L.A., Long Beach ports' feud resurfaces

Just 13 months after Los Angeles and Long Beach set their maritime rivalry aside to fight diesel pollution at the nation's busiest seaport complex, the partnership has collapsed.In a disagreement that hinges on labor practices, the two cities are now so fundamentally at odds that some experts fear customers will seek out other harbors to escape a storm of complications, confusion and acrimony.At issue is whether the drivers who haul freight to and from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach should be required to work for trucking companies -- and therefore be more likely to be recruited by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union. Continue reading Los Angeles Times

Holiday Open House To Spread Cheer Along Retro Row
Some people engage in friendly competition with their neighbors this time of year to determine who has the most festive and unique collection of holiday decorations adorning their home. However, at the Fourth Annual Holiday Open House from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, on Retro Row, the holiday competition will be of a different nature. A prize (and admiration of spectators) will be awarded to the most festive bicycle in town for the first time in the event’s history. This year’s Open House on Fourth Street between Junipero and Cherry avenues will be the largest yet, said Kathleen Schaaf, owner of Meow and a member of the Fourth Street event committee. The Open House was created to encourage residents to visit local retailers and begin spreading the holiday joy early in December. Continue reading Downtown Gazette.

Car Free Fridays rides again
On Friday, December 4, the community is invited to again participate in Car Free Fridays and Lunch Breaks for Cyclists. In addition to the clean-living karma of a greener commute, an added benefit of biking to work on Car-Free Fridays is taking advantage of “lunch break” discounts. More than 20 eateries in Long Beach are offering discounts of up to 20% for cyclists between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Continue reading Everything Long Beach.

Wetlands Land Trade May See Decision
A decision whether to continue pursuit of a land swap to put part of the Los Cerritos Wetlands in public hands is likely to come in a closed session Tuesday. The City Council has a 90-minute session scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to review the status of the deal. LCW Partners (Tom Dean and Jeff Berger) has sent letters to the council and city officials saying it is willing to take all legal responsibility for cleanup of the land, and wants to close escrow on the deal by the end of the year. “I would expect we will decide whether or not to open escrow Tuesday,” said Third District Councilman Gary DeLong. “It doesn’t make sense to open escrow if we would have liability, and we will be asking our attorney for an opinion on that. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Winter Wonderland
Nothing says winter along Southern California’s waterfront better than a synthetic-ice rink across the street from a Chili’s. Now that exactly such a seasonal juxtaposition is finally being arranged in Long Beach, even the people who are melding the space-age polymers with the iconography of Currier and Ives adjacent to a place where everyone can “Pepper in some fun!™” are surprised it took them so long. “We’ve been looking at bringing in holiday ice skating for some years,” acknowledged Jennifer Gartland, marketing director for the Pike at Rainbow Harbor. “We’re all excited to see how this is going to work.” Continue reading The District.

Nearby homeowners getting relief from Long Beach Airport's noise

Since Bill Sieloff and his family moved into a home southeast of Long Beach Airport and directly in the flight arrival path more than a decade ago, the deafening, house-shaking aircraft noise has become a part of life. "I just thought it was something I was just going to have to learn to live with," said Sieloff, a 50-year-old commercial construction contractor. "In the 12 years that I've been there, I have gotten used to it, but it's still an annoyance." Continue reading Press Telegram.

Plans To Expand Whaley Parking Lot Move To Council
Plans to expand the parking lot at Whaley Park and add 51 spaces — for use both by park visitors and members of the Los Altos YMCA — got approval from the Parks and Recreation Commission last week. The plans will go to the City Council in the coming weeks for a vote. The process started a couple of years ago when the Los Altos YMCA was looking to add parking so it could expand its buildings, said Fourth District Councilman Patrick O’Donnell. With the park (heavily used by youth soccer and baseball teams), the YMCA and the Los Altos United Church of Christ, there was a need for more parking in the area, O’Donnell said. “At different times, each of those facilities is very busy and this will help with the traffic and parking in that area,” O’Donnell said. “This is a busy park with just too few parking spaces.” Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Final Explanation for Hotel Discount?
Credit Press-Telegram reporters John Canalis and Karen Robes-Meeks for breaking the story that Long Beach’s most-powerful development official—Craig Beck heads both the city’s Development Services Department and its Redevelopment Agency—received a special deal on accommodations during a weekend in Napa. On Nov. 13-14, Beck stayed at a boutique hotel owned by a company hoping to open a hotel in Long Beach, and he traveled with the local lobbyist for that hotel chain, Mike Murchison. That’s the story Canalis and Robes-Meeks posted on the P-T website late Friday night—it’s must reading—and it includes quotes from Beck and his boss, City Manager Pat West. But that isn’t the story West told me when I asked him last Tuesday about possible ethical problems with the wine-tasting trip that Beck and Murchison—and their wives—took to the Napa AVIA hotel. Continue reading The District.

