RLn 04-04-13 Edition

How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing p. 7 Public and Developers in Synch On Vision for Ports O’Call Redevelopment p. 2 q

Chef Dustin Trani Named One of the Top 5 Rising Chefs in the U.S. p. 14

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

O

April 5 - 18, 2013

n March 27, Albert Robles was sworn in as a member of the Carson City Council.

The Water Replenishment District president was swept into office with more than 5,000 votes in an election, where only 12,000 turned out to vote, March 5.

Billed as the balm that could heal a fractured council, he was able to boast of having the backing of Mayor Jim Dear and former “Recall Dear” leader Vera Robles DeWitt (no relation to Albert), the 20-year friendship with Councilman Mike Gipson and, at least, friendly relations with the remaining members of the council.

“I have a great relationship with all of the council members,” said Robles in an interview with Random Lengths News before his election.

“Take council member Mike Gipson, I’ve known him for over 20 years…Elito Santarina, I’ve known him for about 15 years. Mayor Dear, I’ve known him for about 10 years. Lula, I haven’t known her as long, but I have a good rapport with her. She and I talk and we have great conversations.”

With Robles’ credentials, it is difficult to imagine that he doesn’t see Carson as a stepping stone for higher office and greater responsibility. And, perhaps more importantly, contrary to the localboy-made-good storyline that his biography would indicate, he is no pushover.

Carson’s Prodigal Son Returns/ to p. 6

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Community Announcements:

Harbor Area Creating A Culture Of Tomorrow

Creating a Culture Of Tomorrow invites participants to ask, “What drives you?” from 6 to 9 p.m. April 6 at Gina MW Gallery in Long Beach.

Join the group for a free, interactive workshop to explore the pursuit of goals in a fun and welcoming setting.

Four prominent community leaders will share their perspectives on success, leadership and life’s challenges. Then, breakout groups will allow for a more in-depth discussion with each individual speaker. Then comes the music.

This is like a career or personal growth seminar but free and with more creativity.

Free to the first 50 to RSVP at: www. cultureoftomorrow.eventbrite.com

Beach Clean Up

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium educators will be hosting the beach clean up event April 6, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Help maintain and learn about the Cabrillo Native Garden. Groups must call to make reservations by April 4.

Details: (310) 548-7562; www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Location: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

HARBOR AREA

Committed to independent journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for more than 30 years

Public and Developers in Synch for Ports O’Call Redevelopment

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

Planning for the Ports O’Call redevelopment project got strong and repeated indications of public support in a meeting held by the developers, the LA Waterfront Alliance, at the Warner Grand Theater on April 2.

With an audience of several hundred people, applause punctuated the presentation portion of the community meeting, underscoring key points

Seniors in Carson May Apply for Trash Collection Discount

Qualified seniors may apply for a 50 percent annual discount on trash collection services, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 8 to 11, at Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center in Carson.

Applicants must be: • Owner/occupier of a single-family home in Carson • Must be 62 years old or older by July 1, 2013 Applicants must bring: • A current property tax bill • Valid picture identification The application is only valid for one year, and it does not apply to mobile homes or apartment buildings with five units and more.

Details: (310) 847-3520 Venue: Congresswoman Juanita MillenderMcDonald Community Center Location: 801 E. Carson St., Room 132, Carson

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area April 5 - 18, 2013

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Metro South Bay Service Council

Help improve local public transportation This month’s Metro South Bay Service Council meeting will take place at 9:30 a.m. April 12 at Inglewood City Hall, Conference Room A. The agenda includes a presentation on South Bay Highway Improvements, an overview of the 2012 Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program Disparity Study Final Report and a summary of Corridor Workshop Recommendations received for Lines 210 and 710. The public is encouraged to attend.

Details: (213) 922-1282; http://www.metro. net/about/board/agenda Venue: Inglewood City Hall Location: 1 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood

Home Owners Meet with Counselors

LOS ANGELES—The Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program and the HOPE NOW Alliance are bringing the nation’s largest mortgage servicers, along with several non-profit housing counseling organizations, to Los Angeles, from 1 to 8 p.m. April 16, at the Los Angeles Convention Center to work oneCommunity Announcements/ to p. 10

infrastructure connections, “We will also strive to create an emotional connection to the region as LA’s waterfront, a must-see attraction for anyone visiting LA.” “We envision creating a unique and authentic experience, not dominated by national retailers or restaurant chains, not something which could be created or found anywhere else,” Johnson went on to say, greeted again by an outburst of applause. “We all know San Pedro is one of a kind and that’s not going to change.”

The last major part of the presentation was a visual tour of other waterfronts around the world, “aspirational images” as they were dubbed by presenter Vaughn Davies, familiar to San Pedrans from the EKG conceptual planning process conducted nine years ago.

“It’s important to know what the rest of the world is doing so that we can differentiate ourselves,,” Davies said, at the start of his presentation, while toward the end, he segued from pictures of other working ports to conclude, “What we don’t want to do is tidy up San Pedro.

It’s kind of nice to have this gritty little urban waterfront in downtown San Pedro,” another big applause line.

“They are first and foremost working waterfronts and they are for the locals who love Public in Synch with POC/ to p. 5

SP Community Plan Rush Job Has Activists Crying Foul

Long Beach’s People State of the City

The People State of the City is aimed to reflect the realities and voices of Long Beach residents. : • Highlight community organizing victories from the past year • Look at issues facing Long Beach residents, including jobs, housing, the safety and health of our neighborhoods, education, the environment, and immigration • Connect with each other around a plan to ensure that our voices are heard and represented in Long Beach Details: (562) 396-4552 Venue: Grace United Methodist Church Location: 2325 E. 3rd St, Long Beach

followed, it was a statement those attending seemed hungry to hear.

Ratkovich set the tone with a quick review of four major projects he selected to represent his company’s work, starting with the Wiltern Theater. The projects “had all been literally or virtually abandoned by their former owners,” Ratkovich said, “We were able to bring them back to life in a successful manner. That is what we proudly do.”

“The Ports O’ Call site enables us and our company to serve its mission and to serve its city,” he continued, noting that, “Thanks to a group of talented and successful merchants, the Ports O’ Call site has not been as abandoned as the properties we’ve shown you,” but still promising to build “a far brighter future” at the site.

Johnson’s presentation was conceptual, highlighting the precedents laid down by the two previous Urban Land Institute studies, and citing a series of guideline priorities, including: increase public access, maintain community character and build on local history, promote a safe and clean environment, feature port activists, support local businesses, increase economic activity, and expand public parks and recreation.

“We are thinking big,” he said, promising a “complete re-imaging and rebranding,” and going on to say, that in addition to historical and

Wayne Ratkovich of the Ratkovich Company of the L.A. Waterfront Alliance giving the introduction of the Ports O’ Call Redevelopment plan. Photo: Terelle Jerricks.

of support, while the public comments almost entirely harmonized with the presentation itself.

Wayne Ratkovich, whose company is one half of the Alliance partnership, acknowledged the turnout in his remarks thanking the audience for their participation.

“As one who has been before a number of public gatherings, this is an extraordinary number of people to attend an event like this,” Ratkovich said.

To wide applause, Eric Johnson, representing the other half of the Alliance partnership as President of Jerico Development, put his finger on what was different from previous community meetings.

“Unlike prior planning and outreach meetings, this meeting has been convened to initiate the development of a specific project, not the commencement of yet another round of planning,” Johnson said. Like much that

Neighborhood Councils Left Out Of Loop, May Seek City Council Action

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

The years-long process of rewriting San Pedro’s Community Plan was drawing largely positive reviews last summer, as it headed into the home stretch. But toward the end the pace accelerated too rapidly to allow meaningful community input, according to activists from all three neighborhood councils. Now they’re on the verge of considering a systematic fix.

The draft Community Plan Update was released to the community on Feb. 28. It was heard at the Harbor Area Local Planning Commission level on March 5, then scheduled for approval by the City Planning Commission on March 14, all in a two-week period—a breakneck pace for anything in city government.

“We spent several years time working on the draft plan. Then, all of a sudden, it got to be rushed at the end without sufficient time to review the final documents,” said Diana Nave, president of Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council. “We’d given all this feedback but what happened to the feedback we gave? How did it

get incorporated or not incorporated into the final forms? That was the major stumbling block, I think, given their time schedule.”

Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council activists are trying to respond—not just to address the community plan process, but to prevent future repeats.

“No written response to this neighborhood council’s previously submitted comments has been received; and two weeks is insufficient time for a neighborhood council to review and prepare an official response to a community plan of such great significance to the community,” reads part of a resolution passed by Central’s Land Use Planning Committee, chaired by Sue Castillo.

The motion she and her committee drafted addresses both these concerns—sufficient time for community review and written responses from city agencies along the way. They’ll be looking for support from other neighborhood councils, who share their frustrations.

For example, the last public input meeting in SP Community Plan Rush Job/ to p. 22

Long Beach Immigration Rights Activists Rally on Cesar Chavez Birthday

About 100 people gathered outside the Long Beach City Hall, March 30, to speak and rally for immigration reform.

Demonstrators marked the birthday of worker’s rights martyr Cesar Chavez with a rally as Congress takes up the issue of immigration reform “We come here today marching, chanting and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with all of you, not only because we want to, but because we have to,” said Alex Montances, of the Filipino Migrants Center. “Because 11 million undocumented immigrants and families, including our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, have waited too long for justice and equality.”

The rally started around 9 a.m. and after the opening speeches in front of the city hall they continued the march to Cesar E. Chavez park where it ended.

The rally was hosted by the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition. Photo: Jerrick Romero.

