Grunion Gazette 5-24-12

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VOL. 35 NO. 21 MAY 24, 2012 Follow us on

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MONDAY IS MEMORIAL DAY.

BANKS, GOVERNMENT OFFICES ARE

CLOSED, AS IS THE GAZETTE OFFICE,

AND THERE IS NO MAIL DELIVERY.

THERE IS TRASH PICKUP, HOWEVER.

A PINCH OF SALT ........................... Page 2A

BUSINESS BEAT .............................. Page 34A

MUSICAL NOTES ............................ Page 31A

WATERFRONT AND PATIO DINING .... Page 27A

PROFILES IN DINING ....................... Page 33A

—Gazette photo by Geronimo QuitorianoThe original Village People provided a rousing climax Sunday to the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival with a concert before a large crowd on Marina Green. For more photos of the festival and Sunday’s parade, go to www.gazettes.com.

A CELEBRATION OF COMMUNITY

BY JONATHAN VAN DYKESTAFF WRITER

The Long Beach Municipal Band’s 2012 schedule continues to be in fl ux, but most offi cials now believe it will have a fi ve-week, 18-concert summer run. The April 27 Grand Sousa Gala fund-raising event was organized in order to help bridge a fi nancial shortfall to keep a full summer concert lineup. “They did not raise enough money to get to the whole 20 concerts,” said Bob Liv-ingstone, Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine contract management offi cer. “We do not believe they made enough for the full 20 concerts, so we are currently trying to fi gure out what we can guarantee — we think 18 is going to be the number, but we are still verifying that.” The Long Beach Municipal Band is in its 103rd year of existence. It is the oldest mu-nicipally funded, professional concert band in the United States and has performed about 57,000 concerts and 1 million pieces of music. However, recent budget cuts in the city

Muni BandRemainsIn Limbo

—Photo courtesy John ZachaTOGETHER AGAIN. Michelle and John Zacha fi nd an unusual way to relax on vacation after studies at CSULB.

BY HARRY SALTZGAVEREXECUTIVE EDITOR

Three familiar names in Long Beach political circles — two Republicans and one Democrat — are the favorites in the race for the newly formed 47th Congres-sional District. Only two still will be running after June 5. In fact, there are eight names on the primary ballot for the 47th District seat. But polls, fund-rais-ing totals and name recognition all point to Gary DeLong, Steve Kuykendall and Alan Lowenthal

as the only three with a chance for victory. DeLong, a Republican, has raised the most money, with more than $500,000 so far. He has been the Third District City Coun-cil representative for the last six years. He owns The RTP Group, a telecommunications consulting company. His Republican opponent, Kuykendall, is the only candi-date with experience in Washing-ton, D.C. He served two years as the Congressman from the 36th

District before losing in his re-election bid. He also served two terms in the state Assembly, and was a mayor and council member at Rancho Palos Verdes. Kuyken-dall is a consultant. Lowenthal, the Democrat, has the most experience as an elected offi cial, serving continuously since being elected to the Long Beach City Council in 1992. He served six years there before being elected to the state As-sembly. After the maximum six

Congressional Front-Runners Differ


There will be different people behind the curtain this summer when Long Beach and surround-ing area residents come to Sea Festival events, but the events themselves will be just what those residents have come to ex-pect, offi cials say. For the last six years, the city’s summer-long series of events cel-ebrating the waterfront life have been controlled by the nonprofi t

Sea Festival Association. But that group disbanded last fall, and the city’s Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PR&M) has resumed responsibility for the many activities under the Sea Festival umbrella. “We had an operators’ meeting last week,” said Jay Lopez, the

recreation supervisor in charge of Sea Festival. “It’s going to be pretty much the same basic events we had last year… We’ve got the speed boats, the Lobster Fest, the Crawfi sh festival, they’re all back.” According to the offi cial web-site, www.lbseafest.com, the Sea Festival will run from June 1 to Sept. 15 this year. A large beach soccer tournament is set for the fi rst weekend in June at Alamitos

City Ready To Run Sea Festival

BY STEPHANIE MINASIANSTAFF WRITER

It’s not an easy task to com-plete a college degree. It takes patience, effort and the support and guidance of family members. For father-daughter duo Mi-chelle and John Zacha, the long process of completing their de-grees was aided by their constant

support of each other. The two are celebrating their graduations this week from California State University, Long Beach. Michelle, who was born and raised in Long Beach, began her college career at CSULB in 2006, after transferring from Long Beach City College. She

Father, Daughter Join InGraduation From CSULB

(Continued on Page 36A)(Continued on Page 38A)

(Continued on Page 39A)

Summer In The City Begins,

Page 15A


PAGE 2A | GRUNION GAZETTE | May 24, 2012GAZETTE COMMENTARY

I am forever fascinated by what people become passionate — no, fi xated — about. For the last month or so, we’ve seen a series of letters about dog poop. That’s right, the number one topic in Gazetteland, particu-larly east Gazetteland, in canine droppings. Specifi cally, people are talking about the plastic bags required to pick up after dogs when they are allowed to stroll outside the confi nes of their own yards, and end up relieving them-selves on other people’s property. This isn’t the fi rst time feces has dominated our letters col-umn. People care about dogs, and people care about their lawns, and people care about how the two meet. I get that. If you have even a passing ac-quaintance with this column, you know I have dogs. You probably also know I walk these dogs in my neighborhood, most often very early in the morning before I head to work. Picking up their poop is a given for me. It’s the right thing to do, the only thing to do. In regard to the latest contro-versy — where to get the plastic bag — I confess to occasionally buying something outside the city limits and reusing the resulting bag for the dirty work. But I’ve

also procured a supply of poop-specifi c bags, and use them with some consistency. I have to say, though, that this is not a topic that takes up a great deal of my limited brain space. I deal with the reality of dog do-do, then move on. If I fi nd a foreign pile in my front yard, I’m not thrilled, but picking it up along with the homegrown stuff is not a deal breaker in my mind. That doesn’t mean I don’t have relatively meaningless things that make my blood boil, though. My latest pet peeve is the mysterious appearance of orange traffi c cones and plastic lawn chairs along the side of the street, forcing me to look elsewhere for parking. Remember that the Gazette offi ce is smack in the middle of parking-impacted Belmont Shore. It’s so bad around here that the business association has implemented a free bus pass program for employees (thanks to the parking commission and the parking meter slush fund) — which is a fantastic idea.

But, as much as I love Long Beach Transit, riding the bus isn’t too conducive to rushing out to cover a fi re or whatever. So I have to have personal transporta-tion, which means I need parking. Now I sympathize with the folks trying to make sure they’re able to park in front of their homes when they get home from work. My wife, Maria, gets more than a little exercised when someone decides to park in front of our North Long Beach home, especially when they leave the vehicle there for a day or three. But the fact of the matter is, the street is public property, not a pri-vate driveway or a private park-ing lot. There may be a tradition, even a societal norm, to the idea that you should be able to park in front of your home, but there’s certainly no right to do so. Residential parking in Long Beach, like in so many popu-lar places to live, is an art form. There are elaborate strategies and sad realities that involve walks of a block or more. But roping off your parking space is cheating, plain and sim-ple. It shouldn’t be allowed. Maybe I’ll write a letter to the editor about it.

As if it needed another one, the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Department has been given a new challenge for this summer. Actually, it’s an old challenge coming back again. It’s Sea Fes-tival. For literally decades, the de-partment was responsible for Sea Festival. The concept was for a large tent to cover all of the vari-ous ways our city celebrates its waterfront heritage, from power boats to sand castles. And when there were adequate resources, the department did just fi ne, thank you. They worked with promoters to do the specifi c big stuff like ski races to Cata-lina and back, and used their own staff to create traditional com-munity programs like the model boat regatta. But those resources dwindled through the 1990s, and pretty much disappeared by the mid-2000s. So a unique public/private partnership was formed in the shape of the nonprofi t Sea Festi-val Association. The idea was to go out and get major corporate sponsor-ship, along with major regional events, to grow the festival while maintaining the community com-ponent. It required some conces-sions from the city in order to give the association some value to “sell” both the sponsors and the promoters. It looked like it was going to work for the fi rst couple of years. Promoter par excellance, Chris Pook, got some of that corporate sponsorship and attracted at least one true marque event — wom-en’s pro volleyball. Some of the community events struggled — the sand castle contest has ebbed and fl owed through several orga-nizers, and continues to be iffy — but others such as movies on the beach exploded. But just as the association was getting its sea legs, the economic crash of late 2008 happened. Then the women’s volleyball tour went bankrupt. Then the city decided it needed to start getting the permit fees and other income it had been willing to barter in the past. Long story short, the movers and shakers behind the nonprofi t association threw in the towel, folded up their tent and went away. What were the folks at City Hall to do? They couldn’t just let 80-plus years of summer ex-pectation get washed out with the tide — residents wanted their

Sea Festival, and besides, the as-sociation had shown big splashy events were good for the city. So they told the Parks, Recre-ation and Marine Department to do it. True to the can-do attitude that long has marked that department, they said sure. The problem is, they don’t have the resources they once had (just like every other department in the city). Still, Director George Chapji-an is promising a Sea Festival that won’t miss a beat from past Sea Festivals. Most of the ma-jor events are lined up again — Dragon Boat Races, Catalina Ski Races, et. al — and many of the community events are mov-ing forward, thanks to an ongo-ing relationship with beach guru and contractor Fred Khammar. In fact, movies on the beach may be expanding, just to mention one. There are even a few sponsor-ships to help pay for “stuff,” al-though the list is heavy with city enterprise departments like the Gas and Oil Department, the air-port and to some extent the port. The department will get help from the Special Events Bureau (now in the city manager’s offi ce, it used to be part of Parks) with the major events. But there will be challenges, and the success of Sea Festival will depend on how the depart-ment, and city’s top management, both elected and hired, responds. First up will be the Municipal Band, long a part of the sum-mer and lately a part of the Sea Festival. The efforts to provide independent fi nancing through a separate nonprofi t continue to sputter (and that’s putting it kind-ly), and the band’s summer series will shrink again this year. The Municipal Band’s ultimate fate undoubtedly will fi nd its way into City Council chambers again this year during budget discus-sions. In the meantime, the ques-tions of “why isn’t there a con-cert this week” will be aimed at the department. That’s just one challenge with one at least semi-independent operator. More than likely, there will be others. Long Beach residents love their summer activities, and the behind-the-scene management issues are not something they care about. When things work smoothly, that’s the way it should be. That’s the challenge the depart-ment faces — and one we don’t envy. Time will tell whether the challenge can be met.

Sea Festival MeansCity Faces Challenge

Fascination About Readers’ Fascinations

BY MARIANA WILLIAMS The Gershwin Award for Pop-ular Music Prize traditionally is awarded to the country’s top composers at the White House, with the President bestowing the award after a small private con-cert. Burt Bacharach and Hal Da-vid were the recipients on May 9, and because my husband, Paul Williams, is President of ASCAP (American Society of Compos-ers, Authors and Publishers), I was able to go. The event is sponsored by the Library of Congress, which hous-es vast and valuable musical col-lections. It was the vision of The Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington, to include a live con-cert. Burt Bacharach was in good form. Regretfully, Hal was un-able to make the trip due to health concerns. His lovely wife Eunice accepted on his behalf. What to wear, right? It’s Wash-ington DC, it has to be a suit; not wet suit, or swim suit, like we favor in Naples. Okay, suited up, I’m ready. On May 9, as we pass through our third checkpoint, I’m con-vinced there’s no party-crashing the White House these days. For-get about, “Who called a taxi?” Or, boldly walking into a party with the bag of ice, calling out, “I got it!” Prior to the show a few of us were ushered into a room for a much-anticipated photo with the President. The air buzzed with excitement. No cameras al-lowed beyond this point. Glasses clinked in toasting, arms bent in self-back-patting; but collec-tively we guests got less cocky with the announcement that came next. A clipboard guy had to almost shout above the din of self-con-gratulating to say, “The Presi-

dent is only taking 20 pictures. The next few minutes have to go quickly, everyone is grouped.” The toasting of glasses stopped mid-air. “ASCAP with Sprint and Com-cast: Group 5.” Huh? Okay, the Prez is a busy guy. I get it. Next, “The Henderson Trust and IBM: Group six,” etc. I step clos-er to Paul and say, “Joe Schmoe from Coca-Moe: Group seven.” Paul says, “Mustang Sally: Group eight.” After the crushing disappoint-ment of nobody getting face-time alone with the leader of the free world, we collectively shrugged it off and enjoyed the elegant banquet room, crystal chandeliers and open bar. Michelle was warm and lovely. In our brief exchange, it seemed she liked me and regretted we were on a tight schedule. A mo-ment later, I was offered the two-handed handshake by President Obama. When he leaned over to say, “How are you?” I responded, “Excited!” He laughed. My turn was over. (The offi cial picture mailed in six weeks.) Paul was next. He smiled and said, “Mr. President, I’m also Mr. President. President of ASCAP,

and we appreciate what you’re doing for intellectual property rights.” The President replied, “Oh, Paul. We know who you are. Hey, I bet you were elected by a wid-er margin than I was.” This was followed by a round of chuckles — like friends are inclined to do, while in a receiving line, sur-rounded by Secret Service, and cameras. The Gershwin Award for Popu-lar American Music was broad-cast for the fi rst time on Monday, May 21, on PBS. The show fea-tures David and Bacharach songs, sung by Stevie Wonder, Cheryl Crow, Lyle Lovette, Diana Krall, Michael Feinstein, British singer Rumer and even Michael Myers, who added comedy. From the wings, the talented roster of performers joined Burt at the piano for the big fi nale, “What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love.” The audience sang, clapped in rhythm, and some wiped their eyes with emo-tion and the poignant message that resonates even more today.Mariana Williams lives in Naples and is author of 2011 Indie Excel-lence Award-winning novel, “Stars or Stripes 4th of July.”

