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Brouwerij West Closes its Doors After a Weekend of Goodbyes

Reporters Desk
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Brouwerij West Closes its Doors After a Weekend of Goodbyes

 

By Rosie Knight, Columnist

It was with heavy hearts and the vibrant, rowdy San Pedro spirit that residents bid farewell to Brouwerij West over a weekend of lively parties and emotional goodbyes.

The celebration began on Friday with the last of what has become a must-attend event, La Bota, the tamborazo night which brings thousands of dancers to the Port of Los Angeles every month to dance into the early hours of the morning. The high-energy brass-based Mexican band had become a South Bay staple since it first debuted at Brouwerij West in 2023. The massive success of the regular parties introduced boundless new faces to San Pedro while celebrating a vital part of the local culture.

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‘La Bota,’ a tamborazo night of dancing. Photo by Arturo Garcia-Ayala

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Bodies swayed and music vibrated through the World War II warehouse that has housed the local brewery for nearly a decade. It was a fitting goodbye for the brewery, which has hosted karaoke, trivia, gamedays, and many, many live shows over its near-decade tenure. It was clear from the thousands of people who showed up for La Bota that the passion for Pedro and tamborazo music is still just as strong as ever. Friends danced together, bartenders poured locally brewed beers, and hugs, kisses, and smiles were as abundant as empty glasses.

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Mike Watt + The Missingmen perform at the Brouwerij West farewell celebration. Photo by Arturo Garcia-Ayala

As the sun rose on Saturday and many Brouwerij West regulars nursed sore heads, it was time for one last blowout party, which had been in the works even before the news broke that the brewery would be closing its doors on March 3. Saturday’s big celebration was supposed to be Brouwerij West’s 9th Anniversary, but with recent news, it also became a bittersweet bash that carried the label of “Farewell Party.” Headlined by punk band, Fartbarf, the lineup included Icky & The Splooges, Clown Sounds, Mike Watt + The Missingmen, Bombón, and DJ Nick Aguilar.

San Pedro locals, Crafted vendors, and Brouwerij West devotees packed the courtyard and interior of the brewery for the event that began in the sunny afternoon and ran well into the chilly night. It was a vibrant reminder of the joyful community fostered by the brewery, with families, music fans, and beer lovers boisterously sharing in the lively atmosphere.

On Sunday, Brouwerij West’s final day of business, locals who had once waited tables in the early days of the brewery chipped into bus tables one last time as the neighborhood crowded in to get a final pour of Dog Ate My Homework or Popfuji. While the weekend’s festivities saw the community come together and celebrate, there was an emotional edge, especially as the closure of the brewery meant a loss of 30+ local jobs in the San Pedro community, including well-known workers who had become a staple of the port and its thriving community of workers, vendors, and families.

On Instagram, Brouwerij West shared a post thanking the local community for all their support. “San Pedro: We don’t even know where to begin. Nine years ago we had a dream and took a chance on creating not just a brewery, but something truly special. Thanks to you, we did just that. Thank you to everyone who offered their support — from kind words and connections to GoFundMe donations — to try and keep this crazy dream going. The outpouring was overwhelming, and we will be forever grateful.”

The adjacent building housing the art market known as Crafted will remain open for regular weekend hours, welcoming visitors to its recently expanded space featuring new vendors and businesses. As for what happens next for Warehouse No. 9, there were rumors aplenty over the weekend but no concrete announcement for what will take the place of the beloved brewery.

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Two patrons of Brouwerij West enjoy a dance during ‘La Bota’ at the brewery’s farewell celebration. Photo by Arturo Garcia-Ayala

The only thing that is sure is that both the local and wider Los Angeles community will be grieving the loss of Brouwerij West for a long time, not just as a business but also as a hub for families, local music, delicious food trucks, and as its final weekend proved once again unforgettable parties.

From Tuna Street to Walker’s Cafe

Reporters Desk
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From Tuna Street to Walker’s Cafe

San Pedro Fights Back Against Demolition By Neglect

By Emma Rault, community reporter

“Demolition by neglect” is an existential risk to San Pedro. The term is used to describe situations when property owners allow their buildings to fall into disrepair. Sometimes, the reasons for this can be circumstantial — lack of funds or changes in arrangements, like a longtime owner or steward stepping down, causing important expertise to be lost.

At other times, it betrays a lack of interest in the buildings themselves and what they mean to the community. We tend to see this when land becomes more valuable than what is on it, as in Los Angeles in recent decades.

For absentee property owners, it’s easier and more profitable to cash out and let a developer put up something new.

