By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
Restoring the Voting Rights Act/ to p. 6
February 7 - 20, 2014
Graphic: Mathew Highland
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n the third and fourth weeks of January, two rather unexpected bipartisan proposals to improve elections and protect voting rights were announced. The contents of both exceeded expectations, even as they fell significantly short of fully protecting the right to vote in the eyes of voting rights advocates. Still, they could mark a turning point in a battle that has significantly rolled back voting rights over the past several years for the first time since the Voting Rights Act was first passed in 1965. On Jan. 16, a bipartisan trio of Congress members introduced “The Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014,” an attempt to restore most of the vital protections of the Voting Rights Act that a narrow 5-4 conservative Supreme Court majority struck down this past June. “Our sole focus throughout this entire process was to ensure that no American would be denied his or her constitutional right to vote because of discrimination on the basis of race or color,” said Vermont’s Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy. “The modernized VRA [Voting Rights Act] is constitutional and bipartisan,” added Wisconsin GOP Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a former chair of the House Judiciary Committee, who presided over the most recent reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006. Back then, the House passed it 390-33 and the Senate passed it 98-0. It revived the “preclearance” process, requiring states with a history of discriminatory practices to have voting changes approved in advance (either by the Department of Justice or a federal court). But the number of states covered was slashed dramatically from nine full states and parts of six others down to four. Preclearance is vital, since it stops discriminatory laws and practices (such as redrawing district lines) before they have a chance to interfere with people’s right to vote. The bill is still
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EPA Webinar Highlights CrossCountry Community Organizing By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
On Jan. 14, the Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a national webinar with members of the Moving Forward Network, community activists, academics and others on behalf of communities impacted by freight transportation networks across America. The network evolved out of a series of conferences sponsored by local colleges and environmental justice groups in Los Angeles within the past decade, beginning in Carson. It has drawn participants from many Los Angeles Harbor area environmental activists groups. It will hold its third annual national meeting in Denver in this month. The webinar was the second of three such EPA-organized webinars leading up to an inperson conference for port-related stakeholders scheduled for April 8 in Baltimore. The first session, which took place Sept. 24, 2013, was entirely industry-oriented, with presentations from the American Association of Port Authorities, Maersk and Ports America. This webinar provided a striking change of emphasis. The lead presenter was Andrea Hricko,
the director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center and the Children’s Environmental Health Center at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. Hricko has testified numerous times at public meetings covered by Random Lengths, bringing a wealth of leading scientific health information to bear on Andrea Hricko, one of the featured speakers the Environmental Protection Agency environmental justice sponsored webinar Jan. 14, is the director Director of Community Outreach and and public health Engagement for the NIEHS-supported Southern California Environmental Health d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g . Sciences Center. File photo Hricko provided a fast-paced, but comprehensive Angeles, Long Beach, New York, New Jersey, overview of health impact findings, including Charleston, South Carolina, Houston, Texas, areas of new and ongoing research to establish Baltimore, Maryland, San Bernardino and a solid empirical foundation for the rest of the Riverside. presentations that followed, which explored the Topics Hricko stressed included both the records of community organizing in mitigating area wide impacts of freight pollution and its transportation development projects in Los heightened impact on those living and working nearby, the disproportionate impacts on working class communities of color, as well as particular impacts on children, mothers and elders. She also stressed the need for more study of how well clean up efforts are doing. These include the impacts of old trucks from California ports being
Costs Peril Panama Canal Expansion
February 7 - 20, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
Panama—In January, Panama President Ricardo Martinelli said he would go to Spain and Italy to pressure companies to honor contracts to expand the country’s canal. The canal’s expansion would broaden and deepen channels to allow for more and bigger vessels to sail through. The decision came after a building consortium— comprised of Spain’s Sacyr, Italy’s Salini ImprePanama Canal expanision will allow bigger vessles to sail gilo, Belgium’s Jan De Nul The through. File photo. and Panama’s Constructora Urbana—behind the project threatened to suspend work because of a Panama Canal Authority had 21 days to respond dispute about costs. to its demands during which work would conThe consortium, known as Grupo Unidos tinue, but the project would be suspended if that por el Canal, stated that $1.6 million in costs requirement was not met. The authority rejected overruns the $3.2 million plan to build a third the demand. set of locks for the canal should be met by Martinelli accused the companies of “irrePanama. The new locks represent the biggest sponsibility.” He also said he expected Spain and chunk of the canal expansion plan, is worth Italy to make good on their commitments. about $5.3 billion. Panama already moved the scheduled comThe consortium stated that the overruns pletion date from October 2014 to mid-2015. were unforeseen during construction, but that Since November, the authority had contractwas normal in such projects. It also alleged ed with insurer Zurich in North America, with that the Panama Canal Authority failed to which it had $600 million in surety bonds to supgive them “inexact” information for the proj- port the project. The authority also could tap the ect. $1.2 billion yet to be paid to the consortium to A spokesman for Sacyr said that part of finish the work. The authority has so far paid $2 the cost overrun was due to inadequately bud- billion to the contractors. geted building materials for the final work. The total expansion is a little more than 70 Grupo Unidos por el Canal stated that the percent with the locks 65 percent complete. 2
sold to other states, questions about the long-term performance of filters and catalysts in removing toxic emissions and the ongoing need to study the toxicity of vapors and ultrafine particles. As for local impacts, Hricko noted that “up to 9 percent of asthma cases in Long Beach are attributed to traffic proximity. Ship emissions accounted for 21 percent of the bronchitis episodes in children in Long Beach with asthma,” for a cost to the community of $18 million a year, “It is really important for Southern California residents to understand that the evidence on the connection between diesel exhaust exposure and lung cancer are considered stronger than ever,” Hricko told Random Lengths afterward. “... with a new study estimating that 6 percent of all lung cancer cases in the U.S. are due to diesel exhaust.” The growth of freight transportation raises “major consequences in regards to the economy and public health,” Angelo Logan of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice summarized. “If not addressed as a priority and with a sense of urgency, many port cities across the country will become hotspots for economic and public health decline.” Consequently, “This issue deserves a collaboration consisting of many agencies and stakeholders ensuring project are real benefits to the public.” Similar themes were struck by virtually all presenters, though their stories varied Cross-Country Community Organizing/ to p. 4
Pedro Girl Goes to Medical Congress Sixteen-year-old Ashlee Quezada recently was accepted to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Washington, D.C. The Congress, which takes place Feb. 14 through 16, is an honors-only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields. Ashlee, a junior at Mary Star of the Sea High School, takes all honors and advanced placement courses. She has been on the principal’s honor roll throughout high school and maintains a 4.0 GPA. She is a member of the National Honors Society and the California Scholarship Federation. She also volunteers at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Ashlee was nominated by Dr. Connie Mariano, the medical director of the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists, to represent California based on her academic achievement, leadership potential and determination to serve in the field of medicine. During the three-day Congress, Ashlee will join students from across the country and hear Nobel Laureates and National Medal of Science winners talk about leading medical research; receive advice from Ivy League and top medical school deans on what is expected in medical school; witness stories told by patients who are
Mary Star of the Sea High School junior Ashlee Quezada will attend the Medical Congress. Photo courtesy of the Quezada family.
living medical miracles; be inspired by fellow teen medical science prodigies; and learn about cutting-edge advances and the future in medicine and medical technology. “I am greatly honored to be representing the San Pedro area at the congress in February,” she said. “After high school I plan to major in biology and later move on to medical school. I hope to achieve my life-long dream of being a doctor in the fields of anesthesiology, oncology, or pathology.”
Lieu Cleans Up on Endorsements for Waxman’s Seat
When Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) announced his imminent retirement from Congress after 40 years of service, an army of challengers rushed to file papers. But it appears that state Sen. Ted Lieu was in front of the line after assembling a long of endorsements in a matter of days with the latest coming from Rep. Karen Bass. With a list that totals to more than 30, Bass joins two other Congress members, Reps. Maxine Waters and Alan Lowenthal. Bass, in a released statement, noted his support in her elevation to speaker of the California Assembly when she was an assemblywoman. “[He] was on my leadership team during the deep fiscal crisis in California. We made the tough choices to get the state back on track and that’s exactly what Ted will do for our country. Ted’s leadership, experience and bipartisan approach to solving some of the state’s largest problems is what we need more of in Washington.” Lieu also picked up an endorsement from Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi “He’s a veteran, a champion for the environment and has a long record of fighting for our community,” said Muratsuchi, a former deputy attorney general and school board member. Lieu’s district comprises more than 80 percent of the voters in Congressional District 33, making his move to replace Waxman well timed. Lieu is a long-time resident of the district, an Air Force veteran and has served on the Torrance City Council, State Assembly and the California State Senate.
Koretz and Bill Rosendahl (Ret.); state Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg; Sens. Kevin de Leon, Ricardo Lara and Holly Mitchell; Assembly members Isadore Hall and Sebastian Ridley-Thomas; El Camino Community College District Trustee Cliff Numark; Hermosa Beach Mayor Michael DiVirgilio; Hermosa Beach Mayor Pro Tem Peter Tucker; Palos Verdes Estates City Council member George Bird, Jr.; Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor pro Tem Jim Knight; Rolling Hills Estates Mayor Judy Mitchell; Redondo Beach City Councilman Bill Brand; Torrance City Council members Kurt Weideman andHope Witkowsky (Ret.); West Basin Municipal Water District Board Member Carol Kwan; Water Replenishment District Board Member Robert Katherman; Torrance School Boardmember Terry Ragins; El Segundo School Board member Bill Watkins; and Palos Verdes Peninsula School District Board member Barbara Luck.
State Sen. Ted Lieu looks to fill the seat Rep. Henry Waxman (below) will vacate when he retires at the end of the current congressional term this year. File photos.
The 33rd Congressional District stretches from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Malibu along the Los Angeles County coast. Other endorsements include: State Controller John Chiang; State Board of Equalization Member Jerome Horton; Los Angeles City Council members Mike Bonin, Paul
Community Announcements:
Harbor Area Port Master Plan Update, Addendum
The Port of Los Angeles will reopen the hearing on the Port Master Plan Update at 8:30 a.m., Feb. 6. The reason POLA is reopening the case is to consider an addendum, which will consist of receipt, consideration of and response to the late California Coastal Commission comments regarding a new subsection that addresses the port’s existing marine habitat, clarifications on Coastal Development Permit processing; corrections to procedures that cite Coastal Act regulations, increased notification requirements for tenants acting in emergency situations, and revised land use maps that clarify the location of proposed cut and fill projects. Any person unable to attend the meeting may submit written comments to the Director of Planning and Economic Development at P.O. Box 151, San Pedro, CA 90733. Comments must be filed no later than one day before the meeting. Details: (310) 732-3850; www.portoflosangeles.org/ planning/update.asp Venue: Los Angeles Harbor Department Board Room Location: 425 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro
Buscaino Gives State of San Pedro Speech
Joe Buscaino, councilman of District 15, will present his view on the state of San Pedro, and the future of the downtown area at the Feb. 11 meeting of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council. The public is encouraged to participate. Refreshments will be available at 6 p.m. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Details: www.centralsanpedro.org Venue: POLA High School Location: 250 W. 5th St., San Pedro.
Labor in America
Los Angeles Trade Technical College is offering, Labor in America, a labor studies college course, from Feb. 11 to June 3, at the Harry Bridges Institute in San Pedro. The ILWU Southern California District Council is hosting the course, which explores the role of the unions in creating and maintaining the middle-class standard of living for workers, as well as the labor’s impact on issues such as wage, benefits, job security and economic justice. Details: (213) 763-7129; laborcenter@lattc.edu Venue: Harry Bridges Institute, ILWU 63 Memorial Bldg. Location: 350 W. 5th St., Suite 209, San Pedro
Goodwill Donation Drive
Getting and Keeping Clients, Donors
Guest speaker, Janet Levine, of Janet Levine Consulting, will discuss getting and keeping clients and donors at the upcoming San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Munch & Learn Workshop, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 13. Members pay $10; non-members pay $15 (includes lunch). Details: (310) 832-7272; www.janetlevineconsulting. com Venue: San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Location: 390 W. 7th St., San Pedro
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Support the Port of Los Angeles Softball team, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 15, at POLA High School in San Pedro. Organizers will be collecting clothing, shoes, handbags, books, sporting goods, home décor, housewares and textiles. Details: polasoftballdonations@gmail.com Venue: POLAHS Location: 250 W. 5th St., San Pedro
Jamzilla on the 405
February 7 - 20, 2014
The last time the Interstate 405 was closed down for construction, Los Angeles County Metro Transit Authority called it “Carmageddon,” with accompanying images of doom for the forgetful motorist. This time around, the MTA gave the expected gridlock the name “Jamzilla”—a decidedly more cutesy name than Carmageddon. They even created an official online countdown clock that will count down the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds before the anticipated 80-hour northbound I-405 paving operation between Getty Center Drive and Ventura Boulevard officially begins. On the night of Feb. 14, ramps along the 5.6mile closure area will begin to be shut down as early as 7 p.m., and closure of freeway lanes will begin at 11 p.m. to ensure full freeway closure by 1 a.m. The operation and related daytime/nighttime lane closures will continue until 6 a.m. on the morning of Feb. 18. Details: www.metro.net/405
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Conoley Appointed CSULB Leader
Long Beach—On Jan. 29, California State University Board of Trustees appointed Jane Close Conoley to serve as the seventh president of Cal State Long Beach. Conoley’s appointment was announced at the California State University Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach. Conoley, who is originally from New York City, will officially take the post in July. She will be the first woman to lead the California State University in its 65-year history. She will be one of four female presidents in the 23-campus CSU system, joining leaders at San Marcos, Fullerton and Northridge. Conoley, 66, is dean of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UC Santa Barbara. Conoley was also a finalist for provost at the University of Oregon. CSULB’s previous President F. King Alexander left in June 2013, to become president of the Louisiana State University system and chancellor of Louisiana State University A&M. CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White in May named Donald J. Para as interim president. Para had served as CSULB’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.
