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Cain and Abel

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LONG BEACH — An argument between brothers turned deadly, on July 27, say officials of the Long Beach Police Department.

At about 12:15 a.m., officers responded to a stabbing near Elm Avenue and Louise Street., where they found 20-year-old Geovany Ortiz. The young man was transported to the local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

His brother, 22-year-old Israel Ortiz, the victim’s brother was arrested and booked for murder.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call (562) 570-7244

Windy Barnes Farrell

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Join Windy Barnes Farrell in celebrating her birthday with an old fashion jam session starting at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 1, at the San Pedro Theatre in Club. Windy Barnes Farrell and friends also are welcoming award-winning producer James A. Blackman to the Art, Culture and Entertainment District. The event is free.

Details:alfigo@aol.com

Venue:San Pedro Theatre Club

Location: 624 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

An Elusive Utopia By The Sea

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By Lionel Rolfe

Venice, CA: A City State Of Mind by John O’Kane. Hard cover edition is $26.95.

The traditional happening places for the arts in Los Angeles are two–and it’s been this way since the ’20s and earlier. One is Echo Park near downtown and the other is Venice by the sea. But Venice has captured more of the romance, perhaps because its history has been rich and porous enough there’s this terrible tendency to want to sum it all up, to say what exactly it means.
John O’Kane’s at times rambling but nonetheless intriguing book length essay sums up the history, the observations, the artists and writers and poets great and famous and obscure who have lurked among the dark shadows of this Nirvana by the sea. O’Kane has lived long enough in Venice to know a lot of the characters personally, and he describes walking the famed boardwalk or supping at coffeehouse tables with many of them in engaging and vivid terms.

Local Food Providers Making It Easier for Us to Change the Status Quo of Eating

By Greggory Moore

The concept is as old as humanity itself: Humans eat, and the Earth provides.

But over the last century, that inescapable reality has become increasingly remote for an ever-greater percentage of homo sapiens, who find ourselves acquiring our caloric intake from companies, corporations, and machines, a caloric intake that is often more a product of the laboratory than of sea or soil.

A network of local food providers is aiming to bring us back to the past by connecting local residents to the growing number of natural food-acquiring alternatives hiding in plain sight right here at home. That connector is knowledge. And because the aphorism “Knowledge is power” appertains to your health as much as to anything else, it’s fair to say that Shift LB’s Long Beach Guide to Local Food Networks, which these self-proclaimed “greenhorns” are freely making available to as many people as possible, has the potential to be a powerful tool.

Owner of Marijuana Stores in Orange, Los Angeles Counties Sentenced

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SANTA ANA, California – A San Clemente man who owned and operated a string of nine illegal marijuana stores that generated at least $25 million in profits was sentenced, July 22, to 262 months in federal prison for drug trafficking and tax evasion.

John Melvin Walker, also known as “Pops,” 56, of San Clemente, was also ordered to pay the Internal Revenue Service $2,415,409.29 and to pay the California State Board of Equalization $1,857,280.00 in restitution.

Walker pleaded guilty in April to two felony counts – one count of conspiring to distribute well over a ton of marijuana and maintaining drug-involved premises, and one count of tax evasion.

Walker was the lead defendant in a 14-defendant indictment returned by a federal grand jury this past fall. The indictment outlined a drug-trafficking conspiracy led by Walker, who owned and operated at least nine marijuana stores in cities across Los

Angeles and Orange counties. The nine marijuana stores were in Long Beach, DanaPoint, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Santa Fe Springs, Costa Mesa, Whittier and San Juan Capistrano.

Walker was “the kingpin of a large, organized criminal enterprise awash in narcotics, firearms, and, most of all, money,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing brief.

Walker admitted in the federal tax case that he earned approximately $25 million from marijuana sales over the course of six years. Walker specifically admitted that he earned $11.4 million in 2009, but reported to the Internal Revenue Service only a tiny fraction of that income. As part of his plea agreement, Walker agreed to pay the IRS more than $2.4 million in back taxes for years 2006 through 2011, as well as $1.8 million in restitution to the California Board of Equalization. In addition to the $4.2 million he has agreed to pay to federal and state tax authorities, Walker agreed to forfeit to the government $25 million in illegally obtained income, which includes, among other assets, more than $500,000 in cash previously seized by law enforcement authorities, his multi-million dollar home in San Clemente, a string of mobile homes in Mammoth Lakes, rental properties in Long Beach, and his interest in two strip clubs.

Walker, a twice convicted felon, also admitted that he possessed firearms in relation to the drug-trafficking offense. Authorities discovered in one of Walker’s “stash houses” an AK-47-style assault rifle, three other firearms and ammunition.

Walker has been in custody since pleading guilty in this case on April 1.

Beware the Woman with the Hatchet

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The Long Beach Police Department arrested a 33-year-old woman threatening to kill her husband with a hatchet July 20, officials said.

Police officials say Melanie McGhee of Long Beach was found standing over her husband with hatchet, at about 11:05 p.m. near 11th Street on Walnut Avenue in Long Beach.

When McGhee refused to follow officers’ orders, an officer shot his weapon to stop the attack. McGhee, who was not injured, surrendered and was taken into custody on $500,000 bail. Her husband was not injured by the attack.

Anyone with details regarding this incident is asked to call (562) 570-7244.

Ports Announce CAAP Award Winners

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach honored five companies for their extraordinary efforts to fight harmful emissions at the 6thAnnual Clean Air Action Plan Air Quality Awards, July 18, in San Pedro.

Awards this year were made in three categories:

Air Quality Leadership at the Corporate Level

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics –Since 2004, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics has adhered to a 1.5 percent global fleet sulfur fuel policy, though regulations called for less restrictive limits between 3.5 to 4.5 percent. In addition, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics’ new, ultra-modern “Salome” vessel was the first to qualify in 2012 for an incentive under the Port of Long Beach’s Green Ship Incentive Program, a voluntary clean air initiative that rewards ocean carriers whose ships are equipped with Tier II or III engines. To further demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics has also voluntarily allowed for third-party verification of its greenhouse gas emissions annually since 2009, the results of which are published in an annual Environmental Sustainability Report.

Hahn Votes “No” on Cutting Educational Funding

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Washington, DC— On July 19, Rep. Janice Hahn, District 44, voted “no” on the Student Success Act of 2013, which would drastically cut educational funding for vital programs that help disadvantaged students, English learner students and students with special needs.

The bill, written by Republican John Kline, of Minnesota, passed the House of Representatives with a 221-207 vote.

The bill reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education act, known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

While the Student Success Act requires states to adopt standards in reading and math, the bill does nothing to ensure that state standards are rigorous enough to make sure students graduate from high school. What’s more, the bill does not require states to set targets and goals to evaluate whether schools are improving student achievement and graduation rates.

Similar to the No Child Left Behind Act, the Student Success Act requires states and districts to annually assess students in reading and math and publicly report those results to parents. Beyond that, however, states and districts have a great deal of discretion over what needs to happen to underperforming schools. Chronically underperforming schools can continue to conduct business as usual.

The Student Success Act neglects to close a federal loophole that allows districts to allocate fewer total dollars to high-poverty schools compared to more affluent schools.

The Student Success Act also removes federal requirements that ensure states and districts maintain their share of education funding from year to year.

False Bomb Threat Gets Pedro Man in Jail

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LONG BEACH — A San Pedro man was arrested for making a bomb threat to a Walmart in Long Beach on July 21.

Thirty-year-old Patrick Quintana, allegedly phoned in a bomb threat, at about 8:30 p.m. July 21, to the Walmart at the CityPlaceShopping Center in Long Beach, officials said.

Police say the store was evacuated and a search was conducted but no device was found. Through their investigation, the suspect was tracked to San Pedro and taken into custody. He was booked for making a false bomb threat, along with other warrants that included annoying phone calls, stalking, burglary and driving under the influence. His total bail amounted to $410,500.

Investigators presented the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The office filed count of criminal threat and one count reporting a false bomb charge.

Young Mother Killed in Long Beach

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LONG BEACH — A 23-year-old woman was killed on the morning of July 25, near 5th Street on Walnut Avenue in Long Beach.

At about 6:20 a.m., Long Beach Police Department officers found Jazzmine Wash dead at the scene, laying on the courtyard of an apartment complex on Walnut Avenue, officials said.

Wash had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene by Long Beach Fire Department paramedics.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the victim had arrived at the home of a relative to drop off her 3-year-old child. She walked back out of the residence to go get a diaper bag. Residents in the area then heard several shots fired.

A motive for the shooting is unknown, no suspect information is available, and investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Long Beach Police Homicide at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted at (800) 222-8477 or www.lacrimestoppers.org.