Grunion Gazette 11-24-11

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VOL. 34 NO. 47 NOVEMBER 24, 2011 Follow us on

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By Stephanie MinasianSTAFF WRITER

During a time when gay people were shunned in Long Beach and across the nation, there was one place they could go for support and love — Christ Chapel. The non-denominational that serves predominately gay and lesbian residents is celebrating 30 years of service and advocacy in the community with a gala set for Dec. 3 at the Whaley Park Com-munity Center, located at 5620 Atherton St. “We plan on sharing some nos-talgia and looking back on our history,” said church board mem-ber Steve Stark. “We’ll also host dinner and dancing, which will be a nice celebration of our serving the community.” In the 1980s, when many gay people were dying of AIDS, Christ Chapel stepped in to form an AIDS food store and support system to help victims of the dis-ease fi nd spiritual guidance and assistance. To this day, Christ Chapel serves 70 to 80 people twice a month, and provides them with

food and essentials, such as toi-letries, to help get them by. “Back then, in the 1980s, be-ing gay and being a Christian was almost an oxymoron,” Stark said. “Now, we are bringing it all to-gether. When people were facing death, the church really stepped up and helped out… That was in 1984, and today, the AIDS food store is located in the church, and we do it every other week.” Founded in 1981 by Pastor Mi-chael Cole, the church originated in his living room, and offered a place for gay and lesbian resi-dents to worship and fi nd help, during a time when mainstream churches shut them out, accord-ing to Stark. Cole’s loving spirit and ability to make others feel welcomed and comfortable caused the church to grow rapidly. “No one in Long Beach had started something like this,”

Stark added. “He was just a lov-ing man, who made everyone feel very comfortable about God and coming together. We had AIDS killing people at the same time — we were all dying and needed the comfort of Christ, and Michael was there when we needed Chris-tian comfort the most.” As the church outgrew Cole’s living room, he established its current location at 3935 E. 10th St. Unfortunately, Cole passed away in 2005 of a heart attack, but his legacy of giving back to those in need has continued to fl ourish, Stark said. The church members also help to feed the homeless, by bring-ing them breakfast each Tuesday morning. The 30th anniversary gala will start at 6 p.m. for a recep-tion and social hour, followed by dinner and dancing at 7 p.m.

Church Celebrates Gay Service

(Continued on Page 43A)

—Photo courtesy Syncopated DrummersPOUND IT OUT. The Last Generation of Syncopated Drummers march in the 2003 parade.

By Ashleigh OldlandEDITOR

Marching to their own beat, the Last Generation of Syncopated Drummers will return to next month’s Belmont Shore Christ-mas Parade after several years on hiatus. The Last Generation of Syn-

copated Drummers (LGSD) per-forms a style of drumming popu-lar in the 1960s and 1970s that focuses on cadences played hard and loud by the 16-man group. Founded in 1979, LGSD mem-bers are friends from area high school drum corps; the members

Syncopation ReturnsFor Shore’s Parade


—Gazette photo by Jonathan Van DykeFormer Los Angeles Laker A.C. Green, center, and new Coach Mike Brown, far right, were among the people from the Lakers organization serving lunch last Thursday at the Long Beach Senior Center.

CELEBRITY SERVERS


With a new regulation in effect that gives the state the authority to revoke a charter from a school after review, New City Public Schools is facing the possible elimination of its own charter, due to recent lower test scores. The state recently passed a regulation code that was put into place earlier this year, according to New City executive director Sabrina Bow, which now gives the State Department of Edu-cation the ability to supersede a school district, and revoke a school’s charter. About 14 schools across the state, including New City, are up for the possible elimination of its charter. New City, a kindergarten through 12th grade institution,

By Harry SaltzgaverEXECUTIVE EDITOR

More than 700 victims of do-mestic violence — women, chil-dren and men — come through the doors of WomenShelter ev-ery year. Many come with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, seeking shelter from potentially deadly violence. WomenShelter provides that emergency shelter, then also works to help the vic-tims establish new lives. “We can help with counseling, legal advice, even with fi nding someplace to live once they are ready to move on,” said TuLynn Smylie, WomenShelter’s execu-tive director. “What’s harder is providing the extras, particu-larly during the holidays. That’s why we try to fi nd groups or businesses to adopt families for Christmas. It’s also why the gift cards are so important.”

TEST SCORES LOW

New CityCharterIn Doubt

Gift CardDrive ForVictims

(Continued on Page 43A)(Continued on Page 42A)

A | GRUNION GAZETTE | November 24, 2011GAZETTE COMMENTARY

Try CamerasTo The Editor, Regarding the number of hate crimes against gay residents in Long Beach: Let’s place secu-rity cameras along the Broadway corridor and along Fourth Street. They’ve worked well downtown on Pine Avenue. What’s good for Pine Avenue is good enough for the Broadway corridor and Fourth Street.

Dave HallLong Beach

Dogs Vs. BikesTo The Editor,

I’ve lived in downtown Long Beach for more than 20 years. I’ve walked my dogs, every day, around the marina.

I’ve just been advised this morning that the City is now en-forcing municipal code 6.16.090, which bans dogs from the beach and the walkway on the beach. I was told by one offi cer “dogs leashes were interfering with the bikes.” A second offi cer said, “It’s political.” I feel that the city has already kowtowed a lot for the bicycle crowd. I ride my bike on the beach walkway, but I enjoy see-ing all the other people use it too. It’s a public beach, for goodness sake. The only problem I’ve en-countered is unsupervised small children darting about. Are they banned next? The city built a bike lane on Broadway, but no one is using it

and everyone hates it. What’s the deal now? Bikers want to use our nice beach walkway for their own use? Now the city kicks dog own-ers (homeowners) and their pets off the walkway. We, homeowners, are paying for this path, now we can’t use it?

Heidi MaerkerDowntown

Getting FactsTo The Editor,

Taylor Ramsey (“Our Mail-box,” Nov. 17) seems to be under the impression that the city of Long Beach mandates affordable housing that must be subsidized by market rate units in the same

Retirement parties and funerals — the sure sign that you’re get-ting older is that you are attend-ing more of those than weddings, at least with your friends as prin-cipals in the ceremony. Last Friday’s shindig, fortu-nately, was a retirement, not a fun-eral. It was for Richard Steinke (that damned Dick to his siblings) as he leaves the city’s employ af-ter 22 years. For 14 of those years, he led the Port of Long Beach. That leadership was critical, because these were critical years. Steinke led the port through a true extreme makeover, turning Long Beach into the model for environ-mental awareness in the shipping industry worldwide. True, that makeover came with plenty of pressure from activists, environmentalists and politi-cians. But the reality is, Steinke and Long Beach embraced that change and became leaders in in-novation. Steinke also guided the port through the minefi eld that is per-mitting, environmental and gov-ernmental, that continues to allow the port to improve its infrastruc-ture and continue being a leader in the industry. A case could be made for naming the replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge after that damned Dick, although that won’t happen. Just as importantly, Steinke managed to walk that super-thin tightrope of putting the port’s business interests in the forefront while reacting to both the politi-cal needs of the city leadership

and the real needs of the city as a whole. Better, he did it with a smile (at least in public) and the manners of a true gentleman. In other words, Steinke did a tough job well, and by all ac-counts did it with both integrity and style. Last Friday night, I got to see why. Dick’s parents — that’s why. I spent a good half hour with Gene and Doris Steinke. We have plenty in common, starting with the fact that they live in Denver, and raised Dick and his siblings there — not far from where I spent my childhood years. It turns out that Gene (and Dick, following in his father’s footsteps) was a left-handed fi rst baseman. So was I. He idolized Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse of the New York Yankees who many, in-cluding me, believe was the best fi rst baseman of all time. I had an in with Gene. My great-uncle, Jack Saltzgaver, was the guy who played fi rst base the day Lou Gehrig stepped down, suffering from what has become known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Jack Saltzgaver was a utility in-fi elder who was in the Bigs for several years, but never played much. Still, he has a claim to fame. It says so right in the offi -

cial Lou Gehrig biography. Gene and I were able to remi-nisce over the old Denver Bears, the Yankees’ Triple A farm club in the 1960s (Gene was an adult, I was a kid going to games with Dad and Grandpa). He rattled off names like Bobby Richard-son, Clete Boyer and others that I thought only I remembered. By the by, Gene was the hit of the night when he got up and be-gan telling stories about his son. It was easy to see where Dick got his great good humor and self-deprecation. The man got a stand-ing ovation. The love in his eyes when he gave Dick a hug brought back memories of my own father. Thank you for that, Mr. Steinke sir. Dick has it made in many ways. He has a great family, three lovely daughters through college and doing good work and he’s es-caped a career of public service with his good reputation intact. Better, he has his health and a love of life that will keep him ac-tive. There’s no doubt he’ll even-tually start another career, and an equal certainty that he’ll get his golf handicap down to single dig-its for good. He deserves every good thing that comes his way. He didn’t just do it his way, he did it the right way. Congratulations, my friend. Enjoy.

Are you having a bit of a tough time fi nding things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving? We’ve heard more than one such complaint. It’s certainly un-derstandable. While the economists keep telling us we’re no longer in a recession, the recovery certainly is plenty slow for most, whether you talk to merchants or workers. Anyone associated with educa-tion or government (local, state or federal) knows the bad times aren’t over yet. Occupy encampments epito-mize dissatisfaction. But really, some of the loudest complaints come from those middle class working homes that haven’t seen a raise for years, or are struggling to pay both the mortgage and the car payments. So what is there to be thankful for? It may be clichéd, but we’re here to suggest that you should be thankful for what you have. Start with the country we live in. Despite all the complaints we hear from the Occupy folks, the fact is, they are free to have their say. Even in economically boom-ing China, that can’t be said. Shall we talk physical need? Take a look at what poverty means in Africa. Or, if you want to get closer to home, visit Haiti. There, our minimum hourly wage would be welcome income for a day, even a week. We’re certainly not trying to argue that there isn’t poverty and need in our own country. In fact, that need is what we really want to talk about here. Long Beach long has been known as a community with a heart, and that heart comes to the forefront this time of year. How does it work? People look around and see other people more in need than themselves. Unfortunately, that’s not hard to fi nd. We try to help by pointing out some of the groups who make it their business to ease the pain. You can fi nd a way to help year-round in the For A Good Cause column, and this time of the year we add Holiday Sharing. That’s because this time of year is when people band together to provide a bit more holiday cheer. We’re talking about the Basket Brigade, the Better Balance folks with their One Day Christmas Store, the Mayor’s Food Drive, the Police Department’s toy drive and others.

Then there are the help agen-cies that rev up the engines this time of year. Long Beach’s Res-cue Mission doesn’t just operate the winter shelter for the home-less, it provides Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. So does the Salvation Army. Multitudes of Christmas parties for the less fortunate pack the calendar. We’d like to offer up our own effort to provide a little extra for the season, too. That’s the gift card drive for WomenShelter’s clients, who are victims of do-mestic violence. These families often are homeless or at best scraping by at below subsistence levels. Read the story on the front page to fi nd out how you can par-ticipate. Being thankful is a state of mind. Being thankful for what you have (not upset by what you don’t have) can be a tougher state of mind to reach. But helping those who are less fortunate is a very effective way to reach that state of mind. And it is the Long Beach way.

So take action in the month be-tween today and Christmas day. Give a little or give a lot. Give money, give time, give a toy, give some food, but give. You will be making some-one else thankful. Don’t believe that? Visit the Rescue Mission’s Thanksgiving dinner, or the Christmas Store, or one of the many Christmas parties. The thanks for something many of us take for granted can be over-whelming. That action also will help you realize that you have plenty to be thankful for, even if you are struggling more than you’ve had to struggle in the past. Because there are those who have less than you have, those who are in positions worse than yours. We’re thankful for the opportu-nity to help our community. We bet you’ll be thankful for that op-portunity too, once you take ad-vantage of it. Happy Thanksgiving.

Helping OthersCreates Thanks


“Being thankful is a state of mind. Being

thankful for what you have can be a

tougher state of mind to reach.”

Retirement Of Another Good One

November 24, 2011 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 3A

buildings. This is false. Tax increment dollars are of-fered to developers to offset the loss they take when renting or selling units below market value. Those dollars come from the increase in property values that results from the city’s dol-lars being invested in previously blighted properties. Those tax dollars would have gone to the county and state, but under Redevelopment, stay here in our community where they combat blight and extend hous-ing opportunities to our work-force. It’s a win-win. Mr. Ramsey should educate himself before publicly criticiz-ing other members of his com-munity.

John TecumsehSignal Hill

A lawsuit fi led by the parents of Wilson High School honor stu-dent Melody Ross now has only the Long Beach Unifi ed School District as a defendant. Ross, a junior at the time of her death, was killed Oct. 31, 2009, after a high school football game at Wilson’s stadium. She was an innocent bystander caught by a bullet in an alleged gang shoot-ing. Earlier this year, a jury found Tom Love Vinson guilty of fi rst-degree murder in Ross’s death, and Daivion Davis pleaded no contest to manslaughter and at-tempted murder for his part in the crime. In a last-minute twist there, one of the alleged targets, Brad Van, showed up at Vinson’s sentencing hearing and that case

now has been postponed until Dec. 2. In the civil suit, which Vana-reth and Chantha Ross fi led last year, the parents claimed that the city was liable in the case because lighting on Ximeno Avenue, where the shooting took place, was inadequate. The wrongful death claim against the school district argues that there was in-adequate supervision in a situa-tion where offi cials should have known that violence was a likeli-hood. On Nov. 10, attorneys for both the school district and the city pre-sented arguments that the judge

should summarily dismiss the case. Last week, Judge Ross M. Klein granted the city’s motion to dismiss it from the case, but did not dismiss the case against the school district. “Basically, the plaintiff argued that the lighting somehow fa-cilitated the crime,” said Monte Matchit, principal deputy city at-torney. “The judge ruled that there was no way they could prove that the crime was motivated by dark-ness there. It might have been a different situation if it were a dark, secluded alley, but this was a street.” Attorneys for the school district

won a partial victory. While Klein allowed the lawsuit to move for-ward to trial, he did throw out the count arguing that the school had created a situation conducive to violence. “The Long Beach Unifi ed School District is extremely pleased that the judge in our case has completely thrown out the al-legations in the complaint claim-ing that there was a dangerous condition associated with LBUSD property at the time of this in-

cident,” said Chris Eftychiou, LBUSD spokesperson. “As to the remaining theory, the judge has written, ‘it is diffi cult to see how LBUSD could have prevented the shooting.’ We certainly agree. “He has concluded that a jury and not a judge should ultimately decide whether the school district could have prevented this off-campus, random act of violence.” Klein’s ruling was issued on Nov. 18. No date has been set for the next hearing in the case.