Changes To Long Beach Bus Routes, Fares Start In February

Next February, there will be some changed routes and increased fares along the Long Beach Transit system. The Long Beach Transit Board of Directors formally approved the route changes last week. The same body approved the rate changes last year. Both will go into effect on Feb. 14. The route changes include two of the red Passport bus lines that travel to East Long Beach. The Passport D will go east from downtown, through Belmont Shore out to the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Second Street, to Bellflower Boulevard north, then will cut east at Atherton and go out to the PCH Traffic Circle, then return back to near California State University, Long Beach. It no longer will travel to the Los Altos Shopping Center. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Time is right for LB streetcars
We have before us an exciting opportunity that will connect neighborhoods, invest in our infrastructure and attract new jobs and housing. - all without spending General Fund money. And all without taking money away from essential police, fire and other essential city services. Now is the time to move beyond planting a seed of inspiration and move forward with a plan for bringing streetcars to Long Beach within the next few years. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Desire for streetcars gets a look in Long Beach

Second District City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal envisions a downtown crowded not with cars, but people - pedestrians who arrive by bicycle, bus and, perhaps, even streetcars. Electric-powered streetcars such as those used in San Francisco and Portland - connecting Long Beach's neighborhoods, fostering pedestrian movement and spurring development - are an integral part of Lowenthal's vision. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Councilwoman Desires Streetcar Consideration
A street car — like those seen in San Francisco and Portland — could connect downtown with places such as Belmont Shore or Bixby Knolls, a recent study found. But finding a way to pay for it remains a challenge. Last week, a first report came back to the council that presented some broad-stroke answers and costs about the proposal. “The general sense I got from the council members is they were willing to go to the next level,” which would be a more detailed study, said Second District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, who brought the idea for the streetcars forward. Continue reading Downtown Gazette.

A love affair with trolleys

What is it that makes some public officials believe that people would rather ride trolleys than drive their own cars? This would be an idle question, if taxpayers didn't get stuck with the consequences, which is what could happen in Long Beach. At a cost of "only" $69,000, local officials have a feasibility study that shows they could have a system of trolleys criss-crossing the city for "only" $900 million. Some might say that's a bargain, since most of it would be federal money. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Long Beach Council contemplates trolley for traffic congestion relief in city
Long Beach officials are contemplating adding electrically powered streetcars to the downtown transportation mix. In a Long Beach Press-Telegram article dealing with the subject of transportation alternatives for that city, it was reported that "Last week, the council heard a report on a feasibility study that had been commissioned in 2007 about installing streetcars in Long Beach..." The article went on to point out that Second District City Council Member Suja Lowenthal "and other city officials seem to be warming up to the idea." Continue reading Examiner.

A 1913 Long Beach Craftsman, relocated and revived

When Wendy Harn rescued a 1913 Craftsman from the wrecking ball in 1989, she didn't know much about it -- except that it was free. A developer had planned to demolish it to build condos, but first the city of Long Beach insisted that he offer the house to anyone willing to move it. Harn stepped forward, and the following year she relocated the two-story, five-bedroom behemoth from its Ocean Boulevard site opposite the Long Beach Museum of Art to her lot in the Bluff Park Historic District. Continue reading Los Angeles Times.

A Zeppelin's-Eye View Of Long Beach
You all seemed to like the photos from our ride in a zeppelin last June so much, that we leapt at the chance to send The Lippke View out for a second ride! The zeppelin - named Eureka - is owned and operated by Airship Ventures, and offered rides to commercial passengers for the past week before leaving town this morning. The company says that the ship will return to Long Beach in January. Eureka is one of only three zeppelins in the world and the only one to offer commercial sight-seeing flights.It's a chance to see the city in an incredibly unique way; a 360-degree view of all that Long Beach has to offer, taking off among the C-17's and the JetBlue's at the Long Beach Airport and hovering quietly above the coastline, the breakwater, the Port of Long Beach. It's a serene trip through the pockets of our city, and we hope you enjoy the view. Continue reading Long Beach Post.