Corporate developers, meanwhile, are often happy to let buildings sit and rot. As time goes by, people are more likely to get exhausted, tired of pushing back against ill-advised plans and looking at boarded-up windows. “Just do something — anything!”

A quick scroll through Zillow will reveal a number of blighted homes billed as “investment opportunities.” In other words: not a new homeowner’s fixer-upper, but an invitation for developers to come in, bulldoze, and start over.

When it happens to houses, it’s bad enough. When it happens to community spaces, however — spots that are important to our history, our connections with each other, our sense of place — it can be devastating.

But people can — and do — push back. Last year, we reported on the Port of LA’s plans to bulldoze what’s left of historic Tuna Street — the last surviving buildings from the thriving Japanese American community that was abruptly evicted after the attacks on Pearl Harbor at the beginning of WWII.

It’s a site that organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the LA Conservancy consider rare and precious. And it’s vitally significant to the Terminal Islanders — a multi-generational organization made up of Japanese Americans with roots on the island.

That includes people with a direct link to the remaining buildings on Tuna Street, like Tim Yamamoto and Derek Nakamura, whose grandfather and great-grandfather Akimatsu Nakamura ran a grocery store on the site.

When they learned the port was intending to demolish these buildings to create more space for container storage, they immediately took action. They set up a preservation committee headed up by Paul Boyea, reached out to other stakeholders, and opened a dialogue with the city. The Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council stepped in passing a motion of support and brought the Terminal Islanders in masse to the Harbor Commission. The port gave lip service to the preservation but their intent was demolition.

Then last month, CD 15 Councilmember Tim McOsker introduced a motion to landmark the buildings, which after a touching meeting received a unanimous “yes” from the LA City Council.

The advocacy of the Terminal Islanders spurred a realization that these buildings have been stuck in limbo for far too long. “This is our opportunity … to do something that significantly acknowledges this great legacy,” McOsker said.

The end goal, Paul Boyea said at the city council meeting, is “adaptive reuse”: bringing the buildings back to life in a way that memorializes the important history of this community once known as East San Pedro. According to the US Post Office, it still is part of the 90731 zip code.
Meanwhile, over on the other end of San Pedro, we have Walker’s Cafe. After it was shuttered by its absentee owners in late 2021, a widespread community effort — with a petition signed by more than 3,000 people — resulted in the cafe receiving LA Historic-Cultural Monument status in 2022.

The landmarking triumph sent out a powerful signal. To quote the National Trust for Preservation’s slogan: “This place matters” — it needs to come back to life.

But partway through the landmarking process, the property was somehow scooped up off-market for $650,000 by Prospect Group, a developer whose MO is summed up in their Instagram bio as “Fix & Flip.”

In the years since they have let the shuttered cafe sit. And sit. And sit. Following numerous requests from our neighborhood councils, in October 2023 Prospect Group finally appeared at a Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council meeting — and unveiled plans for a massive, 3,500+ square feet, two-story residential development in the back of the lot.

This ocean-view mega-mansion would dwarf Walker’s Cafe — not to mention the single-story homes on either side of it — and rob the cafe of the space needed for storage and outdoor seating.

In short: this huge development would mean the death of the cafe — and it would destroy the unique historic charm of Point Fermin.

When the developer’s lawyer presented the plans to the community, dozens of local people and stakeholders sounded the alarm. They included neighbors, restaurant owners who had been ghosted by Prospect Group after offering to work with them to bring the cafe back, realtors, and architectural historians specializing in bringing LA’s historic sites back to life.

Prospect Group submitted their plans to the city’s Department of Planning two weeks later, having ignored the community’s concerns and made no substantial changes.

Two years later, the questions raised at that neighborhood council meeting still remain unanswered. Questions like: Where are the accommodations needed for the cafe to reopen — space for parking and dumpsters, enough outdoor seating to turn a profit, and the legally required distancing between a working kitchen and the huge house planned in the back?

Entering the third year of Prospect Group’s ownership, it’s looking as though no answers have been given because no good answers exist. Because the priority appears to be something else altogether — not bringing a popular business back to life, but squeezing every drop of profit out of a parcel of real estate.

On March 20, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., Prospect Group’s plans for the site will be discussed at a Planning Department hearing.

If the developers are able to push these plans through, this would allow them to sell the lot with “entitlements” — permits to build that mega-mansion — and leave Pedro behind in its rear-view mirror. They’d be able to turn a profit without so much as breaking ground. That’s what it means to “Fix & Flip.”

In that scenario, Walker’s Cafe becomes collateral damage. A landmarked legacy business held hostage for years on end with issues piling up and its chances of revival dwindling.

