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Cities Prepare for LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

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Cities Prepare for LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games

 

LA28 Confirms Seven Sporting Events, Venues to be Held in Long Beach for the 2028 Olympic Games

The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games July 12 announced more than a dozen venue assignments for Olympic sports, utilizing sports venues and locations in the City of Los Angeles and neighboring cities of Long Beach and Carson. This announcement confirms seven Olympic sporting events to be held in Long Beach. As a venue city, Long Beach is set to host the largest number of sporting events other than the host City of Los Angeles for the LA28 Games.

“The confirmation of these first seven sporting events to be held in Long Beach further solidifies our status as a premier sports destination and our commitment as a major Venue City for the LA28 Games,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “Long Beach will be ready to welcome athletes, spectators and visitors from around the world and showcase our city’s vibrant sports culture and coastal features.”

 

City of Carson to Host Several Events During LA28 Olympics

CARSON —The City of Carson announced that the LA28 Olympic Games will feature four sports events at its venues: the Olympic cycling track in the Velodrome in Carson, Hockey at the fields adjacent from the stadium, rugby sevens in the stadium and tennis in the tennis center.

Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes expressed her enthusiasm: “As Mayor of Carson, I am thrilled to express our community’s pride and excitement as a Venue City for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This historic moment showcases Carson’s world-class facilities and vibrant diversity and promises significant opportunities.”

The mayor added, together, Carson and LA28 games will embark on this journey to celebrate the power of sport and the spirit of competition, all while incorporating sustainability and inclusion.

The City of Carson and its citizens aim to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for athletes and visitors from around the globe and LA28’s vision of delivering a more sustainable and inclusive Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Details: www.la28.org.

Dollar Tree Takes Over Former 99 Cents Only Locations, Including Gaffey Street in San Pedro

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Dollar Tree Takes Over Former 99 Cents Only Locations, Including Gaffey Street in San Pedro

By Rosie Knight, columnist

Ever since it was announced that 99 Cents Only would shutter its stores across the country, shoppers have wondered what would replace the popular discount grocery store. Here in San Pedro we finally have an answer. As eagle-eyed community members might have noticed, there’s now a Dollar Tree sign hanging in the window of the Gaffey location. We’re not the only ones either as the company recently announced in a press release that Dollar Tree has purchased 170 of the locations that used to house the 99 Cents Only stores.

“As we continue to execute on our accelerated growth strategy for the Dollar Tree brand, this was an attractive opportunity to secure leases in priority markets where we see strong profitable growth potential,” said Michael Creedon, Jr., Dollar Tree’s Chief Operating Officer.

He continued. “The portfolio complements our existing footprint and will provide us access to high-quality real estate assets in premium retail centers, enabling us to rapidly grow the Dollar Tree brand across the western United States, reaching even more customers and communities.”

This is an interesting development as San Pedro already has both a Dollar Tree and a Family Dollar (owned by the Dollar Tree corporation), so it’s currently unclear whether those stores will remain in business alongside the new location. Another notable thing about the 99 Cents Only location that Dollar Tree is taking over is that it’s almost double the size of an average Dollar Tree, with a much larger square footage and ample refrigeration for fresh produce. Of course, it’s yet to be seen whether Dollar Tree will replicate that part of the 99 Cents Only business when they’re better known for selling processed foods, candy, and dry products.

When you visit the Dollar Tree website, food is the last category on their site menu. It’s clearly not a huge focus when you visit the stores themselves, which are often more than half seasonal items, toys, crafts, health and wellness, and many, many tchotchkes. On the site they don’t have any listings for fresh produce, and the food they do list is only a small segment of what a grocery store would carry. The categories are Breakfast & Cereal, Baking Mixes & Supplies, Spices, Condiments, Canned Goods, Packaged Dinners, Grains, & Pasta, and International Foods.

It’s not just the Gaffey Street 99 Cents Only store that will be turning into a Dollar Tree. Thanks to a Linkedin post from “Retail Specialist” Bill Read, we know that the company also acquired leases for other stores in the Harbor Area. Both Long Beach 99 Cents Only stores (on Willow and Carson) will become Dollar Tree locations, as will the Harbor City store on Sepulveda and the Torrance location on W 182nd Street. Interestingly, Read’s list doesn’t include our Gaffey location, but we know thanks to new signage that it too will become a Dollar Tree in the near future. That also means that this list is likely not comprehensive and we could learn of more local openings soon.