Nautical business opens in Pine Avenue storefront
A longtime nautical supplier has dropped anchor on Pine Avenue. The owners of Safe Navigation Inc., Dev and Janet Mavi, have moved to 236-240 Pine Ave., the 12,000-square-foot space that formerly housed Crown Books. The lease was up on their 15,000-square-foot store at 129 W. 5th St. and the space on Pine was available, said manager Harpreet Singh, adding that the company started moving the stock of 30,000 to 40,000 charts and maps and products in early October. Continue reading Press Telegram.

This is the Modular World

Latin American art—at least in terms of how we’ve come to know it since our first lessons in elementary and high school—is generally recognized as being narrative-driven, defined by realistic pieces that bypass the abstract in favor of more accessible visuals. To counter this notion, the Museum of Latin American Art’s latest offering, “Sites of Latin American Abstraction,” is an extensive showcase of both eminent and lesser-known abstract artists from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela—to name just a few of the countries represented. It’s a challenging and refreshing look at a seldom-examined movement from these regions, featuring over 200 works in what’s ultimately a cohesive and thorough chronicle of Latin American art’s modern shift towards abstraction. Continue reading The District.

Rancho Los Cerritos to present living history tours
Long Beach. Rancho Los Cerritos is offering free living history tours Sunday from 1-4 p.m. You can time travel with people who lived and worked at the Rancho in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and explore the history of the Rancho and the Long Beach region through their entertaining stories. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Tesla Chooses Downey over Long Beach
Tesla Motors has selected the City of Downey over the City of Long Beach as the manufacturing site for its new Model S, a four-door all-electric family sedan, The District Weekly learned early this afternoon—apparently, we discovered about 5 p.m., at about the same time as The Downey Patriot was learning the same thing. "We’re very close to being able to make an official announcement,” Downey Mayor Mario Guerra confirmed during a brief telephone interview this afternoon. “I’m about to call a special meeting of the city council, and we’ll likely have an official announcement next week. Cars ought to be rolling off the line in 2011.” Telephone and e-mail requests for comment were left this morning at Tesla Motors headquarters in San Carlos, CA. So far, no response. Continue reading The District.

Wetlands parcel owner says escrow on swap must close by Dec. 31

The attorney for Los Cerritos Wetlands owner Tom Dean has notified the city that escrow on a land-swap deal for 37 acres needs to be closed by Dec. 31. In two letters, including one dated Monday, attorney Kenneth A. Ehrlich attests that the issues of contaminations at the wetlands are being addressed in good faith. Dean's company (LCW Partners), according to Ehrlich, "will continue to move as fast as allowed by EPA (the Environmental Protection Agency) to assess and remediate any and all existing PCB contamination at the property." Continue reading Press Telegram.

In the Kitchen with Dinner

It was a perfect Kodachrome moment: the reopening Oct. 19 of Johnie’s Broiler, Downey’s Googie-est diner: a glass-walled, horseshoe-boothed, cottage-cheese-ceilinged spaceship that had boomeranged off the corner of Firestone Blvd. and Old River School Rd. for 49 years. Illegally demolished in January 2007, then proudly rebuilt from the original 1958 blueprints as a Bob’s Big Boy franchise, the rebirth of what is now the Bob’s Big Boy Broiler already seems—four weeks in—to have been a success from day one. Because it has been. Opening-day traffic clenched into a familiar knot once an acre of parking places evaporated, and drivers must have cursed—or marveled, for that’s just how packed it had been during the eatery’s 1960s glory days, when, as Harvey’s Broiler, the site became such a hangout for local cruisers that Tom Wolfe wrote “The Hair Boys” about how ’50s hot-rodding had transmogrified into a wire-wheeled, lace-painted, Aqua Netted stew. Continue reading The District.

