Signal Tribune Newspaper

Congresswoman Laura Richardson, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Long Beach Harbor Commissioner Dr. Mike Walter toured oil facilities and ports.

Photo by Henry Rogers

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D- 37th District) toured the facilities of Signal Hill Petroleum and the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles this week to get a better idea of what is going on in her district. She visited the oil-production facilities on Monday and the ports on Tuesday. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D – 30th District, TX ) accompanied Richardson on the port tours. Johnson is chairwoman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment. [Read more →]

Share This

The fin and tail of the blue whale surfaced about five miles south of Long Beach Harbor.

Story and photos by Steven Piper
Editorial Intern

Thar she blows! After departing The Aquarium of the Pacific on Thursday, June 25 at 11:30am in a high-speed catamaran filled with media representatives, it only took an hour to locate an 80-foot blue whale (about the size of the catamaran) about five miles south of the Long Beach Harbor. To this day, the blue whale is the largest animal on the planet to have ever existed.
“With the blue whale being the largest animal, I thought it would be good,” said San Pedro resident Jenny Alabano, who had brought her eight-year-old son Ethan for his first whale-watching excursion. [Read more →]

Share This

Café Bixby, on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Roosevelt Road, has reported a 20-percent drop in revenue since the repaving project began.

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

The repaving of Atlantic Avenue between Bixby Road and San Antonio Drive is just about finished, and none too soon, according to Jack Skandalakis, owner of Café Bixby.
“Business always slows down in January and February after the holidays,” he said. “But the big slow down for us came after March 22 when they started the repaving project on Atlantic Avenue.” He explained that between the beginning of the project until now his business has dropped by 20 percent. “That amounts to about $60,000, which is a big sum,” he stressed. “At the same time, our expenses have continued to rise. Produce, meat, paper goods, energy, and insurance cost more now, and losing so much revenue has created a real hardship in my business.” [Read more →]

Share This

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

The City of Signal Hill is faced with the challenge of having to do more with less, but it is far from having a budget crisis like most cities in California. That’s what the city’s administrators explained to the Signal Hill City Council and three commissions in an hour-and-a-half meeting at City Hall Tuesday evening.
“This is one of the toughest budgets that I have seen in the 12 years that I have been on the council,” said Vice Mayor Ed Wilson. He noted that the worldwide, national and state economic recessions are impacting all cities, and several California cities are considering filing for bankruptcy. [Read more →]

Share This

The 22nd Annual 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular will take place on Saturday, July 4 at the Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB) in Los Alamitos. The cities of Los Alamitos, Cypress, Seal Beach, the Community of Rossmoor, and the Joint Forces Training Base collaborate to host this annual event to honor the men and women of the military and celebrate our country’s 233rd birthday. [Read more →]

Share This

By Steven Piper
Editorial Intern

Old-timers wanting to reminisce the changes that have taken place in their city, young minds eager to learn more about the history of their surroundings and Long Beach die-hards all had a place to quench their historically driven desires on June 25 at 7pm. The evening marked the first night of the Historical Society of Long Beach’s (HSLB) Mayors Oral History Series. [Read more →]

Share This

Kung Fu Panda was shown on this 29-foot inflatable screen in Signal Hill Park.

Story and photos by Tessa St. Marie
Editorial Intern

Providing a fun, wallet-friendly activity for all ages, Signal Hill Petroleum, in partnership with the City of Signal Hill Community Services Department and the City of Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, will be showing free outdoor screenings of movies throughout the summer.
Movies in the Park successfully kicked off last Friday at Signal Hill Park with a screening of Kung Fu Panda. The park was filled with families who ate complimentary popcorn made in a brand-new popcorn machine.

[Read more →]

Share This

The Fourth of July can be a frightening time for animals, with the loud sounds of firecrackers and fireworks often sending pets scurrying out of the house or yard in search of security or shelter. Taking special care of pets during the Fourth of July is responsible pet ownership, just like licensing and keeping identification tags on pets, and making sure they are spayed or neutered.
Long Beach Animal Care Services reminds all animal owners that they can save themselves and their pets a tremendous amount of heartache and anxiety by following a few simple suggestions: [Read more →]

