The Port of Long Beach has appointed Don Kwok as its new director of finance. Kwok, who joined the port in 2016 as assistant finance director, also served as acting director of finance for the port from September 2017 to April 2019.
The director of finance is responsible for ensuring effective implementation of fiscal policies at the Port of Long Beach, which maintains an AA+ Standard & Poor’s Credit Rating – one of the highest credit ratings for U.S. seaports; sound oversight of Harbor Department income, expenses, capital projects and debt issuance and service; and budget alignment with the port’s strategic plan. The port operates entirely on revenues and existing funds and is not funded by taxes or the city’s general fund.
With nearly 30 years of experience as a finance professional across both public and private sectors, including at the Port and various Fortune 500 corporations, Kwok is a proven and proactive financial leader for large organizations. His professional background includes eight years as complex controller for International Paper in Los Angeles, and three years as finance manager for Johnson & Johnson in Diamond Bar.
Kwok earned a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Southern California.
Jeff (Trevor Hart) is a 27-year-old dishonorably discharged Navy vet taking the graveyard shift at a condo lobby for a low-rent security firm so he can save up enough to get a place of his own and start his life anew. His greatest excitement is fantasizing about Dawn (Ashley O’Connor), the rookie cop who’s been coming around lately when her partner/mentor (Brandon Prado) stops in to visit a sexually notorious resident. But when Jeff’s supervisor (Nate Memba) spills the beans about some family legal trouble, Jeff’s got a lot more to think about than what it would be like to have Dawn handcuff him.
Although Lobby Hero ultimately attempts to pass as a meditation on ethics — its climax pivoting on what Jeff will or won’t tell the cops — it’s more likely to please simply on the basis of dialog, as the characters try to hash out how best to move forward in life when they’re not sure what they’re doing. And considering that the only other “action” consists of characters sitting down, standing up, and entering/exiting the aforesaid lobby (oh, and walking in/out of the elevator), that dialog is all.
On that score, playwright Kenneth Lonergan gets mixed results. Although Lobby Hero is certainly not his best work (his Oscar-winning screenplay for Manchester by the Sea is in another league on every level), it does feature something you almost never see onstage: people talking at the same time and cutting each other off. Common as this is in real life, it’s so rare is in the plays I see ‘round these parts that during Act 1 I thought perhaps it was unintentional (though nonetheless effective for that); however, Act 2 left no doubt that this was Lonergan’s writing, which was aptly delivered by the cast, particularly Hart and O’Connor. Seeing/hearing them talk over is the highlight of the show. I don’t mean that has backhanded praise: it’s a real treat. Director Carl DaSilva deserves a share of credit, clearly having coached his cast on this point. And the performance I saw was a preview (i.e., prior to opening night), which means the whole cast is likely to loosen up even more during the run, thus improving on the best thing in Lonergan’s script.
Although David Scaglione’s set is lifelike enough that we can look at it from curtain-up to curtain-down without the seams showing too much, there is one obvious gaffe: the front door to the building says “LOBBY,” rather than the name of the building. Not sure how that got past DaSilva and the rest of the crew.
But this show’s biggest failing is its ending, which is so slight that you’re a bit puzzled when the cast is suddenly taking their bows. I’m sympathetic to DaSilva’s plight — Lonergan’s given him almost nothing to work with — but if you take on a play with this problem, you need a solution. Here’s to hoping DaSilva has come up with something better by the time you read these words.
Lobby Hero doesn’t go deep, but it is not without surface pleasures. And in its best moments, this is live theatre delivered in a way you don’t come across all that often.
