RLn 9-26-19

Candidates vying for Dr. Richard Vladovic’s seat will have some mighty big shoes to fill in 2020

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

W

Los Angeles Unified School District president Dr. Richard Vladovic will retire in 2020. Photo by Terelle Jerricks.

[See Dr. V, p. 5]

Central SP Neighborhood Council regains access to its website p. 2

Robert Scheer: Above the Fold premieres at San Pedro International Film Festival p. 14

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

M

ore than 4 million people in 185 countries around the globe took part in Climate Strike on Sept. 20, a little more than a year after Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg started the practice as a solitary exercise.

This explosion of awareness and activism stands in stark contrast to the continued cluelessness of most of the adult world. It comes less than a month after Hurricane Dorian, the fifth Category 5 hurricane in four years, ravaged the Bahamas and the U.S. southeast coast, with almost no mention of climate change on network news segments. A survey by Media Matters found global warming mentioned just once in 207 segments from Aug. 28 through Sept. 5.

The contrast between adult ignorance and youth

activism could not be more stark.

“Over 4 million on #ClimateStrike today. In 163 countries. And counting...” Thunberg tweeted, before the full extent of the protests was recognized.

“If you belong to the small number of people who feel threatened by us, then we have some very bad news for you: This is just the beginning. Change is coming — like it or not.”

Both the trajectory of how rapidly the movement has grown and the logic behind it say she’s not wrong.

There’s a rapidly growing network of student-led groups around the world, combining a shared global goal with specific local concerns and proposed solutions. Some of these are newly formed in response to Thunberg’s [See Youth, p. 4]

Climate activist Greta Thunberg. Photo by Anders Hellberg, Effeckt Magazine.

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Chef Chris Sison — When date night doesn’t work p. 12

The Voices of the Future Call Out

Mike Watt goes on the Dick Watt Tour p. 9

Youth Climate Strike

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

hen Dr. Richard Vladovic became president of the Los Angeles Unified’s board of education for the second time this past July, it marked the start of the final lap of his tenure. His term expires in 2020 and seven candidates aspire to succeed him, including a charter school authorizer for Los Angeles County’s board of education Silke Bradford, former Harbor Commissioner Patricia Castellanos and Boys and Girls Club executive director Mike Lansing.

Considering Vladovic’s record of accomplishments and the district’s challenges, his return to the school board presidency, with its visibility, resources and influence, could be consequential.

With Jackie Goldberg’s win at the ballot box, the board’s majority is again with forces who are critical of charter schools. Six of the board’s seven members supported Vladovic’s nomination, including the immediate past president, Mónica García, who’s had her disagreements with Vladovic in the past. Only Nick Melvoin voted “no.”

This past year, the district has contended with flareups associated with co-location -- a controversial process in which existing public schools are chosen and forced to share their campus space with startup charter schools. The most recent example is Ganas Academy’s failed attempt

1

Neighborhood Council Roundup —

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

Central NC Regains Access to its Website

2

By Hunter Chase, Reporter A curious thing happened at the Sept. 10 Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting. Councilman Joe Buscaino’s office presented Kristina Smith, owner of The Mailroom, with a plaque for her work assisting neighborhood councils in the past 10 years, even though she did not have access to the council’s website at the time, said Lou Caravella, secretary of the board. Smith regained control of the website on Sept. 16, Smith said.

Ryan Ferguson, Buscaino’s San Pedro field deputy, said neighborhood council president Maria Couch reached out to him months ago to request that smith be acknowledged. The Mailroom did not have access to the website since at least July 12, when Moore Business Results, which was hired to redesign the site, locked Smith and most of the board out of the site, Caravella said.

However, at the same meeting, the board unanimously voted to pay The Mailroom for 2019 to 2020 fiscal year.

This was the council’s first meeting in two months that had a quorum. Two meetings were scheduled in August. Both failed to reach quorum and Couch was not present at either.

At the September council meeting, Senior Lead Officer Dante Pagulayan of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division reported that Central San Pedro saw a spike in several crime categories this past August, including six robberies and 30 cases of aggravated assault.

There were no homicides or rapes, but 17 cases of grand theft auto and nine burglaries.

There were 22 cases of burglaries from motor vehicles during August 2019, even though there were only 10 in August 2018. This was mainly because the vehicles were unsecured, Pagulayan said.

The senior lead office also reported Sept. 10 a burglary in which a man tried to open the door to his home, but felt someone push the door back.

Police officers were dispatched to the scene, but failed to catch the perpetrator. The burglar entered the home through an open window. This was the second time in three weeks the victim’s home was burgled, except the first time around the perpetrator used a key left under the mat to enter the home.

Northwest Neighborhood Council

At the Sept. 9 Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting, the board elected John Barbera as their new non-governmental organization representative. Barbera has been on the Youth and Outreach committee for three years and wants to get involved with helping the homeless.

At this meeting, Senior Lead Officer Dan Brown of the Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division, reported a 4 percent increase in overall crime in Northwest San Pedro in August 2019 compared to August 2018. There were 21 thefts from burglaries and motor vehicles, and 14 were from cars with doors unlocked. There were no homicides or rapes in August 2019, but there were three robberies, compared to the seven robberies in August 2018. There were 19 aggravated assaults in August, and there were only 13 in August 2018. There were 13 burglaries this August, compared to the 12 the previous year.

Several homes, apartment buildings and

businesses between Grand and Pacific to 12th and 19th Street were vandalized with swastikas, Officer Brown said. Brown said the attacks did not seem to be targeting a specific Jewish member of the community. Council Vice President Laurie Jacobs suggested the vandalism was targeting Hispanics in the area, but the bottom line was the police had not found enough evidence to make a determination one way or the other.

The board unanimously approved sending a letter to Councilman Joe Buscaino about automation at the Port of Los Angeles, asking him and his colleagues to think outside the box in regards to automation. The port is an economic driver, and creates good jobs, said Dan Dixon, a member of the board.

“If you know what’s going on in Southern California, there’s such a huge infrastructure here, that no one’s going to race for the exits if automation is developed slowly or put off for a few years,” Dixon said. “We’re just asking the city council to defend us, to defend itself, to defend its city by being cautious about moving forward in automation.”

The California Coastal Commission wants to make Cabrillo Beach open 24 hours a day, Dixon said. It has been closing at night for several years. Some nights of the week it is patrolled by park rangers, and other nights it is patrolled by the LAPD. The California Coastal Commission wants to keep Cabrillo Beach open in exchange for closing Venice Beach at night.

The constituents interested in closing Venice Beach at night are more numerous, but the commission will only agree to it if Cabrillo Beach is open full time. The board voted 10-2 to oppose any change in the operating hours at Cabrillo Beach.

Coastal Neighborhood Council

At the Sept. 17, Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting, the board approved a measure 10-1 requesting changes to the Los Angeles City Council file 16-0243, which is a study by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to find out what is necessary to reach 100 percent renewable energy. However, the study allows fuels that are not 100 percent renewable, such as methane, biomass and biogas, and dangerous fuel sources, such as nuclear energy, said Richard Havenick, a member of the board.

The board’s resolution asks that said energy sources be removed from the study. The resolution also asks that the study establishes the goal of moving the city to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, as the current study includes no definite time frame. Finally, it asks that public input be considered through a series of public meetings.

The board voted unanimously to reject Assembly Bill 1197, or at the very least, request that it be amended. The bill will exempt certain public projects from the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, including supportive housing for the homeless. The purpose of CEQA is to look at the environmental impact a project will have, and look for alternatives that minimize the impact, said Shannon Ross, a member of the board.

Ross said that the exemptions make sense for temporary housing, but she would not like to see said exemptions apply to long-term housing projects in the coastal zone. Without CEQA to look at alternatives, projects could take open space and turn them into housing.

Community Announcements:

Harbor Area Harbor Community Benefit Foundation Invites Stakeholder Input The Board of Directors of the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation will meet on Sept.

27 to discuss the parameters of the Community Benefit Grant Program that it oversees right down to the format and process for grant solicitation.

Foundation staff members will present some of their ideas, but the board emphasized that achieving truly meaningful changes will depend upon input from stakeholders.

Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sept. 27 Cost: Free Details: www.tinyurl.com/hcbfboardmeeting Venue: San Pedro Regional Library, 931 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro

Global Climate Strike and Rally

Join the community of greater Long Beach to demand that the city, state, and federal governments confront Global Warming and ecological destruction as an emergency.

Time: 12:30 p.m. Sept. 27 Cost: Free Details: cej@dsalb.org Venue: Bixby Park at the Bluff, 2004 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

If you or someone you know is having trouble coping or has thoughts of suicide, there is help.

Reach out and call the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. This number provides 24/7 free and confidential support for people in distress and for those offering help to others. There is a chat option where you can chat with someone at www.suicidepreventionlifeline. org or you can text the National Alliance on Mental Health at 741-741.

Metro Apprenticeship Readiness Fair

Voting Solutions for All People

Voting in Los Angeles County will soon change; county offices are partnering with 50 locations throughout the county and inviting everyone to experience the new voting system.

Select locations will have live DJs, surprise celebrities, food trucks and chances to win tickets to professional sports games, amusement parks, and celebrity meet-and-greets.

Time: 10 to 4 p.m. Sept. 28, 29 Cost: Free Details: www.lavote.net/home/voting-elections/ current-elections/mock-election Venue: For a list of participating mock election locations: www.lavote.net/docs/rrcc/media/ mock-election-flyerfinal.pdf

California Clean Air Day

Recent nightly closures have enabled construction crews to touch up the approach structures by smoothing rough edges, doing minor patch work and performing other fine-tunings.

With the falsework gone, if you drive through the Pico-Ocean intersection, you can begin to see how future traffic will flow in and out of the city on these approach structures.

Details: www.newgdbridge.com

On Oct. 17, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union will host its eighth annual fundraiser for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a charity that raises money for pediatric cancer research. Since its first fundraiser in 2012, the ILWU has raised $565,000 for the foundation, said Dan Imbagliazzo, a former longshoreman with the ILWU. The foundation itself has raised $175 million, and it all started with a 4-year-old girl.

Alex Scott had just turned 1 when she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer most commonly found in children. At 4, she received a stem cell transplant. She told her mother she wanted raise money for other kids with cancer by having a lemonade stand after she got out of the hospital. Later that year she did, and she raised $2,000.

Alex continued selling lemonade to benefit children with cancer. She raised $1 million before her death in 2004 at age 8. Shortly after, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was officially established.

Imbagliazzo recounts that the ILWU got involved with the foundation in 2012 while searching for a beneficiary for a fundraiser it wanted to host. While seeking a charity that was above reproach, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation came across its radar. Liz Scott, Alexandra’s mother, came to California from Pennsylvania to help with the first fundraiser.

“We needed to have our hands held because we had never done anything like this before,” Imbagliazzo said. “We were going to have a fundraiser, and I didn’t know how to do it.”

The ILWU raised more than $85,000 from the first fundraiser alone, exceeding its expectations.

“It was a shocker,” Imbagliazzo said. “We were happy when we went over $10,000, then 15, and it kept going. Every time it hit another milestone we were shocked.”

Over the past seven years, the ILWU has raised $565,000 for the foundation, and Imbagliazzo hopes to push the total to exceed $600,000 at this year’s fundraiser. Local union members, companies and individuals have all contributed to the money they’ve raised.

The ILWU Southern California Pensioners group pays all expenses involved in fundraising, Imbagliazzo said.

“Any donation goes directly to the kids; there’s not so much as a cent taken out for expenses,” Imbagliazzo said. He did not reveal how much they spent on the fundraisers.

In 2017, they tried to do a race as a fundraiser, but because it was expensive to rent the park, it was not very profitable, Imbagliazzo said. Now they do a poker tournament as their main event, which is more cost effective.

They also had a poker tournament during 2012 and raised $2500 from that alone. They have had a poker tournament every year since, and it is the main fundraiser in 2019.

King was a Long Beach native taking advantage of the free lessons offered by tennis professional Clyde Walker on the city’s many free public courts. Photos by Diana Lejins

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Clear View of the New Bridge

By Hunter Chase, Reporter

The Billie Jean King Main Library opened on Sept. 21. The library, bearing the tennis legend’s name, is at the corner of Broadway and Pacific Avenue is state-of-the-art, with space for a whopping 300,000 books, the library features a studio space with a 3D printer, a media workshop and a myriad of virtual- and augmented-reality programs.

