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Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VOL. XL NO. 7
As Long Beach City College organizes annual cancer fundraiser, a daughter is remembered
IN THIS ISSUE NEWS LBCC president hosts her first State of College.
Denny Cristales
An anonymous donor makes a substantial contribution to a local hospital foundation. Page 30
OPINION Dinner with an Olympian
Signal Tribune Publisher Neena Strichart writes about her meeting silver medalist Jeffrey Powers.
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Looking back
In her first column for the Signal Tribune, a former Long Beach librarian writes about an African-American man who gained prominence in Southern California in the early 1900s.
hances are, people will acknowledge that their family has been directly impacted by cancer, or that they at least know someone else that has been affected by the disease. The illness has plagued many for centuries, and every year there is talk of research, awareness and prevention. Although it may seem as if it were a futile cause because of a perceived lack of progress, there are statewide events, such as Coaches vs. Cancer, that seek to revitalize optimism through raising funds and recognizing that those touched by the illness are worth fighting for. On Feb. 9, Long Beach City College will host the annual Coaches vs. Cancer at its Hall of Champions Gymnasium. The event, hosted by community colleges on the statewide and national level, raises proceeds that go toward the American Cancer Society (ACS) for research purposes. The evening will feature a basketball double header, as the Long Beach City College Vikings women’s and men’s basketball teams will face the El Camino College Warriors at 5pm and 7pm, respectively. Parking will be available for $2, and there is a $5 admission fee. Coaches vs. Cancer T-shirts and pink wristbands will be for sale for those in attendance, and informational booths will educate the public about the disease. “It’s us being a part of a collective effort,” said Randy Totorp, Long Beach City College’s athletic director, in an interview on Tuesday. “I don’t think every community college does it, but, Denny Cristales | Signal Tribune I would say, out of the hunJon McFadden, Long Beach dred, probably 30 or 40 of us participate. You know, City College’s track-and-field it’s 30 or 40 schools at the assistant coach in throwing, end of the year who come is pictured wearing a Coachtogether to support and do- es vs. Cancer T-shirt, more of nate. And, collectively, that which will be on sale on Friadds up. It’s part of a bigger day when the college hosts the event at its Hall of Champieffort.” The school participates ons gymnasium to raise funds in the event through the for research at the American California Community Cancer Society. College Athletic Association (CCCAA). Totorp said that, since 2011, the CCCAA has raised $238,000 in donations to the ACS, per the CCCAA’s information. In between quarters of both games, cancer survivors and relatives will share their stories with those in attendance. Among the stories will be that of Anna Trybul, who passed away from breast cancer in 2016.
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s Molly Sabat is at her home in Bakersfield on a Tuesday afternoon sipping on her tea, she struggles to find a way to put the loss of her daughter Anna into words. Over the phone, stumbling to find a way to express the over-
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whelming emotion of losing her daughter to breast cancer about two years ago, she admits that she doesn’t know how she managed to cope. “I always thought there would be something that would happen to save her,” Sabat said. “And I think that’s what got me through it. I didn’t really believe that this was going to end badly. You know, forever hopeful. Maybe it was denial, maybe it was a coping strategy [...] but, I never thought, I never believed, that she would die from this.” In a phone interview this week, Sabat, who was originally going to attend and present Anna’s story at the Coaches vs. Cancer event, explained that she couldn’t handle talking about her daughter in a public setting. “And, I love talking about Anna, because she was wonderful,” she said, “but it was just going to be very raw and painful for me to stand up and talk about her in front of several dozen or several hundred people.” Anna was born April 26, 1976. She was Sabat’s first daughter, and she was followed by her sibling Nora two years later. Pat McKean, the journalism advisor at Long Beach City College who will present during halftime of the women’s game on Friday, said he has fond memories of Anna, Nora and their cousin John during Christmastime in their pajamas. In an interview Tuesday, McKean said he remembers finding out Anna was born when he was a young adult. “And, it was so nice to get the call, I believe probably from my mom [...],” he said. “I remember the call saying,
Courtesy Pat McKean
Anna Trybul is pictured here on her wedding day in 2008. She will be honored by Pat McKean, her uncle and journalism instructor at Long Beach City College, on Feb. 9 at the school’s gymnasium for the annual Coaches vs. Cancer event, which raises proceeds for cancer research. Trybul died on May 4, 2016, from breast cancer.
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For many Long Beach residents, buying a home in the city by the sea may seem to be no more than a pipe dream, but city officials are hoping that a fresh approach to affordable housing could be the key to help its residents. At its Feb. 6 meeting, the city council voted in favor of Vice Mayor Rex Richardson’s recommendation to ask the city manager’s office to explore creative ways to help residents afford a home. At that meeting, the vice mayor emphasized the need to include low- to moderate-income families. “Here at the city level,” Richardson said, “Long Beach can design policy solutions to expand pathways to homeownership for our most underserved communities. Given that down payments are the most significant barrier to buying [homes], our City needs to do better and do more to pull together resources in order to help families make that leap into homeownership.” In a report to the council, Richardson outlined several major hurdles facing residents in the area. He particularly noted that residents of color and those with low to moderate incomes have been consistently excluded from easily obtaining loans. The vice mayor’s report cited figures from the Greenlining Institute. “Although African-Americans make up almost 14 percent of Long Beach’s population, they received just 7 percent of home purchase loans,” Richardson wrote in his staff report. “Latinos make up 41 percent of the population but received only 22 percent of loans, and Asians make almost 13 percent of the population but received 10 percent of loans.” Richardson also noted another issue: seven out of the 10 mortgage lenders in the city are not banks, and these non-bank lenders are not subject to laws like the Community Reinvestment Act. The vice mayor said in his report that this particular law “requires banks to meet the credit and borrowing needs of the communities where they operate.” Richardson outlined several areas for the city manager’s office to study. He asked to explore the pos-
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$1.5 million!
LB officials brainstorm new ways to help residents buy home and stay there. Staff Writer
Online Editor
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February 9, 2018
Creative housing
Coaches vs. Cancer will raise proceeds for the American Cancer Society, which develops research for the illness that took the life of Anna Trybul.
Reagan Romali shares school’s achievements and ambitions.
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