LONG BEACH― Dignity Health – St. Mary Medical Center (SMMC) announced July 14, that it has earned the designation of Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC) by the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency. This certification allows SMMC to receive emergency 9-1-1 patients with a large vessel occlusion (LVO) for potential embolectomy, the surgical removal of a blood clot.
“Becoming a leader in advanced stroke and thrombectomy care is a strenuous and rewarding accomplishment for our hospital, as we can now provide treatment for cases with the highest complexity,” said Dr. Wled Wazni, Neurointerventionist and Medical Director of SMMC’s Stroke Center. “In addition to improving clinical outcomes in ischemic stroke patients, St. Mary will save more lives in the community with quicker response times.”
“Receiving the Comprehensive Stroke Center certification is a huge success for St. Mary Medical Center,” said Carolyn Caldwell, SMMC Hospital President. “The certification provides us with the foundation to create a culture of clinical excellence as we continue to expand the services available to the communities we serve.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) on Friday wrote to Facebook urging the company to strengthen efforts to protect civil rights, remove hate speech, and combat voter suppression on its platforms by heeding recommendations of a newly released audit of the company’s civil rights policies and practices. The audit, which took place through two years and drew upon interviews with hundreds of civil rights organizations and advocates, offered a critical assessment of the company’s efforts to address longstanding concerns about how its platforms damage American democracy and civil rights by amplifying disinformation, voter suppression, and hate speech.
The audit acknowledged that, although Facebook has made progress in some areas, many of the company’s recent decisions represent “significant setbacks for civil rights.” For example, the audit pointed to Facebook’s decision not to fact check President Trump’s repeated falsehoods about vote-by-mail, which is widely used in both California and Colorado, allowing them to sow confusion and potentially suppress voting. The audit also urged the company to devote more resources to address hate against vulnerable populations on its platforms, root out white separatism and white nationalism in all its forms. The audit also urged the social media company to calculate how its policies and tools may fan polarization and radicalization by pushing people toward “extremist echo chambers.” In the letter, the senators asked Facebook to describe how it plans to address the concerns raised in the audit by August 15.
LONG BEACH— On July 9, JetBlue made the announcement that will no longer have its Southern California base in Long Beach and will move most of the flights to the Los Angeles International Airport. Since 2001 JetBlue has been fully operated at Long Beach Airport. Known for its free in-flight TV and Wi-fi and will have its last flights from Long Beach on Oct. 6. JetBlue recently eliminated in-state flights to Oakland, Sacramento and San Jose, and limiting the number of flights to Las Vegas. JetBlue will have 30 daily flights from LAX starting in the fall. By 2025 JetBlue plans to have up to 70 flights per day from LAX. The cities that JetBlue will add from LAX this fall will be Austin Texas, Bozeman Montana, Las Vegas, Reno Nevada, Salt Lake City Utah, San Francisco, and Seattle. The cities that currently JetBlue flies from LAX are Boston, Buffalo New York, Fort Lauderdale Florida, Newark New Jersey, New York JFK, and Orlando Florida.
Sharon L. Weissman, recently retired senior advisor and transportation deputy to Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, on Monday participated in her first Harbor Commission meeting as the newest member of the board that oversees the Port of Long Beach and Long Beach Harbor Department.
Weissman, an experienced aide to elected officials, has also been active in the community, serving currently as president of the Long Beach Public Library Foundation and in the past on boards of the Arts Council for Long Beach, the Long Beach Symphony and the Fair Housing Foundation.
She was appointed to the Harbor Commission by Mayor Garcia in May, and unanimously confirmed by the Long Beach City Council. She replaces former Harbor Commissioner Tracy Egoscue whose term ended June 30.
Weissman has a background in public policy. She’s been with Garcia since 2013, serving as his Chief of Staff while he was Vice Mayor and the District 1 City Council Member. When Garcia was elected Mayor in 2014, she became his senior advisor and eventually also took on the role of transportation deputy. She had also served as a staffer and Chief of Staff to then California State Senator and Assemblymember Jenny Oropeza.
When the new school year resumes on Sept. 1, classes in the Long Beach Unified School District will remain entirely online, at least through Oct. 5, due to the recent spike in coronavirus cases in Southern California.
The school district continues to plan for in-person instruction and related safety measures for some point in the future. This week’s decision to start the school year online only was made after close consultation with local health officials, including Dr. Anissa Davis, health officer for Long Beach Health and Human Services, as well as Dr. Barbara Ferrer, health officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Health.
