Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XLI NO. 47
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
www.signaltribune.com
Long Beach fire chief says staff shortages are causing overtime strain on ambulance crews
In this issue NEWS
Recruits joining brush-fire crews, schooling and training causing staff shortage,
Signal Hill City Council leases land to Honda for auto storage The council also approves accepting State funds to plan new housing Page 3
fire official says. Sebastian Echeverry Courtesy the Port of Long Beach
The proposed plan for upgrades to the port would deepen the approach channel and the standby area, as well as widen the main channel. Officials say that the improvements will increase efficiency and help the port better serve modern vessels.
Long Beach officials answer questions about potential port construction project to deepen the waters Officials from the Port of Long Beach and the United States Army Corp of Engineers outline plan to upgrade port and take questions about environmental concerns
Daniel Green Production Manager
Back in the workforce: Long Beach launches homeless employment program Page 8
A meeting regarding possible upgrades to the Port of Long Beach that would deepen the waters around the port raised some questions from some members of the public regarding the potential impacts that could stem from the proposed construction.
On Wednesday, officials from the Port of Long Beach (POLB) and the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) held two separate public meetings to explain the proposed project and gather feedback from the public regarding the port upgrades. Col. Aaron Barta, the Los Angeles district commander for USACE, welcomed attendees to
Student carjacked at gunpoint at CSULB Staff Report Signal Tribune
Port of LA report says tariffs cause ‘more harm than good’ Page 13
November 15, 2019
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, at approximately 1:40pm, a Cal State University Long Beach student was carjacked at gunpoint at the Walter Pyramid parking structure by an unknown suspect, University Police officials said. The suspect approached the victim outside his vehicle on the 4th floor of the parking structure and engaged in casual conversation for about 10 minutes, according to police. The suspect then spun the vic-
tim around and held a handgun to the victims neck, took the victims keys, took the vehicle and left campus, police said. The vehicle was a silver 2009 Lexus RX350. The suspect is described as a white male in his 20s, with medium-length, light brown hair, approximately 5’8″ tall, weighing 160lbs and was wearing a royal blue jacket and an unknown color backpack, police said. University Police is urging anyone who witnessed the crime or saw the vehicle described to contact UPD detectives at (562) 985-4101.
the first of the two meetings to discuss the Deep Draft Navigation Feasibility Study that was released in October 2019. “Our goal tonight is to exchange information in several ways,” Barta said, “First, we will briefly describe the feasibility process to date, the draft finding so far and what is to come in the
Managing Editor
The Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD) Chief Xavier Espino informed the Long Beach City Council via a memo Nov. 1 that his department was recently facing a shortage of full-time employees trained to operate Basic Life Support (BSL) ambulance units. “To staff the units that we have available in the city, we were forcing mandatory overtime for the people that were full-time employees,” LBFD Deputy Fire Chief Jim Rexwinkle told the Signal Tribune via a phone call Tuesday, “So, to keep all five units in service, we were forcsee FIRE STAFF page 9
see PORT page 14
Man pleads not guilty in alleged DUI Crash that killed couple, 3-year-old son City News Service Southern California Local News
A man who allegedly drove drunk on Halloween night and ran down a Long Beach couple and their 3-year-old son pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three counts each of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. see PLEA page 10
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Navarro was driving a 2002 Toyota Sequoia southbound on Country Club Drive and failed to make a turn. Instead, he drove onto the sidewalk and hit the family as they were walking home after a night of trickor-treating
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– Long Beach Police Department