. The move is part of a general restructuring of United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ Western District and a continuation of the anti-democratic measures pushed by the national leaders on down. The Carpenters, like most other craft unions coming out of the American Federation of Labor, use to be a union that allowed its locals substantial autonomy in bargaining and representing their members. That began to change in 1988, when the United Brotherhood of Carpenters International began consolidating
Photo by Slobodan Dimitrov.
locals into a district council system. Since the International Convention of 2000, a system of regional councils has been implemented, further reducing the number of districts and high ranking board members from 13 down to 10.
The change was intended to address the regionalization of the contracting industry. The days in which contractors involved in the construction trades worked locally had given way to working further afield. [See Piledrivers, p. 22]
August 23 - September 5, 2018
LAMI Needs You
Piledrivers Local 2375 Is No More
The public is invited to a meeting to gather input for an environmental study of an update to the Port of Long Beach’s Master Plan. The public can comment on the draft notice of preparation through Sept. 10. Submit comments in writing to Heather Tomley, Director of Environmental Planning, Port of Long Beach, 4801 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach, CA 90815, or ceqa@polb.com. Time: 6:30 p.m. Aug. 30 Details: www.polb.com/ceqa, www.polb.com/ masterplanupdate. Venue: Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, 5870 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach
[Piledrivers from p. 1]
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Schools in the LAUSD lose $600 million annually to the privatization of education. Join parents, teachers, students and community leaders in a conversation on the state of public education. Time: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Aug 29 Cost: Free Details: (213) 440-0977; emartinez@utla.net Venue: ILWU Community Hall, 231W. C Street, Wilmington
Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 30 Years
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Special Education Lawsuit Moves to Mediation By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Lawyers for some parents of disabled children have agreed to mediation with lawyers for Los Angeles Unified School District, the latest turn in a class-action suit that began in 2013 over district policies concerning children who require special education. On Aug. 9 the decision to go to mediation was made in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, with Suzanne Snowden representing Frances Moreno and Mina Lee, parents who had children in special education centers in 2013 but were forced to send them to general education schools. Seymour Amster represented a third parent, April Munoz, with a similar complaint. Both suits have asked the parents be certified as a subclass, and argued that certification has been repeatedly denied at the district level. In the most recent appeals court filing, the lawyers for the parents argued: “This class division, therefore, can be summarized as those families who want their children to be educated on a special education center and those families who do not. Class Counsel has only represented the latter group, with the former group being left without representation.” “They [LAUSD] opposed our TRO [temporary restraining order] on the grounds that Mina Lee and Frances Moreno did not have children attending those special education centers and [District Judge Ronald Lew] granted denial for that reason,” Snowden told the appeals court.
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The fact is that Moreno’s daughter, Maya, had Cavanagh syndrome, a rare brain disease, Snowden explained to the court, but the LAUSD removed her from a special education center and placed her in a general education setting. Maya died at age 12 in 2015. “The Morenos believe that because this child was placed from an appropriate education center to an inappropriate general ed placement that hastened her death,” Snowden added. Several other parents including Mina Lee and April Munoz, in court declarations, also complained about special education centers being closed and moderate-to-severely disabled children placed in general education settings without parents’ consent. Lee’s son was blind, deaf, and intellectually challenged but in 2013 LAUSD forced him to attend Fairfax High School. When he proved unable to master general coursework, the school said he had behavioral issues. Representing LAUSD at the appeals court, Melinda Bird and Barnett Green argued the intervenors do not define a subclass and are free to file cases as individuals. “We don’t oppose certification of a subclass … all of the concerns have been addressed,” Bird said. At issue is whether LAUSD violated the 1975 federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, often referred to as IDEA, as well as the 1995 Chanda Smith Modified Consent Decree,
by transferring students from special to general education campuses, without changing their individualized education programs and without parental permission. The Chanda Smith Modified Consent Decree is named after a special-needs LAUSD student that the American Civil Liberties Union successfully represented in a federal case. It resulted in an Office of the Independent Monitor being created to oversee the district’s compliance with the consent decree. The ACLU remains involved in enforcing compliance. The parents’ case alleges that, beginning
in 2012, the district and independent monitor moved solely to meet the quota requirement in a stipulation referred to as Renegotiated Outcome 7. That quota stated the district had to reduce the number of students at special education centers by a total of 33 percent within three years, 2012 to 2015. “The intervenors [the parents] want the right to represent these kids,” said Eric Jacobson, another lawyer familiar with the parents’ case, in a phone interview. “[At present] only the ACLU does. We don’t have the power to enforce [applicable law].... We should not be fighting.” Jacobson said that if the parents can’t be certified as a subclass, they must defer to the independent monitor who, he maintains, is representing “only parents who believe in full inclusion [assigning special-education students to general education settings].”
LA Youth Energized by Algalita Innovators Conference By Mark Friedman, LA Maritime Institute Marine Science Educator More than 50 youth from the South Bay attended the Algalita Innovation Forum on the weekend of Aug. 3, featuring youth-developed innovations to reduce ocean plastic pollution. The three-day conference featured panel discussions and presentations about the latest commercial innovations as substitutes for plastic bottles, straws, bags and fishing nets. The teenaged participants worked on innovations of their own and short video presentations. Algalita bridges real-world science with real-
Bhaskar, said she came away from the forum feeling renewed and inspired. “Serving on a panel at the forum and leading a design workshop filled with participatory and engaged and passionate youth thinkers allowed me to share and learn from all parties in attendance,” Bhaskar said. “I plan to take my heightened understanding of the problem and possible solutions to Harvard in the fall.” Over three days, youth heard presentations about the latest cutting-edge commercial
Attendees of the Aug. 3 Algalita Innovators Forum pose for a photo. Photo by Mark Friedman
time solutions to inspire teachers and students to find their place within the movement to combat plastic pollution, primarily through educating, and equipping local and global influencers to prevent plastic pollution. Students like Los Angeles Maritime Institute Marine youth crew member Marlen Bautista, of the bilingual the Explora la Costa program exuded excitement about the future in combating plastic pollution. “I really felt inspired that young people care about plastic in the ocean,” said the student, who serves an interpreter for LAMI. “I felt a sense of solidarity and community. What mostly impacted me was that I realized that everything I use has plastic. I feel guilty yet inspired to make a difference.” “The reason why I take time out of my life to help other people’s problems is because I want to be the change,” added Jose Velasquez, an Animo High School student. “I want to see in the world.” Algalita’s chief youth officer, Anushka
innovations as substitutes for plastic bottles, straws, bags, fishing nets (into skateboards), etc. Algalita education director Anika Ballent was pleased with the outcome of the forum. “It was incredible to see the event come together and to share the depth of knowledge on the complexities of plastic pollution with these driven and passionate youth leaders,” Ballent said. “We hope we’ve prepared them and inspired them to find their unique place in making our world plastic-smart.” They left the conference inspired to go back to their organizations and schools to educate their peers and advance conservation measures to reduce ocean plastic pollution. Some of these youth will be participating in next years Algalita POPS Forum and helping to lead and organize the international youth conference on marine science and ocean plastic and microplastic pollution in China, August 2019. Visit www.algalita.org for teacher and youth resources.
ELECT
Jim Dear
Carson City Council
Honest, Progressive Representation for the Harbor Area Supporting Local Unions in their struggle for fair representation at the bargaining table I applaud the dedication of the Harbor Area Unions that fight for working families, for decent wages and benefits for all men and women, and for their diligent efforts in demonstrating their commitment through the labor union’s many worthy undertakings.
Real News, Real People, Really Effective August 23 - September 5, 2018
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August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Here to Suffer [Suffer from p. 1]
America, is the driving force behind the growers’ cooperative that markets under the Naturipe label. Companies using the H-2A program must apply to the U.S. Department of Labor, listing the work and living conditions and the wages workers will receive. The company must provide transportation, housing and food. Workers are given contracts for less than one year and must leave the country when their work is done. They can only work for the company that contracts them and if they lose that job, they must leave immediately.
Deadly Threats
The death and firings at Sarbanand Farms highlight the explosive growth of this contract labor program. In 2006, U.S. employers were certified to recruit 59,112 workers under H-2A visas. The state of Washington certified only 814 H-2A positions that year. But by 2015, the numbers had mushroomed. Nationally, employers were certified to bring in 139,832 workers, including 12,081 in Washington alone. This past year, Washington accounted Members of the Yakima Nation of Native Americans join farm workers and other immigrants and community and labor for 18,535 workers out of activists marching through Yakima to celebrate May Day. Photo by David Bacon/The Progressive 200,049 nationally. Driving this growth are some very big fire them for inadequate performance, in which home, as well as to cover the cost of visas and operators. CSI, the recruiter for Munger Farms, case they will have to return to Mexico. “The transportation,” he explained. “That basically is probably the largest single recruiter of H-2A boss must report me to the authorities,” it warns, makes them indentured servants. They have the workers from Mexico. The company, originally “which can obviously affect my ability to return least amount of legal protection, even less than undocumented immigrants.” called Manpower of the Americas, was created to the U.S. legally in the future.” H-2A workers are also excluded from the Joe Morrison, an attorney with Columbia to bring workers from Mexico for what is today the largest H-2A employer-the North Carolina Legal Services, notes that H-2A workers are Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and beholden to one employer. Growers Association. The group was founded inherently vulnerable for several reasons. “Even undocumented workers can vote with “Virtually all have had to get loans to support in 1989 by Stan Eury, who formerly worked for [See Workers, p. 8] North Carolina’s unemployment office, which their families until they can begin sending money plays a role in H-2A certification. Eury also created the North Carolina Growers Association PAC, a political action committee that donates almost exclusively to Republicans. Under pressure from Eury, courts have concluded that anti-discrimination laws don’t apply to H-2A workers. Employers are allowed to recruit men almost entirely. In 2001, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act does not cover workers recruited in other countries, leaving employers free to give preference to young workers able to meet high production quotas. In 2009, he challenged the Barack Obama administration’s efforts to strengthen H-2A worker protections. North Carolina Legal Aid battled Eury for years over complaints of wage theft, discrimination, and bad living and working conditions, until he signed a collective bargaining agreement with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee in 2004. Despite his political clout, in 2015 Eury was forced to plead guilty to two counts of defrauding the U.S. government, fined $615,000 and was sentenced to 13 months in prison. Nevertheless, the North Carolina Growers Association has been allowed to continue. This past year, the Department of Labor approved its applications for 11,947 workers. Meanwhile, CSI became a recruitment behemoth, supplying workers far beyond North Carolina. Its website boasts that it recruits more than 25,000 workers annually, through its network of offices in Mexico. A CSI handout for employers says “CSI has designed a system that is able to move thousands of workers through a very complicated U.S. Government program.” Workers recruited through CSI must sign a form acknowledging that their employer can 7
Real News, Real People, Really Effective August 23 - September 5, 2018
According to the lawsuit complaint, workers were told that they had to pick two boxes of blueberries an hour or they’d be sent back to Mexico. In July and August, they were working 12-hour shifts. The complaint states managers routinely threatened to send them home if they failed to meet the quota and to blacklist them afterwards, preventing them from returning to the United States to work in subsequent years. One manager told them, “You came here to suffer, not for vacation.” Laboring in the rows under the hot sun, breathing smoke in the air from wildfires, many workers complained of dizziness and headaches. Nidia Perez, a Munger supervisor, purportedly told workers that “unless they were on their deathbed,” they could not miss work. Silva told a supervisor he was sick. The company, in a statement, said he had diabetes and “received the best medical care and attention possible as soon as his distress came to our attention.” But fellow worker Miguel Angel Ramirez Salazar, gave a different account: “They said if he didn’t keep working, he’d be fired for ‘abandoning work,’ but after a while he couldn’t work at all.” Silva collapsed, was taken to a local clinic and then to the hospital where he died. CSI Visa Processing, the firm that recruited the workers in Mexico for Munger, later posted a statement on its website, saying “the compañero who is hospitalized, the cause was meningitis, an illness he suffered from before, and is not related to his work.” Nidia Perez was the liaison between Munger Farms and CSI, also known as Consular Solutions Inc. While Silva was in the hospital, 60 of his coworkers decided to protest. On Aug. 4, they stayed in the labor camp instead of leaving for work. In addition to the production quota, they were angry about the food. The complaint says they were being charged $12.07 a day for meals, but the food sometimes ran out. When workers were fed, a supervisor marked their hands with “X” so they couldn’t go back for more. They were forbidden to eat in the fields. As the protestors sat in the camp, one worker called the Department of Labor, which sent out an inspector. The next day, when they tried to go back to work, company supervisors called out strikers by name and fired them for “insubordination.” Perez told them they had an hour to get out of the labor camp before the police and immigration authorities would be called. Supervisors stood in front of the barracks, periodically calling out how much time was left. Workers set up an impromptu encampment nearby with the help of Washington’s new farm worker union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia. After a few days, all of them eventually had to return to Mexico.
No Rights for Contract Labor
[Workers from p. 8]
H-2A Workers
their feet if they don’t like the job,” Morrison said. “If H-2A workers complain, they get fired, lose their housing and have to leave the country.” Many H-2A workers feel conflicted about their situation. “We have papers, so we don’t feel in danger,” said Jose Luis Sosa Sanchez in a recent interview, at a camp belonging to Stemilt Growers near Royal City, Wash. But he and other workers can’t buy property and establish a sense of connection to the community. “We just come to work,” he said. “That’s all.” And there is no time-and-a half for working more than eight hours. “We work six days and sometimes seven, and the work here is hard,” he said. “You’re really exhausted at the end of the day.”