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“Demolition by neglect” is an existential risk to San Pedro.
Graphic by Emma Rault.


But like Tuna Street, Walker’s Cafe still has a chance. With the recent loss of the Alhambra, Dancing Waters and Brouwerij West, it’s even more important to hold onto the historic community spaces we’ve got left.

San Pedro again finds itself at a crossroads. Last year, the question was: More container storage or nationally significant historic buildings?

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The long-running San Pedro nightclub Dancing Waters, which saw many different iterations. Photo by Arturo Garcia-Ayala


The answer was loud and clear.

Now: An oceanfront mega-mansion or a new chance to take in the view and meet with friends in a 1940s legacy eatery?

The March 20 hearing will be held online. You can let them know how you feel. For details on how to attend and share your views, see https://planning.lacity.gov/dcpapi2/meetings/document/78316 or go to savewalkerscafe.com.

 

Know Your Rights Red Cards

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Know Your Rights Red Cards


All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. The ‘Know Your Rights Red Cards’ were created to help people assert their rights and defend themselves against constitutional violations. Knowing and asserting rights can make a huge difference in many situations, such as when ICE agents go to a home. Red cards provide critical information on how to assert these rights, along with an explanation to ICE agents that the individual is indeed asserting their rights.

Red Card Spanish

The editors at Random Lengths News are concerned about the safety of the Harbor community. With that in mind, we’re sharing information with you about ‘Know Your Rights Red Cards’ and we encourage you to spread the word.

The Harbor Area is home to many immigrants. As news of ICE raids throughout LA has been circulating, those who could be affected should know their rights.

RLN aims to inform and empower you by providing you with vital information on issues that affect us all.

You can visit our office to get Red Cards for yourself and your family and friends.

From the editors at Random Lengths News, independent and free!

#RLNResist

This Information is NOT intended as legal advice.

Lydia Maria Child’s Forgotten Lessons in a Nation Still Learning the Hard Way

Terelle Jerricks
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Lydia Maria Child’s Forgotten Lessons in a Nation Still Learning the Hard Way

As Americans muddle through this “find out” period, 45 days after we inaugurated the first criminal to the presidency, it’s surprising that more white Americans still haven’t learned that the wages of whiteness will leave us all impoverished.

In the last election, exit polls indicated that some 52% to 55% of white women voted for a convicted rapist and a political party that has fought against abortion access and the bodily autonomy of everyone but men.

For me, the past three elections show that we are living in the failed Susan B. Anthony’s vision of American freedom.

Susan B. Anthony fought for abolition and women’s suffrage but prioritized white women’s status in America’s racial hierarchy. She and Elizabeth Cady Stanton opposed the 15th Amendment, arguing that granting Black men the right to vote without including women left white women behind.

Reflecting on this moment, I think of Lydia Maria (Mariah) Child, a prominent 19th-century writer and activist. Abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison called her “The First Woman of the Republic.” For over 50 years, she wrote groundbreaking works, including Hobomok, which depicted a romance between an Indigenous man and a colonial woman, The Frugal Housewife, the first American cookbook, and An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans, the first known use of the term “African Americans.” She also authored History of the Condition of Women and numerous essays on religious and social equality. Today, many recognize her as the editor of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the book that introduced filmmaker Natoma Lillie Keita to her work.

Unlike suffrage leaders like Stanton, who sought to appease Southern white women by excluding Black women, Child prioritized racial justice. She supported Black men’s voting rights before women’s and insisted that Black women fight alongside white women for suffrage and abolition. When Stanton and Anthony invited her to join the Women’s Suffrage Movement as an honorary member, she refused, stating that she would not divide her efforts between freeing enslaved people and securing voting rights for Black men.

In 2001, filmmaker Constance L. Jackson (now Natoma Lillie Keita) helped induct Child into the National Women’s Hall of Fame alongside Althea Gibson, Lucille Ball, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Rosalynn Carter. In 2007, through Permanent Productions, Jackson wrote, directed and produced a documentary on Child’s life, earning recognition from Child scholars and LA County Supervisors. This renewed attention led to Child’s permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Child’s most controversial work is her book An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans, which called for immediate action to end all forms of racial discrimination — from employment bans to segregated schools to anti-miscegenation laws. The book landed in thousands of hands, including the Reverend Martin Luther King during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The United States has yet to atone for the original sin of slavery, and in some key respects, it has doubled down on holding onto the ill-gotten proceeds of white supremacy. The most recent election exemplifies this, particularly in the role that white women played in preserving systems that deny fundamental rights to marginalized groups. While they are not the only example, their complicity highlights the tension between the promise of suffrage and the reality of exclusionary feminism.

