Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and Signal Hill with 30,000 issues every Friday
VOL. XLII NO. 5
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
www.signaltribune.com
In this issue
Senate Bill 50 gains new life amidst community concern
NEWS
The bill, which would authorize multi-family buildings to be built near “high-quality” transit stations resurfaced in early January and requires a Senate vote by month’s end.
LBPD cites changing social climate, victim advocacy as reasons for increase in reported rape cases Page 2
COURTESY CITY OF LB
Schematic of the Queen Mary leasehold area from the Sept. 2016 Queen Mary Land Development Task Force report, showing developable water and land areas surrounding the ship.
Getting the Queen Mary shipshape to take 30 years
CULTURE
Developer Urban Commons says it now has additional revenue streams to help fund the preservation.
Anita W. Harris Staff Writer
The venerable Queen Mary– having been docked in Long Beach as a hotel, dining and special-event venue for 52 of her 85 years– needs a makeover to ensure she stays intact and afloat. Urban Commons, a Los Angeles-based real-estate investment and development firm, and lease-
A mini guide to local breweries, gastropubs and Long Beach’s first distillery
Page 3
January 24, 2020
holder of the Queen Mary until 2080, announced last week its intention to develop a preservation plan for the ship with the help of John Thomas, the ship’s historic-resources advisor, and other industry experts. According to Mayor Robert Garcia in his Jan. 14 State of the City speech, those preservation blueprints will be “accessible and transparent to the public.”
The 30-year plan– to be unveiled at an unspecified later date– will outline the major preservation and renovation work required, along with associated costs, the firm announced Jan. 16. It will also facilitate annual inspections and surveys every five years over the long-term plan. see QUEEN MARY page 11
New life has been given to Senate Bill 50, the contentious housing bill introduced by Democratic state Senator Scott Weiner of San Francisco, designed to increase density around transit stations and jobs. If passed, the bill would focus on neighborhoods with or around “high-quality” transit stations, or those containing train and high-frequency bus stations. The bill would authorize multi-family buildings to be erected near the transit centers. This would mean that in a zone limited to single-famisee HOUSING page 2
Long Beach skateboard company helps plant forests in Africa
The Rad Black Kids creates minimalist skateboards, donates portion of proceeds to nonprofits Kristen Naeem Staff Writer
Jimmy E’s Bar and Grill will open Super Bowl weekend in anticipation of grand opening Page 6
Skateboarding isn’t often associated with professionalism and environmentalism, but one Long Beach business is looking to change that. The Rad Black Kids is designing sleek, aesthetically appealing skateboards that are appropriate everywhere, and planting a tree for each one sold. Founder Thulani Ngazimbi discovered his affinity for snow-
boarding, and later skateboarding after moving from Zimbabwe to a small town in Idaho. “I got into snowboarding pretty fast and it was kind of a godsend in a way because there’s nothing to do in Idaho over the winter,” Ngazimbi said. “And so it kind of repelled seasonal affective disorder, and then summer came around and the buddies I had when I was snowboarding would longboard during the see SKATEBOARD page 10
Courtesy of The Rad Black Kids
The underside of a skateboard by The Rad Black Kids.
“I Endorse Juan Ovalle for City Council!” - Councilwoman Rae Gabelich (Retired) I know what the job takes, and there’s no one I would trust more to represent us — our uptown, 8th District community — than Juan Ovalle. He has the honesty, leadership skills, and independence to restore residents as the top priority in City Hall. - Rae
Juan
valle
for City Council
LET’S ELECT AN ADVOCATE, NOT A POLITICIAN. Let’s send another dedicated community leader and neighborhood advocate, like Rae Gabelich, to represent The People—not special interests, parties, political alliances, and outside influences—in City Hall. www.JuanOvalleForCouncil.com Paid for by Juan Ovalle for City Council 2020 (ID# 1419219)