Share This

OOH……. AHHH!
Long Beach Firemen’s Memorial Association will present a 4th of July fireworks show at Veterans Memorial Stadium, 5000 E. Lew Davis St. on Saturday, July 4. Gates open at 6pm (parking $5). Adults $10, children (ages 5–12) and Seniors $7. Presale tickets available at Fire Station #19, 3559 Clark Avenue. The Long Beach Fireman’s Memorial Association is a non-profit organization made up of volunteer firefighters and their families. The organization supports Long Beach Search & Rescue, LBFD Kids, Boy Scouts of America, local sports teams and special events for firefighters’ families.
POTLUCK IN THE PARK
The Wrigley Association will celebrate summer with a potluck at Veterans Park, 101 E. 28th St., on Monday, July 6 at 7pm. The festivities will begin after a short presentation on the Harbor Subdivision Transit Corridor Study. Bring a side dish and a dessert to share. Contact Annie Greenfeld-Wisner at wrigleyvillage@att.net.
GRILLIN’ AND CHILLIN’
Sixth District Councilman Dee Andrews has announced a Sixth District Community BBQ on Saturday, July 25 from 10am to 4pm at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, 1950 Lemon Ave. The Long Beach Firefighters Local 372 will cook the free meal, WSS Shoes will host live music and entertainment, and the Weed and Seed program will serve free refreshments. Bring blankets, lawn chairs, or a special summer side dish to share and enjoy a game of cards, checkers, dominos, or horseshoes, while watching kids enjoy sack races and other fun outdoor activities. Call Tonya Martin at (562) 570-6816.
RIVER ADVENTURE, OF SORTS
The River Church, 345 E. Carson St., is hosting a Kids Adventure Vacation Bible School July 27–31 from 6pm to 9pm. Kids from preschool age to those entering sixth grade are welcome. For more information and to register, go to www.gototheriver.com or call (562) 981-9168.

Share This

The Wrigley Association, one of the city’s oldest and largest neighborhood associations, recently held board and officer elections. Ten people ran for seven available board spots. The general membership elected newcomers Bethel Cope-Vega, Raul Romo and Adriana Martinez and incumbents Coleeen Vandepas, Sammy Portillo, Gavin Mckiernan and Chris Graeber. Incumbent Lisa Wibroe is the first alternate. All will serve two-year terms. [Read more →]

Share This

The Signal Hill Community Services Department is inviting the public to grab beach chairs and blankets for the 2009 Summer Concert Series. The concerts will run every Wednesday through Aug. 12 from 6:30pm to 8pm in Signal Hill Park, 2175 Cherry Avenue.
Returning is the weekly raffle and Triple R Catering barbequing hamburgers and hotdogs while the Friends of Signal Hill Cultural Arts sell beverages and other snacks.
Stone Soul will kick off this summer’s series with performances of Motown/soul classics on Wednesday, July 8.

More Information
(562) 989-7330

Share This

By Jamie Mok

Vegetarianism 101
More than likely, you or someone you know is a vegetarian. A vegetarian, as defined by the American Dietetic Association (ADA), is a person who does not eat meat, fish, fowl, or any products containing these foods. Vegetarian diets basically consist of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. The four general types of vegetarians are lacto-ovo-, lacto-, ovo-, and vegan. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians are the least restrictive, allowing milk and eggs in their diet. On the other hand, vegans, or total vegetarians, omit all animal-derived products from their diet and lifestyle (i.e. milk, eggs, honey, fur, leather, soaps and cosmetics). [Read more →]

Share This

By Neena Strichart

With my dear husband Steve in the hospital recuperating after having spinal surgery on Monday, I’m a little too distracted to write a meaningful column this week. Instead, I will rely on Lisa Fox, one of my sister DARs (Daughters of the American Revolution), to share with you the proper etiquette of displaying our country’s flag– just in time for the 4th of July. I wish you all a spectacular and safe holiday! [Read more →]

Share This

Championing Camp

Sixteen local businesses joined hands with the Pythian Youth Foundation of California to send local youth to camp. Business-card ads placed in the May 17, 2009 edition of the Signal Tribune raised $5,700 to send local youth to the Pythian Youth Camp in the Sequoia National Forest, which is opening in early July.
Operated by the Pythian Youth Foundation of California, Inc., a public nonprofit corporation, the 19-acre camp, 7,000 feet in the Sequoia wilderness, was chartered by President Harry S. Truman in 1946 to provide outdoor therapy for troubled youth. For the past 62 years, the Foundation and partners such as those who purchased ads in May have sent nearly 300 children, between 9 and 11 years of age, to camp each summer.
Signal Hill businesses that supported the Youth Foundation made it possible to provide seven-day camping scholarships for 19 children from our community.
To help send children to camp, contact (562) 881-0165 or pythianyouthcamp@earthlink.net. Information may also be obtained and donation made through the organization’s website: www.pythianyouthfoundation.com.
Donations may also be sent to the Pythian Youth Foundation at 1800 Robertson Blvd., Suite 314, Los Angeles, CA 90035.

Thomas White
Executive Director
Pythian Youth Foundation of CA, Inc.

Share This

By Richard Maher
Corporate Communications
U.S. Postal Service

Summer is here and kids are getting out of school and will be outside playing. Young children are impulsive and unpredictable, and can have little understanding of dangerous conditions. While U.S. Postal Service letter carriers are professional drivers and trained to be cautious and defensive behind the wheel, our carriers– and all drivers– must be extra careful as summer approaches.
Parents need to explain to their children the dangers of playing near streets and driveways, running into the street without looking, or standing behind a parked vehicle. Children love to run up to their carrier and get the mail. However, the Postal Service asks parents help to keep their children and our delivery of the mail safe, because a small child approaching a mail truck may not always be visible by the driver. [Read more →]

Share This

Tires pose a threat to the environment if disposed of in landfills. Long Beach residents are invited to dispose of old tires in an environmentally friendly manner on Saturday, July 11 from 9am to 1pm at the Environmental Services Bureau, 2929 E. Willow St. (just east of Temple Avenue).
No rims, no hazardous waste and only five tires or less per car will be accepted. Residents can help keep alleys and streets clean by recycling used tires, which can be made into rubberized asphalt, drain pipes, rubber hoses, rubber mats and playground mats.