The Coalition for Clean Air is asking Californians to pledge to make a difference, either as an individual or an organization on Oct. 2. The individual option on coalition’s website, leads to three main categories: Switching Things Out, Planting Something or Reducing Vehicle. You can choose to plant a tree or take public transportation for the day.

Time: Oct. 2 Details: https://cleanairday.org

ILWU Fundraiser Billie Jean King Library Opens for Pediatric Cancer Research

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

Metro and the construction industry are looking for women who want to join their ranks.

Come and meet women and recruiters from trade unions, construction-related businesses and prime contractors. Sign up for apprenticeship training center visits.

Time: 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept 27 Cost: Free Details: 213-418-3447; www.tinyurl.com/womenbuildmetrola Venue: Banning’s Landing Community Center, 100 E. Water St., Wilmington,

Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 40 Years

3

[Youth from p. 1]

Youth Lead Climate Action

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

lead example, but many youth-led efforts were already under way.

Two notable examples in the U.S. were the Sunrise Movement, founded in 2017, which has played a major role in advancing the idea of Green New Deal. The 2015 lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, that was brought by 21 young plaintiffs alleging that the government had violated their rights by encouraging and allowing activities that significantly harmed their right to life and liberty. It’s still proceeding at trial, as the Supreme Court has twice rejected motions to delay or dismiss the case.

Now, for the first time, striking students invited adults to join—and the response was

4

telling, from trade unions representing hundreds of millions of people around the world to health care professionals and tech workers at companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook.

Early Awareness And Despair

Like many in her generation, Thunberg has been aware of climate change from early childhood. She became intensely focused on it around age 11 and went through a period of profound depression and despair. “She fell into a depression. She stopped eating, stopped talking.

And she fell out of school and stayed at home for almost a year,” her father, Svante Thunberg, told Democracy Now! last December in a joint

interview.

As the impacts of climate change have grown more pronounced — extreme weather, melting glaciers and ice caps, loss of habitat, forced migration. Young people are increasingly faced with the visible signs of a desolate future their parents have done nothing to protect them from. So her experience, leading to activism, is indicative of a global generational awakening.

“When I first learned about the climate crisis as a kid, I would lie awake at night, my heart pounding,” Sunrise Movement co-founder Varshini Prakash said in her speech in New York’s Foley Square.

“I felt alone and small and powerless. And I know that that is the story that so many young people are feeling right now.”

Children on every continent echoed her, starting in Australia, where over 300,000 showed up — the largest wave of climate actions ever seen there.

“I’m here today because I’m scared of living in a world with no turtles. I’m scared of living

minute, it’s like, well, go shopping, you know, watch a makeup tutorial on YouTube, imitate celebrities…. So, if your impulse is to mirror, you’re getting very conflicting messages.”

For Thunberg things were much clearer — even if painfully so. She isn’t the only young leader on the spectrum, Klein noted.

“It’s precisely because they lack that impulse to look to other people to tell them the right way to feel about this, that they trust their initial instinct,” she said.

But the dramatic growth of the Climate Strike movement is giving children and youth a diverse proactive emergency response to mirror, led by others just like themselves, replacing the adultfostered complacency that has squelched action for so long.

That response is informed by the science, by the diversity of their experience, listening and learning from one another as a globallyinterconnected generation, and by an awareness of what they’re up against. The science has long been crystal clear. Children from vastly different

Ashley Hernandez, an organizer with Communities for a Better Environment. Photo by Melissa Lyttle

in a world without the Great Barrier Reef,” 10year old Andrea Villafaña, 10, told the crowd in Sydney.

“When I make a mess, my mum makes me clean it. If they were so smart, they’d clean up after themselves too.”

But Thunberg’s initial experience was more intense than most. “Because I have Asperger’s syndrome, so I work a bit different. I see things black and white,” she said. Plus, “I don’t like lying,” and she focuses intensely — as she did when learning all about climate change. She calls it her “superpower.”

One reason for that, author Naomi Klein said, in a recent Democracy Now! interview, is that kids on the autism spectrum don’t engage in mirroring, like in a game of Simon Says. “We’re constantly mirroring each other. We’re looking to one another for social cues to tell us how to act.”

But, “A lot of kids on the spectrum just don’t have that instinct. They don’t have that impulse.

They just do their own thing, right?”

“I don’t know a kid in the world who doesn’t have their first response to the climate crisis being “Oh my god! Why isn’t everybody acting on this? Why isn’t everybody understanding this is an emergency?” Klein said.

But then the mirroring influence sets in: most kids get overwhelmed with confusing mixed messages.

“We live in a culture, in an economy, that, on the one hand, is telling us we’re in the middle of this existential emergency… but then, the next

cultures see themselves and their most basic concerns reflected in one another’s struggles and aspirations. And the battle-lines have been drawn even before they were born.

“We have grown up seeing the political establishment fail us,” Prakash said. “And for twice as long as I have been alive on this planet, we have known about the crisis. For just as long, the wealthy and the powerful have profited off of pollution, have lied to millions of people about the science, have choked our democracy with their Big Oil dollars and stolen our futures.”

The Local Face Of Global Emergency

The Wilmington community is typical of some of the most significant aspects of this movement: how macro- and micro- issues and organizing fit together, how the climate crisis intersects with other health and environmental crises, and how long-neglected marginalized people need to be heard.

“Local youth understand that their presence is imperative in this movement, especially in this LA action,” said Ashley Hernandez, an organizer with Communities for Better Environment who works closely with students.

“Being from the city that has the highest concentration of oil drilling, this action is an opportunity for us to really call for Gov. Newsom to implement the changes and take the urgent action we need, by stopping fossil fuel projects, [See Strike, p. 16]

LABOR Notes

[Dr. V, from p. 1]

Chasing Dr. V

Union Prepares to Strike Kaiser Permanente

to co-locate at Catskill Elementary in Carson.

Other controversies have included complaints over common core, teacher evaluations, perennial underfunding of schools, and let’s not forget the iPad fiasco several years ago.

Vladovic is a former principal and administrator in the district. Before he was elected to represent San Pedro and parts of South LA on the board, he served as superintendent of the West Covina Unified School District from 2003 to 2006.

Curriculum and Expectations

Dr. Richard Vladovic was at the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy campus at Los Angeles Harbor College in Wilmington in March 2019. File photo

cure-all. He noted that the state of California in per student spending ranks 45th out of the 50 states.

“We have sound practices, but California spends a lot more money on things other than schools,” Vladovic said. “Money is not a cure all, but it does allow us to do things that we ordinarily don’t have the budget to do.”

As an example, Vladovic cited a test program called Reading Recovery. “When I was a superintendent, we achieved almost 100 percent reading rates,” Vladovic said. “A teacher would spend one-half hour, one-on-one with a single kid — a specially trained teacher from Cal State San Bernardino. They would train the teachers and their aids. The program was expensive, but every kid learned to read.”

Vladovic then leaned in and asked, “what if we gathered all of the lowest performing kids in reading into that program... and instead of oneon-one teacher ratio, we go for a one-on-three?”

Vladovic rightfully got to pop his collar on his role in bringing equity to inner-city schools, including the $176 million rehabilitation of Jordan High School and nine other schools deemed the oldest in the district, including Garfield and San Pedro High School, which is next in line for a makeover.

NFI California Cartage Express drivers in California continue their Sept. 9 strike demanding an end to unfair and illegal discrimination for aspiring to form a union at their company. Picket lines to extend from Port of Los Angeles to the Mojave Desert.

Truck drivers who haul heavy loads of boron — a mineral mined 300 miles east of Los Angeles that is a critical component in everyday consumer [See Labor Notes, p. 8]

Technology — The Third Challenge

Vladovic sees technology and the way it fits the district’s educational organization as well as its instructional system as the third major challenge.

[See Vladovic, p. 8]

Divorce $159-$289 + Filing Fee Bankruptcy $695 + Filing Fee Living Trust $375 Will $175 • Probate $299 Basic Prices for Simple Cases

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Vladovic is pointedly critical of what he sees as the state’s onerous budgetary requirements to create a budget three years in advance as well as strictness of districts funding requirements.

“People complain to me that we’re wasting money,” Vladovic observed… .but money comes to us in stovepipes. You can’t mix some… you can’t mix cafeteria lunch here… bond funds you can’t use here… English language learner funds can only be used there … it’s a mishmash and the state makes you do a three-year budget, but only gives you money for the first and has you speculate on the other two years. So the budget system is crazy and I blame the state.”

Vladovic said the calendar drives everything.

Teamsters Port Truck Drivers Strike LA to Salt Lake

Underfunding Expectations

It must be remembered that the state’s general budget calendar begins in early January and includes approximately 60 different dates or action steps that are related to the governor’s budget development, which leads to a signed budget at the governor’s desk in June. A school district’s budget is not even known until the state government completes its May revision.

“You have to notice employees in March if you don’t have enough money to fill positions,” Vladovic explained. “That’s five months later.

So sometimes you have to send notices to people and it disrupts their whole life.”

Teachers and other school employees can’t even get a home loan because school districts have to tell them what their chances are of having a job and somebody may show them that letter. So the system and the calendar that the state operates on are crazy.

Vladovic looks at budgets differently. A good educator plans the educational program then figures out how to pay for it, Vladovic said.

“But because of the state, we have to limit our dreams,” Vladovic said. “We should never limit dreams for kids. That’s just me.”

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

To Vladovic, the school district’s number one mission is to assist young people in becoming successful in their lives and lifelong learners.

He acknowledges it’s an unrelenting and everchanging quest. He pointed to the basic nature of educational systems and the individual schools where they are applied, which are constantly receiving new crops of students, their similarities and differences demanding educational systems, environments and personnel that continually refocus while consistently maintaining high expectations. “To me,” Vladovic said, “that’s a continual challenge.”

In his mind, there’s no such thing as an “unteachable student.” If there’s a failure, the problem doesn’t lie with the student but the adult and the systems that are supposed to educate the student.

Vladovic’s earliest teaching assignment was Stephen M. White elementary school in Carson during the 1960s, before Uncle Sam called him to the army during the Vietnam war in 1969.

Vladovic’s war experience didn’t include frontline combat; instead, he led a unit in information technology. Looking back, Vladovic says his military experience instilled in him a conviction that has been a constant throughout his life and career — no child should be left again. “I took it personal when I gave an ‘F’,” Vladovic said. “It was my fault unless [the student] never came to school. I even went to their house.”

Vladovic likens school districts to triage in emergency rooms.

“These kids come with needs, like they would at a hospital,” Vladovic said. “We need to expect that, then we do everything we can, and then do it again. Because I truly believe that this urban [school] district can make a difference.”

Vladovic does not like how the politics, things he calls “adult issues,” affect children. The closest he comes to talking about politics is to reference the toxic nature of political discourse — inspired in part by the current occupants of the White House —and its impact on education.

“I’ll tell you what’s dragging us down,” he said. “It’s the socio-economic issues. The government fosters harm and anxiety and pits people against people.

“If youngsters feel you care and you believe in them, they will do everything they can to meet that expectation, “ Vladivic said. “I truly believe that’s a struggle and that we have to keep our eye on the ball as a board member. This whole district should be about kids. Everything else is to get there.”

Vladovic firmly believes that the keys to meeting the challenges the district faces are curriculum and continuing to drive students to excellence through high expectations and budgeting to support excellent outcomes.

That does not mean he believes money is a

Infuriated by what they charged were unfair labor practices, some 38,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in California voted overwhelmingly to authorize joining the national strike that’s scheduled to begin Oct. 14.

Represented by the Coalition of Kaiser Unions, the workers are calling for Kaiser to mend the worker-management partnership; ensure safe staffing and appropriate use of technology; and provide wages and benefits that can support families. The coalition is also calling for more financial transparency.

Striking workers will include optometrists, a variety of technicians, clinical laboratory scientists, housekeepers and hundreds of other positions — largely those who are not physicians. Nationwide, 85,000 employees are represented by the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which includes several union locals, including the SEIUUnited Healthcare Workers West, which represents workers in Southern California.