White House Visit An Experience

Paul and Mariana Williams, right with Librarian of Congress Dr. James Billington and his wife, Marjory.

May 24, 2012 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 3A

No WorriesTo The Editor,

Even though your trashcan is city property and on public land when it’s left outside for pick up, don’t worry about my Casey’s ex-crement ending up in it. His poop is too refi ned to mix with your trash.

Kimon HaramisLong Beach

Buy The BagsTo The Editor,

When we take the responsibil-ity of caring for a dog, it is with the understanding that there are certain expenses involved which include visits to the vet, food, loving and playing. Walking our dogs is necessary for their well-being; the exercise is good for them and for us.

However, when walking our dogs they may eliminate along the way. It is our responsibility to pick up after them. This requires what we call “a pooper bag.” Since we are working towards a plastic-free environment, one is able to pur-chase biodegradable bags at any pet store. So the woman who goes to Sig-nal Hill to shop for plastic bags should, in all good conscious-ness, purchase such bags instead of depending on more and more plastic bags. It is part of the cost of having a dog.

Marjorie RiveraNaples

Slobs Cause ItTo The Editor, The arguments for banning plastic and paper bags suggest we will have less trash and the cost

of goods will go down because consumers will not be paying for plastic bags in higher prices at the register. First of all, has anyone seen lower prices in the grocery stores since the ban of plastic bags in Long Beach? Secondly, if the pro-plastic bag ban argument is valid and solid, then govern-ment has no choice and must be required to eliminate all products that end up as trash on our streets. Should government mandate that all people taking advantage of fast-food restaurants be re-quired to bring their own multi-use cups, silverware, plates and cloth napkins? After all, I can-not go in any direction from my home and not encounter fast-food restaurant trash. Sounds ridiculous because it is. It is not the maker of plastic bags or the fast-food restaurant who are at fault. (Continued on Page 4A)

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In last week’s story about the 47th District Congressional race, candidate Sanford Kahn was quoted as saying, “We’ve got to start to shrink the economy,

because if we don’t do it, the markets will do it for you.” The quote should have read, “We’ve got to start to shrink the defi cit by building the economy, …”

Correction

PAGE 4A | GRUNION GAZETTE | May 24, 2012

Face it, there are a lot of slobs out there who make life dirty for all of us, no matter the form of trash.

Taylor RamseyLakewood

Trim From TopTo The Editor, Long Beach City College President Eloy Oakley made a statement on Governor Brown’s budget announcement. He stated that the revenue projections in the 2012-13 budget are not sound, and may create the need for fu-ture budget reductions. Long Beach City College is currently sitting on an $8 million

emergency fund, but refuses to spend any of it to save classes, to keep student fees low or to save classified jobs. Their adminis-trative salaries account for more than $4 million. They have $6 million for a Promise Pathways program, and an equally expen-sive Student Success program. The solution is to trim from the top starting with the administra-tion and these expensive and un-needed programs. Then we can start to rebuild LBCC into the kind of community college that all of Long Beach wants.

Michael SmithLong Beach

Editor’s Note: Mr. Smith is one of the 55 employees recently laid off at LBCC.

Support CarmenTo The Editor, We are voting for Carmen Tru-tanich for DA. The Los Angeles Newspaper Group (?) has opined to do otherwise. Mr. Trutanich worked in the gang unit of the LA District At-torney’s Office earlier in his ca-reer. He eventually became very successful in private practice before being recruited to run for Los Angeles City Attorney. He knows how to assemble a quality team of attorneys, meet a payroll, and work within a bud-get. Mr. Trutanich and his city at-torney team have saved taxpayers tens of millions of dollars from lawsuits against the city. Mr. Trutanich is enthusiastic and has a strong passion for the law. But for this newspaper group to say that he is pugilistic is ridic-ulous and a hit below the belt. In fact, just last week, the LA Times called Mr. Trutanich quiet and savvy. Finally, Carmen Trutanich is very personable and approach-able. That he enjoys and is ac-complished at winning cases on behalf of the people should not be ridiculed or belittled as your newspaper group has attempted to do.

Chris, Dolores MontoyaNaples

(Continued from Page 3A)

Our Mailbox

“Poetic Images,” an exhibit of student art, will be on display starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 29, at Westerly School, 2950 E. 29th St. The artwork has been cre-ated by students in kindergarten through fifth grade in a variety of media. Subjects include fam-ily and friends, the artists’ fa-vorite activities, pets, nature, dreams and more. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Westerly is a nonprofit, non-denominational school serv-ing students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Westerly Art Show

In and effort for more public participation and transparency, the Long Beach Board of Har-bor Commissioners voted unani-mously to revise its public meet-ing schedule.

The new schedule will have twice-monthly meetings — the first and third Mondays of each month with one meeting during the day and one meeting during the evening.

The new schedule will begin with a 5 p.m., Monday, June 4, meeting at the Port Administra-tion Building, 925 Harbor Plaza.

Previously, commissioners met three times a month on Mondays, usually at 1 p.m.

“We believe in open and trans-

parent meetings,” Harbor Com-mission Vice President Thomas Fields said in a statement. “We think it is important for the pub-lic. We think it is important for our stakeholders to be part of our decision-making process.” The new schedule will given a 90-day trial period, after which the commissioner will vote on whether to make it permanent. Agendas now will be posted two Fridays before a meeting. Any revisions will be posted on the Thursday before a meeting. Holiday meetings will be sched-uled for the following Monday. For more information, visit www.polb.com/commission.

—Jonathan Van Dyke


Harbor Changes Meeting Schedule

Los Angeles County Supervi-sor Don Knabe and his wife Julie will receive the inaugural Cot-tonwood Award at a luncheon ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 31, at Rancho Los Alamitos, 6400 E. Bixby Hill Rd.

The Knabes are being honored by the rancho for their leadership and support of historic, cultural and environmental preservation. The name Cottonwood Award refers to the meaning of the site’s name, Rancho Los Alami-tos or “Ranch of the Little Cot-tonwoods.” The cottonwood was once plentiful in this area.

The Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation, which operates the rancho, is hosting the luncheon. Tickets are $75 and are available at www.rancholosalamitos.com.

In addition to live music, the luncheon will feature a meal based on the previous owners Fred and Florence Bixby’s origi-nal ranch recipes from the early 20th Century. Those attending also will be

able to take a preview look at the refurbished rancho, which re-opens, to the public on June 10. The long-term project includes a new Rancho Center and book-store/classroom buildings, and restored historic barns and gar-dens.

Rancho To Honor Knabes For Support

As expected, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to put an initiative on the Novem-ber ballot to let voters decide whether to impose a “living wage” rule on hotels with more than 100 rooms.

The initiative was forced by a petition drive from a group called the Long Beach Living Wage Coalition. The local vote on the national ballot will cost the city at least $300,000.

Wage Issue To Ballot



A new, all-retail alternative to redevelop the SeaPort Ma-rina Hotel property in east Long

Beach has been submitted to the city’s Development Services De-partment — the first step in an-other long journey for property owner Ray Lin.

Meanwhile, Lyon Communi-ties, which owns the “Pumpkin Patch” parcel on PCH across the street and south of SeaPort Ma-rina, has withdrawn plans submit-

ted to the same department. That action took place Monday, a week after Lin submitted his plans. Neither property is anywhere near development, officials said. “The project is at its inception, subject to changes during con-ceptual site plan review,” Lin said in an email. He declined further comment until city staff had re-sponded to the new proposal. Lin and his sister, Amy Lin, own the property on the south-east corner of the intersection of Second Street and Pacific Coast Highway, operating under the name Taki-Sun. They have tried twice in the last decade to get ap-proval for a mixed-use residen-tial, retail and hotel development. Last December, the City Coun-cil turned away the latest effort on a 5-3 vote, denying a series of conditional use permits and zoning changes that would have been required. The city has since secured a grant of nearly $1 mil-lion to start the process to review and potentially revise SEADIP (South East Area Development and Improvement Plan), the mas-ter zoning document that governs development in the area. That re-view is expected to take another year. But Lin’s all-retail proposal fits within the current SEADIP zoning, said Derek Burnham, city planning administrator. “What we do now is try to iden-tify the necessary entitlements they would need and provide some feedback,” Burnham said. “We try to offer some guidance in things they might want to change or things we like before they make a formal submittal.” While this proposal doesn’t appear to require conditional use permits or zoning changes, it still

would need to get site and de-sign approval from the Planning Commission, City Council and Coastal Commission. California Environmental Quality Act con-ditions will need to be met, likely including preparation of an En-vironmental Impact Report. Pri-mary among those impacts likely will be traffic, which was a reason for opposition of previous plans. The preliminary plan as sub-mitted is a 172,000-square-foot project with that amount of first floor retail space, 107,000 square feet of second floor retail (both could include restaurants) and 28,000 square feet of office space. A three-story parking garage also is part of the proposal. Details of the Lyon Communi-ties project were not available. Mike Murchison, spokesman for the company, said the principals are reviewing their options. Lyon officials opposed the Second+PCH approvals last year, arguing that a comprehensive de-velopment plan was needed. They offered at the time to help finance a SEADIP study, but that now ap-pears to be moot with approval of the grant from the state Depart-ment of Conservation’s Strategic Growth Council. Burnham declined to set a timeline for review of Lin’s lat-est proposal. The SEADIP review is expected to take at least a year before Planning Commission or City Council action.

Second + PCH Retail Plan Waits For City “This project is at its inception, subject to changes during

conceptual site plan review.”—Ray Lin


More than 1,500 Long Beach City College graduates turned their tassels and walked across the stage into the next phase of their lives at LBCC’s commence-ment yesterday (Wednesday).

The ceremony awarded AA/AS degrees, along with certifications to graduates, at Veterans Stadium. LBCC was expecting thousands of guests, students and alumni to come celebrate with graduates, college officials said.

“Commencement is my favor-ite day of the year, and I congratu-late every one of our graduates,” said President/Superintendent

Eloy Oakley, who was attending his sixth commencement ceremo-ny at LBCC. “I hope they take the experience and knowledge gained at Long Beach City College into their next great endeavor and into four year institutions or the work place,” Oakley said. On May 10, LBCC honored 1,400 students who will trans-fer to a four-year university this fall, including University of Cali-fornia, Berkeley; University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; Uni-versity of California, Santa Bar-bara; University of Hawaii; Uni-

versity of Iowa; and California State University, Long Beach. Author, editor and syndicated columnist Gustavo Arellano was the college’s official commence-ment speaker. Arellano is known for his “Ask a Mexican” syndi-cated column and books, and also is a community college grad. “I’m honored to give the com-mencement speech at LBCC, particularly because I’m a proud product of the California com-munity college system,” Arellano said. “Though times are tough, I know the resolve of such students to not only overcome expecta-

tions, but blow them away, as they continue toward greatness.” Arellano also is the editor of OC Weekly, and is the author of “Orange County: A Personal His-tory” and “Taco USA: How Mex-ican Food Conquered America.” He also is a lecturer with the Chi-

cana and Chicano Studies depart-ment at California State Univer-sity, Fullerton. After commencement, gradu-ates and their friends and family took part in a reception on the north field.

— Stephanie Minasian

City College Students Toss Caps

A star in the Broadway din-ing scene will be changing hands next month.

Ray Lasher has turned Ameri-can cuisine into an art form over the last 16 years in the Craftsman bungalow renovated to become Lasher’s. Ray and wife Lynn have built the restaurant to the point where it has won recogni-tion from Zagat, Open Table, AAA, Goyot and more.

But someone has made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, Lash-er said, and the restaurant will

change ownership in late June. Lasher said the restaurant had experienced a record 2011, and 2012 was showing strong trends, as well. But, he said, he is ready for a new challenge. “I am not done yet,” Lasher said. “We are merely moving on to the next chapter... We have been well supported by the Long Beach community and so many great regular guests.” Lasher credited his strong in-volvement with the community as a large part of his success. His fa-

mous Cranberry Glazed Meatloaf and award-winning clam chow-der have been staples at charity tasting events, and no local silent auction was complete without a gift certificate from Lasher’s. No date has been set for the closure. Until then, it will be business as usual – plus a little emphasis on saying farewell to close friends. Lasher’s is at 3441 E. Broad-way. Call 433-0153 for reserva-tions.

—Harry Saltzgaver

Lasher’s Restaurant Will Change Hands



Dr. Greg Thomas has been in his new office at Long Beach Me-morial Medical Center for barely a month. He recently became medi-cal director of MemorialCare’s

renowned Heart & Vascular In-stitute. So next Monday, he’s heading for Lima, Peru. To study mummies. And that makes perfect sense, Thomas said. After all, he was part of the team that first discov-ered that Egyptians mummified

more than 3,000 years ago suf-fered blocked arteries — athero-sclerosis — and died of heart dis-ease at even younger ages than is common today. “It was mummy No. 14,” Thomas said. “She was some-where between 2,000 and 3,500

years old, and she died of block-age of the arteries around the age of 40. What it really means is we don’t have to feel guilty any more about how our lifestyles might be killing us. They had it back then, too.” After he stopped laughing, Thomas said the research truly is valuable because science appears to have missed a contributing fac-tor to atherosclerosis, and study-

Memorial Doctor Mines Mummies For Medical Clues

—Gazette photo by Harry SaltzgaverNEWS FIT TO PRINT. Dr. Greg Thomas poses with a Wall Street Journal article on his work in Egypt.



ing the mummies could help dis-cover that risk factor.