Marriage Equality Vigil

The Local Publication You Actually Read April 5 - 18, 2013

Community members and city leaders participate in a candlelight vigil, March 26, at the Long Beach City Hall to support a just verdict from the Supreme Court on the Proposition 8 and Defense of Marriage Act cases, which were heard March 26 and 27, respectively.

The 2013 the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS) listened to oral arguments on the constitutionality of DOMA and Prop. 8.

Prop. 8, which was voted in 2004, took away the rights of same-sex couples to wed in California; DOMA is the federal law that states that marriage is limited to being between one man and one woman.

Photos: Betty Guevara.

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Del Lago Comes to an On-ramp Near You

By Cory Hooker, Editorial Intern, and Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor

April 5 - 18, 2013

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

Developers are close to bringing a 204-unit complex near Pacific Coast Highway and the 110 Freeway in Wilmington into reality.

It’s unusual that the project has come this far with so few bumps in the road, especially for a part of Los Angeles where it’s common for residents to be actively involved in the approval process of most developments.

The developer, Lincoln Properties Co., obtained a site plan approval and a zone change on Feb. 14, 2013.

The zone changes allow the 7.5-acre development to combine multi-family residential and commercial uses.

Lincoln Properties were able to go through the approval process with the general consensus of businessfriendly neighborhood groups, whose main concern was the mitigation of traffic. The Wilmington and Harbor City neighborhood councils, the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, the Harbor City Harbor Gateway Chamber of Commerce and the Harbor Regional Park Advisory

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Board were among the groups that provided letters of support.

Some area residents found it hard to voice their opinions of the project because the public hearing took place on Dec. 28, 2012, in downtown Los Angeles, when many stakeholders were on holiday. Hearings can take place in Van Nuys, downtown Los Angeles and San Pedro. The fact that the hearing took place during the holiday season and that it took place at a venue that is not easily accessible to Wilmington resident, cast doubt in the minds of some stakeholders.

“The timing was fairly poor,” Luis Montez, a resident of neighboring apartment complex Pine Creek said. “It seems kind of convenient for them.”

Los Angeles City Planner Marc Woersching disagreed.

“There was no intent to make it difficult to attend,” Woersching said. “Normal venues to hold public hearings are at City Hall

Rendering courtesy of the Katherman Group.

with the only exception being the Valley and the LA City Center.”

Among the complaints during the Dec. 28, 2012 public hearing was that ambulance access to Kaiser Hospital is difficult due to the left turn lane being used a through lane. While the developer would be

providing bicycle storage at the complex, some residents questioned the intent of developers because there isn’t any bike lanes or access on Pacific Coast Highway.

The City Planning Commission’s latest recommendation report, dated Feb. 14, 2013, stated that three letters were received in support of the proposed project while 50 written correspondences were received in opposition.

“For me, I have no problem,” said Juan Aranda, a resident of Pine Creek, the neighboring condominium complex. “I don’t mind because I drive a motorcycle.”

However, his father, Fernando Aranda, does mind. He shares the biggest, if not the only, concern of most Pine Creek residents: traffic near an already congested highway on-ramp during the peak morning rush hour.

“You have to see in the morning how it is,” Aranda, 34, said. “PCH, there is a lot of traffic and there is no more room. Traffic will be jammed.”

Pine Creek resident Sheryl Wallace agrees. Turning into either units will be difficult because of the heavy traffic and the bus lane for the 110 Freeway doesn’t help, she said.

“It’s all about the traffic,” Wallace said. “I’m all for putting homes because it should improve the value of our homes.”

Opponents argue that a traffic signal is needed in order to improve traffic flow for both eastbound and westbound traffic on Pacific Coast Highway.

The installation of a traffic light is not proposed as part of the project because the California Environmental Quality Act requires only the impacts resulting from a project be mitigated. Furthermore, because Pacific Coast Highway is a state highway, the city does not have direct control over the installation of a traffic light, making it only available through the approval of Caltrans.

With traffic being the biggest issue, a consultant prepared a traffic study this past summer. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation approved the study with one mitigation requirement: to re-stripe the Pacific Coast Highway through lane and turn it into a lefthand turn lane. “If you increase the efficiency of the intersection by adding a lane for the westbound [traffic],

you increase the capacity of the intersection, enabling more signal timing … eastbound for the Harbor Freeway in the morning,” said Rob Katherman, community outreach consultant with the Katherman Group, which was contracted by the developer.

Unlike other projects, an environmental impact report was not needed because research showed that it would not have a significant impact on any of the surrounding areas, including the park adjacent to the property. The Los Angeles City Planning Department, as part of the environmental initial study determined that there were no significant impacts, which allowed the developers to proceeded with a mitigated negative declaration, a much simpler and faster alternative to the full environmental impact report process.

“It wasn’t done unduly fast,” Woersching said.

The Cityview Del Lago project application was filed March 1, 2012.

“We started our first community meeting in May of 2012 and have had 13 community meetings since then,” Katherman said.

“Basically, we’ve [gotten] resounding support.”

City staff issued an environmental clearance document on Oct. 25, 2012 to analyze environmental impacts and outline measures that reduce those impacts to levels of insignificance.

The project consists of 13 three-story apartments with a minimum of 380 parking spaces and 24,850 square feet of landscaped open space.

Originally, the project property housed an auto-dealership and has since undergone zoning changes to allow residential use.

Developers needed to change the zoning to allow for residential use. Katherman said that building something for commercial use only would probably generate as much, if not more traffic.

The lot, as of now, is vacant and an eye sore. One speaker, who was not named in the City Planning Commission’s recommendation report that mentioned the public hearing, voiced a mixed reaction. The speaker said that he favored the beautifying of the area, but also was concerned about the morning commute. The man said that, as is, the traffic congestion poses daily collision hazards.

“There are several near misses per day,” he said.

On Feb. 14, the City Planning Commission approved a zoning change to permit multifamily residential in addition to commercial use for the project, and a conditional use permit.

“That’s where we are at right now,” Woersching said.

The next step is to transmit the zone change to the Los Angeles City Council so that it goes to the Planning and Land Use Management Committee before the final approval from the council. Thereafter, the mayor would sign the zone change. That’s expected to take no more than two months.

“It’s a normal rate of speed,” Woersching said.

from p. 2

Public in Synch with POC them and then the tourists come,” Davies said.

“That’s the success story that you should think about. What would you love, because if you embrace it, the others will come.”

“There’s well-seasoned ideas out there, that’s for sure,” Johnson’s brother Alan, Jerico’s CEO told Random Lengths before the meeting, saying, “The bulk of the meeting would be devoted to listening and answering questions and giving folks a chance to weigh in on what they want to see there.” But the team had done such a good job that most comments either offered minor additions or else raised general question—such as public safety/crime and traffic flow/access concerns—which the team answered in a manner that showed considerable forethought had already been given.

“I brought in a whole list of things,” said Louis Dominguez, “and I can’t tell you how delighted I am that most of the stuff I have here, you’ve already talked about.”

The one subject that attracted multiple related comments was what to do with proposed parking along the bluffs. Tony Jabuka, who owns the Bike Palace, had the most ambitious, visionary suggestion, “Don’t stop at the height of Harbor Boulevard bring it two stories higher, and bring it all the way to the height of plaza park,” Jabuka said, adding that Harbor Blvd. should be converted into a tunnel, with a park on top from 8th to 14th streets A longer version of this story is available online at randomlengthsnews.com.

Anti-SCIG Activists Stage Protest in L.A. Mayor’s Mansion

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April 5 - 18, 2013

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Pictured is Coalition for a Safe Environment founder Jesse Marquez made up part of the Harbor Area contingent of activists that trekked from Long Beach to the Los Angeles Mayor’s Mansion to stage a demonstration against the BNSF Railyard’s Southern California International Gateway set to be built in Wilmington. Go to pg. 6 to read more. Photo by Betty Guevara

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from p. 1

Hunger Strike Protests SCIG Rail Yard

LOS ANGELES—On March 29, several people participated in a 24-hunger strike outside the Mayor’s Mansion in Los Angeles, to protest the Harbor Commission’s approval of a proposed rail yard in the Harbor Area.

The rail yard, Southern California Gateway International, is being built on a 153 acre facility

by BNSF Railway. The railway runs adjacent to the Terminal Island Freeway, between Pacific Coast Highway and Sepulveda blvd.

Residents of the area voiced concern over increasing the pollution in an already heavily polluted neighborhood. They believe this will result in an even higher rate of asthma, lung disease and many other health issues. They also insist that the project violates both California and federal environmental justice laws.

Furthermore, the Los Angeles Harbor Commission’s Environmental Impact Review of the project admits that the BNSF rail yard “would fall disproportionately on minority and low-income populations because the census block groups [are] adjacent to the point of impact.”

Protesters assert that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who appointed the commissioners, made no attempt to stop a new railyard from being built in a residential area.

Supporters of the railway say that it will eliminate 1.3 million truck trips per year.

Law Firm Get Maritime Law Specialists

April 5 - 18, 2013

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

SAN PEDRO—The Law Offices of Charles D. Naylor, in San Pedro, has become the first and only plaintiff’s maritime personal injury law firm in Southern California to have two certified legal specialists in Maritime Law. Maritime law is a federal law that governs most injuries that occur on the high seas, navigable waters of the United States, or on piers, docks, wharves and beaches. A maritime personal injury lawyer is the best choice for injured and ill: • Jones Act seamen, including merchant sailors, commercial fisherman, commercial divers, and crew members on supply boats, tug and barge, service vessels and container ships • Cruise ship passengers and crew • Longshore, harbor and shipyard workers • Offshore oil and gas workers To be eligible for certification as a specialist, a lawyer must prove that Admiralty and Maritime Law is a substantial part of their practice, meet continuing education requirements, demonstrate his/her experience and proficiency through prior case handling or pass a written examination and be favorably evaluated by other lawyers and judges familiar with their work.