“The virus currently rages on in our community, and we’ll need to continue to do our best to protect our children, our teachers and the many important people who make school function and who educate our children,” Ferrer said during a news conference yesterday.
Though LBUSD had hoped to allow parents to choose from all online or a combination of online and in-person learning on Sept. 1, those plans are now on hold in favor of all online instruction for all students. For parents, this now means they no longer are required to select a learning option for their child, at least for the first weeks of school. During the campus closures, LBUSD will continue to offer childcare services as planned through its Child Development and Head Start centers, with all required precautions in place.Details:lbschools.net
Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum preserves historic Millard Sheets mosaic mural for future generations and captures de-installation in mini-documentary Farmers & Merchants Bank donates work of art for installation in new museum building
[Long Beach, Calif. July 14, 2020] Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum of Cal State Long Beach announces the acquisition of historic public art by California artist Millard Sheets gifted from Farmers & Merchants Bank (F&M). The mosaic mural will be installed as a feature of the newly expanded museum. The initiative to save and preserve the work was spearheaded by museum Director, Paul Baker Prindle in partnership with F&M. In addition to the gift of this valuable mosaic, F&M made a significant philanthropic gift to the museum to support the conservation of this work for future generations. The first step in the conservation, the de-installation from the former Home Savings and Loan Building, is now complete. Threaded Films produced a mini-documentary showcasing the work’s significance while capturing the collaborative process of de-installation. RLA Conservation of Art + Architecture (RLA) has been contracted to conserve this work, following many successful Outdoor Sculpture Collection conservation projects with the museum. Brian Worley of Brian Worley Art & Restoration, Inc. (BWAR), official liaison for the Sheets Estate and part of the original installation team, also consults on the project. Both firms will assist in efforts to relocate and conserve this monumental work.
Millard Sheets’ untitled mosaic mural before de-installation. Photo by Sean Dufrene.
Constructed from 1975-1977, the untitled mosaic designed by Millard Sheets uses byzantine-style glass tesserae. Standing over 14 feet high and over 11 feet wide, the floor-to-ceiling work frames a doorway. According to BWAR, the mosaic design is based upon an embroidered tunic that Sheets purchased on a trip to Mexico. The work depicts colorful, tropical birds with various foliage elements over a geometric background. The mosaic’s vitreous and smalti tiles create a textured surface and reflective sheen.
It is one of two Sheets works which were located at the former Home Savings and Loan Building at 4909 Lakewood Boulevard, Lakewood, CA. Artists who collaborated on these works also include Denis O’Connor, Susan Lautmann Hertel, Brian Worley, John Edward Svenson, Frank Homolka, Tina Reeder and Richard Ellis.
History of the Work
In 1955, Sheets was commissioned by Howard F. Ahmanson to design Home Savings Bank branches throughout Southern California to serve as community landmarks by expressing “community values” or presenting “a celebratory version of the community history,” according to Adam Arenson, a professor of history and director of the urban studies program at Manhattan College. Sheets designed large mosaic works to adorn the buildings with scenes reflecting local heritage.
The Ahmanson commissions include more than 40 branch buildings. The artist established the Sheets Studio in Claremont, California, employing a series of artists to help. Three of the most notable artists were Sue Lautmann Hertel, Nancy Colbath and Denis O’Connor, who shared the honor of having their signed names or initials included on the works with Millard Sheets.
About the Artist
Millard Sheets, 1948 Studio Portrait for LIFE Magazine
Millard Sheets (born Pomona, CA 1907-died Gualala, CA 1989) studied art at the Chouinard Art Institute and became one of the state’s foremost artists during his lifetime. Best known for his watercolor landscape paintings, he quickly rose to prominence among fine arts circles, gaining membership into the California Water Color Society as a teenager. His work is characterized by a stylized depiction of his natural environs and uses Surrealist imagery and iconography.
A lifelong educator, he is notably credited for restructuring the academic program of present-day Otis College of Art and Design during his tenure as director from 1953 to 1960. Over the course of his career, Sheets designed numerous buildings, including banks, malls, schools and private homes. He also produced watercolors, prints and mosaics while serving as chair of the art department at Scripps College and Claremont Graduate School. Sheets continued to produce work until his death in Gualala, CA on March 31, 1989. His paintings are in the collections of prominent institutions including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA.
