May 29, 2021 | Vol. XLIII No. 22

Signal Tribune Your Weekly Community Newspaper

VOL. XLIII NO. 22

INSIDE: Long Beach Opera breaks boundaries with “Les Enfants Terribles,” promising innovative season see page 7

Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill

COMMUNITY

Friday, May 28, 2021 SH CITY COUNCIL

THE SANDS OF TIME Buddhist monks spent weeks creating a sand mandala, just to throw it into the sea.

It’s a metaphor for life.

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Kristen Farrah Naeem Staff Writer

Signal Tribune Archives

othing can last in this world, no matter how beautiful or how good the intentions behind its creation.

Fully embodying and accepting this universal truth, the monks of Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery in Long Beach spent day and night this month toiling over a multicolored sand mandala, knowing that soon they’d be throwing that very same sand into the sea.

In a “dissolution” ceremony on Sunday, May 30, the sand mandala that required daily work since May 3 will be erased and its blessed sand taken to the ocean and scattered.

“It’s nature that everything is part of impermanence. So once you [are] born in this world, you have to die. Once something exists in this world, it has to be [broken] down. This has to be gone.

So that’s how, through our ritual, through our ceremony, we are trying to represent that,” Geshe Lharampa Jampa Wangchuk said through a translator.

Creating the sand mandala was no easy feat. After drawing out a complex grid on the flat surface, a small pointed tool is used to siphon different colored sand little by little until every section is filled in.

“Such a hard work, this mandala construction is like almost 21 days, day and night,” Geshe Wangchuk said through a translator.

Sand mandalas are meant to symbolize the homes of deities. It is believed that by recreating their divine environments, their godly traits can be called forth into the human world.

“Once you build the universe of the virtuous deities, universe of Buddha, what we are doing is we are trying to create the atmosphere of compassion, and atmosphere of those perfections, like see SAND MANDALA page 5

Steve Strichart and former Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell. (Photo by Signal Tribune dated March 2, 2012)

‘It’s quite a responsibility’: Steve Strichart thanked for 24 years on Signal Hill Civil Service Commission Anita W. Harris Senior Writer

manent closure but, due to community support and the Save the ER campaign, was able to generate enough revenue to fully reopen.

Pacific6, an organization run by John Molina, spearheaded the renewal of CHLB. During a speech, he thanked countless community members that helped to support its revitalization.

“We are merely the caretakers of a legacy that stretches back 100 years and will stretch forward 100 years,” Molina said. “We simply took the torch and we’ll pass it along when the time comes. But we will pass it along brighter, with more hope and more dedication. We don’t know how to say no. Our commitment back in 2018 was

After more than two decades as a Signal Hill Civil Service Commissioner, Steve Strichart chose not to seek reappointment for another four-year term. The Signal Hill City Council formally recognized his service during its Tuesday, May 25 meeting.

Mayor Edward Wilson presented Strichart with a City proclamation marking his participation on the commission from 1997 to 2021, serving as chairperson five times.

“Steve has demonstrated exemplary conduct and sense of fairness in his role as a civil service commissioner,” Wilson said. “Steve has exhibited, in practical and professional ways, his willingness to place his concern for the public good ahead of his personal interests.”

The role of Signal Hill’s five-member Civil Service Commission is to determine employee eligibility for classified municipal jobs and hear employee appeals over suspensions, demotions or dismissals. Grievance hearings are confidential and only shared in recommendations to the city council.

“I enjoyed it,” Strichart said of his years of service. “One of the things I

see COMMUNITY HOSPITAL page 4

see STEVE STRICHART page 3

Richard Grant | Signal Tribune

One of the monks at Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery in Long Beach adds some brown sand onto the blueprint of the sand mandala created for the May lunar cycle on May 5, 2021.

COMMUNITY

Community celebrates grand reopening of Community Hospital Long Beach Staff Report Signal Tribune

Richard Grant | Signal Tribune

From left to right, Community Hospital Long Beach Foundation Chairman Ray Burton, hospital CEO Virg Narbutas, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, hospital operator John Molina and Councilman Daryl Supernaw cut the ribbon at Community Hospital Long Beach on May 27, 2021

The nearly century-old Community Hospital Long Beach (CHLB) reopened its doors Thursday after a years-long hiatus.

In his introductory speech, CHLB Executive Director Matthew Faulkner quoted the infamous anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

The revitalization of CHLB was indeed a community effort.

CHLB first closed in 2018 when it was unable to meet the state’s seismic compliance requirements.

The hospital was at threat of per-

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WWW.SIGNAL-TRIBUNE.COM • NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021 COVID-19

QUEEN MARY

LIVES LIVED

Pamela Powell 77 Kalu Ezikpe 66 John Crago 77 David Rogers 73 John Barker 74 Linda Swarthout 81 Marrecca Fiore 48 Manuel Buenrostro 65 Sankar Das 67 Ronald Minnix 73 Jean Nelson 77 Marilyn Bauer 73 Aurora Delgado 95 Janice Moore 70 Seumaninoa Puaina 47 Robert Cruzen 52 Stanley Mandich 91 Virinia Hibbler 75 The families were assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

For more details on service dates and times, contact (562) 961-9301

New COVID-19 vaccination sites in Long Beach Staff Report Signal Tribune

Maythe Alderete Gonzalez takes a selfie on a pier that faces the Queen Mary Oceanliner.