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Arkansas Tar Sands Pipeline Spill Highlights Keystone XL Dangers

LITTLE ROCK, ARK—ExxonMobil’s Pegasus pipeline ruptured in central Arkansas, about 20 miles north of Little Rock, on March 30, spilling thousands of barrels.

The Environmental Protection Agency is calling it a “major spill.”

The company said more than 12,000 barrels of oil and water, or 185,000 gallons, had been recovered by March 31. Reports say the line gushed for 45 minutes before being stopped. Twenty-two homes were evacuated.

The pipeline carries the same Alberta crude the Keystone pipeline would carry.

The Arkansas accident was the second Canadian crude oil spill in less than a week.

On March 26, a train derailed, leaking 30,000 gallons of crude in Western Minnesota. The 20-inch Pegasus pipeline carries 90,000 gallons of crude a day from Illinois to Texas.

The Keystone XL Pipeline would stretch 1,179 miles from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska, where it would connect with the pipeline News Briefs/ to p. 22

Carson’s Prodigal Son Returns Through his tenure as Water Replenishment District president, Robles and the rest of the board have weathered attacks by local governments, including the ones from October 2012, when critics jumped on his comments in which he called the cities that refused to pay their bill, “deadbeats.” Shortly afterwards, Robles explained the cities have been trying to split the water districts so that can pay the lower amount. The state mandates that the water districts establish the same rate for all the cities.

It’s less expensive to replenish the Central Water Basin than it is to replenish West Basin.

When cities pump water from the nearby river, it is less expensive to replenish whereas for the beach cities there is no way to cheaply replenish groundwater sources, which would require pumping the water into the ground.

Cities locked in a decades long legal battle over water rates with Water Replenishment District suffered an embarrassing blow March 15, when a judge dismissed their suit for an injunction against the district sending parcel owners rate increase notices.

“The duplicity of the cities was made clear last week,” Robles said.

The cities, Signal Hill, Cerritos and Downey rely on imported water sources and groundwater from wells. The Water Replenishment District is the agency responsible for managing the underground water supply for the Central and West Basins.

The Central Basin Municipal Water District is the agency that sells wholesale imported water to the City.

The fight has gotten so nasty that last year, following a statement in which Robles called the recalcitrant cities “deadbeats,” reports of his struggles over his personal finances emerged, along with his skirmishes with former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley in previous electoral races Robles had ran.

In 2007, the District Attorney’s office accused Robles of paying cash for pamphlets supporting a slate of candidates in a water district election in Pico Rivera and mailing them anonymously. The law requires payment by check and return addresses on political mail. Robles was acquitted of the charges but chose to run against the longtime District Attorney Steve Cooley before the acquittals came. Robles came in a distant second. This time around, Robles came out on top and the political attacks he weathered last year stayed in the grave.

Of any of the candidates running in the March race, Robles the most credentialed-credentialed enough to run for higher office after a term or two in the Carson City Council. But rather than talk about his political aspirations, he instead focused on his economic agenda, noting the need for a Plan B since Gov. Jerry Brown ended redevelopment agencies as Californians knew them.

Robles noted that in 2012, the City of Carson invested and spent about $50 million in capital infrastructure projects, and that within four years, the city will have spent less than $4 million.

“So what is Carson doing to make up for that?” he asked. “My proposal is to position Robles/ to p. 23

Councilman Albert Robles, right, after he was sworn into office by state Assembly Member Isadore Hall, left, on March 27.

Photo: George Castro.

Cuts Could Cost Gang Alternatives

By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter With a new city council seated and a new fiscal year looming, Carson is faced with possibly making difficult choices about what community organizations will continue to receive funding.

One potential casualty could be the Gang Alternatives Program, a non-profit organization that provides anti-gang services and programs in local schools. According to its Web site, www. gangfree.org, the program has, throughout many years, established a targeted prevention program that includes education and afterschool programs.

“The city council hasn’t made a final decision but such changes have to be run through the Citywide Advisory Committee and they did not recommend continued funding of GAP,” Executive Director Doug Semark told Random Lengths. “That doesn’t mean they’re anti-GAP but there are far fewer dollars to go around.”

GAP receives money in the form of Community Development Block Grants from the city. Semark added that Carson Mayor Jim Dear has publicly pledged to do his best to see that funding is restored.

Public and Governmental Affairs Community Outreach Coordinator Victor Medina said that GAP has been providing its programs for 11 years in Carson. The Step Up! After-school program is offered at 232 Place and Ambler elementary schools. The Gangfree Life® Program works in four elementary schools: 232 Place, Annalee, Dominguez and Catskill.

Medina also recently provided further information in an interview conducted by e-mail: Random Lengths: Please describe how the Gang Alternatives Program got started.

Medina: GAP was created in 1986 as the outgrowth of the work of the Harbor Youth Violence Reduction Roundtable, jointly sponsored by the United Way and the County Board of Supervisors. Los Angeles Police Department statistics showed the Los Angeles Harbor Area had a high level of gang activity and resulting crime—higher than virtually all other parts of the County. GAP was formed as a result.

GAP applies the CDC’s “Public Health Approach to Violence Prevention” in developing a successful multi-disciplinary best practice approach.

RL: How large is your staff and what’s your overall organization structure?

Medina: We have 60 employees…

GAP’s organizational structure implements a comprehensive public health approach to solving the problems of gangs and crime. The only way to reduce crime is to change the individual, the family, and the community, and we achieve [that] through the following programs and services.

• School-based youth gang prevention curriculum for second, fourth and sixth grades • Parent Project® and Teen Project® education program • Graffiti abatement program and community beautification programs • Youth job training and development • Case management and referral services • STEP UP! After school programs • Workplace Transitional program RL: How many individuals are serviced?

What’s your success rate?

Medina: We service about 6,000 children and 25,000 families in [more than a dozen South Bay communities including] Carson.

GAP also monitors its program effectiveness by pre-GAP and post-GAP surveys, administered at every school GAP works in. GAP also partners with Vital Research LLC in evaluating the efficacy of our programs … with a 95 percent success rate.

RL: How is GAP funded? How much funding is provided by the City of Carson?

Medina: With the nature of GAP’s programs and services, GAP’s funding streams are diverse.

Funding provided by the City of Carson is $10,000, which GAP receives through CDBG funds. GAP spends an estimated amount of $250,000 in … Carson annually. GAP also holds its annual fall luncheon[s] and annual spring fundraisers in Carson.

Details: (888) 293-9323; www.gangfree.org

How the Maker of TurboTax Fought Free, Simple Tax Filing

By Liz Day, Propublica. This story was co-produced with NPR.

taxation.”

In its latest annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, however, Intuit also says that free government tax preparation presents a risk to its business.

Roughly 25 million Americans used TurboTax this past year, and a recent Government Accountability Office analysis said the software accounted for more than half of individual returns filed electronically. TurboTax products and services made up 35 percent of Intuit’s $4.2 billion in total revenues this past year. Versions of TurboTax for individuals and small businesses range in price from free to $150.

Turbo Tax Fought Simple Filing/ to p. 19

Stay current with news, announcements and community events at http://tinyurl.com/rlnnews-announcements

April 5 - 18, 2013

(H&R Block, whose tax filing product H&R Block At Home competes with TurboTax, declined to discuss return-free filing with ProPublica. The company’s disclosure forms state that it also has lobbied on at least one bill related to return-free filing.)

••• Proponents of return-free filing say Intuit and other critics are exaggerating the risks of government involvement. No one would be forced to accept the IRS accounting of their taxes, they say, so there’s little to fear.

“It’s voluntary,” Austan Goolsbee, who served as the chief economist for the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, told ProPublica. “If you don’t trust the government, you don’t have to do it.”

Goolsbee has written in favor of the idea and published the estimate of $2 billion in saved preparation costs in a 2006 paper that also said return-free “could significantly reduce the time lag in resolving disputes and accelerate the time to receive a refund.”

Other advocates point out that the IRS would be doing essentially the same work it does now.

The agency would simply share its tax calculation before a taxpayer files rather than afterward when it checks a return.

“When you make an appointment for a car to get serviced, the service history is all there. Since the IRS already has all that info anyway, it’s not a big challenge to put it in a format where we

The Local Publication You Actually Read

Imagine filing your income taxes in five minutes—and for free.

You’d open up a pre-filled return, see what the government thinks you owe, make any needed changes and be done. The miserable annual Internal Revenue Service shuffle, gone.

It’s already a reality in Denmark, Sweden and Spain. The government-prepared return would estimate your taxes using information your employer and bank already send it. Advocates say tens of millions of taxpayers could use such a system each year, saving them a collective $2 billion and 225 million hours in preparation costs and time, according to one estimate.

The idea, known as “return-free filing,” would be a voluntary alternative to hiring a tax preparer or using commercial tax software. The concept has been around for decades and has been endorsed by both President Ronald Reagan and a campaigning President Barack Obama.

“This is not some pie-inthe-sky that’s never been done before,” said William Gale, co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “It’s doable, feasible, implementable and at a relatively low cost.”

So why hasn’t it become a reality?

Well, for one thing, it doesn’t help that it’s been opposed for years by the company behind the most popular consumer tax software—Intuit, maker of TurboTax. Conservative tax activist Grover Norquist and an influential computer industry group also have fought return-free filing.