Thomas and the team of 20 be-gan the research project, which uses C-T scans, not X-rays as some stories have reported, in 2009 with the first visit to Egypt. The Egyptian government was cooperating with the project, and Thomas made six trips there, ulti-mately scanning and categorizing 52 mummies.

That research landed on the front page of the Wall Street Jour-nal — with a picture, above the fold — as well as a series of sci-entific journals.

“On Jan. 28 last year, we were

on the plane, getting ready for an-other trip,” Thomas said. “That’s when the revolution began. We turned around and went home, and haven’t been back since.” But the team wasn’t ready to end the project, and the chance to visit Peru surfaced. These mum-mies are much younger — from 1000 to 1500 A.D. — and are nat-urally mummified through desic-cation (drying out). The different era and a different environment will further the research, Thomas said. “When we get all these ranges and results, we can combine all the scans into a data base,” he said. “Maybe we can find out why they had blockages or didn’t have blockages. If we can find out why,

maybe we can find a way to delay it today.” And ultimately, that’s Thomas’s passion — research to improve the treatment and prevention of heart disease. He says that’s why he took the job at Memorial after a fulltime career as a cardiologist treating patients while conduct-ing research. “It was an opportunity to be part of a tradition, of something where you explore how to change medicine,” Thomas said. “Dr. Myrvin Ellestad, who started the heart institute, literally invented the stress test. It was revolution-ary. And Dr. Ellestad is still here and I get to work with him. It doesn’t get any better than that.” Research will continue to be a

priority, Thomas said, but he has also been tasked to work with doctors practicing at Memorial. Under current regulations, the hospital cannot directly hire phy-sicians, but must work with those who seek the right to work at the hospital. “This administration hopes to engage the physicians more deep-ly,” Thomas said, “and I’m here to facilitate that. The emphasis is on cost-effectiveness. I want to know how to help the doctors in the hospital meet the needs more effectively… I want to create a synergy going forward.” For more information about the Heart & Vascular Institute, go to www.memorialcare.org/Long-Beach.

(Continued from Page 8A)Thomas

“Grounds to Grapes,” a guid-ed walking tour through the historic Bluff Heights neighbor-hood, begins at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 2, at Temple Coffee at the corner of Temple and Broadway. The walk is hosted by the Bluff Heights Neighborhood As-sociation. BHNA President John Thomas and long-time resident and botanist Ken Ylinhiemi will lead the tour. The tour will end at The Wine Crush, where discounted wines and snacks will be avail-able. Tickets are $25, or $20 for BHNA members. Visit www.bluffheightsneighborhood.org.

“Grounds To Grapes”Bluff Heights Tour


—Gazette photo by Geronimo QuitorianoStuart Milk of the Harvey Milk Foundation spoke Tuesday at the Harvey Milk Promenade Park ground-breaking, located on 3rd Street and the Promenade. May 22 is the anniversary of Harvey Milk’s birth-day. The new park is the first in America to be named after civil rights leader Harvey Milk, and the first park in the city to be named after an LGBT person, according to Robert Garcia, right.

Milk At Milk Park

A memorial honoring a Poly High School graduate who died in Afghanistan will be dedicated at 10:15 a.m. Friday, May 25, at Poly, 1600 Atlantic Ave. U.S. Army Sergeant Israel Garcia was killed in action on July 13, 2008, in his third tour in Afghanistan while serving with the “Chosen” Company of the 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Garcia received a posthumous award of the Silver Star. At the ceremony, a memorial bench will be dedi-cated in Garcia’s honor. Steven Kerns, who served in the 173rd

and spearheaded the drive for the memorial, will speak, as will Garcia’s widow, Lesly.

Memorial HonorsFallen Poly Soldier


By Jonathan Van DykeSTAFF WRITER

Long Beach received confirma-tion last week in the strides it has made toward becoming one of the nation’s most bicycle-friendly cit-ies. The League of American Bi-cyclists upgraded the city to a Silver Bicycle Friendly City, cit-ing numerous bike initiatives and lauding the city for upgrading its bicycle infrastructure.

“This is truly a citywide rec-ognition, as our bike friendly initiatives are promoting eco-nomic development and sustain-ability as well as increasing rider-ship,” Mayor Bob Foster said in a statement. “As a result of our investment in bicycling-related infrastructure, Long Beach is be-coming an even more attractive place to live, work and visit.” During the recent League of America Bicyclists process, five other cities were upgraded from bronze to silver — there are now 39 total silver cities, 16 gold cit-ies and two platinum cities. “It provides recognition both nationally and locally for what we’re doing,” said Allan Craw-

ford, city bike coordinator. “It says what we’re doing is making a difference to a number of peo-ple.” The designation was given for the city’s bike safety education-al programs in elementary and middle schools, creation of bike friendly business districts and investments in bike-related infra-structure. “It gets reviewed locally by a broad number of people,” Craw-ford said. “It comes back to the community for validation of what we’re doing. It’s so important to benchmark yourself against other communities. Unless you see how you stack up, it’s hard to tell your progress.” Specifically, Crawford said he thinks the upgrade came about especially because of unique bike-friendly business plans and groups like Long Beach’s Women on Bikes. Women on Bikes seeks to in-crease the number of women riders through awareness of available biking infrastructure and promoting bike safety. The bike-friendly business districts — which include Bixby Knolls, East

Village, Cambodia Town and Retro Row — offer incentives and discounts to people who ride their bikes. According to city statistics, more than 175 businesses have signed up for the Bike Saturday business program. More than

60,000 elementary and middle school students have participat-ed in the city’s Safe Routes to School education program. There are about 15 more miles of bicy-cle facilities planned through the city in the next year. In order to get the gold, Craw-

ford said, there will need to be even more work. Most gold cities have a population that commutes to work on bikes at about 5% to 7.5% of the work force. Long Beach currently is closer to 2.5% to 3%. Visit www.bikelongbeach.org.

Long Beach Upgraded To Silver Bike Friendly City



By Ashleigh OldlandEDITOR

For employees in Belmont Shore, there’s no longer a need to drive to and from work every day. In an effort to lessen the num-ber of employees driving to work and parking on Second Street or in the surrounding neighborhood this summer, the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improve-ment Advisory Commission is paying for Long Beach Tran-sit bus passes for Second Street workers. The bus passes were distributed last week and will be activated starting Friday, May 25. The passes expire on Sept. 3. Dede Rossi, executive director of the BSBA, said the association is working in partnership with the parking commission and Long Beach Transit to get the pilot pro-gram rolled out. Already there are about 730 employees from 68 businesses signed up to partici-pate. More employees may sign up this summer. Rossi added that the BSBA and parking commission would be receiving regular reports from Long Beach Transit about how the passes are being used. That data will be used to determine if the program should continue past the summer.

Bill Lorbeer, chair of the park-ing commission, explained that the program is designed to keep employee vehicles off the streets and make more room for custom-er cars. He said a transit program encouraging employees to ride the bus could be a great invest-ment, saving money on additional parking lots. “We have to make sure these parking meter dollars are being spent appropriately,” Lorbeer said. “That money is meant to provide more parking resources for customers. Without the cost of purchasing a parking lot, we are creating a phantom or virtual em-ployee parking lot because we are giving people an alternate way to get to work.” During the trial period, the commission will pay 50¢ per ride for employees who sign up to participate (the regular 30-day pass rate is 86¢ per ride), with the total amount spent capped at $15,000 per month. Lorbeer said there are safe-guards in place so that Long Beach Transit will know if the bus passes are being misused. Employees who try to sell their passes or otherwise abuse the service may have their bus pass revoked.

“We have put a number of safe measures, control systems in place so that we can turn those passes off that are being fraudu-lently used,” Lorbeer said. “Each pass is numbered and each pass is tied to an employee’s name and employer. So in other words, we know it’s John Smith who works at the Grunion Gazette each time he swipes his pass and where he swiped his pass.” Lorbeer said he will be look-ing at data every week from Long Beach Transit and, depending on the use of the passes, the park-ing commission may seek City Council approval and extend the pilot program through December or make the free ride program a permanent service for employees.

Shore Workers Ride Transit Free

By Jonathan Van DykeSTAFF WRITER

Memorial Day is a time to re-member those who served this country in the armed forces — in

all American confl icts. Each city has a group of hometown heroes who have been lost to war, and Long Beach is no different. The 14 banners hanging at the

Long Beach Rosie the Riveter Park and Interpretive Learning Center symbolize 14 Long Beach men who called the city their home before they were killed in duty in either Iraq or Afghani-stan. Offi cials hope more banners will be put up — but this time for the men and women still serving. “What I’d like to be able to do is to allow families to ac-knowledge their sons, daughters, husbands and wives who are in service, and put up new banners for that,” Fifth District Council-woman Gerrie Schipske said. The new banners would go up along Clark Avenue in between Carson Street and Spring Street. Individuals or organizations could sponsor a banner, which would be displayed a minimum of six months before being given back to the military personnel or his or her family. A $250 spon-sorship would cover the banner and hanging, and Schipske said people who could not afford the sponsorship should still call her offi ce to work something out. The initial Hometown Heroes Banner Project came from the Rosie the Riveters Park project with Wreaths Across America. Now there are banners fl ying for Private First Class Stephen A. Castellano, Sergeant Randy D. Collins, Sergeant Anthony J. Davis, Jr., Sergeant Israel Garcia, Private Ernesto R. Guerra, Staff Sergeant Andrew W. Harvell, Major Steven Hutchison, Private First Class Lyndon A. Marcus, Jr., Specialist Roberto L. Mar-tinez Salazar, Specialist Astor A. Sunsin-Pineda, Private First Class David T. Toomalatai, Pri-vate First Class George D. Torres, Staff Sergeant Joshua R. Whita-ker and Lance Corporal Veashna Muy. “We were a military town for so many years,” Schipske said. “I was at a high school, and what struck me was they were doing a ringing-of-the-bell where they named all alumni who had died, all the way back to World War I. That is something we need to continue to do. These wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) have been out of the public’s mind, so we need to show they have some home-town heroes that need to be ac-knowledged.” For more information, call 570-6932 or visit www.lbhome-townheroes.com.


Memorial Banners Honor City Heroes

May 24, 2012 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 15ASUMMER KICKOFF

BY STEPHANIE MINASIANSTAFF WRITER

Summer is almost here, and soon everyone will be flocking to spend their time outdoors and in the sun. There will be plenty to do this summer in Long Beach, as the city is gearing up to launch its annual “100 Days of Summer,” to bring concerts, events, movies and more to the residents of Long Beach. The 100 Days of Summer will kick off on Friday, May 25, just in time for Memorial Day, with a concert performed by 1980s trib-ute band 80’Z All-Stars at 6 p.m., at Marine Stadium, at 5255 Paoli Way.

“For us, summer usually starts around June 18, when school lets out,” said Jane Grobaty, who works as the community infor-mation superintendent for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine. “The 80’Z All-Stars will be a lot of fun. We are also encouraging people to bring food or picnics to enjoy while there,

and there will be face painting and moon bounces to make it a fun night for the kids, as well.” To get the word out about up-coming summertime events, Parks and Rec and the Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bu-reau will launch its website this week, www.100daysofsummer.org. It will provide a constantly updated list of events to partici-pate and check out over the next 100 days. “We will gather up all of the stuff and put it on this searchable website,” Grobaty said. “If you’re not sure what there is to do, you can search by the day for con-certs, sporting events, Sea Festi-val … and we try our best to get everything out there.” In addition, the website will

include happenings at the El Do-rado Nature Center, historic sites, such as Rancho Los Cerritos, as well as youth programs, hik-ing adventures, tennis, golf and swimming. With the website going live this week, most of the summer’s events will begin in June, as school lets out for break. One of the most popular events

of the summer is the Movies in the Park, sponsored by Signal Hill Petroleum. The movies will move to various parks across the city, and will start at 8 p.m., or dusk, Grobaty said. People will be able to come early to enjoy games, a moon bounce and free popcorn. The first film scheduled for Movie in the Park is “Happy

Feet,” and will be playing at 8 p.m., at Signal Hill Park, located at 2175 Cherry Ave., in Signal Hill. People are encouraged to come early to join in the family-friendly festivities. Grobaty also recommends keep-ing a close eye on the Parks and Rec website, www.lbparks.org, as well as www.100daysofsummer.org, for continuous event updates.

100 Days Of Summer Gathers All Citywide Events “We try our best to get everything out

there.”—Jane Grobaty


BY ASHLEIGH OLDLANDEDITOR

It’s officially summertime in Long Beach, and that means it’s also time for Alfredo Beach Club’s event lineup.

Fred Khammar, event organiz-er and owner of Alfredo’s Beach Club, said this year’s revamped Sea Festival classics, such as the 80th Annual Great Sand Sculp-ture Contest, 60th Annual Kids’ Fishing Rodeo and Moonlight Movies on the Beach, among oth-ers, are coming back better than ever. Despite the loss of the nonprof-it Sea Festival Association, Alfre-do’s Beach Club is getting some assistance from the city’s Parks, Recreation & Marine Depart-ment to offset the cost of hosting a summer full of events that are a splash, literally and figuratively, for area residents. Additionally, Khammar said he is using new tactics to get the word out about events and make sure residents are enjoying what’s offered. To start the season, Pirate Inva-sion Belmont Pier takes place on June 30 and July 1 on Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier; it’s a free weekend full of peg-leg and eye-patch costume contests, volunteer pirate re-enactors, arts and crafts, children’s treasure hunts, sword fighting, pirate ship attacks, a dead man’s tavern and more on the pier and nearby beach. Returning for its eighth year, the free Movies on the Beach film festival shows a mix of family

films and cult classics after dark on Mondays and Tuesdays start-ing July 2. All films will be shown on Granada Beach, and there will be a concession stand. The films are shown on an inflatable movie screen with a high definition pro-jector. Additional films may be shown at other beach locations, but those details have not been announced. Film titles this year include “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “The Muppet Movie,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Hugo,” “Jaws” and more through Sept. 4. Guests at Moonlight Movies on the Beach are encouraged to bring blankets or low chairs to the event and may bring their own picnic dinners or snacks. Another highlight of the Sea Festival is the Fourth of July Par-ty on the Pier, which will include musical performances by nine lo-cal bands, a kid zone, barbecue lunches and other food and drink for purchase and seating for the fireworks show. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will cost $20 for adults and $10 for children ages 12 and younger. Also taking place on the pier is the 60th Annual Kids’ Fishing Rodeo, hosted in partnership with the Southern California Tuna Club. The free event for young-sters starts at 8 a.m. on Aug. 3 and typically brings about a thousand youngsters to Belmont Pier for a day of fishing with free bait, free lunch and free fishing instruction. Participants, who must be young-

er than age 16, need to bring their own rod and reel. Belmont Pier also will be the site for Taste of the Coast: Sea Feast-ival. More details about the event soon will be announced, and Khammar said the clambake style event, which, like all of Al-fredo Beach Club’s Sea Festival happenings, would benefit local charities such as Kids’ Connec-tion and Partners of Parks. Sea Festival attendees young and old will not want to miss the 80th Annual Great Sand Sculpture Contest, which takes place Aug. 11-12 on the beach at the Grana-da Launch Ramp. With assistance

from Long Beach Rotaract volun-teers, the free event typically fea-tures more than 40 amateur and professional sand sculptures as well as vendor booths, live music and food. All sand sculptures will be available for free, public view-ing during construction and after completion. Alfredo’s Beach Club also is hosting the free Tiki Beach Fes-tival from sunrise to sunset Aug. 18-19 at the Granada Launch Ramp. Khammar said the festival would feature hundreds of enter-tainers and island vendors with cultural displays, live entertain-ment, play areas for children, ca-

noe rides, merchandise and food. The finale for Alfredo’s Beach Club Sea Festival lineup is The Pirate Invasion of Long Beach, which is set to take place Sept. 29-30 at Marina Greek Park in downtown Long Beach. Similar to Pirate Invasion Belmont Pier, this larger version features a pi-rate village, and there will be a cover charge to attend the event. Parking at Sea Festival events is $10 for a day pass at the beach parking lots. For more information about these community events during the Long Beach Sea Festival, visit www.alfredosbeachclub.com.


Alfredo’s Beach Club Carries On Sea Festival Events

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PAGE 18A | GRUNION GAZETTE | May 24, 2012SUMMER KICKOFF

By Ashleigh OldlandEDITOR

Three of Long Beach’s cultural mainstays — the Aquarium of the Pacifi c, Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos — of-fer summer events for the whole family to enjoy.Aquarium of the Pacifi c The Aquarium of the Pacifi c is home to more than 11,000 marine animals, and is considered one of the top aquariums in the nation. During the summer, offi cials said it is a time to raise the profi le of the aquarium through courses, lectures and special events. “We really try to make the sum-

mer a fun time to come see the aquarium,” said Cecile Fisher, vice president of communication and marketing. “We have a little bit for everybody… We are really trying to make the ocean and sci-ence and marine life interesting to as many different people with as many different backgrounds and interests as possible and provide a variety of ways to experience the aquarium.” Fisher said the biggest draw this year is the aquarium’s new June Keyes Penguin Habitat, which opened last week. Fisher said the Magellanic penguins are already bringing in crowds.

Penguin-themed events also will take place throughout the summer. The aquarium hosts weekly guest lectures, and Fish-er said many of those guest lec-tures will deal with the topic of penguins. Lectures are free for aquarium members and $5 for the general public. “People can come and learn about topics from urban ocean to things like climate change, coast-al fl ooding and other topics fac-ing our planet,” Fisher said. For the fi rst time ever, the Aquarium of the Pacifi c also is hosting a 5K Run/Walk on July 22, with a penguin theme. A pen-

guin mascot and other aquarium “characters” in costume will at-tend the event and cash prizes will be given to the top fi nishers. Another fi rst-time event is taking place in partnership with Long Beach Symphony Orches-tra, which is playing a concert in the aquarium’s main hall on June 7. RSVP’s are required, but the concert is free. Returning this year, Discounted Late Nights will take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on Sundays starting Me-morial Day weekend, patrons can come and enjoy the aquarium at a discounted price — $14.95 per person. Most exhibits are open, except the Lorikeet house. Also returning are several sum-mertime cultural festivals, includ-ing the Pacifi c Islander Festival set to take place June 2-3 featur-ing arts and cultural displays and entertainment that transform the aquarium into an island paradise. Father’s Day and Fourth of July barbecues on the lawn also are scheduled to return this year, and the Aquarium of the Pacifi c is a popular place to watch Indepen-dence Day fi reworks. Visit www.aquariumofpacifi c.org. Rancho Los Alamitos At Rancho Los Alamitos, an

adobe structure built between 1800 and 1834, offi cials are cel-ebrating the completion of a new educational center and barns area restoration, which will open to the public on June 10. The free grand opening party from noon to 5 p.m. on June 10 will kick off the rancho’s sum-mer with music and dance perfor-mances, ranch house and garden tours, special demonstrations, crafts and more. Parking is free at the event at CSULB Lot 11 with free shuttle service to the rancho. Rancho Los Alamitos is located at 6400 Bixby Hill Rd. Then, from June 13 to July 5, reservations will be required for free visits to the rancho during normal public hours from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sun-days. Rancho Los Alamitos Execu-tive Director Pamela Seager said she is excited to unveil the ran-cho’s new education center and its special features, such as the fi lm “Rancho Los Alamitos: An Island In Time.” Also, she said visitors would enjoy seeing ani-mals at the rancho again since the barn area has been closed for more than three years. Seager added that the public

Long Beach Mainstays Offer Up Summer Activities



should stop by the rancho’s gift shop, which features many one-of-a-kind items made at the ran-cho as well as rancho cookbooks, music and more. “The restored barnyard brings the rancho back to the character of the working ranch,” Seager said. “And the education center is stunning. Plus, our gardens are constantly changing and evolv-ing, so there is so much to see at the rancho this summer.” Regular programming, such as the rancho’s story time for children in the garden, also will take place on Tuesday mornings on July 10, 17, 24 and 31. For children ages 5 to 10 years old, the story time sessions take place from 10 a.m. to noon and cost $8 per child ($6 for members). For more information about these events and to make a res-ervation, call 431-3541 or visit www.rancholosalamitos.com. The rancho is located at 6400 E. Bixby Hill Rd.Rancho Los Cerritos Adobe is the name of the game when visitors come to historical Rancho Los Cerritos, which har-kens back to 1844. “Our summer programming is aimed to further our educa-tional mission here — to explore

the history of the site over time through interactive activities and cultural items of the period,” said Ellen Calomiris, executive di-rector. “Get to know your own community… We are so proud of what we offer the community, and we welcome visitors at all times.” Rancho Los Cerritos also is celebrating the opening of its new educational center and other improvements, including a res-toration of the arroyo landscape and new entryway, Calomiris said. The new educational center opened on May 9. For now, the rancho is not of-fering self-guided tours. Free guided tours take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Garden tours take place at 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sun-days. The rancho hosts three special summer adventure camps for grade school children; the camps typically sell out and cost $90 per week. “Each class is themed differ-ently and each is chock-full of activities,” Calomiris said. “Our aim is to make our programs as interactive, educational and fun as possible. There’s no reason you can’t have fun while learn-ing.” Another favorite event for youngsters, or the young at heart,

is the rancho’s infamous Mud Mania: A Celebration of Adobe. The event takes place on Aug. 19. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for children. “Mud Mania is a muddy, wacky day,” Calomiris said. “It’s everything to do with adobe brick making — from mixing, building a wall, constructing mini homes, to learning all about architectural techniques.” There also will be free con-certs this summer: Bernie Pearl will play on June 24; Cris Barber Quintet is scheduled on July 22; and Romanza fi nishes the series on Aug. 26. The concerts start at 5 p.m. Participants can bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnic items. Rancho Los Cerritos also has a gift shop, located in the new education center, that features a variety of homemade items that incorporate ingredients or natural elements from the rancho. Calomiris said the rancho is a great place to visit this summer that is appropriate for the whole family and won’t put a strain on the pocketbook. Most events are free or low-cost. For more information about prices, schedules and normal tour hours, call 570-1755 or visit www.rancholoscerritos.org. Ran-cho Los Cerritos is located at 4600 Virginia Rd.


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By Stephanie MinasianSTAFF WRITER

With summer quickly ap-proaching, the Long Beach Pub-lic Library is encouraging people of all ages to delve into the pages of books this summer with its an-nual summer reading program, themed “Dream Big! Read.”

When the weather starts to warm up, and the days extend longer, public libraries through-out the country take part in host-ing summer reading programs for residents. This year’s Long Beach pro-gram kicks off June 16 and runs through Aug. 11. It encourages reading for pleasure by offering incentives and prizes for every 100 minutes people spending reading independently. “What happens is, as kids begin to read, they come into the library and we give them a prize to keep reading,” said Long Beach Public Library’s Youth Services Offi-cer Francisco Vargas. “Research shows that if a school-age child reads one book at their grade level for fun over the summer, they re-tain their skills so they don’t have to review before going back to school. The more they read, the more likely they are to go up a grade level.”

For the first time, the library is offering a more interactive ap-proach to its summer reading pro-gram by allowing both children (with parental consent) and adults the opportunity to log in online to write reviews for the books they read during the eight weeks. The website also is available in Eng-lish and Spanish. Teens and adults also can post their reviews or reading lists from the website to their Facebook pages for their friends to see. “It’s very interactive,” Vargas added. “We also will have a mo-bile app for Droid and iPhones, so people can write an anonymous review on the go. It’s really going to be fun.” The library has teamed up with Summer Night Lights (SNL), an organization that works to imple-ment the prevention of gang vio-lence and works to develop area youth. To help keep parks safe during the evening hours, SNL will “turn on the lights” at three at-risk parks in the city to bring fun, family-oriented activities for children and their parents. SNL will run from 6 to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, from July 5 to Sept. 2, at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Drake Park and Ad-miral Kidd Park.

“The libraries will be at the parks, and will do crafts and mag-ic shows,” Vargas said. “It all goes along with our nighttime theme, and we wanted to partner with the

Summer Night Lights program to do this.” The library will have a table set up each night at the parks, where people can sign up for summer

reading. There will be free food and entertainment, along with city officials and police officers joining in the fun, Vargas said. Visit www.lbpl.org.

Long Beach Libraries Ask Youth To Dream Big



Music is a family affair for much of what is offered around

Long Beach this summer. The city will be full of daily, weekly and monthly concert se-ries. Here are a few to get your

planning started.Concerts In The Park The Department of Parks, Rec-reation and Marine made a con-certed effort this year to have its annual Concerts In The Park ap-peal to families even more than in the past, said Michelle Gingras, community recreation services superintendent. “It’s spread specifically throughout each district,” she said. “This year, we moved to-ward Sunday afternoon and a family theme. We’ve cut down on the concerts, but added an hour and more family friendly activi-ties.” Bands will cover genres like classic rock, blues, reggae and steel drum. At each event, there will be face painting, bounce houses, bal-

loon artists and a cartoonist. The series kicks off from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 25, at Marine Stadium — which will also act as kick off for 100 Days of Summer. There will be a concert from 3 to 6 p.m. almost each Sunday af-terward: June 24 at Whaley Park (Elm Street Band), July 8 at Mar-tin Luther King Jr. Park (Box-car Seven), July 22 at Houghton Park (Gregg Young and the Sec-

Music Fills Long Beach Air With Summer Concerts

—Gazette file photoUNPLUGGED AND ELECTRIC. The Goodfellas bring energy to the stage during last year’s Buskerfest.



ond Street Band), Aug. 5 at Pan American Park (Pan Jive) and Aug. 19 at Cesar Chavez Park (Chyle). The closing concert will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Aug. 30, at Stearns Park with The Emperors playing.Summer and Music

Long Beach’s Summer and Music 2012 schedule will be con-centrating on the big picture this year, organizers said.

Last year’s Summer in the Parks with SAM has been nixed, but co-founder Rand Foster said he didn’t do so without knowing there will be other smaller events happening around downtown — they just won’t specifically be under the SAM banner.

“The reality, is that with all the production on the bigger shows — the amount of time and bud-get was hard to maintain with the smaller shows,” he said.

So, instead, organizers will be working on a fourth larger event, tentatively titled Dancin’ in the Streets — scheduled for a to-be-determined date in July.

“Conceptually, it kind of came out of the dance parties that would impromptu take place af-ter Buskerfest,” Foster said. “We thought that was pretty cool, so we wanted to try and create that atmosphere in an entire event on its own. We’re sorting through different possibilities for it, in-cluding live bands that bring dance energy and maybe DJs from local clubs to spotlight.”

Beyond that event, SAM fans can expect the usual suspects. Battle of the Tribute Bands will take place June 30 — bands play-ing the Pixies, Tom Petty and U2 are already scheduled for that. The Long Beach Funk Fest will return on Aug. 18 and the lo-cal unplugged music showcase, Buskerfest, will finish the SAM season on Aug. 25.

“Everything, even if the con-cept is the same, we want to bring fresh names and fasces (to each event),” Foster said, adding that this year there will be a number of tweaks to the different concerts in order to spur more audience participation.

For more information as it be-comes available, visit www.sum-merandmusic.com.Concerts in the Grove This will be the 36th year for the annual Concerts in the Grove at California State University, Long Beach. The weekly concert series places an emphasis on the local and community, including the booking of the bands, said Jane Gonzales, CSULB alumni programs coordinator. “Our venue kind of offers a little bit more of an intimate set-ting,” she said. “You can bring a picnic and we have tables and chairs.” The concert proceeds go to-ward the Alumni Grads Pro-gram. Average attendance at the concerts is 350 — often includ-ing residents, alumni donors and even Mayor Bob Foster, Gonza-les said. There will be door prizes and people can pre-order dinners if they do not want to bring a pic-nic. Doors open at 6 and the con-certs start at 7:30 p.m. at the So-roptimist House, which is located at the terrace on Beach Drive. There is free parking at parking lots 1 and 18 of CSULB. The concerts will be on the Saturdays of July 14 (Elm Street Band), July 21 (Stone Soul), Aug. 4 (King Salmon Band) and Aug. 18 (The Emperors). Cost is $30 per person. Order tickets by calling phone num-

ber 985-7022. Visit the website www.csulb.edu/alumni/events/concerts.Nature Center Summer Concerts Concerts at the El Dorado Na-ture Center will continue this year — an extension of events that have helped raise money for the Friends of El Dorado Nature Center for years. The gates will open at 6:30 p.m. and the concerts will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Admission will be $3 and children 12 and younger can get in free. “It’s a really nice setting near the lakeside,” said Tara Sievers, naturalist at El Dorado Nature Center. “It’s family friendly, mel-low and there will be an eclectic mix of musicians throughout the summer.” The concerts will be July 12 (The Salty Suites — bluegrass), July 19 (The Hula Girls — hula-billy), July 26 (Kimera — Latin sounds), Aug. 9 (Sligo Rags — Celtic rock) and Aug. 16 (Corday — rock). For more information on a number of other concerts and se-ries taking place around the area this summer, check the Gazette calendar section each week.

(Continued from Page 22A)Music


By Kurt A. EichsteadtEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

One of the best things about Long Beach in the summer is the outdoor screenings of movies. This year, 11 movies will be screened at 29 parks beginning June 25 and culminating with a showing of the baseball-themed movie “Moneyball” on Aug. 31 at, where else, Blair Field. Mov-ies in the Park screen Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Moonlight Movies on the Beach series begins on Monday, July 2. Their series wraps up with “Jaws” on Sept. 4. They are

on a Monday, Tuesday schedule except for Wednesday, July 25. Some of the Moonlight Movies have PG-13 or R ratings, so par-ents may want to consider what is appropriate for children. All the movies are free. Unless otherwise indicated, all are rated P or PG. Listed below is the complete summer schedule. • Monday, June 25, “Happy Feet,” Signal Hill Park, 2175 Cherry Ave. •Wednesday,June27,“Happy Feet,” McBride Park, 1550 Mar-tin Luther King Ave.

• Friday, June 29, “Happy Feet,” Bixby Park, 130 Cherry Ave. •Monday,July2,“Adventures of Tintin,” Recreation Park, 4900 E. Seventh St. • Monday, July 2, MoonlightMovie on the Beach. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” Grana-da Beach •Tuesday,July3,“Real Steel,” Granada Beach •(Note:NoshowingsJuly4) • Thursday, July 5, “Adven-tures of Tintin,” Orizaba Park, 1435 Orizaba • Friday, July 6, “Adventures

of Tintin,” Chavez Park, 401 Golden Ave. • Monday, July 9, “Grease,” Rated PG-13, Granada Beach • Monday, July 9, “Kung Fu Panda II,” Scherer Park, 4600Long Beach Blvd. • July 10, “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial,” Granada Beach • Wednesday, July 11, “King Fu Panda II,” Veterans Park, 101 E. 28th St. • Friday, July 13, “Kung Fu Panda II,” Wardlow Park, 3457 Stanbridge Ave. • Monday, July 16, “Casa-blanca,” Rated TV PG, Granada Beach •Monday,July16,“Spy Kids (All the Time in the World),” Somerset Park, 1500 E. Carson St. •Tuesday,July17,“The Mup-pet Movie,” Granada Beach

• Wednesday, July 18, “Spy Kids (All the Time in the World),” Coolidge Park, 353 E. Neece St. • Friday, July 20, “Spy Kids (All the Time in the World),” Admiral Kidd Park 2125 Santa Fe St. • Monday, July 23, “Annie Hall,” Granada Beach •Monday,July23,“The Mup-pets,” Cherry Park, 1900 E. 45th St. •Tuesday,July24, “The Wiz-ard of Oz,” Granada Beach • Wednesday, July 25, “The Jerk,” Rated R, Granada Beach • Wednesday, July 25, “The Muppets,” Heartwell Park, 5801 E. Parkcrest St. • Friday, July 27, “The Mup-pets,” Signal Hill Park, 2175 Cherry Ave.

See New, Old Classic Films Outside This Summer



BY KURT A. EICHSTEADTEDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Summer camps ranging from daytime activities to a week on a tall ship are being offered this summer. Summer camp aboard the three-masted American Pride is a five-day, four-night adventure that combines sailing, camping on Catalina Island and more. The program includes educational programs on subjects like ma-rine science and biology along with instruction from historians and an archeologist. There’s also a full range of outdoor activities such as snorkeling, kayaking,

fishing and tubing. This camp is for ages 10-17. The price is $470. However, the Gumbiner Founda-tion has given camp operators a grant to help children from Long Beach attend. For details, go to www.americanpride.org, There will be three cruises this summer: July 23-27, Aug. 6-10 and Aug. 13-17. Applications now are being ac-cepted for summer camps offered by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine. Most camps are available daily from June 18 to Aug. 24. Camps in-clude general park camps, Pee-Wee Camp, High Five Sports,

music, art and summer adven-tures at the El Dorado Nature Center and Rancho Los Cerritos. Visit www.LBParks.org. Summer camp featuring in-struction in artistic techniques will be offered by the Art Ex-change in two, two-week ses-sions starting July 9. Camp is for ages 7-12 and will take place at the Expo Building, 4321 Atlantic Ave. Cost is $280 per session and some scholarships are available. Visit www.artexchangelb.org. Musical Theatre West again will present its Youth Conser-vancy from July 9 through July

Summer Camps Welcome Youngsters

• Monday, July 30, “The Birds,” Rated TV PG, Granada Beach • Monday, July 30, “The Smurfs,” MacArthur Park, 1321 E. Anaheim St. • Tuesday, July 31, DoubleFeature: “Cars 1” and “Cars 2,” Granada Beach • Wednesday, Aug. 1, “The Smurfs,” College Estates Park, 808 Stevely Ave. • Friday, Aug. 3, “The Smurfs,” Houghton Park, 6301 Myrtle Ave. • Monday, Aug. 6, “Drive,” Rated R, Granada Beach • Monday, Aug. 6, “Mars Needs Moms,” Grace Park, Elm Avenue and Plymouth Street • Tuesday, Aug. 7, “Puss in Boots,” Granada Beach • Wednesday, Aug. 8, “Mars Needs Moms,” Stearns Champi-ons Park, 4520 W. 23rd St. • Friday, Aug. 10, “Mars Needs Moms,” Silverado Park, 1545 W. 31st St. •Monday,Aug.13,“Cars 2,” King Park, 1950 Lemon Ave. • Monday, Aug. 13, “Easy Rider,” Rated R, Granada Beach • Tuesday, Aug. 14, “The Goonies,” Rated TV 14, Grana-da Beach

•Wednesday,Aug. 15, “Cars 2,” Drake Park, 951 Maine Ave. • Friday, Aug. 17, “Cars 2,” Whaley Park, 5620 Atherton St. • Monday, Aug. 20, “King Kong,” (1933 Version), Unrated, Granada Beach • Monday,Aug. 20, “Puss in Boots,” Ramona Park, 3301 E. 65th St. • Tuesday, Aug. 21, “Hugo,” Granada Beach • Wednesday,Aug. 22, “Puss in Boots,” Seaside Park, 14th Street and Chestnut Avenue • Friday, Aug. 24, “Puss in Boots,” El Dorado Park West, 2800 Studebaker Ave. •Monday,Aug.27,“Dolphin Tale,” DeForest Park. 6255 De-Forest Ave. • Monday, Aug. 27, “Wood-stock,” Rated R, Granada Beach • Tuesday, Aug. 28, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Fac-tory,” (1971 version with Gene Wilder) • Wednesday, Aug. 29, “Dol-phin Tale,” Pan American Park, 5157 Centralia Ave. • Friday, Aug. 31, “Money-ball,” Blair Field, 4700 Deukme-jian Dr. • Monday, Sept. 3, “Pink Floyd: The Wall,” Rated R, Granada Beach • Tuesday, Sept. 4, “Jaws,” Rated TV 14, Granada Beach

(Continued from Page 24)

Films



20. Students will work with pro-fessionals in the fields of acting, voice and dance. Tuition is $200 for ages 8-12 and $250 for ages 13-18. Call 856-1999, ext. 225.

International City Theatre’s Summer Youth Conservatory begins on July 2. The six-week

program offers instruction for children ages 7-15 in acting, mu-sic, dance and movement taught by industry professionals. Class-es meet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The conservatory concludes with a performance at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. The fee is $375. Call 495-4595, ext. 10. Los Altos United Methodist

Church has Actors Bible Camp from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the week of July 30. Children will learn Old Testament Bible stories while practicing different styles of act-ing techniques, singing, building sets, doing makeup and writing scripts. Cost is $30 per child or $55 for two siblings. Registra-tion forms are available at the church, 5950 E. Willow St.


Most Americans have to take weeks of planning and fly half-way across the country to get to the beach. Long Beach residents only need to travel a few miles or less to enjoy the sand and wa-ter of one of California’s largest beach areas. Including bay parks like the popular Mother’s Beach, the city has about 11 full miles of sand for recreation, said Mark Sando-val, Marine Bureau manager. “We have a bike path along the beach that is very popular, we have five concession buildings that are handled under a contract and we have (Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier), which is popular for fishing,” he said. “We should celebrate our beaches and what they do offer.” With more famous destinations like Huntington Beach and Man-hattan Beach still fairly close, it can be easy for residents to lose track of their own backyard, of-ficials said, but they shouldn’t. “What we don’t have is surf, but what we do have is very calm water,” Sandoval said. “If you have a young family, that is prob-ably what you want. For children who aren’t as good at swimming, this would be an ideal location.” Hundreds flock to the beach on summer weekdays, and thou-sands make time for recreation on weekends, said Bob Magug-lin, Convention & Visitors Bu-reau director of public relations. The most popular activities to participate in near the water in Long Beach include beach vol-leyball, beach soccer and kite surfing. “The calmer water makes our dog beach very popular and kite surfing has really increased its profile because beginners don’t

have to deal with big surf here,” Sandoval said. “We have a ton of volleyball courts. The beach does look big, but you go out there with all the volleyball, soccer and dogs, and the beach gets crowded in its own way.” Recreational fishing fans also can find a lot to like, he added. There are five small fishing piers in the downtown area. The Bel-mont Veterans Memorial Pier is very popular, he said, specifically because you do not need a fishing license to cast a line there. “It has a very committed group that regularly goes fishing there,” he said. “Some are there for sus-tenance and for others it’s just a nice, peaceful sport.” In the water, there are about 50,000 launches of motorized and larger-vessel boats each year. There are more than 6,000 pri-vate and public boat slips. The number of vessels on the water doesn’t even include standup paddle boarding or kayakers, who also use the water, Sandoval added. Officials admitted that Long Beach is saddled with a bit of a reputation for not being clean, but they said the city has come a long way. “During the winter, when there is rain, there is no doubt the run-off from the river will impact our beaches,” Sandoval said. “But especially during the summer period, we’re getting very good report cards on all our beaches. One of the things we hear is that the water doesn’t look as good, but we have a finer sand on our beaches that mixes more with the water to make it cloudier — but not dirty.” There are several lots near dif-ferent parts of the beach for pub-lic use. The lots, in general, cost $1 an hour to park in.

Long Beach’s BeachesHave Own Attractions


Camps


Gazette Dining Guide guidance on price: $ Thrifty; $$ Night Out; $$$ Splurge

AmericanBEACHWOOD BBQ

131 1/2 Main St., Seal Beach210 E. Third St.

493-4500, 436-4020 Beachwood BBQ offers slow-smoked ribs, chicken, brisket, homemade sausag-es and pulled pork. The menu also fea-tures fish, salads and sandwiches. Large selection of craft beers. Delivery and catering menus available. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. $

BELMONT BREWING COMPANY25 39th Place

433-3891 At Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, with heated patio dining, BBC features hand-crafted beers brewed on the prem-ises. The menu features seafood, chicken and pasta dishes. Full bar. Open 11:30 a.m. to midnight weekdays, brunch on Saturday and Sunday. $$

BLACKBIRD CAFE3405 Orange Ave.

490-2473 Offering a California fresh menu for breakfast and lunch. Menu includes tra-

ditional, homemade breakfast fare An extensive vegetarian menu along with burgers, sandwiches, soups & chili. Cof-fee drinks. Open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. daily. $

BUSTER’S BEACH HOUSE168 Marina Dr.

Alamitos Bay Landing598-9431

Open at 7 a.m. weekends, 8 a.m. dur-ing the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner with beautiful ocean views from every table. Two banquet rooms. Choose from a delicious menu all day long. Happy hour is Monday thru Saturday with draft beer starting at $1.99, well drinks and house wine $2.75. Discounted appetizer menu. $

CHUCK’S COFFEE SHOP4120 E. Ocean Blvd.

433-9317 Near Belmont Plaza Pool, Chuck’s has been locally world famous since 1964. Open for breakfast and lunch all week, Chuck offers many combination breakfasts, lean burgers, salads and sand-wiches. Home of “The Weasel.” $

CLAIRE’S AT THE MUSEUM Long Beach Museum of Art

439-2119 Bluff top, indoor and outdoor dining

with fabulous views of the Pacific Ocean, Catalina Island and the Queen Mary. Serving limited breakfast and full lunch weekdays, full breakfast and lunch on weekends. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thurs-day, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat. and Sun. $

EGGS ETC. 550 Redondo Ave. 433-9588

Offering good old-fashioned country breakfasts and lunch. Daily specials. Pa-tio dining. Open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. $

E.J. MALLOY’S3411 E. Broadway, 433-3769; 4306 Atlantic Ave., 424-5000

E.J. Malloy’s is a pub with attributes of the original 1920s restaurant, along with a secluded patio surrounded by ivy-covered walls. Specialties include corn-fed beef, chicken and fish. Breakfast served Saturdays and Sundays. Open all

(Continued on Page 28)

N2nd St. Westminster

ON THEWATER!

week for lunch, dinner. Full bar at the Atlantic location. $$

LASHER’S3441 E. Broadway

433-0153 Lasher’s is in a restored California Bungalow. Dinner features home-style regional American cuisine, including

grilled steaks, fresh fish and rack of lamb. Beer, wine and cocktails, patio din-ing. Dinner Tues.-Sun. Sunday brunch is served 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. $$-$$$

LEGENDS5236 E. Second St.

433-2723 The grand-daddy of sports bars has re-opened with the same great menu; award-

winning chili, clam chowder, Buffalo wings and ribs. Now with two levels for the ultimate in sports viewing. Catering available. $

THE LOCAL SPOT 6200-B E. PCH

498-0400 From the owners of Eggs, Etc. this restaurant features a variety of burgers,

hot dogs, sandwiches, wraps, salads and smoothies with an emphasis on healthy food. Open for lunch, dinner 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. $

McKENNA’S ON THE BAY190 Marina Dr.

342-9411 Waterfront dining at its finest, special-izing in prime steaks, seafood and an oyster bar, Dinner, lunch and brunch. In-credible views, magnificent sunsets, patio dining, full bar and banquet facilities. Live Entertainment Wednesday-Sunday. Dinner nightly, lunch 11-3 Monday-Fri-day, Saturday breakfast and lunch 10-3, Sunday brunch 10-3. $$$

PORTFOLIO COFFEEHOUSE2300 E. Fourth St., 434-2486

BERLIN, 420 E. Fourth, 435-0600 Portfolio Coffeehouse renders culture, friendship and caffeine fixes to java junkies amidst an eclectic collection of people, vintage furnishings, an outdoor patio, and fine art. Healthy snacks, sand-wiches and gourmet desserts are sure to delight your taste buds. Portfoliocoffee-house.com. $

QUEEN MARY1126 Queens Highway

877 313-2726 With seven unique restaurant and lounge options, historic ambience and scenic location in Long Beach Harbor, the Queen Mary is the perfect place to relax and dine this summer. www.Queen-Mary.com. $$ - $$$

SCHOONER OR LATER241 Marina Dr.

430-3495 The ultimate dockside dining experi-ence for breakfast or lunch, with great patio dining. Great food, friendly staff and exceptional ambiance. $

CalifornianUTOPIA

445 E. First St.432-6888

Located in the East Village Arts Dis-trict, this European-style cafe offers a variety of salads, pasta, seafood and chicken dishes creatively prepared and served in an intimate setting. Work of lo-cal artists displayed. Open from noon to 9:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5-10 p.m. Sat-urday. Closed Sunday. Wine bar. www.utopiarestaurant.net. $$

Greek ATHENS WEST

303 Main St., Seal Beach431-6500

Are you paying too much for Greek food? Then you haven’t tried Athens West in Seal Beach where items are $10 or less. Offering Greek favorites like lamb chops, spanakopita & homemade avgolemono soup. Seafood kabobs and vegetarian favorites like falafel & humus are also on the menu. Heated patio. Greek

beer and wine served. Open 11 a.m. daily 7 days a week. Athenswest.com $

GEORGE’S GREEK DELI135 Pine Ave.; 437-1184

5316 E. Second St.; 433-1755 Offering a variety of traditional Greek dishes, superb service, award-winning wines, Friday night slow-roasted lamb special, Saturday night belly dancing, banquet room and catering. Hours for Pine location: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs.;10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fri. and Sat. Hours for Shore location: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs.; 11 a.m. to midnight Fri. and Sat. $$

IndianNATRAJ

5262 E. Second St.930-0930

Natraj offers Indian specialties out of the Tandoor clay oven include chicken, shrimp, kabobs and tikka. Beer and wine are served. A feature is a lunch buffet for $8.95. Weekend brunch. Takeout and catering are offered. $

IrishTHE AULD DUBLINER

71 S. Pine Ave.437-8300

Authentic Irish pub. Traditional Irish fare with a selection of boxty dishes, salads, steamed mussels and clams, plus grilled steaks and chops. Great selection of beer and a full bar. Lunch and dinner daily and live entertainment Tues.-Sun. www.aulddubliner.com. $$

O’MALLEY’S140 Main St., Seal Beach

430-0631 An authentic Irish pub where locals meet to enjoy cheers and good food around the open fire. Serving everything from traditional Irish dishes to American cuisine. Open 7 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. every day. Winner of the Perfect Pint award. Full bar and patio. $$

ItalianBUONA GENTE

5205 E. Second St. 438-8763

Located in the heart of Belmont Shore, Buona Gente features a wide selection of authentic Italian specialties, from ap-petizers, homemade bread to pizzas and pasta dishes. A great selection of wine is available. Don’t miss the famous tira-misu. Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. $$

MICHAEL’S OF NAPLES5620 E. Second St.

439-7080 Contemporary Italian cuisine in a modern atmosphere. Rooftop dining available. Open seven days a week for dinner and a special lounge and wine bar Enoteca menu. Catering for large parties. Full bar now available. Michael’s On

PAGE 28A | GRUNION GAZETTE | May 24, 2012PATIO DINING



May 24, 2012 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 29APATIO DINING

Naples is dining at its finest. michaelson-naples.com.$$$

RUSSO’S5856 Naples Plaza

433-1616 Naples neighborhood family ristorante and bar serving homemade pasta dishes, steak, seafood, pizza and mouth-watering desserts. Full cocktail bar. Open seven days at 5 p.m. Patio dining available. One block from the canals in Naples. Take out or delivery. Catering and private banquet room. $$

THE PIZZA PLACE1431 E. Broadway

432-6000 A garden cafe to sample specialties

such as lasagna, tortellinis, manicotti and Pasta Primavera. There are 26 pizzas to choose from. Beer and wine, desserts, cappuccino or espresso. Garden and in-door dining. Delivery available. Open from 11 a.m. to midnight. www.thepiz-zaplaxe.biz. $$

Latin Amer.VIVA MoLAA MUSEUM CAFE

628 Alamitos Ave.437-1689

Enjoy the museum then visit Viva MoLAA for authentic Latin American dishes at affordable prices. Elegant out-door patio dining as well as indoor seat-ing. Full bar service and available for special events or parties. $

MediterraneanBOUBOUFFE

5313 E. Second St.433-7000

Features specialties from around the Mediterranean from Algeria to Morocco. Patio dining. Open seven days for break-fast, lunch and dinner. Catering. $

OPEN SESAME MEDITERRANEAN GRILL5201 & 5215 E. Second St.

621-1698 Specialties including appetizers, sal-ads, pita sandwiches, vegetarian and ka-bob combination plates. Lunch and din-ner daily. Dine in or take out. Patio seat-ing. Beer, wine, catering. Order online at

opensesamegrill.com. $$SABABA RESTAURANT AND

LOUNGE6527 E. PCH, Marketplace.

252-357 Mediterranean cuisine can be found in a sleek setting. Sababa Restaurant and Lounge offers a dinner menu with a uniqe Meditteranean fusian to modern Ameri-can cuisine. Full bar, patio dining. $$

SeafoodBUBBA GUMP SHRIMP CO.

87 Aquarium WayThe Pike at Rainbow Harbor

437-2434 Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. of-fers shrimp specials such as “Forrest’s

Shrimp Net Catch” and “Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp.” Also serving kid’s favorites: burgers, salads, fish and ribs. Features a full bar, patio seating and a retail market.$$

CRAB POT215 Marina Dr.

430-0272 With a view of Alamitos Bay, Crab Pot offers fresh, fresh, fresh lobster, crabs, seafood and shellfish. “Seafeasts” for two or more are their trademark, and steak and chicken dinners also are avail-able. There is dining on their outdoor pa-tio and a full patio bar and fire pit. Open daily at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner. www.crabpot.com. $$

GLADSTONE’S330 S. Pine Ave.

432-8588 Gladstone’s Long Beach is a water-front restaurant offering views of the Queen Mary and Shoreline Harbor across the street from the Convention Center. Featuring a variety of fresh fish and su-shi, live lobster, crab and more. Outdoor seating available. Crabby Hour is from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Quarter Deck Lounge. Private Room for special events.$$

THE ORIGINAL FISH CO.11061 Los Alamitos Blvd.

Los Alamitos594-4553

For the past 27 years The Original Fish Co. has been serving the freshest fish available for lunch & dinner. Great atmosphere and garden patio dining. Fresh fish market opens at 9am daily and also offers beautifully decorated seafood platters. Catering and full bar. original-fishcompany.com. $$

Thai

STAR OF SIAM2109 E. Broadway

439-1564 Star of Siam boasts more than 20 years of culinary delights where tradi-tional Thai cuisine is celebrated. World class beer and extensive wine list. Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. except Tuesdays. Prices start at $4.75. Patio dining. www.starofsiamonline.com. $



By Zoe Mena After a long four-hour drive, I arrived Monday at the orphanage in Mexicali, Mexico. I see a small building and a worn-out play set. I unload the 212 shoes donated

by friends and neighbors in Bel-mont Shore who read my previ-ous columns and saw my posters announcing my shoe drive. Raul Lozano, the founder of Love to All, a nonprofit that sup-

ports this orphanage and four oth-ers, walks me in. The kids swarm him, hugging and kissing him. Then the kids shake my hand. They all quickly run towards the shoes and dive in, looking for their size. They put the shoes on and smile. I feel like together, we all have done my job in making a differ-ence in their lives. I didn’t need a thank you for my work collect-ing these shoes. I just needed to see them happy. These smiles changed my whole life. They showed me that we all have so much. Monday was a special day, not just because of the shoes. Raul

bought food from Costco -- stuff we eat all the time: chicken, po-tato salad, pound cake. The kids are in awe. They usually have no more than rice and beans. After lunch, there are more sur-prises. My mom and I bring out toys we bought in a store. I bought the kids things like trucks for the boys and soccer balls. For the girls, I bought hair bows and dif-ferent colored clip-on hair exten-sions. I bought bubbles and hula hoops for the boys and the girls. The kids followed me to the car and I slowly removed the toys. They were so eager! They tore the gifts from their wrappers and started hula hoop-ing and playing with the trucks.

The girls quickly put the colorful hair extensions in their hair with the bows. They wanted to try it all on at once. What an amazing experience! I would not have been able to do it without the support of readers of my column who donated to my shoe drive. This drive was part of a school project that required community service. I would have done it anyway. When I left, all the girls and boys said goodbye in Spanish. There were the smiles on their faces that have changed me for-ever, made feel like I achieved something great in my life. That is really Love to All.Zoe Mena is a seventh grader at Rogers Middle School.

Shoe Drive Success Delivered Monday

May 24, 2012 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 31AHEALTH & BEAUTY

They’ve done it again. Again.When applied to Long Beach

Opera, that phrase used to just mean that the company had done something quirky, or just plain weird. But in reference to the re-cent production of Osvaldo Goli-jov’s “Ainadamar” at the Terrace Theater, it means that LBO has once again succeeded in mount-ing an important work by a major contemporary composer.

First came John Adams’s “Nix-on in China,” then Philip Glass’s “Akhenaten.” Now with the Goli-jov, LBO has a real winner, on many artistic levels.

Golijov’s score is a marvel, fla-vorful, evocative, hypnotic and thoroughly exciting. His music is attractive and edgy at the same time, and here it serves, along with David Henry Hwang’s li-bretto, to create the proper fla-menco-tinged atmosphere for a compelling narrative, the story of dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca.

Murdered by Franco’s soldiers at the onset of the Spanish Civil War, the revolutionary poet is recalled by the actress Margarita Xirgu in a series of vignettes. They are brilliantly designed and staged by Andreas Mitisek, LBO’s general and artistic direc-tor, and the Terrace Theater stage is transformed through the effec-tive use of Frieder Weiss’ interac-tive videos and Dan Weingarten’s lighting.

The production stars three women who have grown into major artists before the eyes of the LBO audience. Suzan Han-son, who is front and center for the entire 90 minutes, once again dominates the stage with an un-deniably authoritative presence

and a large, gleaming soprano. Ani Maldjian is warmly sympa-thetic as Nuria, and her bright so-prano soars above the ensembles. And mezzo Peabody Southwell, who has graduated from bit parts to starring roles, not only physi-cally resembles Lorca but sings his music with heart-rending ex-pression and compelling beauty. Here’s a name to remember: Nicholas Shelton. In his few moments onstage as a Falan-gist guard, the bass managed to make a striking impression; that is some terrific voice. The amplification of both voic-es and instruments was distract-ing at times, but didn’t detract from the overall quality of the performance. For once, Mitisek did not conduct; those duties were assumed by Steven R. Os-

good. Benjamin Makino trained the wonderful women’s chorus, and Nannette Brodie did the cho-reography. Finally, I usually don’t care for pre-performance speeches, but Mitisek’s are the best. They are funny and intelligent, and they in-variably conclude with the clev-erest fundraising pitch you will ever hear. There is one more performance of “Ainadamar,” at 8 p.m. May 26. Call 432-5934 or click on www.LBOpera.org.

Long Beach Opera ProvidesAnother Superb Production

BY JULIAN BERMUDEZARTS WRITER

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the latest exhibit now on view at Phone Booth Gal-lery this holiday weekend.

Continuing her penchant for poetic and pithy spinoffs on pop-ular culture and myths, Russian artist Lora Zombie’s latest body of work titled “Whales. Love. Procrastination.” features famil-

iar characters within unfamiliar territories. On view through June 12, the exhibit explores Zombie’s ever-evolving style of visual sto-rytelling through paintings and drawings on paper. “It’s the visual equivalent to the ballads of a traveling bard, had that bard had come of age reading Marvel Comics and tag-ging city walls,” states Phone Booth Gallery’s press release. Super heroines such as Batgirl, Catwoman, Supergirl and Won-der Woman are rendered in clas-sic “pin-up” style, belying their traditional archetype. Both Superman and Batman are completely emasculated as Zombie depicts the “Man of Steel” sitting idly by as a city is destroyed, while “The Dark Knight” is shown old and wrin-kled. Taking beloved mythological characters and turning them into their more adult versions isn’t something new – we can thank Camille Rose Garcia for that. However, Zombie avoids the overtly cute and impishly sweet. Her works are feminine with-out screaming “Girl Power.” There are no wide-eyed, super kawaii, shojo-style characters that just make you want to hurl your lunch. “Because Zombie’s paintings and drawings often melt into pools of color or erupt into speck-les of pigment, her storytelling feels ephemeral and whimsical,” adds the press release. “She is of-fering glimpses into dreamscapes that could dissolve at any mo-ment.” Indeed, by using a softer color palette along with more fluid lines, the artist creates ersatz ver-sions of characters whose stan-dard roles are pushed outside their/our comfort zone. “Leaving the space of the dreamscape is what Zombie avoids; she procrastinates (re-turning) to any more grounded reality by delving into this web of subconscious influences and immersing herself in the visual languages she loves,” concludes the press release. Sadly, reinforcing the dream-like aspect of the artworks, therefore making the viewer re-sponsible for what they see, only strengthens the very stereotypes Zombie seems determined to dis-pel. It shouldn’t matter if what we’re seeing is all a dream. If Zombie chooses to challenge the canon, then she should do so without any reservation or pro-crastination. Zombie’s narrative is both compelling and inviting. With any luck, the artist’s continued evolution will result in newly re-imagined characters void of tra-dition and permission, therefore affirming her as a true iconoclast. Phone Booth Gallery is at 2533 E. Broadway. Open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Satur-day. For more information, call 415-8822 or visit the gallery’s website at www.phoneboothgal-lery.com.

PAGE 32A | GRUNION GAZETTE | May 24, 2012HEALTH & BEAUTY

Featured Artist Plays With Pop Culture

BY LARRY HILLRESTAURANT WRITER

Finbars Italian Kitchen, 620 Pacific Coast Highway, 430-4303. •Hours: Open daily from 11 to 10. •Location: Finbars is located in Seal Beach in the Bay City Center. There is plenty of onsite parking. • Food/Drinks: Finbars menu has expanded over the years. The original pasta dishes and Left Coast Specialties, which were so good when Finbars opened some 12 years ago, are still to be found. Added to these items are steaks, seafood specials like Bluenose sea bass and herb-crusted salm-on; as well as chicken dishes like Parmigiana and Picatta. Appetizers include baked stuffed mushrooms, calamari, prosciutto and mozzarella and sausage and peppers. Salads include Finbars Chopped, an antipasto salad, BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad, Cobb, Caesar and Mediterranean.

Pasta dishes are many and var-ied. Offerings include Capellini Pomodoro, Fettuccine Quattro Formaggi, Penne with Grilled Sausage, Peppers and Onions, Beef Ravioli, Lobster Ravi-oli with Spicy Shrimp, Linguine Frutti di Mare, Fiery Shrimp Fet-tuccine, Pad Thai Linguine, Jam-balaya Fettuccine and Chicken Tequila Fusilli. Specialties include Filet Mi-gnon, New York Steak, Herb-Crusted Atlantic Salmon, Blue-nose Sea Bass Picatta, Shrimp Scampi and Eggplant Parmigia-na. Pizzas include BBQ Chicken, Vegetarian, Shrimp Pesto, Goat Cheese, and Mushroom and Pep-peroni. There are lunch specials and sandwiches. • Atmosphere: The dining room is spacious with a casual vibe. Large parties can be accom-modated easily. • The Taste: We stopped for a midweek respite from the cra-ziness of term’s end. There are many items that I’ve sampled over the years on Finbars menu. I keep trying something new, but I’d just as soon have my favor-ite Two-In-A-Bowl Fettuccine with a meatball. Finbars makes a great sauce (Sunday gravy) that is slightly sweet, bright red and de-cidedly not overheated. We started with Provolone Griglia. It’s described as skil-let-grilled provolone with fire-roasted peppers and sun-dried tomatoes with toast and marinara sauce. What they left out was Daaaayum Good. So rich, so goo-ey, so tasty (like a cheese pizza) so addictive it could have been a lure for Dante. Jennifer opted for Fiery Chick-en Fettuccine. Sautéed chicken is tossed with spicy tomato sauce laced with cayenne and Viet chili pepper. The menu states that the dish is very hot, spicy. I thought it was spicy, but not uncomfortably so; Jennifer thought it was kind of tame. If you like spicy, spicy food, then ask for extra heat. If not, then be careful. The dish is spicy, but not bitter. I quite liked my sample. Jennifer enjoyed it after she added a few more chil-ies. I opted for a special: walnut-

crusted salmon. The dish was beautifully plated with grilled vegetables of all colors from thin sliced red bell pepper to yellow squash and bright green broccoli florets on one side of the walnut-crusted salmon, and penne topped with that wonderful Sunday gra-vy for which Finbars is known on the other side. The salmon was grilled to a perfect juicy tender and served hot from the grill. The walnut crust is different, adding an un-mistakable tangy earthiness of the nut. Salmon is a strong fish; it is not like a delicate sole or hali-but. Salmon can take strong fla-vors like dill and survive. Walnuts can be quite strong themselves, yet they in no way overpower the salmon. The flavors work well, surprisingly so.

Finbars is approaching 15 years in Seal Beach. I’ve had many din-ners with friends there over the years and always enjoyed myself. Finbars is an authentic taste of NYC all the way out here. • Price: Lunch or dinner for two is $15 to $30.

May 24, 2012 | GRUNION GAZETTE | PAGE 33AHEALTH & BEAUTY

Finbars Offers Great New York Taste

—Gazette photo by Doreen GunnessFIFTEEN YEARS STRONG. Finbars Italian Kitchen has been serving the taste of New York City for years.

T-Mobile Closed T-Mobile, which has more than

33.7 million mobile communi-cation customers, has closed its

storefront in Belmont Shore. Until last week, the store was located at 4725 E. Second St. Now, the nearest T-Mobile loca-tion for Belmont Shore customers is at 4545 E. PCH (near the Traf-fic Circle).

Soul Soup Mimi’s Cafe is donating a por-tion of its soup to-go sales to the Food Donation Connection, a na-tional network that connects res-taurants with local charities and local hunger relief programs. There’s a Mimi’s Cafe located at 6670 E. PCH in Long Beach, and that restaurant is participating in the franchise’s effort to donate one quarter for every quart of soup to-go sold at Mimi’s restau-rants. Soup to-go selections in-clude roasted tomato basil, corn chowder, French onion and more. “At Mimi’s Cafe, we believe in giving back to the communities we serve,” Mark Mears, Mimi’s president and chief concept offi-cer, said in a release. “With mil-lions of Americans at risk of hun-ger, we want to ensure we do our part to help.” Call the Long Beach restaurant at 596-0831.

COBA Seeks Answers The Council of Business Asso-ciations is asking business owners to participate in the first citywide business survey designed to high-light common issues business owners have experienced when working with city departments. “This is not a witch hunt or smear campaign,” said COBA Chair Blair Cohn, who also serves as the executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improve-ment Association. “We want to work with the city to fix issues that districts and individual busi-ness are having and make sure the city is as business friendly as it can be.” COBA’s goal is to get at least 1,000 survey responses from business owners before the re-sults are compiled and shared with various city departments. To take the survey, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/coba-survey.

Airfare Steal For the third consecutive quar-ter, Long Beach Airport has re-corded the lowest average air-fare in California and the second lowest in the continental United

States, according to the U.S. De-partment of Transportation. The average round-trip do-mestic airfare at LGB was $229 during the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to the national average of $368 during the same period. LGB had the third largest de-crease in the country in average airfares from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, 2%, which also was the largest decrease in the state of California. The aver-age fare at U.S. airports increased 2.1% in the same time period. On a year-to-year basis, LGB experienced a 2% drop in the price of airfares from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the fourth quar-ter of 2011, while the average air-fare price rose 10% nationally. The study also looked at air-fares over the long term, and con-cluded that the average airfare at LGB decreased 23.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to the same quarter in 2000, while the national average increased 8.3%. The study was conducted by the U.S. Department of Transpor-tation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

PAGE 34A | GRUNION GAZETTE | May 24, 2012HEALTH & BEAUTY



started out as a civil engineering major, but decided that a future job sitting behind a desk was not exactly what she envisioned for herself.

“Getting my degree has been a long process,” said Michelle, who also works on campus at the Isa-bel Patterson Child Development Center, on top of being a tutor for children. “When I transferred, I was a civil engineer major, but about a third of the way into the

program, I decided it wasn’t for me. So, I changed my major to history and kind of had to start all over again. But it’s come to an end.” Her original plan was to work for a single-subject teaching cre-dential, but with school districts drastically cutting back, Michelle decided to enter the special edu-cation credential program. “I’ve worked with kids with special needs previously, and I decided to go in that direction,” she said. “I’ve met some really great kids, and it is just a really fulfi lling feeling, and I am really excited about it. It’s a process,

and I’ve fi nally found what I re-ally want to do.” After Michelle’s father, John, lost his longtime position at Ve-rizon in September 2010, he de-cided it was time to hit the books, rather than be discouraged. He switched gears, and decided to major in criminal justice, af-ter he spent some time studying at Cerritos College to become a paralegal. “I intended to get my parale-gal certifi cate as a backup plan, in case I were to lose my job at Verizon,” John said. “While I was studying this, I was called into jury duty where two judges on

the same day told me to look into criminal justice as a career.” John previously earned his as-sociate’s degree from West Los Angeles College in the mid-1980s and transferred to CSULB as a radio/television production major, and offi cially transferred to CSULB from Cerritos College in 2007 for his second go-around. While Michelle and John’s schedules on campus rarely matched up, the two would oc-casionally bump into each other, which was always a nice surprise, Michelle said. Despite their busy schedules, they always made time at the start of each semester to buy their books together. “I thought it was cool being at the same college as my daughter,” John said. “You know, her mother and I went our separate ways, and this was one way of keep her moving in the right direction… I couldn’t be more proud of her.” While the two didn’t spend a whole lot of time together on campus, Michelle was always there to help tutor her father in algebra. “When I was going to Cerritos College and had to get the math requirements to transfer, she tu-tored me in algebra,” he added. “Being able to talk through the problems with her, I got a better understanding of algebra.” Michelle said that helping him receive high marks in his math classes was a great feeling. “I’m really, really proud of him,” she added. You know, it’s hard to come back to school when you are older. He has done a great job, and I think this week is going to be a blast.” CSULB is hosting nine gradu-ation ceremonies that began Wednesday, then continue today (Thursday) and Friday to hand out more than 9,000 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Offi cials are estimating that near-ly 60,000 friends and families will be in attendance during this week. All ceremonies will be hosted in the campus’s Central Quad-rangle. Free parking is available for commencement guests in Lots 11, 12, 14, 16, 17 and 18 at the north end of the campus as well as Parking Structures I, II or III. Courtesy shuttles will be avail-able to transport guests to the Central Quad area. For the specifi c ceremony times and dates for each college, visit the offi cial commencement page at www.csulb.edu/projects/commencement.