Richard Grant | Signal Tribune

Report shows former Queen Mary operator Urban Commons falsely claimed payment of vendors Emma DiMaggio

O

Managing Editor

n Wedesday, May 26, the Long Beach City Auditor’s Office released an official statement confirming that Urban Commons, the former leaseholder and operator of the Queen Mary, misrepresented financial information to the City of Long Beach.

The statement cites a “significant lack of cooperation” from Urban Commons during the investigation, which found that the operator “did in fact misrepresent financial information and failed to perform their duties under the lease.”

Urban Commons entered into a lease agreement with the City of Long Beach on Nov. 1, 2016. Part of their lease agreement gives the City the right to audit the books and records of Urban Commons, the investigative report states.

The investigation found that Urban Commons falsified invoices to the City, claiming it had paid vendors that had not been paid.

The invoices were stamped “PAID,” but upon further review, investigators discovered that Urban Commons had created a “tracking document” with the real dates that they paid their vendors.

Of 89 total invoices, 87 that were submitted to the City with a “PAID” stamp were not paid at the time that the invoices were sent to the City. The investigation found

that, on average, Urban Commons invoiced the City 51 days prior to paying the vendor.

Ironically, Howard Wu, principal at Urban Commons, said last year that — over Urban Common’s five years of Queen Mary management — it had accumulated knowledge of how to handle the ship.

“We have learned not only the amount of love and care the ship requires daily,” Wu said in January 2020, “but also completed crucial groundwork, ensuring staff and guest safety.”

In 2017, a survey was conducted by outside consultants to evaluate the state of the Queen Mary. The survey estimated that approximately $235 to $289 million in repairs were necessary.

The City agreed to use approximately $23 million in bond funds and City reserves to fund some of the most “urgent” and “critical” repairs at the Queen Mary, the investigative report states.

According to the Auditor’s Office statement, “After repeated requests, Urban Commons has not provided its electronic check register, cash account detail, bank statements and cancelled checks, cashier’s checks, wire transfers or other payments paid to vendors and subcontractors relating to the $23 million funded by the City.”

City auditors will continue to pursue the investigation.

“This misrepresentation of the truth and unwillingness of Urban Commons to provide the basic and required financial records is very troubling,” the Auditor’s Office statement said.

Long Beach schools were added to a growing list of walk-up vaccination sites in the City last week. Here’s where you can get a free, walk-up vaccine.

Walk-up vaccination sites at Long Beach school campuses • Long Beach City College Pacific Coast Campus on weekdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Cabrillo High School on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Grant Elementary School on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

• Washington Middle School on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Existing Vaccination Sites • Long Beach Convention Center on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays from 11 am. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Mobile Vaccine Clinics • Admiral Kidd Park on Mondays 1 pm. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• MacArthur Park on Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Houghton Park on Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

BRIDGE RENAME

Pet of the week:

Diana Iris

Diana Iris—such a lovely name for a springtime flower! This spunky little girl was found tied up outside a restaurant. It must have been miserable for her to not only smell the food but also be abandoned by her people. Diana Iris wants to go home with a fun family who’ll be there for all seasons, dine on restaurant patios with her, and of course, bring home doggie bags! Adoptions are conducted through appointment only, so call 562-570-PETS or email PetAdopt@longbeach.gov to meet Diana Iris. Ask for ID#A657003.

(This rescue encouraged by the usual suspects.)

Richard Grant | Signal Tribune

The Gerald Desmond Bridge was renamed the “Long Beach International Gateway” on Tuesday, May 25 based on input from a community survey.

New port bridge gets a name: Long Beach International Gateway City News Service Southern California Local News

Nearly eight months after it opened, the new six-lane bridge traversing the Port of Long Beach finally got a name on Monday, May 24.

The $1.47 billion dollar project that replaced the aging and too-small Gerald Desmond Bridge will henceforth be known as “Long Beach International Gateway,” according to Sen. Lena Gonzalez and Assemblyman Patrick

O’Donnell, who both represent Long Beach.

“The community has spoken and they made a great choice,” O’Donnell said in a statement. “The name `Long Beach International Gateway Bridge’ appropriately signifies Long Beach as the gateway to the American economy.

Thank you to the community for helping us in this very important endeavor.”

The name was chosen through a public survey. The span had been previously referred to as the Gerald Des-

mond Bridge Replacement.

The six-lane bridge opened to traffic in early October. With two towers reaching 515 feet into the sky, it is the second-tallest cable-stayed bridge in the United States. Its elevated height accommodates the movement of larger modern cargo ships.

The $1.47 billion project cost also included funds for the demolition of the original Gerald Desmond Bridge.

“I am very thankful for all the input we received from our community

to choose a name for the new Long Beach bridge,” Gonzalez said. “This iconic state landmark will connect us to the rest of the world for decades to come, and it is now time to formalize its name.”

With the community survey completed, Gonzalez and O’Donnell announced they have introduced an Assembly concurrent resolution for the Legislature to formally approve the moniker.

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WWW.SIGNAL-TRIBUNE.COM • NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021

STEVE STRICHART

SCHOOLS

continued from page 1

Mark Savage | Courtesy Long Beach Unified School District

Alvarado Elementary School, 1900 E. 21st St., Signal Hill March 29, 2021.

LBUSD seeks public input on new multimillion-dollar learning acceleration plan Anita W. Harris

T

Senior Writer

he Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) is developing a new Learning Acceleration and Support Plan (LASP) and is seeking public input at Board of Education meetings on May 26, June 2 and June 23.

The plan’s goal is to improve the classroom experience and help students who need support, according to Superintendent Dr. Jill Baker. It will attempt to address systemic racial inequities and long-term harms, she told the Board of Education at its May 17 meeting.