More than half of white women supported Trump in the last election, which suggests that despite the advances of the suffrage movement, many white women remain aligned with white supremacy at the expense of their own gender’s rights.

The recent election also underscores a broader realignment in American politics, where the Republican Party has increasingly appealed to working-class voters across racial lines. While many political analysts view this shift as an indication that education and class matter more than race, this interpretation ignores the extent to which whiteness still functions as an economic and social currency. White blue-collar voters, for example, overwhelmingly supported Trump over Kamala Harris by a margin of 63% to 34%, reinforcing the idea that the “wages of whiteness” — the material and psychological benefits of racial privilege — continue to outweigh other factors. Even some historically marginalized groups have, in some ways, been folded into this system, further complicating efforts to build solidarity across racial and economic lines.

Lydia Maria Child’s vision of an America free from white supremacy remains unfulfilled. Until we confront this reality and commit to dismantling these systems, we will continue to see history repeat itself — at the expense of justice, equality, and true democracy.

To learn more about Lydia Child’s legacy, visit permproductions.com where you can stream Natoma Lillie Keita’s documentary, Over the River: Life of Lydia Maria Child, Abolitionist for Freedom.

Garage Theatre turns 25 by the grace of community

Greggory Moore
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Garage Theatre turns 25 by the grace of community

When I sat down with a quartet of Garage Theatre co-founders in 2010 as they got ready to celebrate their 10th anniversary, they told me that nearly three times as many groups were doing theatre in Long Beach as when the Garage came on the scene.

But that trend has reversed, and in 2025 you can count on your fingers the number of groups that don’t have “high school” in their name offering theatre of any kind in the 44th biggest city in the United States.

But 25 years on, the Garage Theatre endures. Ask this little engine that could how they can, and they’ve got a word for you: community.

***

The Garage Theatre community started to come together in 1995 when Eric Hamme met Jamie Sweet and Jeff Kriese at Orange Coast College, a conducive environment for DIY drama nerds.

“In addition to the classes and mainstage shows, they had the OCC Rep, which was basically a student-run theatre company,” Hamme relates. “[…] You had to do everything yourself, so it wasn’t uncommon for me to be directing a show, acting in two shows, running lights for one show…. If you needed a set piece, it was like: go to the shop and build it.”

The trio quickly found themselves kicking around the idea of forming their own company, but it was when the three transferred to Cal State Long Beach — “and met much more talented people” (Hamme) — that the Garage really started to happen.

Jessica Variz was among those talents. Kristal Greenlea. Amy Louise Sebelius. And Matthew Anderson, who landed in the CSULB’s Theatre Department straight from Minnesota. When Sweet directed him in a production of David Mamet’s The Revenge of the Space Pandas, Anderson saw a window opening on a possible future: “I felt like we could do this again and again and again and again. All of the pieces were there. It was so much fun, so irreverent…. It just felt so good.”

Immediately after graduation, Anderson, Hamme, and Sweet drove to Washington to see Phish for the first time. It was an epiphany.

“I had never experienced live music in such a way where it felt like the audience was a part of the experience instead of just watching something unfold in front of them,” Anderson recalls raptly. “[…] All of my prior experiences felt like you were going to a concert show or going to a play and watching something. [But at the Phish show] there was a give-and-take, like the audience was feeding what was happening onstage and vice versa. That imaginary fourth wall was just really blurry.”

Many such road trips followed (these are real live Phisheads, kids), as much for the inspiration and camaraderie as for the music.

“Cultivating that connection through the art we were presenting felt like the only thing that was worth pursuing,” Hamme says. “[…] Lots of conversations about shows we wanted to do came on the road driving 12 hours in the middle of night. That solidified the relationship of us as friends and us as a company.”

The Garage Theatre debuted in 2001 with Eric Bogosian’s Scene from the New World at Studio 354, a club known for Monday-night keggers where a ten-spot got you live music and all you could drink. But one week into the Garage’s second show Studio 354 was shut down (Hamme: “It was totally illegal”), and during the next four years the Garage performed kinda wherever they could (including once in the Santa Ana digs of fellow OCC spinoff Rude Guerilla (RIP)) and averaged only two shows a year.

Yet to their surprise, they had a bit of a following.

“I remember in grad school [hearing] that theatres were desperately trying to capture that 18-34 demographic because theatre is expensive and it gets perceived as a little elitist,” Hamme says. “But from Day One we had it. […] We tried to market ourselves as theatre for people who don’t like theatre. We encouraged people to bring their own beer and wine to the show. […] We were just trying to do stuff our friends would like. We didn’t [yet] know or have a relationship with the greater Long Beach community, so we just said, ‘Well, we like it — and if our friends give us the thumbs-up: success!’”

But it was after their 2005 move into “the space” at 251 E. 7th Street — made available when the Found Theatre (RIP) decamped for new digs across the street at the City Place Shopping Center — that they first felt like a full-fledged theatre company. And with it, the added pressure.

“We knew we had to pay rent now,” says Hamme, “so it was just: show show show show” — eight in 10 months, which they realized wasn’t a sustainable model creatively. By 2007 they’d hit their stride, doing six shows including a Mamet, a Sebelius autobiographic that was a local sensation, the third installment of Sweet’s five-play melodrama/farce, and a staging of Don DeLillo’s Valparaiso (the set was a box without walls tricked out in lo-fi multimedia) that convinced me they definitely had something going on.

The next several years were relatively smooth sailing, as they joyfully navigated everything from The Threepenny Opera and Richard III to The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Trey Parker & Matt Stone’s Cannibal! The Musical — all while regularly being voted Long Beach’s fave arts organization. Original projects were regularly in the mix, such as 2011’s monumental LOLPERA, whose libretto was composed exclusively of LOLcat memes and hilariously dramatized the catastrophe inherent to a world where the search for meaning in life has been commodified into the most meaningless of pursuits.

But communities change. Kriese left in 2008, and by 2013 Sebelius, Greenlea, and Variz had followed. That year the Garage merged with (ingested?) Alive Theatre, a younger spawn of CSULB’s Theatre Arts program. Although results of the partnership were mixed (“We’ve done some stinkers for sure,” laughs Hamme, ticking off a few examples both pre- and post-merger), one of the two Alivers still with the Garage today is Thomas Amerman, who — along with Garage mainstay and set designer Rob Young — is chiefly responsible for tending the flame of one of the Garage’s most charming traditions: how for each show the interior is transformed so that at least a little (and sometimes a lot — even the seats and stage may be in totally different places) it feels like you’ve never been in that particular space.

And some of the Garage’s best work was to come. A peak was 2015’s world-premiere staging of Tom Stoppard’s radio play Darkside, which fashions a narrative from both the music and themes of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Conceived and directed by Hamme, the result was so well regarded that Stoppard sent a representative from England to check it out. How often does something like that happen to a theatre that rarely has seating for 40?

But by 2018 the waters were choppy. Sweet was gone, leaving Hamme and Anderson the last co-founders standing. And while the lack of a rigid hierarchy wasn’t a problem with the original crew, now the pair’s lack of feel for helmsmanship left the Garage a bit rudderless. There were only three productions that year (including a restaging of Darkside) and just two in 2019 (though one, a parody version of the Patrick Swayze flick Road House, was one of the funniest things they’ve ever done).

Knowing they were adrift, Hamme and Anderson resolved to get a better grip on the tiller. But smack dab in the middle of the 2020 opener came the tsunami known as COVID-19. Not only was the Garage’s 20th washed away, but if they weren’t sinking, they were sure taking on a lot of water. Attention, passengers: in an emergency your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device.

“We had a little bit of money in the bank, but we really depend on that first show to get us through the rest of the year,” Hamme says. And while “a sizeable donation from a family friend” meant they could pay rent on the space for the short term, the nonprofit, all-volunteer Garage (no employees, no payroll) qualified for very little COVID financial assistance and ultimately got none.

So they turned to community. And their community came through.

“In general asking for money has always been an uncomfortable thing for us,” Hamme says. “And let’s be honest: [although] our audience is incredible — I think we have the best audience in Long Beach, and they’re very supportive — we don’t have the wealthiest audience. […] We thought $5,000 [was enough] to get us a few months into 2021. But then we decided, ‘Look, if we’re going to ask for anything, let’s go big.’ And the response was absolutely incredible.”

Despite setting a target of $10,000, the Garage’s “Yes We Can” fundraiser brought in about $25K, which enabled the Garage to pay 2021’s rent in one lump sum.

“I remember thinking, ‘Shit, this actually means something to people,’” Hamme reflects. “Because when you’re in your own little corner of the sandbox just doing your thing, you don’t really think of that; you’re just trying to entertain the people who chose to be there that night.”

“Lots of donations came with stories and experiences that people shared about what we meant to them, how our being there has helped them,” Anderson adds. “It solidified for us our place in the hearts of the community.”

And community was always the goal.