Another vital part of the puzzle is the current fight to stop Albertsons and Kroger from merging and creating yet another corporate monopoly. Our local UFCW 770 has played a large part in organizing, as part of Stop the Merger, to try and highlight the dangers of the two corporations becoming one. Recently it was announced that if the merger goes through the companies will divest in certain locations, selling them off. This includes the Vons on 25th Street, removing yet another grocery store from San Pedro.

As part of a press conference, Local 770 responded. “History shows we can’t take merger promises at face value,” said Jessica Crowley, UFCW Local 770 member and pharmacist at Albertsons-owned Pavilions in Los Angeles, California. “When Albertsons acquired Safeway in 2015 and divested about 150 stores to Haggen, many grocery stores shut down, leaving thousands jobless for months. Let’s be clear: this mega-merger will negatively impact retail workers, smaller suppliers, independent chains, and communities already facing challenges with food and medication access. C&S Wholesale Grocers’ limited experience in retail pharmacy makes the divestiture plan highly unlikely to succeed.”

 

Port of Long Beach Data Project Receives $7.875 Million to Speed Goods Delivery

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Port of Long Beach Data Project Receives $7.875 Million to Speed Goods Delivery

 

A comprehensive Port of Long Beach digital platform being designed to help speed cargo deliveries across the nation, the Supply Chain Information Highway, is getting an infusion of funding from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.

The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development or GO-Biz announced a $7.875 million grant for the port’s data system today. Funding is expected to help build out a variety of functions including export and rail cargo visibility, user authentication and data security, the exchange of data between foreign ports, truck appointments and a number of future project enhancements.

The Supply Chain Information Highway will enable stakeholders to make scheduling, planning and operational decisions prior to cargo arrival, making the delivery of goods more efficient and cost effective. The cloud-based system is anticipated to be compatible with similar data-sharing platforms across the maritime logistics industry, including at major California ports, supporting improved supply chain resilience, goods movement efficiency, emissions reductions, and economic competitiveness.

“With six marine terminals at the Port of Long Beach now connecting to a beta version of the Supply Chain Information Highway, we’ve entered a crucial phase of development,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “We are grateful to the State of California and GO-Biz for their continued leadership in supporting data modernization to bolster goods movement. This funding will be important as we roll out these new enhancements to increase cargo velocity and tighten coordination across modes of transportation.

The Port of Long Beach has partnered with a leading tech firm, St. Louis-based UNCOMN, to create the Supply Chain Information Highway. UNCOMN is collaborating with Amazon Web Services to provide cloud services and cloud hosting for the data.

Development is focusing on three operational platforms in 2024:

  • A Container Track and Trace feature to access up-to-date information about the status of containers moving through the Port of Long Beach.
  • The Port Operations Dashboard, where users can review Port of Long Beach operational metrics. The dashboard can be viewed at www.polb.com/operations.
  • The Beneficial Cargo Owner Dashboard, where BCOs can access more detailed information about their containers including if they have arrived or departed, and which Port terminal they are at.

Stop the Merger Coalition of UFCW Locals Statements Following Kroger and Albertsons’ Announcement of Proposed Divested Stores

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Stop the Merger Coalition of UFCW Locals Statements Following Kroger and Albertsons’ Announcement of Proposed Divested Stores

 

LOS ANGELES — UFCW unions (Locals 7, 324, 400, 770 and 3000), who have helped lead the anti-merger efforts against the Kroger and Albertsons proposed mega-merger, July 11 held a press conference to provide updates on their efforts to block the merger from going forward, after the companies’ disclosed their list of proposed divested stores, should the merger be approved.

The press conference was held just a few weeks before a series of court cases to block the proposed Kroger and Albertsons mega-merger brought by the Attorney General of Washington, the Attorney General of Colorado, and the Federal Trade Commission.

