Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XLI NO. 10
In this issue COMMUNITY
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
www.signaltribune.com
The Los Angeles Angels... of Long Beach?
March 1, 2019
“This whole thing just breaks my heart.”
City of LB officials mulling idea of relocating MLB team from Anaheim. Staff Report Signal Tribune
At State of District, Cohn discusses impending loss of RDA funds
The BKBIA director also celebrated ‘consistency and longevity’ of many programs. Page 5
NEWS
Mailer misconception?
Days before election, flyers circulating around SH community show LB Mayor Garcia’s false endorsement of candidate Wilson. Page 5
CULTURE
As reported countywide, City officials have proposed the possibility of the Anaheim-based Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball (MLB) team that has played at Angels Stadium since 1966, moving to Long Beach. The City has approached the Angels and discussed the possibility of relocating the team to a 13-acre lot in downtown Long Beach, near the waterfront, according to local media outlets. “Having a major league team in Long Beach would have a huge upside for our businesses, their employees and our community,” said Heather Rozman, executive director of the Long Beach Hospitality Alliance (LBHA), whose members represent the city’s hotels and entertainment centers, in a press release Feb. 27. Rozman added, “Our members and our greater hospitality industry are ‘on deck’ to provide the support our city may need to turn this potential into a reality.” The alliance stated in its release that the discussions between the team and the city focus on the construction of a stadium southeast
File photo
Pictured is Lona’s City Limits Cantina, a bar located at 1174 E. Wardlow Rd. on the border of Signal Hill and Long Beach that was featured in the reality show “Bar Rescue” in 2013. Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) officers are searching for a suspect who opened fire outside the cantina the early morning of Saturday, Feb. 23. Officers say only one person was injured. Wikimedia Commons
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim could be on the move to Long Beach, according to city officials and multiple media reports this week.
of the Long Beach Arena and Performing Arts Center. Dubbed the “elephant lot” because of its days hosting the Ringling Bros. Circus, the site is among the largest undeveloped parcels of land in downtown Long Beach, per city officials. On Feb. 26, Randy Gordon, pressee ANGELS page 11
Voters to decide fate of two SH city council seats, charter measures March 5 With election days away, SH residents have time to decide who and what to vote for. Denny Cristales Managing Editor
Theatre review
Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s Othello Page 8
Residents will decide the fate of two Signal Hill City Council positions and the future of city elections during the general-municipal election on Tuesday, March 5. In a few days, residents will be able to vote for: two of three candidates for a position on the Signal Hill City Council, which will be held for a full-term of four years; a City Clerk to a full-term; a City Treasurer to a full-term; and two competing charter amendments, Measure M and Measure N. Kim Boles, deputy city clerk and assistant to the city manager, told the Signal Tribune in a phone interview Feb. 27 that polls will close March 5 at 8pm. Once poll workers conclude their paperwork, the ballots will see ELECTION page 11
Shooter opens fire nearby Lona’s City Limits Cantina this past weekend Officers are still searching for the suspect involved in the incident, which left one person with an injured hand. Denny Cristales Managing Editor
The Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) told the Signal Tribune this week that there are no updates or leads on the shooting incident last weekend nearby Lona’s City Limits Cantina that left one person injured. A suspect fired a gun at a crowd of individuals in an alleyway nearby the restaurant the early morning of Saturday, Feb. 23, according to the SHPD. At 12:17am Saturday, the SHPD received a call of a shooting by Lona’s City Limits Cantina. Officers stated that, when they arrived, a large group of people at the bar claimed there was a fight between several people outside the establishment and that someone had fired a gun into a crowd in the alleyway. “Right now, we’re working really hard with the police to remedy the situation,” said Lona Lee, owner of Lona’s City Limits Cantina, in a phone interview Feb. 27. “We’ve been here 20 years, and we’ve worked really hard to get where we’re at. We can’t allow this behavior [to ruin] that. We’re making stricter rules to do whatever it takes to keep this place safe and friendly. Our neighbors in our community are most important to us– and our customers.”
Originally identifying no victims in the incident, officers said they learned that a victim walked into a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the hand. During the investigation, SHPD officers also located several shell casings in an alley in the rear of the location in Signal Hill. The suspect is still outstanding. SHPD detectives are gathering evidence and reviewing surveillance-camera footage in the area. Lee said she provided the department with surveillance footage, which she said is confidential for the investigation, from her restaurant. The Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) initially responded to the incident– phoned in as an “assault with a weapon call” in the 1100 block of East Wardlow Road at approximately 12:20am, according to Shaunna Dandoy, LBPD public-information officer, in a phone call Feb. 27. As Lona’s City Limits Cantina borders Signal Hill and Long Beach, the LBPD arrived at the scene in the alleyway and determined the incident occurred exclusively in SHPD jurisdiction. SHPD Sgt. Kelli Brown told the Signal Tribune Feb. 26 there are no see SHOOTING page 11