Judge Limits Ross Lawsuit Scope

(Continued from Page 2A)

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A | GRUNION GAZETTE | November 24, 2011

By Harry SaltzgaverEXECUTIVE EDITOR

A number of Belmont Shore business owners received an unwanted gift recently from the city just as Christmas shopping began — a notice that they might be in violation of the city’s ordi-nance regulating signage. But city offi cials said last week no one has received a cita-tion, and temporary holiday mes-sages, including popular holiday window paintings, are not sub-ject to the prohibition. Better, no permit is necessary for window painting (as long as it is removed in a timely manner), said Angela Reynolds, deputy director of De-velopment Services. Last month, 25 property own-ers received letters saying a busi-ness in a building they owned was possibly violating the mu-nicipal code regarding excessive signage. The letter warns that the city would investigate in the near future, but also stresses there is only a possible violation. Such letters are sent when a complaint is lodged, Reynolds said, adding that nobody has been cited. Reynolds said it is against city policy to reveal the identity of the person fi ling the complaint, adding that those complaints can be submitted anonymously. But shortly before the com-plaints surfaced, Belmont Shore Watch & Clock Center was warned that a banner hanging outside its window violated the code. Mark Messinger, owner of the business, moved the banner inside and fi led for and received a permit for the banner (there is no permit for excessive signage, however). In an interview on a separate topic, Messinger said he was be-ing singled out by the city when most businesses on Second Street were in violation of the sign code. Reynolds would not confi rm that was the source of the complaints, however. Dede Rossi, manager of the Belmont Shore Business Asso-ciation, also could not say where the complaints originated. Rossi sent an email to all business owners warning of the potential crackdown and urging people to comply with the law. The city’s ordinance says no more than 10% of a store’s win-dows can be covered by signs or advertising. Also, there are restrictions to the size of outside signs and awnings. “We send the letters because quite often the property owners will convince the businesses to comply,” Reynolds said. “We’ve checked about 25% of these, and they are in compliance now.” Reynolds added that people had no cause for concern in re-gards to Christmas decorations. “There’s an exception for temporary holiday decorations,” Reynolds said. “Of course, if they are left up too long, we’d do something then, but we aren’t going to be scrooges here.”

SignageNoticesNo Worry

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#510 Little Red Scooter Speciality Bicycles $60.00 $35.00

‘09 Bowery ‘72 MD Red Road/Sport $1,000.00 $400.00

‘09 Bowery ‘72 XL Red Road/Sport $1,000.00 $400.00

‘10 Anthem X 1 LG Red/Blk Mtn Bike; Front & Rear Susp $3,660.00 $2,205.00

‘10 Clip Folding 20” Folding $900.00 $749.99

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‘10 Raleigh Retroglide Lt Grey Cruiser $425.00 $200.00

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‘11 Avail 1 MD BLUE/wht/sil Road Race & Triathlon $1,314.99 $900.00

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‘11 Avail Adv. 2 SM Road Race & Triathlon $1,920.00 $1,300.00

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‘11 Defy Adv 4 SM Wht/Blu/Sil Road Race & Triathlon $1,655.00 $1,150.00

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‘11 Lil Push G12 Pink Juvenile Bike; Non-Susp $125.00 $104.99

‘11 Mini Impression 16” Pink Juvenile Bike; Non-Susp $165.00 $139.99

‘11 OM Flyer Blue BMX $629.99 $415.00

BIKE MODEL MANUFACTURE REG. PRICE SALE PRICE

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Electra Orbit 3i Emerald Cruiser $540.00 $250.00

Hawaii 1 16”w pink Cruiser $270.00 $209.99

HAWAII 3i Custom L LILAC Cruiser $490.00 $310.00

Jenny 3i Turquoise Ladies Cruiser $600.00 $400.00

Mini Rod red 16” wheel Cruiser $269.99 $210.00

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Starliner 21” Matte Blk Comfort/Commuter $460.00 $225.00

Stolen Sinner XLT Bk/Gry BMX $630.00 $480.00

Super Deluxe 3 M Root Beer/Crm Cruiser $684.99 $465.00

Townie Balloon 3i Blk/Pink L Cruiser $629.99 $410.00

Townie Euro 24D Grey Men’s Cruiser $725.00 $510.00

Townie Original 21D Persimmon Cruiser $500.00 $300.00


By Jonathan Van DykeStaff Writer

New traffic grant money should help the Long Beach Police De-partment to continue to be vigi-lant in enforcing traffic laws, of-ficials said. the department was awarded $300,000 from the California Of-fice of traffic Safety (OtS) to al-low for new equipment purchases and special traffic enforcement measures. “We are grateful to the Office of traffic Safety for awarding us this grant which will lend vital support toward commuter safety,” Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement. “in these fiscally challenging times, this will allow us to en-hance our enforcement and out-reach to prevent and reduce in-jury traffic collisions and protect lives.” the grant’s money is meant to specifically target motorcycle safety, DUi offenders, drivers with suspended or revoked li-censes, red light running, speed-ing, turning violations at inter-sections, distracted drivers and seatbelt violations. Officials said they would use the money in enforcement through DUi/driver license checkpoints, DUi saturation patrols, red light enforcement operations, motor-cycle safety operations, speed enforcement operations and in-tersection safety operations. “thanks to the dedicated hard work of agencies like the Long Beach Police Department, Cali-

fornia has (its) fewest traffic fa-talities since 1944,” OtS Direc-tor Christopher Murphy said in a statement. “While this is good news, we know that only by keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness can we hope to sustain these declines and save lives.” Officials said a key compo-nent of the grant would be the DUi/drivers license checkpoints,

which they said have been shown to reduce crashes involving alco-hol by 20% when they are well publicized. according to the Na-tional Highway traffic Safety administration, the checkpoints yield a cost savings of $6 for ev-ery $1 spent. traffic deaths from all causes in California declined 11.9% from 2009 to 2010. DUi fatalities account for 30% of traffic fatali-ties.

Police Receive Traffic Enforcement Grant “it Gets Better,” a Long Beach version of the national project aimed at supporting LGBt youth, is now available online. the project was started by syndicated columnist Dan Sav-age and has generated more than 25,000 user-created videos at-tracting more than 40 million views. the Long Beach version fea-tures supporters and allies of the LGBt community and is meant

to encourage LGBt youth to re-main hopeful, seek support when they need it and love themselves for who they are. those appearing on the Long Beach video include Mayor Bob foster, first District Councilman robert Garcia and other political, social and business leaders. the video may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPfrofdg1NQ&feature=player_detailpage.

LGBT Video Aims To Support Youth

a | gRUNION gaZeTTe | November 24, 2011


By Harry SaltzgaverExEcutivE Editor

despite arguments that they were wasting their time, the Planning commission gave final approval last thursday night to the site plan and zoning changes for the proposed Second+PcH mixed-use development. owners ray and Amy Lin have been trying for more than eight years to get approval to redevelop the SeaPort Marina Hotel prop-erty at the southeast corner of Second Street and Pacific coast Highway. the latest effort, led by david Malmuth development, LLc, calls for a project with 275 residences, a 100-room hotel with related restaurant and meeting uses, 155,000 square feet of retail space and 20,000 square feet of separate retail space. that project, tentatively ap-proved on oct. 12, is smaller than originally proposed. However, it still include one 12-story tall building and another six-story building. the Environmental im-pact report offered the current sizing as one option. A letter to the Planning com-mission from attorney Mel Nut-ter, who represents the Los cer-ritos Wetlands Land trust, argued that any site plan approval could not legally take place until the state coastal commission had certified changes to the Local coastal Plan (LcP) — which in east Long Beach is covered un-der the 1977 SEAdiP (Southeast Area development and improve-ment Plan). one of the approvals from the Planning commission is a recommendation for chang-es to Subarea 17, which is the Second+PcH parcel. Planning commissioner Alan Fox, who voted against the plan oct. 12, asked whether the state had to approve the LcP before the Planning commission could take action. Assistant city At-torney Mike Mais said that both the city council and the coastal commission did have to certify the changes to the LcP first, but that both bodies could then act on the specific development plan at the same meeting. Heather Altman, an activist op-posed to the project, reiterated the need for an LcP amendment be-fore other approvals, and said that

there was “no way” the coastal commission would approve an amendment that would allow a 12-story building. other mem-bers of the public also argued that the plan had no chance to get state approval, so the Planning commission was wasting time and money by giving it initial ap-proval. At least three different speakers threatened legal action as well as appeals to the city council and coastal commission. “i’m just sad to see all this time and money wasted when it isn’t going anywhere,” one said. “And believe me, it isn’t going any-where.” one speaker claimed that third district councilman Gary de-Long had said at a public meeting that he did not believe the coastal commission would approve the project. deLong chief of staff Anne cramer, who was at the meeting thursday night, checked with the councilman, who denied making that statement. However, Fox said he did not believe the project had a chance of approval at the state level, and he was joined by commissioner Phil Saumur. “i can’t see going ahead with this and see it all tied up for years,” Saumur said. “Let’s work on a project instead that we think can get approved by coastal, so we can get something done.” other commissioners argued that it was time to move on the project, which was needed by the city. “i am just grateful that we have a developer and a project owner willing to invest in the commu-nity in this way,” commissioner donita van Horik said. “i want this to be a success, but i don’t want to see it tied up for three or four years either. i am in sup-port.” the commission voted 6-1 to adopt findings and a statement of overriding considerations to go with the Eir certification that took place on oct. 12, with Fox voting no. Approval of the site plan review, tentative subdivision map, standards variance and local coastal development permit was 4-3, the same vote that approved the Eir on oct. 12. Joining Fox in voting no were Saumur and

commissioner charles durnin. Appeals of the Eir certifica-tion on oct. 12 and the actions last thursday now will go to the city council. the council also must approve the zoning changes before sending it on to the State coastal commission (which also will hear appeals from council action if necessary). A hearing before the city council is tentatively scheduled for dec. 20, the last meeting of 2011.

Final Planning Okay For Second+PCH

Sage Salon & Spa


By Ashleigh OldlandEditor

it’s been nearly five decades since Herman Garcia first began selling shoes at Herman’s Shoe Fashions of Belmont Shore.

Herman, who worked in the shoe industry most of his life, ran the business with his wife and children, turning an entre-preneurial endeavor into a lasting enterprise that could support him-

self and his family. He became a favorite storeowner on Second Street, and his death this Sunday has left many heavy hearts in the community. With the Garcia family — in-cluding wife Ellen and the cou-ple’s three children — at his bed-side, Herman died on Nov. 20. He had suffered from dementia for several years, and was 88 years old. Ellen, who first met her hus-band when the two lived in Al-buquerque, was a co-worker at a shoe store and dance partner to Garcia when the two first began dating — the pair celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary this year. “i will miss him a lot,” Ellen said. “We’ve worked together and gone home together every day for a long time.” Ellen and Herman opened Her-man’s Shoe Fashions in 1965 at the corner of Argonne Avenue and Second Street. “We both built it together, but it was his dream,” Ellen said. the store was a second home

for the Garcia family, which in-cluded Herman, Ellen and the couple’s three children: Larry, Bernice and Kevin. today, Ellen and Larry still work at the shoe store, with help from other family members. El-len said the business would re-main open even though Herman has passed on. Bernice, who grew up working at the store and still does at least once a week, said her dad had a real talent and “eye” for choosing shoes to fill the store. “My dad had a flair for fash-ion,” she said. “He always had something different in our store, always something nobody else had. He wanted to make his own statement, and that is how he de-veloped the store’s reputation and got people to come in looking for something different.” Bernice added that her father taught her the importance of cus-tomer service, emphasizing the idea that customers walking into the store should be treated as though they were walking into the Garcia family home. “We bend over backwards for

our customers,” she said. “We ap-preciate all of our customers who have been so loyal to us. they kept our doors open… We are go-ing to keep it going as long as our customers keep coming to visit us. My dad loved the store and the people down here so much.” Herman not only loved his cus-tomers, he loved and supported other business owners on Second Street as well, said rubber tree owner Joy Starr. “i so admire them (Herman and Ellen Garcia) because they were such a hard-working couple and cared so much for their family and their business,” Starr said. “in 1992, when we (rubber tree) opened, we gradually got to know them, and they were so supportive of me and this store and wished us success.” When asked what she would remember most about her father, Bernice said she would remember how he taught her about working hard. She added that Herman was a man who would never say “no” to his family. “He wanted to give my broth-ers and me the best in life, and he tried very hard to show us that you will receive in the end for your hard work,” she said. Herman Garcia, son of Charles and Jenny Garcia, was born on Aug. 3, 1923, in Albuquerque. He is survived by his wife Ellen Garcia; sons Larry Garcia and Kevin Garcia; daughter Bernice Wilkerson; grandchildren Ellen Wilkerson, Ashley Garcia, Eric Garcia and ryan Garcia; and great-granddaughter Madison Schicker. there will be a public service at 10 a.m., dec. 5 at St. Bartho-lomew Catholic Church.