“This is an important year for us as our district comes out of the pandemic year of learning,” Baker said. “[LASP is] an opportunity for us to address the needs of students who struggle, whose needs have not been met, and those who need more support than ever.”

Baker said LASP and other investments derive from public input on issues such as student emotional distress and inequity, citing $750,000 earmarked to support foster youth and $1.6 million for high school wellness centers, counselors and psychologists.

“When members of our community see that we’re making an investment in Black student achievement, learning acceleration and support,” Baker said.

“Then they will know that the things that they have suggested are coming into the plan.”

LASP is not required by the State like the Local Control Accountability

Plan (LCAP) that details LBUSD’s annual programmatic goals, Baker said.

Instead, LASP demonstrates the “district’s vision and commitment to excellence and equity in the years to come,” she said.

More details will be revealed during the three forthcoming meetings, but Baker said last week that LASP basically consists of four areas or “pillars”: academic acceleration, social and emotional learning, engagement and voice, and improving infrastructure.

Social and emotional learning, as defined in the LCAP, promotes understanding, examines biases, builds cross-cultural relationships, closes opportunity gaps and cultivates inclusiveness through curriculum content and instruction.

Baker said executing the four pillars generally involves redesigning the core curriculum; increasing student academic and emotional support; fostering dialogue among staff, students, advisory groups and the community; and modernizing technological and classroom infrastructure.

“Infrastructure either propels or creates a barrier,” she said. “Infrastructure for teacher quality and workforce diversity, for the modernization of our technology, for the modernization of our classrooms.”

Board Member Dr. Juan Benitez, representing LBUSD District 3 in southwest Long Beach, questioned how LASP’s pillars address systemic racism and structural inequalities.

The new core curriculum will be more equitable, Baker said. LASP will train teachers and “purchase eq-

uity-oriented classroom materials that center anti-racism, and that redefine what every classroom in Long Beach Unified looks like,” she said.

To ensure LASP goals will be met, LBUSD will regularly evaluate its programs, collecting data that it will desegregate by race and ethnicity, Baker said.

“This is an opportunity for us to actually show the public our commitment to excellence and equity, for undoing harm that has been done, for looking at systemic issues, as you’ve called out,” she told Benitez.

Benitez pressed Baker on how LASP would “uplift” students who face inequitable programming, such as “culturally irrelevant texts.”

“This an opportunity for us to actually show the public our commitment to excellence and equity, for undoing harm that has been done, for looking at systemic issues.”

— Dr. Jill Baker, superintendent of Long Beach Unified School District LBUSD will train teachers and administrative staff in a Summer Equity Institute program to think differently about the classroom, Baker said. “[Training] brings in research, it brings in provocative content, that helps the teacher to think about a student’s experience,” she said.

LBUSD’s Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development (CIPD) office is already redesigning the core curriculum per LASP, Baker said.

“That means new books, new materials, and it also means a strengthen-

ing of social-emotional learning right alongside what might be traditional thinking about reading a book,” Baker said. “So social-emotional learning becomes part of what we do every day, not part of what some students receive.”

Funding for LASP will come from federal and state resources, including one-time COVID-19 supplemental relief funds, and grants that support low-income and other at-risk students, said LBUSD’s Chief Business and Financial Officer Yumi Takahashi.

The district is receiving a total of $469.1 million in COVID-19 relief funds over the next three years, Takahashi said. It will spend $120 million to $150 million per year on LASP and other LCAP programs until relief funding ends in September 2024.

Board members expressed general support for LASP’s investment in addressing inequalities and student well-being.

“It’s about how we’re choosing to embed restorative practices and social-emotional learning into who we are and how we operate, not just implementation of a particular program to ‘fix something,’” Board Member Megan Kerr said.

Board President Diana Craighead said she’s heard consistently from students that they want the District to hear and respect them.

“Even after the devastation of this whole pandemic, the silver lining is that we are learning how important the social-emotional side of education really is,” Craighead said. “We can’t expect kids to learn if they’re not in a good place emotionally.”

Benitez encouraged the community to participate in the three upcoming board meetings to provide input on how LBUSD is spending its educational resources on LASP and other plans.

“We are having these very big philosophical, strategic conversations,” Benitez said. “We need to hear from [the public].”

strived for while I was on the commission was when we sent a recommendation to the council, it was either a 5-0 or at least a 4-1 decision to show how much work we put in, and the hours that we put in, so the council understood where we were coming from.”

Wilson affirmed that, though the proclamation couldn’t list the confidential work Strichart did, he helped the City deal with employees fairly.

“It’s quite a responsibility when you’ve got somebody’s job in your hands, or possible suspension, which means a loss of pay,” Strichart said.

“They have family, they have kids— you don’t take that lightly. We put a lot of thought and a lot of deliberation into every case.”

Council members and City staff expressed appreciation for Strichart as well, including his ability to offer advice and participate in city events.

“One of the things that we talk to people about when they apply to be a commissioner is asking them to really be a representative of the city, and be a ‘face’ of the city,” Councilmember Tina Hansen said. “You have done that just miles above so many other people as far as your commitment to the city, your love of the city.”

Wilson noted that Strichart often brings his reptile collection to exhibit at city events and Councilmember Robert Copeland said Strichart recommended the local adoption agency from which his family got their greyhound.

“You’ve helped not only develop the City and keep us legally sound,” Councilmember Lori Woods said.

“You’ve helped the other commissioners through the years.”

City Manager Hannah Shin-Heydorn recounted one year when she and Strichart were getting ready to volunteer for the city’s Halloween carnival and there was a car accident in the street.

