Wednesday, October 22, 2025
spot_img
spot_img
Home Blog Page 369

Long Beach Briefs: $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers & Proposed FY Budget Unveiled

Reporters Desk
-
0
Long Beach Briefs: $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers & Proposed FY Budget Unveiled

Long Beach City Council Votes to Set a $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers

The Long Beach City Council Aug. 2, voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance setting a $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers. The minimum wage will apply to all employees including clinicians, nursing assistants, janitors, pharmacists and laundry workers at private Long Beach health care facilities, including acute psychiatric hospitals, dialysis clinics, hospitals and other businesses that are part of an integrated health care delivery system.

Throughout the pandemic, workers in a healthcare setting have put their lives on the line to keep everyone healthy and safe — often working long hours and subjected to burnout, exhaustion and the perils of the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Long Beach noted that it recognizes these essential workers through the implementation of this $25 minimum wage.

City of Long Beach Unveils Proposed Fiscal Year 2023 Budget

The City of Long Beach Aug. 2 unveiled its proposed fiscal year 2023 or FY 23 Budget, with a special presentation on a five-year Measure A Infrastructure Investment Plan. The proposed FY 23 Budget is $3.2 billion and continues prioritizing pandemic recovery support for residents and business; implements new initiatives that promote safety, health and quality of life; and makes strong investments in the City’s infrastructure.

The new investments made in the Proposed FY 23 Budget take into consideration priorities from the Long Beach City Council as well as community feedback from residents received during the budget development process earlier this year. Select highlights are listed below with an even more comprehensive and detailed list in the full budget book available online

  • Addressing Homelessness
  • Community Safety
  • Equity, Inclusion, Health and Quality of Life Support
  • Business Attraction, Support and Economic Development
  • Arts, Culture and Tourism
  • Infrastructure, Maintenance and Critical Needs Investments
  • Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
  • Recruitment, Retention and Strengthening Internal Administrative Services
  • Unfunded Operational Needs and Major Liabilities Improvements
  • Measure A Infrastructure Investment Plan
  • The Long Beach Recovery Act
  • Mayor’s Recommendations

The city manager provided the mayor with his proposed budget in early July. The mayor has reviewed and supports the Proposed FY 23 Budget and has made additional recommendations.

These items will be funded from the Long Beach Recovery Act Funds under “Securing the City’s Future” that is anticipated to be available at the end of FY 22 due to improved FY 22 projections. The structural addition ($125,000) can be covered with this one-time funding source for FY 23 but will need to be addressed with structural solutions in FY 24.

The city council held the first of several budget hearings on Aug. 2, to begin the budget review process. The budget oversight committee also met on August 2 to review the budget and provide recommendations to the full city council. This proposed budget will go through review and ultimate approval by the city council with any modifications as they deliberate and take additional input on the city’s spending plan for the next fiscal year.

Earlier this year, the city held three virtual community meetings to offer Long Beach residents an opportunity to provide feedback at an earlier phase of the FY 23 Budget development process. The city will host three additional virtual community meetings in August to educate community members of the Proposed FY 23 Budget and garner community feedback. City residents are invited to attend one of the three meetings listed below:

  • 5:30 to 7 p.m., Aug. 11
  • 6 to 7:30 p.m., Aug. 17
  • 6:30 to 8 p.m., Aug. 22

To register, visit longbeach.gov/fy23. Advanced registration is required in order to receive the link to the Zoom meeting. Interpretation services will be available. Those who require interpretation services may call 562.570.6465 at least 72 hours in advance of each meeting.

Community members also may provide input on the Proposed Budget by completing the Digital Budget Comment Card, available in English, Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog, at a Long Beach Public Library location with open computer labs.

Details: longbeach.gov/budget

Join Carson’s Relay for Life 5K Tiki Kiki, Aug. 13

Reporters Desk
-
0
Join Carson’s Relay for Life 5K Tiki Kiki, Aug. 13

Join the City of Carson to honor and celebrate the warriors who fight, who have fought, and who have fallen in the annual Carson Relay for Life, a fundraising walk dedicated to uniting people in all walks of life to attack cancer from every angle.

To join a team, create your own, or to donate, log on to www.relayforlife.org/carsonca. It is never too late to join the city in its aim to spread awareness. Walk-ins on the day of the event are welcome. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. and the event starts promptly at 10 a.m.

