Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XLI NO. 37
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
www.signaltribune.com
In this issue
Violent crime is down in Long Beach, but police frustrated with criminal reoffenders
NEWS
CSULB announces largest incoming class, students express concerns of overcrowding
Sebastian Echeverry Managing Editor
Page 3
longbeach.granicus.com
During the Sept. 3 Long Beach City Council meeting, which primarily consisted of a dialogue about and finalization of the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 budget, 3rd District Councilmember Suzie Price emphasized the importance of engaging all nine districts when discussing funds allocated for citywide efforts.
LB City Council approves $2.8-billion budget for FY 2019-2020
Heated discussions centered around youth programs, inclusiveness and tree removal. Coast Guard assets dispatched from LA/LB base respond to burning boat off Santa Cruz islands
Page 15
COMMUNITY
September 6, 2019
Cory Bilicko Staff Writer
During a six-and-a-half-hour meeting that began Tuesday night and concluded early Wednesday morning, the Long Beach City Council approved a $2.8-billion budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020, instituting a few changes to the draft budget that officials had issued in July. The budget will take effect Oct. 1. One adjustment concerned
the restoration of fire services. East Long Beach’s Fire Engine 17, which had been decommissioned seven years ago because of budget cuts during the recession, will be brought back into use. The council also voted to provide about $1.5 million in funding to immediately implement a temporary replacement for the Los Cerritos neighborhood’s Fire Station 9, located at 3917 Long Beach Blvd., to house the
fire engine and paramedic rescue within the service area while that site undergoes mold remediation after having been closed in June. The council also allocated up to $7.7 million of Measure A funds for the next four years to provide a permanent replacement for the existing Station 9, which was constructed in 1938. The council also voted to
Top brass with the Long Beach Police Department stated during a public safety meeting last month that data collected as of July indicated that crime has dropped 6.7% citywide when compared to numbers from last year. Long Beach Chief of Police Robert Luna also said that violent crime was down 12%. “That’s miraculous,” Luna said. Although crime has gone down citywide, Luna said he has received messages from concerned residents who said they see reported criminal incidents rising all over social-media sites. “People ask me all the time, ‘Wait a minute. I’m reading about something on Nextdoor [a neighbor-
see LB COUNCIL page 15
Earthquake potential under Ports of LB and LA higher than previously believed
LB Economic Development team seeks to help startups with free retail space Page 7
Dog-lovers rejoice! Hounds on the Hill returns Sept. 21 Page 5
see CRIME page 10
Recent study suggests Wilmington Fault could actively generate large quake. Anita W. Harris Staff Writer
The Southern California temblors a couple of months ago may have us on slightly higher alert. But a new study suggests we might need to be even more prepared for a Long Beach-area earthquake. Franklin Wolfe, a researcher at Harvard University’s Earth and Planetary Sciences department, led a study on the Wilmington
Fault, a seismic fault line that cuts through the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. Using 2D and 3D seismic-reflection surveying and petroleum, water-well and groundwater-aquifer data, the researchers concluded that the “blind-thrust” fault is active rather than dormant as previously believed. Furthermore, the fault’s size suggests it can generate 6.3- to see PORT page 14