“Steve was the first one bolting up the hill, ready to help—calm, cool and collected,” Shin-Heydorn said. “He has such a heart of service and puts others in front of himself.”

Strichart—a retired police officer and former associate publisher of the Signal Tribune newspaper—said he plans to continue volunteering even though he’s no longer a commissioner.

“I am very proud of this city,” he said. “We do more for our community and our residents than many cities around us.”

In April, the council had appointed a replacement commissioner—Julianne Doi—to take Strichart’s place on the Civil Service Commission, joining commissioners Ayda Ghebrezghi, Daritza Gonzalez, Ronald Griggs and Paul Patterson.

“I take my hat off to the people that are there now,” Strichart said of the Civil Service Commission. “They’re all good people, and I know they’re going to do a good job.”

Signal Tribune MANAGING EDITOR

Emma DiMaggio

DIGITAL EDITOR

Karla M. Enriquez

PHOTO EDITOR

Richard Grant

LEGALS COORDINATOR

Katherine Green

SENIOR WRITER

Anita W. Harris

STAFF WRITER

Kristen Farrah Naeem

COLUMNIST

Claudine Burnett

The Signal Tribune welcomes letters to the editor, which should be signed, dated and include a phone number to verify authenticity. Letters are due by noon on the Wednesday before desired publication date. The Signal Tribune reserves the right to edit ­letters for grammar, language and space requirements. Letters must be 500 words or fewer. The Signal Tribune will publish no more than one “pro” letter and one “con” letter on a particular topic in a single issue. The Signal ­Tribune does not print letters that refer substantially to articles in other publications and might not print those that have recently been printed in other ­publications or otherwise presented in a public forum. Letters to the editor and commentaries are the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Signal Tribune or its staff. Although the editorial staff will attempt to verify and/or correct i­ nformation when possible, letters to the editor and commentaries are opinions, and readers should not assume that they are statements of fact. Letter-writers will be identified by their professional titles or affiliations when, and only when, the editorial staff deems it relevant and/or to provide context to the letter. We do not run letters to the editor submitted by individuals who have declared their candidacies for public office in upcoming races. This policy was put in place because, to be fair, if we publish one, we would have to publish all letters submitted by all candidates. The volume would no doubt eliminate space for letters submitted by other readers. Instead, we agree to interview candidates and print stories about political races in an objective manner and offer very reasonable advertising rates for those candidates who wish to purchase ads. The Signal Tribune is published each Friday. Yearly subscriptions are available for $100.

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(Left to right) LBCC District Board of Trustees Member Sunny Zia; LBCCD Board of Trustees Vice President Herlinda Chico; LBCCD Interim Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz; LBCC student Kirk Wilson; and LBCCD Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk at the Pride flag-raising on Thursday, May 20.

Long Beach City College raises Pride flag in honor of Harvey Milk Day Staff Report Signal Tribune

During a ceremony on May 20, Long Beach City College (LBCC) celebrated Harvey Milk Day by raising the Pride flag for the first time in the college’s history. Pride flags at Pacific Coast Campus and Liberal Arts Campus will remain until the end of June.

“We want to make sure that we provide a safe space for all of our students to feel welcome and succeed academically,” said LBCC District Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk.

Every year, California celebrates May 22 in memory of Harvey Milk, a prominent gay activist. He worked to end discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, including his fight against the Briggs Initiative which banned gays and lesbians from working in California schools.

He was the first openly gay man elected to public office in the country as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s.

He served only 11 months as supervisor before he was assassinated. “[This flag] is a visual sign to show that the LBCC community recognizes and includes all of our LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff,” said LBCC District Interim Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz.

HOSPITAL

continued from page 1 to reopen the hospital and to reopen ER. And that commitment has been met.”

Councilmember Daryl Supernaw has been a fierce advocate for the reopening of CHLB since it’s initial closure. During his speech, he noted a 1924 fire engine that was showcased at the reopening.

“It’s considered the top of the line.

It’s beautifully restored and perfectly functional,” Supernaw said. “And that’s exactly how I feel about Community Hospital.”

For the past few months, small portions of the hospital have been reopened on an emergency basis. Two weeks ago, the community celebrated the grand reopening of the hospital’s Emergency Department. Just recently did the hospital begin accepting transfer patients.

“Because it’s the City’s, there’s a uniqueness to this hospital. This really is the people’s hospital, every member of our community owns a little piece of this place,” Mayor Robert Garcia said.

“And so the City has a responsibility to ensure that it always remains open, that it always serves the public, and that it remains the people’s hospital.”

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WWW.SIGNAL-TRIBUNE.COM • COMMUNITY • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021 SAND MANDALA continued from page 1

giving, concentration, morality, and all those perfections, into our world,” Tenzin Lekshey said.

The mandala most recently made at Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery represents the abode of Heruka Chakrasamvara, who is considered a form of the Buddha. It is believed that the Buddha took on the form of Heruka Chakrasmavara in order to help people fulfil their dharma, or cosmic purpose.

“He transformed this body to help those people who really want to achieve their goal, their approach of dharma,” Lekshey said.

Heruka Chakrasamvara is among various deities referred to as “meditational deities” or Yidam, representing different embodiments of Buddhahood, or the state of enlightenment.

Practitioners associate their being with that of the deity during meditation to help achieve enlightenment.

The creation of the Heruka Chakrasamvara sand mandala took place during the lunar month of Saka Dawa, also called Vesak, which is believed to have been a significant time throughout the life of Gautama Buddha, as the month when he was born, was enlightened, and eventually reached Nirvana after passing away.