The Relay for Life movement is dedicated to helping communities attack cancer. Through funds donated, time given, or awareness raised, the Carson community is teaming up to make a difference. Relay for Life began in 1985 and now millions of Americans participate in relay events throughout the nation. Internationally, the program has also seen an increase in support, with relays now operating or planned in over two dozen nations.

Aside from raising money through sponsorship, the event creates a unique spirit of camaraderie among those who have survived cancer or currently share the same experience.

The American Cancer Society or ACS estimates that one out of three people in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Relay For Life aims to empower communities to fight cancer. Funds raised help ACS fund and conduct breakthrough research and provide cancer patients and their families the resources they need, like free rides to chemo, free places to stay near hospitals and a live 24/7 helpline for answers and support.

Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 13

Details: RelayForLife.org

Venue: Carson Park, 21411 Orrick Ave., Carson

Food of Marathoners

Ari LeVaux
-
0
Food of Marathoners

Every year, the growers will bring their frizzy-headed fennel bulbs to the farmer’s market. And then they’ve got some explaining to do.

The customers wish to buy this attractive vegetable, but have no idea what to do with it. Maybe they’ve brought one home before, only to be stumped, and are now twice shy. So they ask, “What do you do with fennel?”

The answers are well-worn. We are told to grill it, braise it, saute it with garlic and olive oil, and other ways to cook the life out of it, because few have the confidence to suggest we eat it raw.

The licorice-like flavor can be intimidating. You may not think that you want bite after bite. So we drench it in sauce and try to cook it out. But when we look forward to grilling season, it isn’t for the grilled fennel. And any cooking technique will ruin some of its better qualities. Cooking is like forced aging; what’s the hurry? If you really want to try braising fennel, start with the stumps; you cut off the bottom when trimming the bulbs.

I look for ways to make the most of its stronger qualities and put that aromatic, juicy crispness to work. Salads, for the most part. A plate of mere slices, sprinkled with salt and drizzled with XVOO, make a lovely snack. Fennel may rarely make it as a main course, but as a side it can play an important part in a stellar meal.

Whether in coleslaw or some other raw, salad-like form, fennel really shines alongside seafood. At the Atlantic Cafe in Edgartown, Massachusetts, last week, I had a fennel and arugula salad served alongside octopus. A few days later I served mint fennel coleslaw alongside an eight-pound bluefish that my son reeled in. I added shreds of mint, to round out the fennel fragrance with more complexity, and make it taste less like a piece of black licorice. Cabbage-based coleslaw might just be a thing of the past.

The city of Marathon, after which the race is named, is itself named after fennel, which translates to “maratho” in Greek, while Marathon literally means “place with mucho fennel.”

This might just be a coincidence, but nonetheless teases the imagination that it might be connected to longevity. It’s high in nutrients and fiber and low in calories, which is a good thing unless you’re starving. Fennel also aids in digestion by reducing bowel inflammation, and is thought to suppress gas-causing bacteria in the gut.

Where none of this is true, it wouldn’t change how I feel about this crunchy zesty plant, or how it performs alongside fish. Now that I know what to do with fennel, I no longer fear it. Instead it’s the fennel that needs to be afraid of me!

To cut a fennel bulb, first slice off the bottom, where the roots were attached, and the stalks, right as they emerge green from the white bulb. The stalks themselves aren’t good for much except in the stock pot, but the thin leaves – often called “fronds” – make a nice garnish, and also work as a fresh herb. I add the chopped fronds to my coleslaw, for the lovely green capillaries in the coleslaw that double-down on that fabulous fennel flavor.

Slice it in half, top-to-bottom, and lay the flat sides down. Many people cut out the core in the middle, but I don’t understand why. It tastes like the rest of the plant, and might be more tender.

Slice the halves thinly, in the same top-to-bottom direction. You can go with those slices, or hold the sliced half bulb in place and cut the slices crosswise into dice.

Sliced or diced, on fish or your favorite dish, fennel is your Greek friend. It doesn’t speak English, but now you know enough to communicate in fennelese.

Fennel Slaw

Fennel coleslaw is so simple that no recipe is even required. You can simply add it to your favorite coleslaw recipe, or substitute it for some or all of the cabbage. My recipe, below, involves no cabbage, but rather a bouquet of fragrant herbs to compliment the fennel aroma. My choice is parsley and mint, but you could also mess around with basil, dill, chives, all in generous quantities.

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and grated into large shreds

1 medium sized carrot, shredded large

½ onion, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, shredded small

¼ cup white balsamic vinegar

½ cup mayo

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons minced mint

¼ cup chopped fennel fronds

Combine all the ingredients. Taste and adjust as necessary. Serve with fish, or anywhere coleslaw is served.