About the Institution
Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum is a community of people who examine, critique and create contemporary art and culture. Our exhibitions and projects serve students, campus communities and the public. We build opportunities for participation and collaboration around art and art making and consider museums as more than their buildings. As we undergo a significant site expansion and renovation beginning in 2020, we will create a series of digital initiatives and off-site projects while we work to improve our home location.
LASD Homicide Bureau Conducts a Death Investigation
At 3 a.m. July 14, on the 1000 block of Renton Street, Carson, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide investigators responded to a death investigation.
Carson deputies responded to a structure on fire call. Four individuals were in the residence when the fire started.
Detectives have learned, one of the victim’s sons saw the suspect set the house on fire using a can of gasoline. The son then alerted the rest of the family. All four family members were able to exit the residence.
The suspect’s wife, and mother of the sons, was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries. She later died. The victim is a female Hispanic 66 years-old.
A son of the victim and suspect, male Hispanic 36 years-old, was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.
An additional son of the victim and suspect, male Hispanic 39 years-old, was not injured.
The suspect, male Hispanic 59 years-old, is in serious condition at a local hospital. He is the husband of the deceased female and father of the male victims.
Detectives believe this is a botched murder-suicide.
Homicide in Carson
At about 3:30 a.m. July 11, at the 21700 block S Acarus Ave, Carson, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau detectives responded to a call to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of a male adult.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and transported. The investigation is ongoing and there is no additional information available at this time.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Laurie Garrett has been the most blunt and forthright analyst warning the public about how destructive the virus will be. She has been sounding the alarm on our lack of preparedness for a pandemic since her 1994 book, “The Coming Plague.” Her warnings were not heeded. The United States has now bungled it’s response and we are hitting record-high numbers of new cases. She joins Michael for a discussion about all aspects of the pandemic, including the disastrous decisions by President Trump and President Xi, what myths have persisted about the virus, whether schools might open in the fall, why the economic impact has not yet reached bottom, and the social and psychological effects we will be dealing with for many years. We need to hear the unvarnished truth if we are going to find our way out of this. Garrett says we should call this what it is, a plague, and she offers a way out should anyone want to listen.
ADVISORY—At the request of Supervisor Janice Hahn, the historic torch of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will be lit today, July 15 to mark the 60thanniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s acceptance of the democratic nomination. JFK accepted the nomination and delivered “The New Frontier” acceptance speech to a packed Coliseum stadium on July 15, 1960.
The torch will be lit from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hahn, who serves as President of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, will be available for interviews at the Coliseum from 10:30 to 11:30 tomorrow. Her father, former Supervisor Kenny Hahn, led the pledge of allegiance at the 1960 Democratic National Convention held down the street from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at the LA Sports Arena.
My 7-year-old granddaughter recently asked me to define time. I was immediately taken aback because I did not know how to answer her question. I wanted to tell her, “you are time and that time is when we say, “I remember when.” I wanted to tell her that time is the exchequer of all human endeavor. But rather than telling her any of those things, I decided to answer her question by telling her time is when she gets up each morning to go to school.
Later my mind returned to my granddaughter’s question and I wondered how one could explain such a simple, but complex, principle. My next thought was write an answer, memorize it, and give it to her when she would understand.
She had to know time is the sun rising in the east and then setting in the west each day. She will know that time is a silent box of wishes and hopes. She had to know time is a never ending sequence of moments. She had to know time is its own story of craziness and fun, like seeing your grandmother dance to Chubby Checker: Twist and Shout.
My granddaughter will be told time is a stranger in a familiar place and that time is its own therapist. She will understand boredom is time allowed to reflect upon reinventing oneself. Time is gratitude.
My granddaughter will be told time is Maya Angelou’s dreams of justice for all and that time are singer Sade’s songs describing the never-ending sex dance ritual of homosapiens.
My granddaughter will know as an Afro-American, time is a skin color, and it will always be her first piece of identification. She will learn time is not loving, caring, or empathetic, that time is time, a blank space to be completed on a job employment application.
My granddaughter will learn time is a road to fulfill her dreams, but that one cannot follow all dreams, as time has the resolution for dreams.
She will know time is a manifesto like a score sheet of her decision making.
Then, at last, my granddaughter will know time allows one to seek enlightenment. Further that time is always in the moment and has no yesterday. She will know time is fraught, fickle, and really only ever ask but one question: what have you done for me lately.