So Far From Home
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Sosa Sanchez expressed sadness over being separated from his family, including two young daughters. “It’s hard to be far away from them, but what can I do?” he said. “To move ahead I have to do this. So I talk with them on the phone. What else can I do? Every three days or so, in the afternoon after work. My wife says she feels OK, but who knows?” Sergio Alberto Ponce Ponce, staying in the same barracks, had similar feelings. “I miss my wife,” he said. “I’ve never been apart from her before. We sleep in each other’s arms, but here, no. I call her every day. She’ll send me a text and then I’ll call her the next chance I get in a break at work or at lunch, and when I get back after work before it gets dark.”
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Ponce Ponce looked forward to going home to Mexico, but he plans to return. “I’m going to keep working like this for as long as I can,” he said. “I’d like to live here, but I have my family there.” In 2013, representatives of the Washington Farm Labor Association, originally part of the Washington State Farm Bureau now called WAFLA, showed up at a large Washington state winery, Mercer Canyons. Garrett Benton, manager of the grape department and viticulturist, was then given a plan by the company owners for hiring workers for the following season. “The plan separated out work to be done by the H-2A workers and work to be done by the local farm workers,” Benton recalled in a declaration for a suit filed by Columbia Legal Services. “It left very little work for the local farm workers. Based on the plan and the presentation by the WAFLA people, I believed it was a done deal that the company would be bringing in H-2A workers in 2013.” The rules governing the H-2A program require employers to first advertise the jobs among local residents. Local workers must be offered jobs at the same pay the company plans to offer H-2A workers and the H-2A workers must be paid at a rate that supposedly will not undermine the wages of local workers. That wage rate is set by the unemployment agency in each state and is usually slightly above minimum wage. But there is virtually no policing of the requirement that growers demonstrate a lack of local workers or any efforts to hire them beyond a notice at the unemployment office. Benton said many of Mercer Canyons’ longtime local workers were told there was no work available or were referred to jobs paying $9.88 per hour, while H-2A workers were being
Barracks under construction in central Washington built to house contract workers brought to the U.S. by growers under the H2A visa program. Photo by David Bacon/The Progressive
hired at $12 per hour. The company even reduced the hours of those local workers it did hire in order to get them to quit, he said. Working conditions got so bad for the local workers that they eventually went on strike on May 1, 2013,” Benton said. “They felt strongly that they were being given harder, less desirable work for less pay,” Benton said. “Mercer Canyons was doing everything it could to discourage local farm workers from gaining employment.” The class-action lawsuit involving more than 600 farmworkers was settled a year ago, and Mercer Canyons agreed to pay workers $545,000 plus attorneys’ fees, for a total of $1.2 million. In central Washington, the barracks springing
up for H-2A workers all look the same-dusty tan prefab buildings built around a common grass area. Billboards next to rural roads advertise the services of companies including, “H-2A Construction Inc.” This is a product of WAFLA’s aggressive growth strategy. “Our goal is to have 50,000 H-2A workers on the West Coast three years from now,” WAFLA’s director Dan Fazio told Michigan apple growers in 2015. In 2016, the group took in $7.7 million in fees for its panoply of H-2A services. It handles program application and compliance, provides transportation, recruits workers and gets their visas processed, and conducts on-site meetings with them. [continued on p. 9]
[from p. 8]
The premise behind the H-2A program is that it allows recruitment of workers by an individual grower who demonstrates it can’t find people to hire locally. Workers are then bound to the grower and don’t function as a general labor pool. But a labor pool is exactly what WAFLA advertises. WAFLA’s “shared contract model” lets multiple growers share the same group of workers during the same harvest season. Workers might work for one grower one day and another the next at widely separated fields. The “sequential model” lets growers bring in workers for one
harvest, and then pass them on to another grower for another harvest. In its annual report for 2014, WAFLA boasted about helping block a proposed Department of Labor rule to make employers who use the H-2A program provide housing for family members of domestic workers. “Can you imagine a worker with a family of six demanding housing for his family a month after the start of the season when nearly all beds are full?” it asked. WAFLA has a close relationship with the Washington State Employment Security Department. Craig Carroll, the agency’s agricultural program director overseeing
Claudia’s Law Heads to November 2018 Long Beach Ballot
H-2A certification, spoke at the group’s “H-2A Workforce Summit” in January 2017, sharing the stage with numerous WAFLA staff members and Roxana Macias, CSI’s director of compliance. Macias worked for the department for two years and then for WAFLA for three years before moving to CSI.
Subsidizing Servitude
While the Employment Security Department is charged with enforcing the rules regarding H-2A contracts, its website states: “The agriculture employment and wage report will no longer be provided beginning with the May 2014 report due to a decline in funding.” The department did request an investigation by the state attorney general into charges by Columbia Legal Services that WAFLA had tried
to fix wage rates at a low level. That investigation is still pending. Washington state also helps WAFLA by allowing it to use state subsidies for lowincome farm worker housing to build barracks. This includes the 96-bed Ringold Seasonal Farmworker Housing in Mesa, Wash. Subsidies were used to build another grower association’s $6 million, 200-bed complex called Brender Creek in Cashmere, Wash. Daniel Ford at Columbia Legal Aid complained about these handouts to the Washington Department of Commerce, noting that the state’s own surveys showed that 10 percent of Washington farm workers were living outdoors in a car or in a tent and 20 percent were living in garages, shacks or “places not intended [See Suffer, p. 25]
On Aug. 7, the Long Beach City Council voted against enacting Claudia’s Law, choosing instead to hear the will of Long Beach residents on Nov. 6. The measure’s supporters collected more than 46,000 signatures to qualify the measure for passage, but hoped to forgo the expense and time of a campaign to ensure the measure passes. Long Beach City Council members Lena Gonzalez, Jeannine Pearce, Roberto Uranga and Rex Richardson where in the minority supporting the measure. Photo by Ashley Pagan, LAANE.
Real News, Real People, Really Effective August 23 - September 5, 2018
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Welcome to the Hotel California Gentrification, homelessness and waterfront entertainment By James Preston Allen, Publisher
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
I first moved our offices on to Pacific Avenue back in the 1980s, not far from the California Hotel in San Pedro. Back then, the hotel held little resemblance to the Hotel California the Eagles made into a hit song the decade before. The California Hotel of the 1980s was a three-story flophouse that housed ex-cons, prostitutes and a dive bar with a sketchy reputation. It never got busted for much of anything since the bar’s owner had a Los Angeles Police Department officer for a relative. It definitely gave this part of Pacific Avenue the reputation it deserved. Real estate prices reflected it. I recall one cold-for-California Christmas Day, when an old wino was found dead behind the hotel. The Los Angeles Fire Department was called out to deal with the body. The deceased, like many of the ghosts on Pacific Avenue, was homeless, addicted to alcohol and nameless. It was a condition far too common during the post-industrial decline of the San Pedro Bay during the 1980s — a period of time in which some 30,000 port-related jobs were lost to the global economy. This death and the job losses with the declining property values were never really connected by any other news media outside of this one. Our city leaders continue to ignore this connection as irrelevant to the current homeless and opioid crisis. Instead, our civic leaders are hell-bent on Making San Pedro Great Again by way of big entertainment events on the waterfront and “redeveloping” the Rancho San Pedro housing project. This turn follows an excruciating yearslong process of talking about developing the bridge-to-breakwater, that started almost 20 years ago then making Gaffey Street “Greet.” Yes, they did misspell the signage. My point in bringing up the California Hotel is to highlight it as a perfect example of adaptive reuse that solved several problems with one community supported solution. The building was an eyesore, mismanaged by an well-established local family. A nonprofit group called a Community of Friends bought and rehabilitated the building and provided low-income housing to the disabled and the homeless using tax credits. If you drive by it today, it looks like any other older brick building along this street but better maintained. It was done with the input and consent of the local community with a few NIMBYs objecting, but it was done and it very much changed this neighborhood for the better. This is a formula for preserving our older buildings, housing the homelessness and
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building a hedge against gentrification. Contrary to what some of my critics claim, I am not opposed to building a new generation of housing or commercial development in the Harbor Area. What I am opposed to is cheap looking architecture that makes our town look like every place else with postmodernist flourishes and gimmicks that have no relationship to either our history or the context they’re built in. The current design for the San Pedro Market Place, or Ports O’ Call as it will probably always be known, comes to mind as the perfect example of lame design based on a slick gimmick. It doesn’t really have any historical references and is being proposed as a complete redevelopment solution with no adaptive reuse component. This is obviously in discord with the reputations of both the Ratkovich and Jerico developers who together have a long history of rehabbing older buildings. Like many of you, I have traveled up and down the West Coast and all of the most successful waterfronts have saved many of their historic buildings, keeping their heritage, while renovating or building new in between very well designed commercial buildings. The good examples — from Seattle to San Diego — successful waterfront developments connected to their old down towns abound. This is what we should be demanding for this Los Angeles Waterfront. And yet, the Port of Los Angeles doesn’t seem to be listening. So the local council office steams off on its latest enterprise to build Bridge Home shelters with very little community input and not a clue as to what it will actually look like. Thus far, they ignore the best ideas on available properties to place a triage homeless facility. Councilman Joe Buscaino also hasn’t figured out how to help those nonprofits who could rehab and retrofit buildings like the Don Hotel in Wilmington or the Odd Fellows in San Pedro for homeless housing. The councilman has, however, been keen on allowing a Fort Apache-style drivethru Starbucks to be built on one of San Pedro’s “Greet” Street intersections. If this was any other coastal city in California, every one of the fast-food commercial developments on Gaffey Street would have been built with second story housing on top of street level commercial. Instead, what has been allowed is a lot of bad traffic planning surrounded by two entryway parks that no one uses and a line of expensive palm trees to make the Greet entrance look like anywhere in 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. XXXIX : 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
Southern California. All of this public investment in making things look better mask the underlying complexities of actually improving the quality of life in the Harbor Area. Most of it is feel good stuff. If we don’t address the underlying causes of homelessness and drug addiction, while dealing with the obvious results of people living on the streets, gentrification and redevelopment may be pointless enterprises. We will just end up pushing more people out of affordable housing and jobs in exchange for new higher rents. The goal of making the San Pedro Harbor Area a destination for waterfront entertainment may well come to pass — and pass at the expense of locals who no longer wish to deal with the throngs of visitors arriving by car due to the absence of public transit and the clogging of our freeways due
to expanding commercial truck traffic from our ports. Just imagine adding another 2,000 housing units within the next decade with two cars each. If we don’t solve the homeless issue now in a realistic and compassionate way, I don’t know how civic leaders can hope to preserve the identity and the curious culture we call Pedro. Somehow Don Henley’s response to a question on 60 Minutes on the meaning of the song seems to apply here, “It’s a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about,” he said. Which gives a curious twist on the line, You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
If Not Now, When? It’s Time to Pass SB 100 By Sherry Lear, Co-Organizer 350 South Bay Los Angeles In 2009, I moved from Lomita to San Pedro. As a new homeowner, I was thrilled to become part of what felt like a real community. My son joined AYSO and we spent many a weekend at the Field of Dreams. It was there my son had his first asthma attack. After I became one of those soccer moms who had to carry around an inhaler, I also became an environmental activist. I learned that my new home — the Los Angeles Harbor Area — suffers from some of the worst air quality in the United States, a reality reflected by high rates of asthma among local schools. This year, the California legislature has a real
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chance to take serious action toward fighting climate change by passing Senate Bill 100, a bill designed to transition California’s electrical grid to 100 percent clean energy by the year 2045. The bill was authored by Sen. Kevin de León and passed (relatively) easily through the California Senate this past year. After some delays, the bill is now poised for a vote by the California Assembly. The vast majority of scientists agree: our planet is warming because of an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. [See SB 100, p. 11]
Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731. 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 2018 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
Thank You, Aretha Franklin
RANDOMLetters The Enormously Immoral Man
How is it that we think our country and the way of life we believe in are to last another month? Decisions are being made at the highest levels of government in secret. Access to information is being restricted by both denying access and causing distrust of true information. What will happen tomorrow? What guarantees do we have? Civilizations in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas have ended and begun repeatedly since civilizations formed. Roman, Egyptian, Maya and Inca civilizations spanned long periods of time — and all ended. Many countries have disappeared, formed, or changed fundamentally in government and civil freedoms in a short period of years. This is the pattern of civilization. We of the United States of America are still a very young experiment in civilization and have until now believed or acted as if we believed, that we shared a common morality. The founders of our country, as the majority of the country has until now, never considered and would not have anticipated that an enormously immoral person would ever be elected to great office. They did not build safeguards of such unimaginable abuses of [SB100 from p. 10]
SB 100
The Undesirables
Thank you very much for the outstanding coverage of Laurie McKenna’s The Undesirables project at Cornelius Projects. We hope attendance from the local community is increased this last weekend of the show due to your coverage. I wish we could keep the installation here a little longer, but sadly our schedules will not allow. We believe the project will grow and continue to travel and your coverage is important given the history of Random Lengths, as well
Sherry Lear is a volunteer co-organizer for 350 South Bay Los Angeles, which is the oldest California chapter, organized in June of 2009. Contact: slearattorney@gmail.com; www. 350southbaylosangeles.com
In case you don’t understand what Sessions and Trump are doing, Trump and Sessions are ignoring the constitution and due process of law. 1. They are deporting men, women and children during active court trials. These trials are mandatory to determine their eligibility for visa. Trump and Sessions ignored court orders and engaged in deporting people who had hearings scheduled, or who were intended witnesses at trial. 2. Trump and Sessions ignored Court orders. They continued deporting people without hearing, even after order from the court suspending these deportations. The reason that this should concern you is not that these people were deported during trial, or denied trial altogether,
Illegal Actions
Please call San Pedro State Senator Steven Bradford today, now, to urge him to vote NO on AB 84. Give his staff your zip code. Phone: (916) 651-4035 This bad bill, which could go to a floor vote at any time, would allow the Democrats in the state legislature to set up a super PAC to collect unlimited amounts of money from special interests — big oil, health insurance industry, etc. — to fund independent expenditures for candidates and eight times the current amount to contribute directly to candidates. This is pay-to-play bill means that industries can have undue influence with the CA state assembly speaker and senate president to quash
Error on World Cup Date
When I was reading the article about the World Cup Final between France and Croatia, I noticed an error. The article said that the game took place on July 8, when it actually took place on July 15. Michael Petrich San Pedro We corrected the copy that appeared online and we have errata in this edition of the paper. Thanks for reading Random Lengths News. Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Join us on for our monthly meeting on
Monday, August 27 at 7 p.m. Endorsement for U.S. Senate Prop 10 Rent Control Ballot Initiative Women’s March South Bay Rally Sept. 22
At Think Café
302 W. 5th St., San Pedro • Details: (916) 837-0920
August 23 - September 5, 2018
to all of us to reach out to our assembly members (who are now back in session) to ask — even demand — that SB 100 be passed. Locally, SB 100 is coauthored by Assembly members Al Muratsuchi (Assembly District 66: covering the Beach Cities and Palos Verdes areas) and Laura Friedman (AD 43: Burbank, Glendale) and more legislators are being added to the list. During the hearing by the Utility and Energy Committee, Muratsuchi spoke strongly in favor of SB 100 challenging the skeptics, “If not now, when.” But, we don’t just need 41 votes, we need 41 Assembly members to stand up for the future of our planet with a full throated endorsement of SB 100. In San Pedro and Long Beach, we need our Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell to demonstrate strong support for SB 100. Please join me and call, text or email your local Assembly member and ask: Will you vote yes and sign on as a co-author of SB 100?