Marathon Green Salad

This salad requires some other green with a strong personality, such as arugula or kale, to balance the fruity levity of the fennel. I only use black kale, aka dino kale, aka a bunch of other names. It’s so much more tender, and I also give it a squeeze as I add it to the salad, which loosens it further. The toasted pine nuts really bring it home, with their toasted nuttiness and resin-y flavor complimenting that of the fennel.

½ red onion, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar

1 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, shredded, minced, pressed or mashed

2 tablespoons minced mint

One fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced

4 cups other greens, like arugula, chopped black kale, parsley, spinach or lettuce

¼ cup toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds

Combine all of the ingredients except the fennel, greens and pine nuts. Taste and adjust as necessary. Massage the kale, if using, by squeezing it vigorously in your hands. Add the greens to a large bowl, and pour the contents of the other bowl over the leaves. Stir gently by lifting from the bottom. Garnish with the toasted nuts and serve.

Random Letters: 8-4-22

RLn
-
1
Random Letters: 8-4-22

Peck Park Shooting: Mayberry RFD Reacts to Crime in San Pedro

So, yesterday (July 26) I attended a community forum with the LAPD to discuss the shooting at Peck Park. Joe Buscaino opened the meeting with a forceful campaign speech to vote for ‘law and order!’ in the upcoming mayoral election, and to recall Gascon, naturally. That was followed by 30 minutes of various members of the LAPD and park patrol congratulating themselves for their courage and bravery on Sunday (it was all over when they got there and they have not apprehended a suspect).

Then many more appeals for more resources, even though the LAPD budget is $1 billion, yes, billion. Lots of creepy neighbors complaining about ‘people from Compton’ causing trouble. As the meeting ended, all the brave officers got in their cruisers to drive away while next-door, at that very moment, tires were screeching and rubber was burning from the hoodlums who come nearly every day to run doughnuts behind the CVS parking lot.

Well, I guess I fulfilled my civic duty by attending but there were no surprises. In spite of their enormous budget, a general rule of thumb is that police do not prevent crime, they react to crime, and then they take credit for running to the scene. Eight people were shot Sunday and two died. This was a serious incident and I felt like I was watching an episode of Mayberry RFD. Buscaino played Barney Fife.

Andrea Serna, San Pedro

Condolences to the Victims

My condolences to all lives lost and the families impacted by the senseless act of violence at Peck Park. We must ensure our parks are safe for all to enjoy at all times.

Surveillance cameras, lighting, more patrols from Park Rangers and LAPD need to be consistent in our recreational areas. We must use all proactive steps before these incidents occur, instead of being reactive. No one, no matter where they reside, should feel it is justifiable to commit any crime, anywhere, especially in recreational areas. All those involved need to be held accountable to the full extent of the law. Our families, children and community deserve better.

We can have more officers patrolling today by removing them from clerical duties and placing them in patrol vehicles. Added patrols are needed throughout our district, I am committed to this fact.

The permitting process should be analyzed but this much is clear, all should be able to enjoy any park, anywhere without violence and discrimination.

We must find the best solutions, ensure this never occurs again, heal from this tragedy so we can once again feel safe and secure in our local parks and community.

Danielle Sandoval, Candidate for CD15

Open Letter

Dear Councilman Joe Buscaino,

On Sunday (7/24/22), at about 4 p.m. we kept hearing sirens and helicopters over Peck Park that lasted past 10 p.m. We later learned that two people were killed and five people still in hospitals for gun shot wounds. This was an un-permitted car show event that did not have any security.

Since Miraflores Home Owners Association is directly below the baseball diamond at Peck Park, it was the location where the shooting apparently took place. This is also where two fires in the canyon took place on April 28 and May 12. On May 12, it took 81 firefighters and a number of helicopters dropping water to contain the fire from spreading to many homes in the area and was caused by a homeless encampment.

We are very concerned about the homeless taking up residence in the canyon and now we have gangs shooting with automatic weapons and killing people. We are also concerned about the policy of Peck Park Recreation in the fact that they are being too relaxed about over-all security of the park where it is becoming unsafe to walk your dog on the trails.

Peck Park is failing to make it safe for those that want to enjoy the Park. Parks and Recreation needs to take control of the park, as the homeless and gangs are disrupting our quality of life.

I would appreciate a response to this letter. Thank you.