Lobby Hero at Long Beach Playhouse
Times:Fri–Sat 8:00 p.m., Sun 2:00 p.m. The show runs through August 16. Cost: $20 to $30 (plus $4 fee per seat if ordering online) Details: (562) 494-1014; LBplayhouse.org Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
LOS ANGELES — California Attorney General Rob Bonta July 23 asked the Los Angeles County Superior Court to place Los Angeles County’s juvenile halls into a receivership amid the county’s persistent failure to comply with a stipulated judgment, enforcement order, and two stipulated amendments secured by the attorney general’s office since 2021. In the filing, the Attorney General argues that while it is a measure of last resort, receivership — or total control by an appointed officer of the court over the management and operations of the juvenile halls, including the setting of budgets; procurement of goods; hiring and firing of staff; and all other necessary decisions to bring the juvenile halls into compliance — is necessary to address the ongoing and immediate harm to youth at the facilities resulting from chronic illegal and unsafe conditions. In recent years, youth at these facilities have suffered severe harms, including overdoses on narcotics allowed to enter the facility, youth-on-youth violence facilitated by staff, and significant unmet medical needs — and will continue to do so if the juvenile halls remain under the county’s authority.
Attorney General Bonta’s proposed receivership, if approved, would give a court-appointed receiver all the powers vested with the county, and additional powers as approved by the court necessary to bring about compliance, providing the receiver with the tools necessary to shepherd the juvenile halls toward long-overdue compliance with the judgment.
On July 23, Los Angeles County Public Defender, Ricardo D. García, responded to the Attorney General’s request for receivership.
“The protection of our youth is central to our wellbeing as a community. We believe in LA County’s vision of Youth Justice Reimagined and a system that focuses on healing trauma and ensuring a young person’s most basic needs are met. Any state intervention must prioritize the safety, well-being, and constitutional rights of every youth. Instead of further investment in a carceral system, state action should prioritize lasting transformation of how the criminal legal system treats its most vulnerable youth and continue to move away from punishment toward healing, education, and care, not cages.”
As of June 2025, San Pedro has been named a co-host alongside Long Beach for the sailing events of the 2028 Summer Olympics. Of the 10 events, Long Beach will host men’s and women’s windsurfing and kiteboarding in Alamitos Bay, while San Pedro’s Port of Los Angeles will host men’s and women’s dinghy and skiff, mixed dinghy and mixed multihull events in Hurricane Gulch and nearby waters.
This is not the first time the area has hosted Olympic sailing. The Port of LA was the first Southern California location to do so in the 1932 games, with races viewable from Point Fermin Park. That year featured four sailing classes: snowbird, star, 6 meter, and 8 meter. The U.S. took gold in the star and 8-meter, and silver in the 6-meter. Half a century later, Long Beach hosted the 1984 Olympic sailing events. The U.S. earned gold in fleet match keelboat, flying Dutchman mixed, and two-person keelboat, along with silver in two- and one-person dinghy men, mixed multihull, and men’s windsurfer — placing in every event.
San Pedro also hosted SailGP events in 2023 and 2025, reinforcing its status as a major sailing hub.
Olympic Qualification Process
To qualify for the Olympics, countries must secure berths through events like the World Sailing Championships, Continental Championships, or a Last Chance Regatta. Once a country earns the required number of berths, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) grants it official entry. The host nation automatically receives entries in all 10 events, giving the U.S. a home-field advantage.
Once a country qualifies, its National Olympic Committee (NOC) — in the U.S., this is U.S. Sailing — selects individual athletes based on performance, physical fitness, technical skill, and adaptability.
Although the U.S. qualifies automatically, the selection process remains competitive. The U.S. regularly meets qualification standards through global racing, and automatic entry allows earlier focus on athlete selection and preparation.
U.S. Team Selection: Tiered Criteria
U.S. Sailing’s athlete selection is structured in two tiers:
Tier 1 includes athletes who competed in the 2024 Olympic Games and finished in the top 10 overall. These sailors may maintain Tier 1 status through the next two scheduled World Championships if their class and equipment remain in the 2028 games.
Tier 2 is for those who did not compete in 2024. These athletes must finish in the top 20 (and within the top 50% of the fleet) at one of the two most recent Class World Championships, with events and equipment relevant to the 2028 games.
All tier athletes must submit a performance plan for approval by the U.S. Sailing Team high performance director and head of operations. Tier 1 athletes receive $30,000 annually in direct funding; Tier 2 athletes receive $15,000.
Athletes can move between tiers based on performance. Funding adjusts accordingly and is prorated from the first of the month following a qualifying event. Athletes who fail to qualify for Tier 1 or 2 across two consecutive World Championships are removed from the team.