“History shows we can’t take merger promises at face value,” said Jessica Crowley, UFCW Local 770 member and pharmacist at Albertsons-owned Pavilions in Los Angeles, California. “When Albertsons acquired Safeway in 2015 and divested about 150 stores to Haggen, many grocery stores shut down, leaving thousands jobless for months. Let’s be clear: this mega-merger will negatively impact retail workers, smaller suppliers, independent chains, and communities already facing challenges with food and medication access. C&S Wholesale Grocers’ limited experience in retail pharmacy makes the divestiture plan highly unlikely to succeed.”

“As a member of our last collective bargaining team, I’m worried about how the proposed merger would impact our ability to advocate for better wages, good health benefits, and a strong pension,” said Bill Valdez, UFCW Local 7 member and 50-year career meat cutter from Colorado Springs, Colorado. “If these corporations merge, it would seriously impact our union’s power in bargaining. The companies won’t need to be competitive about pricing and they won’t need to be competitive about bargaining.”

“Since the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons was announced nearly two years ago, my co-workers and I have been on edge,” said Jane St. Louis, UFCW Local 400 member at Safeway in Maryland. “We knew the merger would result in stores being sold, and until this week, we had no idea which stores might be on the chopping block. You can’t imagine the anxiety we feel every day we come to work. We wonder: What will happen to our store? What will happen to our jobs? What about our pensions? Will I be able to retire after all these years? You worry – you worry about your co-workers, your family, and your customers. The uncertainty is causing a lot of anxiety.”

“Earlier this week, Kroger and Albertsons released a list of 579 stores across the nation that they are proposing to divest to C&S Wholesale Grocers if the merger is allowed to proceed,” said Kathy Finn, UFCW Local 770 president. “Kroger and Albertsons have known which stores they plan to divest for months, and the last-ditch release of the list was an underhanded attempt to influence the courts and create the perception that the mega-merger is close to final, creating more uncertainty for our members. The merger is not a done deal ­– far from it.”

“These two companies are doing very well as standalone companies, they do not need to merge to be successful,” said John Marshall, financial analyst with UFCW Local 3000 and UFCW Local 324. “They are growing sales, making money, and posting profits. What they should be doing is investing their profits in more staffing, higher wages, lower prices, and opening more stores to increase their market share. This merger proposal would do the opposite: it would take billions of dollars out of the grocery business and hand it over to Wall Street investors.”

About Stop the Merger

The Stop the Merger campaign includes over 100 national, state and local organizations representing diverse interests who share a common goal: to stop the proposed Kroger/Albertsons grocery merger because of its negative impact on our nation’s communities.

Details: www.NoGroceryMerger.com

Earlier News:

UFCW Locals Issue Statement in Response to Kroger and Albertsons Release of Store Divestiture List

LOS ANGELES — A coalition of United Food & Commercial Workers local unions July 9 made the following statement after Kroger and Albertsons released to the public a specific list of stores the companies would plan to divest to C&S Wholesale Grocers if their proposed mega-merger of the two companies were approved:

“Today’s announcement changes nothing. The merger is not a done deal, far from it. We remain focused on stopping the proposed mega-merger for the same reasons we have stated since it was first announced over 20 months ago — because we know it would harm workers, it would harm shoppers, it would harm suppliers and communities, and it is illegal. The merger proposal was rejected in January and February by the Attorneys General from the states of Colorado and Washington and the Federal Trade Commission. We applaud their actions. They have been in possession of this proposed divestiture list, made public today by the companies, for months and that did not change their opposition to the proposed merger. These legal challenges to the proposed merger are moving forward with hearings beginning at the end of July and scheduled to go through September.”

Los Angeles Briefs: Hahn Assumes Chair of Metro, JCOD Launches Incubation Academy 6th Cohort and Councilman McOsker Policy Update

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Los Angeles Briefs: Hahn Assumes Chair of Metro, JCOD Launches Incubation Academy 6th Cohort and Councilman McOsker Policy Update

 

Hahn Prioritizes Safety, Rider Experience as new Metro Chair

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn July 10 assumed the chair of the Metro Board of Directors and delivered a speech outlining her priorities for her year-long term with a focus on safety.

“We know that new lines and stations will ultimately fail if riders’ top concern isn’t whether the Metro system goes where they need it to — but whether they will reach their destination safely,” said chair Hahn, to an audience of elected leaders and Metro employees.