Herman’s Shoe Owner Put Decades Into Shore Business

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A mistrial was declared last week regarding an alleged mur-der outside of Yankee Doodles when a jury couldn’t come to a unanimous verdict. In the murder trial before Long Beach Superior Court Judge Jesse Rodriguez, it was found that the jury could not come to a conclu-sion last Tuesday, court officials

said. The hung jury was split at an 11-1 vote, with no sign that it would come to a unanimous deci-sion. The jury was deliberating in the trial of 38-year-old Stanley Pack, who was accused in 2008 of mur-dering 36-year-old Michael Mar-toni outside of Yankee Doodles, a billiards bar along Ocean Boule-

vard in Belmont Shore. According to a Long Beach Police Department report, offi-cers were called at about 2 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, to the 4100 block of East Ocean Bou-levard (later confirmed by other sources as Yankee Doodles). When officers arrived, they found a male subject outside of the location suffering from a gun-shot wound to the torso area. That subject was Martoni, who eventu-ally was pronounced dead at the scene. The LBPD sought out Park as a suspect, and he surrendered to police — brought in by his at-torneys to the main LBPD head-quarters — at 3 p.m. on Dec. 15. He was booked for murder im-mediately. Now, court officials said, there will be motions for the new trial on Nov. 30. The jury retrial is tentatively scheduled to begin on Jan. 11. —Jonathan Van Dyke

Jury Undecided In Yankee Doodles Murder

—Gazette photo by William JohnsonStephanie Simons, who is the reigning Miss California U.S. Inter-national, and a Long Beach resident, helped out Saturday at the Community Action Team’s 150th beach cleanup.

150th CLEANUP


Green jobs advocate Stella Ur-sua announced Monday that she would be a candidate for the Sec-ond District City Council seat. Ursua is president of the North American School of Green Tech-nology and the nonprofit Alliance for Sustainable Action Partner-ships. She said, if elected, one of her main focuses would be on growing green industries in the city to help create job growth. “I believe in a green economy,” she said in a release. “The Long Beach economy seriously needs to create good paying jobs, and when it comes to becoming sus-tainable, well, there’s plenty of work to go around.” She said her experience in lead-ership and job development pro-fessions will help her be able to

implement her political platform. She also is a member of Califor-nia Green Workforce Coalition. U.S. Green Building Council, Repower L.A., Rebuild the U.S. and Green Long Beach. “I see the promise of a thriv-ing economy where companies launch new businesses and citi-zens have access to good paying jobs and relevant, job-ready edu-cation,” she said. “I love this city and want to see a Long Beach where our communities, build-ings, schools and infrastructure are sustainable.” Ursua is the first challenger to announce a campaign for the Second District seat now held by Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal. Lo-wenthal has filed for reelection.

—Jonathan Van Dyke

Stella Ursua Declares For Second

—Gazette photo by Geronimo QuitorianoCouncilwoman Gerrie Schipske greets a reader during her Satur-day book signing for her latest work, “Early Long Beach.”

AUTHOR OF NOTE


By Stephanie MinasianStaff Writer

as the recent recipient of a national grant and partnership to enhance the education of Latino students, Long Beach City Col-lege is aiming to improve reten-tion rates and services offered to its students of that ethnicity. the Lumina foundation has supplied $7.2 million over a four-year period to 12 educational partnerships in 10 states. LBCC was one of two institutions in California to receive its $600,000 share to launch the program, ac-cording to LBCC officials. “if California is going to suc-ceed and remain competitive, we must increase Latino graduation and transfer rates at our commu-nity colleges and universities,” said LBCC President eloy Ortiz Oakley. “Latinos make up the largest population of students at Long Beach City College, and their success is critical to our lo-cal and state economy.” Latino students make up the largest student ethnic group on the LBCC campus, with 11,000 enrolled. according to officials, Latino students, who intend to graduate with their degrees or certificates, face a lower graduation rate. the goal of the Lumina foundation is to boost the number of americans with degrees from institutions of higher learning by 2025 — with Latinos being a major factor in this goal. By this year, according to the

Lumina foundation, nearly half of the nation’s workers will come from Latino descent. “the Latino success project is the culmination of nearly two years of planning and engage-ment with many foundations and national leaders in the Latino community,” said Lumina Presi-dent and CeO Jaime Merisotis in a release. “through these part-nerships, we aim to build bridges among leadership groups already working to improve Latino col-lege student success.” the grant money will help LBCC partner with 31 commu-nity leaders and organizations in the area and across the state to in-crease the services and programs for students. these collaborations also include community engage-ment in the cities of Lakewood, avalon and Signal Hill. also part of the plan to help Latino students is the Long Beach College Promise, which is a 10-year plan to help each student transition from the Long Beach Unified School District to LBCC

and California State University, Long Beach. the plan allows students to sign a pledge, while attending middle school, to show they plan to commit to pursuing a higher education. When the students reach their junior year of high school, they will take an early assessment placement exam. if they graduate from high school, they will be given a free semester of tuition to LBCC. the promise also guarantees admis-sion to CSULB with minimum requirements. for more information about the Lumina foundation, visit www.luminafoundation.org.

LBCC Set To Assist Latino Students

a



Consumers like to talk the talk about shopping local and sup-porting small businesses, but they don’t always walk the walk. in an effort to encourage holi-day shoppers to buy local, many

area retailers, restaurants and other business ventures are par-ticipating in Small Business Sat-urday this Saturday, Nov. 26, fol-lowing Black Friday. Small Business Saturday was created by American Express in 2010, and the program is continu-

ing this year — participating busi-nesses can offer their customers a one-time credit when American Express cards are used at their businesses on Nov. 26. it’s an incentive that made a positive impact on sales last year at Fern’s Garden in Belmont Shore, said owner Fern Solomon. Fern’s Garden is participating in the program again this year. “AMEX transactions totaled 20 on the Saturday after thanksgiv-ing (last year), which represented 26% of all credit/debit transac-tions that day,” Solomon ex-plained. “By comparison, the pre-vious year on the Saturday after thanksgiving, AMEX had seven transactions, or 10% of the total.” Fern’s Garden, which sells “ethically made gifts for the home and garden,” specializes

in American-made and fair trade merchandize. Solomon said any event or initiative that can bring customers to the store is helpful since Fern’s Garden is a small business competing against large retail stores in the area. “Whenever a big corporation helps out the little guys and fo-cuses this attention on indepen-dents, it is really cool,” Solomon said. “We are small and trying to survive without opening up on thanksgiving night and doing all the crazy things the big boxes and malls do.” Solomon added that the pro-gram is great for customers be-cause they get $25 back from American Express when they purchase $25 or more at a partici-pating small business. Fern’s Garden is one of many stores in Belmont Shore partici-pating in Small Business Satur-day, either officially through American Express or unofficially as businesses who want to en-courage consumers to shop local for the holidays. According to a release from American Express, 93% of con-sumers believe it is important to support local small businesses; however, only 73% consciously shop at small businesses in their

community because they do not want those small businesses to disappear. “it is interesting when people make comments about how ter-rible it is that stores are closing or going out of Belmont Shore,” said dede rossi, executive director of the Belmont Shore Business As-sociation. “they are surprised when a business leaves, but that business left because it wasn’t supported. We need to support our local business districts instead of going to the mall.” And because small businesses are centered in communities, rossi emphasized that small busi-nesses are especially reliant on area residents, whereas big box stores and chains can attract more transient consumers. “the businesses in the Shore count on the locals to come back every night to eat and come back to their favorite shops regularly,” she said. BSBA officials are promot-ing Small Business Saturday this week in addition to the as-sociation’s year-round initiatives to encourage Long Beach to shop local. Last week it unveiled a Bel-mont Shore Smart Phone App to encourage local shopping.

Spending Event Benefits Small Businesses



At the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, execu-tive director Blair Cohn shared similar sentiments about how businesses in Long Beach need support from residents. “Everybody is poised and geared up and ready for Small Business Saturday,” Cohn said. “People are counting on it and we want to promote that on our end and make sure the neighborhood comes out to shop.” Besides Small Business Sat-urday, Cohn said the associa-tion would be hosting a holiday-themed First Fridays event next month as well as a Holiday Ba-zaar on Dec. 18. “People would be surprised, if they stopped racing from mall to mall, they would be pleasantly surprised at the fun things they will find in local shops and the fun time they will have discover-ing it,” he said. “This year I am going to start at one end of Bixby Knolls and shop from door to door, rather than shop online or go to the mall. I want to do all my shopping right here.” For Daniel Gilboa, owner of Age of Aquariums (2642 Cherry Ave. in Signal Hill), participat-ing in Small Business Saturday is an opportunity for the business to expose itself to new customers

and remind regulars to shop there this holiday season. Age of Aquariums sells aquari-um animals and plants as well as equipment in addition to perform-ing home and corporate aquarium installations and maintenance. Gilboa said aquariums or aquar-ium products — small or large — can make great holiday gifts. “This is an industry that caters to a specific niche market,” Gil-boa explained. “We have products for the be-ginner to advanced hobbyist, and we would like to bring new cus-tomers into the store and keep them as loyal customers long-term. Hopefully we can help them be successful in keeping these little guys (fish) alive.” And although he doesn’t own a retail business, restaurateur Amir Zee of Utopia Restaurant in the

East Village Arts District said he, too, is participating in Small Business Saturday, along with other restaurant owners through-out Long Beach. “We are offering special dis-counts to customers on Small Business Saturday, and encour-aging customers to pre-purchase New Year’s Eve dinners and (ad-mission for) upcoming wine tast-ings and other special events,” he said, adding that purchases made in-store or online would count toward the $25 credit back from American Express. Zee said Small Business Satur-day is a time to visit a shopping district in Long Beach, and he recommends the East Village. “East Village has become a new phenomenon downtown with new establishments coming in,” he said.

Businesses on Fourth Street’s Retro Row are staying open late this Saturday as part of the ef-fort to support local, independent merchants. Some businesses are offering discount pricing and spe-cial promotions. Plus, there will be free gift wrapping from 4 to 8 p.m. at The Center Long Beach

(2017 E. Fourth St.) offered by The Center’s Mentoring Youth Through Empowerment program participants. For details about the American Express Small Business Saturday program and participating busi-nesses in Long Beach, visit www.facebook.com/shopsmall.


Small Business


SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAYNOV 26



New board members were elected this month to the Naples improvement Association, which is the residents’ association for the Naples islands. Established in 1928, NiA is a nonprofit organization made up of volunteer residents who strive to protect the civic and social inter-est of the Naples islands commu-nity. NiA relies on membership dues from island residents — about half of Naples residents are members of the NiA (about 800 households out of the 1,600). New board members include: Kim Huntley, president; Jonathan Schnack, immediate past presi-dent; Kathy Frazier, vice presi-dent; Gayle Brooks, ways and means; Michael Jordan and Ly-nette Jordan, membership; roger Powell, treasurer; rick Manley, recording secretary; Marilyn russell Bittle, community li-aison; Stan Poe, historian and police liaison; as well as direc-tors Shan Haq, Keith Muirhead, Jeanie Miller, Cynthia Cardarel-li-Painter, Michael Bergkvist and Scott Mehler. As the outgoing president, Schnack — who balances his NiA volunteerism with a career as a teacher at Long Beach Uni-fied School district — said he is proud of the NiA’s progress in the past few years, including the organization’s efforts to more than double its household mem-berships and increase collabora-tions between the NiA and area associations such as the Naples Business improvement Associa-

tion as well as the Naples island Garden Club and the third dis-trict City Council office. those collaborations resulted in new trees planted along Sec-ond Street as well as median beautification projects and im-provements to Mother’s Beach playground and restroom facili-ties, said Schnack, who has lived in Naples since 1997 with his husband and three children. Also, he noted the NiA was able to co-ordinate efforts among residents to push City Council to restrict medical marijuana collectives on the island after a shooting oc-curred at a collective last year. incoming president Kim Hunt-ley has lived with his wife and raised two children in Naples. He has been an island resident for nearly three decades and works in real estate when not volunteer-ing for the NiA. “i just think it is a good idea to be active in an organization that is helping to improve the commu-nity,” Huntley said. He added that the NiA is responsible for host-ing many neighborhood events, including the Naples Christmas Boat Parade (coming up on dec. 17), Naples Pancake Breakfast and more. the NiA hosts public meetings once a month and always wel-comes new members to partici-pate in NiA meetings and events. Meeting topics include infra-structure issues on the islands, such as seawall repair, street pav-ing and undergrounding utilities. NiA members receive member-ship cards offering discounts at participating area businesses.

NIA Elects New Board



a resident’s call likely prevent-ed a rash of automobile burglar-ies last week in Belmont Shore,

Long Beach Police Department officials said. “thanks to this call from an alert resident and good police work, multiple arrests were made

and an unknown number of auto burglaries were prevented that night,” spokeswoman Lisa Mas-sacani said in a release. Officers responded to a resi-dent’s call at 4 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 16. they were dispatched to the area of Second Street and Glendora avenue. according to the police report, the caller said there were three

young men seen peering into parked vehicles and trying car door handles. Soon thereafter, officers located a vehicle leaving the area and conducted a traffic stop — questioning the two men in the vehicle. at about the same time, additional officers found the three suspects the caller was talk-ing about in the area of Bay Shore avenue and appian Way — they

were questioned and arrested for loitering on the beach. “the continued investigation revealed that the two groups of suspects were working together in a pre-planned crime spree of that area, targeting vehicles that may contain valuables,” Massa-cani said. the three main suspects arrest-ed were 18-year-old tyler rex-eisen of Bellflower, 21-year-old Matthew Boudreaux of Cypress and 20-year-old Michael Schoepf of Long Beach. Since their ar-rests, police have found evidence connecting them to at least two vehicles that were part of the at-tempted break-ins, which were added to the suspects’ charges of attempted burglary. Police are asking that others in the neigh-borhood check their vehicles and come forward if they have been victimized. “residents are also reminded to be vigilant in preventing crime by removing property from their vehicles,” Massacani said, adding that GPS systems, MP3 players and phones are often targeted. anyone with information about this incident can call LBPD Bur-glary Detective Jose Yarruhs at 570-5559. anonymous tips can be left through www.tipSoft.com.