Changes and Special Circumstances
If an athlete’s schedule conflicts with a qualifying event, they may retain their tier status pending review. Status extensions may also be granted in cases of injury, illness, or pregnancy.
Athletes changing teammates or boat classes must submit a new performance plan for approval. This provisional tier status remains valid until the next qualifying event.
Elite Athlete Health Insurance (EAHI) is available to all athletes who meet qualification standards, regardless of tier status.
Athletes must also sign the 2024 U.S. Sailing Athlete Participation Agreement and Team Agreement and comply with all related obligations. The performance plan and agreements must be submitted to Olympic@ussailing.org.
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn July 22 honored 15 local Purple Heart recipients during the meeting of the Board of Supervisors. The Purple Heart honors individuals wounded or killed in combat while serving in the United States Armed Forces. The presentation comes just a week after the board approved Hahn’s motion to proclaim August 7 Purple Heart Day in Los Angeles County for the first time in the county’s history.
“Each of you have endured what most cannot imagine,” said Hahn to the honorees during the presentation. “You have borne wounds in defense of this country – physical, emotional, and spiritual. Today we honor that sacrifice. Our nation owes you not only gratitude, but our support.”
The Purple Heart is one of the oldest and most distinguished military decorations in the United States. Its origins date back to August 7, 1782, when General George Washington, unable to promote soldiers based on merit due to restrictions from the Continental Congress, created the Badge of Military Merit. In his order he authorized the badge, a purple heart-shaped cloth symbol, to recognize soldiers who performed “singularly meritorious action.”
“On behalf of my fellow veterans and myself, we want to thank the County and each supervisor for giving us this wonderful chance to be recognized, especially our own supervisor for me, Janice Hahn. She’s the one that got us together. Thank you for this wonderful proclamation,” said Louis Dominguez during the presentation.
Dominguez is a longtime community leader and former teacher in San Pedro who voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1966 and served in the Vietnam War where he suffered serious injury. Dominguez was later recognized with various awards for his service, including a Purple Heart. In 2023, Hahn opened a 60-room interim housing site for formerly homeless veterans in San Pedro and named it the Louis Dominguez Veterans Center in Dominguez’s honor.
All of the veterans Hahn honored reside in the Fourth District and served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan and are listed below:
Louis Dominguez – U.S. Army, Vietnam War
Rodolfo “Rudy” Casas – U.S. Army, Korean War
Zeferino John Madrigal III – U.S. Army, Afghanistan War
Bladamir Rodriguez – U.S. Army, Iraq War
Aeron Rimando – U.S. Army, Afghanistan War
Jesus Esquivel – U.S. Army, Afghanistan War
Alberto Lopez – U.S. Army, Afghanistan War
Santiago Rios – U.S. Army, Vietnam War
Michael Whiting – U.S. Army, Vietnam War
Leonard Pijpaert – U.S. Army, Iraq War
Robert Castillo – U.S. Army, Korean War
Alfred Mota – U.S. Army, Korean War
Ruben Valencia – U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam War
Richard “Dickie” Rivas – U.S. Marine Corps, Korean War
James Stephen Dolan – U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam War
LONG BEACH — Cargo moving through the Port of Long Beach slowed in June, but a pause on tariffs could drive a rebound for trade in July.
Dockworkers and terminal operators processed 704,403 twenty-foot equivalent units in June, down 16.4% from the same month last year. Imports declined 16.9% to 348,681 TEUs and exports dropped 10.9% to 87,627 TEUs. Empty containers moving through the port decreased 17.4% to 268,095 TEUs.
“We’re anticipating a cargo surge in July as retailers stock up on goods ordered during the 90-day pause placed on tariffs and retaliatory tariffs,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “The Port of Long Beach is prepared to handle the influx by tracking trade moving through the harbor with the Supply Chain Information Highway, our digital solution to maximize visibility and efficiency in cargo movement.”
The port has moved 4,746,631 TEUs through the first half of 2025, up 10.6% from the same period in 2024.