“For the Buddhist practitioners who follow the Buddhist traditions, they really have a really close belief that in Vesak month if you do something good it would be turned into multiples,” Geshe Wangchuk said through a translator.

A shrine to Heruka Chakrasamvara has been set up within the monastery.

“He can appear in several dozen different forms, from simple to complex and peaceful to wrathful,” a Facebook post by the monastery read.

The deity is depicted with twelve arms, embracing his female consort Vajrayogini with two of them, while the couple is surrounded by a ring of flames.

In front of the image of Heruka Chakrasamvara multiple offerings are placed, including incense, fruit, flowers and elaborately decorated ritual cakes called Torma.

“Many other traditions [sacrifice animals], but in Buddhism we practice non violence so we offer cake to rejoice,” Lekshey said.

The monks of Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery began working on this mandala on May 3 and finished on Wednesday, May 26 during the full moon.

Cloistered inside their monastery since the beginning of the pandemic, the resident monks have had time to make 16 different sand mandalas since March 2020.

“This year because of the pandemic we can’t go outside, so we’ve been making sand mandalas,” Tenzin Lekshey said.

After a sand mandala is finished, the blessed sand is dispersed into a body of water, showing that destruction and endings don’t have to be viewed negatively.

“We pour this sand by doing a ritual ceremony to the ocean, that in the ocean the creatures can be blessed by that, and so our ecosystem will go well, from land to ocean, ocean to land,” Geshe Wangchuk said through a trans-

Richard Grant | Signal Tribune

(Top) One of the monks at Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery uses a small pointed tool to funnel sand onto the blueprint of the sand mandala.

(Above) Individual containers hold sands in a variety of colors on a table for the making of sand mandalas at Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery on May 5, 2021.

With closures due to COVID-19, monks at the monastery have created many sand mandalas in the past year.

(Below) In additon to the large mandalas the monks of the Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery also make smaller pieces which depict the Buddha for followers to have in their homes. This one was in development on May 5, 2021.

lator.

Sand mandalas are a practice that belongs to Tibetan Buddhism, a faith that continues to persevere despite continued repression in its homeland of Tibet.

Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, such as Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery in Long Beach, are regularly destroyed in Tibet by the Chinese government.

Those monasteries that survive are subjected to intense police surveillance, with the Chinese government often building police stations inside of monasteries in order to keep tabs on the clergy within.

“As well as limiting the number of monasteries and nunneries that there are, and limiting the number of monks and nuns that can be in each one, they additionally had a police office built into them as a means of controlling that vitally central, social, cultural and political institution for Tibetan people,” Ganden Thurman of Tibet House US, an organization with the goal of preserving Tibetan culture, told the Signal Tribune.

Geshe Wangchuk is among 128,014 Tibetans currently living in exile due to the brutal takeover of Tibet by the Chinese government, according to the Central Tibetan Administration.

According to his biography on the Gaden Shartse Cultural Foundation’s website, Geshe Wangchuk was born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1972 and entered the Gaden Shartse Monastery at 8 years old. As a teenager, in 1986, he fled Tibet and escaped to the Gaden Shartse Monastic University in South India.

After Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China, its army forced its way into Tibet in 1949.

“They came to our country with the message that they were going to ‘liberate’ us,” Geshe Wangchuk said through a translator.

In 1959 the Chinese government insisted that the Dalai Lama, the spiritual Buddhist leader of Tibet, visit the Chinese Headquarters in Lhasa without his bodyguards. Afraid he was about to be kidnapped or assassinated, approximately 30,000 Tibetans flooded the streets of the city to protest.

The Chinese government responded with intense violence, killing thousands of Tibetans.

“In 1959 their goals, their approaches towards us [were] very [unbearable],” Geshe Wangchuk said through a translator.

Since then, Tibetan refugees have regularly tried to escape the oppression in their homeland, trying to avoid bullets as they flee on foot across the Himalayas.

“A lot of countries will shoot people trying to break into their country, but there’s not a huge number of countries, in history or at present times, that will shoot people trying to get out of the country,” Thurman said.

Chinese authorities in Tibet have systemically stolen land, arrested activists without cause, intimidated and assaulted the populace, spied on phone and online communications, and have denied Tibetans their rights to free speech and religion, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

“That’s why there’s a lot of problems in our country,” Geshe Wangchuk said through a translator.

While the Chinese government refuses to give Tibetans the same rights as Chinese citizens, it also refuses to acknowledge them as separate and autonomous people, attempting to tell them that they are neither Chinese nor Tibetan.

“The main thing to do is to be aware that the Tibetans exist [...] In the erasure of Tibetan culture, and of the Tibetan people, and of the Tibetan language, simply being aware that they exist is a good first step for advocating for people,” Thurman said.

Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery will livestream the dissolution ceremony of the Heruka Chakrasamvara sand mandala on Facebook from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 30.

To make a donation, visit Thubten Dhargye Ling Monastery’s website at gstdl.org.

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WWW.SIGNAL-TRIBUNE.COM • LEGAL NOTICES • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021

EYE ON CRIME CRIMES REPORTED BY THE SIGNAL HILL POLICE Thursday, May 20

6:08 a.m., Non-injury traffic collision; resisting/obstructing Police officer, Orange Ave/E. Willow St. (suspect arrested) 1:10 p.m., Burglary, 1400 block E. Willow St. 5:40 p.m., Fight, 2400 block California Ave.