Resident’s Call Helps End Auto Burglaries “Residents are also reminded to be

vigilant in preventing crime...”

—Lisa Massacani


By Harry SaltzgaverExEcutivE Editor

A representative for the union representing nurses at Long Beach Memorial Medical cen-ter said last week that the “last, best and final” offer of a contract from Memorialcare is not good enough, but the nurses are not quite ready to strike. A candlelight vigil last Wednes-day (Nov. 16) at the Atlantic Av-enue entrance drew more than 100 participants saying they were supporting the nurses’ efforts to improve patient safety. that sort of tactic is distressing and untrue, said diana Hendel, cEo of Me-morial Medical center and Miller children’s Hospital. “i’ve had many doctors and nurses come up to me upset that these people are using patient safety as a weapon in these ne-

gotiations,” Hendel said. “Patient safety is our core value… i just want to emphasize again that this is not a dispute with our nurses; it’s a dispute with the union.” the california Nurses Associa-tion represents about 2,000 nurs-es at Memorial and Miller chil-dren’s. the latest contract ended on Sept. 30. cynthia Hannah, the cNA’s labor representative and chief negotiator in Long Beach, said management has not addressed key patient service issues in con-tract offers. Sticking points are adequate staffing to cover nurses’ lunch and rest breaks, as well as the way nurses are required to “float” to cover assignments in other hospital units. rules gov-erning lift teams — help to move patients — also are an issue, she said.

“they have improved the finan-cial offer, but there still is dispa-rate equity,” Hannah said. “We did not accept their last offer, and we are looking at other options, ways to get back to the table.” Hendel said there had been 15 negotiating sessions, and man-agement had made its last, best and final offer. they still are waiting for the official union response, Hendel said. that offer included a 3% across-the-board increase, with more for new nurses and two new step raises for nurses with 27 and 28 years of experience. the health care menu offers discounts to those with more than 15 years of service as well as for employees earning less than $17 an hour. “We’re still paying more than 80% of all premiums,” Hendel

said. “the average increase is $4.76 a pay period. “We convened a subcommit-tee with the union and came to an agreement on how to deal with floating. From now on, we will allow those who want to float, for overtime or the experience, to float. But nurses with 20 years or more who do not want to float, won’t float.” Hannah disagreed, saying no agreement had been reached. “that’s just not true,” she said. “How could we agree to some-thing we hadn’t seen in writing? We asked for it in writing.” Hannah said the union had not

formally responded to manage-ment’s offer. it likely would take another meeting for a formal re-sponse, she said, and that had not been scheduled yet. “We would love to get back to the table,” Hannah said. “Since they made the last offer, i assume it is up to us to call for another meeting. We will do that. We want a resolution, not a strike.” the cNA has represented nurses at Memorial for a decade, and has negotiated three previous contracts. the nurses went on strike in 2002, during the union’s first ne-gotiation on their behalf.

Memorial’s Nurses Not Ready To Sign Contract

EST. 1941

D R E S S I N G Y O U F O R 7 0 Y E A R S

BiG & TALL


By Larry HillGAZETTE RESTAURANT WRITER

• At Last Café, 204 Orange Ave., 659-2433. • Hours: From 11:30 a.m. to 8

p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. • Location: At Last Café is located south of Broadway on Orange. There is parking in the neighborhood, but evening park-

ing may involve a hike. • Food/Drinks: At Last Café serves breakfast and lunch from a short but imaginative menu. Lunches include a grilled ham-

burger with hand-shaped patties, grilled chicken breast sandwich with pesto, a veggie sandwich, BLT, chicken salad with cashews and cranberries, roast beef French dip with caramelized onions and cheddar cheese and oven roasted turkey with Swiss cheese. Salads are Mixed Greens with crumbled bleu cheese, candied wal-nuts, cranberries and homemade red wine vinaigrette; House Sal-ad with toasted pecans, Gruyere cheese, bacon bits and croutons with a creamy vinaigrette; Green Goddess with avocado and cu-cumber and fresh herb dressing; Classic Caesar; Thai Beef Salad; and Wild Arugula Salad with Par-mesan and lemon vinaigrette. Main dish offerings are Brick Chicken, half chicken deboned and fl attened then grilled under a brick; Three Cheese Mac and Cheese; Stir Fried Vegetables; Meatloaf; Flat-iron Steak with sautéed mushrooms and caramel-ized onions; French Pot roast with red wine, honey cured bacon and served over fettuccine; Tomato and Basil omelet; Linguine with Roasted Eggplant; and Center Cut Pork Chop stuffed with apple herb stuffi ng. Appetizers include Portabella Mushrooms and Polenta and Grilled Artichokes. Desserts include Crème Bru-elee, Bread Pudding and Warm Apple Crumble. On our visit, homemade Pumpkin Cheesecake and Strawberry Shortcake also were available. Soft drinks and a limited wine list are served. • Atmosphere: At Last Café is a small chef-owned eatery with a warm, homey atmosphere; pic-tures of his herb garden adorn one wall. There is a small outdoor din-ing area. If it’s been awhile since you’ve stopped, At Last Café has doubled in size. • The Taste: Jennifer and I stopped on Friday evening; the restaurant was packed, but we were able to get a table. Any wait, I will say right at the outset, is worth every second, for the own-er, John Mclaughlin, knows how to cook and I mean cook well. We started with grilled arti-

At Last Café Remains One Of Long Beach’s Gems

—Gazette photo by Doreen GunnessWELCOME! Hostess Amber Berry and maitre d’ Cesar Lee Gar-cia greet patrons at the At Last Café, 204 Orange Ave.



chokes. Three baby artichoke halves were plated with bread crumbs, shaved Parmesan and red pepper aioli. The artichokes were tender, smoky and the tangy sauce was a perfect complement. Jennifer opted for the bricked chicken. Half a chicken is deboned and grilled under a brick. The pressure keeps the moisture in and the At Last Café season-ing rub adds character and color to the chicken. It’s a beautiful dinner and very generous. It was served with smashed potatoes and a grilled vegetable medley. I opted for the French Pot Roast with fettucine and grilled vegeta-bles. Three petit filet-sized pieces of beef were placed on top of a mound of fettucine with grilled vegetables that include red pep-pers, onions and winter squash. The pot roast is the best I’ve ever had and that includes my moth-er’s. Deeply flavored with a hint of tarragon, red wine and smoky

bacon, the beef is melt-in-your-mouth tender. It is very generous and quite tasty. We finished with strawberry shortcake made with a homemade biscuit that was as good as my aunt’s, which is the benchmark for all shortcake. In my time in California, only At Last Café has met the challenge. At Last Café is a gem. Truly one of the best eateries in Long

Beach as much for the food as the joy that seems apparent in the process of the cooking and serv-ing of it. Now if I could get out of the family Thanksgiving and spend it at At Last Café. They are open Thanksgiving Day with three-course dinners at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. by reservation. • Price: Lunch or dinner for two is $20 to $30.


At Last Café

By Jonathan Van DykeSTAFF WRITeR

Orange County Sheriff’s De-partment officials said they had cause for the raid the department performed several weeks ago on a Long Beach medical marijuana collective. Orange County officers confis-cated marijuana products, money on hand and computers on Nov. 8 from Belmont Shore Natural Care, 5375 e. Second St. Lt. Doug Doyle said his department served a search warrant during the raid. “No other law enforcement agencies were involved with this action,” he said. “This search warrant was the result of ongo-ing investigation that originally started in Orange County. “We were there because we suspect the collective was operat-ing outside of the CUA (Compas-sionate Use Act) and the MMP (Medical Marijuana Program). The case is still being investi-gated and no arrests were made. Once completed, we will forward the case to the Orange County

District Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution.” Doyle added that there were multiple collectives — no others in Long Beach — that were tar-geted by the search warrant. Belmont Shore Natural Care spokesman and attorney Richard Brizendine said the collective owners and employees maintain that they are innocent of any wrongdoing. “I don’t think they (Sheriff’s Department) have any evidence to support that,” he said. “As their lawyer, I have helped estab-lish BSNC to operate in a lawful manner.” Brizendine added that there was no warning before the raid. “(The Orange County Sheriff’s Department) never made any in-quiry or requests, which had they, there would have been documen-tation provided to them,” he said. The investigation is ongoing. Brizendine said BSNC owner-ship is uncertain when or if the collective will open up again — it has been closed since the day of the raid.

Sheriff’s Department SaysShore Collective Broke Rules

November 24, 2011 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 23APAGE 22A | GRUNION GAZETTE | November 24, 2011


By Jonathan Van DykeSTAFF WRITER

The lawyer in the Pack vs. City of Long Beach said he will try to bar the city from enacting any or-dinance that would outlaw medi-

cal marijuana collectives in the city. Offi cials in the City Attorney’s Offi ce said it was uncertain when the ordinance would be put before the City Council. Previously, City

Attorney Robert Shannon had said the earliest any collective ban would be debated would be the fi rst City Council meeting in December. The appellate court judge who presided over the Pack trial ruled that Long Beach’s 5.87 ordinance was at least partially against fed-eral law — specifi cally its permit-ting process that created a lottery system. Because of that ruling, Shan-non had advised the City Coun-cil that it ask his offi ce to draft a medical marijuana ordinance (5.89) that would ban collectives altogether. The City Council also allowed Shannon to fi le a petition for review (essentially, an appeal) to the California Supreme Court regarding the Pack ruling. Pack attorney Matthew Pappas

said he fi led an application to the appellate court Monday to pro-hibit the passing of the ban — the appellate court still is the residing court over the matter unless the Supreme Court takes on the case. “(The City Attorney’s Offi ce) fi led their petition for review with the Supreme Court,” he said. “They’re moving forward in that direction, which is somewhat con-tradictory to enacting this ban.” Pappas said it was frustrating that the City Council might enact a ban before letting the court sys-tem fi gure things out — even if the Supreme Court didn’t hear the case, the Superior Court of Los Angeles is set to make a ruling striking only specifi c language in the current law, not the whole law. “Right in (the ruling) it says

what we are striking down are the parts about issuing a permit and the substantial fees,” Pappas said. Pappas said he has about a week to answer the petition to the Su-preme Court, then the City Attor-ney’s Offi ce can reply. After that, the Supreme Court has 60 days to decide whether it will oversee a trial. “I think it’s important that there be a single decision from the Su-preme Court for guidelines and regulations,” Pappas said, noting his clients weren’t against some regulations. Ordinance 5.89, if approved by the City Council, would prohibit “medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation sites from locating in the city of Long Beach.” The potential new ordinance and the repealing of the 5.87 doc-ument includes reasoning beyond the court’s ruling: “Protecting citizens from the secondary im-pacts and effects associated with medical marijuana and related ac-tivities, including, but not limited to, loitering, increased pedestrian and vehicular traffi c, increased noise, fraud in obtaining or using medical marijuana identifi cation cards, sales of medical marijuana to minors, drug sales, robbery, burglaries, assaults or other vio-lent crimes.” It also says that banning col-lectives would decrease demands “on police and other valuable and scarce city administrative, fi nan-cial, or personnel resources in or-der to better protect the public.” Violation of the potential new ordinance would be a misde-meanor — fi nes not exceeding $1,000, jail terms of six months, or both — and it could be every day it was violated.

Pappas Vows Fight Against Potential Medpot Ban

2 Medium Pizzas $18.99+tax

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2 X-Large Pizzas $24.99+tax



With a visit from General Mo-tors President Mark reuss, Bou-levard Buick/GMC in Signal Hill heralded its 50-year anniversary last week. Boulevard Buick/GMC is a family-owned establishment overseen by Jim Willingham and his son Brad Willingham, along with members of the Charron family and others employed at the dealership. Jim Willingham began selling cars on American Avenue (now Long Beach Boule-vard) in 1954, eventually purchas-ing Campbell Buick in February 1961, which he later renamed as Boulevard Buick. reuss recognized the Will-ingham family for their decades of service, sales and outreach, and noted that his father, Lloyd reuss, who was formerly a GM president, knew and worked with Jim Willingham when Willing-ham served as chairman of the National Automobile dealership Association. “My dad always talked so highly of you,” reuss said while shaking Jim Willingham’s hand. reuss’s visit to Signal Hill coin-cided with his attendance at the LA Auto Show last weekend. Jim Willingham, who wore a large smile and a pink tie picked out by his wife that morning, said he was grateful for the time he spent with the NAdA and work-ing alongside reuss’s father. dur-ing the event, Jim Willingham accepted a commemorative glass plaque in honor of the 50-year milestone. Boulevard Buick/GMC is half as old as General Motors, which was established in 1911. in addi-tion to celebrating the completion of five decades in the business, owners of the dealership also

were happy to announce the com-pletion of the facility’s remodel. the new look of the dealership is part of General Motors’ effort to standardize the atmosphere of all of its dealerships nationwide. despite the economic reces-sion and auto industry hardships that have had other dealerships — General Motors and beyond — closing down, Boulevard Buick/GMC is growing. Besides the remodel of the dealership, the Willinghams are leasing space next door to their location at 2800

Cherry Ave. in Signal Hill and plan to re-open Boulevard Cadil-lac (currently located at 3399 E. Willow St. in Long Beach) in that space early next year. “it’s been an amazing run, and quite an achievement, given the various challenges of the in-dustry,” Brad Willingham said. “We hope to be here another 50 years.” For details and history about Boulevard Buick/GMC, visit the dealership website at www.boule-vardbuickgmc.com.

A free panel discussion on the state of censorship of the arts begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the Carpenter Center, 6200 Atherton St. the discussion is part of the B-Word Project, a California State University, Long Beach, campus-wide program exploring all aspects of censorship. the panel moderator is Chris Scoates, director of the CSULB University Art Museum

Censorship At Panel

—Gazette photo by Ashleigh OldlandANNIVERSARY. Mark Reuss (left), GM’s president, hands an award to Jim Willingham (right) of Boulevard Buick/GMC.