More Information
www.longbeach-recycles.org
(562) 570-4694

Share This

The recreated Beach City Chevrolet Corvette Funny Car is the “special recognition car” in the new Speed Expo at the Fourth Annual Bixby Knolls Dragster Expo and Car Show. The Corvette was reconstructed by Richard Stannard of Estrus Racing and has reached speeds over 200 mph in Nostalgia Class races.

Cool cars from throughout the racing world will be featured in a new Speed Expo at the Fourth Annual Bixby Knolls Dragster Expo and Car Show, which is free to the public and takes place Saturday, July 11 from 2pm to 7pm on Atlantic Avenue between Carson Street and San Antonio Drive. [Read more →]

Share This

By Steven Piper
Editorial Intern

Virtual reality has now entered the realm of education. The Beach World, Cal State University, Long Beach’s (CSULB) new online island campus, is a virtual reality created to take the university and its students to new heights.
In the online world, individuals can create their own, semi-unique avatars– the virtual personifications of themselves.
Once the avatars are up and running, the participants can explore The Beach World. The island comes complete with classrooms and the Walter Pyramid. There is even a virtual duplication of The Beach on 2nd Street, CSULB’s retail store. [Read more →]

Share This

Hearing Loss Association, Long Beach/Lakewood Chapter, (HLA) a support group offering education on coping skills and resources to help the hearing-impaired survive in a hearing world, will host guest speaker Megan F. DiTolla, Esq., who will be speaking on “Documenting Disability: Navigating the Social Security Disability Claims Process” on Thursday, July 9. HLA meets at 6:30pm on the second Thursday of each month at the Weingart Senior Center, 5220 Oliva Ave., in Lakewood. Admission is free. Reservations are not necessary. [Read more →]

Share This

The City of Long Beach’s efforts to be the most bicycle-friendly city in the nation have moved forward with the recent unveiling of “sharrows”– existing street lanes that are now clearly marked as shared lanes for both vehicles and bikes in Belmont Shore.
The sharrows, the only ones of their kind west of Utah, are in the right traffic lane in each direction on Second Street from Livingston Drive to East Marina Drive. The street markings encourage the proper use of the lane by both motorists and cyclists, which by law already share the lane.
The Sharrows on 2nd Street are a unique, Federal Highway Administration-approved demonstration project that include a six-foot wide, green-striped lane with sharrows down the center of the right lane. Salt Lake City is the only other city in the country that utilizes similar sharrows with a colored stripe. [Read more →]

Share This

Signal Hill City Manager Ken Farfsing with retiring librarian Carole Molloy

Photos by Neena Strichart

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

After nearly 30 years at the helm of the Signal Hill Library, Carole Molloy is retiring. On Wednesday, June 24, the City of Signal Hill hosted a luncheon to honor the librarian who helped bring 21st Century information technology to the facility. About 60 people attended the event at the Signal Hill Community Center.
During the luncheon, City Manager Ken Farfsing presented Molloy with an official city proclamation that honored her for championing many changes in the library and keeping pace with technology. The proclamation also noted that, under Molloy’s leadership, the library went from 16,000 to a 28.000-book collection.
Later, City Councilman Mike Noll thanked Molloy for her many years of hard work and devotion to the library. “You’ve done a great job,” he said. [Read more →]

Share This

Circus clown Dean Kelley leads a group of 21 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach through a series of fun exercises.

Story and Photos by Steven Piper
Editorial Intern

During the summer, the kids in the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach at 700 E. Del Amo Blvd. spend the nearly ten-hour day at the following locations: the park, gym, game room and learning center. On Friday, June 19, a man armed with feathers, hula-hoops, stretching exercises and shoes about five sizes too big broke up the normal routine.
The Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach hosted veteran Ringling Brothers clown and comedian Dean Kelley, who led an hour-long CircusFit performance. CircusFit is Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s nationally accredited youth fitness program, which, according to the CircusFit website, is free for educators and group leaders. The performance was an effort to fulfill the club’s pledge of “yes I will” to being active during the summer months.

Kelley led 21 kids between the ages of six and 12 through a series of stretching and balancing exercises, cardio push-ups, jumping jacks, hula hooping, and a head-to-toe cool-down. Kelley, who flew in from Orlando, explained how the CircusFit program encourages exercise in a fun setting. “They are exercising and they don’t even know it,” he said. [Read more →]

Share This

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

A small group of Long Beach residents proved that some people care very much about what is going on in their community. Approximately 30 people attended a community meeting hosted by 8th District Long Beach City Councilwoman Rae Gabelich last Saturday. The event, known as a “Community Coffee,” took place in the late morning at the Mirage Coffee House, 539 East Bixby Road. [Read more →]

Share This