Big Saver Foods grand opening today
The site of a former bowling alley is now North Long Beach's newest grocery store.
Vice Mayor Val Lerch today will celebrate the grand opening of a new 28,000-square-foot Big Saver Foods store. Lerch said Wednesday that Big Saver energizes an inactive commercial corner and brings the first full-service store to the 9th District in nearly 20 years. For residents in the northern most part of Long Beach, grocery options consist of convenience stores or warehouse-type stores where one must self-bag groceries, Lerch said. For a "full-service" grocery experience, residents have to head to Bixby Knolls or a neighboring city. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Construction Begins On Storm Drains
A plan to stop up to 400 tons of trash and debris from coming down the Los Angeles River to Long Beach each year has moved into construction phase. Last week, a $5 million contract was signed with Steve Bubalo Construction Company to install 12,000 debris capture devices in storm drains of 16 cities along the river. The contact is through the Los Angeles Gateway Region Integrated Water Management Joint Powers Authority, with the money coming from the federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The work, which could start by the end of the month, will put full-capture systems on drains in all the publicly-held catch basins in the Gateway Cities district. Those are Long Beach, Signal Hill, Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Compton, Cudahy, Downey, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Maywood, Montebello, Paramount, Pico Rivera, South Gate and Vernon. Continue reading Uptown Gazette.

Plan B For Measure T
With the failure of voters to pass Long Beach Unified School District’s Measure T, the school district administration is searching for other ways to bridge a budget gap of over $100 million over the next two years. The ballot measure was meant to help narrow this gap by applying a $92 parcel tax on properties over the next five years; boosting school district revenue by $12.5 million annually. The special election received just 43% support, far short of the two-thirds majority necessary for passage. In a recent article, Ryan ZumMallen did a great job mapping out some options the school district administration is exploring to compensate for the projected deficit. Continue reading Long Beach Post.

Battle Lines Static At Second, PCH
It was a different format, but a second meeting Monday about the proposed Second+PCH project — the redevelopment of the SeaPort Marina Hotel — had much the same tone and same contentions as a previous one. There were strong divisions between those who supported the proposed development and those who opposed it, as well as issues with the format of this meeting itself. This meeting had been planned with breakout sessions where people would gather in smaller groups to talk about the project. But it took a while to get there as some of the crowd wanted to discuss the impacts of the project — on traffic, on the nearby wetlands and on aesthetics of the area — in a larger group format. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

LB community tree-planting is Saturday

Long Beach. More than 100 new trees will be planted downtown Saturday in an event co-sponsored by the Downtown Long Beach Associates, the Redevelopment Agency and Council members Suja Lowenthal and Robert Garcia. These trees are in addition to the 15 recently planted along Pacific Avenue. The community tree-planting begins with volunteer check-in at 8:30 a.m. on the Promenade north of Broadway. Coffee, juice and doughnuts will be provided. For more information, call Lena Gonzalez at the Garcia office at 562-570-6919. Continue reading Press Telegram.

PCBs Contaminate Land Trade Proposal
Complex issues, from the possible need for a new development permit to an expanded search for cancer-causing toxins on the site, continue to slow a land swap deal that would bring 37 acres of potential Los Cerritos Wetlands into the city’s control. Tuesday night, the City Council heard from an Environmental Protection Agency official who said that preliminary results show the need for expanded testing for the chemical PCB on the property. Robert Wise, the on-site coordinator for the EPA, said the most recent test results are not final, but appear to show the need for another round of tests. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Farmers market opening in Cal Heights

A new farmers market is opening in California Heights. The market will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays on the Longfellow Elementary School playground, 3800 Olive Ave. For information, visit LongBeachSundayMarket.com or call 562-528-6259. From Press Telegram.

A New View On Air Quality At The Port
LBPOST.com managing editor Ryan ZumMallen recently let me know that he had received a detailed response to my last post on State Sen. Dean Florez’s recent hearing on port air quality. It is presented below. When I originally agreed to write for the LBPOST.com, I had a vision for an online forum for discussion of critical issues related to goods movement and community effects, both good and bad. It is impossible for me to present all points of view on these complex issues, and I am always pleased when readers comment, briefly or extensively, on my posts. I hope that this piece will prompt the expression of additional views on the pace of air quality improvements or on related issues. Continue reading Long Beach Post.

