S IGNA L T R I BU N E Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VOL. XXXIX NO. 15
April 7, 2017
Lowenthal, House colleagues urge vote to release Trump’s returns Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA–47) yesterday joined with nearly 180 of his House colleagues in signing a “Demand A Vote” petition– also called a discharge petition– to force the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to vote on the release of President Donald Trump’s long-promised tax returns. “It is important that all U.S. Presidents work in the country’s best interest when making decisions for the American people and are transparent with their financial interests,” Lowenthal said. “By releasing tax returns to the public, as all Presidents over the past five decades have done, President Trump could assure the American people that undue influence or conflicts of interest do not bear on his decision making. “Yet, as Americans prepare their own taxes this tax season, President Trump continues to hide his tax returns from the American people. And the GOP leadership in the House has been complicit in this lack of transparency by blocking a resolution demanding the immediate release of the President’s tax returns.” The President’s tax returns will provide a clearer picture of the President’s financial interests, including ties to Russia and China, and any additional potential conflicts of interest, according to Lowenthal’s office. “The President’s business and financial ties to Russia need to be revealed to the American people,” Lowenthal said. “The Republicans work for the American people, not President Trump; they should join Democrats in urging the President to be open and honest with the American people and release his taxes now.” After Watergate, all presidents, Republicans and Democrats, have released either their individual tax returns or summary tax data. Nearly three-quarters of Americans, including 50 percent of Trump’s supporters, want the President to release his tax returns, according to a recent ABC/Washington Post poll. A discharge petition requires 218 signatures of members of the House of Representatives in order to force a vote on the U.S. House floor. Source: Lowenthal’s office
A graph from the Port of Long Beach shows the three newly formed alliances of ocean carriers, effective April 1.
Courtesy Port of LB
Long Beach Port bracing for impact of shipping alliance reformation Officials expect potential delays and confusion. Cory Bilicko Managing Editor
It’s been called “The Big Bang of 2017.” An unprecedented number of ocean-carrier mergers last year and the collapse of the seventh-largest container carrier– Hanjin Shipping– have resulted in something Port of Long Beach officials say has never happened in the shipping industry–
the reshuffling of ocean carriers from four to three new alliances. For almost 10 years, ocean carriers have been forming such alliances to save money, with more sailings and fewer ships sharing cargo space on huge vessels. While the new alliance formation may simply seem like news of yet another merger in today’s ever-changing business landscape, shipping offiicals are bracing for the confusion that the sudden, major changes may bring. David J. Arsenault, president of
Called to ministry
Husband and wife reflect on a life of service in the Salvation Army. CJ Dablo Staff Writer
After more than three decades in ministry, Salvation Army Majors Rudy and Judy Hedgren retired from service at the end of January. This last chapter with the organization is technically their second retirement with the Salvation Army, since they said they were active officers with the mission for about 30 years, left to work with other organizations and then returned to serve the Salvation Army in the greater
Long Beach area before retiring a second time. Two months later, the couple, who have been married for 49 years, returned once more to speak to the Signal Tribune at the administrative offices at see HEDGREN page 7 CJ Dablo | Signal Tribune
Majors Rudy and Judy Hedgren don their uniforms once more during a visit to the Salvation Army’s Citadel in Long Beach, which houses, among other things, the administrative offices, social-service and worship facilities They retired from their life in pastoral ministry with the Salvation Army earlier this year.
Logistics Transformation Solutions and former president of Hyundai Merchant Marine America, spoke about the issue at a “Learning from Hanjin” panel on Feb. 28 at the Journal of Commerce’s TPM 2017 Conference at the Long Beach Convention Center. He said alliances have come and gone, but those changes have been staggered in the past. “This is a shotgun start,” he said, “and it’s the first time we’ve ever seen three mega alliances kick off all at the same time, and it has tremendous up-
stream and downstream consequences.” According to iContainers, an American company that enables importers and exporters to compare rates in real time and manage their maritime shipments, these three alliances represent 77.2 percent of global container capacity and 96 percent of all East-West trades. “Ocean Alliance offers the most services, with some 40 loops,” according see PORT page 11