Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XL NO. 43
IN THIS ISSUE COMMUNITY Residents share type of services wanted at Community Hospital
Scheduled for reopening early next year, medical facility could use multitude of resources, locals say.
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NEWS City officials encourage residents to practice proper flea control
Risk of typhus has increased countywide, and local pets could be part of the problem.
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Bringing back the dead through stories Historical Society of Long Beach cemetery tour to highlight tales of former slaves, a love entanglement, among others. Anita W. Harris Staff Writer
What if you could journey back in time to hear stories of those laying silent beneath the ground at the Sunnyside and Municipal cemeteries? The Historical Society of Long Beach (HSLB) gives you just such a chance on Oct. 27 with its annual historical cemetery tour, now in its 23rd year. The tour, scheduled from 9am to 2:40pm at the cemeteries on Willow Street between California and Orange avenues, will bring to life eight stories of graveyard residents, with actors playing the roles of the dead. Among those featured this year are Abram Cleag, a former slave who died in Long Beach City Hall; Arthur Branson, who witnessed oil discovery on Signal Hill; suffragette Cora Morgan, who knew dirty secrets of local politicians; policeman Otis Hoyt, who was on duty the day of the 1933 earthquake; Captain Alberto de Ruiz, first Latino graduate of the Naval Academy; and early aviatrix Ethel Broadwick. HSLB members Roxanne Patmor and Kaye Briegel– the latter who is a historian– have chosen different grave stories to tell each year since 2005. They search the cemeteries in
CULTURE Theatre review
Long Beach Playhouse’s Assassins
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Partnering for a cure
Local police departments and officers association support project to fund breast-cancer research. Staff Report Signal Tribune
Anita W. Harris | Signal Tribune
Carl daSilva (center left), directs actors Halley Hardy (left), Dennis Kortheuer (center right) and Courtney Riel Owens (right) during a rehearsal at the Historical Society of Long Beach in advance of the society’s annual cemetery tour on Oct. 27.
early summer and then research and write scripts, Patmor told the Signal Tribune. The pair’s research sometimes uncovers verbal transcriptions, such as Abram Cleag’s wife’s deposition to secure his disability insurance and a 20-page account of Otis Hoyt describing the 1933 earthquake. “When it’s in their words, like the see TOUR page 15
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I felt like we were in a detective novel. These people had the most interesting life story – Roxanne Patmor HSLB member
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Some elected officials say BBB will limit terms, critics call measure ‘misleading,’ ‘self-serving’
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October 19, 2018
The Pink Patch Project reports that approximately one of every eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. The Long Beach Police Officers Association (LBPOA) and the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) are partnering for the second year in a row to support efforts to change these numbers. In a press release from Oct. 4, the LBPOA announced the continued partnership in support of the Pink Patch Project, which is a public-awareness campaign to bring attention to breast-cancer statistics and support breast-cancer research. The Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) also announced its participation with the project via a press release this month. According to the SHPD, participating personnel will be wearing pink patches on their regular uniforms during the month of October. The patches will be on sale for the public, and the funds for the Pink Patch Project items will go directly to fund the research, treatment and education needed to help find a cure. LBPOA is selling patches, pins and blankets (at $10, $5 and $50, see PATCH page 7
BBB would eliminate write-in option and allow third term for current council, mayor. Cory Bilicko Staff Writer
Although Long Beach voters in 1992 and in 2007 approved the opportunity for mayoral and city-council incumbents who have already served two terms to seek additional terms as write-in candidates only, some current elected officials, as of this year, believe the city should allow them and future incumbents to seek a third– and final– term with the advantage of having their names on the ballots. Hence, city officials have placed Measure BBB on the ballot. They claim the current system of permitting an official who has already served two terms to then seek anoth-
er as a write-in is confusing to voters and allows an individual to continue winning and serving indefinitely. Former Mayor Beverly O’Neill won her third term as a write-in candidate in 2002, then retired from public office. Patrick O’Donnell earned a third term to the Long Beach City Council as a write-in in 2012, then was elected to the State Assembly, in which he currently represents the 70th District. Dee Andrews is now serving a third term as the city’s 6th District councilmember after also winning as a write-in, two years ago. According to the pro-measures campaign website, O’Neill and Andrews are both supporters of Measure BBB and the other three charter-amendment measures that Mayor Robert Garcia and City Auditor Lau-
ra Doud proposed and that the city council approved unanimously for next month’s ballot. However, this week, O’Donnell announced his intention to vote “no” on the measure, and current 3rd District Councilmember Suzie Price confirmed to LBReport.com on Oct. 12 that she also will not vote for BBB. On Aug. 7, when the council approved the measure for the ballot, Price prefaced her vote with misgivings, saying, “I remain conflicted about it.” On Oct. 17, O’Donnell announced his intention of voting “no” on BBB through a statement to the Long Beach Reform Coalition, a grassroots collective of community groups. see MEASURES page 14
Courtesy LB Police Officers Association
The Long Beach Police Officers Association and Long Beach Police Department have partnered to support the Pink Patch Project by selling certain items to raise funds for breast-cancer research and awareness. Pictured is Signal Hill Police Department Cadet Elena Bugarin.