Boulevard Honored After 50 Years


By Kurt A. EichsteadtEditorial assistant

Holiday activities around long Beach range from one-man shows to a ballet with a flying sleigh and fireworks as well as traditional Christmas music. this is our roundup of things to do during the holiday season. the Found Theatre is present-ing a new, one-man version of Charles dickens’s “a Christmas

Carol” through nov. 27 at the Found, 599 long Beach Blvd. “a Christmas Carol” will star Fred Blanco, who appeared earlier at the Found in another one-man show about farm workers’ rights activist Cesar Chavez. shows are at 8 p.m. Friday and saturday. tickets are $10 and are available by calling 433-3363. the All American Melodra-ma stages its holiday special “it’s

a Wonderful Christmas Carol” now through Jan. 1. all american offers its unique point of view with “Humbug or What the dick-ens?” and “it’s a Blunderful life or Bye George.” shows are Fri-day through sunday this week-end (nov. 25-27) and every day through Jan. 1 except for dec. 24 and 25. Most shows are at 7 p.m., but there are some afternoon per-formances. Check the website, www.allamericanmelodram.com. the all american Melodrama theater is in shoreline Village. the cities of long Beach and signal Hill host an annual tree lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. Wednesday, nov. 30, at Discov-ery Well Park, 2200 temple ave. in signal Hill. the event may be postponed if the weather’s bad. Holiday Cheer, to benefit Chil-dren today, begins at 7 p.m. Fri-day, dec. 2, on the 15th floor of the Arco Center at 300 ocean-gate. tickets are $110 and there will be live and silent auctions, dancing, a circle bar, gaming and more. Call 432-1224 or visit www.Childrentoday.org. santa arrives by yacht to join children for breakfast at 8 a.m. saturday, dec. 3, at Parkers’ Lighthouse, 435 shoreline Vil-lage dr. the breakfast benefits Miller Children’s Hospital. tick-ets are $8.95 for adults and $6.95 for ages 11 and younger. For res-ervations, call 432-6500. Our Lady of Refuge Church hosts a Holiday Boutique from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. saturday, dec. 3, and 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. sun-day, dec. 4, at the church, 5195 stearns st. a Christmas Celebration ro-tational dinner and dance for

Long Beach Events Embrace Holidays


Valid thru 12/07/11


Christian Singles begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Double-Tree by Hilton, at 2800 Via Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro. Tickets are $45 in advance and $55 at the door. Visit the event’s website at www.christiansingles-funevents.com. Experience a Victorian Christ-mas from noon until 4 p.m. Sun-day, Dec. 4, at the Bembridge House, 953 Park Circle. There will be crafts for children, fa-vors, refreshments and a chance to take pictures with Santa in a vintage fire truck. Tickets are $10 and children younger than 12 are admitted free. For tickets, visit www.lbheritage.org. This event is sponsored by Long Beach Heri-tage. Rancho Los Cerritos hosts its Old Time Christmas Festival, a family-themed event, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4, at the Rancho, 4600 Virginia Rd. Chil-dren will be the chance to make old-fashioned Christmas orna-ments and craft items and there will be live music including a handbell choir along with a pi-ñata. A $3 donation is suggested. The North Long Beach Com-munity Action Group and the Historic Long Beach Dairy and Creamery host an annual Christ-mas Party from 2 to 6 p.m. Sun-day, Dec. 4, at the dairy, 167 E. South St. The hosts will supply the turkey, ham and the fixings.

Bring a dish to share and expect a visit from Santa. It’s free and open to the public. The preschoolers (ages 2 through pre-kindergarten) at Bethany Lutheran Church will present a Christmas service en-titled “The Birth of a King” at 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at Bethany, 4644 Clark Ave. There is no ad-mission charge. The Committee of 300 (the red-coated folks who help stage the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach), invites everyone to their holiday party benefiting the Pa-cific Sailing Center from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, at L’Opera, 101 Pine Ave. Admission is a $20 donation and includes compli-mentary appetizers. The com-mittee also supports Team 100, which provides weekend food to disadvantaged families.

The Pathways Volunteer Hos-pice has two “Light Up a Life” tree lighting ceremonies this sea-son. A donation of $20 provides one light on the trees and the name of the person being hon-ored or remembered is posted on a scroll displayed at the tree. Cer-emonies are Dec. 5 and Dec. 7. For locations and to donate, visit www.pathwayshospice.org. The Christmas Tree Lighting on the Queen Mary from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday Dec. 7 (which is Pearl Harbor Day) also will honor local military, fire and police heroes. The Queen Mary is at 1126 Queens Highway. Businesses will welcome ev-eryone on the Open House Holi-day Stroll from 5 to 8 p.m. Thurs-day, Dec. 8, on Fourth Street between Grand and Termino. The Long Beach Lamda

Club’s Holiday Party Fundraiser is 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, at Bliss 525 E. Broadway. Visit www.lblamdadembs.org. Get on the Big Red Double Decker Bus for a tour of holiday lights in Naples, Belmont Shore, Bay Shore Avenue and Belmont Heights. Santa will be on board and there will be hot chocolate and sugar cookies. One- hour tours depart three times at night at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Dec. 8, 9, 11, 14, 15,16, 18, 21, 22, 24 and 25. Tickets are $10 with children 3 and younger free. Tours start from Sababa at 6527

E. PCH in the Marketplace. Call 252-3572 or visit www.gosababa.com. The ‘60s-themed musical “Winter Wonderettes” will be produced by Musical Theatre West from Dec. 9 through Dec. 18 at the Carpenter Center, 6200 Atherton St. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and one performance at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18. Tickets start at $20 and are available at the MTW box office at 4350 E. Seventh St., by calling 856-1999, ext. 4, or online at www.musical.org.

(Continued from A)

Holiday


By Julian BermudezArts Writer

Many thanksgivings ago, when i met my husband’s family for the first time, i was happily surprised

to learn about their tradition for visiting their local museum over the course of the holiday week-end. somewhere between the stuffed

turkey and leftovers, both my fa-ther-in-law and mother-in-law — deceased long before i came into the picture — decided to bundle up their brood and face the bitter cold so they could provide some culture to the family. today, whether in Detroit, Minneapolis, Portland, Dallas or Los Angeles, the family continues this tradition in some form or an-other. Luckily, here in Long Beach, there is more than one museum or gallery to enjoy and the weather is hardly bitter and rarely freezing cold. With this in mind, the fol-lowing is a list of recommended

exhibits to take in with family or friends during this thanksgiving holiday weekend. On the museum front, this is the perfect opportunity to experi-ence the citywide art buzz that is “Pacific standard time.” All three Long Beach museums are participating with must-see, never-to-be-missed shows that are sure to inspire, entertain, educate

and surprise its viewers. First up at the University Art Museum at California state Uni-versity, Long Beach, is “Peace Press Graphics 1967-1987: Art in the Pursuit of social Change,” an exhibit featuring approximately 100 posters from the archives of the Peace Press, an independent printing and publishing collective founded in Los Angeles. “exchange and evolution: Worldwide Video Long Beach 1974-1999” celebrates the Long Beach Museum of Art’s signifi-cant contribution to the video art movement both here and abroad during the 1970s and 1980s. Lastly, “MeX/LA: ‘Mexican’ Modernism(s) in Los Angeles, 1930-1985” at the Museum of Latin American Art, presents the all-too-little known history of cultural exchange that exists be-tween Los Angeles and its Mexi-can neighbor. if you happen to be over the “Pst” craze, however, the Mu-seum of Latin American Art has another show worth seeing. “the Good, the Bad, the Ugly: selections from the MoLAA Per-manent Collection” highlights the museum’s paintings, prints, pho-tographs, sculptures and instal-lations. Created by modern and contemporary artists, this show explores representational, figura-tive, landscape and abstract on works. Outside the museum circuit is the Long Beach Main Library’s current show “Faces: Our Chil-dren’s Portraits,” featuring the photography of Cielo roth. On view in the library’s Children’s Department, the exhibit captures the “discovery, fascination and excitement in a child’s world.” For those of you wanting some-thing less formal, be sure to visit 4th street’s “retro row” where {Open} Gallery and shelter surf shop each have lots going on in the realm of visual culture. so, if you find yourself some-where between polishing off a slice of pumpkin pie and fixing up a turkey, mashed potato and cranberry sauce sandwich, enjoy a few hours inside one (or more) of the city’s artistic hot spots. Keeping with the family tradi-tion, i know i’ll make a day trip of it and pack some tasty leftovers. Happy thanksgiving! to learn more, visit www.csulb.edu/uam, www.lbma.org, www.molaa.org, www.lbpl.org, www.thestoryofopen.com, www.shel-tersurf.com and www.pacificstan-dardtime.org.

Museum Tours Make Great Family Holiday Treat

Commerce in Asia and rela-tions with China will be the sub-jects at the annual Long Beach-Qingdao sister City Association luncheon at 11:30 a.m. thurs-day, Dec. 1, at the renaissance Hotel, 111 e. Ocean Blvd. this is the 15th luncheon for the organization. tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the door. Call 901-3081 or visit ww.lbqa.org.

Qingdao Luncheon



For disabled youngsters, get-ting a real world post-secondary education is something that can seem beyond reach. But, with help from a recently established College to Career (C2C) program in Long Beach, Pat del Monico, executive direc-tor of Harbor regional Center, said there will be at least 12 stu-dents this year getting the help they need to have a successful experience at Long Beach City College. Harbor regional Center, a non-profit that serves people with de-velopmental disabilities, is work-ing on C2C in collaboration with LBCC, HoPE and California MENtor to provide affordable dormitory-style housing, educa-tional coaching and 24-hour men-toring support for the dozen dis-abled students who have enrolled in classes this semester at City College. “Harbor regional serves 11,000 people, and half are over age 18, so we have so many folks asking for post-secondary edu-cation,” del Monico explained. “too many (of Harbor regional’s clients) are not successful in pur-suing post-secondary education on their own. they need a little more support.” the students, many of whom are living on their own for the first time, receive educational coach-ing and support at LBCC as well

as California MENtor training about personal finance and bud-geting, using public transporta-tion, independent living (cook-ing, cleaning, etc.) and group activities with other students in the program. Each participant is assigned a roommate who also is participating in the program. Brenda Gertman said the launch of this new program has meant that her 19-year-old son Yorel has been able to live on his own for the first time. Yorel is studying music, and long has had a passion for playing the violin. Because Yorel was diagnosed with autism, his mom said it would be a struggle for him to graduate from college without the support of C2C. “instead of him living at home, and instead of him getting all this from me, he is learning from dif-ferent mentors who can help him with cooking and cleaning and studying …” she said. “Yorel and his roommate can learn life skills together, and he’ll be involved with social activities he wouldn’t otherwise do on his own.” Like Yorel, C2C participant Valerie Warren, 28, moved into the C2C dorm-style apartments this fall as part of the C2C’s in-augural class. She is studying art as well as sign language and other subjects at City College. “i want to be an art therapist, i think,” she said. “i’ve been doing art all my life, and i want to use it to help people.”

Warren said she enjoys going to class as well as the training her mentors have given her about how to shop and manage her money. in the meantime, she and her room-mate like to spend time together in a purple-themed, flowery liv-ing room. the two girls maintain a clean household and take turns watering a set of potted house-plants.

Just a door away from Warren is Sam Sanderson, 19. A sports fan, Sanderson said he plans to study physical fitness or sports broadcasting, and has enjoyed living with his roommate and go-ing to classes at LBCC. “this is a good experience,” he said. “it teaches you how to do things on your own.” Each student can participate in

the program for up to four years, del Monico said. After that, C2C officials’ next step will be to help the students secure jobs related to their areas of study. del Monico added that she hopes to continue growing the program; accom-modating as many as 48 students each year is her ultimate goal. For details about C2C, visit www.harborrc.org.

College To Career Helps Disabled Youngsters



Literature readings are nothing new to coffeehouses. But why try to bring in writers from around the country when

Long Beach has produced so much inspiring ink on the page re-cently, asked Kerstin Kansteiner, owner of Portfolio Coffeehouse. this December, Portfolio will be hosting a weekly reading se-

ries that will highlight three lo-cal writers and the books they’ve most recently completed. Kan-steiner said she was struck by how simple this premise could be as she was reading, and quite enjoying, Carl Lipo’s “the Stat-ues that Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of easter island.” “these are all authors from the area and that is what really enticed us,” she said. “the fact that these writers actually live in the neighborhood and have writ-ten these books — this can be a connecting point for the commu-nity.” She said it was easy to find au-thors to fill out the lineup. “it grew from a single event to a series because there is this poten-tial in Long Beach — shop local and support independent stores,” she said. On Dec. 5, Jack Grisham will read from “an american Demon: a Memoir.” the memoir chroni-cles the life of Grisham, who was the front man of the pioneer punk band true Sounds of Liberty. the book follows Grisham’s life, and his immersion in to the hard-core punk world of the 1980s — describing the aggres-sion, rebellion, drug abuse and alcoholism of the lifestyle. for more information, visit www.JackGrisham.com. On Dec. 12, Lipo, a California State University, Long Beach, professor, will be on hand with his non-fiction book. the profes-sor examines famed easter island and the culture that would have built its famous stone sculptures. for more information, visit www.LipoLab.org. the final reader of the series will be Barbara ardinger on Dec. 19. She will be reading from “Se-cret Lives,” a novel based in Long Beach’s own rose Park in the late 1980s — with many of the inci-dents, places and people drawn from real life. for more information, visit www.Barbaraardinger.com. “i personally know a lot of peo-ple who would love these books and would love coming to a read-ing,” Kansteiner said. “if this is successful, we’d love to continue with something similar.” the readings will take place in Portfolio’s back room, where there are various types of seat-ing. the authors will take to the podium — some may read from their book and others might just tell stories, she added. “it should be casual and not just a forced reading,” she said. “We’d like people to sit down, have a cup of coffee and be drawn into the conversation with the writ-ers.” for additional information about the Long Beach Writers read, visit the website at www.PortfolioCoffeehouse.com.