Friday, May 21

12:29 p.m., Identity theft, 2700 block Cherry Ave. 3:04 p.m., Identity theft, 2500 block E. Willow St. 8:51 p.m., Stolen vehicle – recovered, 3200 block Grant St.

Saturday, May 22

12:55 p.m., Felony spousal abuse, 2000 block Cerritos Ave. 9:20 p.m., Stolen vehicle – recovered, E. 21st St. W of Cherry Ave.

Sunday, May 23

10:03 a.m., Grand theft – motor vehicle, 1800 block E. 20th St. 7:08 p.m., Grand theft, 700 block E. Spring St. 7:44 p.m., Grand theft – motor vehicle, 3100 block E. PCH 11:27 p.m., Burglary, 1800 block Temple Ave.

Monday, May 24

5:43 a.m., Auto burglary, 1900 block Freeman Ave. 7:49 a.m., Auto burglary, 2100 block Gaviota Ave. 1:58 p.m., Stolen vehicle – recovered, 1800 block Stanley Ave. 6:35 p.m., Criminal threats, 3200 block E. PCH 8:31 p.m., Identity theft, 1800 block Raymond Ave.

Tuesday, May 25

12:24 a.m., Burglary, 3200 block E. PCH (suspect arrested) 9:12 a.m., Battery, 3300 block Gundry Ave. 5:25 p.m., 2 felony warrants 900 E. 33rd St. (suspect arrested)

Wednesday, May 26

10:19 a.m., Identity theft, 1900 block Cherry Ave. 1:18 p.m., Inflict Corporate Injury on spouse/cohabitant, 3200 block E. PCH (suspect arrested) 3:21 p.m., Grand theft, 2600 block E. PCH 8:10 p.m., Possessing paraphernalia; false ID to Peace Officer; Burglary; appropriate lost property, 700 block E. Spring St. (suspect arrested) LBPD reporting area is too extensive to report here.

CITY OF SIGNAL HILL TST6448 NOTICE OF ORDINANCE INTRODUCTION Ordinance No. 2021-05-1519 was introduced by the Signal Hill City Council at their meeting of Tuesday, May 11, 2021 and adopted by the City Council at their meeting of Tuesday, May 25, 2021. A summary of the ordinance is as follows: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SIGNAL HILL, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP TO CHANGE AN APPROXIMATE 13.63-ACRE SITE AT 950 E. 33RD STREET AND 3177 CALIFORNIA AVENUE FROM “COMMERCIAL GENERAL” AND “FREEWAY SELF-STORAGE SPECIFIC PLAN” DESIGNATIONS TO “SP-12, GATEWAY CENTER NORTH SPECIFIC PLAN” AND REPEALING SIGNAL HILL MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 20.32 ENTITLED “FREEWAY SELF-STORAGE SPECIFIC PLAN” IN ITS ENTIRETY AND REPLACING IT WITH A NEW SPECIFIC PLAN ENTITLED “SP-12, GATEWAY CENTER NORTH SPECIFI PLAN” ESTABLISHING DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS FOR A COMMERCIAL CENTER The ordinance was introduced by the following vote:

AYES: MAYOR EDWARD H.J. WILSON, VICE MAYOR KEIR

JONES, COUNCIL MEMBERS ROBERT D. COPELAND,

TINA L. HANSEN, LORI WOODS

NOES: NONE

ABSENT: NONE

ABSTAIN: NONE

Pursuant to Signal Hill Charter Section 315, this ordinance shall become effective 30 days from and after the date of its adoption. A certified copy of the full text of the ordinance is available in the City Clerk’s office and on the City’s website: www.cityofsignalhill.org.

Carmen R. Brooks City Clerk Published in the Signal Tribune newspaper on May 28, 2021.

Posted at City Hall, Discovery Well Park, Reservoir Park, and the Signal Hill Library on or before May 28, 2021.

TST6430 / 2021 093645 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as: VEGA PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, 14352 Alburtis Ave., Unit 3, Norwalk, CA 90650.

Registrant: IRMA I VEGA, 14352 Alburtis Ave., Unit 3, Norwalk, CA 90650. This business is conducted by: an Individual. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. Signed: Irma I. Vega. The registrant has not begun to use this fictitious business name. This statement was filed with the county clerk of Los Angeles County on April 21, 2021. NOTICE: This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed prior to that date.

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 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code). Pub. The Signal Tribune: May 7, 14, 21, 28, 2021 TST6431 / 2021 083311 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as: 1.

RUG’IT CLEANING, 2. RUG’IT, 1679 E. 28th St., Signal Hill, CA 90755. Mailing address: 65 Pine Ave., #729, Long Beach, CA 90802.

Registrant: RUG’IT, INC., 1679 E. 28th St., Signal Hill, CA 90755. This business is conducted by: a Corporation. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct.