Kaiser’s net income jumped more than 200 percent in the second quarter of 2019 year-overyear, hitting $2 billion in the quarter that ended June 30. It recorded a 10 percent profit margin.

The union points to the CEO’s annual salary of $10 million, calling a lie to KP’s allegations that they cannot afford a worker pay increase. Kaiser is one of the nation’s largest allegedly not-for-profit health plans. It has 12.3 million members, including 4.6 million in Southern California, and almost $80 billion in annual revenue.

5

Exporting More Than Containers

Solidarity with Hong Kong and impeachment in Washington

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

It passed unanimously!

This motion came just hours before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that House Democrats were moving toward

a formal impeachment inquiry of Trump. So from the halls of our nation’s capital to the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration the export message is that “democracy matters.”

Pelosi referenced in her remarks a famous quote by one of our nation’s founding fathers and signatory of the U.S. Constitution, Benjamin Franklin, who alluded — that you can have a republic if you can keep it.

Upholding the rule of law is precisely the shot-across-the-bow of the Trump administration that will be heard around the world — or “exported” if you will.

Even while divided, this is finally America as a nation standing up for our core beliefs in liberty and justice for all.

Political change does not start in the hallowed halls of justice or in the legislatures, but in the communities, as we’ve witnessed this week when tens of thousands were marching during the Climate Strike protests. The wheels of political change began to move when a young Swedish teenager began to move against climate change, inspiring a new global generation to rise up with her. This is what the world longs for against the growing tyranny of oppression and nationalism that Mr. Trump represents. This is what Franklin meant by “… if you can keep it.”

Oddly enough, on this very same Tuesday, the U.S. president was spouting off antidemocratic, anti-universal rights notions at the United Nations summit on climate change, speaking as he normally does without any sense of place, audience or historical context. Trump’s pronouncements on national patriotism, sounded more like a defense of white nationalism — a stark contrast to the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a foundational document of that body.

Many of those rights Trump has already violated at our southern borders such as the right to impartial tribunals or the right to seek asylum from persecution, or that “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” He should read it sometime while he’s separating families at the borders.

Closer to home, the labor movement and environmental activists in our harbor communities are exporting messages of their own about labor rights and environmental justice that echo around the globe. The expansion of labor rights and environmental standards through our trading partners, via our ports, will in the end Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

Here at the southern edge of California, where ships from all over the world converge, progress is counted monthly by the volume of goods handled — imported commodities counted in Twenty-foot Equivalent Units. To the twin harbors of the San Pedro Bay, it’s a $400 billion industry.

To the workers at these ports, it’s billions in wages and benefits. And to the communities that surround the ports, it’s absorbing of decades of environmental consequences. Money and cargo volumes are not the only gauges of progress.

We export more than just TEU’s to the rest of the world from Los Angeles or America at large.

Commerce is not just the exchange of things for monetary value. Commerce is also the very human exchange of ideas and culture.

No place in America is this more obvious and more overlooked than Los Angeles, with much of it taking place right here at her ports. We are not immune to the actions of the people in the countries with whom we trade.

For the past three months, and for several years beyond, the citizens of Hong Kong have been engaging in huge street protests and mass demonstrations that started over a controversial bill that threatens their democratic freedoms. And not unlike the protests against President Donald Trump or the demonstrators participating in the World Climate Strike in cities around the globe, the citizens of Hong Kong have risen up against authoritarian rule. This past Tuesday (Sept. 25) LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn proposed the following resolution: The people of the County of Los Angeles stand in solidarity with the citizens of Hong Kong in their peaceful struggle for freedom, liberty and democracy. We are hopeful that China and Hong Kong will come to a mutual agreement that ensures the rights of all residents I THEREFORE MOVE that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles stand in support of the struggle for democracy in Hong Kong and encourage the efforts of China and Hong Kong to come to a mutual agreement that brings lasting democratic freedoms and liberties to the citizens of Hong Kong.

6

Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya

“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.”

—Mark Twain Vol. XL : No. 20

Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communities of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations throughout the Harbor Area.

Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com Senior Editor Paul Rosenberg paul.rosenberg@ randomlengthsnews.com

come back to us having adopted zero-emission technologies, better working conditions, and the expansion of universal freedom and liberty in those countries and beyond.

To the citizens of Hong Kong, to the people in nations of the world who are still oppressed

and to those in America still hiding under their pillows — freedom and liberty are something worth striving for, fighting for and holding on to.

Not for it to be lost to fear and hatred inspired by tyrants — even the tyrants of our own making!

Gentrification in San Pedro:

What We Lose

By Arlo Tinsman-Kongshaug

It is no secret that gentrification has been sweeping through Los Angeles for quite some time. From Venice to Highland Park, working class communities across the city have been seeing influxes of redevelopment, wealthy new residents and raises in cost of living for most of this decade.

This wave recently seems to have reached yet another corner of the city: right here in San Pedro. Our gritty port town is finally starting to get with the times: the old shabby buildings, which include some of the oldest in the city — that line its historic streets are being torn down and replaced with expensive high-rises.

Our waterfront promenade — Ports O’ Call— has been razed to make way for the new “San Pedro Public Market” — a market that looks strangely similar to the touristy waterfronts of San Francisco and Seattle, sans historic buildings. There are even plans to demolish the infamous Rancho San Pedro housing projects and replace them with a mixed-use development.

Columnists/Reporters Lyn Jensen Reporter Richard Foss Restaurant Reviewer Andrea Serna Arts Writer Melina Paris Staff Reporter Send Calendar Items to: 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Steven Guzman, Benjamin Garcia, Raphael Richardson Contributors Leslie Belt, Hunter Chase, Dennis J. Freeman, Mark L. Friedman, Ari LeVaux, Greggory Moore, Arlo Tinsman-Kongshaug

Yes, it seems that what many only dreamed of is finally happening, San Pedro is finally on its way to becoming a “real” beach community, a place of wealth and prosperity where all businesses and residents will thrive.

So what’s wrong with this rosy picture?

Absolutely nothing if you ask the various developers and realtors backing these projects, or 15th District Councilman Joe Buscaino, who has enthusiastically supported gentrification (a word he notably avoids using in his speeches) in San Pedro since taking office in 2012.

In their many press conferences and booster events they’ve described these changes as harbingers of a golden age for the area, a San Pedro renaissance, if you will. But what politicos and developers alike fail to mention in these optimistic speeches is that this “new San Pedro” will not have room for much of the culture and aspects that make San Pedro the unique community it is. The unspoken truth is that it is

Cartoonists Andy Singer, Jan Sorensen, Matt Wuerker Design/Production Suzanne Matsumiya, Brenda Lopez Editorial Intern Joshua Samuel Display advertising (310) 519-1442 Classifieds (310) 519-1016 Fax: (310) 832-1000 www.randomlengthsnews.com Random Lengths News office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731

[See Gentrification p. 7] Address correspondence regarding news items and tips to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email: editor@randomlengthsnews.com.

Send Letters to the Editor to james@randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, letters must be signed with address and phone number (for verification purposes) and be about 250 words.

For advertising inquiries or to submit advertising copy, email: rlnsales@randomlengthsnews.com.

Annual subscription is $36 for 27 issues.

Back issues are available for $3/copy while supplies last.

Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We welcome articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627).

All contents Copyright 2019 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.

RANDOMLetters Glacial Movement at POC

Great stories! As a San Pedran, I think the last sentence of your OpEd [Tale of Two Realities 9/12 to 25, 2019] on Ports O’Call is spot on. It’s been glacial my whole life!

Sabrina Skacan, San Pedro

And Then This

Liked your article on two Pedros. On General ... balance and informative. It seems to be a giant shit show!

Ken Collins, San Pedro

On Trump

This morning, Donald Trump and his Administration revoked California’s auto emission standards, completely roadblocking our progress toward cleaner air and a stronger economy.

This isn’t a loss — we will fight back and we will prevail. We’re getting under Trump’s skin, team.

We are proving that no matter what he does to undermine and undo our hard-fought progress — we won’t roll over. Our fight to make sure families pay less at the pump, to create a better environment, and to be a leader in the global market is a threat to Trump.

Why? Because he knows that we will succeed — and it terrifies him.

So, let’s show him this movement isn’t backing down.

We’re gaining momentum, and we won’t rest until we’ve won. We are nothing less than a progressive

answer to a transgressive president.

Thank you for being by my side and for your contribution today.

Now, let’s get to work.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sacramento

A Student’s Perspective on Climate Strike

On Sept. 20, tens of thousands of students skipped school and attended the Global Climate Strike at Pershing Square in Los Angeles, California. This protest was just three days before the UN’s Climate Summit on Monday. Many of these people called for Action by the US government and some even called out President Trump for failing to recognize climate change as an issue.

Animo Leadership Charter High School’s Senior Vice President and Vice President of MEChA (a Latinx/ChicanoPolitical Club) mentions, “I am protesting because I don’t want my kids to have to worry about climate change even more than we are now.” At the protest he held a sign that read “Make The Earth Great Again” and when asked about the sign he had his to say: “Trump is always saying and wearing a cap that says “Make America Great Again” but f**k that, make the Earth great again.

Make Earth habitable for everyone again. We humans have made so many technological innovations and yet we fail to use them in ways that benefit everyone just because big corporations only care about the profits and not the people. It’s

Gentrification

Some may ask whether a hatespitting lackey to the President entered the race in California’s 44th congressional district so as to divide “the Billy vote” over who can take second place in the March primary.

The recent arrival of Billy Earley makes him the sixth candidate to enter the crowded race for California’s 44th District, which the press describes as, “the most Democratic seat in the nation.”

Billy Orton, who entered six months ago, as the third candidate, is a “New Skool” Republican,

We wrote the council office a polite but pointed letter when it was rumored that Pepper Tree Plaza might be rebranded as an Italian locale. That was earlier in the year. No one from the office cared to respond. We might later find a way to correct the historical record more publicly.

Community Alert

Ports Host CAAP Public Advisory Meeting A meeting to present the progress of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan 2017 Update is scheduled Oct. 3, in Long Beach. The meeting will be open to the public.

Records of prior meetings can be found here, www.tinyurl. com/caap-abouttheplan The CAAP 2017 Update is a comprehensive strategy for accelerating progress toward a zero-emission future while protecting and strengthening the ports’ competitive position in the global economy. The document calls for the ports to reduce GHGs 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Public comment will be taken at the advisory meeting to receive input on CAAP implementation issues.

An agenda will be posted on the CAAP website prior to the meeting.

The third 2019 advisory meeting is, Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Oct. 3 Details: www. cleanairactionplan.org.

Venue: Port of Long Beach Administration Building, Firstfloor multi-purpose room, 415 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

$24 $36 $70

September 26 - October 9, 2019

accessibility of San Pedro’s waterfront — as places to work, to play and to contemplate — isn’t just a statistical analysis. It manifests in the self-expression of its inhabitants manifested in statistics. It comes out in the ways people express themselves. What other beach town had the grit to inspire the music of Mike Watt or the words of Charles Bukowski? What other SoCal waterfront had the kind of cheap motel where dancer Misty Copeland’s mother could shelter her five children — and from which Misty could make her audacious climb to become the first African American principal ballerina in the American Ballet Theatre? Chances are that these iconic artists would have been priced out by huge rents.

But strangely, many in positions of power perceive San Pedro’s accessibility as more of a problem than a blessing. In a 2015 article in the Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn got Councilman Joe Buscaino’s perspective on the record. Buscaino was speaking about zoning in San Pedro, when he said: “When my predecessors back in the day rezoned the San Pedro area, it killed the whole notion of this being a seaside community… You saw a number of apartments and affordable housing units come in, which were needed at the time but also a number of social services and agencies that came in…”

How did rezoning kill San Pedro’s chance to be a seaside community? Apparently, Buscaino considered the words “seaside community” to be synonymous with the words “exclusive seaside community.”

On “Little Italy”

Perhaps the new sign should be mounted further east to mark a historic Italian enclave on Terminal Island (TI).

From the San Pedro Daily News of July 13, 1906: Italian Colony Growing Long Beach census takers have been working among the denizens of the fishermen’s colony on the long strip of land which leads out toward Dead Man’s Island, and have found that there are exactly 187 who make their homes there. They are almost without exception engaged in fishing for a livelihood, and among the inhabitants of this isolated district there is a very large percentage of Italians. However, they are a hard-working, deserving class of people.

Mona Dallas Reddick, President of the San Pedro Bay Historical Society San Pedro

not conceived with San Pedro’s current residents in mind — at least, not most of them. Such is the harsh reality of gentrification; it’s a wonderful thing for those with the money to afford the changes, but for the inhabitants whose Pedro roots run deep, it is quite the opposite.

Before all that happens, it’s worth asking ourselves: What are we missing? And more to the point: What are we going to miss? What parts and aspects of San Pedro will go with the coming of gentrification?

San Pedro is unique within the great seaside sprawl of Los Angeles. It is the last place where people of all income levels, not just the wealthy and upper middle class, can afford to live near the ocean. San Pedro is a working class community with a strong union culture that takes pride in its high standard of living relative to other working class communities.

The main streets are lined with small locally owned businesses, which across generations have become the town’s bones and given birth to its soul. San Pedro is a community of color (non-whites account for about 64 percent of the population), and it is a community of immigrants — home to both the original Croatian and Italian diasporas, and more recently, Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants — ethnic diversity that sets it apart from nearby coastal communities like Redondo Beach and Santa Monica. The

Telling People to Go to Hell

telling voters that both major parties are broken, and calling for smaller govt and fiscal discipline.

Has the Tyrant-in-Chief tossed another Republican named Billy into the race to shut down the “New Skooler?”

Perhaps the proper reply is from Mr. Churchill, who said, “Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to Hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”

Rev. Wm. R. “Billy” Orton Republican Candidate California’s 44th Congressional District

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

[Gentrification from p. 6]

like my club mentor always says to us,‘The technology exists it’s just the politics that don’t let us make change.’”

Students took to the streets of Los Angeles and marched over a mile to spread their ideas about climate change and how even though some fail to realize it, climate change is a very real thing.

MEChA President Osvaldo Barba noticed the weather was extremely hot, and how. “It’s literally the middle of September and it’s like 80 degrees.” According to holidayweather.com, September remains extremely warm in Los Angeles with an average temperature of about 69°F. Many are experiencing the effects of climate change as the days get warmer and people still claim, that climate change does not exist. The science is all there, people just choose to ignore it.

Jose Velasquez, 12th Grader, Animo Leadership Charter High School Inglewood

7

[Dr. Vladovic from p. 5]

First South Bay Mobile Stroke Unit Launched

TORRANCE — The West Coast’s first Mobile Stroke Unit is expanding its services to include be Torrance, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena, Carson and other South Bay cities.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn announced wider use of the specially equipped ambulance on Sept. 18 in conjunction with Torrance Mayor Pat Furey, local officials and medical professionals.

In 2017 Hahn secured county funding that enabled its expansion and participation in a national study. The Mobile Stroke Unit features a mobile CT scanner, point-of-care lab tests, telehealth connection with a vascular neurologist, and therapies, designed to deliver proven stroke treatments to patients faster than before.

Shooting Leaves One Dead

SAN PEDRO — The Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Homicide detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect(s) responsible for the shooting death of 57-year-old Eric Guillory at about 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 at the Rancho San Pedro Housing Project near 2nd and Centre streets.

Police state that a male Hispanic pulled up in an unknown vehicle, fired several shots at the victim from 2nd Street, and fled the location. The investigation of the shooting is ongoing.

Residents at the housing development provided conflicting descriptions of the suspect vehicle and there was no description of the suspects. Detectives do not have any leads as to the suspect’s identity.

Anyone with additional information is urged to call Detectives Maffei and Officer Tiffin, Harbor Area Detectives, at 310-726-7882.

Double Homicide in Harbor Division

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

Wilmington — The Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Area homicide detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect(s) responsible for the shooting deaths of a 16-yearold female and 24-year-old Alex Gutierrez.

Harbor Area patrol officers responded to a radio call Sept. 18 at about 3:15 p.m., of “a deadly weapon” shooting on North Bayview Avenue in Wilmington. The officers located a 16-year-old female victim unresponsive and not breathing. They also found Gutierrez with multiple gunshot wounds and two additional female victims. Paramedics pronounced the 16-year-old female dead at the scene. Gutierrez was transported to a local hospital where he died from his injuries. The two additional females suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

The suspect(s) fled on foot and no description was provided.

Anyone with additional information is urged to call Detective Cortez or Detective Killingsworth, Harbor Area Homicide at 310726-7889.

8

Local Health Providers Charged in ILWUPMA Health Scam

LOS ANGELES — A health care fraud enforcement action has brought federal charges against 25 Southern California defendants for their alleged involvement in healthcare schemes that fraudulently sought more than $150 million from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, private insurers and union health benefit plans. Fourteen of those charged in federal court are doctors or medical professionals.

The cases are the result of investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation plus 11 more governmental organizations. A total of 10 cases were announced Sept. 18.

In addition, Martin Canter, 70, of Rancho Palos Verdes, was charged for alleged [See News Briefs p. 16]

Dr. Vladovic

“You saw the fiasco several years ago on giving [away] iPads, but at some point we’re going to have to deal with… as all education will… this new information revolution,” Vladovic said.

When it comes to students’ attention spans, Vladovic recognizes that educators have stiff competition from television, the internet and technology in general. The question for him has always been, “How do we harness technology for the broader educational good?”

“We have a lot of kids that are not reading at grade level but every one of them can pick this up and read every instruction and follow it,” Vladoic said. “I’ve never seen a kid fail DriversEd because they couldn’t read. So we need to figure out those things.”

At times Vladovic’s responses take on a stream of consciousness sensibility, one idea bleeding into the next, particularly on the subject of the role of technology and its high cost.

“We need to understand it and we need to plan how we are going to utilize it,” said the long-time educator, “because technology now, if it goes down, you’ll see how dependent we are.”

You don’t ever buy programs anymore, he notes. You lease them. You understand from big companies that sell the licensing to the programs, Vladovic said.

Charter Schools — Equity in Burdens and Benefit

“I wanted a moratorium,” Vladovic said. “A good educator does something then they sit back and evaluate it. That’s in all of education. I’m not anti-anything, but that law has existed for 30 years. But we never stopped and observed the educational impact, the economic impact or the social impact.”

Vladovic noted that he authored a motion for a moratorium on new charter schools, without co-sponsors, believing the move would be too controversial and risky for others to follow suit.

“I’m at a place where I’m convinced colocation does not work. I’ve said so publicly because I, as an educator, taught people to love each other,” Vladovic said.

“In the years I’ve been on the board, I never once saw anyone say, ‘I love this co-location.’

I wouldn’t throw out the ones that are there but you have to convince me,” Vladovic said.

Vladovic cited as a particular cause of concern a UTLA presentation on charters not taking special education students.

“I’m concerned about schools. I’m not concerned about who runs them,” Vladovic said.

“But I am concerned if running these schools hurts the district’s ability to achieve its mission.”

Vladovic said he didn’t want to end up with a district made up of only struggling students and the rest being cherry-picked. He hedged comments with admission that he did not know that this was indeed a fact with charter schools.

“The law doesn’t give us choices. Legally we have to vote for charters unless legally it is educationally unsound or financially unsound,” Vladovic said.

Vladovic confided that he didn’t want to run for school board in the first place. When he ran in 2007, he had just retired, but was still teaching at Dominguez part-time after teaching for 20 years. And he was in the Army Reserve for 20 years.

“I wanted to stay that way, but somebody

Dr. Richard Vladovic at a 2019 Los Angeles Unified board meeting. File photo

said there’s a need, you better do it. I’ve given up my passion to do this,” Vladovic said. “It’s not fun [being on the school board]. But it’s something I feel obligated to do. I’ve committed to this place.

I love public schools. That’s the hope of this democracy.”

In one of his final anecdotes before he concluded our interview, Vladovic recounted the moment he was told that he had been appointed to Locke High School.

Vladovic, reenacting the moment he got the news, burst as if he were a kid who was told he was going to Disneyland.

“When do I get there?” Vladovic said. “I want to go. I can’t wait.” At the time, Vladovic was across the street at Gompers and was loving it.

“I felt I was needed and I was wanted,” Vladovic said. “I gotta tell ya, adults can’t see a phony. Kids can. They know if you like them or not and they know if you’re a phony. I love being in schools. I don’t love being down here.”

There are seven candidates running to replace

Dr. Vladovic in March 2020. At least two, maybe three, appear to be legitimate contenders if fundraising, endorsements and name recognition can be used as measuring sticks. Voters can only hope that the next person they elevate to the District 7 board seat is as real as Dr. V. I knew going in I wasn’t going to get the 45 minutes to an hour time required to do a proper interview with a man who has served at every level of education in the Los Angeles Unified School District over a span of 50 years.

The very fact that the interview was taking place at the school district offices on Beaudry told me my interview may last all of 15 minutes, crammed before other appointments the busy board president had for the day.

Affectionately known as Mr. V by any who have had him as a teacher, Vladovic’s warmth and passion for students pushed aside all thoughts of time.

LABOR Notes

50,000 UAW Members Strike General Motors Over Wages and Idled Plants

[Labor Notes from p. 5]

products from flat-screen TVs to smartphones — from the Rio Tinto mine in Boron, Calif., to America’s largest port complex, are continuing to protest their employer’s persistent unfair labor practices.

Shortly after the strike began in Los Angeles, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board ruled that owners and managers of California Cartage Warehouse — a sister company of California Cartage Express that is also owned by NFI — are guilty of unfair labor practices.

The Judge ordered NFI to mail a notice to all current and former employees detailing its violations of the National Labor Relations Act and committing to cease and desist from those violations.

On Sept. 10, misclassified port truck drivers at the ports — specifically those employed by XPO Port Services — had a victory in the courts; a judge affirmed the decision by the California Labor Commission to reimburse four misclassified drivers from roughly $800,000 for wages stolen due to their illegal classifications as “independent contractors.”

Drivers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been challenging their misclassification as “independent contractors” and exercising their rights as employees. They have engaged in 16 strikes in the last five years.

The California State Senate passed Assembly Bill 5, which if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, will crack down on the illegal use of “independent contractors” in California.

The United Automobile Workers union struck General Motors on Sept. 16 sending nearly 50,000 factory workers across the Midwest and South to picket lines. As Random Lengths News went to press negotiations have resumed.

The UAW is pushing GM to improve wages, reopen idled plants, add jobs at others and close or narrow the difference between pay rates for new hires and veteran workers (given up decades ago as a concession, creating secondclass workers in the plants. GM wants employees to pay a greater portion of their health care costs, and to increase workforce productivity and flexibility in factories (less bidding rights on jobs, job combinations, re-classification, etc.).

GM operates 12 vehicle assembly factories in the United States and 22 parts plants. GM has been earning substantial profits in North America — and it made $8.1 billion globally last year.

Despite major automation, plant closings, layoffs over the past several decades, the industry remains crucial to the economy, counting some 220,000 people who work to manufacture cars. The broader vehicle industry supports 9.9 million jobs and historically accounts for about 3 percent of gross domestic products, according to the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers.

Due to lack of union organizing successes, a far fewer percentage of autoworkers nationwide are in unions, the latest being Utah Tesla workers and most southern plants. Foreign automakers have built their own nonunion U.S. factories employing tens of thousands, and taken market share from Detroit’s Big Three.

—Compiled by Mark L. Friedman, Reporter

front gelliere in Todd Con ine on Pacific d n a tt a Mike W n-to-open Sard photo oo of the s San Pedro. File in e u n Ave

O

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

oted vely prom rand ti c a n e e eg sb y and ha scaino, th ommunit uncilman Joe Bu e past eight c ic iv c o ro’s r th d District C f San Ped eld up fo hecks an corners o d by 15th Council venue has been h s various plan c nt’ te ic and boos the bar and mus Safety Departme odd er T h s d r the li n b a f u d o tt n P as it in fo for yet ing a e Wa llen, ening h d p A ik r n il o e o u n M k B b c to d e s e ’s lu e h h s Pr y LA city hall ty plan c r, I watc -open Sardine C nd their

By Jame months b pections. and Safe re going back to as all cost, eptembe a to g S tts in e n d in y s e il g e in u m a s in B th u is h ey str orn LA that e of endles onday th tell how much th eves the M turday m ther on the stag und from their in r a music video , a li e a n b S O t d . o d e h o T ge um na rpris g fo won’t e so re jam to oove as xcept th oke. kster ente ns. They leased alb erformin ging pun eview” of the pla ’s making him br of in a playful gr er eight Congellie acific Avenue. E ere faking it, p r a yet-to-be-re ct eras of punk a w P fo n “r t it ind . Aft 11th and s mute. The pair video shoot was present two disti roject show one more complaining tha e and Todd are k bed music video upright a e e p b r is h w ik u is o T d s wh er, M dio. ening an pre-d t Tod for th v ts p e s u tu ir mouth o d s e b ti w r r te o e th a a fo h f e th , , o r it e y c r a d e in n On this d ent movie versio nd pretends to us t for a Laurel an s they’ve Congellie e dubbed fi il d a s would b on by Watt and rea. The 15 song k music. n c r a a ti a l n e b il a w r im n K o e a r at nd A un ati they m r chord, ts out a c collabor Angeles Harbor f what makes p ke F.Y.P., Toys th g icon, a co-fou te t his , Watt ge an play a D Majo s in o k la li s c v e e o a s li r me abou ise L d o tr th a n c h e d a it ’s e c n b e w e a th h h e in th in , t y k o ll n s le s o e t sp ckw ike, w represe his role ge Hur t” piano jus e. reak and men, moving clo th. b a k they still best known for ndyland. And M bandmates Geor ti-establishmen o n to g u e Hardy sc g after this, Mike r with the Missin g through the So way,” akes the nd “an Todd is Railroad to Ca EHOSE, with a m t ” I lf e . s u in n ts r s n to other w tur Not lo t-You ound d fIR g arti ay-45 sho d the country re pring you go the d Undergr utemen, Dos, an endence,” “Do-i se two recordin one.

5 4 g e ing s in ep upcomin est Coast aroun ise and in the s of the M The words “ind unk music and th Sardine a curiou e has been receiv ] w W . p e ur p. 10 in e h d n th r from the fall you go clock ther.”

T o o [See To all ith b nt of he Sa D. Bo e w T m o m s a e h a e u g fr th o ic w u e d o n e m is “I ny pre pra Alth out th are syno current . “It’s ab Mike said

September 26 - October 9, 2019

9

[Tour from p. 9]

Watt on Tour Mike put the Missingmen together, featuring bandmates Tom Watson and Raul Morales, in the late summer of 2006 to help realize his third punk opera, Hyphenated-man.

“My choice of Tom Watson and Raul Morales was very deliberate. “Tom Watson [on guitar], comes from my “older days” Mike said... “He knew D. Boon.”

D. Boon co-founded the Minutemen with Mike. He died in 1985, a passenger in a van that crashed in the desert outside Tucson, Ariz.

Mike would continue to separate the generation of punk music he emerged from and the generation of punk that came after with the terms “older days” and “newer days.”

Watson was a member of Slovenly, a San Francisco-based punk band in the 1980s. Watt’s record label, New Alliance Records, released

Slovenly’s first records. Since Mike had decided to use what he calls “parallels to his work from his days in the Minutemen, he said he needed someone with a link to those days. “[Tom] was a cat who was there and was vital ...” Mike said. “Tom is someone who is still [vital].

Tom toured with bands such as Mike Watt & The Pair of Pliers and Mike Watt & The Jom & Terry show in the late 90s and early aughts after Slovenly disbanded. But Mike said those bands had no “piece to focus on except for gigs and tours.”

The other member of the Missingmen is Raul Morales, a Pedro guy Mike met via a fivepiece rock band out of Baltimore called Vinny Vegas. The band was playing a gig at a house on Fourth Street near Gaffey, a Pedro music scene Mike told me was called “porch-core” that developed in the 1990s.

Mike recruited Raul to play the drums because of his link to “newer days” and liked

Studio Gallery 345

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

PAINTINGS BY PAT WOOLLEY AND GLORIA D. LEE

Michael Stearns Studio@The Loft PLACES WITHOUT WALLS TERRY BRAUNSTEIN AND DINAH BERLAND

rear of the van without a seatbelt due to sickness and a high fever. While on Interstate 10, the rear axle broke and the van ran off the road. Boon was thrown out the back door of the van and died instantly from a broken neck.

After he started listening to the old Minutemen music again, Mike said he really wanted to somehow play this music again but make it relevant.

“That’s where I got the idea for the Hyphenated-man libretto,” Mike explained.

“I would write lyrics dealing with myself as a middle-aged punk rocker, which is something the Minutemen never dealt with really.”

Mike said he figured this would keep things from being just a stroll down memory lane “or some regurgitation kind of lame thing,” Mike called it.

Tom and Raul helped Mike with the music he felt was missing.

“By that I mean the forms and stuff, not the content,” Mike elaborated.

Last Call at the Basement Gallery SEVEN BOXES & SIX CURIOSITIES Assemblages by James Preston Allen are selected from a 40-plus-year career of making art.

This work is like a time capsule that reflects a fascination with found materials and the use of the container. The functionality and banality of the found objects are reinterpreted on intuitive and metaphorical levels — like the images one remembers from a dream that can’t be explained. Basement Gallery, 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro. The exhibition will close after this First Thursday.

Details: 310-561-7811

Pat Woolley

Studio 345 presents paintings by Pat Woolley and Gloria D Lee. Open 5 to 9 p.m. on First Thursday and by appointment.

Studio 345, 345 W. 7th St., San Pedro.

Details: 310-545-0832 or 310-374-8055; artsail@roadrunner. com or www.patwoolleyart.com.

how he played.

As with Tom, Mike played with Raul before he formed the Missingmen. Raul was in the Mike Watt and the Secondmen, a band Mike put together in 2002 to help realize his second opera, The Secondman’s Middle Stand.

“Raul was touring with the Secondmen in place of the original drummer man, Jerry Trebotic, who couldn’t be a part of it,” Mike said. “The first Mike Watt and the Missingmen tour was the “parallel universes” a few months after getting together.”

Mike chose the name Missingmen for Tom and Raul because a couple of years earlier Mike was helping Keith Schieron and Tim Irwin with their We Jam Econo documentary on the Minutemen.

“To prepare myself for the interviews,” Mike explained, “I started listening to Minutemen music again, which after D. Boon passing away was very difficult for me.”

Boon died because he was lying down in the

Terry Braunstein

In Places Without Walls artist Terry Braunstein and poet Dinah Berland take turns with image and text, Braunstein making a photomontage, Berland writing a poem, Braunstein responding to the poem with another image, and so on, eventually resulting in a sequence of alternating images and poems. The exhibition runs through Oct. 26. Michael Stearns Studio@The Loft, 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro. Enter the Loft at the loading dock on 4th St.

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Details: 562-400-0544

10

1ST THURSDAY SPECIAL 1,000 FULL COLOR POSTCARDS 4 x 6” Art supplied

$65 (plus tax)

RLn BRINGS YOU DEDICATED COVERAGE OF THE ARTS IN THE HARBOR AREA. FOR ADVERTISING, CALL 310. 519.1442

“I didn’t see them as replacements for D. Boon or George,” Mike said. “Instead, I wrote Hyphenated-man with both Tom and Raul in mind even though, musically in some ways, I was looking back at my days as the Minutemen.”

Another way in which the Missingmen departs from the Minutemen is that Mike wrote the whole album on D. Boon’s Fender Telecaster guitar. During their Minutemen days, Mike said he wrote very few songs on a guitar.

“I mainly composed on bass. It’s still like that with me,” he said. “Writing for the Missingmen using a guitar makes this project pretty unique for Tom and me. Tom should get much respect for interpreting my stumblebum guitar playing. He’s amazing, truly.”

The Missingmen did five tours of Hyphenated-man between 2010 to 2015.

“Even though Tom and Raul big timesuccessfully realized the mission (recorded it

and then play it for people), I didn’t wanna stop playing with them now that it was time to move on,” Mike said.

So he started writing new material for a brand new Missingmen album for them to play, not focused on a piece like the original goal (to realize Hyphenated-man) of the band.

“In the meantime we’ve been doing revivals of tunes I wrote for the Minutemen 30-plus years ago,” Mike explained. “Some were never recorded or even played live by the Minutemen,” Mike said.

“But it’s interesting looking back on my journey through music how these early works of mine shaped my direction,” Mike said reminiscently. “It’s also a good ‘palate cleanser’ to get us ready for this next album I’ll do with the Missingmen. I love playing with Tom and Raul.”

The 45-day Missingmen tour is blowing its way around North America now and will end in Los Angeles at the Echo on Nov. 2.

National Watercolor Society

99TH INTERNATIONAL OPEN EXHIBITION

Details: 310-831-1099; www.nationalwatercolorsociety.org

Eliseo “EL1SY” Art Silva, Visayang Viajera.

The exhibit will be open free to the public from Oct. 3 to Nov. 23, Wednesdays through Fridays, 3 to 6 p.m. There will be an opening reception on Oct. 5 from 3 to 6 p.m. and a Curator’s Tour at 4 p.m. by Ed Ramona. The reception is by invitation only. Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery, 479 W. 6th St., Suite 108, San Pedro.

The show features 103 exhibitors of unique water media paintings, never seen before in a national or international exhibit. The show opens on First Thursday Oct. 3. Artists reception Oct. 19 3 to 7 p.m. The show runs through Nov. 17.

Hours: Thurs., Fri. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sat., Sun. 12 to 4 p.m.; and by appointment. The National Watercolor Society, 915 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro.

RECUERDOS ~ SOUVENIRS: NEW WORKS BY ELISEO “EL1SY” ART SILVA

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

Carla O’Connnor, watercolor and gouache

Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery

RSVP: (310) 514.9139 or (310) 548.8148.

Details: info@pintadosgallery.com; www.pintadosgallery.com

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Brought to you by the artists and restaurants of the Downtown San Pedro Waterfront Arts District

11

September 26 - October 9, 2019

12

“I like to support the mom-and-pop Filipino restaurants,” Chris said. “It’s going to either be D J Bibingkahan or Nita’s. The reason is because they are both well known for their chicken adobo and their nichan koali.”

“Chicken adobo is your classic soy sauce vinegar base [with a] little bit of bay leaves in there. It could be chicken, it could be pork. I’ve never seen beef [in the dish] before.”

I like going to Nita’s for their nichan koali.

It’s pretty much like carnitas, fried pork with very crispy skin and very tender meat. It’s like chicharrones. That’s pretty much the lunch box around here.”

If Chris is really trying to step it up a notch, Berth 55 is his go-to spot.

“It’s a local and all the fish comes right off the boats around here,” Chris said.

Near the 710 Freeway and Pico Avenue, the grilled fish of various catches and jumbo shrimp

served in large quantities with a side of rice and coleslaw makes Berth 55 a Los Angeles Harbor destination.

“That’s where a lot of longshoremen go,” Chris said. “It’s an everyday eatery for everyday people.”

When I asked what restaurant he’s almost guaranteed to post a food picture, a good

Sepulveda St.

GAFFEY e Sr

DINER

Enter parking lot from N. Gaffey St.

y

Chef Chris Sison dishes advice on local hot spots for dining adventure. Photo courtesy of Chris Sison

Fw

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

11 0

Chef Chris Sison has Lunch Date Picks

sandwich Chris cited BusyBee and their “belly-buster” sandwich made with roasted chicken with pastrami on top.

“That could be a nice picture, but another nice picture would be Diana’s in Carson. I love their red chile burrito.

It was through this conversation I began to pick up on a running them on Chef Chris’ selections — a bit of insight into why town favorites stay town favorites, if you will.

“It’s the consistency,” Chris said. “The food at these places are consistently good every time I go. These are places at which I formed memories as a kid and aim to create more memories my own kids.”

It wasn’t lost on me that he and his wife have to squeeze in their quality time where-ever they could fit it in. I pushed a little further asked him what this night time dinner choice for date night.

“Back in the day, it was Blue Water Grill,” Chris said. “That was my first job after I graduated from culinary school. My wife and I made a lot of good memories there.”

Consistency and quality — a restaurant can’t go wrong with that.

Maya Restaurant, 401 N Avalon Blvd., Wilmington, 310-830-6660 D J Bibingkahan, 860 E. Carson St., Carson 310-835-9190 Nita’s, 22028 S. Avalon Blvd., Carson 310-835-7175 Berth 55, 555 Pico Ave., Long Beach 562-435-8366 BusyBee Market, 2413 S. Walker Ave., San Pedro, 310- 832-8660

N. Gaffey

When Date Night Doesn’t Work

Cabrillo Ave.

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

I don’t consider myself a foodie-snob, but I like to haunt the Instagram accounts of my favorite chefs just to see what they are working on next, or the places they’re going, or the places they’re frequenting when they’re not creating mouth-watering-goodness of their own. And, on top of my list sits Chef Chris Sison when I’m looking for institutional culinary knowledge.

Last time I spoke with Sison, he was the executive chef at the steakhouse restaurant 555 at the historic Federal Bar in Long Beach.

I recently ran into the young chef at South Bay Pavilion mall, to catch up and also bend his ear about what he was paying attention to.

To my surprise, I learned he had left 555 for Orange Hill in the City of Orange, an upscale hilltop venue dotted with koi ponds and waterfalls with a steak and seafood menu and a long wine list.

My interrogation begins by exploring his best destinations for date night — the places that help him keep it spicy with his wife; they’ve been married for eight years and in October they’ll celebrate 17 years of togetherness.

“Keeping it hot and spicy usually doesn’t involve much more than getting away from the kids — my son and the teenage sister in-law who lives with us. A recent graduate from San Pedro High School, she babysits for us. Date night for us could be an early morning run to breakfast at Maya Restaurant in downtown Wilmington,” Chris said.

Chris noted that the restaurant was originally located on Pacific Coast Highway and Fries before moving to its current digs on Avalon and D Street.

“They’ve been around for 45 years and are known for their green chile. They just moved to their downtown restaurant ­— a little smaller but they still have the same quality of food. I just posted to my instagram, a dish of theirs called El Pobre which is two tamales and green chile with been and hand-cut potatoes and two fried eggs over the top. I can’t wait to go back.”

Because everything revolves around his son, which could be after he goes to school, when he’s at little league baseball or soccer practice, date night could literally be a lunch date in Carson.

N

1st St.

A

sept 26 - OCT 9 • 2019

ARTS CULTURE ENTERTAINMENT

Go to: www.randomlengthsnews.com/calendar to post your event online

MUSIC

Sept. 28

Windy Sings Whitney San Pedro’s own international jazz-pop-soul artist Windy Barnes Farrell sings the music of Whitney Houston.

Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: $25 to $35 Details: https://grandvision. secure.force.com/ticket/ Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

End of Summer Show Neverwonder will share the stage with indie bands, Pearl and the Prayers and Brenton Talcott.

Time: 9 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: $10 Details: 562-498-2461; www.dipiazzas.com Venue: Dipiazzas, 5205 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach

Sept. 29

Jazz at CALB This sight and sound festival is a Long Beach revival of a long time jazz series featuring, Rounded Edge, Gramare Trio and Clucas/ Walsh.

Time: 3:30 to 7 p.m. Sept. 29 Cost: Free Details: 562-756-3428 Venue: Cultural Alliance of Long Beach, 737 Pine Ave., Suite B, Long Beach

The Greatest Love of All Australia’s acclaimed tribute concert to Whitney Houston makes its second visit to the States, featuring Belinda Davids backed by a live band, backing vocalists, and a troupe of dancers and acrobats.

Time: 7 p.m. Sept. 29 Cost: $50 to $90 Details: 562-916-8500; www.cerritoscenter.com Venue: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park Plaza Drive, Cerritos

Oct. 3

Ricky Abernathy Formally a member of “the Rolling Stones of funk” Lakeside, Ricky brings his 30-plus years as a vocalist, musician and songwriter, to close the 2019 Fortnight Concert Series.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 5 Cost: $30 Details: http://fortnightconcerts. com/ Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San

The Los Angeles Ensemble The concert will feature violinist Joanna Lee, cellist Bingxia Lu and pianist Feng Bian.

Time: 12:15 p.m. Oct. 4 Cost: Free Details: 310-316-5574; www.palosverdes.com/Classical Crossroads Venue: First Lutheran Church and School, 2900 W. Carson St., Torrance Smooth Jazz and Spoken Word Hosted by Daryl Sweeney, the show features Elaine Gibbs and Nu Soul with spoken word by Connery Williams.

Time: 7 to 11 p.m. Oct. 4 Cost: $20 to $30 Details: www.firstfridayatparadise. eventbrite.com Venue: Paradise Restaurant, 889 W. 190th St., Gardena

Oct. 5

The Music of the Eagles Join a night of the music of the Eagles featuring The Boys of Summer Band Time: 8 p.m. Oct. 5 Cost: $30 Details: www.alvasshowroom. tix.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Moonlight Jazz with Charged Particles Charged Particles features three of the country’s virtuosos doing just that in the acoustic and electric jazz arena.

Time: 7:30 to 10 p.m., Oct. 5 Cost: $20 Details: https://tinyurl.com/ moonlitjazzchargedparticles Venue: Casa Arjona, 4515 E. Harvey Way, Long Beach Heino, Atomic Punks Festmeister Hans & Die Sauerkrauts Oompah band take the stage with its first set, followed by Heino and pumpedup Okoberfest activities. SoCal bands will be closing out the night, starting at 10 p.m.

Time: 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Oct. 5 Cost: $25 to $65 Details: www.tinyurl.com/ uberfestatbrouwerijWest Venue: Brouwerij West, 110 E. 22nd St., Warehouse No. 9, San Pedro

Oct. 6

Hot Fusion Jazz Ezzi/Jazz brings their unique brand of entertainment to

Yiddish Songs Written in the Jewish Ghetto During a time when millions of Jews were facing death, music found a way into their lives. Harriet Bennish invites you to experience this haunting music in a unique performance.

Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 6 Cost: $15 to $20 Details: https://tearsjoyandhope. brownpapertickets.com Venue: Art Theatre Long Beach, 2025 E. 4th St., Long Beach

Oct. 8

Emmylou Harris The Country Music Hall of Famer shook up country radio in the 1970s and established herself as the premiere songwriter of a generation.

Time: 3 p.m. Oct. 8 Cost: 80 to $115 Details:562-916-8500; cerritoscenter.com Venue: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 18000 Park Plaza Drive, Cerritos

THEATER Sept. 26

The Haunting of Hill House During a paranormal investigation, Dr. Montague and his small team of volunteers visit Hill House, an unwelcoming mansion with a history of secrets and tragedies.

Time: Fri. Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. through Oct. 19 Cost: $14 to $20 Details: 562-494-1014; www.lbplayhouse.org, Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach

Sept. 27 Evita The classic story of the rise and fall of Eva Peron. Journey to Buenos Aires and let the music sweep you along with a full orchestra on stage and a cast of LA’s finest performers.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, 28 and 2 p.m. Sept. 29 Cost: $35 to $70 Details: www.app.arts-people. com Venue: Palos Verdes Performing Arts, 27570 Norris Center Dr., Rolling Hills Estates

Sept. 28

La Bohéme Be transported to the bustling cafés and hidden corners of 19th century Paris in Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème. The opera will be transmitted live in highdefinition video from the Dorothy

Oct. 3

Operation Ajax Operation Ajax is the name of the 1953 CIA covert operation to overthrow the Prime Minister of Iran. Five actors play multiple roles portraying real-life operatives and political figures.

Time: 8 p.m. Oct. 3, 4, 5 Cost: $26 to $28 Details: www.shakespearebythe sea.secure.force.com Venue: Little Fish Theatre, 777 Centre St., San Pedro

Oct. 4

A Wolf’s Mother In July 1967 — the Summer of Love in Spokane, Wash.—47year old Ada Bower, hardened from decades of outrunning a pack of inner demons, answered an unexpected knock on her front door to find her long-lost son.

Time: 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 20 Cost: $18 to $30 Details: 323-377-2988; www.panndoraproductions.com Venue: Garage Theatre, 251 E. 7th St., Long Beach

ARTS

Sept. 26

The Art of Bloom Long Beach’s first immersive popup exhibit focuses on the special relationship between humans and nature. The exhibit runs through Sept. 29.

Time: 12 to 10 p.m. Sept. 26, 27, 28 Cost: $12 to $24 Details: www.theartofbloom.com Venue: The Edison Theater, 213 E. Broadway, Long Beach

Sept. 28 Between the Divide The Arts Council for Long Beach’s 2019 Professional Artist Fellows and Percent for Arts Fellows recognize artists who live, work and create in Long Beach.

Time: 2 to 5 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: Free Details: www.tinyurl.com/ betweenthedivide Venue: Billie Jean King Main Library, 200 W. Broadway, Long Beach

Oct. 3 Recuerdos-Souvenirs The exhibition of new paintings

by Filipino artist Eliseo Art Silva will be open on First Thursday.

The exhibit runs through Nov. 23.

Wednesday to Friday 3 to 6 p.m.

Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 3 Cost: Free Details: 310.-514-9139; www.pintadosgallery.com Venue: Pinta Dos Gallery, 479 W. 6th St., Suite 108, San Pedro Poe, 3rd Annual Art Exhibition For the month of October Gallery

Oct. 5

Palos Verdes Tour d’Art 2019 Enjoy an artistic tour of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, viewing art and meeting local artists featuring more than 40 artists located in seven private studios.

Time: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 5 & 6 Cost: $20 Details: www.taspv.com Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center, 5504 W. Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes Long Beach Open Studio Tour In celebration of Long Beach’s Arts Month local artists will be opening up their studios to visitors.

Four weekends: Oct. 12, 13, 19, 20 and 26, 27 Time: 12 to 5 p.m. Oct. 5, 6 Cost: Free Details: http://lbopenstudiotour. com/ Venue: Zaferia/Eastside Hub, 1222 E. Broadway Ave., Long Beach Peedrow Boogie Woogie “Jazzy” is the first word that comes to mind while visiting Ann Weber’s most recent work. The artist will have a reception from 4 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 5.

Time: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mon. to Thurs. through Dec. 13.

Details: 310-600-4873; annwebersculpture.com Venue: Los Angeles Harbor College, 1111 Figueroa Place, Wilmington

FILM Oct. 4

Eliades Ochoa: From Cuba to the World He became known the world over in the late ‘90s as an original member of legendary Buena Vista Social Club. Ochoa’s passion for his country’s musical heritage began by playing his guitar in the streets of eastern Cuba.

Time: 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 4 Cost: $10 Details: www.tinyurl.com/EliadesOchoafromcuba Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Oct. 5 Bob Avakian Page Against the Machine hosts a screening of a film featuring Bob Avakian, the architect of a new framework of human emanicipation, who has been sounding the alarm against the rise of fascism for more than 20 years.

Time: 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 5 Cost: Free Details: www.revcom.us Venue: Page Against the Machine, 2714 E. 4th St., Long Beach

Oct. 6

Robert Scheer: Above The Fold The film is a rewind through Scheer’s journalistic and activist career. Scheer, who at 83 teaches at USC, is editor-in-chief of Truthdig.com and does a podcast, Scheer Intelligence for KCRW, will participate in a panel discussion with filmmakers and executive producer Mike Farrell.

Time: 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 6 Cost: $10 Details: http://siteline.vendini.com Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the story serves as a study of institutional processes and the human mind, as well as a critique of behaviorism and a tribute to individualistic principles.

Time: 7:30 to 9:30 Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 10 to 20 Cost: $10 to $17 Details: www.web.ovationtix.com Venue: Long Beach City College, 4901 E. Carson St., Long Beach

FOOD

Sept. 28 Family Eats Kid-Friendly Cooking Join a culinary demo and conversation about cultivating a colorful and vibrant, joy-filled life for your family through living and eating well. Chef Daniella Malfitano and Danny Greene demonstrate their favorite recipes from their YouTube series, My Choice Kitchen. RSVP. Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: Free Details: www.pacificfood.org Venue: Pacific Food & Beverage Museum, 731 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

Oct. 5

Husbands that Tipple Husbands Adam Merrin and Ryan Alvarez are world travelers, award-winning food bloggers, —and avowed cocktailians who transform an everyday gathering into something special. Join an afternoon of storytelling and cocktails and enjoy samples of two of their signature libations.

Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 5 Cost: Free with RSVP Details: www.pacificfood.org

Venue: Pacific Food & Beverage

Museum, 731 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

DANCE Oct. 5

Stardust Complexions brings the brilliance of David Bowie in a dance tribute to the late rock icon. Plus the SoCal premiere of Dwight Rhoden’s galvanizing protest rally of a ballet, Woke—set to a remix of music by Kendrick Lamar, Logic, Drake and Diplo.

Time: 8 p.m. Oct. 5 Cost: $55 Details: www.carpenerarts. org Venue: Carpenter Performing Arts Center, 6200 Atherton St., Long Beach

WELLNESS Oct. 2

How to De-stress Connect with others and take down anxiety one breath at a time. This LGBTQ-inclusive group will be led by Shirlee Y. a clinical hypnotherapist.

Time: 6 to 7 p.m. Oct. 2 Cost: Free Details: www.whisperingzen. net Venue: The Zen Den, 360 6th St., San Pedro

Oct. 6

Meditation and Book Study Join on Sundays for an open meditation and book study, either guided shamatha, dakini or four Immeasurables practice each week.

Time: 9 to 10:30 a.m. Oct. 6 Cost: Free

[See Calendar p. 14]

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Oct. 4

The Amy Winehouse Experience Amy’s greatest hits and many of the classics she covered, are performed by a nine-piece ensemble of talent.

Time: 8 to 11:30 p.m. Oct. 4 Cost: $20 Details: www.tinyurl.com/amy/ winehouseexperience Venue: Harvelle’s Downtown Long Beach, 210 E. Broadway Ave., Long Beach

John York Songs of The Byrds, The Beatles, The Band will be sung and played on the acoustic 12-string guitar by ex-Byrd, John York.

Time: 4 p.m. Oct. 6 Cost: $20 Details: www.alvasshowroom.tix. com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

The Janitor The intersection of good and evil with music, science, poetry and art are explored as the cast deals with temptations, jobs, bosses and some ridiculous advice.

Time: 8 p.m. Sept. 28, 3 p.m.

Sept. 29 Cost: $10 to $21 Details: www.centerforthearts.org Venue: El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance

Oct. 10

Open Mic First Thursday Open Mic is dedicated to showcasing, connecting and providing a creative outlet for artists.

Time: 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 3 Cost: $5 Details: 310-833-4813; www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Strunz & Farah Grammy-nominated Strunz & Farah’s original rhythmic and virtuosic sound combines Latin American and Middle Eastern music.

Time: 8 to 11 p.m. Oct. 4 Cost: $27 to $53 Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

The Whale & Ale along with a cavalcade of their many friends.

Time: 4 p.m. Oct. 6 Cost: Free Details: 310-832-0363; www.thewhaleandale.com Venue: The Whale & Ale, 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Azul presents an art show inspired

by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe will be at Gallery Azul, and a poet will break free of a straightjacket while reciting Poe. Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 3 and 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 12 Cost: Free Details: www.galleryazul.com Venue: Gallery Azul, 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

Diana Rein Blues guitarist and singer Diana Rein performs songs from her third album, Queen of My Castle.

Time: 4 p.m. Sept. 29 Cost: $20 Details: www.alvasshowroom.tix. com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

Pedro

Chandler Pavilion to a large LED screen in the park. The opera will be subtitled in English and Spanish. RSVP. Time: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: Free Details: https://tinyurl.com/LABOH-ME Venue: Columbia Park, 4045 190th St., Torrance

13

SPIFFest Southern California Premiere:

Above the Fold: The Story of a Renegade Journalist

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

A

September 26 - October 9, 2019

sept 26 - OCT 9 • 2019

ARTS CULTURE ENTERTAINMENT

Go to: www.randomlengthsnews.com/calendar to post your event online [Calendar from p. 13] Details: www.angelsgateart. org Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro

COMMUNITY Sept. 27

4th Fridays on 4th Street Enjoy Fourth Fridays with extended store hours⁠, food and drink specials⁠, free trolley rides⁠, live music⁠, art shows⁠ and a bike valet⁠.

Time: 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 27 Cost: Free Details: 4thstreetlongbeach. com Location: 4th Street from Temple Ave., to Cherry Ave., Long Beach

Sept. 27

14

If you’re old enough to remember the free speech movement at UC Berkeley in the 1960s, the anti-war demonstrations that came later or the confrontation over People’s Park on Telegraph Avenue when Gov. Ronald Reagan called out the National Guard, then the name Robert Scheer and Ramparts magazine probably sound familiar. For a later age group, President Jimmy Carter’s admission to Playboy magazine that he had “lust in his heart” might also ring a bell as an embarrassing admission for a Southern Christian politician to make in a skin mag. The journalist who captured that and chronicled much more was none other than Robert Scheer, who went on to interview many more presidents, including Reagan, and wrote for many national magazines and then oddly enough went on to spend three decades writing for the much more conservative Los Angeles Times.

Scheer was a renegade journalist who will to go after the truth wherever it leads and regardless of which party affiliation his target belonged. His one time KCRW program “left, right

Fabela Chavez Boxing Dinner Show Fabela Chavez Boxing Club will be hosting its annual boxing event to feature its club members and the competition for clubs in the state and beyond.

Time: 5 to 11 p.m. Sept. 27 Cost: Free Details: 310-830-8310 Venue: Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center, 801 E. Carson St., Carson

Revisiting Race Matters Dr. Cornel West, prominent author and public intellectual, will speak on his 1993 book, which is a collection of his essays on race in the United States.

Time: 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 27 Cost: Free Details: www.news.csudh.edu/ cornel-west-lecture/ Venue: Torodome Gymnasium at CSU Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson

Sept. 28

Sea Otter Awareness Week Learn about the sea otter’s diet under a microscope, how much food otters eat in a day, make sea otter origami, feel sea otter fur and watch special feedings of otters and learn about their habitat.

Time: 12 to 4 p.m. Sept. 28, 29 Cost: Free Details: www.cabrillomarine aquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro Literacy Children’s Book Festival Join an afternoon dedicated to spreading the love of reading.

The first 200 families receive a free book. Enjoy cultural performances, a resource fair with more than 70 exhibitors and book signings with authors of the Lil’ Libros series.

Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: Free Details: www.wilmingtonbook

festival.com Venue: The Banning Museum,​ 401 E. M St., Wilmington Celebrate Ranchos Los Cerritos 175th Public Celebration The ceremony and events will include a beer garden, food vendors, cake-cutting ceremony, live music by Poly High School Jazz Combo and Bernie Pearl Blues Band, live painting and tours of the house, a children’s craft area, and the “My Long Beach” Youth Art Contest.

Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: Free Details: 562-206-2040; https:// tinyurl.com/celebrateranchos175 Venue: Ranchos Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road Long Beach Ranchos Walk Through Long Beach History This 9.4 mile hike will take people on a high ridge trail that links Rancho Los Alamitos and Rancho Los Cerritos. There is also the option of a 6 mile and 3.5 mile hike.

Time: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: Free Details: https://tinyurl.com/ ranchoswalk Venue: Rancho Los Alamitos, 6400 Bixby Hill Road., Long Beach, CA 90815 2019 Los Angeles International Ukulele Festival Join an event dedicated to exploring the musical versatility of the ukulele. The festival includes workshops for all levels of playing

and center” might have summed up his core philosophy, but for many years he was the progressive voice at the L.A. Times when there weren’t many others there.

He ran for Congress in 1966 and was soundly defeated. He cofounded the radical Ramparts, one of the first alternative news and analysis publications of the anti-Vietnam War era and was arrested at the demonstration at People’s Park. All of this before he emerged as a nationally recognized journalist.

Later, he had no qualms about working at the LA Times but he asked, “Are you sure you’ve got the right guy?” He wasn’t going to give up his independent perspective because of the then-publishers, the Chandler family, didn’t agree with him. He had a good run there saying that, “It lasted up to the point that the Chandlers sold out to the [Chicago] Tribune and I started writing against the Telecommunication Act” or was it the second Iraq war? He says he offered his resignation several times but they only accepted it once, “After the Tribune took over.”

During his years writing he also

ability and live performances by some of today’s most popular ukulele players.

Time: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: $20 to $45 Details: www.tinyurl.com/ ukulelefest-la Venue: Torrance Cultural Arts Center, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance Agape Children’s Museum Family Health Festival Free screenings, demonstrations and dedicated women, men, children, senior and info pavilions for all ages.

Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 28 Cost: Free Details: 562-570-1047; www.agapechildrensmuseum.org Venue: Michelle Obama Library, 5870 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach 2019 Annual Baja Splash In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, join Baja Splash Cultural Festival featuring live entertainment, crafts, educational programs, and special activities including song, dance, art, and cultural displays.

Time: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 28, 29 Cost: Included with general admission to guests Details: 562-590-3100; www. aquariumofpacific.org/offer/fest2 Venue: Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach Identity Flags Learn how to make Maritime Flags.

These flags are hung on boats to alert and share information.

Time: 3 to 6 p.m Sept. 28 Details: 310-519-0936; www.angelsgateart.org Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., Building G, San Pedro Like the Ocean Create an ocean using tiles.

Participants will paint hard cut

witnessed the concentration of the media from dozens of major daily newspapers to a concentration of just a few media conglomerates that now control more than 80 percent of all the news. “And now,’’ he says, “Google and Facebook who disrupted the [print] media control some 60 percent of all the advertising.”

Scheer went on to talk about Adam Smith, the 18th-century philosopher renowned as the father of modern economics and a major proponent of laissez-faire economic policies, “He would never have defended a system that put this much power in the hands of so few. These few now control the entire market,” he said.

And just what does he tell his students these days? “My job as a journalist is to find out who is getting screwed and who is doing the screwing.”

Scheer, who at 83 teaches at USC, is editor in chief of Truthdig.com and does a weekly podcast, Scheer Intelligence on KCRW, will be on hand for the screening and a panel discussion to follow this Southern California premiere.

Robert Scheer: Above the Fold, a new feature- length documentary about this maverick journalist Robert Scheer, will close the 8th Annual San Pedro International Film Festival on Oct. 6 at the Warner Grand Theatre.

Details: www.SPIFFest.org

tiles and collaborate with the community to make a mural.

Time: 3 to 6 p.m Sept. 28, Oct. 26 and Nov. 9 Details: 310-519-0936; www.angelsgateart.org Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., Building F, San Pedro

Oct. 1 Locker Room Talk or Toxic Masculinity?

Documentarian, author and activist Byron Hurt discusses how hyper-masculinity in American pop culture normalizes male violence and how positive male leadership and bystander intervention can end gender-based violence.

Time: 7 p.m. Oct. 1 Cost: $10 to $24 Details: www.centerforthearts.org Venue: Marsee Auditorium, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance

Oct. 4

Confessions of a Kelp Addict In the Northern Hemisphere, forests of giant kelp are unique to the Pacific coast. Giant kelp can create extensive forests that provide homes for hundreds of species.

Time: 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 4 Cost: Free Details: www.tinyurl.com/Sexand-Kelp-and-Science-Ed Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro

Oct. 5

Ecofest Join the third annual arts, environment and garden festival for the family.

Time: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 5 Cost: Free Details: 310-519-6115 Venue: Deane Dana Friendship

Park, 1805 W. 8th St., San Pedro Native Plant Sale Featuring a large selection of California natives, plants for birds and butterflies, local species of Palos Verdes South Bay. Time: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 5 Cost: Free Details: www.sccnps.org Venue: Madrona Marsh Nature Center, 3201 Plaza Del Amo, Torrance

Oct. 6

Autumn Sea Fair Celebrate the bounty of the sea in a day filled with music, games, contests, fun activities, exhibits, demonstrations, arts and crafts, and videos.

Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 6 Cost: Free Details: 310-548-7582 Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro

Oct. 10 15th Many Winters Gathering of Elders The Gathering Of Elders will host and welcome Indigenous elders from across Turtle Island to share oral traditions, teachings and medicine. The vision is to host a sacred space for people to come together, with the intention to learn, pray and support Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

Time: 11 a.m. Oct 10 to 6 p.m.

Oct. 13 Cost: Free Details: 310-519-0936; www.angelsgateart.org Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro

CLASSIFIED ADS JOBS Facilities & Safety Coordinator International Bird RescueSan Pedro. Full-time position available ASAP. Please visit www.bird-rescue.org/ get-involved. For full job description and information.

RLN SEEKING SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR Responsibilities include: • Advertising sales— print and digital • Selling event sponsorships • Developing and maintaining social media Requirements: • 2-plus years of advertising or marketing experience • Online marketing experience • Reliable transportation RLn offers: • Unlimited earning potential • Great work environment • Creative thinking Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States.

Random Lengths News is an equal opportunity employer.

Send resumé to james@randomlengthsnews.com or drop by the office at 1300 S. Pacific Ave. in San Pedro.

FINANCIAL Struggling With Your Private Student Loan Payment?

New relief programs can reduce your payments. Learn your options. Good credit not necessary. Call the Helpline 888-670-5631 (Mon-Fri 9am5pm Eastern) (AAN CAN)

LEGAL SERVICES Need Help with Family Law? Can’t Afford a $5000 Retainer? Low Cost Legal Services- Pay As You Go- As low as $750-$1500- Get Legal Help Now! Call 1-844-8218249 Mon-Fri 7am to 4pm PCT (AAN CAN) Have $10K In Debt? Credit Cards. Medical Bills. Personal Loans. Be Debt Free in 2448 Months. Call NATIONAL DEBT RELIEF! Know Your Options. Get a FREE debt relief quote: Call 1-888-9700133 Need IRS Relief $10K - $125K+ Get Fresh Start or Forgiveness‎. Call 1-855-399-2890 Monday through Friday 7AM5PM PST (AAN CAN)

Give Baby Up For Adoption?

Living Expenses Paid. You Choose Family. Nationwide Agency. Talk With Us 24/7.

866-459-3369. Online Chat.

Online Application. www. onetruegift.com. Text 515778-2341. (AAN CAN) COMPUTER ISSUES? FREE DIAGNOSIS by GEEKS ON SITE! Virus Removal, Data Recovery!

24/7 EMERGENCY $20 OFF ANY SERVICE with coupon 42522! Restrictions apply.

866-996-1581 (AAN CAN)

AUTOS WANTED CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too!

Call 866-535-9689 (AAN CAN)

MISC.

HOME SERVICES

Denied Social Security Disability? Appeal! If you’re 50+, filed for SSD and denied, our attorneys can help get you approved! No money out of pockets! Call 1-844-2187289 (AAN CAN)

Handyman Services in San Pedro & Harbor Area. Sergio Mendoza (432) 248-1767.

DISH TV - Over 190 Channels Now ONLY $59.99/ mo! 2yr price guarantee, FREE Installation! Save HUNDREDS over Cable and DIRECTV. Add Internet as low as $14.95/mo! Call Now 1-800-373-6508 (AAN CAN) Need a roommate? Roommates.com will help you find your Perfect Match™ today!

(AAN CAN)

ENERGY SAVING NEW WINDOWS! Beautify your home!

Save on monthly energy bills with NEW WINDOWS from 1800 Remodel! Up to 18 months no interest. Restrictions apply. Call Now 1-855900-7192 (AAN CAN)

Serving the South Bay

DIVORCE • TRUST BANKRUPTCY $99 Down•Low Cost Attorney Assisted Law

(310) 781-2823

HELP WANTED Mature woman needed for companionship/light caregiving/light housekeeping for 76-yr-old woman in Point Fermin area. No previous experience necessary, 4 hours/day, M-F, 9 am to 1 pm. $220/wk.

Text only 424-477-4007, 50 words or less why this might work for you. No calls please.

A PLACE FOR MOM has helped over a million families find senior living. Our trusted, local advisors help find solutions to your unique needs at no cost to you. 1-855-9932495 (AAN CAN)

Judgment Recovery Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 6097, San Pedro, CA 90734

Filing & Publishing

$

135

310-519-1442 Remember to renew your DBA every five years

• Payroll • Income Tax • Notary Service

Save time. Save money.

Save stress.

Just Relax Tax Service

V

V W

W

Worry-Free Tax & Accounting Service

870 W. 9th St., Ste. 100A, San Pedro Call for appt. today 310.221.0034 • www.justrelaxtax.com

ACROSS

1 Initials on a toothpaste tube 4 Where the TV show “Letterkenny” comes from 10 Watch readout, briefly 13 Accelerate 14 “Juno and the Paycock” playwright Sean 15 Clinton and Bush, e.g.

17 Waiting room welcome 20 School credit 21 ___ track 22 Gp. that publishes a scholarly style manual 23 Fortifies the castle, perhaps 26 Taiga feature 28 Put in service 29 Cup edge 30 Margin size, maybe 32 Juno’s Greek counterpart 34 Cup edge 36 “Lunar Asparagus” sculptor Max 37 Results of excessive stress 40 Japanese game sorta like chess 42 Key under Z and X 43 Stone who starred in 54Down 47 Proposition to be proved 49 Portuguese colony in India 51 Archer’s necessity 52 Nomadic group 53 2004 movie with a

screenplay by Tina Fey 56 Sch. whose initials actually refer to “Green Mountains” 57 “Brave New World” happiness drug 59 Substance with a pH value under 7 60 Beyond Burgers, for instance, or what the theme answers contain?

65 Sap source 66 “Casino ___” 67 Reverential feeling 68 Luxury ___ (Monopoly space) 69 Firecracker flashes 70 Alkali used in soapmaking

DOWN

1 Unesco Building muralist 2 Dom who voiced Pizza the Hutt in “Spaceballs” 3 Iron Man or Thor 4 Marquee partner 5 Get 100% on 6 “I’m gonna pass” 7 Adjective on taco truck menus 8 Danny who plays Frank Reynolds 9 Voice votes 10 “___ Miserables” 11 Twain, really 12 Scouse, Texas Southern, or Australian, for English 16 Squirrel (away)

18 Start of the first Kinsey Millhone title 19 Away from a bow 23 Word that punctuates Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” 24 “Stranger Things” actress ___ Bobby Brown 25 Leave out 27 Washing machine cycle 31 “Principia Mathematica” author 33 In ___ (feeling bad) 35 Blackberry, back in the day 38 Exit, to P.T. Barnum 39 Korbut the gymnast 40 “Get bent” 41 Sister, in Seville 44 Word before status or bliss 45 In need of cleaning, for some bathrooms 46 Early times, casually 47 Check for ripeness, as a cantaloupe 48 1997 Hanson chart-topper 50 Playing marbles 54 2010 comedy inspired by “The Scarlet Letter” 55 Post-op area 58 Mine alternative?

61 Animator Avery 62 Road or roof stuff 63 Genre 64 Catch the drift

For answers go to: www.randomlengthsnews.com

September 26 - October 9, 2019

PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PET! *In any condition. We will wash and mend.

GOOD STUFF • GREAT PRICES

© 2019 MATT JONES, Jonesin’ Crosswords

PLEASE HELP! The animals at the Harbor Animal Shelter have ongoing need for used blankets, comforters, pet beds.* Drop off at Harbor Animal Shelter 957 N. Gaffey St.,San Pedro • 888-452-7381, x 143

Wed.-Sun., noon to five Brown Bros. Building 461 W. 6th St., Suite 106, San Pedro

“Choice Menu”-— another option out there.

DBA

www.donmarshallcpa.com

q Vintage-Collectibles r

09/12/19, 09/26/19

PEDRO PET PALS is the only group that raises funds for the City Animal Shelter and FREE vaccines and spay or neuter for our community.

(310) 991-0012

Specializing in small businesses CPA quality service at very reasonable rates

ROSY SCENARIO

A successful woman retired, attractive, financially secure, seeking similar gentleman age 65 to 80.

(310) 684-1448. I don’t like online dating.

PETS

Call us for a FREE Consultation (310) 514-8747 or (323) 531-2547 Or Email us a copy of Your Award: Intrepid1s@att.net

(310) 833-8977

PERSONALS

subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of the registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).

Original filing: 08/22/19, 08/29/19,

Live-in caregiver for elderly or children w/housekeeping service available in Harbor Area. Experienced care, references available, bi-lingual. 562-507-8612

Turn Your Labor Comm’r. Award Into Cash $$$ ! ! !

Don Marshall, MBA, CPA

REAL ESTATE INVESTOR seeks to purchase commercial or multi-unit residential properties in San Pedro.

No Agents please.

310-241-6827

SENIOR LIVING

WAGE THEFT !

Don Marshall CPA, Inc.

REAL ESTATE SERVICES

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2019222007 The following person is doing business as: (1) Unique Design and Promotional Unlimited, 435 W. 1st Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: David L. Soto, 435 W. 1st Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual.

The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct.

(A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. David L. Soto, owner.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on August 15, 2019.

Notice--In accordance with

Real News, Real People, Really Effective

Bulletin Board

MUSIC LESSONS

Master violin lessons with concertmaster for John Tesh, Mason Williams, concertmaster/soloist with LOST orchestra and music professor at LA Harbor College. Exclusive Summer lessons for the serious-minded student. Call 310-548-1659. www.JimSitterly.com.

DBA FILINGS

15

[Strike from p. 4]

Climate Strike

September 26 - October 9, 2019

Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant

by dropping existing production and to roll out setback limits by creating a 2,500 foot health and safety buffer between fossil fuel infrastructure and our sensitive receptors like our homes or schools and daycare at our churches.”

The issues she highlights are not usually top of mind when discussing global warming.

But they’ve been pushed repeatedly by environmentalists and environmental justice advocates in California, even as the state has enjoyed a reputation that’s shielded it from scrutiny—but which is far from justified, given what hasn’t been done.

California’s fossil fuel consumption-cutting goals are admirable, but it must cut production as well –– a strategy Oil Change International calls “cutting with both arms of the scissors” in order for global greenhouse gas emissions to fall. The best place to start is where production is most damaging to community health and safety —in with communities like Wilmington at the top of the list.

“We have some of the highest rates of asthma, cancer, bronchitis, birth defects, miscarriages, Hernandez said. “This is an urgent matter. If this were happening in another community, there would be action.” She pointed to the quick response to just three deaths due to vaping, compared to countless thousands of deaths from air pollution.

“This issue is not just something that we’re looking at through a climate crisis lens; we are definitely seeing this is a health crisis, and Gov. Newsom needs to do something about that. Joe Buscaino, our city councilmember, he needs to do something about that,” Hernandez said.

16

[News Briefs from p. 8]

Students strike in Los Angeles to protest inaction on climate change. File photo

“Permitting projects that are just going to worsen the quality of life is a huge disservice to the communities, the vulnerable black and brown low income and also indigenous communities that we have throughout the nation and throughout the world that are trying to regain the sovereignty of their land.”

The Future Warns

On Monday, after the strike, Thunberg addressed the U.N.’s Climate Action Summit in New York City. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones,” she said. “People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are

in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

The existing targets — cutting emissions in half in 10 years—only provide a 50 percent chance of avoiding “setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control,” she said. “A 50 percent risk is simply not acceptable to us — we who have to live with the consequences….”

“You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”

participation in a hospice kickback scheme.

Mahyar David Yadidi, 37, a chiropractor from Los Angeles, was charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud for operating a scheme to defraud the International Longshore and Warehouse Union- Pacific Maritime Association health care benefit plan.

Yadidi is accused of defrauding the ILWU-PMA plan through San Pedro Philips Chiropractic on Pacific Avenue, by offering kickbacks to patients and billing the benefit plan for services not rendered that were medically unnecessary and performed by unlicensed employees. Yadidi allegedly continued to operate his scheme after being terminated as an authorized provider by the ILWU-PMA plan. Ivan Semerdjiev, 40, of Irvine, a chiropractor working for Yadidi, and Julian Williams, 44, of San Pedro, a personal trainer working for Yadidi, were also charged in connection with the fraud conspiracy. In total, Yadidi, Semerdjiev and Williams submitted almost $5 million in claims to the ILWU-PMA plan.

Darren Hines, 49, a chiropractor from Harbor City, was charged with health care fraud for operating a scheme to defraud the ILWU-PMA plan. Hines is accused of defrauding the health care plan through his chiropractic clinic, Advanced Alternative Health on Palos Verdes Drive North by billing for services not rendered and services provided by unlicensed employees even after Hines was terminated as an authorized provider. Hines allegedly submitted over $500,000 in fraudulent claims over a short period of time.