Toxins found in wetlands threaten to quash land swap

A tipster's recollection of a hazardous substance spill in Los Cerritos Wetlands in the 1950s has led to the discovery of elevated levels of carcinogenic PCBs that could derail a controversial proposal to restore the degraded Long Beach salt marsh, officials say.The Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to present the results of its study of the contamination to the Long Beach City Council today. "The informant, who wishes to remain anonymous, was an apprentice electrician in his late teens in the early 1950s," said EPA spokesman Robert Wise. "He remembered seeing some transformers leaking hazardous chemicals out there and said it was something we need to be concerned about." Continue reading Los Angeles Times.

Author To Speak About Bicycle Culture, Growth

Jeff Mapes has a philosophy. “It doesn’t take 3,000 pounds of sheet metal to move your rear end for two miles,” said Mapes, a senior political reporter for the Oregonian. In the mid-‘90s, Mapes realized this truth when he transitioned from a mostly four-wheeled mode of transportation to two, opting to ride his bike several miles to and from work. Also during that time, the city of Portland adopted a Bicycle Master Plan, which resulted in the installation of bike lanes, boulevards and off-street paths. “My commute got easier because of some of the things they were doing,” Mapes said. “I became intrigued by what was behind it. At the same time, I was seeing what great benefits cycling was having to me… I was feeling better. I was getting fewer colds. I was saving money.” Continue reading Downtown Gazette.

Long Beach RDA OKs pact with Willie McGinest company
An NFL player and Long Beach native is one step closer to developing the site of a former blighted recycling center in Central Long Beach. The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency board Monday voted to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with professional linebacker Willie McGinest's company, Wilmac Enterprises, Inc., for the development of a commercial project on the northeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Pine Avenue. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Compton Creek to Flood Coolridge Trianglw with Flood Insurance
LBReport.com has learned that L.A. County's Compton Creek is threatening to soak homeowners in NW NLB's Coolidge Triangle (west of the L.A. river) with costly annual federally mandated "flood insurance" as a result of L.A. County's Department of Public Works finding that levees along Compton Creek lack sufficient height to carry runoff in a so-called "100 year flood." Continue reading Long Beach Report.

The Accidential Ambassadors
Mike De La Vega could wake up Sunday morning with a little extra money. Or in debt. At this point, all he can say for sure is that he will have partied all Saturday afternoon and well past midnight to the music of a dozen bands playing both beneath the East Village and above it—that is, in the Basement Lounge of the Broadlind building and on the adjacent parking lot. De La Vega and his friend and business associate, Albert Samreth, have been planning this bash—the Party Weirdo festival—for months. This sort of celebration isn’t unheard of in the area: just last August the Summer and Music Series packed the streets of the East Village for Buskerfest, headlined by the Cold War Kids. The Party Weirdo festival is different, however—and not only because it will be held on private property and without financial backing from the city or the Downtown Long Beach Associates . . . although mostly because of that. Continue reading The District Weekly.

A Conversation With . . . Sustainable City Commission Chair Daryl Supernaw

Daryl Supernaw doesn’t mind that he’s referred to as “ditch boy.” In fact, he wears the name with pride since he has spent years helping transform the Atherton Ditch into something safer and more visually appealing for the community. Today, Supernaw heads the Sustainable City Commission in Long Beach, but his passion to spearhead change began long ago.Born at Harriman Jones Hospital (once adjacent to Bixby Park), Supernaw never ventured outside of Long Beach. He grew up in the Los Altos neighborhood and has been a 4th District resident for the past 30 years. “I attended Wilson High School, Long Beach City College (LBCC) and Cal State Long Beach,” he says, noting he received a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications and film and a master’s degree in education and instructional media.Supernaw attended the first Earth Day in 1971 while an LBCC student: his concern for the environment and overlooked causes started in the heyday of hippies and world peace. Continue reading Long Beach Business Journal.

Coastal Development Permit is Required for New Wetlands Parcel
LBReport.com has learned that CA Coastal Commission staff has informed City Manager Pat West by letter that a memo to the Mayor and City Council by Public Works Director Mike Conway (previously reported by LBReport.com) was incorrect in stating that a coastal development permit isn't required to create a four acre parcel (currently owned by LCW Partners, LLC, north of 2nd St./east of PCH and the "In N Out" Burger location) for conveyance to the City as part of a SE LB wetlands/open space exchange for city owned property. Continue reading Long Beach Report.