“No matter what year, no matter what the show, when you walk into our space, whether you’ve been there two times or 20, you feel it,” Anderson says. “That’s part of the reason you’re there: that connection, that relationship. Whether you know us or not, you feel like you’re a part of something. And you are.”

***

While in the midst of working on promos for the Garage’s 25th Season kickoff event, Hamme made the mistake of leaving both his laptop and backup drive together in his car overnight. In the morning he was greeted with the broken window, the missing backpack. A record of the last quarter-century in a little corner of Long Beach, gone.

“I called Eric after I got back [from vacation recently], and he said, ‘It’s gone, everything’s gone,’” Anderson says. “But how do you measure something that’s living and breathing? Experience is the thing. Yes, the record of it is gone, but you never really could go back and revisit the experience itself, anyway.”

Twenty-five years on, there’s no end in sight for the Garage. In fact, 2025 is their first five-show season since 2016. And co-founder Jessica Variz — who brilliantly directed Cannibal! The Musical and LOLPERA — is back for a show this autumn.

“We didn’t think it would last 25 years,” Hamme says. “But we just keep doing the work. […] Everyone — even Matt and me — has a last day with the company coming. I’d like for it to go on even after the two of us are gone; but if/when it’s meant to stop, it’ll stop. [In that case] I think it would be cool if there’s just a little plaque at the space that says something like, ‘This shit happened here.’ That’s enough.”

This shit here continues Friday when the Garage Theatre opens its 25th season with the world premiere of Ryan McClary’s Tragedy Gift Shop (dir. Matthew Anderson). For tickets and all things Garage Theatre, visit thegaragetheatre.org.

Long Beach Opera dials up the ambition for season’s second aleatory offering

Greggory Moore
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Long Beach Opera dials up the ambition for season’s second aleatory offering

Having just seen/heard Long Beach Opera’s staging of El Relicario de los Animales, I don’t have a clue what they’re talking about on their website when they call it “one of [Pauline] Oliveros’ most emotional scores,” as I gather this season’s second aleatory exercise care of Oliveros is based on little more than the composer’s intended orchestration, spatial arrangement of the musicians, and general suggestions for content based on animal themes for four movements. Emotional content? Nada.

But in a season explicitly dedicated to “Deep Listening” — “the term [Oliveros] used to name the driving philosophy and practice behind most of her later work,” says the program — projecting emotion onto the sound is beside (and maybe even counter to) the point. All that concerns us here is the aural and its presentation.

On that score, LBO’s second 2025 offering was a step up from their first in terms of both ambition and execution. Comprised of not only El Relicario de los Animales but also Thirteen Changes, which made expansive use of Los Angeles’s indoor/outdoor Heritage Square Museum, even those of us looking forward to the next time LBO fully stages a traditional “opera” likely came away satisfied with the spectacle.

The Heritage Square Museum “explores the settlement and development of Southern California during its first 100 years of statehood through historic restoration and preservation” by way of the preservation/restoration of eight “historically significant” Victorian Era buildings from Los Angeles neighborhoods relocated to a sylvan nook in Montecito Heights.

From one end of the museum grounds, two dozen black-clad figures slowly processed west, where, after what might have been a wordless blessing, a single violinist/vocalist stepped up on the porch and began to improvise on the basis (presumably, considering the program insert cards showing the score Thirteen Changes) of the instruction, “Standing naked in the moonlight—Music washing the body.” After a short while, the remaining 23 musicians began back east, where the process was more or less repeated as they reached pre-ordained spots (usually the houses). “Solar winds scorching the returning comet’s tail,” “Elephants mating in a secret grove,” “Songs of ancient mothers among awesome rocks” — these ideas may have existed in the musicians’ heads, but without the “score” we would never have known.

But if your sole concern is sound, who cares? And regardless of how much or little each individual performance amounted to, all dozen or so (the title and card suggest 13, but the little map shows 11 spots) taking place simultaneously spread across nine time-warped acres made for one lovely sound-art installation.

Called by the sound of the conch, gradually the performers made their way back east and entered the 137-year-old church, where they arranged themselves in four diamond formations centered on Jamie Barton, the main vocalist and conductor of sorts for El Relicario de los Animales.

What transpired seemed intended as a sort of protohuman religious ritual, with Barton a sort of ur-shaman leading her pre-linguistic congregation from nearly silent contemplation through waves of wild ecstasy riding heartbeat rhythms. It may have gone on too long (when doing a piece of aleatory music, it’s usually best not to fall back on a conceit you’ve already explored), but otherwise I would think it succeeded on its own terms, were it not for that pesky bit on the LBO website about emotionality (whatevs to that).