John Winkler, San Pedro

EPA revision to its Risk Management Plan Rule

I live close to two of the roughly 40 oil refineries in the United States that use highly toxic Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) to produce high-octane gasoline. In 2015, one of those refineries suffered an explosion that came close to releasing HF into the surrounding homes and schools, potentially causing thousands of deaths and injuries. I was in the ash plume that day and would likely have died if there had been a release. Similar “near misses” have occurred in Philadelphia, Superior Wisconsin, Bellingham Washington, and Corpus Christi Texas.

Refineries are inherently dangerous places under normal conditions. They are especially vulnerable to earthquakes, natural disasters, and cyberattacks. Using a chemical as dangerous as HF when there are commercially available alternatives that carry no offsite risk is irresponsible.

I understand that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to release a proposed revision to its Risk Management Plan Rule. I support a strong Rule that requires an audited assessment of safer alternatives, prioritizes conversion away from the use of toxic chemicals like HF, and provides clear deadlines.

Steven Goldsmith, Palos Verdes Estates

Jan. 6 Hearings End — Not With A Bang, But A Whimper

Paul Rosenberg
-
0
Jan. 6 Hearings End — Not With A Bang, But A Whimper

The Jan. 6 Committee hearings ended not with a bang, but a whimper. “I don’t want to say the election is over,” ex-President Donald Trump whimpered in an outtake of his taping of the Jan. 7, 2022 clean-up attempt.

Trump only made the tape under extreme duress — the entire political establishment had momentarily abandoned him and there was a live possibility he could have been removed from office by his own cabinet members. So he had to say something to distance himself from the carnage he’d caused. But he just could not say the one most important thing: The election was over. It had been over for almost two months and now his attempts to overthrow it were over as well — at least for a time.

He’s since revived those attempts — even to this day. But the final hearing — at least until September — delivered a body blow to those ongoing attempts.

All the basic facts that drove Trump’s second impeachment were back, along with a welter of even more damning details, such as White House Counsel Pat Cipollone’s testimony that he “couldn’t think of anybody” on Jan. 6 who “didn’t want people to get out of the Capitol, particularly once the violence started.” Anybody except Trump, that is.

At the time of Trump’s second impeachment, those facts led Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to say, “There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” adding that “He didn’t get away with anything yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation.”

That condemnation was McConnell’s way of hedging GOP senators’ cowardly refusal to impeach Trump. But now it appears it’s coming to pass, with the Georgia fake electors investigation coming close to a climax, and Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice showing signs of beefed up investigations as well.

While those investigations remain largely hidden pending trials, the broad outlines of Trump’s culpability are publicly clearer than ever before, as MSNBC host Ari Melber, a former prosecutor, made clear on his July 29 show, as he outlined “8 plots to overthrow the election,” of which “most involved unlawful or criminal acts.” While the first efforts — filing lawsuits, and challenging electors — were perfectly legal, the later efforts were not. These included three distinct plots to overturn votes — through the states, through Congress, and through Vice President Mike Pence — as well as plots to use the Department of Justice toward the same end, and use the military to seize voting machines, before finally sending the mob to sabotage the electoral vote count on Jan. 6.

What ties all these plots together is Trump’s premeditated criminal intent, which Jan. 6 Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney highlighted in her closing remarks. She played a clip from Trump adviser Steve Bannon from Oct. 31, 2020, that surfaced shortly before the committee hearing:

And what Trump’s going to do is declare victory, right? He’s going to declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s a winner. He’s just gonna say he’s a winner. The Democrats — more of our people vote early that count. Theirs vote in mail. And so they’re going to have a natural disadvantage and Trump’s going to take advantage — that’s our strategy.

He’s gonna declare himself a winner. So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm. Also — also if Trump is — if Trump is losing by 10 or 11:00 at night, it’s going to be even crazier. Because he’s gonna sit right there and say they stole it. If Biden’s winning, Trump is going to do some crazy shit.

Cheney then said, “And of course, four days later, President Trump declared victory when his own campaign advisors told him he had absolutely no basis to do so. What the new Steve Bannon audio demonstrates is that Donald Trump’s plan to falsely claim victory in 2020 no matter what the facts actually were was premeditated. Perhaps worse, Donald Trump believed he could convince his voters to buy it whether he had any actual evidence of fraud or not.”

The tragic truth is that Trump was right. A CNN poll conducted after the last hearing found that 66% of Republicans still say that Joe Biden’s win was not legitimate.