No on AB 84
because Trump says they have no rights to a fair hearing. What should concern you is that if Trump can do this to Mexicans without trial, and without due process, then that means he can do it to you, without trial, without due process. Leonard D Frederick San Pedro
utilities are on track to meet the 50 percent renewable portfolio standard by 2020, a full decade earlier than mandated by earlier legislation. SB 100 will increase the renewable portfolio standard to 50 percent by the year 2026, and to 60 percent by 2030 while setting a goal for 100 percent clean energy 2045. The time to take action is now. Energy prices from clean and renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower, are not only competitive but continue to decrease rapidly. Emerging technologies for battery storage of solar and wind generated power are opening new doors for an unprecedented transformation away from fossil fuels, one that not only helps our planet but will create good-paying jobs right here in California. An increasing number of California cities have already committed to a transitional to 100 percent clean energy, including San Diego. A recently released Public Policy Institute of California poll finds that a strong majority (72 percent) of Californians support SB 100. This really should be a no-brainer; but, in the complicated world of politics, SB 100’s passage has already been delayed and is facing a hard deadline for passage of Aug. 31. It is up
The thing about Aretha Franklin is that she’ll never really die as long as we live because she is so deeply woven into our own human history, as she helped us through our melancholy back into our joy and accompanied us on our terrible job interviews and first dates and second dates and breakups and divorces and always back and forth to work and school and certainly helped us improve our dance moves and gave us hope strength from just singing along with Think and Respect and although I take her death seriously, what I really want to say is thank you, because she’s left me everything I need to make it to the end of my days, and then some. Marlane Gomard Meyer Hollywood,
health care for all, bail reform, ban on fracking, etc. Please call State Senator Steven Bradford now to give him needed support to vote NO on AB 84. Marcy Winograd Los Angeles
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
James Hansen, NASA scientist, said 350 parts per million is the maximum amount of carbon dioxide that planet Earth should have in its atmosphere for a livable planet. (Hence the name for our parent group, 350.org.) Burning fossil fuels, including natural gas, pollutes our air, water and land. For thousands of years, the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere ranged between 200 and 300 parts per million. However, with the advent of the burning of fossil fuels in the 1800s, those numbers skyrocketed. Measured in Hawaii, CO2 in the atmosphere now exceeds 408 ppm. Climate change is happening faster than scientists predicted; as I write this, the City of Redding and surrounding communities have been devastated by deadly wildfires and “fire season” has not officially started. Sadly, California has the undesirable distinction of being home to the majority of the top 10 U.S. cities with the most ozone and particle pollution. Fortunately, it is not too late to address this. California is proof that a 100 percent clean electricity future is within reach. The November 2017 Annual Report on the Renewables Portfolio Standard, issued by the California Public Utilities Commission, finds that California’s investor-owned
decency and power. They did not imagine that such a person could exist. Raymond Wells San Pedro Ray, You are right that there’s a kind of bell curve for the ascendance and decline of all civilizations. Perhaps ours is just on a fast-track to the finish line. However, I don’t agree with you about the founding fathers not anticipating someone like Donald Trump, or Richard Nixon for that matter, The threat to our republic has always been there. And, it is up to each generation to face its own demons and tyrants to test whether this system or any system of self-governance actually works. This is why I don’t believe in what some conservatives consider “originalist” interpretation of the Constitution for it has to be a living document that adheres to the founding principles of freedom and liberty, but it must be improved upon. This is made obvious if only because of the 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. We’ll see if there needs to be more after #45 is out of office. James Preston Allen Publisher
as San Pedro’s rich labor history. Laurie can consider your article a major feather in her cap, as can Cornelius Projects. Thank you for your work and commitment to fighting the good fight. Laurie Steelink Cornelius Projects, San Pedro
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Orange to Blue
Flipping four Orange County seats could be crucial for Dems to retake the House By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
Four GOP-held House seats in Orange County—carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016— are top-tier targets for Democrats’ plans to retake the House this November, and begin to check Donald Trump’s reckless conduct. Winning them could be the key to preserving American democracy, and Harbor Area activists—some newly-minted—have been involved since soon after the 2016 election. But the next 10 weeks and change will be crucial. “For your readers from the San Pedro and Long Beach area, I would tell them we need you,” said Rachel Potucek, communications director for the Democratic Party of Orange County. “If you’ve ever felt like there’s an opportunity
The Shortest Run to Catalina
Swing Left, in contrast, is solely concerned with flipping control of the House. Steve Pierson was Swing Left’s Southern California field director during the primaries. Their early involvement made a huge difference. “People started going out and knocking on doors way back in March and April 2017,” he said. “We were able to launch a field campaign that congressional races are not accustomed to. They just don’t have the resources to do that.” This proved especially important when two incumbents dropped out—Darrell Issa and Ed Royce. Normally, that’s great news—incumbents are harder to beat—but with California’s jungle primary, there were fears that Republicans could
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Members of Indivisible San Pedro called potential voters in Orange County in an effort to flip those House of Representative seat to the Democrats. Photo by Raphael Richardson
to change history, now is that time... Now is the time to cross the Orange curtain. The Orange curtain is vanishing in front of our eyes, but it’s only going to happen if people come and help.” Indivisible San Pedro was one of the earliest groups involved in making that happen. They’ve been meeting weekly since just after Trump’s inauguration, except for a biweekly stint this summer, phone bank organizer Peter Warren told Random Lengths News. Before that, “We ran phone banks all through the primary season twice a week, in 2018, from January to June,” he said. They started again recently. “The effectiveness of phone banking from here is obvious,” Warren said. “You don’t need to spend the time in the car going back and forth, and the 310 area codes we have are not viewed as foreign.” The strategy is simple. “This is not like phone banking in the presidential year, you don’t need to do persuasion,” Warren said. “If you can turn out the vast majority of your presidential year voters, who are already your voters, and you already can identify that, that’s a win. This is not about finding Trump voters to change their mind.” Like other Indivisible groups, they’ve engaged in a wide range of actions, letter writing, lobbying representatives, oh yes, and spelling out “R-E-S-I-S-T” on Trump’s golf course with 200 volunteers. “The pictures were publicized around the world,” Warren said. But it’s the more mundane activism inspired by that high-profile action that is going to be crucial now.
shut Democrats out of getting on the November ballot. “Fortunately we were able to prevent that from happening and it was, in my estimation due to the ground game,” Pierson said. “The turnout was really substantial for a mid-term primary,” up more than 100 percent in the local races over 2014.
Efforts to Swing Left
Gil Cisneros is the Democratic nominee to succeed Royce in CA-39, in North Orange County, and his field director, Chris Ward, started out as a Swing Left volunteer, self-described as “Steve’s right arm” in the early days. He went from volunteering 20 to 30 hours a week with Swing Left, to paid canvassing for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, to his current position. “Just recently we had a canvas with 220 people,” he said. So now he’s building on foundations he helped to start laying a year-anda-half ago. Another nearby Democratic candidate is Harvey Rouda, running against Dana Rohrabacher in CA-48. It’s the only Orange County House race that the Yes We Can Democratic Club is focused on so far. “We see that that race is scriptable,” club President Chris Robson said, “Particularly given Rohrabacher’s anti-LBGT comments, and his historic relationship and friendliness toward Russia. Those are two main points that we would be hammering on.” [See Orange to Blue, p. 22]
Casualties Are Not Just A Thing of War By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
Fleet Week aims to honors the United States sea services, while educating the public about the history and traditions of the sea services. It is essentially a high production quality marketing effort designed to attract and maintain public support — support that has implications regarding recruitment of service personnel, funding support that keeps America’s edge sharper than that of the rest of the world. What events like Fleet Week don’t often highlight are the very real dangers these seagoing projections of power poses without ever actually being a part of a war or battle. The USS Mississippi turret explosion on June 12, 1924 while stationed at the Port of Los Angeles, is one example of the death trap sailors worked in whether in training or at war. The USS Mississippi, USS Tennessee, USS Idaho and the USS California were to participate in maneuvers being held in the naval training area near San Clemente Island south of Catalina. The ships were simulating a chase, firing only their forward turrets at close range. Several salvos were fired by each ship, before the Mississippi experienced trouble in its No. 2 turret. The right gun had just fired and was returned to loading position and the plug opened. The next shell was rammed into the gun and the four powder bags were rammed into place behind it.
Most who died in the USS Mississippi explosion were given a memorial service on Trona Field in San Pedro on June 17, 1924.
It was while the rammer was withdrawn that a small grayish ball of smoke and flame followed by a large flash. Fire and gases filled the gun compartment and then passed through the safety doors to the other two gun compartments and the turret officer’s booth, killing almost instantly, 45 men. Three officers died from asphyxiation. It was one of the worst
disasters suffered by the Navy during peacetime. An inquiry found that there had been inadequate air pressure forced through the gun to expel the incandescent gases and other flammable residue after firing. Smoldering material left in the gun had ignited the powder charge of the next shot. The flames and gases had overcome the men so quickly that recovery
Get a glimpse into the day-to-day life aboard an active military ship and the opportunity to see military equipment and demos close up.
crews found many of the men still at their positions. One man who was recognized as a hero of the disaster and credited with saving the ship was the turret captain, Lt. Thomas E. Zellars. He managed to closed the doors to the ammunition hoist and flooded the magazines. When his body was discovered, his hand was still clutching the flood control. The Navy would later honor Zellars by naming a destroyer after him. Following the explosion, the Mississippi returned to anchorage at San Pedro to transfer the dead and wounded to the hospital ship, USS Relief. The ship was anchored just inside the breakwater due to the presence of unfired rounds in the other two guns of Turret No. 2. This was a wise decision on the part of the captain. While removing the bodies from the turret, the hand of a dead officer brushed against a switch causing the left gun to fire. The salvo narrowly missed an outgoing passenger vessel. Fearing that the same might happen with the remaining gun, the captain moved the Mississippi outside the breakwater. The last shell and charge was removed the next day. Commissioned for service in December of 1917, the Mississippi never saw action in World War I, but it did serve in World War II when it experienced a similar disaster in the Pacific theater of war. This 1943 disaster in the Gilbert Islands killed 43 men. In 1989, 47 sailors died following a turret explosion during a firing exercise 330 miles [See Casualties, p. 14]
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Celebrate Peace Week or Celebrate Fleet Week
San Pedro will be host to both Fleet Week and Peace Week Aug. 29 through Sept 3. Los Angeles Fleet Week is a free annual, multi-day celebration of our nation’s Sea Services on the Los Angeles Waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles. Aug. 29 Open Mic Aug. 31 Downtown San Pedro Welcome Party Food and live music Time: 6 p.m. Location: Downtown San Pedro on 6th Street, between Mesa and Centre streets, San Pedro Swing Peedro Swing dance party Time: 6 p.m. Location: At 6th Street, between Mesa and Centre streets Art Build and Pizza Party Time: 5 to 7 p.m. Aug 29 Venue: Machine Art Studio, 446 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Music and spoken word Time: 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 29 Venue: Sacred Grounds Coffee House, 468 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Third Annual LA Harbor Peace Week 2018 Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice Peace Vigil Meet on the corner of 1st and Gaffey streets, directly off the end of the 110 Freeway. Signs are available or bring your own. Time: 5 to 6:15 p.m. Aug. 31 Location: 1st Street at Gaffey Street, San Pedro
Promote the Peace Economy Tabling peace music and literature canvassing during the Fleet Week street party in downtown San Pedro Time: 6:30 to 9 p.m. Aug. 31 Venue: JDC Records, 447 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Sept. 1
Candlelight Vigil for International Peace and Disarmament Speakers on war’s effect on: environment, health and education, migrants and refugees, militarization of police and youth recruitment. The event coincides and contrasts with a
Fleet Week, 2017. Photo by Raphael Richardson. concert and celebration on the battleship Time: 7 to 9 p.m. Sept. 1 Venue: USS Iowa, 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
Sept. 2
War Victims and Veterans Memorial Rally and Picnic Bring a picnic, friends and family Time: 11 to 2 p.m. Sept. 2 Venue: Peace Park, 6th Street at Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
Sept. 3
Labor Day Rally to Support a “Culture of Peace” Time: 10 to 12 p.m. Sept. 3 Venue: USS Iowa, 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
LA Fleet Week 2018 Events Sept. 1
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LA Fleet Week 5 On 5 Basketball Tournament Join the Labor Day Weekend match-up between Sea Services teams and Los Angeles teams for this two-day, single-elimination tournament. It will take place on the basketball court directly adjacent to the Battleship Iowa. Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 1 and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept 2 Cost: Free Details: www.lafleetweek.com Venue: Battleship Iowa, 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
Sept.1
Navy Film Fest Celebrates Navy in Hollywood Featuring black-and-white to modern-era films, LA Fleet Week® 2018 presented by Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime Video will include a Labor Day Weekend Navy film festival in San Pedro. Time: 5 p.m. Sept. 1 Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and 8:15 p.m. Battle: Los Angeles (2011) Time: 5 p.m. Sept. 2, Hell Divers (1931) and 8:15 p.m. Top Gun (1986) Time: 5 p.m. Sept. 3 Mister Roberts (1955) Cost: $5 Details: www.lafleetweek.com Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Aug. 30
Fireworks Show Over Battleship Iowa Time:10 p.m.