Although I remain in the camp that hopes Long Beach Opera will eventually return to more of what most of us think of as opera (costumes, arias, a score that’s got actual musical notation), if instead they’re going to do (what I call) sound art (operatic as it may be), this was a satisfying outing.

LA County Sues Edison Over Eaton Fire

Reporters Desk
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LA County Sues Edison Over Eaton Fire

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County filed suit March 5 against Southern California Edison and Edison International or SCE to recover costs and damages sustained by the county from the Eaton Fire. The lawsuit alleges that SCE’s equipment caused the deadly blaze, requiring the county to incur massive costs responding to the fire and its aftermath.

The Eaton Fire devastated the unincorporated community of Altadena, destroying county parks, a nature center, multiple trails, and other essential community infrastructure. Numerous county departments and employees responded and are continuing to assist residents impacted by the fire’s destruction. The county quickly staffed and continues to offer resources at a disaster recovery center in Altadena to help residents and businesses navigate the extensive hardships they are facing due to the fire. The county’s press release stated its case is essential to the restoration and rebuilding process for the community, including residences and businesses, to recover from the devastation.

The county’s complaint against SCE alleges that witnesses, photos, and videos indicate the fire started directly under SCE transmission lines in Eaton Canyon. After the fire started, SCE informed the California Public Utilities Commission or CPUC that a “fault” occurred on its transmission line around the time the fire started. On Feb. 6, SCE sent a letter to the CPUC stating that photographic evidence of its tower at the end of the idle Mesa-Sylmar transmission line shows signs of potential arcing and damage on the grounding equipment for two of the three idle conductors.

The Eaton Fire burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed approximately 9,400 structures, damaged more than 1,000 structures, resulted in 17 deaths, and injured several firefighters. The lawsuit alleges that the Eaton Fire has massively impacted the county’s natural resources, harmed the environment and wildlife, and threatened public health.

The complaint alleges that while the county’s costs and damages from the Eaton Fire and its aftermath are still being determined and could increase over time based on many factors, it is estimated that they will total at least hundreds of millions of dollars. County counsel Dawyn R. Harrison, who filed the case, said the costs and losses being sought include compensation for destroyed county infrastructure, recreational areas, parks, road damage, cleanup and recovery efforts, flood and mudslide prevention, workers compensation claims, overtime for county workers, lost taxes and more. “We are committed to seeking justice for the Altadena community and the taxpayers of Los Angeles County,” she said.

The county, the county Flood Control District, and the county’s Consolidated Fire Protection District are the plaintiffs in the case. County counsel’s affirmative litigation and consumer protection division will prosecute the case in civil court with outside counsel, Baron & Budd, P.C. The cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre are also filing suits against SCE for damages to taxpayer resources and public infrastructure incurred from the Eaton Fire.

The county’s lawsuit was electronically filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, and a copy of the complaint is available here: link

Harbor Area Briefs: Policy Update and Restored Wilmington Clock Tower Unveiled

Reporters Desk
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Harbor Area Briefs: Policy Update and Restored Wilmington Clock Tower Unveiled

McCosker Policy Update

LOS ANGELES — In 2019, the office of Council District 15 partnered with CalTrans and the Port of Los Angeles to commission a freight mitigation study evaluating the impact of commercial truck traffic on East Wilmington residents. The study focused on the area near Watson Junction and identified key measures to reduce truck-resident interactions. Recommendations included permanently closing Blinn Ave. between Lomita Blvd. and Sandison St. to all vehicular traffic and restricting access to Drumm Ave. by creating cul-de-sacs at key intersections of Drumm and Cruces St. as well as at O and Colon St.

With the upcoming closure of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, commercial traffic is expected to increase, worsening quality of life conditions for East Wilmington residents. On Feb. 26, the council passed a motion introduced by Tim McOsker instructing the Bureau of Engineering, with help from the Department of Transportation, to develop and report back on a comprehensive plan to implement traffic restrictions to help mitigate commercial truck traffic with an outline for the full scope of work and budget for both projects.

 

Restored Wilmington Clock Tower Unveiled at Port of Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES –— Residents, tourists and ships arriving at the Port of Los Angeles will now be greeted by a newly restored and illuminated Wilmington Clock Tower at Berth 153. The upgraded tower is the result of a $2.7 million renovation to repair water damage and structural wear-and-tear, and add new façade, exterior lighting and a modern sound system.

Using Prism RGBA color LED luminaire technology, the iconic structure’s exterior lighting will be able to change colors to coordinate with different port and city events. The illuminated tower will be visible from several key junctures in the port’s main channel and west basin, including the Vincent Thomas Bridge, Los Angeles Cruise Terminal, Battleship IOWA, Los Angeles Maritime Museum and West Harbor.