Rep. Barragán’s Community Projects Advance in House

Melina Paris
-
0
Rep. Barragán’s Community Projects Advance in House 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On July 21 Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44) voted to pass House of Representatives 8373, the Right to Contraception Act, legislation that would make access to contraception a right protected by federal law.

This bill is a preventative measure in light of Justice Thomas’ concurrence in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which called into question the constitutionality of the right to contraception established in Griswold v. Connecticut.

“Republicans across the country are moving aggressively to restrict access to family planning services. We already see the terrible impact the loss of access to abortion has had on women and in one case a 10-year-old rape victim. These laws and proposed laws will disproportionately impact Latinas, Black and other women of color — as well as low-income women. We cannot allow women’s access to reproductive care to move backward,” said Rep. Barragán. “Contraception is a critical part of preventative healthcare. The Right to Contraception Act will ensure women across the country are able to continue to utilize this essential healthcare resource.”

Barragán also said she is urging the Senate to end the filibuster and pass the Judiciary Act to expand the Supreme Court to ensure that citizens maintain the rights they have now and that any laws which are passed are protected from the ideological and extreme current Supreme Court majority.

The Right to Contraception Act would establish a statutory right to obtain contraceptives, engage in contraception, and for providers to provide contraceptives and contraception resources. It would also prohibit state laws from restricting contraceptive access and establish a private right of action for individuals to enforce their right to contraceptives.

H.R. 8373 now goes to the Senate, where it will require the support of 10 Republicans needed to pass it.

Further, the congresswoman July 20, voted to pass the first six bills in the government funding legislation for fiscal year 2023, which includes more than $13 million in investments for California’s 44th District.

The funding will help create new green spaces and parks, expand vocational training and combat climate change by investing in green energy alternatives.

Barragán said these projects will help reduce pollution by creating more green spaces and investing in green energy, create new education opportunities for children, and fund services for those experiencing homelessness.

The congresswoman added she is urging the Senate to keep these community projects in the bill as they negotiate with the House on the fiscal year 2023 budget.

Below is a list of funding for projects Barragán submitted to the appropriators that were included in the first three appropriations bills that passed July 20. The Senate still needs to pass its own appropriations bills and the differences in the bills need to be negotiated, agreed to, and passed before the funds would be available.

New Cheryl Green Club Building for Harbor Gateway – Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor ($4,000,000)

This funding will enable the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor to purchase land and build a permanent clubhouse to replace a temporary site of two modular portals that currently sit on contaminated soil. This will provide a modern, safe facility to serve youth in the low-income, gang violence-impacted community of Harbor Gateway, where students will have access to academic mentoring, recreational activities and supportive services.

Veterans Park and Sports Complex Energy Resiliency Solar Panel & Battery Storage Installation – City of Carson ($2,000,000)

This funding would allow the City of Carson to enhance energy efficiency and reliability at Veterans Park by installing carport and roof-mounted solar panels, as well as a battery energy storage system. Veterans Park is an essential facility which provides a wealth of recreational opportunities and public meeting space, while also serving as a regional cooling center during extreme heat events. In the event of a grid outage, this project will enable the facility to remain open and operational.

San Pedro Family Shelter Modernization – Harbor Interfaith Services ($375,000)

Harbor Interfaith’s Family Shelter provides shelter to 21 families experiencing homelessness. Families are enrolled in the shelter for 90 days while staff work with them to find permanent housing solutions and address their other immediate needs. 90% of the families at this shelter are single mothers with children. The funding requested will allow Harbor Interfaith to modernize the facility with new exterior windows, refrigerators, and paint the exterior of the shelter, and temporarily relocate the families during the capital improvements.

Public Charging Infrastructure for Battery Electric Drayage Trucks – Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator ($1,500,000)

This funding would provide for the installation of public chargers capable of fully charging a battery electric drayage truck in less than 30 minutes. The goods movement is the largest source of air pollution in the Los Angeles region. It is of critical importance to families living adjacent to the heavily trafficked corridors and facilities that the thousands of diesel drayage trucks be replaced with zero emissions trucks. The presence of public chargers near the Port of Los Angeles will address drayage fleet operators’ need for charging infrastructure away from home facilities, which will further encourage the transition to zero-emission trucks.

North Long Beach 51st Street Greenbelt on the Los Angeles River – City of Long Beach ($2,000,000)

This funding would transform nearly one acre of undeveloped land in a dense, park-poor, community of color into a thriving greenbelt for multigenerational users that improves water and air quality, increases tree canopy and new park acreage, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The project will add a natural walking path and bioswales with native, drought tolerant plants.