Sept. 1
Battleship Blast High School Robotics Competition Time: 9 to 4 p.m. Location: STEM Expo Village, Indoor Expo H Venue: USS Iowa, 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro
The Beach Boys Military Appreciation Concert The legendary Beach Boys live in concert on the Bob Hope USO Delta Air Lines Main Stage, featuring: Navy Band Southwest, The Wingtips, One Ten South, Steve Morris. Time: 4 to 9 p.m.
Sept. 2
Brews, Blues, Barbecue on the SS Lane Victory (Berth 49) Time: 3 to 7 p.m. Live Music on the Bob Hope USO Delta Air Lines Main Stage Featuring: Bay Side High Navy Band Southwest, Soul Sacrifice (Santana cover band), Rich Girl (Hall & Oats cover band) Time: 4:30 to 9 p.m. Laser Light Show Time: 9:15 p.m. 10th Annual Conquer the Bridge 5.3-mile run or walk race on the Vincent Thomas Bridge. Time: 7 to 10 a.m. Location: Race starts on Harbor Blvd. and 5th St. in San Pedro Battleship Blast High School Robotics Competition Time: 9 to 4 p.m. Location: STEM Expo Village, Indoor Expo H
Sept. 3
Galley Wars Culinary Competition between the Sea Services presented by Princess Cruises. Time: 11:30 to 1 p.m. Location: Bob Hope USO Delta Airlines Main Stage [Casualties from p. 13]
Casualties
northeast of Puerto Rico. President George H.W. Bush paid a somber tribute to “the men behind the guns’’ and Captain Fred Moosally delivered an emotional farewell. This was before he began answering questions about the difficulty and cost of repairing the 50-year-old gun turrets. The earliest gun turret accident occurred in 1904 aboard the USS Missouri in which 2,000 pounds of powder exploded in the 12-inch turret and handling room. Capt. William S. Cowles, brother-in-law of President Theodore Roosevelt, and 31 men were killed. Americans celebrate a plethora of holidays honoring the sacrifices of its services members and their war dead. It must be remembered that these sacrifices aren’t just extracted during times of war. It’s extracted through times we’re preparing for war.
Lowriders Teach Art, Not War It’s About the Music
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By Melina Paris, Music Columnist
o see Harold Brown walking through downtown Long Beach, talking to people in his neighborhood and picking up trash, you wouldn’t assume he is one of the men — the drummer — behind the hit’s Cisco Kid, Low Rider, Why Can’t We Be Friends and The World is a Ghetto. He has come full circle, living in Long Beach, where he grew up. “I’ve been sincerely blessed to stay in the arts district in downtown Long Beach,” Brown said. “I get out and walk the streets and talk to the young people and to the homeless…. God put me back here so that I could make a difference, not with just my music, but with strength and tenacity to fight the powers that be … and to stand up.” Harold Brown, Howard Scott, Lee Oskar and Morris “B.B.” Dickerson make up the core of The Lowrider Band, which is more than a band, it’s a brotherhood, he said. On Sept. 1, the group will bring its original music and some new material to the New Blues Festival in Long Beach. The festival performance will feature Brown and Scott along with a few guest artists who they have played with in the past, including, Tex Nakamura, Chazz Green, Charles Barber, Pete Cole and Calvin Mosely. Scott and Brown met in 1962 as high school students in Long Beach. It was then when Brown told Scott he wanted to put a band together. They went on to make some of the biggest hits of the 1970s, [under another name that they cannot mention due to a trademark dispute]. “It’s not about the name; it’s about the music,” Brown said. “It’s about bringing people together.” Back then, they were called The Creators. They played in the local clubs, including the Sahara on Vermont Avenue, south of Century Boulevard and Big Mama Thornton’s club called The Web, on Western Avenue, south of Manchester. Eventually the band made its way to performing The Whiskey A-Go-Go in 1964. These men grew up in a world full of music, even before all that happened. “Back in the 60s and 70s the arts were still in the schools,” Brown said. “Kids were being taught violin, trumpet, all the string instruments. Also, part of it [was that]
[See Lowriders, p. 19]
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
The Lowrider Band members, clockwise from top, Lee Oskar, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson and Harold Brown still ride together. File photo
they [offered] machine shop and wood shop. I remember building me a checker board and then I started building my own bongos in school.” It was a fascinating time to Brown. Schools were teaching orchestra and jazz. And then, people started to play more rhythm and blues and Latin music. Brown and his peers felt that music all blended together, especially in the melting pot of Los Angeles. “[Suddenly], people started getting out of their neighborhoods,” Brown said. “We started getting out of Compton. It was because of transportation. More young people had cars. And, at that time the kids were building lowriders. We were going from one neighborhood to another — from Pomona to Malibu — and that’s where we got the idea for that song, The World is a Ghetto. ” Brown said living in Long Beach was a beautiful experience. He and his friends would walk down to the beach. They walked along Anaheim and heard music coming out of the bars the churches and schools. This was live music, not boomboxes or car radios. They would hear somebody in their garage, beating on drums, or hear them in their house practicing a horn. “That’s how Charles Miller, the writer behind Low Rider, discovered me,” Brown said. “He met me when he was walking down Lemon Avenue and he heard me playing drums in my garage.” Another time, Brown was driving and saw Papa Dee Allen playing a conga and his bongos in a gas station while he was waiting to get an oil change. “I’ve never seen anyone play congas and the bongos at the same time. I said, ‘Hey, you wanna be in a band?’” And that’s how Papa Dee joined the band. In Brown’s early years with The Creators, they played whatever was on the jukebox to keep people dancing, songs by James Brown, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Bobby Blue Bland and B.B. King. “We played anything we felt,” Brown said. “Like James Brown used to do when he was dancing, [the guys] would get out and do these moves. Little did we know that was going to be a blessing and a gift to us.
August 23 - September 5, 2018
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ENTERTAINMENT Aug. 23
Hot Pedro Nites Get ready to shake it to some of your favorite rock ’n’ roll classics at this summer’s biggest Pedro concert supporting the nonprofit, Clean San Pedro.The Kingsmen will be headlining with hits 60s like Louie, Louie. Time: 7:30 to 9:30 Aug. 23 Cost: $40 to $125 Details: www.cleansan pedro.net Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Aug 25
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
14th Annual Light at the Lighthouse Festival The Light at the Lighthouse Festival features four stages of the best headlining Christian Rock Bands, The Edge Stage for rock with a more metal vibe, a youth stage with plenty of children’s entertainment and a worship stage featuring talent from local churches. Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: www.lightatthelight house.org Venue: Point Fermin Park 3601 S. Gaffey St,. San Pedro
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End of Summer Concert Join in an afternoon filled with live entertainment, food and family fun. We will be celebrating the hard work of nurses, doctors, hospital staff and volunteers in saving Community Hospital. Time: 3 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: (562) 570-4444 Venue: Whaley Park, 5620 Atherton St., Long Beach Popfuji The Summer Music Festival continues and this time it’s Americana Jam Band Night. Come for a night filled with unbelievable performances, delicious food and your favorite Brouwerij West beers. Time: 4:30 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: (310) 833-9330 Venue: Brouwerij West, 110 E. 22nd St., Warehouse No. 9, San Pedro
Aug 26
Acknowledgement The Rancho welcomes Acknowledgement for its final concert of the summer season. Named for the iconic John Coltrane song, Acknowledgement will perform classic jazz standards. . Time: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Aug 26 Cost: Free Details: www.rancholos cerritos.org
AUG 23 - Sept 5 • 2018 Venue: Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach
Sept. 1
The New Blues Festival Enjoy two days of the blues at the annual two day festival celebrating the origins of blues music and how it has progressed. The event includes food trucks, vendor village and a beer garden. Time: 1 p.m. Sept. 1 and 2 p.m. Sept. 2 Cost: $45 to $250 Details: www.newbluesfestival. com/tickets Venue: El Dorado Park, 7550 E. Spring St., Long Beach
Sept 6
First Thursday Open Mic Every month at First Thursday ArtWalk the Grand Annex opens its stage to musicians, singer songwriters and poets. With its supportive, community vibe and excellent sound, it’s the perfect stage to work out that new song and connect with new fans. Time: 7 to 9 p.m. Cost: $5 Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro First Thursday at The Whale & Ale On the 1st Thursday of every month over 40 galleries and studios host public receptions and food trucks appear in the street for the First Thursday Art Walk and live music at The Whale & Ale Time: 5 to 10 p.m. Sept 6 Cost: Free Details: (310) 832-0363; www.whaleandale.com Venue: The Whale & Ale, 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro
Sept 7
The Paul Gormley Trio Bassist Paul Gormley brings his trio to The Whale & Ale Time: 7 p.m. Sept 7 Cost: Free Details: (310) 832-0363; www.whaleandale.com Venue: The Whale & Ale, 327 W. 7th Street, San Pedro Martina McBride Prolific Country music queen Martina McBride kicks off the new season. Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 7 Cost: $75 to $115 Details: (562) 916-8500; www.cerritoscenter.com Venue: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park Plaza Drive, Cerritos
Sept 9
An Evening with Lyle Lovett and His Large Band Singer-composer-actor Lyle Lovett has broadened the definition of American music in a career that spans 14 albums. Time: 7 p.m. Sept. 9 Cost: $70 to $100 Details: (562) 916-8500; www.cerritoscenter.com Venue: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park
Plaza Drive, Cerritos
THEATER Aug. 24
Uncle Vanya Celebration Series Audiences will go further than ever into the textured tastes of Anton Checkhov’s most searing work. Artistic Director Aaron Ganz blends the fearless artistry and passionate theatricality of this performing arts company into a stunning experience that blurs the lines of possibility in performance. Time: 8 to 10:30 p.m. Aug. 24 Cost: $5 to $20 Details: www.vanyaatect.brown papertickets.com Venue: Elysium Conservatory Theatre, 729 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro
Sept 1
The Tempest Trickery, romance, and revenge set the stage for one of Shakespeare’s late masterpieces, in which sprites, goddesses, monsters, and fools hold court. This fanciful classic is often described as the darker twin to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Time: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, Sept. 1 through 29 Cost: $10 to $27 Details: www.lbplayhouse.org/ show/the-tempest Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5201 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
Ongoing Twelfth Night Shakespeare’s celebration of life, love and human harmony comes to life with stunning choreography, language, and music into a theatrical adventure. Elysium Conservatory Theatre’s production offers audiences an opportunity to experience one of Shakespeare’s most celebratory works as it was intended; raw, human and ... what you will. Time: 8 to 10:30 p.m. Aug. 25, and 7 to 9:30 p.m. Aug. 26 Cost: $5 to $20 Details: www.twelfthnightatect. brownpapertickets.com Venue: Elysium Conservatory Theatre, 729 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro Mamma Mia! Packed with unbridled energy and enthusiasm, this Broadway blockbuster tells the story of an independent single mom who is about to marry off the spirited daughter she has raised alone on an idyllic Greek island. Its lighthearted and unforgettable score makes Mamma Mia! a joy to watch. Time: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through 26 Cost: $40 to $85 Details: www.cerritoscenter.com Venue: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park Plaza Drive, Cerritos The Glass Menagerie The Glass Menagerie is on of
the most famous plays of the modern theater. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on Tennessee Williams himself, his histrionic mother and his mentally fragile sister. Time: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, through Sept. 7 Cost: $42 to $47 Details: www1.ticketmaster.com/ ict-the-glass-menagerie Venue: Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, 300 Ocean Blvd., Long Beach
FILM
Aug 25 Summer Screenings at Mixographia Mixographia’s film screening series each Saturday in August presents Ellis, JR’s 2015 short film starring Robert De Niro. A traveler contemplates the sacrifice, struggle, and promise of seeking refuge on American shores. Time: 3 and 3:30 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: www.onthepress@mixo graphia.com Venue: Mixographia, 1419 E. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles
Sept 13
6th Annual Cambodia Town Film Festival One of the key purposes of this festival is to highlight the diversity of the Cambodian experience through the art of filmmaking. By specifically featuring films that deal with Cambodian social political conflicts, traditions, challenges and characters, the festival will deepen Cambodian values and encourage new dialogue on a global scale. Time: 11 a.m.to 11 p.m. Sept. 13 to 16 Cost: To be determined Details: www.cambodiatown filmfestival.com Venue: Art Theatre Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach
DANCE Sept 6
First Thursday, San Pedro Festival of the Arts See works and meet the dancers before the big event in an intimate space. Producer of the festival Louise Reichlin and her company perform newer works and co-producer, Jan Kain’s group performs. Time: 7 p.m. Sept. 6 Cost: Free Details: www.triartsp.com Venue: People’s Place, 365 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Sept. 9 Japanese Folk Song and Dance Show Enjoy a performance of Japanese folk music and dancing Time: 1 p.m. Sept. 9 Cost: $10 Details: (310) 781-7171 Venue: James Armstrong theatre, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance
Sept 15
San Pedro Festival of the Arts This is only place to see additional media projections, as Alvas Showroom is beautifully equipped to add lights and media that won’t be seen in the outside festival. Media will be seen from Nicole Mathis-Berman, Director of White Crane Dance Theatre, and Louise Reichlin and Dancers. Time: 7 pm Sept. 15 Cost: Free Details: www.triartsp.com; www. alvasshowroom.com/event/sanpedro-festival-of-the-arts-2 Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
ARTS
Aug 25 The Happy Weirdo Art Gallery The shared space between Susan’s “Everyday Happy” shop and Brian’s “Embrace the Weird” boutique is the Happy Weirdo Art Gallery inside Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles. Time: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted, 112 E. 22nd St., Unit A206, San Pedro
Aug 31
From Urban to Nature HuZ Galleries presents Luis Sanchez in solo show exhibition of Sanchez’s original paintings of nature and urban landscapes. A first time set-up of original paintings, prints, ceramics, sculpture and clothing. Time: 12 to 6 p.m. Aug. 31 Cost: Free Details: (310) 428-0275 Venue: HuZ Galleries, 341 W. 7th St., San Pedro
Sept 8
Schlüssel TransVagrant Projects and the Loft Gallery are pleased to present Schlüssel, a group exhibition and magazine launch, curated by Dillan Conniff. The exhibition will open during the First Thursday art walk, with an artists’ reception to follow from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 8, at the Loft Gallery in San Pedro. Time: 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 8 Cost: Free Details: (310) 831-5757 Venue: The Loft Art Studios and Galleries, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro Pulling In/Letting Go Michael Stearns Studio @The Loft presents new works by Long Beach-based abstract artist Caryn Baumgartner. Her subject matter draws upon imagination, dreams and the natural world. Opens during the First Thursday art walk, with an artist’s reception to follow from 2 to 6 p.m. Sept. 8 Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 8 Cost: Free Details: (310) 831-5757 Venue: The Loft Art Studios and Galleries, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro
Contemporary Filipino and Filipino-American Textile The exhibition features works by Filipino-American contemporary artists Cirilo Domine, Christine Morla and Manila’s Aze Ong all of whom have conceptually, spiritually, or formally inspired to use textiles as a starting point of inquiry. Co-curated by Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza and Joseph Santarromana. Open for First Thursday. Exhibition runs through Oct. 28. Time: 3 to 6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, or by appointment Cost: Free Details: (310) 514-9139; www.pintadosgallery.com Venue: Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery, 479 W 6th St., Suite 107, San Pedro
Sept 15
BLAH Join the artist reception celebrating the release of a new edition by John Baldessari. BLAH draws from Baldessari’s emblematic use of language and archival film photography. The piece reads in bold text across three lines: “J SAID BLAH SNORE.” The text conceals a double meaning, as the phrase contains all the letters of the artist’s name while also conveying Baldessari’s iconic linguistic playfulness. Time: 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 15 Cost: Free Details: (323) 232-1158; edith@mixographia.com Venue: Mixografia, 1419 E. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles
Sept 16
Cuatro@Cabrillo The San Pedro Waterfront Arts District announces a new arts education series at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. The first event in the series features a lecture about the art of Mexico delivered by arts scholar Gregorio Luke. Time: 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept 16 Cost: $15 to $35 Details: cuatrocabrillo.eventbrite. com or www.sanpedrowaterfront artsdistrict.com Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro
Ongoing
A Stone’s Throw from Water Angels Gate Cultural Center presents an exhibition of visual art and performances by participants of its educational community. The show reflects a breadth of exploration from children’s drawing, painting, and ceramics to personal selections by seasoned faculty working in various media. Time: 1 to 4 p.m. through Sept. 15 Cost: Free Details: www. angelsgateart.org Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro Pop-up Exhibit: Reading and Writing Essentials of the 19th Century Take a look at the writing life in a time well before computers or
San Pedro Festival of the arts preview Preview San Pedro Festival of the Arts performances on First Thursday at People’s Place on 6th St. See works and meet the dancers before the big event on Sept. 22 and 23, in an intimate space. Festival producer Louise Reichlin and her company perform new work. Additional festival works of projected media art will be shown at Alvas Showroom on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. See works by Nicole Mathis-Berman, director of White Crane Dance Theatre and Louise Reichlin and Dancers. Preview events are free. Details: www.triartsp. com
Louise Reichlin and Dancers from San Pedro Festival of the Arts 2017. ebooks. Time: 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, until Nov. 1. Cost: Free Details: (562) 206-2040; www.rancholoscerritos.org Venue: Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach
COMMUNITY Aug 25
Aug 25 Leimert Park Village Book Fair The renowned Leimert Park Village Book Fair invites those who love reading, literature, learning and fun to the 12th annual book fair. With a theme of “Celebrating Our Southern Roots,” this year, the book fair will take place inside the mall creating a more intimate, “salon experience.” Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: www.LeimertParkBook Fair.com Venue: Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Los Angeles Farm Dinner at the Ranch Party-goers will enjoy wine and
craft beer tasting, sampling of tasty appetizers and gardens exploration. Lively Americana music by a local indie band will set the garden party mood on the Rancho’s sprawling lawn under the 125-year-old Moreton Bay Fig trees. Time: 5:30 to 9 p.m. Aug. 25 Cost: $125 to $150 Details: www.RanchoLosAlamitos. org Venue: Rancho Los Alamitos, 6400 E. Bixby Hill Road, Long Beach Back to School Summer Blast More than a thousand students will be able to receive free backpacks and school supplies.The event includes free health, dental and eye screenings, and free hot dogs, shaved ice and face painting.The child must be present to receive the school supplies, available while supplies last. Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 25
Aug 27 30th Institute Class at Community Welcome Reception Leadership Long Beach will introduce its 30th Institute class (adult, principled leadership training program) during its annual Community Welcome Reception. Local government officials, community and business leaders from the vast alumni network will be on hand as it communicates its plans in serving Long Beach for the upcoming year. Time: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Aug. 27 Cost: Details: 562-997-9194; www.leadershiplb.org/events Venue: Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach Long Beach Parks Fall Youth Activities The Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine opened registration for new fall recreation classes. The community is invited to explore and register for more than 400 classes in art, music,
nature, fitness, and special interest subjects; and adult sports leagues and aquatics programs will be offered starting in September. Time: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m Monday through Friday Details: https://apm.active communities.com/lbparks/home Location: 2760 Studebaker Road, Long Beach
Sept 6 Summer Cool Out Join downtown San Pedro’s 1st Thursday art walk #SummerCoolOut@artfarmstudios will be offering organic + all natural henna temporary tattoos for $10 to $40. Walk-in or RSVP with a specific time you’d prefer. Time: 4 to 9 p.m. Sept. 6 Cost: Tattoos $10 to $40 Details: (323) 769-9713; www.nudajuiceshop.com Venue: Nuda, 407 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Sept 8
givalife Venue: Point Fermin Park, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro
Sept 15 AltaSea Open House The event features Pangaea’s Sea Dragon and Dr. Marcus Eriksen, an environmental scientist, educator and author committed to building stronger communities through art, science, adventure and activism. His books chronicle and highlight his experience as a veteran of war and a scientist for conservation. RSVP by Sept. 10. Time:10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sept 15 Cost: Free Details: (424) 219-4973; www.altasea.org Venue: AltaSea, 2456 S. Signal St., San Pedro
A Day In the Park Enjoy a 1950s costume contest, live music, children’s games and free food. Time: 1 to 5 p.m. Sept.8 Cost: Free Details: www.facebook.com/
Motivational Speaker
Tim S. Marshall
• Award-winning Author • Best Seller’s List • Entrepreneur • Life Coach • TIMSMARSHALL.COM
Kaitlyn Spilberg
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compas- Motivational Speaker sions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. —Lamentations 3:22-23 • Founder Share Hope USA • Play-Doh Drive Creator • SHAREHOPEUSA.COM
SYMOND BOSCHETTO
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Meals on Wheels 5K Meals on Wheels of Long Beach invites all Runners and walkers to join us for the 3rd Annual 5k event cosponsored by Long Beach City College Cross Country and Track and Field Department. Everyone from the competitive runner to the recreational runner or walker is welcome. Time: 8 a.m. Aug. 25 Cost: Free Details: (562) 439-5000; mowsas@gmail.com
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Long Beach City College, 4901 E. Carson St., Long Beach
Cost: Free Details: (562) 570-1326 Venue: Scherer Park, 4600 Long Beach Blvd. Long Beach
August 23 - September 5, 2018
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The World’s Most Interesting Pepper
August 23 - September 5, 2018
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By Ari LeVaux, Flash in the Pan
f I were stranded on a desert island with one type of chile pepper, it would definitely be the jalapeño. There are many ways that chile can be used and the jalapeño ticks all of the boxes. No single pepper wears as many sombreros as the pride of Jalapa, Veracruz. The jalapeño shines in two distinct areas: cooked fresh and preserved. This time of year, when fresh, local jalapeños can affordably be acquired by the box load, I focus on preservation, which is another way of saying “jalapeño condiment making.” Sriracha sauce, for example, is made from red, ripe, jalapeños. Mexican escabeche, meanwhile, is a style of pickles made with carrots, herbs and green jalapeños. Green jalapeños can also be roasted like a New Mexico green chile, and with comparable flavor. I’ve enjoyed roasted jalapeños dressed in butter and Maggi (a type of Mexican soy sauce), alongside the escabeche at the salsa bars that grace Mexican restaurants. Back in the day, farmers would pick enough green jalapeños to enjoy fresh and bring to market, and at the end of the season the chile plants would be full of unpicked red jalapenos. Following an ancient practice, the farmers would leave these ripe peppers on the plant as long as possible, allowing them to shrivel and dehydrate, before smoking them to complete the dehydration process. These Aztec-style smoked red jalapeños are today known as chipotle peppers. Their sweet, smoky, earthy flavor is important in many dishes. Meanwhile, jalapeños of both hues have taken off among Asian Americans. Sriracha sauce is as ubiquitous at American Vietnamese and Thai restaurants as ketchup is at a burger joint and sliced green jalapeños garnish virtually every bowl of pho that is sold in America, while pickled jalapeños are a common fixture in American banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches. In my general approach to dealing with the seasonal glut of my favorite pepper, I try to emulate the jalapeño farmers of Jalapa. When they are green, I enjoy the fresh jalapeños in my meals and make pickles. And, when they turn red, I make chipotle. I used to pickle my jalapeños exclusively in a Mexican escabeche style, with carrots and some south-of-the-border style pickling spice. It was a very popular formulation among my peer group. Nowadays, I don’t focus on the carrots and am single-minded toward the jalapeño. My current preferred form of preserved green jalapeño is based on Vietnamesestyle pickled jalapeño slices, a la banh mi sandwiches. These pickled jalapeño slices are an easy way to store jalapeños for later, and they are even easier to scoop onto everything, where they rightly belong: Pickled jalapeño slices, jalapeños, vinegar (white or cider), salt then sugar In order to properly trim the jalapeños, you must know how hot they are relative to your heat tolerance. If they’re not too hot then you can leave the seeds and inner membranes in place. I brought a load of jalapeños home from the farmers market recently. They were so hot I had to clean them carefully and then wash my hands with equal dedication. Begin by slicing off the stem end of the
jalapeño. If the peppers are too hot, use the tip of a narrow knife to carve out the seed-bearing membranes. Slice the peppers crosswise as thinly as possible and pack them into a sterile jar. When all of your peppers are packed, add vinegar to each jar until it’s full and then pour the vinegar out of the jar(s) and into a sauce pan. Bring vinegar to a simmer on medium. As it’s heating, add two teaspoons sugar and a teaspoon of salt to each pint jar (adjusting sugar and salt quantities accordingly for larger or smaller jars). When the vinegar reaches a simmer, pour it into the jars and screw on clean lids and rings. Place jars in fridge, where they can last for longer than you can refrain from eating them. If you’re doing massive quantities and don’t have space in the fridge, process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath, which will render them shelf stable. To use, simply scoop the pickled jalapeño slices from the jar and apply them to your food. You’ll get the hang of it.