CSU Chancellor Aims to Direct $50 Million to Increase Graduation Rates
February 7 - 20, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
LONG BEACH—California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White aligned himself with the Gov. Jerry Brown’s higher education reform efforts while calling for larger increases in state funding. White stressed that the state must invest more in improving graduation rates and shortening the time it takes to get a degree, as well as increasing access for low-income students and upgrading aging infrastructure on its 23 campuses. In his budget for fiscal year 2014-15, Brown proposed a $177-million general fund increase for CSU operating budget support. CSU trustees had asked for $237.6 million. Brown’s budget summary noted that the 2013 Budget Act provided a $125.1 million general fund increase to both UC and CSU, and that the first installment of a four-year investment plan to provide steady and predictable state funding increases through 2016-17. These multi-year investments, however, are contingent on the segments holding tuition flat at 2011-12 levels through 2016-17: $12,192 for UC and $5,472 for CSU. The Brown administration expects the segments to use these funds to maintain affordability, decrease the time it takes students to complete a degree, increase the number of students who complete programs and improve the transfer of community college students to four-year colleges and universities. White said he will push hard to have $50 million—which could be a combination of state support, student tuition, foundation and business contributions—go toward the seven key areas he outlined to improve student achievement. Specifically, White’s goal is a 10 percent increase in graduation rates for all undergraduate students who start at CSU, and a 5 percent increase among community college transfers. White linked the CSU’s ability to churn out a million more graduations by 2025 to a healthy economy in the future.
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Ninth Circuit Court Upholds Ban on Gay Conversion
SAN FRANCISCO—On Jan. 29, the Ninth Circuit Court denied a rehearing en banc on Pickup v. Brown, which deals with Senate Bill 1172, a California measure that repeals the News Briefs/ to following page
Cross-Country Community Organizing significantly in terms of specifics. Herbert Fraser-Rahim, of Charleston, S.C., told the story of Low Country Alliance for Model Communities, an organization that formed in response to the proposed conversion of a Navy base to a commercial port roughly a decade ago. They were able to secure a $4 million mitigation agreement, but face continuing challenges to realizing their vision due to lack of capacity and operational funding. This contrasted sharply in terms of scale and complexity with activists’ experience in the major port centers of Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, New Jersey and Houston. In New York and New Jersey, Amy Goldsmith of the Coalition for Healthy Ports described a situation whose lack of transparency and coherence would be quite familiar to Random Lengths readers. When we asked her to summarize her most important points afterwards, she responded: • meaningful and consistent public engagement yields better solutions and longer lasting results • easy public access to documents, permits, processes and decision-making is critical • agencies must stop working at cross purposes to each other; they should coordinate money, expertise and roles to get better outcomes • public money and agencies must work for the public’s good Because of the Chris Christie Bridgegate scandal, we had to ask how typical such covert, unaccountable behavior has been. “The Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey (PANYNJ) has a long history of secrecy and making decisions behind closed doors; lack of public access to documents and political favoritism,” Goldsmith replied. “We have filed many FOIA requests and had to wait many months, if we ever got the document. At times the PANYNJ said the document did not exist, but we got it from another agency. We asked for a mediation to avoid litigation, they flatly refused to address any of our issues or claimed there was no harm.” The resistance to public accountability appears deeply inbred, as it is here, as well. From Houston, Juan Parras, executive director of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, recounted many details that would also be quite familiar to Los Angeles Harbor Area residents. With 405 chemical plants, it has a landscape quite similar to that of the Carson, Wilmington and nearby neighborhoods. Excessive flaring is a common concern. Of Houston’s 283 schools, 86 are in the top 5 percent of the most toxic schools in the nation. All of them are majority Latino and/or African American. Houston is also one of the nation’s busiest rail centers, with more than 700,000 rail car trips per year—a number expected to double. But Houston is hardly isolated, Parras explained. “Texas Coast is home to 13 ports, all ports should be required/mandated to have a citizen’s advisory board, selected by the communities bordering the port.” This call for community representation was echoed by others as well, noted Natural Resources
Defense Council lawyer Melissa Lin Perella, who though not a presenter, did participate in the Q-and-A period. “I think what I’m hearing from a lot of presenters is not just that they want a seat at the table, but that that seat should be meaningful,” she said. “In LA for a while we had a community advisory committee [the PCAC] that did have a meaningful role to play with the port.” It wasn’t perfect, Perella noted, “But it provided a real concrete way in which the port received community input.” The inland port of San Bernardino and Riverside represents a different kind of challenge. Penny Newman, director of the Center for Community Action for Environmental Justice, began her presentation with a two-fold message: “Diesel kills” and “Proximity matters.” Given how much space there is in the Inland Empire, it ought to be possible to keep deadly emissions well away from vulnerable populations. But the struggle to achieve what ought to be possible has been going on for decades now, with no end in sight. Newman discussed two specific examples, which allowed her to combine the background of long-term organizing and collaborative development with the specific challenges faced by impacted communities. One was a poor Latino inner-city neighborhood, with 60 percent of residents making an annual income of less than $10,000, adjacent to BNSF’s railyard. The other was Mira Loma, a small largely immigrant community surrounded by agriculture 10 years ago, but surrounded by warehouses today. “My hopes were to share our collaboration model of a multi-agency task force that works with community residents to reduce exposures to diesel from trucks and rail yards as outlined in the presentation,” Newman told Random Lengths afterward. “One of the key messages I wanted to get to EPA was reflected in my last slide. They have two key processes in place that are not communicating with each other—the MAP 21 process to develop a comprehensive, efficient process to move goods and the other is the Goods Movement subcommittee of the InterAgency Working Group on Environmental Justice that is suppose to address community impacts. There are no community residents on the MAP 21 Freight Advisory committee and I think California is the only state with environmental justice representation.” In short, the very same decision-making structures which are supposed to be working toward solutions are instead replicating the problems they are trying to solve. And yet, the simple fact that the webinar was held in the first place is a testament to the dedication and tenacity of those involved in these struggles, and the successes they’ve already achieved against overwhelming odds. Those interested in joining or rejoining that struggle are always welcome. “We continue to work in Southern California with an academic-community partnership group called THE Impact Project,” Hricko said,. “THE Impact Project can keep residents abreast of important hearings coming up at the ports, or about the I-710 planned expansion, or link them to articles about the lawsuits against the Port of LA and BNSF on the proposed rail yard in Wilmington that would impact Long Beach residents and children as well as folks in LA. They can write to info@theimpactproject.org”
Rosenberg Hits the Ground Running for District 3 By Zamna Avila, Assistant Editor
At 67, Long Beach Council District 3 candidate Jack Rosenberg boast 35 years in commercial real estate. He is one of a handful of candidates with similar views vying for the seat that termed-out Councilman Gary DeLong will be leaving this summer. “My forté, for lack of a better word, is business,” he said. “I’m a fiscal conservative. The council needs somebody similar to Gary. Gary headed up the budget committee. When I win, I anticipate that I will head up the budget committee because of my background and my understanding of finance.” If financial matters are his strength, he says he lacks knowledge when it comes to issues like medical marijuana. “I don’t know very much about it,” he said. “It’s an issue that got away from the city. It is similar to electronic cigarettes…. I would have to say, I don’t get it.” Nevertheless, Rosenberg is betting that his business background and focus on the local economy and infrastructure is going to get him through the April 8 primaries.
District Goals
The father of two adults is an admirer of both DeLong and Mayor Bob Foster. “Gary and [Mayor] Bob Foster have done a tremendous job getting through some very difficult economic times and now that the economy is getting better, it’s time to really move
The State Department released an environmental impact report on Jan. 31 saying, according to The Washington Post, “the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would be unlikely to alter global greenhouse gas emissions.” Although the Canadian tar sands contains a huge amount of carbon, the report argues that the oil is going to be sold whether the pipeline is built or not. This is obviously not the standard approach for evaluating projects, based on the existing baseline of environmental impacts. The report triggered more than 275 protests in towns and cities across the United States Monday. While there were almost no major (corporate)-media news reports of the nationwide protests that same day, social media outlets carried numerous reports and pictures. There were also local news reports of the protests from places like San Diego, Olympia, Ann Arbor, St. Augustine, Burlington, Rochester and others. Ironically, while most U.S. media outlets ignoring the large number of protests, conservative outlets covered them, using the occasion to push the conservative narrative that the current cold weather proves there is no global warming because it contains the word “warming.” News Briefs/ to p. 6
February 7 - 20, 2014
City Goals
the city,” Rosenberg said. Rosenberg praises Foster’s handling of pension negotiations with the public employee unions—particularly the police and firefighter unions, which made up about half of the public employee costs—these past few years. “For every pension that’s there, that means we can’t hire new policemen, we can’t hire new firemen,” said Rosenberg, comparing the city budget to a household budget. “All the union contracts are going to be under a microscope in the foreseeable future. And they should be. I’m not saying that they are going to be cut. Don’t get me wrong. But you still got this pie…. If the pie is not getting bigger, you have to figure out a way to operate within the pie. Everything will be looked at. It has to be.” Rosenberg, who has worked on the Community Development Advisory Commission and the Long Beach Golf commission, sees this election cycle as an opportunity to build a consensus with five new council members and a new mayor. “There [are] just a lot of changes and with the changes it breeds opportunity to make things different. And, I want to be part of it,” he said. Because each council district has distinct issues, all too often, each council member votes differently, Rosenberg said. “We are a little too parochial in representing our district,” he said. “There needs to be more of a connection… My plan is to try to bring everybody together and moving in the same direction. “All too often the council doesn’t. They are worried about their district. And, they should worry about their district, but they can’t lose sight of the greater good, and that is the city.” He wants to sit with all the other members of the council and get everybody on the same page. “That is, for lack of a better word, salesmanship,” Rosenberg said. As Rosenberg sees it, unemployment is among the bigger issues in the city. According to the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network, Long Beach unemployment rate was 9.7 percent, down from 12.7 percent
Keystone XL Report Triggers Hundreds of Protests Nationwide
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District 3 is bordered by the trendy Belmont Shore and Naples’ man-made waterways to the south, Cal State Long Beach to the northeast and has riches in wetlands and waterways throughout the district. Rosenberg’s hopes that the Port of Long Beach tears down the breakwater so that Long Beach can make fuller use of its beaches again. But he’s not holding his breath for it. “If they lower the breakwater it will cause the water quality to improve because the Harbor will then flush much better,” Rosenberg said. “I’d be very surprised if they said they are going to take down the breakwater completely and return Long Beach to the surf city it was in the 20s and the 30s.” The Army Corps of Engineers are currently reviewing options for the breakwater, which include: tearing it down completely, tearing down in part, or leaving it as it is. He believes the Army Corps of Engineers will advocate on behalf of the second option. Rosenberg believes that the Port of Long Beach is too developed and the breakwater too important to tear down either in part or in whole within the port area. But that’s just his personal opinion on the issues, that’s not his take as a candidate, he said. He is, however, strongly supportive of rebuilding Naples’ seawalls, the concrete canal through which water from the San Gabriel River flows. The deterioration of the walls, caused by the water, may result in the fall of some of the seawalls in the event of an earthquake. The Coastal Commission has already approved city studies for repairs, but there are still some additional steps the city must take before moving forward to make the repairs.