Cities Along LA River Receive $5M To Clean Up
Altering the breakwater won’t do it. Eliminating plastic bags won’t do it. Slapping lawsuits on the Los Angeles cities that dump pollutants into the Los Angeles River won’t do it. For years, Long Beach residents have asked for a way to clean dreadful water quality along the shoreline.Last week, a major step was taken to make their dreams come true. A $5 million plan was approved to outfit 16 cities along the Los Angeles River with catch basins, which prevent trash and debris from entering the river and riding the water highway straight to the shores of Long Beach. Continue reading Long Beach Post.

South Quad to open over Winter Break
The long-awaited South Quad Complex is nearing completion as construction crews begin to fill the new building with furniture and other fixtures, with employees preparing to move in Dec. 18.Originally, employees were planning to move in about mid-November, but the busy end of the semester was not the best time, they said. Instead, the move will occur over the nearly month-long Winter Break.Official ground-breaking for the $36 million complex was Nov. 8, 2006 and was one step of many of the 2002 LBCC Measure E master plan. Continue reading LBCC Viking.

Festival Celebrates Community Garden
For the past 13 years, a seven-acre community garden and farm has quietly flourished in North Long Beach. At the Growing Experience, located within the Carmelitos Housing Development, a variety of vegetables grow in 60 individual raised plots. California native and drought-tolerant plants thrive in an environment designed to promote water conservation, and a mini “eco farm,” replete with 20 chickens, yields eggs and seasonal produce, which is sold to residents and area restaurants. This Thursday, a fall Harvest Festival will act as an unofficial community debut for the Growing Experience, and area companies dedicated to sourcing locally and sustainably grown food, including beachgreens and Primal Alchemy Catering, among others, have signed on to show their support. Continue reading Uptown Gazette.

Uptown Dog Park to open Nov. 21
Councilwoman Rae Gabelich and the Long Beach Department Parks, Recreation & Marine plan to host the opening of the Uptown Dog Park at 10 a.m. Nov. 21. The park, which will allow supervised dogs to run unleashed, is located in Scherer Park, 4600 Long Beach Blvd. From Press Telegram.

Future Bond Measure Could Boost Local Water Programs

A package of water bills passed the state Legislature last Wednesday, with some significant impacts expected in Long Beach. The five-bill package includes an $11 billion bond measure to be placed on the November 2010 general election ballot. That money, assuming the voters approve, is earmarked for everything from repairs on and around the Sacramento River Delta to reservoirs for agriculture to water recycling projects. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called a special legislative session to deal with water problems in the state. A prolonged drought and court rulings limiting water pumping from the Delta — along with physical deterioration of the Delta system — has forced most of California into a water conservation mode. Without action, experts say, the crisis could turn into a disaster. Continue reading Downtown Gazette.

Meeting To Discuss Redevelopment Proposal Details
Another community meeting to discuss the proposed 2nd+PCH project has been set for Nov. 16. This meeting will include a detailed presentation of the proposal to redevelop the property on the southeast corner of Second Street and Pacific Coast Highway. Comments will become part of the city’s Conceptual Site Plan Review and the Environmental Impact Report. Redevelopment of the hotel has been controversial for five years, since owners Taki-Sun Inc. (brother and sister Ray and Amy Lin) first suggested a mixed-use development on the 11-acre property. They currently are working with Development Services Group (David Malmuth and Cliff Ratkovich, principals) to promote a project to replace the SeaPort Marina Hotel. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Tower to assist in the design of three Long Beach homes
Tower General Contractors is teaming up with Habitat For Humanity to help develop three low-income housing projects in the county, including three single detached homes for low-income families in Long Beach."Our involvement with Habitat for Humanity reflects Tower's commitment with helping the communities in which we live and work," said Nato Flores, President of Tower, which is based in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Irvine, California and founded in 1985. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Biking the Boulevards
On October 24th, as Beachcomber reporter Kirt Ramirez was riding his new bike from a friend’s house along Long Beach Blvd., he saw a familiar sight. It was his own bike, stolen almost four months earlier from outside the Rite Aid on Redondo Ave. at Anaheim St.The rider told Ramirez he bought it for twenty bucks from a stranger on the sidewalk, a classic “hey buddy, wanna buy a bike?” story. It had all the parts that made Ramirez’s stolen bike unique, “a red reflector on the front end is still attached…the U.S. flag bell, the back rack, and Huffy logo on brown paint.” Continue reading Beachcomber.