Chipotle
When it’s time to smoke red jalapeños into chipotle peppers, my technique is less refined. I trim and clean the red jalapeños the same way as the greens, and then roast them on the grill. When the skins have blistered, I move the peppers away from direct heat, add some wood chips to the grill and close the top so the peppers smoke, adjusting the airflow as necessary. When the wood chips have all burnt off, I finish drying the jalapeños in the sun or a dehydrator. One could smoke them for days, Aztec-style, but a touch of smoke is fine with me. When crispy-dry, store them in airtight bags in the freezer. Remember, this is a process that has been in use for thousands of years and there are a lot of ways to smoke a red jalapeño. As long as you don’t touch your eyes before washing your hands, messing around with jalapeños is a tolerant process. Both pickled jalapeño slices and chipotles can be used as ingredients, or as condiments to liven up the final dish. When jalapeños are available, one tends to find ways to use them.
[Lowriders from p. 15]
Lowriders
That enabled us to create music from various grooves, whether it was blues, a boog-a-loo song, funk or Latin. We grew up between Long Beach, Compton and San Pedro and there was a lot of Latin music. There was a gumbo of nationalities.”
Culture of Now
Brown said education fostered music in the past. He believes the internet helps foster musical experimentation now. But children also need guidance. This is where organizations like the New Blues Society have stepped up with their Blues in the School program. Brown sees that spark of inspiration when he works in the program on Saturdays, tutoring students at the school. Professional blues artists work, hands on, with musically inclined students at Poly High. The musicians speak to students about the art of music, and creating and performing it. “I love that they reach out to veterans,” he said. “I like the idea that they work within the school system. I like that they are working with the homeless, doing concerts to raise money for homeless charities. I like that they have been
going into senior citizen homes performing and working with them.” Brown has noticed young people playing analog with digital music. For instance, they’ll play an acoustic guitar and record that alongside a digital beat blending it together and then post it online. “Actually the world has evolved, just like when we came up,” Brown said. “[There was] tape, and after 15 or 20 years it went digital. And now, even digital I’m watching it evolve to where people can actually record and make their own videos, post them and make them go viral.” Because the Lowrider Band hasn’t been seen in Long Beach for “a minute” they will play all the hits people know them for. “You’ll know it’s us because we never play our music the same way twice,” Brown said. “The more people communicate, the more we find we’re alike. I want to send out our love to Lonnie Jordan and all those guys who are touring and keeping our music alive.” Time: 6 p.m. Sept. 1 Cost: $45 to $250 Details: www.newbluesfestival.com, www.lowriderband.com Venue: El Dorado Regional Park, 7550 E. Spring St., Long Beach
Real News, Real People, Really Effective August 23 - September 5, 2018
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SEPT 6 Brought to you by the artists and restaurants of the Downtown San Pedro Waterfront Arts District
Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery
STRANDS: FILIPINO AND FILIPINO-AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS ENCOUNTER TEXTILE
Christine Morla, mixed media.
Strands: Filipino and Filipino-American Contemporary Artists Encounter Textile introduces new work by artists Cirilo Domine, Christine Morla and Aze Ong in drawing, mixed media, installation, sculpture and garments influenced by the fibrous textiles of the Philippines. Strands is co-curated by contemporary artists Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza and Joseph Santarromana. In addition to this new installation, a showing of Domine’s multifaceted garments will be displayed in a performance garment show on First Thursday Sept. 6, 7 pm. The show runs through Oct. 28.
PULLING IN/LETTING GO: NEW WORKS BY CARYN BAUMGARTNER
Baumgartner is a Long Beach-based abstract artist. Her subject matter draws upon imagination, dreams and the natural world. She employs a variety of mediums, including oil, wax and charcoal in her work. Pulling In/Letting Go opens Sept. 6, 6 p.m. during the San Pedro First Thursday art walk. An artist’s reception will take place Sept. 8, 2 to 6 p.m. Michael Stearns Studio @ The Loft, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro. Details: (562) 400-0544.
Studio Gallery 345
DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS
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The gallery is open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m. or by appointment. Gallery opens during Sept. and Oct. First Thursday Artwalks, 3 to 8 p.m. and Third Saturday Artwalks, 3 to 6 p.m. Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery, 479 W. 6th St., Suite 107, San Pedro. Details: (310) 514-9139; www.pintadosgallery.com
Michael Stearns Studio@The Loft
Pat Woolley, Ports O’Call, watercolor
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Studio 345 presents drawings by Pat Woolley and mixed media work and paintings by 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.
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Pat Woolley, Ports O’Call, drawing
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Jim Gladson, Founder Los Angeles Maritime Institute July 3, 1930 - may 30, 2018
Children Find Path to Success with Gladson at Helm By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
the schools in their neighborhood. Shortly after the school started, the magnet campus and its small cadre of students held a potluck beach picnic for their monthly governing council meeting. Several of Gladson’s students approached him with a new idea for their educational experience, but the Dubloon wasn’t big enough to do it. As Gladson recounted in 2005, the students announced, “Jim … We’ve got it all figured out. You’re always talking about that old sailboat of yours. Why don’t we make sailing part of the curriculum? We’ll help out.” To accomplish the ambitious idea, a bigger boat would have to be chartered to fit enough youngsters to justify the Los Angeles Unified assigning a chaperon. For Gladson, teaching those students the ropes of sailing and seamanship — the crux of which could lead to success in other facets of life — led to 18 years in the magnet and alternative school
field aboard the Dubloon. Often, the students steered the sail training vessels under Gladson’s experienced eyes or one of the program’s salaried skippers or qualified volunteers. The LAMI-TopSail mission statement spells out the values and qualities inculcated by staff and volunteers including educators, mariners and mentors throughout each year: They are charged with encouraging and fostering the growth of awareness, understanding, communication, cooperation and teamwork, along with the maturation of youth attitudes and skills regarding persistence, patience, endurance, courage and caution. These are all definite milestones with the ultimate destination being individual responsibility, competency and leadership. TopSail does not train youth for lives at sea… We use the sea to educate youth for life.
School is Where the Kids Are
LAMI hosts tribute to founder and visionary Jim Gladson By Mark L. Friedman, RLn Contributor
LAMI’s twin brigantines, Exy Johnson and Irving Johnson carry the ashes of Jim Gladson out to sea. Photo by Mark Friedman.
In launching the twin brigantines, Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson on April 27, 2002, he wrote: During the time we have been crafting these vessels another significant project has been just as busy. There is a factory or an assemblyline somewhere in the region that is producing ‘at risk’ kids at a prodigious rate... There is one endangered species we cannot possibly afford to turn our backs on and that’s our next generation… These vessels are designed to being built as warships for the 21st century. Our enemies are ignorance, fear and ineptitude; and above all, lack of confidence. I thank you for your support. But we still need your help to complete the ships to fit them out so that they can go forth and do battle with the conditions that produce so many kids whose personal visions do not yet include the expectation of a future with personal success.
LAMI urges the public to continue this legacy. Visit www.lamitopsail.org/activity/ Jim-Gladson and consider supporting and volunteering to refurbish the Swift of Ipswich or be volunteer crew.
August 23 - September 5, 2018
former students. In 2010, Gladson received Tall Ships America’s highest honor, the lifetime achievement award for “A Lifetime of Dedication to Sail Training.” Under his motto “school is where the kids are” the Topsail program grew on Swift of Ipswich, then Bill of Rights and now, Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson. LAMI Director Bruce Heyman told the crowd that Gladson’s “strong passion and commitment to his vision brought us together ... . This generation is honored to carry on the legacy, just think of the tens of thousands of youth whose lives were changed due to their experience on board our tall ship.” In 1993, Gladson and volunteers began sailing the Swift of Ipswich. LAMI then built and launched the twin brigantines, Exy Johnson and Irving Johnson, in the Port of Los Angeles under Gladson’s leadership. The vessels were designated as the Official Tall Ships and Maritime Ambassadors of the City of Los Angeles. Former teacher Elizabeth Neat, explained how Gladson taught responsibility to youth,
that youth had to work out their own issues in student centered education and activities. Gladson’s granddaughter, Sareta, explained how “he wanted you to do it yourself. He wanted us to figure it out ourselves.” In a special issue of Random Lengths News, Gladson and the institute were featured throughout. The cover photo is Gladson and youth with the headline Topsail Kids at the Helm ... Youth Sailing Program Trains Children for Life. The memorial program included excerpts from Capt. Jim Gladson’s writings: Real science consists of personal investigations followed by two questions: what did you find out? And what do you think about it? Obviously the only way to get a wrong answer would be to lie.
The tall ships of the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, Exy Johnson and Irving Johnson, were in full sail and fully loaded as the ashes of LAMI founder Jim Gladson were distributed at sea, Aug. 12. The cannons fired, carnations were thrown, and later, at the celebration of life memorial, more than 150 community residents, former students of Jim Gladson, family, Area D alternative school and long-time LAMI supporters honored his life and the traditions and mission that he developed to create the Los Angeles Maritime Institute and its tall ships. It was a fitting tribute to a man and his vision for giving hope and direction to young people. The day began with the flotilla of LAMI’s twin brigantines, Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson, a small craft from the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club and the City2Sea Streamliner heading out to sea from the San Pedro harbor. The memorial meeting, chaired by Gladson’s son Richard, included at least 30 veteran sailors, volunteers, shipmates and former students who sailed with Gladson on his ships, including his sails up and down the Pacific Coast and to the Galapagos. Speakers reminisced about the founding of the “alternative school” in 1973 to the most current successes of LAMI in taking out more than 6,000 youth in this past year on the tall ships for science and math engagement, leadership development and recreational activities. He took students out on his ketch, the Dubloon and after retiring from the Los Angeles Unified School District, he started the Los Angeles Maritime Institute Topsail Youth program with a team of volunteers and
In 2005, RLN featured LAMI founder Jim Gladson on the cover of a special edition for TallShips LA Festival in the Port of Los Angeles.
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
As a boy amidst the Great Depression, Jim Gladson’s family frequently camped out on the sandy beaches of Balboa Island. He sailed there with his family aboard a 12-foot Snowbird sailboat. The master of the vessel, a family friend, affluent enough despite the economic harshness of the times, gave the three-year-old Gladson a task. He pointed to the centerboard trunk’s slot, in which fits the center board that kept the small boat steady. Through this opening a school of tiny fish could be seen swimming beneath. “Your job is to watch and make sure the water doesn’t start coming into the boat and sink us,” Gladson, in a Random Lengths News story published in 2005, recounted the skipper as saying. Gladson, a tiny toddler bent dutifully over the opening, a tiny window into the ocean, ready to sound the alarm if the bobbing boat began taking on seawater. The slotted fixture was designed so that couldn’t happen, but the tot took his duty seriously. Gladson has kept his eye on the water for eight decades since, living beside or on it. He was a high school science teacher-turned-life mentor to thousands of youngsters, some of whom were born and reared under the most pressurized of circumstances of poverty and violence and have never seen the ocean until TopSail brought them here. Viewed by some as a revolutionary approach to education, the program offered by Los Angeles Maritime Institute, a nonprofit foundation begun in 1992 as an affiliate of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, is simple in concept. It developed as an outgrowth of the 1970s creation of the first magnet campus in the Los Angeles Unified School that initially met for eight weeks on the sand at Venice Beach. The first four schools featured a governing council comprised of students, parents and staff. This governing council voted on school spending and the curriculum, staff hiring and firing. The teacher’s vote was weighted more heavily than that of the parent’s and students so as to provide a balance of power in a democratic system. These volunteers were instigators of the sailing program that became a blueprint for TopSail once Gladson took early retirement from the Los Angeles Unified School District to found the Los Angeles Maritime Institute. They had an idea and he had a sailboat — he still has it — the Dubloon, a gaff-headed ketch originally built by the late San Pedro activist and historian Bill Olesen, who had christened it the Lakme, a name still revered in yachting circles. Lakme is a fanciful character in an East Indian opera, a role made famous by singer Lily Pons almost a century ago. The Dubloon became the flagship on an educational voyage of discovery. The plan was conceived by Galdson’s first class of students who began the day sailing aboard the Dubloon, offshore from Cabrillo beach. The students who ended up going to LAMI did so for a variety of reasons. Some weren’t challenged enough and some were looking for alternative teaching styles that better accommodated learning challenges. And, others were trying to escape gang activity surrounding
21
[Orange from p. 12]
Orange to Blue
The other two Orange County Democratic candidates are Mike Levin running against Diane Harkey, an Issa protégé in CA-49, and Katie Porter a former student and protégé of
Elizabeth Warren, running against Mimi Walters in CA-45. The latter “Has long been considered one of the toughest races for us to flip,” Potucek told Random Lengths News, with a double-digit margin last cycle. “But there was a poll just released yesterday, that shows that Katie Porter is within one point.” All throughout Orange County, the partisan gap is vanishing. “We went from 22 points in 1990 to a record low of 2.6 points in June,” Potucek said. The number of candidates seeking party endorsements has doubled since the most recent cycle, with increasing diversity. “We have more women than ever, we have more people of color;
we have more young people,” she said. “We’re seeing a blue wave at the local level of people running for office to serve in their school boards to serve on city councils all over Orange County. There’s no safe area anymore. “We’re running from the canyons to the coast, and from North County to South OC.” “The level of activity now is unprecedented, I don’t think we’ve ever seen this level of volunteer interest and involvement, reaching out to us and us reaching out to others,” said Linda May, director of the Orange County Democrats’ grassroots organizing program. It’s breaking records in all kinds of ways.” The shift is qualitative as well as quantitative. “Orange County is undergoing what we feel is a sea-change right now, a rapid shift to the left, “ Potucek said. “Our base is energized, active, organized, mobilizing, working hard.” It’s a process Swing Left helped accelerate. “I feel like our organization sort of helps people figure out that there are a lot of secret Democrats in these districts.” Wade said, even in a place like Yorba Linda, home to the Nixon Library. “You get a street, and like every other house is a democratic household. But they think they’re all alone, to which a canvasser might reply, ‘Well, I just knocked on the doors of about seven people on your street who are Democrats, so you’d be surprised.’ Suddenly the neighborhood is firing up yard signs, even in conservative Yorba Linda. That’s been a pretty great thing to see.”