Signed: Isaac Salgado, President. The registrant has begun to use this fictitious business name. The registrant began using this fictitious business name in February, 2011. This statement was filed with the county clerk of Los Angeles County on April 8, 2021. NOTICE: This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed prior to that date. 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 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code). Pub. The Signal Tribune: May 7, 14, 21, 28, 2021

TST6437 Case No. 21LBCP00124 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, GEORGE DEUKMEJIAN COURTHOUSE, 275 Magnolia, Long Beach, CA 90802 PETITION OF: David Rodriguez FLORES TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: 1. Petitioners: David Rodriguez FLORES has filed a petition with this court for a decree changing his name as follows: Present Name: David Rodriguez FLORES to Proposed Name: David Flores. Present Name: Rey FLORES-RODRIQUEZ to Proposed Name: David Flores. Present Name: Rey Rodriguez FLORES to Proposed Name: David Flores. Present Name: Rey David FLORES RODRIGUEZ to Proposed Name: David Flores. 2. THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. NOTICE OF HEARING: Date: June 16, 2021; Time: 8:30a.m., Dept. 26. The address of the court is the same as above. A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, THE SIGNAL TRIBUNE, 1860 Obispo Ave., Ste. F, Signal Hill, CA 90755, May 14, 21, 28 & June 4, 2021 Michael P. Vicencia, Judge of the Superior Court Dated: May 4, 2021 TST6444 / 2021 107169 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as: 1. PORTEOUS FASTENERS COMPANY, 2. EZ SOCKET SCREW, 5855 Obispo Ave., Long Beach, CA 90805.

Registrant: BRIGHTEN-BEST INTERNATIONAL, INC., 5855 Obispo Ave., Long Beach, CA 90805. This business is conducted by: a Corporation. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. Signed: Peggy Hsieh, Secretary.

The registrant has not begun to use this fictitious business name. This statement was filed with the county clerk of Los Angeles County on May 10, 2021. NOTICE: This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed prior to that date. 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 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code). Pub. The Signal Tribune: May 21, 28, & June 4, 11, 2021

TST6443 Notice of Public Lien Sale Notice is hereby given in accordance with the provisions of the California Self-Storage Facility Act Code, Section #21700, the undersigned will be sold by public auction at: Storco Self Storage, 3050 Orange Ave, Long Beach, CA 90807, County of Los Angeles, and State of California.

Auction date of: June 07, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Terms of sale: Cash sale, all sales are final and purchased at buyers own risk.

No guarantees or warranty of any sale are promised by seller. Storco Self Storage reserves the right to refuse any bid or cancel auction. Facility owner or its representatives has the right to bid on any and all units or stop sale at any time. Name of auctioneer: Climers Auction Services.

The following units are scheduled for sale: Unit # & Customer Name: Unit # A036/ Eugene Fay - Unit # A044/Eugene Fay - Unit# C122/Eugene Fay - Unit #E074/ Daniela Diaz – Unit # E111/Managers Unit(s) contents may include but are not limited to: Electronics, furniture, appliances, garage items, toys, clothing, sporting goods, tools, automotive and miscellaneous household goods, unless otherwise stated. Publish Dates: 05/21/2021 & 05/28/2021 TST6445 / 2021 096525 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as: LONGBEACHNATIVES, 825 E. Wardlow Rd 1, Long Beach, CA 90807. Registrant: EFRAIM FLORES GONZALEZ, 825 Wardlow Rd 1, Long Beach, CA 90807.

This business is conducted by: an Individual. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. Signed: Efrain Flores Gonzalez. The registrant has not begun to use this fictitious business name. This statement was filed with the county clerk of Los Angeles County on April 26, 2021. NOTICE: This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed prior to that date. 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 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code). Pub. The Signal Tribune: May 21, 28, & June 4, 11, 2021 TST6446 Case No. 21LBCP00143 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, GOVERNOR GEORGE DEUKMEJIAN COURTHOUSE, 275 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, CA 90802 PETITION OF: TERRENCE MARQUIS ANDERSON TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: 1. Petitioners: TERRENCE MARQUIS ANDERSON has filed a petition with this court for a decree changing his name as follows: Present Name: TERRENCE MARQUIS ANDERSON to Proposed Name: TERRENCE MARQUIS. 2. THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter shall appear before this court at the hearing in-

dicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. NOTICE OF HEARING: Date: July 2, 2021; Time: 8:30a.m., Dept.

27. The address of the court is the same as above. A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once each week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county, THE SIGNAL TRIBUNE, 1860 Obispo Ave., Ste. F, Signal Hill, CA 90755, May 21, 28 & June 4, 11, 2021 Mark C. Kim, Judge of the Superior Court Dated: May 19, 2021 TST6419 / 2021 086808 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT The following person is doing business as: 1. TUTTLE CAMERA, 2. VITWAR CYNTHIA, 3. VITWAR ERIC. 5467 E. Carson St., Long Beach, CA 90808 Registrant: TUTTLE CAMERAS INC., 5467 E. Carson St., Long Beach, CA 90808.

This business is conducted by: a Corporation. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. Signed: Eric Vitwar. The registrant has begun to use this fictitious business name. The registrant began using this fictitious business name in May, 2011. This statement was filed with the county clerk of Los Angeles County on April 13, 2021. NOTICE: This fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed prior to that date. 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 14411 et seq., Business and Professions Code). Pub. The Signal Tribune: April 23, 30 & May 7, 14, 2021

EL SITIO WEB EN ESPAÑOL $30 millones en asistencia de alquiler solicitada por inquilinos y propietarios de LB hasta ahora. No es demasiado tarde para postularse LBUSD se asocia con la cíudad para albergar clínicas de vacunas en escuelas selectas

CITY OF SIGNAL HILL TST6449 NOTICE OF ORDINANCE ADOPTION Ordinance No. 2021-05-1520 was introduced by the Signal Hill City Council at their meeting of Tuesday, May 11, 2021 and adopted by the City Council at their meeting of Tuesday, May 25, 2021. A summary of the ordinance is as follows: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SIGNAL HILL, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SIGNAL HILL AND SIGNAL FIELDS NORTH, LLC, FOR CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY LOCATED WITHIN THE CITY OF SIGNAL HILL PURSUANT TO CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65864 ET SEQ. The ordinance was introduced by the following vote:

AYES: MAYOR EDWARD H.J. WILSON, VICE MAYOR KEIR

JONES, COUNCIL MEMBERS ROBERT D. COPELAND,

TINA L. HANSEN, LORI WOODS

NOES: NONE

ABSENT: NONE

ABSTAIN: NONE

Pursuant to Signal Hill Charter Section 315, this ordinance shall become effective 30 days from and after the date of its adoption. A certified copy of the full text of the ordinance is available in the City Clerk’s office and on the City’s website: www.cityofsignalhill.org.