Area Authors Showcased In DecemberWHAT: Long Beach Writ-ers ReadWHEN: 7 to 8:30 p.m., Dec. 5, 12 and 19WHERE: Portfolio Cof-feehouse, 2300 E. Fourth St.COST: Free (although you may want to buy food or a drink)

November 24, 2011 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 31AHEALTH & BEAUTY

By Jonathan Van DykeSTAFF WRITER

A downtown partnership will again look to turn the city red for AIDS awareness next week. Mayor Bob Foster, the Down-town Long Beach Associates, the Long Beach Conventions & Visitors Bureau and downtown restaurants have partnered for the (Long Beach) RED event, which coincides with World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. “It’s an international day, so we also wanted to rally together for and honor those with AIDS,” said Esther McCurry, DLBA market-ing and special events assistant manager. “We’re currently work-ing with the city about lighting, but there are still plans to turn downtown red.” There are recently purchased LED lights around downtown that can change colors, McCurry said, which include lights along Ocean Boulevard, Pine Avenue and Broadway — along with cer-tain prominent downtown land-marks. “Each of the downtown restau-rants has been invited to give a portion of their profi ts to four dif-ferent nonprofi ts to fi ght against AIDS,” McCurry said. The list of participating restau-

rants has not been fi nalized — DLBA offi cials said people can visit the website at www.long-beachred.com, as the event nears for a complete list. The four nonprofi ts benefi ting are the: • Long Beach AIDS Founda-tion, which focuses efforts on ed-ucation and prevention materials for mainly youth and adolescent populations. • Wells House Hospice Foun-dation, which supports programs in end-of-life/palliative care edu-cation and training. • Long Beach CARE Program at St. Mary Medical Center, which provides support and med-ical services to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. • Center Long Beach HIV Counseling and Testing Program, which provides cost-free testing and one-on-one counseling. “This came through a partner-ship with the mayor’s offi ce,” McCurry said. “We’re always looking for ways to promote our businesses and work for a good cause. We were plenty happy to collaborate on this one.” For additional information, as it becomes available, visit the website at www.longbeachred.com.

Long Beach Turns Red To HonorAIDS Awareness Next Week

The public will have a chance to purchase art from the Histori-cal Society of Long Beach’s re-cent exhibit, “Rebuilding for the Future: A New Deal for Long Beach 1933-1942.” More than 50 of the exhibi-tion’s display of printed canvas and mounted images are for sale. Many are photographs taken by J. Christopher Launi of murals, mosaics and architectural details from the period after the 1933 earthquake, when federal mon-ey was used to rebuild much of Long Beach. The exhibit contin-ues through Dec. 31, although some art may be available ear-lier. To view the exhibit, go to the Historical Society at 4260 At-lantic Ave. Hours are 1-5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Fri-day, 1-7 p.m. on Thursday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The website is http://hslb.org.

New Deal ExhibitDisplays For Sale Bethune Transitional Center

for Homeless Students, founded in 1991, provides aid for home-less students in Long Beach, including referrals to housing, mental health services, assistance with transportation and help buy-ing uniforms, books and other supplies. While the school district pro-vides funding for the program, donations are needed to provide the students with additional sup-plies and support. More than 150 women worked together for Humanitarian Ser-

vice Day this year to collect and organize supplies to benefi t Bet-hune students. The effort was organized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to as-sist LBUSD’s estimated 5,000 students who are classifi ed as homeless (about 14% of the stu-dent population). The women collected school supplies, hy-giene kits, clothing and blankets. To fi nd out how to contribute to helping homeless youth or if you are in need of services for homeless students, call Bethune Transitional Center at 435-2050.

Donations For Homeless Students

a | gRUNION gaZeTTe | November 24, 2011HealtH & Beauty

By Dr. Victor Byrd Why meditate? As surely as some people go to detox centers to rid their bodies of toxic drugs and alcohol — only then having any chance to work

on the underlying addiction which caused the toxicity — people go to meditation centers in order to release mental toxicity, mental drugs such as a lifetime of stored memories, desire, anger, sadness,

greed, confusion: all crammed into the brain cells. These stored memories are constantly activated with each breath. Is meditation a religion? If not,

does it conflict with my religion? For sure, meditation is not a re-ligion. Interestingly, the ancient yoga texts refer to it as a “science of salvation.” Salvation from what? According to the Buddha, med-itation leads to the end of suffer-ing. It can also be used for psy-chological purposes, as an adjunct to psychotherapy for instance. It can be used to help a patient work

with chronic pain, or help a per-son lessen the effects of anxiety. There is no question that long forgotten memories, feelings that we have repressed, come up as a result of meditation, and psycho-logical “ahas” frequently occur while one is sitting in meditation. Through meditation we learn to stay focused or “on point.” Surely that ability would deepen any spiritual practice as well as en-hance psychological work. Is meditation about learning

how to stop thinking? This is often asked by begin-ning students. Human thought is the most extraordinary achieve-ment of human evolution. It is true that in the deepest states of alert restfulness thought can actually cease. The only dif-ference between this and dream-less sleep is that the meditator is awake. But we are never trying to force the mind to stop thinking. We are sure to lose that battle if we do. Those who do not meditate tend to believe their thoughts. They fuse with their thoughts. People who meditate learn to witness their thoughts, and from that place of witnessing they are no longer as controlled by their thoughts — thrown helter-skelter from here to there by incessant thinking. A person who cannot witness thought has a tiger by the tail. A person who, through medi-tation, has learned to witness thought has gained a measure of control over thought. That person has the tiger on a leash and can stroll around the park with it! How to meditate? There are many different medi-tation techniques, drawn from many traditions: Hindu, Buddhist, yogic, etc. Whatever technique we choose, it must match our unique attri-butes: introvert, extrovert, feeling type, thinking type, rather than trying to squeeze ourselves into a suit of clothes that does not fit.Dr. Victor Byrd has practiced as a psychotherapist in Long Beach for the past 20 years and is the Guiding Teacher for Long Beach Medita-tion.

Cleanse Mental toxins through Meditation Process


It’s hard to imagine a husband who would beat his wife. But it happens. The man can manipulate the woman into believing she de-serves it. Finally, the woman runs away. It requires bravery and strength. Now she has to start her life all over again, often with children in tow. That is a very, very hard thing to do. I recently learned about domes-tic violence and was very curious about it. I wanted to help. This is why I am conducting a food drive to help people in need, people who are victims of domestic vio-lence. The food we collect will help a pantry run by WomenShel-ter of Long Beach. You can drop off any non-per-ishable food at Susie Atwood’s State Farm Agency office on Sec-ond Street In Naples. I can also pick up your food. You can call me at 802-4ZOE (802-4963) to arrange pickup. I will be taking the food to the agency, where victims of domes-tic violence go for help. Victims at the agency’s out-reach office often say they can-not feed their families between paychecks. They do not want to

go hungry or leave their children hungry. This is one of the many ways that WomenShelter helps victims of domestic violence. The shelter began as a house and was donated to the nonprofit group by Virginia Corbett in 1997. The 4-bedroom, 11-bed shelter was one of the first in Southern California. But now after 34 years there are many in California. The location of the houses are kept a secret so the abuser can’t find the person he or she has been abusing. Domestic violence can start when the man or woman starts controlling the other person, lim-iting what they wear, who they know or how they can act. The victim may then be physically hurt. Those who come to the agen-cy break a cycle that may affect many people who are too afraid to act. Tulynn Smylie, the shel-ter’s executive director, told me this problem affects kids. Kids exposed to this kind of behavior are more likely to be victims or abusers themselves when they grow up, she said. Your help to my drive can help break the cycle and keep a victim independent of an abuser. This

effort will be my fourth drive for the less fortunate in Long Beach. I am very grateful to those readers who contributed in the past and hopeful that you will consider a donation this holiday season. Thank you.Zoe Mena is a seventh grader at Rogers Middle School.

Zoe Organizes Food DriveFor WomenShelter Clients

Bixby Elementary School is in the running for a $50,000 “Power a Bright Future” grant from Clo-rox. Clorox is awarding four $25,000 grants and one $50,000 grant to help fund educational de-

velopment programs in schools across the country. There are three ways to vote. Go to www.VoteForBixby.com; visit www.PowerABrightFuture.com or text “CLOROX7532” to 44144.

Bixby Elementary Seeks Clorox Grant

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David Wilcox knows what it takes to create a great ballet. As the artistic director of the Long Beach Ballet, Wilcox is immersed in preparations for his 29th year of directing the holiday staple, “The Nutcracker” in Long Beach. “My fi rst ‘Nutcracker’ was in 1983,” he said. “One of the things I am good at is producing enter-taining productions. When I put this ‘Nutcracker’ together, I hired Disney designers to make the sets, used a real magician to set up the special effects, and we even have our own live horse. I’ve pulled out all the stops to make it as enter-taining as possible.” His ballet career began when he was a young boy. Wilcox’s moth-er was a ballet pianist, and he be-gan dancing at the age of 11. At 19, he was one of the only male ballet dancers in the Los Angeles region, he said. “From there, I went to dance in England, and also danced in Ger-many for seven years,” he said. “After that, I got a little tired of life in Germany, so I returned to this area, and one thing led to an-other.” The previous owner of the Long Beach Ballet School approached Wilcox with a proposition — to take over the school — and Wil-cox did, in 1981. “In 1983, I started a profes-sional company separate from school,” Wilcox said. “The com-pany grew to be largest company in the history of Los Angeles for a few years.” In 1994, the Long Beach Ballet sold 40,000 tickets to its produc-tion of “The Nutcracker,” and it was known as the prime show to

see in the area. Wilcox’s professional ballet company closed in 1998, and the school of prima ballerinas and dancers took over the production. Many of his alumni have gone on to become professionals in the business, including “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 5 fi nalist Melissa Sandvig, who started her career at the age of 5 in the Long Beach Ballet. “The show looks the same as it did when the company was per-forming it,” Wilcox added. “The students and the caliber of every-thing are so high.”

A few of Wilcox’s dancers — in-cluding his 15-year-old daughter — recently competed in the ama-teur ballet competition, the Youth American Grand Prix, where three of his dancers were selected as fi nalists. As an advocate for ballet, Wil-cox also takes several of his stu-dents to China for three to four weeks, through the Ballet Ambas-sadors program, where the stu-dents dance with fellow Chinese ballet dancers. With never a moment to spare, Wilcox said his next project in-volves collaboration with the

Aquarium of the Pacifi c next spring. The Long Beach Ballet’s pro-duction of “The Nutcracker” opens at the Terrace Theatre/Long Beach Performing Arts Center on Dec. 17, with show times at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and at noon and 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18. Tickets can be purchased at TicketMaster out-lets and at the Long Beach Per-

forming Arts Center Box Offi ce. Tickets range from $24 to $48, with a VIP package available for $85 for adults, $75 for seniors and $60 for children. To charge by phone, call TicketMaster at (800) 745-3000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. The box offi ce is located at 300 E. Ocean Blvd. For more information, visit www.longbeachballet.com.

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Wilcox Presents 29th “Nutcracker”

—Photo courtesy of the Long Beach BalletTEACHING TECHNIQUE. Long Beach Ballet creative director David Wilcox instructs one of his ballet students during a class.

a | gRUNION gaZeTTe | November 24, 2011HealtH & Beauty

Be forewarned. Cal Rep con-tinues its theatrical mission with an intelligent, thought-provoking, issue-driven production that stim-ulates your brain and sends you

home with a gaggle of concepts to think about. And it ain’t for sis-sies! The “Louis Slotin Sonata,” another explosive drama, just

opened last weekend in the Royal Theater aboard the Queen Mary. Written by award-winning play-wright Paul Mullin, and directed by internationally renowned

guest artist Eberhard Koehler, this dramatic account of a deadly nuclear accident in Los Alamos follows Cal Rep’s production of “The Love Song of J.Robert Op-penheimer.” If you saw Cal Rep’s powerful Oppenheimer work, you know it demanded complete attention from the audience. So when you go to this innovative production of the “Louis Slotin Sonata,” be prepared in advance with a think-ing cap, an open mind, and an open heart. Based on what happened when Slotin (a brilliant scientist) had an infamous “slip of the hand,” fol-lowed by the fallout of his deadly error, the official version eulogiz-es him as a hero. Never mind that he was a Canadian Jew, he saved the lives of his fellow scientists by hurling his body on top of the accident, didn’t he? Or was he another cocky show-off who was destroyed by his own arrogance? As Albert Einstein said, “God does not play dice.” According to director Koehler, “This is a play that doesn’t put answers in front of us, but asks questions about the way we relate to historic events. Things can be seen differently, used for propa-ganda purposes or turned into he-roic stories. Everything depend-ing on what the agenda is.” By employing the classical music structure of a sonata, Mul-lin follows Slotin’s fatal accident over and over again — repeating it from different circumstances that see it from different points of view (shadow puppets, fam-ily memories, morphine-induced fantasies, frightening nightmares, and loyal friends). Under Koehler’s sensitive direc-tion, a delicate balance between

tragedy and grotesque comedy (think Comedy of the Absurd) is achieved as Cal Rep’s cast rotates like clockwork through many dif-ferent interpretations. With Josh Nathan’s brilliant portrayal of the lead character, and Alex Bill-ings’ convincing performance as his devoted nurse, we watch Slo-tin slowly diminish for nine long days before he slips into a coma and dies. But before his death, the play explores many conceivable facets of his fatal accident, along with its historical background and the people who took part in its sur-roundings. Playing various scenes that range from horror and pathos through brutal reality, to outra-geous black comedy (brought on by morphine injections to kill Slotin’s pain), are six additional Cal Rep cast members. Identified only as Man 2 through Man 7, they include Craig Anton, Robert Prior, John Prosky, David Vegh, Simon Brooke and Jerry Prell, Both collectively and individual-ly, their performances are terrific. All of the madness takes place on Jeff Eisenmann’s set (the same one that was designed for Cal Rep’s Oppenheimer production), under Ronan Kilkelly’s lighting. Stephanie Dunbar designed the costumes that are appropriate to the action, Mark Nichols was responsible for the period music, and Ezra LeBank choreographed the cast’s movement. “Louis Slotin Sonata” contin-ues in the Royal Theatre aboard the Queen Mary at 8 p.m. Tues-day-Saturday and at 2p.m. Sun-day through Dec. 10, with no performances Nov. 22-26 due to Thanksgiving. Parking is $6. For tickets, call 985-5526.