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“The goal is for them to be the spokesperson for the Democratic Party in their own precincts,” May said. “But that also means a listener as well. We can go to our neighborhood organizers and say, ‘Take the temperature; find out what’s going on; what do they think about this or that?’” May continued, “We have increasing skepticism and lack of trust with most sources of information,” she said. So intent is to train folks QUICK RESPONSE the to serve as a “trusted TIME! advisor,” someone politically informed and rooted in the community, who can get others politically engaged, over time. At the same time,
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[See Orange, p. 26]
Stabbing in San Pedro
SAN PEDRO — Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division is seeking information from anyone who might lead to the arrest of a suspect who stabbed a man at about 11 p.m. Aug. 12, behind a Seven-Eleven store on 9th at Gaffey streets, near what is now considered the Great Street of San Pedro. The man had multiple stab wounds when he was taken to a local hospital. The victim, whose name has not been released, is in stable condition, an officer at the scene said. Official said several men attacked the victim before fleeing in a white Dodge Charger. The motives and what led up to the stabbing are unknown.
POLA Project Mirrors SoCal’s Waterfront Redevelopment Plans
SAN PEDRO — On Aug. 6, the Port of Los Angeles announced that it is seeking a vendor for commercial development at the Los Angeles Waterfront project. The port district’s Waterfront Commercial Development Group specifically released a fourpage prospectus, Aug. 6. The prospectus provides potential development vendors with details about the Los Angeles Waterfront opportunity. Port district staff is seeking a vendor to develop the Cabrillo Way Marina area, which is on the south end of the Los Angeles Waterfront area. Plans for the new Los Angeles Waterfront have already resulted in portions of the Harbor area being uprooted and removed. A marina and several restaurants in Ports O’ Call no longer exist. The area will soon be converted into a public marketplace. City official’s hope it will be a major draw for the regions visitors and tourists. The development opportunity would be at the southwest corner of Miner and 22nd streets, totalling about 87 acres of land and water. The POLA prospectus added the commercial development of the new Los Angeles Waterfront space could open the door for a new yacht club to be established or relocated. Port staff specifically stated Los Angeles Yacht Club could relocate to the revitalized area.
APM Terminals Replaces 16 Yard Tractors with Cean Equipment
SAN PEDRO — With the help of a federal grant secured by the Port of Los Angeles, APM Terminals Pier 400 has replaced 16 yards tractors with the cleanest cargo handling equipment available. The container terminal operator also donated 12 of the outgoing yard tractors to auto mechanic [See News Briefs, p. 25]
[Piledrivers from p. 3]
Piledrivers
While non-union contractors were free to move their crews from one job to the next, union contractors could not move their workers beyond the borders of the district’s jurisdictional boundaries without replacing their crews with new carpenters from the jurisdictional district outside the contractor’s home council. This situation made union crews less competitive than the non-union crews. The 50-percent rule was adopted to remedy the situation. The 50-percent rule allow union contractors to use crews with one local Carpenter for each company-chosen Carpenter on jobs outside their region. The consolidation greatly expanded the boundaries of a regional council’s jurisdiction and left the consolidated areas with a larger council better able to compete with the growing non-union segment of specialized contractors. Because of the pervasive protectionism practiced by the locals, free movement of workers within a council was only possible after this authority was taken from the locals and given to the councils in the 1991 United Brotherhood of Carpenters Convention. However, under this new system, working Carpenters slowly lost the right to vote for their local’s business agents and organizers, thus consolidating all power with the regional council’s officers at the expense of the locals. The rank-and-file members do get to vote on the delegates to the intermediary regional councils.
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Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018158829 The following person is doing business as: Fiberine, 1633 E. Sandison, Wilmington, CA 90744, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: G.V.M.R. Inc, 1633 E. Sandison, Wilmington, CA 90744. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: January 1981. 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/. Gonzalo Rico Jr., Vice President. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on June 28, 2018. Notice-In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious busi-
ness name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 07/26/18, 08/09/18, 08/23/18, 09/06/18
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018146893 The following person is doing business as: Allie M Assad General Contractor, 944 W Basin Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Allie M Assad, 944 W Basin Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: January 2008. 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/. Allie M Assad, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on June 15, 2018. Notice-In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 07/26/18, 08/09/18, 08/23/18, 09/06/18
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018172348 The following person is doing business as: JM Salon, 355 W 7th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Melinda Figueroa, 1085 W 24th 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: August 2010. 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/. Melinda Figueroa, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on July 19, 2018. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed be-
fore the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 07/26/18, 08/09/18, 08/23/18, 09/06/18
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018187887 The following person is doing business as: Tinkerbell Cleaners, 1808 E Carson Street, Carson, CA 90745, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Mark J. Doddy, 1110 W. 9th 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/. Mark J. Doddy, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on July 31, 2018. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 08/09/18, 08/23/18, 09/06/18, 09/20/2018
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018190097 The following person is doing business as: HR General Welding Repairs, 644 W. 27th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1951, San Pedro, Ca 90733. Registered owners: Hector Rivera, 644 W. 27th 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/. Hector Rivera, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Aug. 1, 2018. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A ficti-
[continued on p. 24]
August 23 - September 5, 2018
PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PET!
135
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2018153929 The following person is doing business as: Hakalau Handmade Furniture, 2311 Pepperwood Ave., Long Beach, CA 90815, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Crystal Cordelia McKay, 2311 Pepperwood Ave., Long Beach, CA 90815. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: June 2018. 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/. Crystal Cordelia McKay, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on June 22, 2018. Notice-In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 07/26/18, 08/09/18,
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DBA & LEGAL FILINGS
[continued from p. 23]
The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter 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: 8-29-18, Time 8:30 a.m. 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 news paper of general circulation, printed in this county: Los Angeles Sentinel and Random Lengths News Date: July 18, 2018 Michael P. Vicencia Judge of the Superior Court 8/2, 8/9, 8/16,8/23/18 CNS-3159467# Los Angeles Sentinel
tious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 08/09/18, 08/23/18, 09/06/18, 09/20/2018
Order to Show Cause for Change of Name Case No. NS034510 Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles Petition of Herlinda Marie Perez for Change of Name TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner Herlinda marie Perez filed a petition with this court for a decree changing names as follows: Junior Pacheco to Erik Junior Pacheco
NOTICE INVITING BIDS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Long Beach, California, acting by and through the City’s Board of Harbor Commissioners (“City”) will receive, before the Bid Deadline established below, Bids for the following Work: ON-CALL ASPHALT PAVING, TRAFFIC STRIPING AND OTHER RELATED SERVICES AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA AS DESCRIBED IN SPECIFICATION NO. HD-S3025 Bid Deadline:
forms_permits/default.asp. NIB-2 Pre-Bid Questions. All questions, including requests for interpretation or correction, or comments regarding the Contract Documents, must be submitted no later than September 25, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. Questions received after the pre-Bid question deadline will not be accepted. Questions must be submitted electronically through the PB System. Emails, phone calls, and faxes will not be accepted. Questions submitted to City staff will not be
Prior to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 Bids shall be submitted electronically via the Port of Long Beach PlanetBids (PB) System prior to 2:00 p.m.
Bid Opening:
Contract Documents Available:
Electronic Bid (eBid) results shall be viewable online in the PB System immediately after the Bid Deadline. Download Contract Documents from the Port of Long Beach PB System Vendor Portal: www.polb.com/sbe Click on the POLB Vendor Portal
“A Noble Effort” — dropping those last few.
1. Register and Log In 2. Click “Bid Opportunities” 3. Double-click on respective bid Project Title 4. Click on Document/Attachments tab 5. Double-Click on Title of Electronic Attachment 6. Click “Download Now” 7. Repeat for each attachment
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August 23 - September 5, 2018
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For assistance in downloading these documents please contact Port of Long Beach Plans and Specs Desk at 562-283-7353.
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ACROSS
1 Faucet 4 Self-referential, like this clue 8 American realist art school 14 Sorta, in suffix form 15 Planetary path 16 Mr. or Ms. Right 17 General linked to chicken 18 Company named for a goddess 19 1955 pact city 20 Sky viewer used at an airline’s main airport? 23 Atlanta university 24 Catan resource 25 Org. with a tour 28 Lucille’s co-star 29 Cargo carrier 32 Diamond call 33 Rita of Netflix’s “One Day at a Time” 35 LPs and 45s 36 The origins of singing wordlessly? 39 George of “Star Trek” and Twitter 40 Excited 41 Finished 42 “Fiddler on the Roof” matchmaker 43 Follow commands 47 “Indubitably!” 48 Scribble (down) 49 Sudden onrush 50 Scratch some statuary? 54 Music organizer on a wall, maybe 57 Modern cheesecake ingredient 58 ___ Interwebz (intentional online misspelling) 59 Onetime Sidekick maker 60 Helicopter designer Sikorsky 61 Country set to share the 2026 World Cup 62 Lounging chair 63 Multiple-day music gathering, e.g. 64 Dir. at 202.5
DOWN
1 Paid to the church 2 Jump to conclusions 3 Innermost of Mars’s two moons 4 Coinage 5 Heinous 6 Seize 7 Microbrewery brews 8 On the job 9 Geometric figure 10 In this location 11 Prefix with play, at some cons 12 Tennis’s Ivanovic 13 Just out 21 Weed whacker, e.g. 22 Shell in a “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” running gag 25 Early Atari game 26 Start of a Frank Loesser title 27 Just over 99%? 29 Low number in Naples 30 Word misspelled in a tattoo meme 31 Part of ACLU 32 Discover 34 Kimono sash 35 “C’est la ___!” 36 Hold’s partner 37 HI-strung instruments? 38 “The Puzzle Palace” org. 39 Kids’ meal prize 42 Terrier type, informally 44 “Julius Caesar” conspirator 45 Way out 46 Cowboy’s yell 48 Game with a bouncing ball 49 Cricket, say 50 Wailuku’s island 51 Updo, e.g. 52 Entreat 53 They share the same season as Geminis 54 Sine’s reciprocal, in trig (abbr.) 55 “Well, that’s obvious!” 56 Head producer for the Wu-Tang Clan
Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting:
Date/Time: September 11, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. Location: Port of Long Beach Interim Administrative Office (IAO) 1st Floor Board Room 4801 Airport Plaza Drive Long Beach, CA 90815
Project Contact Person:
Christopher Greiner, Christopher.greiner@polb.com
Please refer to the Port of Long Beach PB System for the most current information. NIB-1 Contract Documents. Contract Documents may be downloaded, at no cost, from the Port of Long Beach PB System Vendor Portal website. Bidders must first register as a vendor on the Port of Long Beach PB System website in order to view and download the Contract Documents, to be added to the prospective bidders list, and to receive addendum notifications when issued. For the link to the Port of Long Beach PB System and for information on this Project and other upcoming Port projects, you may view the Port website at http://www.polb. com/economics/contractors/ default.asp. Copies of all Port insurance endorsement forms, SBE/ VSBE Program forms, Harbor Development Permit Applications and other Port forms are available at h t t p : / / w w w. p o l b . c o m / economics/contractors/
addressed and Bidder will be directed to the PB System. NIB-3 Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting. The engineering staff of the City’s Harbor Department will conduct a prebid meeting at 1:00 p.m. on September 11, 2018, in the 1st Floor Board Room, of the Port of Long Beach Interim Administrative Office, 4801 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach, CA 90815. Attendance is mandatory for the Contractors. It is not mandatory for Subcontractors but highly recommended. The City makes no guarantee that existing construction and site conditions matches construction depicted on record reference documents. EACH BIDDER MUST ATTEND THE MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING. FAILURE TO ATTEND THE MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING SHALL DISQUALIFY YOUR BID. Bidders are encouraged to RSVP for the Pre-Bid Meeting through the PB System;
located under the “RSVP” tab of the Prospective Bidder Detail. Following the meeting a list of Pre-Bid Meeting signed-in attendees will be available on the PB System. Note that attendance at the pre-bid meeting can be used to satisfy a portion of a Bidder’s good faith efforts to meet the SBE/VSBE participation goals listed below. NIB-4 Summary Description of the Work. The Work required by this Contract includes, but is not limited to, the following: On-Call Services for Pavement, Striping, and other related services. Refer to Section 01 11 00, Summary of Work in the Technical Specifications. NIB-5 Contract Time and Liquidated Damages. The Contractor shall achieve Affidavit of Final Completion of the Project within two (2) years as provided in Paragraph SC 6.1 of the Special Conditions, from a date specified in a written “Notice to Proceed” issued by the City and subject to adjustment as provided in Section 8.2 of the General Conditions. FAILURE OF THE CONTRACTOR TO COMPLETE THE WORK WITHIN THE CONTRACT TIME AND OTHER MILESTONES SET FORTH IN SPECIAL CONDITIONS SC-6.3, INCLUDING THE ENGINEER’S APPROVAL OF AFFIDAVIT OF FINAL COMPLETION, WILL RESULT IN ASSESSMENT OF LIQUIDATED DAMAGES IN THE AMOUNTS ESTABLISHED IN THE SPECIAL CONDITIONS 6.4. NIB-6 Contractor’s License. The Bidder shall hold current and valid Class “C12” and Class “A” California Contractor’s Licenses to bid and construct this project. NIB-7 Contractor Performed Work. The Contractor shall perform, with its own employees, Contract Work amounting to at least 50% of the Contract Price, except that any designated “Specialty Items” may be performed by subcontract. The amount of any such “Specialty Items” so performed may be deducted from the Contract Price before computing the amount required to be performed by the Contractor with its own employees. “Specialty Items” will be identified by the City on the Schedule of Bid Items. The bid price of any materials or equipment rental costs from vendors who are solely furnishing materials or rental equipment and are not performing Work as a licensed subcontractor on this project shall also be deducted from the Contract Price before computing the amount required to be performed by the Contractor with its own employees. NIB -8 SBE/VSBE. This project is subject to the Port of Long Beach (POLB) Small Business Enterprises (SBE)/ Very Small Business Enterprises (VSBE) Program. The combined SBE/VSBE participation goal for this project is twenty percent (20%), of which a minimum of five percent (5%) must be allocated to VSBEs. POLB expects all Bidders to achieve the combined SBE/VSBE participation goal. Award of the Contract will be conditioned on the Bidder submitting an SBE-2C Commitment Plan demonstrating the Bidder’s intent
to meet the combined SBE/ VSBE participation goal. If the Bidder’s Commitment Plan does not demonstrate intent to meet the combined goal, the Bidder shall demonstrate that it made an adequate good faith effort to do so, as specified in the Instructions to Bidders. The Port’s SBE Program staff is available to provide information on the program requirements, including SBE certification assistance. Please contact the SBE Office at (562) 283-7598 or sbeprogram@polb.com. You may also view the Port’s SBE program requirements at www.polb.com/sbe. NIB -9 Prevailing Wage Requirements per Department of Industrial Relations. This Project is a public work Contract as defined in Labor Code Section 1720. The Contractor receiving award of the Contract and Subcontractors of any tier shall pay not less than the prevailing wage rates to all workers employed in execution of the Contract. The Director of Industrial Relations of the State of California has determined the general prevailing rates of wages in the locality in which the Work is to be performed. The rate schedules are available on the internet at http://www.dir. ca.gov/dlsr/DPreWageDetermination.htm and on file at the City, available upon request. Bidders are directed to Article 15 of the General Conditions for requirements concerning payment of prevailing wages, payroll records, hours of work and employment of apprentices. This Project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations. No Contractor or Subcontractor may be listed on a bid proposal for a public works project unless registered with the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to Labor Code Section 1725.5 (with limited exceptions from this requirement for bid purposes only under Labor Code Section 1771.1(a)). No Contractor or Subcontractor may be awarded a contract for public work on a public works project unless registered with the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to Labor Code Section 1725.5. Contractors and Subcontractors must furnish electronic Certified Payroll Records (CPRs) to the Labor Commissioner’s Office, and in addition, hardcopies or electronic copies shall be furnished to the Port of Long Beach. NIB -10 P r o j e c t L a b o r Agreement. This project is not covered by a PLA. NIB -11 Tr a d e N a m e s and Substitution of Equals. With the exception of any sole source determination that may be identified in this paragraph, Bidders wishing to obtain City’s authorization for substitution of equivalent material, product, or equipment, are required to submit a written request for an Or Equal Substitution using the form included in Appendix A together with data substantiating Bidder’s representation that the non-specified item is of equal quality to the item specified, no later than fourteen (14) calendar days after City’s issuance of Notice to Proceed (NTP). Authorization of a substitution is solely within
the discretion of the City. NIB -12
Not Used.