Long Beach Council District 3 candidate, Jack Rosenberg. File photo.
in 2011. “Everybody wants to see stability in jobs come to the entire area, not just the third district,” Rosenberg said. Rosenberg is looking to lead the council to entice new companies from diverse industries to Long Beach while retaining the ones that it has by making it easier to operate in Long Beach. “Anybody who says they want to recruit a certain type of business is being naïve,” Rosenberg said. “If as a commercial real estate agent, if I said, ‘I’m only going to work with technology companies,’ I’d go broke.” For Rosenberg, recruiting and retaining businesses does not mean he believes in incentives. “If I give you an incentive to come in and I give you less taxes for 5 years, that costs the city money,” he said. “If you are paying $5 in taxes and I tell you, ‘For 5 years you only have to pay $3,’ well, that $2 has to be made up some place else in that pie.” Hiring incentives also are not the answer to fighting unemployment in the city, he said. Instead, more should be done to retrain people for jobs that are demanded. “Our big problem is that we don’t have the jobs out there,” Rosenberg said. “The companies that do need employees…need trained employees.” He recognizes that growth and development move slowly, especially in less affluent communities. Bringing new business to more affluent communities can also foster employment for people living in other neighborhoods in Long Beach. It’s that fiscal stance of the city and his ability to bring people together that believes makes him the best candidate for the job. “It’s all based on experience. I am the most qualified candidate to fill the job in the third district. I have the greater understanding than any of the other candidates.”
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practice of gay conversion therapy for minors. An en banc session is where a case is heard before all the judges of a court—in other words, before the entire bench—rather than by a panel selected from them. The ruling upholds the measure, authored by Sen. Ted Lieu. Joining Lieu in praising the decision was John O’Connor, executive director of Equality California, sponsor and defender of SB 1172. “We are grateful to Sen. Ted Lieu for authoring it and to Gov. Brown for signing it,” O’Connor said.“We are also grateful for medical and mental health associations that supported the law and helped to educate the Legislature about the serious dangers posed by scientifically baseless efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender expression.”
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Restoring the Voting Rights Act
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Democrats Wait to Take Action Against Wright Sacramento—After State Sen. Roderick Wright was convicted Jan. 28 of perjury and voter fraud, State Senate leader, Darrell Steinberg, is meeting with his caucus and expects to “make a full set of recommendations within the next couple of days.” Wright, who was accused of lying about where he lived when he ran for his seat and voted in several elections, was convicted by a Los Angeles County jury on Jan. 28, on eight counts of perjury and voter fraud. He could receive more than eight years behind bars and a ban from further elective office. Wright’s lawyer said the embattled senator intends to appeal. Meanwhile, the Senate decided to wait until Wright exhaust the appeal process before deciding his fate. Ousting the senator would require a two-thirds vote of the upper house. Wright claimed an Inglewood rental complex he owned was his legal residence when he ran for the Senate seat that he first won in 2008. Prosecutors said his true home was a house in Baldwin Hills, outside the district he represents. Sen. Richard Roth (D-Oakland), chairman of the Senate’s ethics committee, said senate leaders are still discussing whether to take action now or wait until after Wright’s sentencing or even the exhaustion of any appeals. If the conviction stands, Roth said, Wright should resign or be removed from office.
War Hero Runs for Kansas Office
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
WICHITA, Kan. — On Feb. 3, Ethan McCord, the soldier featured in the now infamous Wikileaks video leaked by Bradley Manning known as Collateral Murder, announced that he is running for the office of lieutenant governor of Kansas. McCord, who has been the subject of several films, including the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad, is running alongside Jennifer Winn. The Winn-McCord campaign will be challenging Gov. Sam Brownback in the Kansas Republican Primary. The campaign will officially announce McCord as the running mate this Feb. 11 at the Hyde Park Recreational Center in Wichita, Kan.
Poll Shows Voters Blame Lawmakers for Weak Job Growth
WASHINGTON, D.C.—President Barack Obama touted a number of bright spots in the United News Briefs/ to following page
expected to face a tough fight. But, as recently as mid-December it wasn’t even known if any bill at all would be introduced. Reporters were writing that progress had stalled, as House Republicans waited for a go-ahead sign from their leadership. So the announcement itself was seen as a dramatic step forward. Then, on Jan. 22, the bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration, cochaired by the lawyers for President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns, issued an unexpectedly strong and clear report, recommending reforms to prevent long lines and ensure easy voting for all citizens. Although its analysis drew criticism for its narrowly technocratic focus and failure to address racial factors (blacks routinely face much longer lines than whites), its recommendation to expand early voting directly counters recent GOP efforts to suppress minority voting by sharply cutting back on early voting. “The recommendation for all states to provide for in-person early voting is an important and very positive step,” said Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters. Its second most prominent recommendation called for “continued expansion of online voter registration,” which could—if properly implemented—improve participation by younger minority voters. However, “A weakness of the report is the endorsement of online registration systems that many eligible voters can’t use,” MacNamara warned. “Of the systems in the commission’s report, voters must have a driver’s license or a non-driver’s [identification] in order to register to vote online. This limitation is unnecessary, will substantially reduce the effectiveness of online registration and also raises concerns about the discriminatory effect,” Obama created the commission after the 2012 elections, specifically citing the long lines some voters faced, but observers noted that similar past efforts had simply fizzled out, so expectations had been muted beforehand. However, even as these two proposals raised hopes of a renewed bipartisan consensus around voting rights, contrary signals were sent regarding
From left are Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.; Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.; Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.; Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.; and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. They have introduced legislation that would subject any state or locality to the “preclearance” requirement of the Voting Rights Act if it commits at least five voting rights offenses in the most recent 15-year period. If passed, the legislation will restore the preclearance requirement to the Voting Rights Act. The requirement was stripped from the 50-year-old law in June 2013 by the Supreme Court. File photo.
organized partisan campaigns for secretaries of state in key states where voting rights and participation have been in dispute. Democrats announced a superpac, iVote, targeting races in Iowa, Colorado, Ohio and Nevada. The Republican superpac, SOS for SOS, will target Iowa, Ohio, Colorado, Kansas and Michigan. The impetus for the The Voting Rights Amendment Act came in reaction to the Supreme Court decision in Shelby County v. Holder, where the conservative majority struck down Section 4, the section identifying jurisdictions (states and their political subdivisions) subject to preclearance. This left the preclearance process itself (in Section 5) untouched, but effectively inoperative without a set of jurisdictions to apply to. The majority argued that the covered jurisdictions were based on conditions in the 1960s, no longer representative of their practices today. This ignored the fact that any jurisdiction can bail out of preclearance coverage with a clean record of non-discrimination lasting 10 years. It also ignored the extensive legislative record, showing that covered jurisdictions as a whole
were far more likely to engage in discriminatory practices than non-covered jurisdictions. Because the Supreme Court has the last word, the response was crafted to comply with their objections, however specious, but still preserve as much voter protection as politically possible. This meant covering jurisdictions based on their records within a 15-year time-frame (which reduced the number of covered jurisdictions), strengthening the power to cover new jurisdictions (known as “bail-in”, which can increase the number of covered jurisdictions as the need arises), and exempting Department of Justice objections to voter-ID laws from those counted as Voting Rights Act violations. This last provision was reportedly the cost of support from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, seen as key to getting the bill considered, much less passed. Conservatives argue that the discriminatory practices of 1960s are long gone, and that no pattern of racial voter suppression persists in the present day, so the whole preclearance mechanism is uncalled for. But the 2006 reauthorization continued on following page
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process involved an enormous fact-gathering process which conclusively refuted such claims. Under Section 5, it documented 750 objections blocking about 2,400 discriminatory voting changes since the most recent reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 1982. There had also been 650 successful voting rights lawsuits brought in covered jurisdictions. All that, the Supreme Court simply ignored. And yet, the pattern persists. Since 2006, we’ve seen an explosion of laws making it more difficult for minorities and others to vote, with a particularly intense surge in 2011, after the GOP made record gains in the 2010 mid-terms, winning more state legislature seats than it has ever held since before the Great Recession. In December, two social scientists, Keith G. Bentele and Erin E. O’Brien, published a detailed analysis of these laws, “Jim Crow 2.0? Why States Consider and Adopt Restrictive Voter Access Policies.” It showed a clear continuation of the race-based pattern, along with partisan influences as well. “A key argument made against the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act was that the ‘pre-clearance’ rules are no longer necessary because states today have no intention to discriminate,” Bentele told Random Lengths. “Our findings question this assertion and, more broadly, suggest that review of voting legislation prior to implementation is merited as a way to prevent racial bias.” If anything, they found that discriminatory efforts were spreading. “States with higher and increasing minority turnout and state governments fully controlled by Republicans were significantly more likely to pass legislation restrictive of voter access between 2006 and 2011,” Bentele said.
Members of North Carolina student chapters of the NAACP and opponents of voter ID legislation protest silently in the gallery of the House chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly where lawmakers debated and voted on voter identification legislation in Raleigh, N.C., April 24, 2013. File photo.
“This makes it difficult to avoid the conclusion that minority voter suppression is a central driver of recent legislative developments restricting voter access.” What’s more, their paper noted, “These policies stand in sharp contrast to trends in the late 1990s and early 2000s where many states expanded voting by mail and early voting— usually under the assumption that these policies would increase voter participation.” The figures they gathered “show that the proposal of restrictive voter-access legislation occurred in nearly every state between 2006–2011 and that
at least one restrictive change passed in half of all states.” The paper then went on to analyze the legislation in terms of “the state-level partisan, electoral, demographic, and racial factors most strongly associated with more frequent proposal and passage of these voter restrictions within states.” “In practice, it is not feasible to study the personal motives of state legislators who propose or vote for hundreds of pieces of legislation across many states,” Bentele said. “Motives are nearly impossible to prove, anyway.
“But researchers can systematically explore the patterns and timing of legislative activity in states with different social characteristics and political histories. In other words, we can assess what types of states have been more or less active in proposing and passing voter restrictions and estimate when proposals and enactments are more likely to happen.” That’s precisely what their analysis did. “Our findings are striking,” he said. Among these were: • “Restrictive proposals were substantially more likely to be introduced in states with larger African-American and non-citizen populations, higher minority turnout, as well as in states where both minority and low-income turnout recently increased.” • “Restrictive laws passed more frequently in states where the proportion of Republicans in the legislature went up or a Republican governor was elected. Of the 41 adopted voter restrictions passed from 2006 to 2011, 34 (or 83 percent) were passed by Republican-controlled state Voting Rights Act/ to p. 19
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The Local Publication You Actually Read
States’ manufacturing sector several times in his State of the Union speech this past month. He noted: “[We have] the lowest unemployment rate in over five years; a rebounding housing market — a manufacturing sector that’s adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s more oil produced— more oil produced at home than we buy from the rest of the world, the first time that’s happened in nearly 20 years…” But according to a recent poll conducted in manufacturing dependent states, voters representing the entire political spectrum cite manufacturing job losses as a top economic concern. The national poll was released Feb. 3 and was conducted in January 2014 by the Mellman Group and North Star Opinion Research on behalf of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a non-partisan, non-profit partnership of leading U.S. manufacturers and the United Steelworkers. The poll also found that voters see U.S. policies as the main obstacle to manufacturing job creation. By an overwhelming margin, voters say job creation should be a top priority, beating out deficit reduction by a 2-1 margin (65 percent vs. 31 percent). Job creation is named as the top priority for voters of every political affiliation, above other suggested fixes, including deregulation and a loosening of trade restrictions. Manufacturing job loss ranks above taxes. The growing gap between rich and poor, education and retirement security top voters’ personal concern. Voters across party lines saw Washington’s policies as the primary obstacle to manufacturing job creation—above automation, high costs, and a perceived shortage of skilled workers. Forty-five percent blame either U.S. economic policies that encourage outsourcing (30 percent) or the lack of a national manufacturing strategy to compete with China and other countries (15 percent). Voters also see both the president and Congress as doing even less in 2014 to create manufacturing jobs or enforce fair trade than they did in 2012. A majority (51 percent) of Americans now say Obama is doing “not too much” (23 percent) or “nothing at all” (28 percent) to create manufacturing jobs. By contrast, in 2012 only a combined 41 percent responded that the president was doing “not much” or “nothing.”
February 7 - 20, 2014
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Will We Survive the Wall Street Recovery?