Intuit has spent about $11.5 million on federal lobbying in the past five years—more than Apple or Amazon. Although the lobbying spans a range of issues, Intuit’s disclosures pointedly note that the company “opposes IRS government tax preparation.”

The disclosures show that Intuit as recently as 2011 lobbied on two bills, both of which died, that would have allowed many taxpayers to file pre-filled returns for free. The company also lobbied on bills in 2007 and 2011 that would have barred the Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, from initiating return-free filing.

Intuit argues that allowing the IRS to act as a tax preparer could result in taxpayers paying more money. It is also a member of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which sponsors a “STOP IRS TAKEOVER” campaign and a website calling return-free filing a “massive expansion of the U.S. government through a big government program.”

In an emailed statement, Intuit spokeswoman Julie Miller said, “Like many other companies, Intuit actively participates in the political process.”

Return-free programs curtail citizen participation in the tax process, she said, and also have “implications for accuracy and fairness in

could see it,” said Paul Caron, a tax professor at University of Cincinnati College of Law. “For a big slice of the population, that’s 100 percent of what’s on their tax return.”

Taxpayers would have three options when they receive a pre-filled return: accept it as is; make adjustments to the filing status or income for example; or reject it and file a return by other means.

“I’ve been shocked as a tax person and citizen that this hasn’t happened by now,”

Caron said.

Some conservative activists have sided with Intuit.

In 2005, Norquist testified before the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform arguing against return-free filing. The next year, Norquist and others wrote in a letter to Bush that getting an official-looking “bill” from the IRS could be “extremely intimidating, particularly for seniors, low-income and nonEnglish speaking citizens.”

Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform, declined to comment, but a spokesman pointed to a letter he and other conservatives sent this month to members of Congress. The letter

7

Just Whose Money Is It Anyway?

Currency, Debt and the Role of Government

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

on cutting the budget. Cut Medicare, cut Social Security and cut...cut...cut. But look at what just one small piece of federal spending in infrastructure has done in Los Angeles. The Metro Expo Line, which runs from downtown to Culver City was projected to cost $620 million. It was recently that reported cost overruns was in the range of $220 million with critics screaming in its wake. Yet, rail line has created thousands of jobs. And what’s more, at every Expo Line station, there is a flurry of development investments. This in turn will increase property tax revenues and eventually higher revenues from sales tax.

This is a prime example of the maxim, “private profit follows public investment.” The Federal money spent on the MTA Expo Line and the building booms around those stations is perhaps one of the most significant bright spots of a struggling Southern California economy.

This example of leveraging federal

April 5 - 18, 2013

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

If I were to ask the average person on the street, “Whose money was in their pocket,” they would adamantly tell me that it was theirs.

In the common understanding of ownership, they’d be right. On a much bigger perspective, the currency of any nation or region belongs to the people of that nation.

Basically it means that it is both yours and ours collectively. The banks think that it belongs to them.

If you don’t believe this, then try printing up some money with your own picture on it backed, not by the Federal Reserve, but by the bank of “Me” and see just how far that will get you at the supermarket. This concept of money, which has been around since our ancestors first started trading using seashells, is a curious thing as it is reliant on everyone trusting that this currency actually holds some intrinsic value, however abstract it has become.

Trust is actually the critical issue with money, some say that’s why we only print pictures of dead presidents on it, because they are the only ones Americans trust. The issue of trust is essential in dealing with the core idea of “this note is legal tender for all debts public and private.”

Gone are the days when the currency was backed by gold or even silver. It is now backed by nothing more than our faith in the U.S. government and its ability to sell treasury bonds on the world market. It’s a pretty abstract concept when you think about it. The idea is comparable to an electrical current. Electricity only keeps flowing if the circuit remains unbroken. This is relevant to the way money works as well. If you stop the flow of money, the system short-circuits.

That’s what almost happened with the Wall Street Banks and the nation in 2007.

The economy was “re-booted” with a massive infusion of currency into the financial system reflecting trust. Now lo-and-behold, Wall Street is posting record high volumes and profits. Yet, on the Main Street side of this equation, money and credit is still very tight.

The sequester of the federal budget has done little to bolster the confidence in the future and our friendly bankers are squeezing more money out of small business with fees and credit restrictions– none of which are actually going to improve unemployment or growth of the real economy. So what to do?

My conservative readers keep harping

8

Not Black and White

By Mathew Highland, Staff Contributor

The current Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights movement has been a fast, confusing and very winding road.

Now that marriage equality has reached the all-decisive Supreme Court, everyone keeps asking, “Will the court rule for or against gay marriage?” The simple answer is: It’s complicated.

Most people understand that the court is deciding whether Proposition 8, the voterapproved marriage ban on same-sex couples in California, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which only recognizes heterosexual marriages, are unconstitutional.

What is important here is on what grounds are these unconstitutional. There are numerous possible outcomes, though the likely rulings will be anything but black and white.

In the Proposition 8 and DOMA cases, there

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projects were made, it would not only guarantee a successful waterfront development, but would create huge capital investments all along its route to some of the most economically impacted parts of this region.

This is an example of government doing for the people that which they can not do for themselves and spending our way out of recession.

State of Equality:

Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com

“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.”

—Mark Twain Vol. XXXIV : No. 7

transportation grants to build transportation infrastructure that in turn inspires private capital investments should not be lost on the Port of Los Angeles as it moves forward with its Ports O’Call waterfront development. The current Mayor of Los Angeles previously authorized a study of similar transportation links to the Harbor and connecting it with various routes to the LAX airport. If this and other transportation

are issues with “standing.” In both cases, the parties with the authority to defend the discriminatory legislation have declined, requiring others to step in. If the defense is determined to be without “standing” the cases would be dismissed. If one case were dismissed, it would seem that both would have to be dismissed considering that they suffer from the exact same problem. From the justices’ questions, the fact that they agreed to hear the cases, and what’s out there on the blogosphere, this outcome seems unlikely—but still possible.

With that procedural issue out of the way, we move to constitutionality. One possible and likely scenario, which would be seen as a huge win for gay rights is that Prop. 8 and DOMA be ruled unconstitutional. Millions of Californians would benefit from marriage equality and DOMA would be struck down.

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This does NOT mean that marriage equality, throughout the United States, would be the law of the land. DOMA is likely to be found unconstitutional, not on the grounds of the “equal protection clause,” but under the 10th Amendment of “states rights.”

In this likely scenario, Proposition 8 is either ruled unconstitutional with an obscure and narrow decision, or dismissed letting the 9th Circuit ruling stand. Prop. 8 will not be decided in a far-reaching decision based on the equal protection clause, as it should. It should be of great concern that the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment is given so little weight in this Justice John Roberts-led court. This could spell trouble for the Voting Rights Act, which the court will be taking up soon.

While this outcome would be a huge win for gay rights, we should celebrate cautiously as this is not necessarily a progressive win. Federalism versus ‘states rights’ is an American tension that dates back to our very beginnings, to Jefferson continued on following page

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Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We welcome articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right to express those opinions. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Reporting Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2013 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.

RANDOMLetters

After Effects

I really agree with you about the cost of war and the “after affects” of our country’s thrust for war.

With that on mind, I’m also curious now—on just a personal level, what you think of North Korea’s new threat and what we should do about that. What are we supposed to do with a nut-ball like Kim? Richard Pawlowski Depoe Bay, OR

Richard, Amazed that you actually agree with me on something!

Of course, hanging out up in the north country does tend to change one’s perspective. As for North Korea, this conflict is as old as I am and war has only been kept in abeyance by the most curious of armistices demarking the 38th parallel—based on agreements, between our nation and the Soviet Union during World War II. (Do read a short history of the Korean War, as it is far more complex than we realize.) Both North and South Korea have been used as surrogates in the Cold War, but now the North has become more isolated as U.S. relations with China and Russia improve.

Diplomacy is still the less expensive option and currently the saber rattling can rightly be seen as the insecurity of an inexperienced new leader trying to show some national bravado. However, if you read the Art of War by Sun Tzu, who considered war as a necessary evil that must be avoided whenever possible, we should not be lured into overreacting. We should heed this classic advice and not stupidly rush into yet another conflict.

James Preston Allen Publisher

Seeking a Group of Men

from previous page

State of Equality

commerce clause in the Obamacare ruling combined with the emphasis on states rights in the DOMA ruling, and the avoidance of the equal protection clause in Proposition 8 and DOMA signals a huge attack on Federalism and social progress.

The Obamacare and likely marriage equality rulings will surely seem to the American public like progressive decisions by the Roberts’ court. They are not. When historians look back on the Roberts’ court this clever maneuvering will be seen as the hallmark of his style. This allows the court to avoid progressive ire while laying the foundation for truly regressive policy and conservative interpretations of law.

The foundations of progressive achievements, ranging from social security to anti-segregation laws, are being undermined and set up to be potentially dismantled. So ironically, things that the LGBT movement is fighting for, like spousal benefits from social security and freedom from discrimination, may all be compromised by these decisions in the long run.

Assimilation?

Please

Some 313 names on page 1 in the Press-Telegram, (Mar. 19), of e fallen in the war in Iraq.

103 Hispanics (1/3). A few noncitizens. I recall reading the Los Angeles Times, (Aug. 15, 1948), of a military funeral ship arriving in Oakland with 132 war dead from the Pacific. 33 were hispanic,

(Chicanos if you please).

It listed the body of Jules Vasquez sent to his address on “Rodriguez St.” In the “Mexican Colony” of Shaffer, California.

Then we knew our place.

In the list of 313 is the name of Cpl. Jose Garibay of Costa Mesa.