Council OKs Construction Of Airport Parking Garage
After more than six years of talking, a new parking garage should begin construction before the first of the year at the Long Beach Airport. Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously approved a design-build contract worth $44.5 million with ARB, Inc., for the first phase of a garage originally approved on Feb. 18, 2003. The actual contract is $42,470,170, with the rest in reserve as a contingency fund. On Jan. 3, 2008, the council approved an Environmental Impact Report for expansion and renovation of the airport terminal that included plans for a 3,200-car garage. But last February, newly hired Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez unveiled a two-phase plan that would build a garage with 1,989 spaces, waiting for the second phase until passenger load justifies its construction. Continue reading Downtown Gazette.

The Sharrow’s National Discussion

On Friday I was informed of a USA Today article focusing on the sharrows and green stripes installed on Second Street in Belmont Shore. Sharrows are an illustration on the street that demarcate that bicycles are to share the road with motorized vehicles as defined by California Vehicle Code. A five foot wide green stripe was included on Second Street to inform bicyclists to ride in the middle of the right-hand lane away from the door swing zone of parallel parked cars. The new bicycle improvements have been praised by many while cursed by others. Continue reading Long Beach Post.

Putting bicycles and cars in the same lane prevents accidents, city says
With more cities encouraging bicyclists to ride directly in front of cars in the same lane, the bicycle czar in one of them says the idea is a big success -- reducing accidents among bicyclists. Drive On visited the busy Belmont Shores shopping district of Long Beach, Calif., last week to see how the shared lane was working out. It didn't seem like it was going all that well. Locals and merchants complained that putting bicyclists directly in the path of vehicles is crazy. And Long Beach is only one of a number of cities that have also tried out the idea, including Portland, Ore., and San Francisco. Continue reading USA Today.

City puts bicycles directly in the path of motorists

In one of the busiest shopping districts in Long Beach, Calif., bicyclists are kings of the road in an experiment that turns frustrated motorists into serfs. The seaside city south of Los Angeles is encouraging bikers to get right in front of cars. It painted a 5-foot-wide green stripe down the middle of one of the two lanes in either direction of the Belmont Shore section of the city. Even though cars were whizzing by at 30 miles an hour yesterday, bikes were free to ride right in their path. Continue reading USA Today.

DeMille Traffic Study Generates Concern
Long Beach Unified School District officials presented revised plans to convert DeMille Middle School into the district’s first thematic high school at a community meeting attended by approximately 100 people last Thursday, Oct. 22. The meeting marked the beginning of a 30-day comment and review period for residents to provide written feedback to the district about the project and its accompanying traffic study analyzing potential impacts to the neighborhood. The campus is located at 7025 E. Parkcrest St. and current buildings would be demolished to allow for the construction of seven new buildings that would be set back 250 feet from Parkcrest Street. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Off-Camera
Remember Oct. 12? That was the day we were absolutely, positively supposed to have ourselves a Long Beach Studios—signed, sealed and delivered. At least the Press-Telegram said so, in a story Oct. 10, but by the day in question—Columbus Day, coincidentally—we still didn’t have a deal. Three weeks later, what do we have? A series of well-sourced rumors suggesting that the deal is (very slowly) getting done; that Long Beach Studios Chairman Jack O’Halloran may actually be hanging his hat in an Aqua penthouse someday soon; and that when there is a real Long Beach Studios to talk about, I’ll be hearing about it in a press conference downtown somewhere. Continue reading The District.

Cooper Arms tour planned
Long Beach. Long Beach Heritage is sponsoring Loft Walk 2009 at the historic Cooper Arms, 455 E. Ocean Blvd., on Nov. 14, from 5 to 8 p.m. Guests can stroll through lofts with historic features, the renovated Grand Salon, or enjoy views of the city in the Solarium while light refreshments are served. Continue reading Press Telegram.