Carmen R. Brooks City Clerk Published in the Signal Tribune newspaper on May 28, 2021.

Posted at City Hall, Discovery Well Park, Reservoir Park, and the Signal Hill Library on or before May 28, 2021.

7

WWW.SIGNAL-TRIBUNE.COM • ARTS/CULTURE • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021

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Jordan Geiger | Long Beach Opera

From left: Samantha Mohr, Anna Schubert, Shauna Davis, Joe Davis, Edward Nelson and Maleek Washington in Long Beach Opera’s “Les Enfants Terribles.”

Long Beach Opera breaks boundaries with “Les Enfants Terribles,” promising innovative season

C

Anita W. Harris Senior Writer

OVID-19 seems to have only increased Long Beach Opera’s (LBO) penchant for avant-garde performance. In its first post-pandemic live show performed last weekend—Philip Glass’s “Les Enfants Terribles”—LBO ingeniously blended live and digital art, opera and film, and even orchestrated an audience both there and not.

Staged on the top floor of a parking garage at 2nd and PCH in Long Beach, the performance consisted of three pianos, a conductor, and—in an especially innovative move—new LBO Artistic Director James Darrah following and filming eight performers to project simultaneously on large screens placed at intervals in the garage.

Audience members—seated in cars or in chairs between cars—watched through windshields both the live performance and, on the screens, the intricately filmed version Darrah provided through his hand-held camera, often both at once and from different angles.

The result is a multidimensionally immersive artistic experience—seeing and hearing Glass’s ethereal music live and listening to it through the radio; experiencing opera live and like a drive-in movie; and the added thrill of watching Darrah—also a filmmaker— capture movement details and closeup facial expressions in real time as performers moved around the “stage,” sometimes literally running up and down parking aisles.

Darrah’s filmmaking during the performance is fitting since Glass based his libretto on a 1929 Jean Cocteau novel that became a film of the same name in 1950. Glass’s 1996 opera for three pianos emphasizes dance, here choreographed by Chris Emile, with music conducted by Christopher

Jordan Geiger | Long Beach Opera

Anna Schubert (Elisabeth) and Edward Nelson (Paul) in Long Beach Opera’s “Les Enfants Terribles.”

Rountree. Pianists Stephen Karr, Vicki Ray and Sarah Gibson brought to life Glass’s rhythmic yet melodic score divided among their three instruments.

The performers—four singers and the four dancers who shadowed them—also brought incredible energy and verve, even with an audience of mostly cars. The tale centers on two siblings—the “terrible children” of the title—and their two friends who become entangled in an ultimately tragic love story.

Anna Schubert, a soprano, is luminously expressive as the highly emotional and dramatic Elisabeth, who plays a secret psychological game with her teenaged younger brother Paul.

Voiced by Edward Nelson—somewhat surprisingly a baritone—Paul is sulky and fragile. Joining them are friends Agathe, voiced by the striking Sarah Beaty—who also plays Dargelos, a childhood frenemy of Paul’s—and

Orson Van Gay II as sensitive Gérard, who grows to love Elisabeth.

Dancers Joe Davis, Shauna Davis, Samantha Mohr and Maleek Washington lithely echoed the singers’ gestures and emotions as they performed, sometimes countering them, highlighting the choreographic dimension and magnifying the story’s already highly charged emotions. Colorful costumes (Camille Assaf) and clusters of props arranged in different parts of the garage floor (Yuki Izumihara) artfully assisted in creating the siblings’ world.

Ensconced in cars or huddled in chairs beside them, with windows down and the radio on, performers sometimes directly in front with Darrah filming close by—often right next to a digital screen—the audience could feast on the opera’s aural, visual, digital, gestural and emotional richness, even in a parking garage.

This first live production of the season bodes well for LBO’s future productions under Darrah’s artistic direction. With Darrah on board until at least 2024—following, most recently, Andreas Mitisek and interim director Yuval Sharon—LBO is poised to take a filmic turn in what Darrah describes as “operatic cinema.”

Executive Director Jennifer Rivera commends Darrah’s commitment to cultural inclusiveness and a musical sensitivity to match his “bold” digital vision.

“The future of opera is both cinematic and live,” Darrah says. “These unprecedented times call for unprecedented action, and the team at LBO is ready to innovate, evolve and explore new territory for the operatic form.”

Next up from LBO is a double bill of Arnold Schoenberg’s surrealist “Pierrot Lunaire” and Kate Soper’s kaleidoscopic “Voices from the Killing Jar” on Aug. 14 and 15 at The Ford open-air theatre in Los Angeles. For tickets and more information, visit LongBeachOpera.org.

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Jordan Geiger | Long Beach Opera

Anna Schubert (Elisabeth) with Artistic Director James Darrah filming in Long Beach Opera’s “Les Enfants Terribles.”

NEED TO POST A LEGAL NOTICE? Send an email to legalnotices@ signaltribune.com

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WWW.SIGNAL-TRIBUNE.COM • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021

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