NIB -13 B i d S e c u r i t y, Signed Contract, Insurance and Bonds. Each Bid shall be accompanied by a satisfactory Bidder’s Bond or other acceptable Bid Security in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the Base Bid as a guarantee that the Bidder will, if Conditionally Awarded a Contract by the Board, within thirty (30) calendar days after the Contract is conditionally awarded to the Contractor by the City, execute and deliver such Contract to the Chief Harbor Engineer together with all required documents including insurance forms, a Payment Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price, and a Performance Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price. All Bonds shall be on forms provided by the City. NIB -14 C o n d i t i o n a l Award of Contract and Reservation of Rights. The Board, acting through the Executive Director, reserves the right at any time before the execution of the Contract by the City, to reject any or all Bids, and to waive any informality or irregularity. The Conditional Award of the Contract, if any, will be to the responsible Bidder submitting the lowest responsive and responsible Bid. If the lowest responsive responsible Bidder fails to submit the required documents including insurance forms, bonds and signed Contract within thirty (30) calendar days after Conditional Award of Contract, the Board reserves the right to rescind the Conditional Award and Conditionally Award the Contract to the next lowest responsive and responsible Bidder. NIB -15 Period of Bid Irrevocability. Bids shall remain open and valid and Bidder’s Bonds and other acceptable Bid Security shall be guaranteed and valid for ninety (90) calendar days after the Bid Deadline or until the Executive Director executes a Contract, whichever occurs first. NIB -16 Substitution of Securities. Substitution of Securities for retainage is permitted in accordance with Section 22300 of the Public Contract Code. NIB -17 Iran Contracting Act of 2010. In accordance with Public Contract Code sections 2200-2208, every person who submits a bid or proposal for entering into or renewing contracts with the City for goods or services estimated at $1,000,000 or more are required to complete, sign, and submit the “Iran Contracting Act of 2010 Compliance Affidavit.” Issued at Long Beach, California, this 19th day ofApril 2018. Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Harbor Department, City of Long Beach, California
Note: For project updates after Bid Opening, please contact plans.specs@polb. com.
[Suffer from p. 9] [News Briefs from p. 22]
training programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The 12 tractors are now at three school sites throughout Los Angeles. Eight went to Harbor Occupational Center in San Pedro, two to Bell High School, and two to Van Nuys High School.
POLA Records Busiest July
SAN PEDRO — The Port of Los Angeles processed 833,568 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, in July. It was the busiest July in the port’s 111-year history. The cargo volumes exceeded July 2017, by 4.6 percent. July 2018 imports increased 5 percent to 438,165 TEUs compared to 2017. Exports increased 8.4 percent to 167,992 TEUs while empty containers increased 1.2 percent to 227,412 TEUs. Combined, July overall volumes were 833,568 TEUs. Seven months into 2018, overall volumes have decreased 2.6 percent compared to 2017, when the port set an all-time cargo record.
Suffer
to serve as bedrooms.” Corina Grigoras, the department’s Housing Finance Unit managing director, responded that she couldn’t “prohibit H-2A farmworkers residing in housing funded through the Housing Assistance Program,” or even “require that housing assistance program housing be rented to H-2A employers only at market rates.” Rosalinda Guillen, executive director of Community2Community, a farm worker advocacy organization in Bellingham, Wash. said that “the impact of this system on the ability of farm workers to organize is disastrous.” BURLINGTON, WA - Migrant farm workers on strike against Sakuma Farms. The strikers wanted to stop the grower from bringing in H-2A workers from Mexico to do the work they usually do every year.
even cheaper by eliminating wage requirements, or the requirement that they provide housing,” charged United Farm Workers Vice-President Armando Elenes. “Reducing the available labor and the increased use of H2-A are definitely connected. Growers don’t want to look at how
POLB July Container Volumes Dip
LONG BEACH — The Port of Long Beach container volumes declined in July compared to the July 2017, which hit a historic high that has since been surpassed. The drop, 4.4 percent, was attributed to shipping alliances’ decisions in July to shift vessel deployment and port calls. Port officials also raised concerns that escalating tariffs could slow trade activity during the remainder of the year. In total, terminals moved 688,457 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, through Long Beach this past month. Imports dropped 8.2 percent to 347,736 TEUs, while exports fell 5 percent to 119,747 TEUs. Ships departing the port took 220,975 empty TEUs overseas, up 2.6 percent.
Maritime Center of Excellence Workforce Training Program to be Based at LBCC
David Bacon is a writer and photojournalist, whose latest book is In the Fields of the North / En los Campos del Norte (Colegio de la Frontera Norte University of California Press).
110 Barber Shop Gives Back SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Sakuma Farms striker Anselmo Aguilar is accompanied by Sarait Martinez of the Frente Indigena de Organizaciones Binacionales, as they go to the Department of Labor in San Francisco. Photo by David Bacon/The Progressive.
In 2013, when Sakuma Brothers Farms’ longtime resident workers went on strike for at least $14 an hour, they were told that the company would not exceed the H-2A wage rate of $12.39. In effect, the guest worker rate was used as a ceiling to keep wages from going up. This past fall, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, introduced a bill to expand the H-2A program. The bill, House Resolution 4092, would create an H-2C visa category to replace H-2A, certifying the recruitment of 450,000 workers annually, a cap that would grow by 10 percent a year. Eventually, up to 900,000 guest workers could be employed in the United States at any one time. Wages would be based at 115 percent of the federal or state minimum wage, or $8.34 an hour in states with the federal minimum wage of $7.25. As the Donald Trump administration beefs up raids and enforcements, growers want to ensure a continued supply of cheap labor. “ICE does audits and raids, and then growers demand changes that will make H2-A workers
San Pedro 110 Barbershop proprietor, Steve Guevara, standing left, hosted the business’ 8th annual backpack give-away. Guevara and his wife said, “We are a small business that is very passionate about giving back to the less fortunate.” Photo by Raphael Richardson
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
LONG BEACH — On Aug. 9, Port of Long Beach and Long Beach City College leaders launched a new program to provide opportunities to local students seeking the employment skills necessary to join the goods movement workforce. The Port of Long Beach Maritime Center of Excellence at Long Beach City College will target a variety of programs for occupations in the global logistics and supply chain industries that require higher education, but less than a four-year college degree. The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners recently approved $60,000 in funding for the program’s first year as a pilot project. The training at the Maritime Center of Excellence will focus on in-demand occupations which may include: warehouse and distribution supervisor, transportation supervisor, logistics and supply chain specialist, order processor, shipping and receiving clerk, and scheduler and operations coordinator.
they can make the workplace better and attract more workers. They just want what’s cheaper.”
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[Orange from p. 22]
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Orange to Blue
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this all takes place within the normal two-year election cycle. It’s an approach that’s meant to both win in November and keep building beyond then. The civic engagement side never goes away, but it plays more of an underlying support role during election years. “Our whole idea is to have an interpersonal relationship with each of the individual voters that we contact,” she said. “In South County there’s a new group that emerged this past year called, OC Students for City Council,” Potucek said. “They’ve emerged out of the energy around the Parkland massacre.” While they’re not directly involved in flipping the house, the presence of such young candidates running for office provides an important boost for increased youth participation and the agendas they’re running on help feed the broader growth of progressive political ideas countywide. Jake Rybczyk is a co-founder of the group, along with Jackson Hinkle, both of whom are running for City Council in San Clemente. Hinkle, at 18, is already the founder of an international environmental group. They’ve also got candidates running in Costa Mesa, Mission Viejo, Buena Park and Fullerton, and hope to add more in the next few weeks, before registration closes. “What inspired me to run was the inaction of the politicians that we currently have,” Rybczyk told Random Lengths. After the Parkland massacre, Rybczyk drafted a letter calling for a Town Hall with Darrell Issa, He gathered over 100 signatures in just two days. “I went up to his office, and his staff, it was evident that they didn’t even want to talk to me, and it was there that I realized I had to step up,” he said. It’s that same spirit of stepping up that can be heard over and over again. A similar dynamic was seen in response to several OC cities decisions to sue California over Senate Bill 54, the “Sanctuary State” Bill, which basically ensures that immigrants can report crimes to the local police, without fear of being questioned about their immigration status. “We saw an incredible organizing movement against those measures at the local level in each city where that was happening,” Potucek explained. “We’ve seen a wave of candidates run for office this year, specifically, because of those attacks on SB 54.” The overall impact is cumulative, significantly altering the political atmosphere and the kinds of candidates running. “We have more women than ever, we have more people of color, we have more young people, so this trend is shifting towards this more young active and engaged generation,” Potucek said. “That’s been very exciting.” Still, Orange County has been a Republican stronghold for more than half a century. To win these crucial four House seats this November, they’re going to need all the outside help they can get. “Indivisible San Pedro had been leading phone banking to Orange County districts up into the primary, and the San Pedro Democratic Club have been joining them,” club President Carrie Scoville said. They were held at Ports O’ Call Restaurant, before the Port of Los Angeles shut it down. They’ve resumed at the Random Lengths News office, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
The history of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the record of its origins and traditions, is about workers of all races and beliefs who built a union that is democratic, militant and dedicated to the idea that solidarity with other workers and other unions is the key to achieving economic security and a peaceful world. The origins of the ILWU lie in the longshore industry of the Pacific Coast—the work of loading and unloading ships’ cargoes. In the old days of clipper ships, sailings were frequently unscheduled and labor was often recruited at the last minute by shoreside criers calling: “Men along the shore!”—giving rise to the term “longshoremen.” The work was brutal, conditions unsafe, employment irregular and the pay too low to support a family.
August 23 - September 5, 2018
Coast Committeemen
Robert McEllrath, President Ray Familathe, Vice President-Mainland Wesley Furtado, Vice President-Hawaii William E. Adams, Secretary-Treasurer Frank Ponce De Leon & Cameron Williams
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These were the days of the shape-up, kickback, blacklist, goon squads, wage cuts, speed-ups and staggering accident rates. Among the lessons the longshoremen learned, to be recalled when they rebuilt their union in 1934, was that any discrimination weakens a union organization. They also came to understand the wisdom of the principles of worker unity, internal democracy and international solidarity advocated by members of the militant Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)—principles summed up in the famous IWW slogan that the new union would adopt, “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
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August 23 - September 5, 2018
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