Marketplace Attracts New Merchants
The Marketplace Long Beach, known in the community as an upscale shopping center since it opened in 1977, is still attracting new tenants despite the center’s several vacancies in recent months. Located at the southeast corner of Second Street and Pacific Coast Highway, the center features diverse merchants such as Jimmy’s Fish & Grill, John Garey Pilates Studio, Just Alterations, and boutiques such as Chaussure and Meggie Lou. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Obama Signs Bill That Includes Funding For Breakwater Study

President Obama has signed a bill that includes $90,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers to review an independently-produced study that outlines options for altering or removing the Long Beach Breakwater. The Energy and Water Appropriations bill was signed by the President on Wednesday. A press release from the City of Long Beach today thanked Congresswoman Laura Richardson and Senator Dianne Feinstein for including the funding in the bill. Continue reading Long Beach Post.

Interchange Rebuild Impacts Area Streets
Three east Long Beach streets will get upgrades as part of a $1.5 million traffic mitigation package for the massive 405/605/22 highway interchange overhaul. That package was announced Tuesday after six months of negotiation with the Orange County Transportation Authoritty (OCTA), the agency in charge of the $400 million project. When the work was announced last spring, there was no mitigation of traffic detouring onto Long Beach streets, although the heavily traveled Seventh Street bridge is expected to be closed for a year. City Traffic Engineer David Roseman and Assistant City Attorney Michael Mais did the bulk of the work on the deal, according to Fourth District Councilman Patrick O’Donnell, who also has been part of the negotiations. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

OCTA Shows Long Beach The Money
Following-up on a story whose LB neighborhood impacts were first detailed in March by LBReport.com community correspondent Daryl Supernaw, the OCTA/CalTrans project that will close the 7th Street bridge/offramp from the northbound 405 freeway into LB for roughly a year will now include $1.5 million from the Orange County Transportation Authority to mitigate its LB traffic impacts. Continue reading Long Beach Report.

Hotel Sierra Plans At The Pike Could Crumble
Is it a classic confrontation between the chamber of commerce mindset and a community coalition? Big business versus grassroots? Or is it more complex and subtle, based on conflicting motives on both sides of the dispute?A court case may make the call.Plans to develop a vacant lot at The Pike at Rainbow Harbor remain uncertain with a pending lawsuit that claims the environmental impact report (EIR) is invalid. But some question whether the grievances are based on a solid foundation or are a means of forcing the hotel to unionize. Continue reading Long Beach Business Journal.

Car Sharing, An Option For Long Beach
Most of us have rented a car while on a business trip or a vacation. You get the keys, the car smells a little funny, sometimes you walk solemnly around the car first with the rental agent and note all the nicks, dings, and dents (that way you get credit only for the ones you add). You drive around, refill the gas tank, and drop off the car a day or two later for the next person to use. Continue reading Long Beach Post.

Protests Stop Bus Route Change To Eliot Lane
There will be more buses running down Seventh Street, but none down Eliot Lane, after a Long Beach Transit board vote this week. The board approved a number of proposed route changes throughout the city, but went with an alternate proposal to one that would have brought the Passport B bus to the California State University, Long Beach, campus. Instead, the Passport B route will head east down Fourth Street and Appian Way to Nieto Avenue, where it will loop around and head back downtown. Instead, more buses will be added along existing Seventh Street routes to accommodate students. Continue reading Grunion Gazette.

Terra Incogneat-O

Often ignored by just about everyone in our city—save for those who live within its perimeters—North Long Beach is the subject of the second Book by Authors anthology (the first, spanning all of Long Beach, was released in 2006). Spearheaded by Smolarcorp’s Ryan Smolar and Rachel Potucek, the literature and arts compilation—featuring 50 local writers and 50 local artists (edited by our own Greggory Moore)—aims to share the joys and struggles of “North Long Beach activists, artists and inquisitive onlookers,” as Potucek notes in her introduction. Continue reading The District

Two Futures In One: Alternate Fuels and Community Education
With the reported heavy competition between Long Beach and the City of Downey for the Tesla manufacturing plant that promises up to 1,400 jobs, the phrase “be careful what you wish for” in the area of alternate fuels comes to mind.The manufacture of brand new technology has caused some to wonder how and where the mechanics and technicians needed to service and repair innovative electrical and alternate fuel vehicles will be trained. Continue reading Beachcomber.