He was the first Iraq war dead from Orange County. I recall reading that when a delegation of marines called on the family, they walked past U.S. and Mexican flags planted on the front lawn. In a letter to his mother, written in Spanish, he had asked for Mexican candy and a CD of ranchero (cowboy) music. I guess he was not truly Americanized. On my return from Europe at the end of World War 2 my travel orders, (which i still have), under race I was listed as

Mexican.

Memories!

Val Rodriguez Signal Hill

A Transit Connection

Is Councilman Joe Buscaino going to lobby the New Mayor for a M.T.A. seat?

Since C.D. 15 Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores floated the idea of bringing the Modern Metro system to the Harbor Area, like the Blue or Green Lines, then extant, about twenty five years ago and got snubbed for her support for sure by her San Pedro supporters, no C.D. 15 Councilperson has supported the idea of connecting downtown Los Angeles with the Harbor Area More Letters/ to p. 10

April 5 - 18, 2013

and Hamilton. The ‘states rights’ argument has long been a bastion for resisting progress, was the refuge of the confederate states, and used to fight desegregation. This interpretation of the law does not want a large federal government capable of standing up for civil rights, only one that protects property rights. ‘States rights’ advocacy has found a contemporary home inside the Tea Party and Libertarianism.

This ruling would be consistent with the Roberts’ court track record and agenda of dismantling progress while appearing to advance it. Remember Obamacare? Roberts upheld it, but on the grounds of it being a tax. The easiest route to have it upheld, in keeping with court precedent over the past 60 years, would have been to find Obamacare legal under the commerce clause.

This is the pillar that the Civil Rights Act stands upon. Conservative judicial activists have long held this as a target. The diminishment of the

For centuries Christians have observed the crucifixion of Jesus as being on Friday afternoon and the resurrection at dawn the following Sunday. This is only a period of about 40 hours and certainly does not fit Jesus’ prediction of three days and three nights?

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40 The problem is neither with Jesus’ prediction nor with the Bible.

The problem is with our tradition that misses a very important fact of the events of that week in Jesus’ ministry.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover Sabbath. (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14, 31)). The Hebrew calendar begins each day at the evening twilight of the previous day. For example, the Jewish Friday begins at what would be the beginning of Thursday evening on our calendars. The Day of Preparation for Passover was always the 14th of the Hebrew month Abib (also known as Nisan).

Passover began that evening, the 15th.

Each year Passover fell on a different day of the week.

Passover was always a Special Sabbath. So except for those years when Passover happened to fall on Saturday, which was the regular weekly Sabbath, there would be two Sabbaths during Passover week.

Jesus was raised from the dead on the morning after the regular weekly Sabbath. It is never said that He was raised the morning after the Passover Sabbath. This would indicate that, as was most often the case, Passover did not fall that year on the regular weekly Sabbath.

The events of this most detailed week of Jesus’ life come together perfectly if in that year the Passover Sabbath fell on Friday.

That would place Jesus’ crucifixion on the day of Preparation for the Passover (Thursday); followed

by the Passover Sabbath (Friday); followed by the weekly Sabbath (Saturday); followed by the resurrection Sunday morning.

Jesus was in the grave, as He had predicated, three days and three nights.

Steve Casey Stonewall, LA

The Local Publication You Actually Read

So, I had just ended my third dance in as many songs played. I was at Jan Kain’s People’s Place on 6th St. for another of their 4th Friday Swing Peedro dance events.

I was headed for the bar, when an alluring dark-haired beauty caught my eye. She had an excited, and exciting—‘me-next?’—expression on her face. I looked around, and noticed other such looks, and realized that…I had entered heaven on earth.

The problem is that, heaven for me, and the other guys there, is not heaven for the dolls.

Yes, Swing Peedro is a ‘40s style event, and I like using the “guys and dolls” lingo.

I did a quick calculation, and realized that there were three dolls, for every guy. I get to dance with three dolls, and they get to dance with one me. Pretty cool! Except that I get this nagging feeling that, I just might not be able to satisfy, all these babes with just one-third of me.

So here’s the question: I put it to all of you he-men out there: Why is it I have so little competition for all of these chicks? Am I that cool?

Well yes, I am cool; but not that cool.

So guys, help me understand this strange phenomenon—we’ve got three dancing dolls for every guy. So I ask you: Would you rather watch TV or… Take a woman in your arms and dance?

Would you rather go bowling or…Take a woman in your arms and dance?

Would you rather sit at a bar with a bunch of guys or…Take a woman in your arms and dance?

Would you rather watch Dancing with the Stars or…Take a woman in your arms and dance?

Would you rather sit at home and watch a movie or…Take a woman in your arms and dance?

If your preference is the former to any of these, then hmmmm…no comment.

If on the other hand, you feel like I do that, “of course I would rather take a woman in my arms and sweep her across the floor to the rhythm of beautiful music, than do any of those other things” then you are a member of a Select Group of Men. Lou Mannick, San Pedro

How Long was Jesus in the Grave?

9

RANDOMLetters from p. 9

by a Modern Light Rail System for at least, the past 20 years. Not Rudy Svornich and not Janice Hahn, either.

When the local public lobbyist, Donald Compton, representing thousands of Wilmington poor, working class residents, especially their children, talked several months ago to Mr. Buscaino’s Tip Staffers, like Alison Becker and Dennis Gleason, he was surprised and pleased that both strongly supported connecting downtown with this Harbor Area by a modern, Rapid Light Rail System, stating to the lobbyist, that it’s about time that the Harbor Area gets into the 21st century.

Each told the lobbyist that their boss, Mr. Buscaino had already made public talks on the subject both to members of the City Council and to local gatherings.

The public lobbyist asked Ms. Becker if she could get Mr. Buscaino to put the connecting matter in writing, with his signature and she said it would be no problem. Several short weeks later, the lobbyist got such a letter, signed by Mr. Buscaino, an actual letter with Donald Compton as the intended recipient.

Since the creation of the M.T.A. Board of 13 seat holders, some 20 years ago, is the first time anything like this official support for what the MTAs own Master Plan calls the Metro Gold, south extension, system on the Median Strip of the 110 Freeway has been put into writing by C.D. 15 and signed by the Councilman. If he is serious about this, Mr. Buscaino must begin lobbying the new mayor of Los Angeles as soon as he or she becomes the mayor, elect, in May so that he can get one of the four seats that the new mayor will control.

Donald Compton WIlmington

Thank You

April 5 - 18, 2013

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

The San Pedro Pirates Marching Band thanks Vince Pirozzi, of Pirozzi’s Deli, for donating pasta sauce for the spaghetti dinner held at the Redmans Lodge on March 16. The marching band performed on March 17 at the Los Angeles Marathon.

The Pirates marching band thanks you for your generosity.

“The best sauce in town,” “Delicious.”

David Rojas San Pedro

10

Forming the Marine Workers Industrial Union

On April 26, 1930, about 180 delegates from cities around the nation gathered in New York City to form the Marine Workers Industrial Union (MWIU). There were 35 delegates from New York and the same from Philadelphia; twenty-seven of the Philly delegates were rank and file Longshoremen, many of them black. San Pedro sent ten delegates, and Houston sent five seamen and five black longshoremen.

Many of the delegates arrived in New York riding the freights. One of them was detained for five days on a South Carolina chain gang. Over half of the delegates were former members of the Industrial Workers of the World; Wobblies.

By the summer of 1932, in the Port of San Pedro, with the massive unemployment, it took nine months of waiting in the “fink hall” before a job turned up. Many men were forced to sleep under bridges, in lumber yards or any spot that provided protection from the

San Pedro Shred Festival Harbor Area Skateboarders were at the top of the hill for the San Pedro Shred festival on March 30.

Speeding downhill from Angels Gate Park to Paseo del Mar, skaters got full use out of the ramps and a street course set up for less experienced skaters. The sponsoring organization was the San Pedro Skateboard Association. The skating organization aim to make it an annual event.

Photos: Jerrick Romero.

elements and the San Pedro Police. Many unemployed seamen were ran out of town. The Longshoremen were offered more relief than their fellow seamen, although their conditions were not much better than the seamen.

By 1933 the average weekly wage for dockworkers in San Pedro was $10.45, and approximately 50 percent of the longshoremen were on relief rolls.

Jerry Brady San Pedro

Community Announcements:

Harbor Area from p. 2 on-one with struggling homeowners in California.

The event will allow homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments the opportunity to review their options and learn about possible alternatives to foreclosure. The event is free.

Homeowners will be seen on a first come, first-served basis and are encouraged to bring all mortgage documents, income documents, and hardship letters. A full list of the necessary documents can be found at www.

MakingHomeAffordable.gov and www.HOPENOW. com.

Attendees are encouraged to park in the West Hall Garage on 11th Street and LA Live Way, where parking will be complimentary.

Venue: Los Angeles Convention Center Location: 1201 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles

2013 Primary Nominating Election Results Certified

LOS ANGELES—City Clerk June Lagmay announced, March 26, that the certified results for the March 5, 2013, City of Los Angeles Primary Nominating Election has been released and can be viewed on the Office of the City Clerk–Election Division website at http://clerk.lacity.org/Elections.

The certified results contains the final election results for the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Community College District, broken out by vote-bymail and at-poll ballots within those jurisdictions, along with the combined totals from the other cities that conducted consolidated elections with the City of Los Angeles.

The City’s General Municipal Election will take place on May 21. The Special Runoff Election, if required, will be held on July 23.

The Certified Results will be submitted to the Los Angeles City Council, which shall declare the results of the Primary Nominating Election as well as the runoff candidates qualified to be placed on the General Municipal Election.