Hahn spoke about the importance of law enforcement visibility on buses, trains and at Metro stations and praised the recent surge of police and Sheriff’s deputy presence on the system in response to violent crimes.

On top of safety, Hahn laid out additional priorities: helping unhoused people find shelter and assistance off the Metro system, focusing on the rider experience, and supporting Metro’s workforce.

She also spoke about her plan to ride Metro more often as chair.

“When my father was a Supervisor, he would take a different route to the office through his district every day. And every time he came across a pothole, he would report it to his staff and tell them that, the next time he drove that road, he expected it to be fixed,” said Hahn. “So, I am going to take a page out of my dad’s book. I haven’t ridden Metro as much as I should have in the past, but I am going to make it a point to ride more while I am Chair. And at our Board meetings, I am going to talk about what I experience as a Metro rider. That will mean calling out problems I see — as well as praising the things that go right.”

At the event, the former chair Mayor Karen Bass formally passed the gavel to Hahn. The chair of Metro rotates annually between the Mayor of Los Angeles, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and one of the City Selection Committee Members.

Hahn has served on the Metro board of directors since her election to the Board of Supervisors in 2016 and has championed building the Southeast Gateway Line from Artesia to Downtown, the preservation of the Dodger Stadium Express, and providing better mental health outreach to people in need on the Metro system.

Watch full speech: https://fb.watch/teJylJr1Db/ (Starts at 57:15)

Read full transcript of Hahn’s speech here.

Justice, Care and Opportunities Department Launches Incubation Academy Cohort 6

LOS ANGELES — The Justice, Care and Opportunities Department or JCOD July 9 launched the sixth cohort of its Incubation Academy.

The Incubation Academy focuses on organizational growth, management contracting, capacity mapping and mentorship for community-based organizations or CBO that serve justice-involved individuals and communities.

JCOD partners with The Center for Nonprofit Management to provide one year of training for CBOs led by underrepresented groups, such as formerly incarcerated, LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities, targeting the highest-need areas of LA County.

Cohort 6 of the Incubation Academy features 25 new organizations from each Supervisorial district. Most CBOs in Cohort 6 have fewer than five full-time employees and have never received funding from LA County.

To date, a total of 113 CBOs have completed JCOD’s Incubation Academy through the first five cohorts. These 113 organizations have collectively received more than $4 million in capacity-building grants and more than $28 million in Care First Community Investment Care Grants.

JCOD accepts applications for future Cohorts of its Incubation Academy on a rolling basis.

Details: jcod.lacounty.gov/incubationacademy.

 

McOsker Policy Update

LOS ANGELES — Last year, Councilman Tim McOsker co-authored a motion to reform the discipline system and increase accountability for police misconduct. On July 2, the city council approved this initiative, which will appear on the November 2024 ballot. One of the primary goals of Measure C, a ballot initiative that allowed officers the option to choose an all-civilian disciplinary Board of Rights, was to enhance officer accountability. However, in practice, it did not achieve this objective. Building on these lessons, the new initiative seeks to reform and repeal Measure C. Most importantly, by passing this measure, voters will empower the Chief of Police with the authority to immediately terminate officers in the most egregious cases.

Home Depot Settles Consumer Protection Lawsuit

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Home Depot Settles Consumer Protection Lawsuit

 

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced July 9 that Home Depot will pay $750,000 to settle a civil lawsuit alleging violation of a state law mandating cash redemption for gift cards under $10.

“This law exists to safeguard the rights of hardworking individuals who may find themselves in need of the money they paid, especially during challenging times,” District Attorney Gascón said. “It is unacceptable for any entity to disregard such crucial legal protections, and our office takes allegations of consumer rights violations very seriously.”

The settlement goes toward civil penalties, cy pres restitution, and investigative costs. Under a judgment negotiated with the company at Los Angeles County Superior Court and signed by Judge David S. Cunningham III on July 2, the company was additionally ordered to comply with the following terms:

  • Program its point-of-sale registers in California that are cash-disbursing to automatically cash out gift cards with outstanding balance of less than $10.
  • Include notice on its gift card and website that gift card may be redeemed for cash where required by law.
  • Post notice about gift card redemption in its California stores’ Customer Service or returns area for six months.
  • Provide training regarding gift card redemption to its register-trained associates and customer care associates in California.