Graduation


years in the Assembly, Lowenthal won a seat in the state Senate in 2004, and was reelected in 2008. Lowenthal is a retired professor from California State University, Long Beach.

In addition to being seasoned politicians, all three of the front-runners say they differ from their parties by being interested in a bi-partisan approach to government.

“Take the deficit, for example,” DeLong said. “I believe the so-lution should be 50-50 between cuts and revenue increases. That’s negotiable, of course, but that’s where I’d start. Now, raising rev-enue does not equate to raising

taxes. I think we need to increase the economy… “We need a bipartisan agree-ment. And to do that, we need to not be afraid to be the first to compromise.” Kuykendall offered a harder line on the economy, saying that the current administration is “crushing the entrepreneurial spirit” with regulations. He said he opposes the comprehensive health care program because it is too expensive, but he also said there was room for compromise on the ways to fix social security, Medicare and cutting military spending. “This administration has done a tremendous amount of harm to the economy,” Kuykendall said.

“We have to realize that govern-ment is not always the answer… You shouldn’t give up on an is-sue just because it’s partisan. You don’t remove yourself from the debate, and that’s what happens. You don’t sign a bunch of pledges that are going to back you into a corner. I have a stack of pledges two inches thick on my desk, and I’m not signing one of them.” Both DeLong and Kuykendall have attacked Lowenthal as be-ing part of a nonfunctional state government paralyzed by parti-sanship. But Lowenthal argues he has overcome that partisanship on a number of issues, and managed to get things done. “I get beaten up here (in Sac-ramento) for trying to do bipar-tisan things,” Lowenthal said. “I helped set up the bipartisan cau-cus. I drafted the legislation that ultimately was used as the model for the initiative for the nonparti-san redistricting commission. “I stand up for policy, not party. I’ve gotten Republicans to sup-port a number of my bills, and I’m doing it right now with high speed rail. I’m all about getting things done.” Lowenthal has championed environmental causes and edu-cational issues during his career at the state level, and unabash-edly accepts the liberal label. He notes that his efforts have created

jobs — he played a major role in putting funding together for the Gerald Desmond Bridge replace-ment project — but also says that the best way to deal with both the federal deficit and the economy is to return to Clinton-era economic policies. Kuykendall and DeLong both claim to be moderates socially — both are pro choice — and conservatives fiscally. Both also claim to be closer to the center than Lowenthal. Still, party affiliation is impor-tant in the election. While 59% of the 47th District is in Los Angeles County (most of Long Beach, as well as Signal Hill), 41% is in the more Republican-leaning Orange County. “Although it’s still a Demo-cratic district — 42% to 30-some percent — Orange County is a factor,” Lowenthal said. “It meets the criteria for a competitive dis-trict we set for the redistricting commission, and I think that’s a good thing… The thing about this open primary is that traditionally, Democrats have a lower turnout rate in the primary. And little has been said, there has been little education, that those decline to specify (independents) can vote in the primary. That’s sort of dis-franchising them.” Under the state’s new open pri-mary system, the top two vote-getters move on to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. If Democrats stay away

in droves, it is conceivable the two Republicans could face each other, much as in the 44th Con-gressional District, where Dem- ocratic Congresswomen Laura Richardson and Janice Hahn are the two dominant candidates like-ly to move on. DeLong and Kuykendall also are jostling for the independent voters — and DeLong said he may be attractive to many Demo-crats, as well. “I’ve had endorsements from both sides of the aisle, particu-larly on the city front,” DeLong said. “Democrats have held fun-draisers for me. It’s clear that as of today I have more community support than any of my oppo-nents… Conservative Democrats look at the political spectrum and realize they are closer to me than they are to Alan.” Kuykendall, who lags behind both Lowenthal and DeLong in fundraising, said the open prima-ry benefits him. “I’ve run six campaigns and won all but one, all in districts very similar to this one,” he said. “In both the Congressional seat and the Assembly seat, I was the only Republican to hold those seats. I’m able to garner votes across the spectrum, because now is the time for hard decisions, and I’m experienced in making hard decisions.” Voters will make the decision on the first person out of the race on Tuesday, June 5.

ALAN LOWENTHALSTEVE KUYKENDALLGARY DELONG


Congress


have put the onus of continuing the band onto the public. This year, it will take about $323,293 to have a five-week summer sea-son. So far, the Tidelands Fund has given $65,000, the Gas and Oil Department has given $50,000 and the Environmental Services Bureau has given $50,000. The Port of Long Beach has commit-ted to match $50,000 worth of public donations. Assuming that all those things happen, the pub-lic would need to come up with about $108,293 to save the sea-son. Each concert costs about $16,000, so a shortened season — even by two concerts — could help slim down that $108,000 needed for 20. The Tuesday and Wednesday of Fourth of July week likely would be the two concerts taken off the schedule. Right now, according to the de-partment’s website, the concerts are scheduled to begin July 5 at Marine Stadium, with the final concert being Aug. 3 at El Do-rado Park. During the five weeks, there would be performances at 6:30 p.m. each Tuesday through Friday — Marine Stadium, Los Cerritos Parks and El Dorado Park West are listed as locations. “I don’t anticipate any sort of problem meeting that schedule this year, that should be in our grasp,” said Larry Curtis, con-

ductor of the Long Beach Mu-nicipal Band. Moving forward, Curtis said he is hopeful that the public be-gins to understand the reality of the municipal band performances — and the need for their help. “This is the first time we have been able to really have the audi-ence understand that they are in control of what we do — it will be their money that we are using more and more,” he said. Curtis noted that the schedule used to be 10 weeks, and has since decreased. There are 40 members in the band — all con-tract employees paid through the city. When the time is right dur-ing each concert, some will walk off the stage and allow for an 18-piece jazz ensemble — a mea-sure that saves money and mixes things up, Curtis said. Financial constraints also have limited the places the band plays — keeping it in the parks with big crowds. “I think this band has been more than just slightly instrumen-tal in making Long Beach have a community feel to it,” Curtis said. “Every city around us has parks, but what do they do with them? In order to make it feel like a community, those people need to get together. With 10,000 people coming to these concerts, they’re talking to each other and having a wonderful time — they wouldn’t all necessarily be in those parks if there weren’t the concerts. Without that, the parks are just lawns to mow.”

Beach to kick things off, Lopez said, but most of the major events will wait for July and August. In addition to the Parks, Rec-reation and Marine Department oversight, many of the ma-jor events will be coordinated through the Special Events Bu-reau, which is in the city man-ager’s office. Bureau Manager David Ashman and his crew are responsible for issuing event per-mits, overseeing compliance and collecting the city’s share of the money. George Chapjian, PR&M di-rector, said his department will be challenged with the departure of the nonprofit association, but that he expects a good summer. “The Sea Festival Association did a great job of providing the marketing, administrative sup-port and facilitation of the Sea Festival events, which allowed city staff to concentrate on the logistics and operations of the various events,” Chapjian said. “With that said, our team has tru-

ly stepped up to the plate and we are confident that with the knowl-edge imparted to us by the Sea Festival Association, all of the hard work the Sea Fest organi-zation put in to branding the Sea Fest name will continue to thrive and grow under the leadership of city staff.” The first truly big event on the calendar is the Catalina Island Ski Race on July 21. Long known as one of the premiere open-ocean water ski events in the world, more than 70 teams are expected to make the 52-mile round trip, some taking less than an hour to complete the race. The popular Dragon Boat Fes-tival takes over Marine Stadium the next weekend, with more than 60 teams vying for titles in the dragon-headed giant canoes. The event, hosted by the International Cultural Exchange Association, will have plenty of on-shore en-tertainment as well as the on-the-water competition. Downtown, crawfish are on the menu that same weekend, with the Cajun-flavored festival taking over Rainbow Lagoon.

On the first weekend in August, Marine Stadium gives up the rowboats in favor of speedboats for the Lucas Oil Long Beach Sprint Nationals. A range of na-tional championships will be on the line when several classes of speedboats face off in circle races at the stadium. Polynesia is the destination for the Tiki Beach Festival on Aug. 18 and 19, and the Lobster Festi-val returns to Alamitos Beach and Marina Green on Sept. 7 and 8. In between, there will be plenty of other family-oriented events on and around the beach (see story, Page 17A). “It basically is going to be me and one other staff member making sure everything goes off the way it should,” Lopez said. “When all is said and done, we should have 55 or 60 events. We expect that there will be some bumps in the road this first year, but we’re ready to handle them.” For more information and a full calendar of events, go to www.lb-seafest.com or keep checking the Gazette and www.gazettes.com through the summer.


Muni Band(Continued from Page 1A)

Sea Festival

Today’s ObituariesAndrews, Clara K.Bryant, Bonnie L.Corman, DeloresHawkins, GaryHuot, RubyKyle, John C. IIILindsay, Jimmy D.Long, Charley Jr.Lung, LilyMaisenbach, William D.

Mazzella, SalvatoreMiller, BrendaMoreno, MartinNeighbors, HowardPearlman, BerniceRadtke, Jared AdamSkelton, HerbieThermos, IreneWillard, Faye L.Williams, Michael J.

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

WILLARD, Faye L., 1921-2012There will be a celebration of life for Faye L. Willard, owner of the Café Bistro from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 20, at the Bull Bar, 3316 E. Seventh St.

MAISENBACH, William D., 1927-2012William D. Maisenbach, 84, of Buena Park, passed away May 6. He was born in Iowa and was an aerospace engineer. He is survived by his wife, Barbara. Interment is at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

WILLIAMS, Michael Joseph, 1955-2012Michael Joseph Williams, 57, of Long Beach, passed away March 10. He was born in Hyannis, Mass., and worked in commercial construction. He is survived by his wife, Patricia. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

RADTKE, Jared Adam, 1987-2012Jared Adam Radtke, 24, of Troy Mich., passed away May 1. He was born in Michigan and worked as a filmmaker. He is survived by his mother, Cheryl. Interment is at Cadillac Memorial Gardens East in Township, Mich. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

KYLE, John Campbell III, 1943-2012John Campbell Kyle III, 68, of Long Beach, passed away May 7. He was born in Long Beach and worked as a janitor in the Veterans Administration Hospital. He is survived by his sister, Charlene Benzine. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

THERMOS, Irene, 1921-2012Irene Thermos, 90, of San Pedro, passed away May 8. She was born in Portland, Ore., and worked as beautician. She is survived by her friend, Michelle. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

MORENO, Martin, 1964-2012Martin Moreno, 47, of Fountain Valley, passed away May 2. He was born in Reedley and worked as a human resource director. He is survived by his wife, Anna Hecht. There was a service at Bethany Lutheran Church in Long Beach. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

SKELTON, Herbie, 1964-2012Herbie Skelton, 47, of Sylmar, passed away April 24. He was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is survived by his sister, Vernell Stevens. Interment is at Cruz Bay Cemetery, St. John, Virgin Islands. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

NEIGHBORS, Howard, 1922-2012Howard Neighbors, 89, of Long Beach, passed away May 3. He was born in Michigan and worked as a warehouse factory worker. He is survived by his friend, Danita Singleton. Interment is at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

MAZZELLA, Salvatore, 1924-2012Salvatore Mazzella, 87, of Long Beach, passed away May 5. He was born in Italy and worked as data center facility manager. He is survived by his son, Ronald. Interment is at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

LUNG, Lily, 1921-2012Lily Lung, 90, of Seal Beach, passed away May 5. She was born in Fresno and worked as a restaurant hostess. She is survived by her nephew Dennis Westervelt. Interment is at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

LONG, Charley Jr., 1973-2012Charley Long Jr., 38, of Whittier, passed away May 11. He was born in New Mexico and worked as a mechanic. Interment is on Long Family Land in Coolidge, New Mexico. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

CORMAN, Delores, 1931-2012Delores Corman, 80, of Long Beach, passed away May 13. She was born in Long Beach and is survived by her son, Charles. Interment is at Angeles Abbey Memorial Park in Compton. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

BRYANT, Bonnie Lee, 1954-2012Bonnie Lee Bryant, 57, of Long Beach, passed away April 24. She was born in Long Beach and worked as a hospital gift shop clerk. She is survived by her son, Christopher. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

LINDSAY, Jimmy David, 1952-2012Jimmy David Lindsay, 59, of Fullerton, passed away May 8. He was born in Kansas and worked as a floral designer. He is survived by his friend, Joseph Catini. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

PEARLMAN, Bernice, 1933-2012Bernice Pearlman, 78, of La Habra, passed away May 11. She was born in New Jersey and is survived by her husband, Samuel. Interment is at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Iselin, N.J. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

HAWKINS, Gary, 1955-2012Gary Hawkins, 57, of Bellflower, passed away May 11. He was born in Mexia, Tex, and worked as pipefitter in a shipyard. He is survived by his sister, Michelle Cole. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

MILLER, Brenda, 1949-2012Brenda Miller, 63, of Long Beach, passed away May 8. She was born in Compton and worked as a paralegal. She is survived by her husband, LeRoy. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary. HUOT, Ruby, 1924-2012

Ruby Huot, 88,of Long Beach, passed away May 6. She was born in Georgia and worked as a caregiver. She is survived by her son, Paul. Interment is at Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.

ANDREWS, Clara Kimball, 1914-2012Clara Kimball Andrews, 97, of Long Beach, passed away May 15. She was born in Hattiesburg, Miss., and is survived by her daughter, Gayle Clock. Interment is private. The family was assisted by McKenzie Mortuary.


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Grunion Gazette 5-24-12