Details: (213) 978-0444; http://clerk.lacity.org/ Elections

by: Melina Paris, Music Columnist

A

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment Support Your Community. Shop Local.

fter publishing my feature story on guitar band Romero Y Perez this past year, I was struck by how unforgiving Southern California’s indy music circuit can be.

Here was a crazy awesome guitar band that could probably fit well on any Jazz stage or venue, yet most people won’t ever get to hear them because of the lack of musical infrastructure to expose and support independent artists.

There are a few ways for artists to create their own meal ticket, including: • Creating their own music scene at a single location with a limited geographical area • Joining an existing music scene according to their style and demographic Romero Y Perez recounted their experience playing at small venues and the pay-to-play practice that seems to predominate. Pay-to-play is when musicians pay to play at a venue, instead of the other way around. This, despite the fact that Los Angeles has one of the deepest talent pools around. In fact, the deeper the pool, the more fierce the competition, which are precisely the conditions that lead to the unbalanced relationship between local musicians and venue owners.

It made me think about the specific challenges local artists face in simply making a living from their art, let alone becoming a commercial success. After talking to four local music promoters, I got an opportunity to look at the plight of local musicians from a different angle. I also gained a deeper understanding of how challenging it is to foster a healthy ecosystem designed to nourish and sustain Southern California’s music scenes.

The promoter is the middle-man between the artists and the venue owners. Promoters do all the things independent bands tend to do for themselves, but generally, more effectively. They find venues, market the shows, manage the logistics of pay, equipment, staff, food and materials.

Promoters also negotiate the profit-sharing arrangement between the venues and artists. All the promoters I spoke with offer set rates with room for negotiation.

Merle Kreibich, the head of In House Music, has been producing jazz shows in and around Los Angeles for the past 20 years. A former Westin Hotel sales manLA’s Musical Talent continued on page 17.

April 5 – 18, 2013 April 5 – 18, 2013

11 11

7th Street Chophouse

• Happy Hour •

Chef Sison:

Baramee Thai Restaurant • $2 beers, $4 appetizers and wine & sake specials.

(310) 521-9400, 354 W. 6th St., San Pedro Blu Bar at Crowne Plaza • $4 Drinks and half off appetizers. (310) 519-8200, 601 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro Iron City Tavern • Happy Hour 1/2-price appetizers & drink specials: 4 to 6 p.m.

Mon. to Fri. 589 W. 9th St., San Pedro; (310) 547-4766 Ports o’ Call • Happy Hour: Mon. to Fri., 3 to 8 p.m. Taco Tuesdays. Oyster shooter & bloody mary Wednesdays. Jazz it Up Wednesdays at 7 p.m. (310) 833-3553, Berth 76 Ports O’ Call Village, San Pedro San Pedro Brewing Co. • Happy Hour: 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., Mon. to Fri. (310) 8315663, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro Whale & Ale • Happy Hour: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mon to Fri., 4 to 7 p.m. on Wed. Late Night Happy Hour: 10 p.m. to Midnight, Fri. Only. (310) 832-0363, 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Support Your Community. Shop Local!

Happy Hour Listings Are Paid Advertising

April 26 • 8:00 PM

by: Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

A rare evening of both acoustic & electric blues with master blues guitarist Bernie Pearl, founder of the original Long Beach Blues Festival and original host of “Nothing But the Blues.” Mike Barry will be on bass with Albert Trepagnier on drums.

T

Get A Free Copy Of Papa Blues, Papa John Creach with the Bernie Pearl Blues Band With Your Online Order www.brownpapertickets.com/event/349867 April 5 – 18, 2013

Info line 866-479-5644

$15 Advance $1.69 processing fee

$20 Door Sponsored by:

1417 W. 8 St., San Pedro, CA www.AlvasShowroom.com th

12

he 7th Street Chophouse opened up six years ago with the full intention of becoming the Harbor Area’s premier steakhouse under Chef Gabriel Contreras.

It had largely accomplished that goal by the time Contreras left in 2009. His sou chef, Chris Sison, however, has ably filled Contreras’ shoes.

The newest item on the Chophouse menu is the Colorado lamb shank on top of risotto, finished with red wine reduction and grilled broccolini. The broccolini is a green vegetable similar to broccoli but with smaller florets and longer, thin stalks.

Although often misidentified as young broccoli, it is a hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan.

“People love lamb,” Sison said. “We try to bring different types of cuts at an affordable price.

There are a lot of fine steakhouses out there but

people aren’t trying to spend that kind of money.

So I try to bring the price down a notch and give them the best meal I can.

“I tried to keep a classic steakhouse with a little bit of an international flavor that’s reflective of the diversity of the Harbor Area.”

Some of the ways Sison’s international touches are felt in the Chophouse can be seen in the introduction of a happy-hour menu that includes flat-bread, tex-mex rolls, spinach dip, chicken, shrimp, carnitas tacos and mini kobe burgers.

It is with the addition of the seared ahi tuna that has been one of the Chophouse’s great upgrades of the appetizer menu: Several thin slices of tuna that’s been braised at the edges on a bed of greens and chopped green onions with a side of wasabi and soy sauce.

Aris Anagnos, James Cromwell, Mike Farrell, Jan Goodman, Terry & Jerry Manpearl, Joe Perez, Rachel Sene & Jay Johnson and Suzanne Thompson

Invite You To

The Art, Politics and Culture of Cuba Today Presentations by: Terry Manpearl on her recent family visit to Cuba, Peter Schey, Legal Update on the Case of the Cuban Five Candi Sosa, solo, acoustic music Alicia Jrapko, International Committee and the 5 Days for the Five events in Washington, DC.

Sunday, April 14th, 4:00pm

April 5

Harlow Gold Show The Harlow Gold Show will be at Harvelle’s on at 10 p.m. April 5. The general admission is $15 and premium front reserve seats are $30.

Details: (562) 239-3700; www.longbeach.harvelles. com Venue: Harvelle’s Long Beach Location: 201 E. Broadway St., Long Beach Paul Gormley Trio The Paul Gormley Trio will be performing at the Grand Annex at 8 p.m. The jazz band features three members with a bass, piano and drums. Tickets will be $20 in advance and $25 at the door. A table seat and a bar ticket will cost $30.

Details: (310) 833-4813; www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex Theatre Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro Calendar to page 14.

Jose Fuster - 24x28 “Guajiro Entre Mujeres” $1,000. -original oil on canvas Sample of art for sale and more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/16954978@ N05/sets/72157628801438995/ $50 • RSVP: suzannethompson55@gmail.com or (310) 570-5419 ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment April 5 – 18, 2013

“I love the seared Ahi,” Sison said. “I always go to Hawaii [because of the fish]. The fish out there are of a higher quality.”

“I grew up around a lot of food and a lot of different cuisines in my area. I grew up around Japanese folks, Hawaiian, Belizean, Jamaican, Filipino. I grew up in Carson. Those are a range of cultures there. Samoans and Asians, and white folks. I went to a lot of these kids houses and experienced a lot of these cuisines.”

One of the newest items on the menu is the shrimp and sausage gumbo. His is a very flavorful soup that is just spicy enough for general public. But the danger of trying to pull off such a regional favorite is that you won’t meet the gumbo connoisseurs.

“I had to adjust it quite a bit, particularly the seasonings” said Sison about the Chophouse gumbo. “I just had to educate myself on how to get that more authentic flavor.”

The interesting thing about following chefs that have studied together is watching how they progress after graduating. Contreras graduated ahead of Sison. But there are a couple of others that are making a name for themselves in the upper echelons of the culinary experience.

“Our little group is making a name for itself.”

Sison calls Chef Fred Jean-Marie his culinary mentor. Sison described Jean-Marie style as simplicity that focuses on bringing out the natural flavors of the food.

“Just his whole approach toward food, it’s simple and just give that to the folks and they’ll appreciate that,” Sison explained. “Keep it simple and people will come.”

Chef Jean-Marie is the one mentor that Sison really follows. He’s from the Caribbean, so he had a whole different look on food, mostly from the business perspective.

Sison grew up watching his grandmother in the kitchen and his older brother barbecuing all sorts of meats. As Sison grew older, he increasingly cooked for his family.

It wasn’t until he saw a Cordon Bleu culinary school commercial on television that he considered becoming a chef.

“I was actually trying to become a refrigeration mechanic,” Sison said. “I was home one day from school and I saw an ad about the Cordon Bleu. I called them to see what it was about. Took a tour. I signed up the next week, and the rest is history.”

Details: (310) 684-1753; http://7thstreetchophouse. com Venue: 7th Street Chophouse Location: 465 W. 7th St., San Pedro Stay on the verge of dish and dining at http://tinyurl.com/rln-entree

Cuban appetizers, beverages, and Cuban art for sale At a private home in Santa Monica

Entertainment

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Calendar from page 13.

Jimmy Branly and Jimmy Haslip Project The Jimmy Branly and Jimmy Haslip Project will be at Alvas Showroom on Apr. at 8 p.m. April 5.

The band consists of four members and combines the music of drums, bass, keyboard, sax and flute.

Admission will be $20.

Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

Chef Dustin Trani Named in Top 5 Rising Chefs in the U.S T

On the Fritz!

The On the Fritz comedy show will be at the Grand Annex Theatre on April 6 at 8 p.m. Fritz Coleman returns to the Grand Annex for some stand-up comedy. Tickets are $35, while all proceeds go to the Youth Music Theatre Program.

Details: (310) 833-4813; www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex Theatre Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro Toolhouse Engelheart and John York Toolhouse Engleheart and John York will be performing at Alvas Showroom on April 6, at 8 p.m. Toolhouse is a guitarist and York is a singer, composer and guitarist. Admission will be $20.

Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

April 6

Loretta McNair Trio The Loretta McNair Trio will be performing April 6, from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at Crafted at the Port of

Japanese Restaurant Sushi Bar 380 W. 6th St. • 832-5585

FREE!!!

Please present this coupon at concessions for ONE free regular size soft drink or bottled water.

Exp. 05/02/13RLn

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Chef Dustin Trani. Photos by Terelle Jerricks.

Gayot Magazine and its accompanying restaurant, hotel, and travel reviews was founded in 1969 by André Gayot, a French restaurant critic. The magazine was initially designed to act as a guide focused on the top 40 restaurants in any given city rating them on a 20-point scale.

The Gayot Guide has been touted as an alternative to the Michelin Guide, which has been criticized for uneven appraisals of New York City restaurants. The décor, service, ambience and wine list are commented upon within each review, but do not affect a restaurant’s overall score.

Each year Gayot publishes its list of the Top 40 Restaurants in the United States, a guide to the nation’s best restaurants.

SUSHI BAR

#

April 5 – 18, 2013

Support Your Community. Shop Local!

Calendar to page 15.

his past month, Chef Dustin Trani of San Pedro’s J. Trani’s, who currently is at DOMA Beverly Hills restaurant was named as one of the top rising chefs in Gayot (guy-oh) Magazine’s Restaurant Issue for 2013.

Trani became the executive chef at DOMA in 2012, bringing Italian heritage and his travels around the world to his cuisine. Trani, who was trained at an early age by his father and grandfather, went to Belbo, Italy after college, where he studied pasta making at Guido da Costigliole. He then became a chef at the People’s Café in Zagreb in Croatia. At 23, he went further east to Thailand to cook at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

In 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chose Trani to represent California in the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans, where he met celebrity Chef Ming Tsai and became a fan of his. Tsai recruited him as a team member for the James Beard Awards. Trani later became a sous chef under Tsai at the Blue Ginger in Boston worked under Charles Phan of the Slanted Door in San Francisco and Todd English at Olives in New York.

EDGE OF LA INTERNATIONAL WINE FESTIVAL

April 6 | 2pm Off the Vine presents a multifaceted tasting of wines and beers from over 100 producers from throughout the world.

Proceeds from this event benefit Recovery at Sea. Tickets $35 - $55 and info at offthevinewines.com or call 310.831.1551.

MARYMOUNT CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SPRING RECITAL

April 10 | 7pm Music and dance of all styles performed by the Marymount Jazz Ensemble & Vox Choir, Marymount students and faculty members. Admission is FREE—presented as a gift to the community.

Marymountpv.edu.

DOO WOP CONCERT

April 27 | 8pm Clean San Pedro presents heavyweights of Doo Wop in a fundraiser for the Honorary Mayor campaign of CASEY WARREN. Tickets (G/A - $35; VIP $50) and info at Casey for Mayor on Facebook or call 310.833.4813

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT: “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” (2011)

April 12 | 8pm Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Dev Patel. Dine with friends (Whale and Ale? San Pedro Brewing Co? Niko’s Pizzeria?) and join us for this award-winning film. Sponsor—LA Harbor Int’l Film Festival laharborfilmfest.com.

Tickets $8 cash at the door.

“Rock the Boat” (2011)

April 22 | 7pm Celebrating Earth Day, this multiple award winning documentary examines how we have used and re-imagined nature to transform our “dream city” into the sprawl it has become. Admission FREE, a gift from Marymount California University.

478 W. 6th St.

Historic Downtown San Pedro

310.548.2493

The Warner Grand Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles, operated by the Department of Cultural Affairs.

For Information and Tickets, Please Visit WarnerGrand.org, GrandVision.org or ExperienceSP.com

Local Philanthropists Spend Time Paying it Forward Story and photo by: Andrea Serna, Contributing Arts Writer

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today.”

Also included in the tour were the Getty, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art and a rehearsal of Long Beach Operas’ next production Camelia de la Tejana.

This writer joined the group on their final day in Los Angeles, spent in and around San Pedro. The itinerary spotlighted studios and galleries in the downtown area, as well as the studio of Eugene Daub, the local artist recently lauded for his sculpture of Rosa Parks.

Marylyn said a key aspect of this project is to prepare students to serve as alumni. Leading by example, she and Chuck are paving the way for the next generation to educate and support the students of the 21st century. The continuation of the Syracuse University visual arts program is critical in her estimation.

The entire West Coast arm of the alumni association supports the student body.

One of the events they attended was a party in Los Angeles, where actor Rob Reiner, whose daughter is a student at the university, also was in attendance.

Architect Edward Carson Bell provided a private tour of the beautiful new Palos Verdes Art Center, which just re-opened following a $5.5 million dollar remodel. The main gallery’s exhibit Then and Now: One Hundred Years of California

April 7

Brett Hallam Holland Brett Hallam Holland will be performing at Alvas Showroom on April 7, at 4 p.m. Holland is an acoustic finger-style guitar player. Admission is $20.

Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com, Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

April 10

Marymount Spring Recital The Warner Grand will host the Marymount Spring Recital on April 10, at 7 p.m. The recital will feature music and dance of all styles. Marymount students, Marymount Jazz ensemble and Vox Choir will perform. This is a free event.

Details: (310) 548-2493; www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

April 13

Spock’s Beard CD Release Alvas Showroom will be hosting Spock’s Beard CD Release Concert on April 13, at 8 p.m. The band features five members utilizing vocals, guitar, keyboard, bass and drums. Tickets will cost $50 and will go on sale on April 8, at 12 p.m.

Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

April 14

Impressionism presents an extraordinary plein air art show reflecting the beautiful local landscape.

As we moved towards the ceramic studio, named for Marylyn and Chuck Klaus – Marylyn is a former ceramicist - it was easy to see this couple’s commitment to the local art community.

Syracuse University and San Pedro have both benefited from the generosity of these two philanthropists.

Richard Smith and Julie Adams Richard Smith and Julie Adams will be performing at Alvas Showroom on April 14, at 8 p.m. Smith is a finger-style guitarist and Adams is a cellist.

Admission will be $20.

Details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

April 20

Curtains Up: This is Broadway Golden State Pops Orchestra presents Tony Award winning selections sung in a concert setting from great shows such as A Chorus Line, Wicked, Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd, South Pacific and more.

Details: (310) 433-8774; www.gspo.com Venue: El Segundo Performing Arts Center Location: 641 Sheldon St., El Segundo Calendar to page 16.

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

ocal business owners Marylyn and Chuck Klaus operate The Grand Emporium on 7th Street in downtown San Pedro, but they place much of their energy into their deepest love: art.

Several local arts organizations have been the beneficiaries of their generosity. Their names are on the walls of the newly unveiled Palos Verdes Art Center and the Marymount College Waterfront Campus.

However, they seem to hold another, more distant place dear to their hearts, their alma mater, Syracuse University in New York. As a graduate of the art program Marylyn is especially proud of her school. The university has a permanent art collection of more than 45,000 objects from artists, such as, Picasso, Rembrandt, Hopper, Tiffany and Wyeth. More than 100 important paintings, sculptures and murals are displayed in public places around campus.

For the fourth consecutive year Marylyn and Chuck have sponsored students from the Syracuse University visual arts program for a weeklong art tour of Southern California. The group of eight students and four instructors were grateful for the break from the Syracuse winter and enthused to visit the pearls of the Los Angeles arts scene.

The group was busy.

“We toured the Walt Disney Hall, went to RedCat and attended a performance of the LA Philharmonic,” said Andy Frost, a student. “[The Museum of Latin American Art] was one of best museums we visited during this tour. The Martha Chilindron exhibit was one of our favorites. The work of contemporary artists at MoLAA was truly contemporary because it is from artists working

Calendar from page 14.

Los Angeles.

Details: (310) 732-1270; info@craftedportla.com Venue: Port of Los Angeles Location: 110 E. 22nd St., San Pedro

April 5 – 18, 2013

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Calendar continued from page 15.

Community/Family

Used Book Buy Sale The San Pedro Public Library is hosting a used book sale April 6, at 11 a.m.

Details: (310) 548-7779 Venue: San Pedro Library Location: 931 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro Job Shadow: Mammalogist The Aquarium of the Pacific will host Job Shadow: Mammalogist on April 6 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The Job Shadow takes a closer look at the field of marine mammal training. Tickets cost $35 a student and $29 for aquarium members. Aquarium admission is not included with the price. Only seven through 12 grade students are allowed. Call the number below to make reservations.

Details: (562) 951-1630; www.aquariumofpacific. org Venue: Aquarium of the Pacific Location: 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach Beach Clean Up Cabrillo Marine Aquarium educators will be hosting the beach clean up event April 6, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Help maintain and learn about the Cabrillo Native Garden.

Details: (310) 548-7562; www. cabrillomarineaquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Location: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

April 5 – 18, 2013

Support Your Community. Shop Local!

April 7

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Spectordance presents Ocean The Aquarium of the Pacific will host the dance media project Ocean on April 7, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Ocean is a collaboration of artists, scientists, educators and presenters, working to expand and contribute solutions to the issue of climate change. Tickets will range between $15 and $25 for aquarium members. Please purchase the tickets online.

Details: (562) 590-3100; www.aquariumofpacific. org Venue: Aquarium of the Pacific Location: 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach QSpeak Celebrates Women’s History Month In celebration of Women’s History Month, Helen Factor will share her experience with the Chicago Women’s Graphics Collective on April 7, from 3 to 6 p.m. The Women’s Graphics Collective wanted their feminist art to be a collective process in order to set it apart from the male-dominated Western art culture. Each poster was a joint creation by the members and most of the posters were not signed. The event is free.