LOS ANGELES — On July 16, about 7:29 a.m., a Department of Youth Development or DYD employee, contracted through Apple One, was detained after attempting to bring a concealed weapon into Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. During the routine security screening at the facility entrance, Citiguard Security personnel discovered a flat, concealable knife inside the employee’s bag. The employee was immediately denied entry into the facility, and probation personnel were notified. A subsequent search of the employee’s belongings revealed a canister of pepper spray. Both items were collected and secured as evidence. The employee was escorted from the premises and instructed not to return pending further investigation. The incident was referred to the appropriate authorities.
When media critic A.J. Liebling wrote in The New Yorker 65 years ago that “freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one,” he might have glimpsed a media system dangerously dominated by a small number of companies.
But it’s unlikely he could have foreseen a president as authoritarian as Donald Trump, and media conglomerates eager to capitulate to him.
Thanks to the Paramount conglomerate and its greed-fueled boss, Shari Redstone, the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will vanish next year. After the Trump administration responds by approving the Paramount merger with Skydance, Redstone will be roughly $2 billion richer than she is today, and Paramount/CBS may become even more Trump-friendly.
Months ago, when I predicted the demise of Colbert or “The Daily Show,” another Paramount property, it sounded paranoid. But now it’s reality. (“The Daily Show” may be next on the chopping block.)
In recent months, we’ve seen one media conglomerate after another offer what amounted to multimillion-dollar bribes to Trump by settling frivolous Trump lawsuits that these companies could not possibly have lost in court.
Last December, the Disney Company paid Trump a thinly-disguised bribe — $15 million to Trump’s future presidential library – to settle a harassment lawsuit against ABC News over a segment mentioning E. Jean Carroll’s victorious case against Trump.
In January, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta made a bribe-like payment of $25 million to Trump to settle a ridiculous lawsuit after the company followed its own well-understood guidelines and suspended Trump from Facebook and Instagram for inciting violence on January 6, 2021 at the Capitol. (Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November and Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s 2025 inaugural fund.)
But there was a snag in settlement negotiations between Paramount and Trump over an even more laughable suit he could never win in court. This one concerned how CBS “60 Minutes” had edited an interview with Kamala Harris, a suit that Paramount had called “meritless.”
During negotiations, respected executive producer of “60 Minutes” Bill Owens resigned over Paramount meddling, soon followed by the resignation of the CEO of CBS News. But that wasn’t enough to get the suit settled, and it was far from sufficient to get the Trump administration to approve the Paramount merger. That’s when I worried that Colbert or Jon Stewart would have to be sacrificed to placate the authoritarian-in-chief and get Paramount and Redstone the riches that a merger would bring.
Three weeks ago, Paramount agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle the suit, amid rumors of side-deals that content would shift at the new Paramount. And now Colbert, one of Trump’s most effective critics, is being shown the door. On last Monday’s show, Colbert carried on at length, making fun of what he called Paramount’s “big, fat bribe.”
Colbert is funny.
What’s not funny is that our country’s democratic experiment is on the verge of collapse – and it has less to do with Trump than with the capitulation of corporate liberals and corporate centrist institutions to Trump.
Big universities have capitulated. Big law firms have capitulated. Big media companies have capitulated.
The lesson to be learned from today’s political reality is that big corporate institutions don’t care about democracy or free speech. They will bend the political system toward their own economic benefit – and be complicit with authoritarianism if it keeps getting them wealthier.
The conglomerates that dominate our media and our society have one and only one value: profit-maximization. This was pretty-much admitted by Shari Redstone’s late father, Sumner, who built the Viacom (now Paramount) media conglomerate. Sumner Redstone was considered a liberal, a son of Massachusetts who’d been friendly with Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate for president. But Redstone famously endorsed George W. Bush for president in 2004.
As Redstone explained: “I vote for what’s good for Viacom. I vote, today, Viacom. . . I don’t want to denigrate Kerry, but from a Viacom standpoint, the election of a Republican administration has stood for many things we believe in, deregulation and so on.”
I know I’m not the only progressive who has survived the Trump years with my sanity intact thanks in large part to TV comedians employed by media conglomerates: Colbert (Paramount), Jon Stewart and team (Paramount), Jimmy Kimmel (Disney), Seth Meyers (Comcast); and the best investigative journalist on mainstream TV, John Oliver (Warner Discovery).