Rep’s “Sonata” explosive Drama

The Long Beach Chorale pres-ents “The 2000-Year-Old-Vir-gin” on Dec. 10 and 11 at Grace First Presbyterian Church, 3955 Studebaker Rd. The program honors the Virgin Mary.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students. The concerts are at 7 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Grace Presbyterian is at 3955 Studebaker Rd. Visit www.longbeachchorale.org.

Chorale Hosts Holiday Concert


By Kurt A. EichsteadtEditorial assistant

the holiday season is ap-proaching and with it, opportuni-ties to help the less fortunate. We list opportunities to get in the real spirit of the holidays. a Belmont shore family will be accepting donations of a spe-cial calling card that they will for-ward to Marines in afghanistan. these Marines are serving in harsh conditions, existing mainly on meals ready to eat (MrEs) and some are living in tents with no heaters. supplies already have been donated and now the Bau-mel family wants to make it eas-ier for the troops to contact their families over the holiday season by collecting and forwarding call-ing cards. the cards are at&t 300-minute pre-paid Global Call-ing Cards, known as “300 Minute aaFEs at&t Global Calling Cards.” they cost $18 and are available at sam’s Club, Wal-mart and target. the cards can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, nov. 25, across from Fire station 14 at 5200 Eliot ave. For more information, call 298-0871. the Paradise is hosting a pan-cake breakfast and toy drive start-ing at 10 a.m. saturday, dec. 4, at the Paradise, 1800 E. Broadway. the breakfast is $8 and includes pancakes, eggs and sausages. they’ll be accepting unwrapped

toys for needy children. the Committee of 300, invites everyone to their holiday party benefiting the Pacific sailing Center from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Mon-day, dec. 5, at l’opera, 101 Pine ave. admission is a $20 donation and includes complimentary ap-petizers. the committee also sup-ports team 100, which provides weekend food to disadvantaged families. the Pathways Volunteer Hos-pice has two “light Up a life” tree lighting ceremonies this year. a donation of $20 provides one light on the trees and the name of the person being honored or remembered is posted on a scroll displayed at the tree. Ceremonies are dec. 5 and dec. 7. For loca-tions and to donate, visit www.pathwayshospice.org. the fourth annual long Beach Community Fund drive is now underway. Canned or packaged food and pet food can be donated in barrels around long Beach. For locations, visit wwww.May-orBobFoster.com. Goods col-lected between now and dec. 31 will be distributed by Food Find-ers. the project is a joint effort of Food Finders, Mayor Foster, Friends of long Beach animals and We love long Beach. also underway is the long Beach Fire department’s Canned Food drive. donations may be made at all long Beach Fire

stations during normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. these donations also will go to Food Finders for distribution. For the holidays, autism long Beach will match up children with angel donors. donations can be specific items or money. to help out, send an email to [email protected]. the Kohl’s Keeping Kids safe program at Miller Children’s Hospital will benefit from Kohl’s Cares cause merchandise at area Kohl’s stores. 100% of the net profits from the cause merchan-dise.

—Gazette photo by Jonathan Van DykeHOOP HOLIDAY. Edna tells a story to the Laker Girls during a special Thanksgiving event at the Long Beach Senior Center.

A | GRUNION GAZETTE | November 24, 2011HEALTH & BEAUTY

The conversation topic at our house was the fractious state of public higher education. CSU faculty were on strike for the fi rst time ever over non-deliv-ery of a negotiated raise, students were tear-gassed while protesting yet another fee hike. My students at LBCC were noticeably edgy — spring registration opened last week and already there are wait lists for many classes.

Paul chimed in with Dickens’s opening line from “The Tale of Two Cities,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” And then, as he is wont to do, he sent the conversation off on a new path by saying, “In the opening, Dickens mentions Mrs. Southcott. But she never shows up again in the book. Did he forget about her?”

I said it’s a big book with a dense plot, maybe he did forget. When Howard Hawks was direct-ing the screen version of Ray-mond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep” in 1946, one of the screen writers, none other than William Faulkner, noticed that at the end one of the murders remained unresolved — who killed Arthur Geiger? Hawks and Faulkner called Chandler, who reread his book. Chandler’s answer was, Oops, never tied up that story thread. How often do characters and plot lines disappear, never to be resolved? It was an interesting question. While thinking about story bits I might have left un-tended, a diversion from working on my book in progress, I opened the Dickens classic — hadn’t read it for decades — to see what he had said about Mrs. Southcott. In 1775, Mrs. Southcott turned 25. Period. So I Googled her to see what had been said about this apparent anomaly and ran right into the endless conundrum I am wrestling with as I write my fi rst historical novel.

How does the writer portray people and events from the past in a way that is at once accurate, interesting, and accessible to the contemporary reader? Mrs. Jo-anna Southcott, it turns out, was an actual person who claimed to be able to see the future and who portended doom for London, among other prophecies. If she was 25 in 1775, she would have been dead and buried when Dick-ens dropped her name in 1859, but she was still someone who was well known to his readers as an old woman. Dickens used the reference to her age to move his readers back in time about 75 years, something like saying to readers now, “When Abe Lincoln was a boy.” The problem, of course, is that Mrs. Southcott’s fame faded, and the reference to her has become so obscure that it is meaning-less to most of us. As a teacher, I fi gured out a long time ago that I constantly need to update

my frames of reference to help students relate to various topics.Demographically, current un-dergraduates were in elemen-tary school when 9/11 happened. Vietnam? Their grandfathers tell them about being there. I can’t drop the Free Speech Movement into a discussion of recent student and faculty protests and expect this generation to know what that was. In the classroom, I can explain and illustrate and repeat until I detect some glimmer of under-standing in students’ responses or on their faces. In a novel, there is no such luxury. I begin my historical tale with the beheading of King Charles I in London in 1649. It’s a dramatic scene. I can’t stop the action to deliver a lecture about the Eng-lish Civil Wars and why the king is losing his head, but I do need to offer enough explanation so that the time frame is clear, the events are understood, and the charac-ters are believable. To do this, I use my own versions of Mrs. Southcott by dropping hopefully recognizable historic fi gures into the story: diarist Samuel Pepys as an obnoxious teenager; poet and teacher John Milton in mid-dle age, going blind; and Oliver Cromwell, of course. It’s tricky. It’s fun. You think this is a fractious time? Let me tell you about Jolly Olde England…Wendy Hornsby is an author of mys-teries and a professor at Long Beach City College. Her most recent book, “The Paramour’s Daughter,” is out now.

Life’s Plots Not Always Resolved


“Terror at The Pike or How Come There Aren’t Any Waves in Long Beach?” runs Dec. 2-18 at the Garage Theatre, 251 E. Sev-enth St. The melodrama returns to the

Garage for the adventures of Rod, Dixie, Ging and Tricia as they match wits with the evil Ian Sidious. In addition to the show, there’s free ice cream, carnival-themed activities and face paint-

ing for early arrivals. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for children, cash at the door. For reservations call (866) 811-4111, or visit www.thegarageth-eatre.org.

“Terror” Melodrama, Carnival Treats At Garage

Retro’s Featured Artist Featuring a collection of origi-nal prints and posters on display and for sale, Retro Row’s inret-rospect is hosting A Whimsical Evening with David Weidman from 6 to 9 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 26. Weidman, 89, a Southern California-based artist, will be at inretrospect at 2122 E. Fourth St. to sign copies of his book, “The Whimsical Works of David Weidman,” and talk about his ca-reer. His career began in anima-tion studios and later he opened a gallery on La Cienega Boulevard, showcasing his silkscreen talents. He is bringing exclusive pieces from his private portfolio just for the event. Also, a film crew is expected to attend the event and shoot footage for a documentary based on Weidman’s life. The event is an opportunity to meet the artist and see the larg-est selection of original Weidman prints available outside of his stu-dio, event organizers said. For details about the event or Weidman, visit the inretrospect blog at http://www.inretrospect.co/blog/ or call 233-6600.

See’s In Shore See’s Candies, a retail chain founded in 1921 that specializes in old-time homemade treats, has opened a temporary store in Bel-mont Shore for the holidays. Located at 4725 E. Second St., where Chico’s closed this year, the See’s Candies store will re-main open through Christmas Eve, said a See’s spokesperson. Pre-packaged items are for sale at the store, including assort-ments especially created to serve as Thanksgiving, Hannukkuh and Christmas gifts.

New Veterinary Office Four-legged friends have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, a new choice in veterinary care: Beach Veterinary Hospital. Headed by Dr. Ena Valikov, Beach Veterinary Hospital at 2741 E. Fourth St. celebrated an open house/grand opening cel-ebration earlier this month. The business combines traditional compassionate veterinary medi-cine with a focus on preventative care, such as vaccinations, nutri-tion, behavioral training, spay

and neuter services and more. The office is equipped with a full laboratory, pharmacy, x-ray ma-chine, EKG, surgical suite and other amenities. Beach Veterinary Hospital is open Tuesdays through Satur-days and features urgent care services after hours. For details, visit www.beachvethospital.com or call 433-3400.

Need A Dentist? West Coast Dental Services, Inc., celebrated the grand open-ing of its newest dental office in Long Beach this month. West Coast Dental at 1835 Xi-meno Ave. is the 25th location the company has opened in Southern California. The practice offers general dentistry services as well as preventative care, cosmetic dentistry and emergency care for families or individuals. For details about West Coast Dental, visit http://westcoastden-tal.com/long-beach-dentists or call 453-1111.

Pro Golfer Returns David Games, a professional golfer who recently returned from touring throughout the U.S. and Britain, is offering golf in-struction at Recreation Park Golf Course. “I’m happy to be back where it all started for me,” Games said in a release. “I grew up playing golf in the Long Beach area, where ju-nior programs were heavily sup-ported by the golf community. I … hope to be able to give back through my teaching and coach-ing.” Games started playing at the Compton Par-3 Golf Course at the age of 6. He won his first tournament when he was 9 years old at Little Rec and went to the finals of the Long Beach City Match Play at Big Rec at age 13. Later, he earned a full athletic scholarship to Stanford Univer-sity, where he competed from 1978-1982, and made all Pac-10. In addition to teaching at Rec Park, Games intends to play a schedule of tournaments in 2012, and compete in Champions Tour Qualifying School next year. Lessons can be scheduled with Games by calling or texting (831) 241-2363. For more information, visit www.recparkgolfschool.com.

Calendar listings should be mailed to 5225 E. Second St., Long Beach, CA 90803 or email [email protected]. Please include time, date and place of the event along with the cost (if any) and a contact phone number or Web site. A complete calendar is at www.gazettes.com.

Nov. 25-27 - “It’s a Wonderful Christmas Carol, 7:30 p.m. Fri., 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., Sat., 7 p.m. Sun., All American Melodrama Theater, 429 Shoreline Dr., $20, $18 for seniors, students and military, $14 ages 12 and younger, 495-5900, www.allamericanmelodrama.com.Through Nov. 27 - Fred Blanco in “A Christmas Carol” one-man show, 8 p.m. Fri., Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., Found Theatre, 599 Long Beach Blvd., $10, 433-3363.Through Dec. 10, Cal Rep: “Louis Slotin Sonata,” 8 p.m. Tues-Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., (dark Nov. 22-26), Royal Theater on the Queen Mary, 1126 Queens Highway, $20, $15 for students, military and seniors, 985-5526, www.calrep.org.

Nov. 24 – Turkey Trot starts at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool, 7 a.m., $35 in advance, $40 cash at the door, http://justinrudd.com/trot.hyml.Nov. 26 - A Whimsical Evening with Artist David Weidman, 6-9 p.m., inretrospect, 2122 E. Fourth St., 233-6600.Nov. 29 - Long Beach City

College Senior Center Tour: Christmas at Kimberly Crest Chateau and Gardens, call for departure details, $25 plus admission, 938-3048.Nov. 29 - East Seventh Street 102nd Birthday Party, 7-9 p.m., Rivera’s Mexican Restaurant, 2901 E. Seventh St., $10 for buffet.Nov. 30 - Panel Discussion: Censorship in Museums, 5 p.m., Carpenter Center, 6200 Atherton St., free, www.bwordproject.org. Dec. 1 - Long Beach City College Senior Center Tour: Tessman Planetarium and Christmas Fun at Knott’s Berry Farm, call for departure details, $25 plus dinner

and admission, 938-3048.Dec. 1 - Long Beach-Qingdao Sister City Assoc. Luncheon, 11:30 a.m., Renaissance Hotel, 111 E. Ocean Blvd., $45, $50 at the door, www.lbqa.org.Dec. 1 - Lecture and Book Signing about Squid with author Wendy Willimas, 7 p.m. Aquarium of the Pacifi c, 100 Aquarium Way, $5, free for members, seniors and students, 590-3100, www.aquariuofpacifi c.org.

Nov. 29 - Alan Lowenthal for 47th Congressional District

PAGE 40A | GRUNION GAZETTE | November 24, 2011

BANNER DAY


—Gazette photo by Geronimo QuitorianoA “Welcome to Cambodia Town” lamp pole banner was raffl ed off on Saturday by Sithea San (right) at the 3rd Annual Cambodian Arts and Culture Exhibition at MacArthur Park.