Since the mid-20th century, the Wilmington Clock Tower has marked the entry to the port’s main channel’s west basin. The 100-foot-high structure sits at the south end of Berths 153-155. When built in the early 1950s, the berths’ eight-acre marine terminal featured one of the longest shipping sheds ever to be constructed. The port still uses these warehouses today.

Beyond the exterior façade lighting, the extensive tower restoration involved repair of the entire tower wall assembly, including the interior and exterior finish; replacing all the exterior doors, thresholds and interior lights; repairing or replacing exterior windows, sills, balconies and stair threads; installation of a new sound system; lead and asbestos abatement; stucco and metal flashing work; various plumbing, electrical and wiring upgrades; and a new LED sign that reads “The Port of Los Angeles.” The port began the tower restoration in 2021

 

AG Bonta Charges 30 Officers for Facilitating ‘Gladiator Fights’ Between Youths at Juvenile Hall

Reporters Desk
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AG Bonta Charges 30 Officers for Facilitating ‘Gladiator Fights’ Between Youths at Juvenile Hall

LOS ANGELES – California Attorney General Rob Bonta March 3 announced the unsealing of a grand jury indictment against 30 detention services officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, California on charges of child endangerment and abuse, conspiracy, and battery. The indictment alleges that the officers allowed and, in some instances, encouraged 69 fights to occur between youths at Los Padrinos during the period from July 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023. The indictment stems from an investigation launched by the California Department of Justice after video footage of one of the so-called “gladiator fights” leaked in January 2024. Twenty-two of the 30 officers were arraigned today at Los Angeles Superior Court. The remaining officers will be arraigned on April 18, 2025.

“Officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall have a duty to ensure the safety and well-being of those under their care. Instead, the officers charged today did just the opposite – overseeing ‘gladiator fights’ when they should have intervened,” said Attorney General Bonta.

The officers were indicted on charges, including alleged child abuse/endangerment; conspiracy to commit a crime; and battery impacting 143 victims between the ages of 12 and 18. The indictment also alleges aggravating factors, including the vulnerability of the victims and the officer’s position of trust or confidence, which helped enable them to commit the offense. The indictment identifies 69 incidents over a six-month period where probation officers facilitated and permitted youths in their custody to fight each other. These so-called “gladiator fights” resulted in physical harm to youth involved and, if the charges are proven, were a dereliction of the officers’ duty to protect those in their care.

DA Hochman Announces Grand Theft and Conspiracy Charges Employees of CSU, Long Beach

Terelle Jerricks
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DA Hochman Announces Grand Theft and Conspiracy Charges Employees of CSU, Long Beach

LONG BEACH — District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman March 3 announced that one current and one former employee of the California State University, Long Beach or CSULB Athletics Department have been charged with stealing approximately $36,560 from the university through fraudulent time sheets certifying hundreds of hours of nonexistent work between January and December 2022.

“I am appalled at the brazen acts of criminality allegedly committed by employees of California State University, Long Beach, an institution that depends on public funding and public trust,” District Attorney Hochman said. “Stealing from California’s venerated public university system steals from taxpayers and the thousands of students who rely on the university for affordable tuition and educational and career opportunities. Our office’s Public Integrity Division will ensure that those who steal from public institutions are held accountable.”

Oscar Perez Almanza (DOB 12/4/85) and Hender Noe Maxwell (DOB 9/25/86) are each charged in case 25CJCF01062 with one felony count of conspiracy to commit grand theft and one felony count of grand theft. It is further alleged the offenses indicate planning, sophistication, and professionalism; and involved an attempted and actual taking and damage of great monetary value.

From January to December 2022, Almanza worked as a field supervisor and Maxwell was a former grounds worker in CSULB’s Athletics Department. After Maxwell left CSULB’s employment, he allegedly submitted timesheets falsely certifying hundreds of hours worked, which Almanza allegedly approved despite knowing Maxwell no longer worked for the Athletics Department. Once CSULB paid Maxwell, Maxwell allegedly split the money with Almanza. In total, Almanza and Maxwell allegedly stole $36,560 from the university.

The defendants pled not guilty at arraignment March 3. The court released the defendants on their own recognizance with the condition that they relinquish their passports. The next court date is April 14 at the Central Arraignment Courthouse, Dept. 83, for preliminary hearing setting.

If convicted as charged, the defendants face three years in county jail.

The case was investigated by the CSULB Police Department and is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Robert Zoumberakis of LADA’s Public Integrity Division.

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