There’s a quote usually attributed — perhaps inaccurately — to George Orwell: “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
I’ve offered a twist on this quote for the Trump era: “In a time of political craziness, keeping one’s sanity is a revolutionary act.”
It’s hard to stay sane without laughter, and the comedians listed above are often uplifting. But just as we’ve moved to independent news outlets out of distrust for corporate news, we’re likely to be looking outside the media conglomerates for our comedy when many a truth is truly spoken in jest.
Jeff Cohen is co-founder of RootsAction.org, a retired journalism professor at Ithaca College and author of “Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media.” In 1986, he founded the media watch group FAIR.
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass July 21 issued the following statement following reports that U.S. Marines would be withdrawing from Los Angeles:
“This is another win for Los Angeles but this is also a win for those serving this country in uniform,” said Mayor Bass. “Just this morning I stood with Veterans, families of active duty officers, and business leaders to show the impact of this unnecessary, unprecedented, and unconstitutional assault on our city. We took the administration to court and won, now we continue that momentum with today’s news. Los Angeles stands with our troops, which is why we are glad they are leaving.”
Reports of the Marine withdrawal followed a press conference this morning led by Mayor Bass and California State Senator and U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Caroline Menjivar to highlight the impact the deployment has had on the troops, their families, local businesses and Veterans themselves. The event was hosted at the Veteran Resource Center of Los Angeles Mission College and was attended by business leaders, organizations and organizers. Each speaker was either a Veteran or had an active-duty member of the military in their family. Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Dr. Alberto Roman highlighted the significance of the Resource Center, where Veteran students are assisted throughout the year.
“I stood in solidarity this morning with my Marine brothers and sisters, demanding that we release our servicemembers from this charade of a deployment,” said Senator Menjivar. “We need to return the trust and dependability that our armed forces have earned from our community. We will not get used to this, this will not be our norm, and the Pentagon just now announcing withdrawing the Marines is the only way to honor their service.”
Since the beginning of these reckless raids, Mayor Bass has:
Signed an executive directive to support Los Angeles’ immigrant communities in the wake of unlawful raids conducted by the federal government. She has instructed City Departments to bolster their protocols and training to prepare for federal immigration activity occurring on City property, establishes an LAPD working group and expands access to resources for impacted families. The order also seeks records from the federal government on unlawful raids from federal agencies.
Taken legal action to put a stop to the unconstitutional reckless raids in the LA region in coordination with LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto and regional Mayors in Los Angeles County. This resulted in a temporary restraining order by a federal judge.
Met with children who had to leave MacArthur Park because of a military-style operation designed to strike fear.
Organized Angelenos, community leaders and elected officials for Shine LA to revitalize areas vandalized by the individuals that took advantage of the chaos created by the federal government.
Led more than one hundred labor, business and community leaders and immigrant rights groups calling for an end to immigration raids.
Hosted webinars to make resources and information available to impacted businesses in collaboration with Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and City departments.
On July 9, a portion of the Clearwater Tunnel, a major construction project that will traverse seven miles through council district 15, from Wilmington to White Point in San Pedro, collapsed while workers were in active construction. The failure was more than 370 feet underground, beneath Western Ave., just south of Weymouth Ave. Thankfully, all 31 workers, 27 of whom were about six miles into the tunnel, were safely evacuated. Paramedics evaluated everyone as they emerged, and none sustained visible injuries, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn and councilmember Tim McOsker were on scene and released available information that evening. The next day, Hahn and McOsker sent a joint letter to the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts asking for further information on the cause of the collapse, the proposed repair, how the rest of the tunnel will be secured, how long construction may be delayed, and whether homes or streets above the project are at any risk. The district responded with preliminary information (click here). More investigation and information will be forthcoming.
Work is now on hold pending CalOSHA’s approval of a safety plan. Only after that review will contractors re-enter the tunnel to assess the damage and surrounding structure. The timeline for resuming work is still unclear, but the Sanitation Districts have shared that they are committed to resuming work only after all safety concerns have been fully addressed.
Supervisor Hahn and councilmember McOsker will be scheduling a community town hall soon so that residents can hear directly from project leaders.