And other issues of group think, hysteria and fear By James Preston Allen, Publisher
February 7 - 20, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
Like most people, I often switch on that electronic fireplace we call the TV when I come home at night and bear witness to heinous crimes of violence and corruption (both real or invented) play across the screen. I suppose it is the distraction from the daily grind or perhaps the titillation of local news and cop shows when they veer off into increasingly violent and sexual avenues. Why do I continue watching? It must be the comfort I derive from being a voyeur of lives much worse or more complicated than my own. Voyeurism of this sort must have some kind of psychological effect, don’t you think? I bring this up because lately I’ve been thinking about the way we make decisions in groups. Recently, I’ve been impressed with the consideration of different perspectives on when to vote or not at our neighborhood council meetings. There is a whole lot of writing out there on the use of “crowdsourcing,” poll taking and what recently has been termed “the wisdom of the crowd” in decision-making. In his 2005 book, The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, James Surowiecki talks about the aggregation of information in groups, resulting in decisions that are often better than could have been made by any single member of the group. This, I believe can only be true if the group has been given true and reliable information upon which to decide and be able to make a decision without being under duress. Examples of bad group decision making abounds and surrounds us. The wisdom of the crowd is only as good as the information to which they have access. The sub-prime mortgage crisis was partly due to corrupt bond rating agencies flat out lying to the Wall Street banks about the quality of the mortgages to which the bonds were attached. The Patriot Act parts I and II were both passed by a Congress that barely read the document based on fears of terrorism—a Congress whose paranoia exaggerated real threats. The wisdom of the crowd can be traded quite easily for the safety of the herd mentality. Take for instance the Los Angeles Police Department’s report on the Feb. 7, 2013 shooting of two Los Angeles Times newspaper delivery women in Torrance, in the wake of the Christopher Dorner shootings. Ten LAPD officers were protecting the home of one of
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Dorner’s suspected targets. At the time, it was already reported that a Riverside police officer had been fatally shot and two LAPD officers had been fired upon in Riverside. It was reported that a truck matching Dorner’s was spotted near Torrance. The newspaper delivery women were driving a similar type of truck, but of a distinctly different color, down the street slowly throwing papers where the officers were positioned. To two officers on heightened alert, the sound of a newspaper landing on a driveway and the flicker of light inside the cab was mistaken for a gunshot. When these two officers opened fire, another seven officers also fired, totaling more than 100 rounds. One of the women was wounded twice and the other suffered minor injuries from the shattered glass. Subsequently, the women settled a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles for $4.2 million and were given a brand new pickup truck. This is what’s known by police and military agencies alike as “contagion firing,” where the more officers there are involved in a shooting, the number of shots fired increases exponentially. It also is the perfect example of failure of the wisdom of the crowd. Group decisions fail when the people involved are under stress, threat of life or are operating out of fear. In the case cited here only one officer didn’t fire his weapon and that’s the one I’d like to speak to. What was it that didn’t make him or her lose his cool under duress? Group decision making is implicated in discussions about the national psychology of market economics, particularly with the rapid rise and crashes of the stock market caused by contagion action driven by the herd mentality. This is seen after a year of unprecedented profits in 2013—when the Dow Jones rose above 16,000 points. It fell more than 500 points in a single week, a sharp 320 points in a single day to 15,499. The sell-off struck fear into the hearts of stock brokers, economists and bankers. It appears that this “bear” trend will continue as the psychology of the market does not have confidence in the future of jobs, growth or the Federal Reserve’s new policies. What I’m questioning here is the value of the wisdom of the 1 percent who invest in, and profit from, the stock market and whether their influence on our national economy is overrated, and in some sense, useless to those of us who make our living on Main Street. I haven’t taken a poll or even crowdsourced this idea, but I’d bet that if only 10 percent of the money that was either spent or lost within the past 5 years Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com
“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.” —Mark Twain Vol. XXXV : No. 3
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 seven cities of the Harbor Area.
Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya info@graphictouchdesigns.com Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com Assistant Editor Zamná Ávila zamna@randomlengthsnews.com
was invested in small Main Street businesses, the entire economic future of our nation would change for the better and that the Wall Street recovery, such as it is, would actually trickle down to the working class. It might be best at this point to remember the famous words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he delivered his first inaugural address: This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will
endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. Something our national leaders need to remember.
Sheriff Reform? Look to the LAPD
By Erwin Chemerinsky and Miriam Aroni Krinsky The recent resignation of Sheriff Lee done and there would be proposals for reform. Baca presents a much-needed opportunity for Some would be adopted; most would be ignored. meaningful, lasting and long-overdue reform of The problem would be deemed solved until the the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. next incident precipitated the same pattern of The federal indictments in December of 18 responses. former and current sheriff’s deputies are the latest This cycle ended with the Rampart scandal and most dramatic indication of a department in 2000, which exposed officers in an anti-gang in desperate need of change. In charting the unit who planted evidence on innocent people road for reform—with the multifaceted aims of and lied in court to gain convictions. In the wake transforming a troubling culture, institutionalizing of these revelations, the Justice Department internal structural changes and rebuilding public informed city officials that it was contemplating confidence—much can be learned from the suing Los Angeles for a pattern and practice of experiences that propelled reform of the Los civil rights violations. The city entered into a Angeles Police Department. consent decree that mandated many changes For decades, the LAPD was plagued by a overseen by a monitor and a federal judge. culture that tolerated, and at times encouraged, Mayor James Hahn appointed a police chief from civil rights violations. Every time there was a outside the department, William J. Bratton. Real major incident of misconduct, department and reforms occurred and the LAPD today is a vastly city leaders said the misconduct was the result different department. continued on following page of just a “few bad apples.” A study would be
Columnists/Reporters Lyn Jensen Carson B. Noel Barr Music Dude John Farrell Curtain Call Lori Lyna Hirsch-Stokoe Food Writer Andrea Serna Arts Writer Malina Paris Culture Writer Calendar 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Betty Guevara, Slobodan Dimitrov, Diana Lejins Contributors Erwin Chemerisky, Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Erik Kongshaug, Greggory Moore, Danny Simon
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Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com. Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @ randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email adv@randomelengthsnews.com or reads@ randomlengthsnews.com. Extra copies and back issues are available by mail for $3 per copy while supplies last. Subscriptions are available for $35 per year for 27 issues. Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We welcome articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right to express those opinions. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Reporting Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2014 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
RANDOMLetters Response to Doesn’t Know”
“NSA
Random Lengths News publisher James Preston Allen claims that no one knows we are reading his “news” paper. Perhaps the NSA have not found that many who are still reading the trottedout, burned-out, no longer viable liberal rhetoric of class warfare and racism as the cause of all evils, or the rehashed argument that hollow, feckless Progressivism is the answer. Also fascinating, Allen remarks that federal spying began with the Palmer raids during World War I, which also led to the arrest and incarceration of self-described socialist Eugene V. Debs. Yet strangely enough, Allen neglects to mention the President who ordered those raids: Progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson, the same President who forced all
Community Alerts
Public Hearing on Proposed Metro Fare Restructuring Plan
from previous page
Reform Important lessons can be
Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Irvine School of Law. Miriam Aroni Krinsky is a policy consultant for the California Endowment and served as the executive director of the Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence.
Dear Mr. Schaper, I find it so amusing that you can correct me on history so distant and yet be so wrong on some things contemporary. I was not holding up President Wilson as an icon of pure democracy, he and others of the progressive era did have social issues with race and prejudice that weren’t resolved, and some will claim still aren’t resolved, today–both by Republicans and
Democrats. And, I would dare to say that most of what you preach does not solve much, but merely aspires to libel the president on questionable grounds. However, Obama in his interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly did actually agree with you when he likened himself to Nixon as being a “liberal,” to which I’d have to say President Obama may be a Yale educated constitutional lawyer but his historical sense of politics seems to be lacking. Now I’ve never thought of Tricky Dick Nixon as a liberal, but then by comparison to current day conservatives he kind of appears to be, by default. I do thank you for being both
inflamed, or perhaps inspired, to object to my rather progressive ideas on politics and culture. Life just wouldn’t be the same without some written dueling with you. James Preston Allen, Publisher
Community Policing
Response to “NSA Doesn’t Know” under the guise of inspection the Port Police used the opportunity to shake down one of the residents of San Pedro Marina in September of 2013. The officer had two of what looked like the equivalent of Sea Scouts in tow, young folks along for the ride More Letters/ to p. 9
February 7 - 20, 2014
drawn from this experience. First, civilian oversight is essential. A police or sheriff’s department is in many ways a paramilitary organization. Civilian engagement and a transparent vehicle for accountability is critical. That means having department leadership that is held accountable for measures of progress and answerable to voices from the community who are focused on maintaining the highest standards of constitutional policing. The path to reform at LAPD began with the Christopher Commission, which in the wake of the 1991 Rodney King beating proposed that the Los Angeles Police Commission have authority to manage the department. Voters then approved a city charter amendment empowering the commission. Unlike the police chief in Los Angeles, the sheriff is elected and directly answerable only to the voters. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors sets the sheriff’s budget, but it cannot manage the department or mandate full access and authority for any civilian commission. Although these constraints render a civilian oversight board less than perfect, there are still significant benefits to its creation. The supervisors should proceed down this path, even as efforts continue to create by statute the best possible authority for civilian oversight. It is also important to bring in leadership from outside the sheriff’s office. The Christopher Commission, and every major study of the LAPD, found that the central problem was the culture of the department.
Studies of the sheriff’s office have said the same thing. It is difficult for a person who is a product of that culture and environment to be the one to change it. It is not coincidental that the major changes in the LAPD occurred only after a strong leader from outside the department was appointed as its chief. And there is great value in external standards and monitoring. The reform of the LAPD happened when the Justice Department got involved and a consent decree, with a monitor, was approved. It is difficult for a department to reform itself, especially when problems are systemic and long-standing. Finally, it was crucial that Bratton acknowledged past problems and sincerely embraced the need for reform. Absent recognition of past problems, that troubling history is destined to repeat itself, especially when the spotlight fades. It is imperative that the next sheriff not simply be committed to reform but also be fully candid about the department’s disturbing history. The Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence in 2012 documented a troubling culture in the Sheriff’s Department that fostered abuse of force and allowed excessive force to continue for decades. It has crafted a detailed road map for change. But implementing this blueprint will require the right people, the right structure and the right oversight. The experience of the LAPD shows that real reform can happen. Now it must occur in the Sheriff’s Department.
cover-ups, and outright illegality, complete with a media Enemies List, one need look no further than President Barack Obama. Arthur Christopher Schaper Torrance
The Local Publication You Actually Read
The Metro Board of Directors voted to set a public hearing on proposed fare restructuring for 9 a.m. March 29 at Metro headquarters in Los Angeles. The public will be asked for input on two fare restructuring options. Both would eliminate the cost of transfers. Both options also would raise fares gradually over the next 8 years and help avoid a budget deficit that could occur as soon as 2016 if fares are not revised. Metro has raised fares only three times during the past 18 years and has among the lowest fares of major transit agencies in the United States. Also, under the proposed new fare structures, the cost of daily, weekly and monthly passes will rise. Another change would be the eventual elimination of the currently monthly pass in favor of the EZ pass that would allow for unlimited travel on Metro and other bus systems throughout Los Angeles County. Interested members of the public are encouraged to attend the upcoming public hearing and provide testimony. Persons unable to attend the public hearing or the fare forums may submit a written testimony postmarked through March 29. Correspondence should be addressed to: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2932. Attn: Michele Jackson. Comments may also be submitted to publichearing@ metro.net. Details: publichearing@metro. net Venue: Metro Headquarters Location: One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles.
African-American employees out of the federal government during his tenure. Allen also left out who pardoned the unjustly-incarcerated Debs: free market Republican President Warren G. Harding, who entered office on a platform of “returning to normalcy”, complete with lower tax rates and drastic cuts in federal spending, because progressive policies are neither normal nor create progress. Harding and “Silent Cal” Coolidge’s policies restored what Wilson’s policies had ruined. Allen also ought to acknowledge that President Barack Obama’s spying has overreached beyond anything propagated during the Bush Administration. The current President has collected the
records on three hundred million Americans (aside from seizing records of phone calls from AP reporters). Does Obama believe that the vast majority of us are terrorists? He turned a blind eye to the IRS targeting conservative groups, and he had no knowledge of the causes or consequences of the terrorist attacks on Benghazi. Perhaps he should stop spying on all of us and start paying attention to correcting his own failing policies: ObamaCare, stimulus, unwarranted attacks on gun rights, etc. I find it fascinating that Allen referenced President Richard Nixon in his latest editorial, too, connecting the collapse of democracy, the encroachment of the state, and the fall of Chilean communist Salvadore Allende. If any President more resembles Richard Nixon for the litany of lies, distortions,
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RANDOMLetters
from p. 9
with the officer to see how policing was done. When a resident looked out to see what was happening in front of his home the officer asked the resident to come out, the resident complied and the officer demanded identification and in a condescending manner accused the resident of having outstanding warrants, and the resident replied that that certainly was not the case. The officer ran the residents information anyway and when the inquiry came back negative the officer began to read the riot act to the resident about the items on the docks. The resident replied that the items in question belonged to the operator of the marina, and attempted to show the officer the deplorable condition of the docks, which the officer promptly ignored. The parting comment made by the resident was to relate to the officer that the lights on the docks had not
functioned in over two years. At that point the officer demanded the social security number of the resident, “for our records” was the officer’s reply. The results of the officer’s inspection are posted on the marina’s door and what he found and reported were Boarding Steps, Hoses, Dock carts and boxes, the basic items found in any marina. The agenda of the inspection and the attitude of the officer seemed to be to police the community by first and foremost shake down the residents, while completely ignoring the safety and security of the citizens, not even taking into account the residents plea for the officer to at least look at the condition of the docks that are falling apart from neglect right under his nose and feet. The one positive outcome from the officers inspection was he evidently spoke to the marina operator and miraculously the dock lighting was operational the next evening. Michael A Griffin San Pedro
Emissions Requirements Hit California Ports
As of Jan. 1, vessels must comply with the Airborne Toxic Control Measure for Auxiliary Diesel Engines Operated on Ocean-Going Vessels At-Berth in a California Port, a new 2014 measure regulating emissions that the California Air Resources Board set. The vessels must comply with two criteria on quarterly basis. The first is that at least half of the fleet’s visits to a port must follow engine limitations that call for auxiliary engines on the vessel to not operate for more than three to five hours during the time the vessel is at-birth. Second, the fleet’s total onboard auxiliary engine power generation must be cut in half from its baseline power generation. The board stated that vessels not in compliance may be penalized. It also stated that it may use relief if it qualifies based on its staff deter-
mination of evidence proving a good faith effort to comply. The situations to be considered are: • During 2014, a vessel makes its first commissioning visit to a terminal and the auxiliary engines operate longer than three hours. • During the first and second quarters, a vessel uses shore power but fails to meet three-tofive hour time limit for connecting or disconnecting shore power. • During the first half of the year, a vessel is unable to use shore power due to delays in receiving shore power equipment and making retrofits to the vessel. • During the first half of the year, vessels are using an alternative technology to help comply with the regulation.
February 7 - 20, 2014
Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area
WEIRD NEWS
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9/11 Truther Steals the Spotlight from Super Bowl MVP
EAST RUTHERFORD—Probably no one was as surprised as the Super Bowl’s most valuable player, Malcolm Smith, to have the spotlight stolen from him during his moment of glory. A Brooklyn man was arrested after he told a television audience to, “Investigate 9/11” and that “9/11 was perpetrated by people within our own government.” The truther was identified as Matthew Mills, a 30-year-old from Brooklyn, New Jersey State Police Capt. Stephen Jones told NJ.com. He was arrested for trespassing, Mills appeared to have a credential around his neck, something an official grabbed to examine after he was rushed off the podium.
Man with Disability Allegedly Stole Car from Dealership
FLORIDA — A man paralyzed from the waist down allegedly stole a car from a Florida dealership
on Jan. 30 and was chased for 50 miles by multiple police departments. The Associated Press reported that the suspect, Shamal Battice, was apprehended at a Bradford County gas station, southwest of Jacksonville, where a sheriff’s deputy spotted him begging customers for money to fill up the tank. Battice, uses a wheelchair, got into a white 2009 Pontiac G8, with the help of a salesman at a Ford dealership in Ocala. TV station WKMG reported. Once inside, the 28-year-old locked the doors and zoomed out of the lot by using a collapsible cane to work the gas and brake pedals, the Ocala Star-Banner reported. That started a pursuit across three counties. Marion County Sheriff’s deputies gave up when Battice crossed into Alachua County, WOGX reported. Deputies there decided at some point to abandon the chase too. Finally, a Bradford County deputy brought Battice’s illegal test drive to an end as the suspect tried to refuel. The Bradford County Sheriff’s
office charged Battice with a non-moving traffic violation and vehicular theft.
Lawmaker Introduces Bill that Makes the High-Five the Official Greeting
MISSOURI—On Jan. 28, a Democratic lawmaker introduced a bill to the Missouri House of Representatives that would make the high-five the state’s official greeting. The bill, House Bill 1624 reads: “The ‘high five’ is selected for and shall be known as the official state greeting in the state of Missouri.” “The high five is friendly, fun and can lift spirits; and with tensions running high in the Capitol building, the high five might be just what Missouri needs,” he told the South County Mail. “An official state greeting could help to break up the monotony of the day-to-day work and promote a friendlier environment between both sides of the aisle.” At least he didn’t make high chest bump Missouri’s official greeting. That probably would have been problematic for a lawmaker.
Missing Pete Seeger By Erik Kongshaug, Former RLn Editor
By John Farrell, Curtain Call Writer
He died, I guess, from being 94. Who’s to blame him? Those like me, whose lives have been spent surrounded and infiltrated by his hopeful, simple political music, should have and have been expecting it for years. But when Pete Seeger—child of musicological privilege, partner to Woody Guthrie, adopter of Leadbelly, blacklisted and came back again— can’t sing us live again into knowing “it’s darkest before the dawn” and “that thought keeps me movin’ on,” well. I remember him singing out to me as an adolescent, 35 years ago that “when these fingers can strum no longer, give my guitar to young ones stronger.” Should’ve been ready. But, in the intervening years he kept on singing out, even when his voice went crab—even just back in
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment ACE • Art, Cuisine, & Entertainment
Editor’s Note: Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919- Jan. 27, 2014), folk singer and activist died Jan. 27. A radio fixture in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of labor rights, civil rights, counterculture and environmental causes.
Missing Pete Seeger Continued on page 16.
February 7 – 20, 2014 February 7 – 20, 2014
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Make Your Reservations For Valentine’s Day Today! Big Nick’s Pizza
Tradition, variety and fast delivery; you get it all at Big Nick’s Pizza. The best selection of Italian specialties include hearty calzones, an array of pastas and of course, our amazing selection of signature pizzas, each piled high with the freshest toppings. Like wings or greens? We also offer an excellent selection of appetizers, salads, beer and wine. Call for fast delivery. Hours: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat. • Big Nick’s Pizza • 1110 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 732-5800
February 7 – 20, 2014
Independent And Free.
Blu Restaurant & Lounge
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T h e C row n e Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel’s Blu Restaurant & Lounge brings Pacific Rim cuisine to the Harbor Area. The most popular item on the menu are incredibly meaty and tender beef short ribs. One of the signature dishes is the Mauka and Makai, which includes a braised rib in soy sauce and mango. This is a really high quality and meaty piece of beef that’s been cooked for four-and-ahalf hours. “You don’t need a fork, it just falls off the bone.” The Crowne salad comes with pucci apples, cherry tomatoes, edame pods and bean sprouts with mustard vinaigrette, house-made apple dressing that involves balsamic vinegar reduction. The Kalbi Burger with pepper jack cheese on a pretzel bun in extremely flavorful. The Kalbi ground beef patty is marinated in a sauce consisting of sesame oil and soy sauce, onions, pears, sugar and water for 24 hours, giving the paddy a slightly sweet but flavorful taste. • Blu Restaurant & Lounge at The Crowne Plaza • (310) 519-8204 • 601 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro Boardwalk Grill
C a s u a l waterfront dining at its finest! Famous for slabs of Chicago-style baby back ribs, fish-n-chips, rich clam chowder, cold beer on tap and wine. Full lunch menu also includes salads, sandwiches and burgers. Indoor and outdoor patio dining available. Proudly pouring Starbucks coffee. Open 7 days a week. Free Parking. • Boardwalk Grill • 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 519-7551 Buono’s Authentic Pizzeria A San Pedro landmark for over 40 years, famous fo r exc e p t i o n a l award-winning pizza baked in brick ovens. Buono’s also offers classic Italian dishes and
sauces based on tried-and-true family recipes and hand-selected ingredients that are prepared fresh. You can dine-in or take-out. Delivery and catering are also provided. Additionally, there are two locations in Long Beach. Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. • Buono’s Pizzare1432 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 547-0655 www.buonospizza.com Happy Diner The Happy Diner isn’t your average diner. If you pay attention to their special menu on their blackboards (yeah plural, they have about three), it’s almost a certainty you’re going to find something new from week to week. The cuisine runs the gamut of Italian and Mexican cuisine to American continental. The Happy Diner chefs are always creating something new. They believe that if an item is good, its reputation will get around by word of mouth. You can even find items normally found at curbside lonchera trucks. You can take your pick of grilled salmon over pasta or tilapia and vegetables, prepared anyway you like. Another item that’s emerged from their flair for the creative is their chicken enchiladas soup made from scratch, a soup Roman describes as very thin and flavorful. • Happy Diner • (310) 241-0917 • 617 S. Centre St., San Pedro Iron City Tavern
Iron City features a newly renovated d i n i n g room and wonder fully restored bar in a modern setting. The most comfortable gastropub in San Pedro, Iron City offers casual dining for lunch and dinner with food service at the bar. Catch all sporting events on seven 50” screens in surround sound and listen to your favorite tunes on our internet jukebox. (Iron City is a supporter of the Black & Gold.) Iron City features authentic Philly cheese steaks, various hot sandwiches and burgers, calamari steaks and a variety of Italian pasta dishes. Hours:10:30 a.m.-2a.m. 7 days a week. Happy hour from 4-6 p.m. featuring 1/2 priced appetizers and drink specials. Free parking in rear. • Iron City Tavern •589 W. 9th St., San Pedro • (310) 547-4766 Lighthouse Cafe
The favorite local cafe for the point Fermin area of San Pedro great breakfasts, lunches and even dinners. Serving traditional offering for breakfast along with specialty omelets, espresso and cappuccino. Lunches include a delicious selection of soups, salads, burgers and sandwiches with hearty portions as well as Chef’s Creations. Dinners feature Top Sirloin Steak or Prime Rib as well as a kids menu. Beer and wine are served. Free Wifi and is pet friendly on the patio. Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. close to Cabrillo Beach and the Korean Bell, Point Fermin area.
• Lighthouse Cafe • 508 West 39th St., San Pedro. 310- 548- 3354 Mishi’s Strudel Bakery
Mishi’s is a fragrant landmark on 7th Street, where it is possible to find Nir vana by following your nose. The enticing aroma of baking strudel is impossible to resist, and the café is warm and welcoming like your favorite auntie’s house. Aniko and Mishi have expanded the menu to include homemade goulash, soups and a variety of sweet and savory Hungarian strudels, crépes and pastas. Take a frozen strudel home to bake in your own kitchen and create that heavenly aroma at your house. • Mishi’s Strudel Bakery and Café, 309 W.7th St., San Pedro • (310) 832-6474 www. mishisstrudel.com Nazelie’s Lebanese Cuisine
Nazelie’s L e b a n e s e Cuisine is a favorite of the n e i g h b o rh o o d for the terrific kabobs, beef or chicken shawarma, lamb dishes and falafel. Nazelie’s chicken and rice soup with lemon is like a warm embrace—it takes chicken soup to a whole new level. Nazelie uses a recipe handed down in her family for generations, starting with homemade chicken broth, and adding a refreshing touch of lemon for taste and nutrients. • Nazelie’s Lebanese Café, 1919 S.Pacific Avenue, San Pedro. (310) 519-1919 PORTS O’CALL WATERFRONT DINING Since 1961 we’ve extended a hearty welcome to visitors from every corner of the globe. Delight in an aweinspiring view of the dynamic LA Harbor while enjoying exquisite Coastal California Cuisine and Varietals. Relax in the Plank Bar or Outdoor Patio for the best Happy Hour on the Waterfront. With the Award-Winning Sunday Champagne Brunch, receive the first SPIRIT CRUISES Harbor Cruise of the day FREE. Open 7 days, lunch and dinner. Free Parking. • Ports O’Call Waterfront Dining • 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 76, San Pedro • (310) 833-3553 www.Portsocalldining.com San Pedro Brewing Company A microbrewer y and American grill, SPBC features hand-craf ted award-winning ales and lagers served with creative pastas, bbq, sandwiches, salads and burgers. A full bar with made-fromscratch margaritas and a martini menu all add fun
to the warm and friendly atmosphere. WIFI bar connected for Web surfing and e-mail—bring your laptop. Live music on Saturdays. Hours: From 11:30 a.m., daily. • San Pedro Brewing Company • 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (310) 831-5663 • www.sanpedrobrewing.com SPIRIT CRUISES
An instant party! Complete with all you need to relax and enjoy while the majesty of the harbor slips by. Our three yachts and seasoned staff provide for an exquisite excursion every time, and “all-inclusive” pricing makes party planning easy! Dinner Cruise features a 3-course meal, full bar, unlimited cocktails and starlight dancing. Offering the ultimate excursion for any occasion. Free Parking. • Spirit Cruises • 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 548-8080, (562) 495-5884 • www. spiritmarine.com The Whale & Ale
San Pedro’s British Gastro Pub offers comfortable dining in oak paneled setting, featuring English fish & chips, roast prime rib, sea bass, rack of lamb, beef Wellington, meat pies, salmon, swordfish & vegetarian dishes. Open for lunch & dinner, 7days/wk; great selection of wines; 14 British tap ales, & full bar. Frequent live music. First Thursday live band & special fixed price menu. Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri. 11:30 a.m.-midnight Sat. & Sun. 1-10 p.m. Bar open late. • The Whale & Ale • 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro • (310) 832-0363 • www. whaleandale.com
Put It In Your Pocket!