United Wilmington Youth Foundation Career Development Center – United Harbor Area Association ($4,000,000)

This funding would provide for the building of a new community center for vocational training, STEM research, and evaluation of green technologies. To simultaneously combat toxic air pollution and unemployment, the center will focus on workforce development for local residents to gain the skills needed to support emerging, clean energy technologies utilized in and around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Get Ready for the 33rd Annual Long Beach Jazz Festival

RLn
-
1
Get Ready for the 33rd Annual Long Beach Jazz Festival

To lounge outdoors, on a summer day or night among friends and loved ones, listening to some of the best live music that Los Angeles has to offer, that’s the very experience that the Long Beach Jazz Festival brings annually to music fans. This is the festival’s 33rd year and it’s coming right up, Aug. 12 to 14. The celebrated event is the only Southern California jazz festival staged on a gorgeous grassy knoll within a beautiful waterfront setting.

Featuring an eclectic line-up ranging from jazz to classic R&B, the festival features top artists of the year as well as luminaries that remain the standard-bearers of jazz. This year’s lineup is testament to that. It includes headliners; Robert Glasper ft. Terrace Martin, Ledisi, Avery*Sunshine, Justin-Lee Schultz, Average White Band, Gerald Albright, Jonathan Butler, BK Jackson, Sergio Mendez, Damion Escobar, Eric Darius and Kandace Springs.

The Al Williams Jazz Society is a group of accomplished jazz musicians: Director Dr. George Shaw (trumpeter, composer), established the Long Beach City College jazz studies program. Keyboardist Ron Kobayasi (pianist, composer) has performed and recorded with a variety of artists including Tom Scott, Mel Torme, Teddy Edwards and Peter White. Henry “The Skipper” Franklin (bassist) long-time friend and jazz great, has for a long time been in demand to tour internationally. He can be heard on more than 100 albums — and two-dozen as a leader. He was the bassist on Hugh Masekela’s Platinum hit “Grazing in the Grass” and The Skipper has performed with Count Basie, Roy Ayers, Hampton Hawes, Al Jarreau and others. Doug Webb (saxophone, flute) in his career has performed and or recorded with jazz vanguards, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, Quincy Jones, Stanley Clarke among many others. Anthony (Tony) Poingsett (percussion, congas) has performed extensively in Las Vegas. He has also enjoyed performing on stage with Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles.

The Al Williams Jazz Society has regularly appeared at beloved SoCal jazz venues including The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach and Spaghettini Italian Grill and Jazz Club in Seal Beach.

As a very special treat, the Al Williams Jazz Society will feature a salute to “The Queen,” Barbara Morrison, who, sadly, the music world lost on March 16, 2022. Barbara was a dear friend to Al Williams and his band as well as The Long Beach Jazz Festival.

Williams told Random Lengths News that Barbara appeared regularly with The Al Williams Jazz Society at the Jazz Sunrise Service — indeed at sunrise — in the City of Carson annually for the Easter holiday. Williams’ band continued her legacy this past April at the sunrise service, which included one of the band’s regularly featured vocalists, Alexis Joy.

The Al Williams Jazz Society salute to Barbara will happen near 2 p.m. Sunday, featuring vocalist Hope Diamond, who will perform some of Barbara’s numbers. And in honor of her legacy, videos of some of Barbara’s iconic performances will be featured on the festival’s big screen.

The Al Williams Jazz Society will also feature a few tunes from Then & Now, its latest release.

Described in its liner notes as a collection of songs that are both familiar and new, Then & Now is presented masterfully by Al Williams Jazz Society to illustrate both the timelessness and evolution of the experience we call jazz. Tracks of note include the expansive and soothing Desert Trippin’ and for straight-ahead “heads” dive into Blakey’s Delight. The polished shine of Society Al hits you like a perfect cup of Joe — steaming and percolating — it coaxes your body to rise up and groove to these fresh beats.

Opening for The Al Williams Jazz Society will be percussionist, composer, arranger, producer and four-time Grammy-winner Munyungo Jackson. His credits are vast in both recording and performing and they all culminate in the music of his latest album Morning Sun, which weaves rhythms from Africa, South America, the Caribbean Islands, Cuba and America.

Another notable appearance on Friday night’s lineup will be Grammy Award-winning Robert Glasper featuring Terrace Martin.