The company did not admit wrongdoing. It was cooperative in the investigation and has taken steps to correct the violations.

LADA’s Consumer Protection Division and the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs investigated the gift card cases in Los Angeles County, while the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office investigated in their respective counties.

Letters To The Editor

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Letters To The Editor

 

San Pedro Neighbors for Peace & Justice

Dear Editors,

Feeling powerless and isolated, trying to have a positive effect in discussing the United States providing weapons to Israel that are used to demolish and obliterate the Palestinian people, San Pedro Neighbors for Peace & Justice responding to the demands for Peace and an end to the genocide in Gaza holds a vigil on 13th and Gaffey every Friday from 5 to 6 pm. Our demand is to end the U.S. support of the Genocide. At the vigil we gather as peace activists and humanitarians holding signs such as “Honk for Peace” and “End U.S. Support for Genocide”. Our belief is that peace is a demand that comes from below, from those willing to take a stand through demonstrations, marches and education exposing the real war criminals. Support from the street is overwhelmingly positive. Individuals from as far away as Upland and Huntington Beach join us, informed by peace-oriented websites and word-of-mouth. Please consider joining us. Together we make a difference. Stop the Bombing, stop the murder of innocent people.

Chris Venn,

San Pedro Neighbors for Peace & Justice

 

LAUSD & AI

“The AllHere chatbot fiasco at LAUSD underscores serious concerns about the District’s priorities and decision-making processes. Despite the ongoing struggle to secure funding for proven programs that support student success—such as hiring more educators, campus aides, program coordinators, and expanding Community Schools and the Black Student Achievement Program—the district chose to risk $6 million on an AI initiative. This situation erodes our confidence in how the district will allocate future resources for our students.

While we welcome technological advancements, it’s crucial to engage in transparent discussions with educators, educational staff, parents, and policymakers about the risks and impacts of AI in schools. This approach ensures we thoughtfully incorporate new technology, rather than hastily embracing it in the name of innovation.

We urge the Board to hire outside counsel to conduct an immediate, independent investigation. Additionally, we call on the district to collectively bargain on any future AI tools implemented in our schools.”

Cecily Myart-Cruz,

President of United Teachers Los Angeles

Controller Mejia Condemns Supreme Court Ruling Allowing Cities to Criminalize Homelessness

Today (June 28), the US Supreme Court ruled that Los Angeles and other cities can criminally punish people for sleeping outside – clearing the way for cities to punish unhoused people for their existence – even when those cities do not have places for those people to sleep. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled that it is “cruel and unusual punishment” to criminalize people for sleeping outside when there is no available shelter.

The Controller’s Office strongly condemns the Supreme Court’s decision. Our own Office’s work was cited in the Grants Pass v. Johnson brief in support of unhoused peoples’ rights. The brief cited our Office’s finding that last year, there were only approximately 16,000 shelter beds but approximately 46,000 unhoused people in the City of LA. Just today, it was announced by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) that there are still approximately 45,000 unhoused people here.

If the City somehow managed to fill all 16,000 beds and the scant collection of other housing resources, where would the Supreme Court suggest the remaining tens of thousands of people go? For people who cannot afford our soaring rent prices, whose friends and family can’t support more people under their roof, who can’t access affordable health care, mental health support, or substance abuse support – there is nowhere for them to go but streets, sidewalks, parks, and other public spaces – where it is now illegal for them to be.

When you see unhoused people in Los Angeles, you see people who have no choice but to live their lives on sidewalks, in front of our apartments and houses, in front of our shops and restaurants, on medians, on freeway exits, under freeway overpasses. Our neighbors have nowhere else to go.

Today’s Supreme Court ruling means that City officials now have the power to arrest any unhoused person whenever they take up space in public. The ruling promotes throwing people away – by jailing them or dumping them in other cities – as a method of “solving” homelessness. But how can this cruel method really solve homelessness when more people are continually becoming newly homeless? Today, LAHSA reported that 120 people are falling into homelessness for every 100 people coming out of it.

Homelessness happens when people lose their homes due to skyrocketing rents, unaffordable home prices, disappearing community spaces, inaccessible medical care, inaccessible substance use support, domestic violence, an inequitable job landscape, and stunted wage growth. None of these problems will be solved by ticketing or arresting unhoused people.

The City already has a local law that allows for the criminalization of homelessness in certain types of public spaces, Municipal Code 41.18. Not only is it cruel – adding further burden to already severely burdened people – LAHSA also found that it isn’t effective at either helping to house people or even reducing encampments while costing over $3 million in two years, not even including enforcement costs.

In recent years, by law, cities could not generally criminalize homelessness when no shelter exists. During this time, the City averaged 662 arrests per year under 41.18. Before that, the City averaged 4,781 41.18 arrests per year.

Now that the door is open to criminalizing homelessness, we can expect to see homelessness arrests catapult. And going by the City’s data, we can also expect that we won’t see punitive measures result in meaningful reductions in homelessness or encampments.

Los Angeles can and must make our own decision, regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision, not to punish people for not having homes. Our Office urges the Mayor and City Council to ban criminalizing homelessness. We also urge the City Attorney to not enforce laws that criminalize homelessness while the legislative process runs its course. The City must prioritize preventing more people from falling into homelessness, and we must prioritize getting unhoused people permanently housed with support services.

Punishing people for sleeping in public spaces when they have nowhere else to go may now be lawful, but it is flat-out cruel and unusual punishment. The City of LA can and must choose better.

View an Extensive LGBTQ+ Collection at Historical Society of Long Beach Archives

Melina Paris
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View an Extensive LGBTQ+ Collection at Historical Society of Long Beach Archives

 

While there are other archives dedicated to collecting and preserving LGBTQ+ history, the Historical Society of Long Beach’s specific focus as well as the accessibility of the objects at HSLB make its collection unique.

More than 20 individual collections are housed at HSLB. They include photographs and photo albums, event programs, flyers, matchbooks, bumper stickers, clothing, Long Beach Pride souvenirs, pins/buttons, banners, posters, magazines, travel and guidebooks, newsletters, newspapers, art pieces and portfolios, tickets, advertisements, business cards, oral histories, videos, correspondence and manuscripts.

Subjects and themes include Long Beach Pride, LGBTQ+ nightlife in Long Beach and the greater Los Angeles area, the International Imperial Court of Long Beach, AIDS activism, healthcare, and education in the 1980s and beyond, artists and art, and organizations and clubs, and political activism.

HSLB LBGTQ Archive 1

 

HSLB Everywhere Pin LGBTQ 1

Jen Malone, archivist at Historical Society of Long Beach said, accessibility and promotion of the LGBTQ+ collections is a top priority at the nonprofit. Since reopening to the public in 2021, Malone noted there have been multiple people from as far away as Germany visit HSLB to research the history of the LGBTQ+ community in Long Beach — a pioneering community in this country.

To access these items in person, request a research appointment

at: https://tinyurl.com/Reaearch-Request-Form

Time: 1 to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 1 to 7 p.m., Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday

Cost: Free

Details: LGBTQ+ Collections:https://tinyurl.com/LGBTQ-Collections

Venue: Historical Society of Long Beach, 4260 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach

Long Beach Aquarium Lecture Series Rocks with California Newts

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Long Beach Aquarium Lecture Series Rocks with California Newts

 

You might as well have called this lecture “everything you wanted to know about newts and amphibians and how the sixth extinction orchestrated by humanity is affecting their survival.”

The lecture, “The California Newt: It’s not a movie star life” by Pepperdine University professor and researcher Dr. Lee Katz, was held at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Katz explained that newts are one of the most interesting endemic species in all of California.

First of all, they are not salamanders. Secondly, they’re one of the most toxic organisms and have a lifestyle that includes a breeding and larval stage in freshwater. Third, and shockingly, they have internal fertilization.

So why are these amphibians so important and what do they tell us about the changing ecosystems, threats to their survival and impacts on the food web?

These vertebrate animals and other amphibians are sensitive to environmental changes such as weather events, including droughts, wildfires and mudslides that occur after storms that are a regular feature in California. In addition, the skin of frogs and other amphibians, like newts, helps them breathe. Likewise, there is a fungus that grows on them that impairs their ability to maintain their electrolyte balance through absorbing water through their skin. Last and very important, for local consideration and action, is habitat destruction which includes pollution, logging and human development in their habitats that make these areas inhabitable.

In addition, “Amphibians face particularly high illegal trade as pets. Researching before adopting a new companion can avoid inadvertently contributing to this global problem” said Erin Lundy, conservation coordinator at the aquarium. “Some ways to research include looking up the protected status of the species, making sure the animals are bred under human care, and asking where the animal came from.”

The aquarium serves as a sanctuary for animals seized from wildlife traffickers, including those that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The aquarium is also part of ongoing conservation efforts to help save Mountain yellow-legged frogs from extinction, a species that was once abundant in San Gabriel, San Bernardino and the San Jacinto mountains and is currently endangered. The aquarium cares for and raises these frogs from tadpoles so they can be released into the wild. The aquarium has helped increase their population by 300 so far.

This new intriguing and educational exhibit includes more than 20 species of frogs and amphibians from countries including Madagascar, Vietnam, Mexico and others, highlighting the most endangered species and the efforts to save them from extinction. The exhibit will be open through April 2025.

Twins Smokehouse BBQ

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Twins Smokehouse BBQ

 

A Family-Run Haven for Authentic Southern Cuisine

By ShuRhonda N. Bradley, Columnist

Have you ever been told a restaurant was so good that you had to try it out? That’s how I came across Twins Smokehouse BBQ. A longshoreman, with a belly full of wisdom and BBQ, convinced me to try.

Twins Smokehouse BBQ, which opened its doors in July 2014, is a family-owned establishment with a rich Louisiana tradition. Founded by identical twins Jacalyn and Jocelyn Williams, the BBQ joint is solely run by Jocelyn Williams. These sisters were born in California but raised in the heart of Louisiana, where they soaked up all that Southern flavor.

Twins Smokehouse BBQ menu boasts rib tips, mac and cheese, red beans and rice and collard greens prepared just like grandma’s with smoked ham hocks. With Twins Smokehouse around, I don’t have to cook my own collard greens or red beans and rice. I can just go there and pick up the goods. We even shared a laugh about how we Southerners like to dip our cornbread in the collard green juice and eat it with our bare hands.

I tried to get Jocelyn to spill the beans on her seasoning techniques and gotos., She gave me a few hints but reminded me that a cook’s gotta keep some secrets. She shared that Twins makes their own seasonings and has a BBQ sauce that’s out of this world. The sauce, a family recipe handed down from their mom, has been perfected with Jocelyn’s twist. She hinted at one secret ingredient: powdered mustard. Her barbecue sauce has a tangy kick that dances on your tongue, adding a depth of flavor that store-bought sauces just can’t match. She dared me to ditch the store sauce and once I tried hers, I was a convert.

Running a successful BBQ joint takes more than just good food; it requires organization and preparation. Jocelyn shared that these skills were honed in her bustling family kitchen. With four girls and four boys, everyone had a role, especially during the holidays. From sweet potato pie to pound cakes, every dish had a designated chef, and this teamwork has translated seamlessly into her business operations.

Customer service is at the heart of Twins Smokehouse. I met a gentleman experiencing homelessness who took a bus from Orange County just for a meal at Twins. He rode his bike part of the way, asking directions and praying the place was still there. He was grateful that Twins accepted EBT, providing a balanced meal and a respite from fast food. It’s stories like these that show Jocelyn’s commitment to her community.

Jocelyn’s three children also pitch in when needed, making this truly a family affair. With an eye on the future, she’s looking to expand Twins Smokehouse into a franchise and even cater to the vegan community, ensuring everyone can enjoy the rich flavors of Louisiana.

Twins Smokehouse BBQ is closed on Sundays and Mondays, but come any other day, and you’ll be greeted with warmth, flavor, and a little piece of the South. Twins Smokehouse BBQ lives and serves the community by “Eat Better Today,” which stemmed from EBT (electronic benefit transfer). So, if you’re looking to “Eat Better Today,” head on down to Twins Smokehouse BBQ — you won’t regret it.

Twins Smokehouse BBQ

555 W Willow St, Long Beach, CA 90810

Details: (562) 427-4800, twinssmokehousebbq.com

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