On your smart phone visit www.randomlengthsnews.com/ dining-guide Save the link for quick access!
To Advertise in Random Lengths News’ Dining Directory for the Harbor Area, Call (310) 519–1442.
For Valentine’s Day Get Crafty at Crafted celebration of Valentines Day is already embedded amongst your family tradition, get on it early at Crafted —Port of Los Angeles with your Valentine and create custom gifts together.
February 7 through 9
Creation Station: Valentines Day Crafts Love Notes and Hearts Create Sweet Custom Valentines Day Cards for your loved ones for only a $1.
February 8
Valentines Day often feels like a throw away holiday given that it follows Hanukkah, Christmas, and the West’s New Years. Include the Chinese New Year, Valentines Days just feels like... meh. Typically, folks aren’t looking to break the bank so soon after a major holiday. But if the
Class: Eco-friendly Valentines Day Flowers Struggling on what to get your special Valentine? Trying to spend less the $20 but still give something from the heart? Well try hand crafting your very own Eco-friendly flower. In this session you will be given the supplies to create your own stemmed flower out of metal, guaranteed not to wilt or die. There’s no need to RSVP, but guests must purchase the $18 material kit from Fashionable Familiars upon arrival. The class is from 1 to 2 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Creation Station. This is a class taught by Jennifer Seden of Fashionable Familiars. Age range is from 6 to 99. Details: (831) 239-2194; fashionablefamiliars@ gmail.com
February 8
Sparkling Wine Tasting Event: Valentines Day is just around the corner, and what would that special day be without the bubbles?! But, which one? Champagne? Prosecco? Cava? Rose? How much should you spend? And, what does Sec, Brut or Extra Dry mean anyways? Sommelier Thomas Stangl will be presenting a fun and informative sparkling wine tasting at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles on Saturday, February 8 from 3p-5p. Pre-purchase $30 tickets at Off the Vine, 491 W 6th St or at the event.
February 9
Class: Forged Wire Necklace or Earrings with Jen’s Jewels Wire Forging earrings or necklaces, create your own design in metal. Choose from the earring kit for $25 (includes copper and silver wire, earring hooks, two silver jump rings if needed) or necklace kit for $35 (includes copper and silver wire, 18-inch of sterling silver chain, learn how to make your own hook closure, four silver jump rings if needed). Learn the science of how to take soft malleable wire, bend it to create your own design and forge it with a hammer to solidify your design. Class starts at 3 p.m.
Entertainment February 7
Quarteto Nuevo Alvas Showroom is hosting the Quarteto Nuevo at 8 p.m., Feb. 7. The Quartet will be playing percussions from North and South India, Mexico and the Middle East. They’ll also play the sounds of the cello, acoustic guitar, soprano sax and alto flute. Admission to this show is $20. $15 for students who show a student id. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
February 8
South Bay Comedy Jam Hang out with Memphis Will and friends at the South Bay Pavilion every second and fourth Saturday. Admission is free, starting at 5 p.m. Tips and proceeds will benefit Last Time Entertainment Details: (818) 392-9565 Venue: South Bay Pavillion Location: 20700 Avalon Blvd., Carson L.A.vation U2 Tribute Band L.A.vation a U2 tribute band will be playing at Calendar continued on page 14.
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment February 7 – 20, 2014
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Calendar from page 13. Alvas Showroom 8 p.m., Feb. 8. The tribute band hosts four members who will be playing the guitar, bass and drums. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Which One’s Pink, Experience Pink Floyd Live The Pink Floyd tribute band Which One’s Pink will be performing at Harvelle’s 9 p.m., Feb. 8. The replica band will undoubtedly leave you asking, which one’s pink? A two-drink minimum purchase will be enforced so nobody younger than 21 may enter. Tickets will range between $20 and $50. Details: (562) 239-3700; www.longbeach.harvelles. com Venue: Harvelle’s Long Beach Location: 201 E. Broadway St., Long Beach Jodi Seigel Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles is hosting Jodie Seigel for a day of entertainment from 2 to 5:30 p.m., Feb. 8. Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Port of Los Angeles Warehouse 10 Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro
February 9
BJ McNeely and Friends BJ McNeely and his entourage will be at Alvas Showroom 2 p.m., Feb. 9. McNeely specializes in the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll saxaphone. Rena Sifra will be joining McNeely and his group for a guest appearance. Admission will be $20. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
February 11
Be the Star Karaoke If you think you have a golden voice or you just want to let off some steam, come out from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday nights with Rockin’ Blues Entertainment’s Donaldo Reed. Details: (310) 366-6629 Venue: South Bay Pavillion Location: 20700 Avalon Blvd., Carson
February 14
Mike Guerrero Trio Featuring Dave Fox The Mike Guerrero Trio and Dave Fox will be at Alvas Showroom at 8 p.m., Feb. 14. This showing is planned to be a concert in recognition of Valentine’s Day. Admission is $20. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
February 15
Rock Yer Kilt on the Queen Mary This concert is featuring headlining act 1916, Bad Haggis, Brick Top Blaggers, Stand Easy and DJ Abel. The show kicks off at 5 bells in the Queen Salon and Royal Salon aboard the Queen Mary. Rock Yer Kilt is open to all ages with tickets starting at $15 online in advance and $20 at the door. Details: www.queenmary.com/ScotsFestival Location: Queen Mary The Day Traitors, Warehouse One, DJ Renaissance Check out local bands The Day Traitors and Warehouse One with DJ Renaissance. Cover is $3 at the door for the 21 and over. A portion of the proceeds is going to charity. Venue: San Pedro Elks Lodge Location: 1748 Cumbre Dr., San Pedro Peter Bernstein Joins the GSPO The Golden State Pops Orchestra is hosting Peter Bernstein at 8 p.m., Feb. 15. Bernstein will be conducting the GSPO for a concert honoring his father and more. Admission will range between $28.50 and $60 for normal and balcony seating. Details: (310) 548-2493; www.gspo.com Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro Sir Sultry Quintet The Sir Sultry Quintet will be performing at Alvas Showroom at 8 p.m., Feb. 15. The quintet will be playing Jazz Flamenco music using the sounds of the bass, sax, flute, guitar, vox, drums, piano, synths and a special flamenco dancer. Admission is $20. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro
February 7 – 20, 2014
Independent And Free.
February 16
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Jazzedelics CD Release Party The Jazzedelics CD Release Party will take place at Alvas Showroom at 4 p.m., Feb. 16. The Jazzedelics is a mash-up band that with different techniques that will excite audiences looking for something different. The band consists of five members making music using the guitar, bass, keys and drums. Admission is $20. Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Clem Pennington Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles is hosting live music with Clem Pennington from 2 to 5:30 p.m., Feb. 16. Pennington has performed with the Drifters and the Whispers. Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Port of Los Angeles Warehouse 10 Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro Calendar continued on page 15.
Romantic Dining Options Whether your budget is tight or free for splurging, the Harbor Area is an obvious destination to make your Valentine feel special. Blu Restaurant and B a r a m e e ’ s Lounge Restaurant
Upscale, yet, casual Blu Restaurant and lounge at San Pedro’s Crowne Plaza Hotel is the spot for great food and live jazz. Dress up or not, a romantic moment is impossible to miss. Details: (310) 521-8080 Venue: Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel Location: 601 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro
Whale and Ale
You can’t miss in going to the Whale and Ale. On this evening, the Whale and Ale offers a choice of special entrees from sauteed Alaskan sand dabs to Chilean sea bass. There’s even live entertainment in this venerable pub. Details: (310) 832-0363 Venue: Whale and Ale Location: 327 W 7th St, San Pedro,
The Skyroom
At the Skyroom, you can celebrate Valentine’s Day early on Feb. 13. Voted among the top 4 romantic restaurants in the Southern California area and one of the top 100 most romantic restaurant nationwide by members of OpenTable, the Sky Room provides the perfect setting for a perfectly romantic Valentine’s day with that special someone. Treat your significant other to an unmatched Valentine’s Day Dining experience and reserve romance at the Sky Room today. Their pre-Valentine’s Day Special features a live pianist setting a soothing and romantic mood throughout the evening. Each couple will receive a complimentary rose with dinner. Price: $69 per person. RSVP. Details: (562) 983-2703 Venue: Skyroom Location: 40 S. Locust Ave, Long Beach
Thai
This quiet romantic gem of a restaurant in downtown San Pedro is warm cozy and intimate, with great food at an affordable price. There are no special deals on this. Just make sure you RSVP early. It’s a popular spot. D e t a i l s : ( 3 1 0 ) 5 2 1 - 9 4 0 0 ; w w w. barameethairestaurant.com Venue: Baramee Thai Restaurant Location: 354 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Ports O’ Restaurant
Call
Dining on waterfront at sunset is a special way to have a romantic meal. Valentines specials will be served Feb. 13 through Feb. 16. Full bar and extensive wine list. Details: (310) 833-3553 Venue: Ports O’ Call Restaurant Location: Berth 76 Nagoya way, San Pedro
Think Prime
The last great steakhouse in San Pedro is still the place to be with its traditional steakhouse offerings from every cut of beef you could want to seafood. With a piano bar in one corner, a heated hearth near the entrance and plenty of cubby holes hidden by plush walls and decor. Details: (310) 221-0415; http:// thinkprimesteakhouse.com Venue: Think Prime Steakhouse Location: 29601 Western Ave., Rancho Palos Verdes
Terranea Resort
Terranea offers a many opportunities for intimate moments with your Valentine. Terranea offers a Romance Package where you can reconnect and celebrate your romance. While there, you can enjoy spacious, oceanfront guestrooms overlooking the Pacific Ocean and upgraded amenities for a romantic Los Angeles getaway. This romantic vacation package includes: • Overnight accommodations • Sparkling wine and strawberries • Rose petal bath Breakfast for two (up to a $60 value) at Catalina Kitchen or breakfast in bed (in-room dining) daily. Details: www.terranea.com; 310-265-2800 Venue: Terranea Resort Location: 100 Terranea Way, Rancho Palos Verdes
2014 NAMM, Is Technology the New Beatles? By Melina Paris, Music Columnist
Community/Family February 15
ScotsFestival & Int’l Highland Games XXI Eighty-three years ago, in a small seaside town in Scotland called Clydebank, construction began on the Queen Mary. Exemplifying the fine craftsmanship of Scotland, the Queen Mary’s Scottish legacy is undeniable and today we celebrate our ship’s glorious heritage with a two-day festival honoring Scottish heritage. Queen Mary’s ScotsFestival & International Highland Games XXI in Long Beach kicks off the Scottish Festival and Highland Games season offering guests a glimpse into Scotland’s rich culture and history featuring an array of activities from Highland athletics and dancing to Lowlands music and cuisine. Event is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Feb. 15 and 16. General admission is $18 online and $22 at the door. Children (4-11) pay $8 online and $12 at the door. Details: www.queenmary.com/ScotsFestival/ Location: Queen Mary
February 16
Free Afro-Latino Festival at MOLAA Celebrate African Heritage in Latin America at MOLAA’s annual Afro-Latino Festival through art workshops and music from 11am to 5pm. There will be craft vendors, face painting, art workshops and food for purchase. The day’s schedule are as follows: 12:30 pm--Children’s Storytime in the Screening Room, 1 pm-4 pm--Performances in the Robert Gumbiner Sculpture Garden, 1 pm-Afro-American Chamber Music Society Orchestra (Classical music), 2 pm--Samba Society (Brazilian “roots” samba), 3 pm--Mexico68 (Afro-beat). Free Admission every Sunday. Details: www.molaa.org, (562) 437-1689 Venue: Museum of Latin American Art, Location: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach
Theater/Film February 6-17
Pan African Film Festival Coming off a phenomenal year of black films, the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is raising the bar, and set to give moviegoers a 12-day marathon of offerings from around the Diaspora. PAFF will celebrate its 22nd anniversary in grand style with a string of highly-anticipated films, which includes a controversial film, initially banned in South Africa; a comedy, starring comic Kevin Hart, of course; and the return of Oscar-winner Mo’Nique to the big screen. PAFF has selected a total of 172 films, representing 46 countries. The festival will hand out prizes for Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Narrative Short, Best Narrative Feature, Best First Feature Film, and Best Web Series as well as audience favorite awards at the close of the festival. Go on a cinematic journey with screenings from around the world – from Argentina to Canada, from Egypt to Italy, and from Kenya to the United States. General admission $3-$12. Details: www.paff.org Venue: Rave Cinemas Baldwin Hills 15 at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Location: 4020 Marlton Ave, Los Angeles
February 7
Pick of the Vine: Season 12 It’s this season’s choicest taste of short plays. Visions of loved ones, backyard battles, quirky salesmen, and pearly gate shenanigans are just a few of the eclectic themes in this year’s selection. Come see what audiences have been raving about for years. The shows start at 8 p.m. Feb. 7 through 15. Some of the plays contain strong language and adult situations. • The Death of a Sale, Man by David Graham • The Button Pushers by Ruben Carbajal • Obits by Romney Humphrey • The Milkman by MJ Halberstadt • The Ultimate Battle for Total Control of the Entire Universe by Rich Orloff • Man on Bridge with Book by Stan Peal • A Million Times Over by Molly Campbell • Two Minutes of Heroism: A One Minute Play by Matt Hanf • Romeo and Juliet Act VI-The Gloomiest Peace by Ken Ferrigni All seats open seating except for season subscribers. No late seating. General admission $24. Venue: Little Fish Theatre Location: 777 Centre St., San Pedro
February 9
GOOD OL’ FREDA (2013) Reel Rockumentary Series As the Beatles’ devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there as history unfolded; she was witness to the evolution - advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges - of the greatest band in history. In GOOD OL’ FREDA, Freda tells her stories for the first time in 50 years. One of few films with the support of the living Beatles and featuring original Beatles music, the film offers an insider perspective on the beloved band that changed the music industry. Presented by Grand Vision Foundation and San Pedro International Film Festival Film Society. General admission $10-$12. Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
February 14
THE LAST WALTZ (1978) Reel Rockumentary Series Martin Scorsese’s documentary of Levon Helms’ and Robbie Robertson’s legendary rock group, The Band, is a glimpse at one of the greatest groups of the 1960s. The film includes brilliant performances by Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Emmylou Harris, the Staple Singers and more. The Band were in splendid form for this show, and their multiple guest stars pulled out all the stops, especially Muddy Waters, whose “Mannish Boy” is so powerful it nearly burns a hole in the screen; Van Morrison, with a rousing performance of “Caravan;” and Bob Dylan, whose “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” displays the brilliant cockiness of his barnstorming days with this band. The all-star camera crew and superb stereo sound mix create what is considered to be of the best-looking and sounding rock films ever. General admission $10-$12. Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro Calendar continued on page 16.
February 7
Golden Like Girls A theatre production team books The Golden Girls for a reunion show, which sold out only to realize that three of the four original members are dead. What to do, what to do, eureka, we will do the roles ourselves and nobody will be the wiser, right, well you be the judge and watch the hilarious antics these Golden Guys get themselves into. Get ready for The Golden Like Girls to unravel on stage. The show starts at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 23. General admission $30. Details: (310) 773-4964; www.thesanpedrotheatreclub.com Venue: San Pedro Theatre Club Location: 624 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro,
February 7 – 20, 2014
being removed from public schools. Retailers associated with school districts to foster music programs need to ask what value they add to this chain. Educated sales people equal salvation or in other words, selling passion helps people realize their dreams. The retailers need to be intensely educated in music and music gear, the suggestion of having a standard or an accreditation was even brought up. Bridge the gap with technology education for the sales force. In 10 Commandments for the New Music Industry, moderator Moses Avalon discussed music streaming, how it pays and the old access model for music distribution versus the new. The CD still has some fundamental uses but the money is in EPs and downloads. Avalon reported that stock in Pandora, Spotify and Beats are way up and in Walmart, Target and Best Buy they are way down. The new distribution model goes from label to streaming platform to the fan. The listening experience is the same, but it cuts out the distributors such as retail stores and radio stations. Music labels have a huge incentive to push artists through this pipeline. He also included some pretty good legal tips for contracts. His 10th commandment is that artists will be paid faster (for streaming music for example) but get less money, If an artist composes different types of songs, for instance folk, pop and jazz that artist has three different streaming lines to make money on. Again, the desired outcome occurs when musicians take control of their own content via streaming, downloads, apps and more. The last seminar I attended was The Evolving Role of Technology for Artists. The panel speaking represented themselves as being a part of some of the most influential trends, technologies, business models, apps and websites that are doing something different and achieving traction. The first thing mentioned was that the power has shifted from the labels to the artists because artists have the advantage of found technologies and more opportunities to make money. Artist and speaker Freddie Ravel described a revenue stream this way: artists are brands, they must be tech savvy to reach a broader audience to monetize songs on YouTube and they need digital people on their team to drive their own brand as a team. Because there are so many future income streams available to artists, it was suggested that there should be a website to help navigate that. They also gave solid and very specific examples of artist-to-fan engagement and how technology serves that relation, for example, remote camera mounts and the sharing of fan footage with precise sound. It’s all about the discovery and that we are at a point where it is much easier to find these things.
February 28
Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys Experience an amazing night of obscure, naughty and lovely tunes from the 1910s, ‘20s and ‘30s. Stylish and adorable chanteuse, Klein and her band, The Parlor Boys, treat you to spirited renditions of Tin Pan Alley, early hot jazz, vaudeville, Yiddish novelty numbers, ragtime and vintage-style tunes. General admission is $20 and $25 at the door; cabaret table seat is $25 in advance (subject to availability); cafe deck VIP is $30 in advance bar ticket with drink service (limited to 15 people). Venue: Grand Vision Foundation Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
I didn’t know what to expect in attending the National Association of Music Merchants, show for the first time, but I quickly realized that anyone I mentioned it to, who is involved in music, was excited about it. The NAMM Show is the world’s largest tradeonly event for the music products industry. The four-day convention is a musician’s playground. There is every instrument imaginable at your fingertips, cutting edge technology and tools, well-educated merchants to answer questions, as well as the occasional celebrity walking about to try out their latest instrument of interest. My aim was to attend some seminars to understand how independent up-and-coming musicians can best make a living or at least secure some consistent money streams. I also heard about some of the latest technologies being utilized successfully by musicians. In The Executive Roundtable Panel seminar music executives were there to discuss the pulse of today’s music and the future of music. It seemed that hearing about the future of music straight from the top might be an interesting perspective. The main queries posed were, “how to get people in the music industry excited?” and “how to get more people involved in it?” In various ways, their answer was customer service. I discovered this panel was passionate about doing things right. They discussed statistics economists look at for industries serving consumers. The music industry has suffered a 30 percent decline in revenue. According to one panelist, that is the elephant in the room, and the competition is getting fiercer and more sophisticated between CDs and downloadable music. One panelist said he’s always asked, “Where are the new Beatles?” His reply is that technology is the new Beatles. The music executives on the panel agreed that they must find ways to help people get or make music. Apps were mentioned a few times as a gateway into making music. They would like to see more tools for more people to make and experience music. They also said having too many choices for music is a barrier to non-musicians, those barriers to music need to be reduced. They did not say how though. It was mentioned that Apple has done an amazing job of keeping people interested in making music. For example, the obstruction to entry is much less on an iPad versus actual instruments. Two compelling points raised were that Congress should be lobbied for the cultural and intellectual development of children in schools. The takeaway was that even if we do that, the laws have to be funded. The second point was that we are the only industrialized country that does not have a national education standard; every city has a different criterion. That is something we need in order to foster the development of all our children in these ways. The role of retailers should be active in music education, government will not do it. Music is
Calendar from page 14.
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Calendar from page 15.
Art Bridging Dreams Zask Gallery in collaboration with three pioneering nonprofits that use art for healing presents an interactive exhibition. Includes portraits and other artworks created at Harbor View House, a San Pedro-based program offering creative expression for the mentally ill. Continues through February 23. Details: (310) 429-0973; www.southbaycontemporary.com Venue: South Bay Contemporary/Zask Gallery Location: 550 Deep Valley Drive, #151, Rolling Hills Estates Surrealism meets Assemblage Work by 15 members of the L.A. Assemblage Group. The exhibit celebrates the organizations 20th birthday, a multicultural, multi-ethnic group of 16 artists who share a passion for assemblage art. A reception with the artists is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 15. Details: (310) 832-9767. Venue: The Loft Galleries and Studios Location: 401 S. Mesa St., San Pedro
February 14
Independent And Free.
The Art of Love with Gregorio Luke Get ready for an unforgettable romantic experience at the Art of Love, MOLAA’s Valentine’s dinner, dance and show. You’ll enjoy an evening of fine dining, dance and a romance-infused multi-media presentation by renowned speaker, Gregorio Luke. The evening begins with a champagne reception and an intimate stroll through our galleries. Then enjoy an exquisite three course dinner with an aphrodisiac dessert. The evening includes the return of Gregorio Luke’s Art of Love show. Funny and irreverent, this new edition features the greatest kisses in Hollywood, love tales from Casanova and Valentino and erotic pointers from the Kama Sutra. Cap off the evening with sultry salsa dancing to a live band. Seating is limited. The event is $75 per person – non-member price, $65 per person – member price. Price includes champagne reception, gallery viewing, three-course meal, presentation and dancing. A cash bar will also be available throughout the evening. Details: (562)437-1689; www.molaa.org Venue: Museum of Latin American Art Location: 628 Alamitos Ave. Long Beach Materials & Applications: Building Something (Beyond) Beautiful The Long Beach University Art Museum partners with the artist-led experimental architecture and design organization Materials & Applications (M&A) to present Materials & Applications: Building Something (Beyond) Beautiful, Projects 2002 – 2013. This exhibition—a capstone to more than 10 years of effort on the part of the Los Angeles-based nonprofit M&A to advance new and underused ideas in art, architecture, and landscape—will feature images and artifacts from projects by more than 20 artists. On view through April 13, 2014 Details: www.csulb.edu/org/uam/EXHIBITIONScurrent.html Venue: University Art Museum, CSULB College of the Arts Location: 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach
February 7 – 20, 2014
What sets RLn apart from the rest?
16
Trusela Makes Old Papadakis Restaurant New
File photo.
By Lori Lynn Hirsch Stokoe, Food Writer Have you wondered what Bob Trusela has been up to since the closing of his eponymous restaurant on Western Avenue late last year? Trusela believes in the San Pedro downtown redevelopment, which is one of the reasons he is thrilled to be opening Otto Trattoria in the old Papadakis location on 6th Street. He is proud to have the opportunity to manage a restaurant in that iconic space and says that John Papadakis ran one of the finest restaurants and has been a friend for more than 30 years. The site is undergoing a remodel, where Trusela explains that the ambience will be
completely different. The mood will be warm and inviting, with the addition of a small bar, and live music too. Trusela thinks that the downtown area will be “hot” within three years, “I believe in this city, it’s my home. It has a special heart and soul. I look forward to seeing it become what it should be.” With its traditional Southern Italian menu, Otto Trattoria will highlight dishes that Trusela is known for - including his legendary cioppino, family-recipe pasta pomodoro, and the Sicilianstyle swordfish. With an extended family of fishermen and fish brokers - Trusela will serve the best seafood available, never frozen and never farm raised. Trusela is uncompromising on ingredients, committed to using only the freshest. Sauces will be made from scratch every other day. In addition to seafood, the menu will include prime steaks and veal dishes. And lunch will feature a big city old-style “businessmen’s lunch” catering to downtown professionals who are looking for a high-quality meal but must get back to the office in a hurry. As in the past, the menu will be fairly priced, where diners will feel they have received a great meal and a good value. The bar will feature a rotating local beer-
on-tap, plus, 30 craft breweries including four different styles of Collesi, an Italian small-batch brewer known for unpasturized, unfiltered beers naturally refermented in the bottle. Wines by-theglass and bottle will come from mostly boutique producers. Trusela, a certified Level I Sommelier, takes pleasure in introducing his guests to cuttingedge wines and good foods. With 45 years in the food industry, Trusela is the ultimate host. He has worked as general manager, and food and beverage director for major hotels and popular restaurants in Southern California and Las Vegas. He loves the restaurant business and says that it makes him who he is. Hospitality is in his blood. It makes him happy to see the smiles on his guests’ faces when they taste the creations from his kitchen. He thinks of his staff as family. Many have been working with him for more than 20 years. A good part of his team have a background in the business at 4- and 5-star establishments. Together with his wife Josephine, Trusela looks forward to treating diners like guests in their own home. San Pedrans can look forward to a enjoying their authentic Sicilian and Mediterranean cuisine and hospitality by late February or early March. When asked about his vision for the new restaurant, Bob responded, “I see it full.” Venue: Otto Trattoria Location: 301 W. 6th St., San Pedro Lori Lynn Hirsch Stokoe blogs about food, wine and entertaining at Taste With The Eyes http://www.tastewiththeeyes.com and tweets as Tasteblog at https://twitter.com/tasteblog.
three boys, got a freelance gig to interview him for Westchester Magazine and took me along. I had to dress in too tight white pants and we met him by the river near his house, where he was digging out a 50-foot tulip tree trunk for a canoe. He’d started the Clearwater Revival there a long time back already, the sloop to sail up and down the Hudson cleaning up the river. Didn’t much care for Westchester, he told my mom. Paul Robeson had a concert and the Westchester police stood by while thugs threw rocks into the window of every car on the way out, long line stuck in traffic. Turned out the signal was to have your window rolled down only nobody knew that of course. Pete had to drive past them, window closed while the others hid down on the floor of the car. He creeped them toward the inevitable. Then Pete stuck his neck out for me, the way he always did when he sung out and stood for something, to show how he had to keep driving, so I could still see all the strings holding his face back onto his body beneath the skin—to show how he drove on, while they smashed the window. To show, indirectly, how you must (as Ani DeFranco would later put it), “open your face and sing.” My mom asked me to ask him for a song,
wanting a political one no doubt, something emblematic. But all that came to my head was “Abiyoyo,” a retelling of an African folk story about a boy and his lazy magician father who save the village from the eponymous monster. I didn’t want just a song…. I wanted a comfort story. Something to stay inside of. It was his storytelling voice, like my mother’s, that has always stayed with me live in times of trouble. Now his is gone. A few years later, a little past my Arlo’s age, I saw him live again, from the first row of a small stage at the Clearwater Revival, held every year in Croton, N.Y., sticking his neck out again in just exactly the same way as when he told the Robeson concert story. A man was heckling the anonymous speaker in a Harry Bridges cap up on the stage with Pete, a man speaking about fighting for what’s right. Turned out the speaker was Abbie Hoffman, just out on leave from prison and not really supposed to be there. When the heckler started heckling, Pete picked up his banjo, stuck out his neck like he always did, and just sang right over him. So, who’s going to stick out his neck for us in just that kind, old hopeful way now? “You got to walk that lonesome valley,” I guess. “You got to walk it by yourself.” Woody Guthrie is more my model for an artist—not being taken serious for doing what he’s doing and doing it anyway. But Pete, his early partner, who didn’t agree with him entirely, who mostly sang other people’s songs, is…was something different. Woody’s guitar said “This machine kills fascists” but Pete’s banjo, it said, says “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.” Who’s there to put his arms around me now?
Continued from page 11.
Pete Seeger
2012 getting the post-ironic audience of Steven Colbert to join in. And me, I went and turned 50 without realizing. Leaves me wondering where have all those future playing flowers gone to take his fingers? And that soothing storytelling, roots fixing voice? Now my oldest son (who happens to be named Arlo), at 14, he’s listening for something, it’s true. And like me he and his younger brother have had the warm, nurturing, gravelly sound of Seeger’s voice in memory as far back as memory goes. My mom started me on Pete and Weavers records before I was born. I grew up first in New York City and remember gathering around the 9-inch blackand-white TV my parents finally conceded to in the late 60s, every Sunday, to hear Pete’s return from the blacklist on “Rainbow Quest.” A little later, when I was just short of my Arlo’s age (and Pete was going around touring with Woody’s Arlo) we’d moved to suburban Westchester, N.Y., and Pete lived just one county upstate in Beacon. My mom was trying to go back to work after raising
Observing a Sign of the Changed Times During Black History Month By Greggory Moore, Long Beach Columnist Photo by Suzanne Mapes for International City Theatre’s Let’s Misbehave
features a white woman who is pregnant with a black man’s child, but does so in such a way that their difference in ethnic extraction is completely beneath mention. The first cinematic depiction of black-white marriage didn’t come along until 1964’s One Potato, Two Potato. Needless to say, then, that a black-white couple during the time of Let’s Misbehave would have been generally noteworthy. But we don’t live in that time. So it is that for its current production of Let’s Misbehave International City Theatre cast Jennifer Shelton as Alice without regard to the fact that Shelton is black, even though during the course of the show Alice falls in love with Walter, who is played by Mark Ginsburg, a white man.
obviously, its message desperately needed to be heard. Not that the South was the only place. During that same year President Lyndon B. Johnson received from Secretary of State Dean Rusk an offer of resignation. The reason? Rusk’s daughter planned to marry a black man, and Rusk feared saddling Johnson’s presidency with such a political burden. Not surprisingly, Johnson, who three years earlier had signed the Civil Rights Act into law, refused Rusk’s offer. Today is a different time. No-one thinks of resigning from any organization this side of the Ku Klux Klan just because his white daughter takes a black husband. No director edits his film around potential problems associated with two actors of differing pigmentations pressing their lips together. And theatre companies feel free to cast against the expectations of a bygone era when those expectations are neither here nor there in telling the story onstage. Perhaps no one seeing ICT’s production of Let’s Misbehave will be put in mind of such issues. And, that is a consummation devoutly to be wished. But Black History Month is not only about where we’ve been, it’s also about where we’ve come. The present is always part of the historical continuum and it’s good to recognize the ways in which where we were is not where we are. This is not to say American society has completely arrived on the question of race. How do you fully deliver a society with slavery at its roots and the weeds of racial inequity living all around us? It seems no one has an answer, but undoubtedly it is a good step on the journey in that direction for us to continue to drop considerations of ethnic extraction where they simply make no difference.
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
At the center of Let’s Misbehave, a recent musical built around the music of Cole Porter, are three friends who vow to fall in love by the Fourth of July. Although the time period of the play is not made explicit, the music, lyrics and Art Deco urbanity lead us to infer this as sometime between the two world wars. Even though interracial couples have existed probably since the first time two different “races” came into prolonged contact, in pre-World War II American society, “black-white” pairings were hardly the business-as-usual they are in today’s world, where our president is the product of such a coupling and we get a Super Bowl ad that not only
American society might not be post-racial, but ICT’s casting is. When Alice and Walter kiss, contextually it’s not an interracial kiss, because skin color is not meaningful here. Were ICT staging Othello, that would be a different story, because Othello’s pigmentation is an explicit part of the proceedings. But there was no cause for ICT to make such consideration when casting of Let’s Misbehave. Shelton and Ginsburg are simply two fine actors able to give voice to Porter’s work. When their characters gaze into each other’s eyes, when they kiss, they are two souls in love, nothing more. Because there certainly were people in the first half of the 20th century who did not consider skin color in the casting of their own friends and lovers, it’s not quite right to say that a play set in this era that features an interracial color without bringing any attention to this fact calls for suspension of disbelief. But disbelief is what many of us today feel at the idea that not so long ago neither couples nor casting directors could be truly free of such considerations. One of cinema’s landmark moments on the subject, 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner— released just months after the Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision struck down legal barriers to interracial marriage—is a case in point. Despite the film’s message being that skin color shouldn’t be a barrier to love, director Stanley Kramer reportedly cut scenes of Joey (played by Katherine Houghton) and Dr. Prentice (Sidney Poitier) kissing. The only one that wasn’t left on the cutting-room floor was a shot of the couple smooching in the back seat of a taxi as seen through the rearview mirror of an uncomfortable cabbie. Strategically, Kramer almost had to make the cuts. Just by leaving in a single, fleeting shot of a black man kissing a white woman, he risked the film not being shown in the South—where,
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The Warner Grand Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles, operated by the Department of Cultural Affairs. For Information and Tickets, Please Visit WarnerGrand.org, GrandVision.org or ExperienceSP.com
An Evening with the Black Irish Band
Sat 2/8 | 8 pm Celtic, Italian and American folk music and music of the sea played with the spirit of immigrant men and women who tamed the Wild West. $15/$25
Good ‘Ol Freda (2012; 86 min)
Sun 2/9 | 7 pm Freda Kelly was just a shy Liverpudlian teenager when she was asked to work for a local band hoping to make it big: the Beatles. In Good Ol’ Freda, the band’s former secretary tells her personal stories for the first time in 50 years. $12/$10
The Last Waltz (1978; 117 min)
Fri 2/14 | 8 pm Director Martin Scorcese captures the legendary final concert by The Band, staged at San Francisco’s Winterland arena on Thanksgiving Day 1976. Along with revealing interviews, the concert footage features Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. $12
Hope for Our Own: An LA Story Thurs 2/20 | 6 pm POLA [Port of Los Angeles] High School’s Riley Beres has created this documentary about LA’s homeless community. The film focuses on individuals who have not lost hope and are committed to rebuilding their lives. No charge but please bring canned goods, socks, toiletries.
February 7 – 20, 2014
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FICTITIOUS BUSINESS & LEGAL FILINGS Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013253321 The following person is doing business as: The Sepulveda Home,1138 W. Sepulveda Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: The Sepulveda Home LLC, 1138 W. Sepulveda Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. Articles of Incorporation: 201135110057. This Business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: November 2008. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Susan Portillo, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 11, 2013. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 12/23/13, 1/9/14, 1/23/14, 2/6/14, 2/20/14
1/23/14, 2/6/14, 2/20/14
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020792 The following person is doing business as: Vintage Edge Jewelry, 1621 W. Wycliff Place, San Pedro, CA 90732, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Heather Lynn Hovard, 1621 W. Wycliff Place, San Pedro, CA 90732. 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/. Heather Lynn Hovard. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020795 The following person is doing
03/06/14, 03/20/14
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020793 The following person is doing business as: Otto Trattoria, 301 W. 6th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: San Pedro Group, 555 W. 9th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 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/. Gregory J. Wilson, president. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the
date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14,
Voting Rights Act
legislatures. Furthermore, all of the bills requiring either photo ID or proof of citizenship passed in legislatures under Republican control. These are the kinds of measures most likely to reduce voting by Democratleaning constituencies.” • “Increased competitiveness in the state’s previous presidential election contest was associated with more restrictive policy changes in states with larger Republican majorities (but led to fewer restrictive laws in states with larger Democratic majorities).”
03/06/14, 03/20/14
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014020791 The following person is doing business as: Violetica De Mil Colores Flowers, 819 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Bridgette Contreras, 956 W. Crestwood Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 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/. Bridget Contreras. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14, 03/06/14, 03/20/14
Above, President of the League of Women Voters, Elisabeth MacNamara. Keith G. Bentele, right, copublished a detailed analysis of voter suppression laws passed by state legislatures in the past 7 years with Erin E. O’Brien. File photos.
Taken all together, Bentele concluded, “These statistical results leave little doubt that opponents of the new restrictions are justified in their concern that these laws have partisan goals and take aim along racial lines.” Such new restrictions are part of a broader set of hurdles and disincentives. Virtually all other democracies have much higher rates of voting, and little, if any class bias in participation rates. “In their current practice, felony disenfranchisement, means-tested social welfare programs, and restrictive access legislation make having the franchise, a welcoming path to accessing it, and the desire to use it less likely for the poor and minorities in the United States,” Bentele explained. “From this vantage, recent passage of restrictive voter policies is an important prong in a broader suite of policies expanding a form of conditional and exclusionary American citizenship. In silent concert these policies work to undermine democratic voice for the most vulnerable.” All this adds up to a very strong argument in support of the Voting Rights Act, Bentele said. “I think our findings, and the behavior of Republican legislators since the Supreme Court’s Shelby County decision, strongly highlight the need for Congress to reinstate these protections previously afforded by the VRA,” he said. “In 2006 the VRA was reauthorized with unanimous support in the Senate and only 33 votes against in the House. “What legitimate reason could be given to vote against an effort to fix a law protecting voting rights, one that received such overwhelming support as recently as 2006?” he asked. “Congress should pass the VRA in 2014. The recent efforts of states such as North Carolina to restrict access to the vote are clear examples of exactly why these protections are needed.” One thing is certain: even if Congress does pass the Voting Rights Act, the right to vote will remain an embattled right in America, for many years, if not decades, to come. But at least there will be more weapons to defend it with. 19 The Local Publication You Actually Read
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013246108 The following person is doing business as: Playground Fitness,528 S. Pacific Ave, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Jamie Burton, 2211 S. Grand Ave., #1, 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/. Jamie Burton, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 2, 2013. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 12/23/13, 1/9/14,
business as: Los Trucking, 941 Bloomwood Rd., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Rafael Juan Carlos Perez, 941 Bloomwood Rd., 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/. Rafael Juan Carlos Perez. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 27, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920. were to expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 02/06/14, 02/20/14,
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February 7 - 20, 2014
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