Glasper is a jazz pianist with a skill for mellow, harmonically complex compositions that also incorporate subtle hip-hop influences. The musician hails from Texas, where he attended Houston’s High School for the Performing Arts. Glasper continued his music studies at the New School University in Manhattan. The Robert Glasper Experiment issued its first stand-alone album, Black Radio, for Blue Note, which sought to blur the boundaries between jazz, hip-hop, R&B and rock & roll. It entered the jazz chart at number one and went on to win a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.

A three-time Grammy-nominated artist/producer/multi-instrumentalist from the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles, Terrace Martin is renowned as being one of the top jazz musicians in the world. His noteworthy production has included major collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock and many other influential artists.

Health & Wellness Pavilion

The festival’s annual feature promises to bring audiences inspirational and expert wellness speakers and leaders, treatment centers, vendors and healthy food sampling stations at Marina Green Park.

Everyone who attends the festival will have the opportunity to come away with tools for a healthier way of living. To help people feel energized, focused, de-stressed and to enjoy an overall sense of pleasure, areas of interest that will be promoted at this event include: healthcare providers, organic and healthy foods, products and lifestyle.

The event also includes VIP seating with the option to rent a cabana during your festival experience. As always, the Long Beach Jazz Festival will offer a great selection of food, art, textiles and much more.

33rd Annual Long Beach Jazz Festival

Time: 6 to 10 p.m., Aug. 12 through Aug. 14

Cost: $85 and up

Details: www.showpass.com/o/rainbow-promotions

Venue: Rainbow Lagoon Park, 400 E. Shoreline Dr., Long Beach

Life After Mother — Talk About Elder Abuse

Lyn Jensen
-
0
Life After Mother — Talk About Elder Abuse

“This is elder abuse!” Some staffer exclaimed, barging into an examining room at my mother’s HMO. My mother was waiting for a doctor, and she’d been throwing one of her hours-long dementia-fueled tantrums all morning, raging about nothing–from what parking space to what entrance to use–but when I finally had endured enough and started giving back what I was getting, that’s when this staffer decided to barge in and huff about elder abuse.

“I’m calling security!” she huffed.

“Go right ahead,” I told her. The woman huffed out of the room and soon I heard muffled voices in the hall. I got the impression someone was explaining to this overzealous staffer that a heated discussion isn’t elder abuse and nothing to involve security.

I could talk about this HMO and elder abuse. While my mother was in the care of this exact same facility after collapsing on her bathroom floor, I was present when she started frantically ringing her buzzer for a bedpan. A staffer muttered something about a malfunction and disappeared. Once I realized what was happening, I spent literally ten minutes frantically trying to get someone’s, anyone’s, attention while my mother kept pounding on the buzzer, and staffers I accosted kept saying, “It’s a malfunction,” and, “She only has to ring once.” Finally some skinny teenage-looking male in scrubs appeared with a disposable bedpan and then vanished as soon as possible.

Two days before my mother died in 2019, her care facility and her HMO communicated about life-threatening swelling in her feet and ankles, and indicated she’d been experiencing this symptom for five days but the care facility was only getting around to coordinating care with the HMO—which was responding they had the first available appointment in fifteen days.

Understand my mother first exhibited this life-threatening symptom on Aug. 2, but the care facility only got around to coordinating her care with the HMO on Aug. 7, to which the HMO responded the earliest they could see her would be on Aug. 22.

I made phone calls and complained enough that the HMO decided someone could see my mother on Aug. 8, only to have the care facility say they had no transportation available to transport her. I made more phone calls and complained some more, until a care facility staffer drove her to the ER that same day. She was immediately put on a respirator and died the next day. Whether prompt action would have made a difference, I’ll never know.

My last words with her were during a phone conversation on Monday, Aug. 5, when she wouldn’t say anything but, “You won’t let me get to my bed.” In her dementia-disabled head, all communication with me was about her being in a care facility, so it wasn’t like I could communicate her healthcare plans directly to her. I was expecting trained professionals to manage her care, and they appeared to be working within a system that at times resembled elder abuse.

My Recycled Life: Doll Doctoring

Lyn Jensen
-
0
My Recycled Life: Doll Doctoring

People who repair dolls are called doll doctors, and their businesses are called doll hospitals. I needed one because my mother left behind a collection of several dolls and toys from her childhood, ones that she’d kept and treasured all her life, until her dementia made their upkeep impossible and deterioration set in. I was left with the difficult decision to either trash, sell the parts or for somebody else to restore, repair or keep.