NIGHT OUT

EVENTS

POLITICS


attended Lakewood, Millikan and Wilson, meeting each other in the Long Beach Junior Concert Band, which typically leads the Shore parade each year. They perfected their “simple and loud” sound in the ’70s, and have kept it alive for holiday pa-rades and performances at area sporting events. “We’re a throwback to the ’70s,” said Brian McBride, LGSD tenor drummer and spokesman. “Now high school drum corps have a re-fi ned sound with a quicker pace. A lot of people hear us and say that we’re how high school foot-ball games used to sound.” McBride said the cadences played by LGSD are slowly be-coming a lost art, but he knows the tunes are a crowd favorite at the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade because of the sound and the visual quality of the perfor-mance. “We play as loud as we can play,” he said. “You have to have a lot of physical stamina to do this… We have a line of white snare drums, a row of tenor drum-mers and a row of base drummers as well as one cymbal player. We play so loudly and fi ercely that the drumheads break and tear, and we do have to swap them out sometimes during the parade. We

get the most heavy duty equip-ment we can, but sometimes it still breaks.” The members haven’t decided yet, but this year’s parade may be the last of their performances, McBride said. It’s been seven years since the group performed, and this parade may be either a last hurrah or the re-start of an annual tradition — the verdict’s still out. McBride said he is hopeful that this performance won’t be the last. This latest break isn’t the fi rst time Last Generation tem-porarily disbanded. From 1981 to 1988, members stopped per-forming as they went to college, married, began careers as airline pilots, police offi cers, lawyers, executives and entrepreneurs. When they reunited in ’88, they marched in their fi rst Belmont Shore Christmas Parade, but the reunion wasn’t permanent. Remi-niscing always gets the better of the members, McBride said, add-ing that perhaps this third time will be the charm. “We’ve always kept drumming on the back burner,” he said. “We all had our drums in the garage collecting dust… It is an excuse to be teenage boys again — it’s amazing how those roles don’t go away, and we are the same people we were when we get back to-gether.” In preparation for next month’s

parade, McBride said the group has been practicing regularly for several months, marching in parking lots and measuring out twice the distance of the parade route so they will be physically prepared for the event. When they come down Sec-ond Street, the drummers will be wearing all-black military-style attire, with caps. The tough-looking bunch is sponsored, as they have been in years’ past, by Quinn’s Irish Pub, where the drummers will “circle up” after the parade and play a few fi nale cadences at Nieto Avenue south of Second Street. “We are a crowd pleaser,” McBride said. “We have an un-forgettable look and sound… We are just really looking forward to connecting to the audience — the more they applaud and scream, the more pumped up we get. We are excited about this parade and want to be a major highlight.”

The gift cards Smylie is talking about come from the Gazette Newspapers gift card drive. The drive began for the 2004 holiday season, after the Gazette had pro-duced an award-winning series of stories about domestic violence focusing on WomenShelter. “Since that fi rst year, the drive has grown beyond all of our imaginations,” Gazette Publisher Simon Grieve said. “We’ve set a record every year. I keep saying we can’t get any bigger, and each year, we do. It says wonderful things about our readers.” That fi rst year, the Gazette staff handed over about $1,750 in gift cards, and called the drive a suc-cess. Last year, the total topped $12,000. That effort has been helped by the newspaper’s partners. For the last several years, the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach has primed the gift card pump with a major donation. They’ve stepped up to the plate again this year, to the tune of $3,500. Also stepping to the plate, as they have in the past, are the folks at the Aquarium of the Pa-cifi c. Thanks to the management there, the Gazette will once again be able to provide a pair of tick-ets to the aquarium for every do-nation of $25 in gift cards.

Cards of any kind are appreci-ated, but those from department or discount stores (think Target, Marshalls, etc.) or grocery stores are most used. That’s thanks to their versatility, Smylie said. “Gift cards are great especially for the hard-to-buy-for groups such as kids or teenagers,” she said. “It also lets the moms do the giving. And speaking of moms, it is so hard to get them to tell us what they want. They’re always saying they want things like un-derwear, the necessities. The gift cards mean the wish list might be fulfi lled.” While the card drive focuses on Christmas, the gift cards get use all year long. What isn’t given out during the holidays is saved, then used to help families furnish apartments, buy school clothes and more. Donations can be mailed or brought to the Gazette offi ce at 5225 E. Second St., Long Beach CA, 90803. Those who mail cards should indicate whether they would like the aquarium tickets and include a self-addressed re-turn envelope. Checks also are accepted, and will be used to buy gift cards. Checks should be made payable to Hearts For Long Beach (the Gazette nonprofi t foundation), with WomenShelter or gift cards in the memo line. “Unfortunately, this is one need that never goes away,” Grieve said. “Anything our read-ers can do to help is greatly ap-preciated.”


Gift Cards“The more they

applaud and scream, the more pumped up we get. We are excited about this

parade.”—Brian McBride

(Continued from Page 1)

Drummers “Unfortunately, this is one need that never

goes away.”—Simon Grieve


located at 1230 Pine Ave. and 1637 Long Beach Blvd., received its charter in 2000, and was re-newed in 2005 and 2010, Bow added. “This is scary because we’ve had a long standing and positive relationship with the community,” Bow said. “We’re contending this because what we do here is not measured fully by just looking at API (Academic Performance In-dex) and looking at our placement scores.” The school is an English- and Spanish-speaking campus, which places a strong focus on the en-vironment, technology, diversity and moral reasoning — charac-teristics and skills that parents and staff at New City claim are incapable of being measured on state exams. The state regulation looks at two pieces of data to qualify a school for review, according to Bonnie Galloway, who is the State Department of Education’s education administrator in the charter school division. “One of the qualifications for this review is if the school has a statewide rank of ‘1’ for two years,” she said. “This system ranks all of the state’s schools, based on their API scores… If you have a ranking of ‘1,’ that means you’re in the lower ranking of all the schools in the state.” One of the drawbacks of this ranking system, Galloway add-

ed, is the fact that it looks at the lowest number of student scores. Even if a school improves, it will continue to look at the bottom 10%. The second piece of criteria is the API scores, and whether or not the school has seen 50 points of improvement during the last three years. New City’s 2009 base API score was at 671, with its small high school campus scoring 507; at 645 in 2010, with a high school score of 595; and 621 in 2011, with a base score of 595 for the high schoolers. Bow said the 2011 score included a 90-point increase for English learners. “Once identified, the school can submit any kind of data to the state to revoke this, because this system is fairly limiting,” Gallo-way said. “It should be based on the students the school is serv-ing. We would ask the school to provide any other data they are receiving particular to their char-ter. They should make a case for why they should be revoked from this.” Parent Tara Sievers, who lives

in Belmont Shore, decided to not go with her neighborhood elementary school for her kinder-gartener last year. She settled on New City because of the welcom-ing atmosphere and different style of learning. “This is really scary for us,” Sievers said. “Education, to me, is important. I understand testing is one way to measure what kids are learning, but I could have gone to Naples Elementary, which has high API scores, but that was not the sole criteria for me to judge a school.” Bow said that she has been ac-tively working to switch staffing schedules to allow for more teach-ers in the classroom, and increase the reading intervention program. “We have brought in an existing teacher, and increased the posi-tion to work with small groups of students,” she said. “We also have individual tutoring, and at our high school, we started an iPad program, which is going well… For the past four years, we have had a comprehensive afterschool program that includes enrichment and an athletic component.” In May 2010, the school part-nered with the Long Beach Hous-ing Development Company to open the New City School farm, at 225 E. 15th St., which has be-come the school’s outdoor class-room. “All 650 students have access to the garden,” Bow said. “Students are planting, growing and harvest-

ing. It’s developing their thinking as global citizens, and how to be responsible consumers. We want to put those habits in place for a healthy lifestyle.” New City has until Dec. 1 to submit their information to the state, before State Superintendent Tom Torkelson makes his recom-mendation to the board by Jan. 15. By Feb. 1, the charter school and

authorizer will be notified, and a public hearing must be conducted no later than March 1. “Upon review, the superin-tendent may look at the schools and determine that none of them warrant a case for closure,” add-ed Galloway. “That could be his (Torkelson’s) recommendation to the board. It has to be a case-by-case basis.”


New City School

—Gazette photo by Stephanie MinasianHERE TO SERVE. Christ Chapel, at 3935 E. 10th St., is celebrat-ing 30 years of fighting AIDS.

Tickets are $25 each, and may be purchased by calling 438-5303.

Reservations need to be made by Wednesday, Nov. 30. For more information about Christ Chapel Church, visit www.christchapellongbeach.org.


Christ Chapel

“This is scary because we’ve had a long standing and positive relationship with the community.”

—Sabrina Bow

Today’s ObituariesAllen, Mary KatherineBarton, Deneitris S.Cabello, VictoriaCurtis, Nelcise SelfDaniels, Donald O’NealDaywalt, Brandon A.Fowler, Gabriel LeeFreemont, HelenHorton, WesleyIsbell, Everett C. Jr.

Johnson, Percy Jr.Lewis, Virginia C.Manheim, Jerome H.Robinson, Thomas J. Jr.Roles, Travis E.Silva, Brandon P.Skinner, Stephen D. Sr.Strong, Kevin VincentWalker, David LeRoyWilliams, Roy

To submit material, call: Kurt Eichsteadtat 562-209-2094, e-mail to

[email protected], go online towww.gazettes.com or fax to 562-434-8826

CURTIS, Nelcise Self, 1921-2011Nelcise Self Curtis, 90, of Long Beach, passed away Oct. 19. She was born in Selma, Cal. and is survived by her husband, Harold. There was a memorial service at the First Congregational Church of Long Beach. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

ISBELL, Everett Clifford Jr.1921-2011

Everett Clifford Isbell Jr., 89, of Long Beach, passed away Oct. 24. He was born in Cherry Ridge, Mont., and was an aerospace engineer. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer. Interment is at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

SKINNER, Stephen Duprez Sr.1948-2011

Stephen Duprez Skinner Sr., 62, of Long Beach, passed away Oct. 31. He was born in Chicago, Ill., and was a machinist. He is survived by his son, Stephen Jr. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

BARTON, Deneitris Shantell1979-2011

Deneitris Shantell Barton, 31, of Anaheim, passed away Oct. 28. She was born in Los Angeles. She is survived by her mother, Linda. Interment is at Lincoln Memorial Park in Shreveport, LA. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

HORTON, Wesley, 1915-2011Wesley Horton, 96, of Signal Hill, passed away Oct. 23. He was born in Aurelia, N.D., and worked in banking. He is survived by his wife, Pat and his son, Roy. Interment is at Elsinore Valley Cemetery in Lake Elsinore. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

WILLIAMS, Roy, 1954-2011Roy Williams, 57, of Long Beach, passed away Oct. 28. He was born in Chicago and worked in security. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

FOWLER, Gabriel Lee, 1970-2011Gabriel Lee Fowler, 41, of Inglewood, passed away Nov. 14. He was born in Illinois and worked in general construction. He is survived by his mother, Dorothy. Interment is at Oakridge Cemetery in Hillside, Ill.

MANHEIM, Jerome Henry, 1923-2011Jerome Henry Manheim, 88, of Long Beach, passed away Oct. 29. He was born in Chicago. He is survived by his wife, Sylvia. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

WALKER, David LeRoy, 1931-2011David LeRoy Walker, 80, of Long Beach, passed away Nov. 5. He was born in Springfield, Mo., and worked in real estate. He is survived by his wife, Lena. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

STRONG, Kevin Vincent, 1956-2011Kevin Vincent Strong, 55, of Long Beach, passed away Oct. 29. He was born in Long Beach and was a college professor. He is survived by his wife, Lisa. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

DAYWALT, Brandon Allan, 1988-2011Brandon Allan Daywalt, 23, of Torrance, passed away Oct. 29. He was born in Harbor City and is survived by his father, David. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

CABELLO, Victoria, 1924-2011Victoria Cabello, 87, of Long Beach, passed away Nov. 7. She was born in Peru and is survived by her husband, Fausto. Interment is at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Long Beach. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

JOHNSON, Percy Jr., 1946-2011Percy Johnson Jr., 64, of Inglewood, passed away Oct. 26. He was born in Illinois and was a warehouse worker. He is survived by his sister, Linda Dial. Interment is at Monroe City Cemetery in Monroe, La. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

ALLEN, Mary Katherine, 1959-2011Mary Katherine Allen, 52, of Long Beach, passed away Oct. 24. She was born in Gardena. She is survived by her mother, Cynthia. Interment is at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cypress. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

LEWIS, Virgina Corine, 1924-2011Virginia Corine Lewis, 87, of Cerritos, passed away Nov. 5. She was born in Texas and worked as a registrar in higher education. Interment is at Assumption Cemetery in Austin, Tex. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

DANIELS, Donald O’Neal, 1949-2011Donald O’Neal Daniels, 62, of Long Beach, passed away Nov. 8. He was born in Little Rock, Ark., and was a songwriter. He is survived by his sister, Rosemon. Interment is private.

FREEMONT, Helen, 1931-2011Helen Freemont, 80, of Calabasas, passed away Oct. 29. She was born in New York and worked as an interior designer. She is survived by her daughter, JoAnne Burns. Interment is at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, N.J. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

ROLES, Travis Eugene, 1954-2011Travis Eugene Roles, 57, of Brady, Tex., passed away Oct. 28. He was born in Texas and worked as a truck driver. He is survived by his daughter, Stacey Copeland. Interment is at Rest Haven Cemetery in Brady, Tex. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

SILVA, Brandon Paul, 1991-2011Brandon Paul Silva, 20, of Santa Clarita, passed away Nov. 6. A native Californian, he was a facility operator in an amusement park. He is survived by his father, William. Interment is at Granite Hill Cemetery in Grants Pass, Oreg. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

ROBINSON, Thomas Jory Jr.1940-2011

Thomas Jory Robinson Jr. of Los Angeles, passed away Nov. 10. He was born in Los Angeles. He is survived by his son, Kevon. Interment is at Providence Memorial Park in Metairie, La.


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Grunion Gazette 11-24-11

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Transcript of Grunion Gazette 11-24-11