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S erving B ixBy K nollS , C alifornia H eigHtS , l oS C erritoS , W rigley Vol. 32 No. 47
RoyalWedding
Courtesy Press Association
As Catherine Middleton marries into the royal family, the Middleton Family has worked with Senior King of Arms Thomas Woodcock to create their new coat of arms, which will be placed next to Prince William’s after the marriage.
range of online platforms, making it the most digital and interactive coverage of a royal wedding to date. According to the official royal wedding media briefing, the royal couple wishes to make the wedding as accessible as possible for those who see wedding page 13
City of Signal Hill appoints Langston as new police chief The City of Signal Hill announced Tuesday the appointment of Michael S. Langston as its next chief of police. Langston served as police captain in the Field Operations Division for the city of Turlock for more than three years and held the position of second in command to the chief. Prior to his tenure in Turlock, Langston served as a division commander, sergeant, detective and officer
S ignal H ill
during his 19-plus years with the City of San Fernando. “With over 23 years of law-enforcement experience, Chief Langston brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that will ensure the continued high level of public safety service that the residents and businesses of Signal Hill have come to expect and appreciate,” said Signal Hill Mayor Larry Forester. see cHieF page 13
April 29, 2011
CJ Dablo Staff Writer
see redistricting page 10
The marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton will take place today at Westminster Abbey, where 15 royal weddings have taken place. The wedding will be aired on a
of
As new political boundaries are about to be drawn, locals speak up for their neighborhoods Fourteen Californians have been charged with the task of drawing a final political map of the golden state by August, and right now they’re asking their fellow state residents to tell them how to best do their job. Using figures from the latest 2010 Census and drawing public input into the process, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission came to the Long Beach Council Chambers on Wednesday to hear public comments on how to determine new political districts. The Commission will determine the new boundaries of the state’s Assembly, Senate and Board of
Contributing Writer
C ity
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
Signal Tribune contributor takes break from studying in England to report on
Athena Mekis
and tHe
CJ Dablo/Signal Tribune
Board member John Stammreich of the NW San Pedro Neighborhood Council discusses his ideas on State Assembly district boundaries before the public hearing of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission on April 27 at the Long Beach Council Chambers.
LBPD implementing texting-, email-based system of notifying residents of safety, traffic concerns Brett Ashley Hawkins Editorial Intern
While driving on the northbound 405 freeway on a Tuesday morning, several drivers were caught in traffic backups when they attempted to take the Palo Verde Avenue exit. Most morning radio traffic updates failed to mention such an issue, but one networking medium sent out an alert that read, “Commuters! Avoid the Palo Verde Avenue off-ramp from the northbound 405 Freeway. Heavy congestion. Seek another route.” The message was sent to the email accounts and phones of several people by the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) through Nixle, the first authenticated service for locationbased information. By entering one’s city name or ZIP code into Nixle’s database, one can subscribe to receive updates via text message or email specifically from local public safety agencies, municipal governments, schools, and lawenforcement departments. The service is secure and unites municipal agencies and community organizations in
prompt statements sent to their residents. Citizens can subscribe by texting their ZIP code to 888777 or registering at the Nixle website by creating a username and password (created by submitting a full name and an email address) to receive email updates. The LBPD began using Nixle four months ago upon LBPD Chief of Police Jim McDonnell’s suggestion to use the networking tool due to its success within the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD); McDonnell served with the LAPD for 28 years. “[McDonnell] suggested [the LBPD] use Nixle, so we began researching it,” said Sergeant Rico Fernandez of the LBPD. “Now we use it.” Though updates are not constant throughout the day, Fernandez assures subscribers that only updates of vital importance are posted to avoid Nixle being perceived as an annoyance through a lot of mundane messages and reports in a short amount of time. Instead, Fernandez feels that being selective about what information is posted on Nixle will make the most impact, as alerts won’t come out as
often and will be perceived as more significant when they do surface. “We fax news releases and do email blasts, and now Nixle is a part of the standard process for getting the word out,” Fernandez said. Traffic updates aren’t the only concerns on which the LBPD sheds light. Another previous update read: “Police and fire arson investigators are seeking suspect for multiple arson incidents in South and East Long Beach.” Nixle’s use of frequent status updates is similar to those of the social-networking websites Facebook and Twitter. However, unlike those sites, whose content is generated through the whims and personal lives of their end users, the purpose of Nixle’s updates is to inform its users of actual public-safety concerns. The LBPD has yet to use Nixle for releasing information about suspects. “Most of our reports are traffic-based,” Fernandez said. “We’re currently not putting up suspect information. That’s something we have to discuss with the detective.” Nixle was founded by Firas see nixle page 13