Doll collecting fluctuates in popularity, and right now the market is depressed. Any money put into repair is a risky investment I may not get back. For three of the dolls that has proved to be no problem. A Lone Ranger doll, made perhaps in 1937 and still in good condition, got quickly sold at an estate sale. Two little rag Dutch dolls have no need for repair, and are on display in a glass case in the living room. They haven’t sold yet but somebody somewhere will likely find them of interest.

Two beautiful antique baby-girl dolls, one blonde, one brunette, were crammed in plastic bags in the back of a cramped closet, and were literally falling apart. I could’ve trashed them—perhaps given them a decent burial—but after attempts to sell the parts went nowhere, my heart said, restore them.

I searched online and found, in all of southern California, one woman who restores antique dolls and stuffed toys, and she’s been putting the dolls (and one shabby stuffed toy) back together. Restoration of the blonde doll has been fairly simple. She’s a “composition” doll made of a material that predates plastic, and her parts are strung together like a marionette. New strings, some minor touch-up and cleaning, and she’s back to her old self.

Work on the brunette doll, made in Germany, is turning out more bittersweet. She’s got a bisque head and arms, but her kidskin body is stuffed with sawdust that’s pouring out her seams, and the leather is suffering dry rot. The doll doctor has been able to get the body stabilized, but she warns me, the doll will eventually need a whole new body, and that’s going to break my budget. The head, though, with its big brown eyes and little white teeth, and its wig of human hair, are all back together, and re-attached to the body and arms. This Curly Locks girl will be able to join her Dutch doll friends in the glass display case in the living room, until either I find a buyer or her repaired body gives out again, and I have to make another decision.

Life After Mother — Probate Doesn’t End, Just Fades Away

Lyn Jensen
-
0
Life After Mother — Probate Doesn’t End, Just Fades Away

Probate doesn’t end in a way that calls for marking the occasion. In my case anyway, it looks to be fading away like an old soldier, in a series of overlapping tasks, actions and projects, some of which could’ve been avoided with estate planning.

Probate could be defined as the legal process by which authority and ownership is transferred from the deceased to the living, simple enough, but any complications make for serious stress. My mother’s refusal to settle her own affairs, leaving me to take care of “everything” once she was dead, was largely responsible for what is a fairly small amount of property, all going to one person — me — taking such a long and winding road.

Early this year I noticed my lawyer (my second one) was responsible for a few hitches in the process. I looked into changing lawyers again. The ones I spoke to, though, all said the final hearing was scheduled for March 24 so, in essence, it was too late to change horses.

After the hearing the judge’s order had to be dated and filed, which took until April 21. When the paper was issued, it took three pages of words to say that my mother’s house, securities, and accounts were now mine, and the lawyers were getting paid. It took until mid-June for the order to reach my lawyer’s office and be forwarded to me.

Transferring neither the securities nor the deed concluded with that court order, though. A few days after the hearing I had to sign papers with my financial advisor, the one the lawyer had arranged for — someone I don’t know if he’s compatible with my financial goals or not. Those papers were supposed to be the process by which my name was put on the securities and the dividends issued to me.

Weeks are becoming months, though, and I have yet to see a dividend check, even though I requested they be mailed, not electronically deposited, because I want to see them myself. I called the financial advisor, and asked how long to expect the checks, and he answered, a check was in the mail. We’ll see!

I also had to visit my lawyer’s office more than a month ago to sign and get notarized a paper to have the deed to my mother’s house granted to me. The paper had to be sent to the county clerk-recorder, and then, once the grant deed was recorded, the original and a copy sent to me. The grant deed just arrived in my mail days ago.

Now I have to write a letter to the county assessor concerning my claim for Homeowner’s Property Tax Exemption, which I’m qualified for under Proposition 58 that was passed in 1986, which applied to tax assessments on real estate transfers between families. I say “applied” because Proposition 19, which took effect Feb. 16, 2021, applies to transfers begun after that date. End probate, begin taxes, maybe?

1...368369370...943Page 369 of 943

EDITOR PICKS

POPULAR POSTS

POPULAR CATEGORY

ABOUT US

Real people. Real news. Random Lengths is the Los Angeles harbor area's remaining independently owned progressive news magazine. We cover news in Carson, Wilmington, Long Beach, Lomita, Torrance, Rancho Palos Verdes and San Pedro.

Contact us: letters@randomlengthsnews.com

FOLLOW US

© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv