S IGNA L T R IBU N E Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VOL. XXXIX NO. 8
February 17, 2017
LB native tapped as acting national security advisor The appointment comes after the resignation of Michael Flynn, who served 24 days. Cory Bilicko Managing Editor
A retired general from Long Beach has been appointed to replace former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn, who resigned Monday after serving only 24 days in President Donald Trump’s adminis-
tration. Retired Army. Lt. Gen. Joseph “Keith” Kellogg Jr. will serve as interim national security advisor until a final replacement is tapped. However, according to national media reports, Kellogg is on the shortlist to assume that position on a permanent basis. Kellogg was heretofore serving as executive secretary of the National Security Council. Flynn resigned Monday after reports indicated he had discussed Russia sanctions with
Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, despite Flynn’s repeated assertion that he had not done so. The retired three-star general, who played a significant role in Trump’s campaign, tendered his resignation, allegedly upon the President’s urging to do so, amid media reports that his talks with Kislyak made him potentially susceptible to blackmail by Russia. In his Feb. 13 resignation letter, Flynn wrote that, during his
Signal Hill City Council hires engineer to temporarily oversee City’s public works projects. Sebastian Echeverry Staff Writer
File photo
Joseph “Keith” Kellogg Jr.
see KELLOGG page 19
Bringing the love to war
Speakers at a Syrian-refugee symposium encouraged people to be involved. Denny Cristales Editorial Assistant
The horrors of civil war have been crippling the lives of Syrians for about six years– a time span in which the blaze of weapons and the overwhelming force of airstrikes have become a norm for the people who inhabit the once peaceful area. Case in point: the 5-year-old boy who went viral last summer– Omran Daqneesh, who was rescued from a destroyed building after yet another airstrike on the city of Aleppo. The image of the bloodied boy– his body chalk-white from the debris– and the blank expression he wore served as a painful visual of the internal struggle that has ravaged Syria for years. However, locals are currently attempting their best efforts to fight the fight on a more peaceful front, one in which Syrians can escape their ravaged land and find opportunity elsewhere. Opportunities in activism, Syria in the modern age and the global refugee crisis were among the
Denny Cristales | Signal Tribune
At a Syrian symposium event on Feb. 11 at CSULB, Deric Mendes, a journalist and Syria expert, presented “Syria in the Age of Trump,” a discussion on the modern state of the civil war in the area. In his graph, he shows that, in 2016, the war in Syria caused 470,000 casualties, dwarfing the numbers of those lost in the Sept. 11 attacks and the Vietnam War.
items discussed at a local symposium Saturday, Feb. 11 entitled “Syria: 6 Years Later” at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). The Syrian-American Council, Los Angeles (SAC-LA) and the CSULB Muslim Student Association, in collaboration with the CSULB Department of Political Science, hosted the event to spread awareness and encourage individuals to be involved in aiding those involved in the crisis. The event featured a screening
of the Netflix documentary The White Helmets, a look at volunteer rescue workers in their attempt to save civilians in violent war areas in Syria and Turkey. A few programs to aid in the Syrian refugee crisis were also listed. Organizations include the Voice of Refugees, Tiyya Foundation and World Relief, all of which can be found locally. Hannah Ghazal, who has a BA in international studies and Middle Eastern studies, presented “Syrians: The Struggle of Integra-
tion,” which detailed the challenge refugees face in their attempt to integrate to other countries and start a new life. “[They] give up all their studies to start all over from scratch,” Ghazal said of some refugees who venture to other countries and can’t apply their education to the workforce when they immigrate. Ghazal detailed the story of Om Moustafa, a refugee woman whose real name was withheld for see SYMPOSIUM page 10
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Engineer On Tuesday, Feb. 14, the Signal Hill City Council agreed to contract Steve Badum, vice president of engineering and municipal services for AndersonPenna Partners, Inc. (APP), to provide Signal Hill temporary engineering and project-management services. APP is a company that specializes in project delivery for local and regional public agencies and special districts throughout the western United States. The council recruited Badum to help temporarily oversee City projects while it hires someone to fill the vacant position of Public Works director– previously held by Steve Myrter. City Manager Charlie Honeycutt said the executive recruitment process to find a new director is estimated to take four months. According to APP’s website, Badum has more than 35 years of experience in the field of municipal management and engineering. The contract price agreement between the City and APP is set at $61,440. Water The council agreed on a ballot vote for John Oskoui and Mark Grajeda to be placed in the Central Basin Municipal Water District’s (CBMWD) board of directors. Specifically, Oskoui is vying for the city purveyor board position, and Grajeda is vying for the at-large purveyor board position. According to a press release posted on centralbasin.org, Oskoui has over 30 years of experience in local government, including 20 years in municipal engineering and public works. He is also familiar with the southeast region of the Los Angeles County through his involvement as a member of the Central Basin see COUNCIL page 15