Details: (562) 434-4455; www.centerlb.org Venue: The Center Long Beach Location: 2017 E. 4th St., Long Beach Weekend Tidepool Walk Cabrillo Marine Aquarium educators will host the Weekend Tidepool Walk on April 7, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Visitors are allowed to come join educators in taking a tour of the aquariums tidepools. Outdoor shoes are recommended. Adults must accompany young children.

Details: (310) 548-7562; www. cabrillomarineaquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Location: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

April 12

Sister Spit QSpeaks The Center Long Beach announced Sister Spit as part of the QSpeak Series, at 7:30 p.m. April 12, Calendar to page 17.

Barbara and William Crutchfield at Gallery 478. Photo by Betty Guevara

April 6

Habitat For Humanity Bike Ride The Habitat for Humanity will host a bike ride on April 6. This ride will help raise funds to help build homes in need. The course will begin at Terranea L.A. Oceanfront Resort and will have three destinations to choose from. The destinations will depend on the length of your ride. A 17, 34 and 50 mile course is being offered. The 17-mile course will begin at 8:45 a.m., the 34-mile course will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the 50 mile course will begin at 6:30 a.m. You can register for $75.

Details: www.habitatla.kintera.org/bikeride Venue: Terranea Resort Location: 6610 Palos Verdes Dr., Rancho Palos Verdes

William Crutchfield— Man, Machine and Nature by: Andrea Serna, Arts Columnist

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allery 478 presents a wide-ranging exhibition titled, William Crutchfield, Selected Works: Painting, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture.

Crutchfield, who is based in San Pedro, is an internationally recognized artist. Beneath Crutchfield’s whimsical subject matter and exquisite draftsmanship often lies a satirical commentary on humanity. The San Pedro-based artist uses a variety of media, sculpture, painting and prints, to harness his imagination.

His childhood in rural Indiana was spent immersed in nature. He grew up on a farm where a favorite pastime was lying on the ground observing the light passing through the negative space between the leaves of the trees.

As a young boy, Crutchfield became interested in art through a life drawing course in Indiana. The process of discovering the skill and technique of drawing bone and muscle sparked an interest in anatomy.

“The best book I ever read was an anatomy book,” he said.

Through this practice he experienced a kind of enlightenment.

“I can’t bring myself to kill a spider,” he said. “I know they have legs and a body just like me.”

He began his art career at Tulane University in his home state of Indiana. After completion of his master’s in fine arts degree, a Fulbright scholarship took him to Hamburg, Germany in 1960. The evidence of his long successful career is that his works have found a place in some of the most prestigious museums in the world.

The artist is in love with drawing, which he says he does every day.

“In a painting you are looking at layers and layers of paint and varnish, drawing is the hand moving.”

Curator Ron Linden said. “I believe Bill thinks with a pencil.”

Crutchfield said he frequently places pen on paper and allows it to move, as he watches images emerge. The action is fascinating to him. After laying down the detailed lines, he highlights with fine touches of color to pull out the images he finds on the page. The result is a cross between M.C. Esher and Google doodles.

“Every line is meant to be there,” Crutchfield said.

“Each component in the drawing is important.”

But there is much much more to his imagination.

Crutchfield has never lost his boyhood fascinations with things mechanical. Trains, planes and ships serve as vessels of transport for his imagination.

The sails of ships are drawn in such fine detail that you can almost touch the canvas sails and feel the woven cloth. Unlike any sails found in our marina.

In one piece, massive multi-level sails — a hundred sails on square rig masts — float across the sea, much as a ship out of a sci-fi novel.

Trains also take on a fantasy aspect. Locomotives chug across the page, wheels churning at a fantastic pace, steam engines spewing massive chunky smoke as it goes.

“My trains portray motion through color and light,” Crutchfield said.

Crutchfield’s interest in the relationship between man and machine was particularly suited to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s significant but controversial Art and Technology exhibition, held in 1971. Crutchfield produced its screen printed poster and several illustrations for the catalog.

In spite of the finely detailed precision of his drawings, it is his sculptures that display his talent for engineering. The artist spent many years of his career working for NASA. One piece, titled Countdown, is an homage to the space program that occupied his life during this period. Bronze numbers literally countdown to “blast off” in this piece. The sculpture is a reflection of a rocket’s preparation to send mankind to explore space.

Numbers and letters are also a theme here. In an irrational, illogical formation the letter “M” is transformed into a “W” in Man, Woman. The largest piece of the show “Fly,” the bronze sculpture presents the observer with a puzzle. “Fly” is read front and back as the letters morph in opposition.

“He is one of the most literate artists that I have come across,” Linden said. “He is a student of all of his subjects.”

The beauty of large graphics in this exhibition reflect Crutchfield’s master of lithography. As a professor, one of Crutchfield’s star students was Los Angeles lithographer Kenneth Tyler, who went on to found the influential print house Gemini G.E.L. “The emphasis on drawing was a natural fit for printmaking,” Linden said. “Crutchfield worked both at Gemini and Tamarind, beginning in 1960.

Air Land and Sea, a suite of 13 lithographs was completed during his second visit as a guest artist at Tamarind. Crutchfield employed his characteristic style by using tusche applied with a pen to create the inventive subject matter.”

Art critic Peter Plagens sums up the artist’s talent.

“Crutcthfield’s real merit is his being a social artist who is genuinely, visually inventive, and a visual artist whose comments have quite a bit to say – sneakily, quietly, (humorously), profoundly – about the errors of our ways,” Plagens said.

Details: (310) 732-2150 Venue: Gallery 478 Location: 478 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Delta blues slide man Sean Lane opened for Dave Widow and the Line Up on March 29 at Alvas Showroom.

This small music venue has made a name for itself by drawing in world class jazz artists and performer.

Photo courtesy of B. Noel Barr

Calendar from page 16. at MaDhaus in Long Beach.

Venue: MaDhaus Location: 624 Pacific Ave., Long Beach

April 13

Sock Hop The Sock Hop dance event will take place on April 13, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Don’t forget to bring your dancing shoes.

Details: (310) 732-1270; info@craftedportla.com Venue: Port of Los Angeles Location: 110 E. 22nd St., San Pedro

April 13

Fishing with Uncle Larry Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is offering a free program, “Fishing with Uncle Larry” from 9 to 11:30 a.m. April 13, Details: (310) 548-7562 ext. 223 Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Location: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

April 14

Sunday Storytime Cabrillo Marine Aquarium “Tell sea tales by the seashore,” from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. April 14.

Listeners of all ages can join along and be part of the story by integrating puppets and other props or may choose to read a book of their own.

This is a free activity; however, reservations are requested for groups.

Details: (310) 548-7562; www. cabrillomarineaquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Location: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

Continued from page 11.

Theater/Film April 6

music scene.

“I just want people to support the music because for a lot of us, that’s work and that’s how we get paid,” Moore explained.

Part of the issue, at least as explained by the promoters I talked to, is the lack of arts education that’s integral to the preservation of our cultural heritage.

Al Williams, a working musician and producer and promoter of several annual music events such as the Long Beach Jazz Festival says just as much.

“When I say people don’t seem to want the arts, they would if they knew what the arts were,” Williams explained. “The problem in America is that you’re not taught art, so therefore if someone is talking about hurting someone (doing something to somebody’s mama) or shooting a policeman or something like that that they relate to that because it’s what happens in their lives. [But] if there was art happening in their lives, they would look away from that and look more towards supporting what’s really important.”

The question of how to make Southern California more hospitable to its talent pool of musicians is a tough issue. As Kreibich explained, most venue owners are looking for instant profit when they introduce live entertainment and the local consumer base is generally oblivious of innovative work when they hear it and the effort it requires to deliver it to them.

But one thing that is for certain, the solution to saving Los Angeles talent pool, may well lie in the hands of promoters like Kreibich, Moore and Williams.

There’s opportunity for a win-win situation for music lovers and consumers, artists, venue owners and promoters.

Stay current with arts and entertainment http://tinyurl. com/rln-arts-entertainment

April 12

A Musical Tribute to the Work of William Shakespeare The Long Beach Shakespeare Company will be hosting A Musical Tribute of the Work of William Shakespeare on April 12, at 8 p.m. Four singers bring you an evening of modern musical inspired

by Shakespeare. Admission will be $20. This event will also be held on April 13, at 8 p.m. and April 14, at 2 p.m.

Details: (562) 997-1494; www.lbshakespeare.org Venue: Long Beach Shakespeare Theatre Company Location: 4250 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach The Island President The Grand Annex Theatre will be showing The Island President on April 12, at 7 p.m. The film captures the first year of office of Mohamed Nasheed of The Republic of Maldives. This event is free.

Details: (310) 833-4813; www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex Theatre Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Warner Grand Theatre will be showing The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel on April 12, at 8 p.m. A group of British retirees try to outsource their retirement by moving to the less expensive India, after being enticed by an advertisement for a renovated Marigold Hotel. Admission price will be $8.

Details: (310) 548-2493; www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro Calendar to page 18.

April 5 – 18, 2013

artistic that would come in and have a big name, but they would be so far out that they weren’t communicating or relating at all to the customer. Now, it’s similar because in order to get the gig, you have to present yourself as “entertainment,” that is the [label] the artist-musician have to take on.”

The difference between artists and entertainers is that people go to see artists because of who they are. People seek out entertainers because they are looking to be entertained. It is from this space that we get the “pay-to-play” system. Though Los Angeles is widely acknowledged in many artists’ circles for its deep talent pool, the people who could support this pool of artists are cultural luddites, accustomed to the meager offerings that their analog radio stations give them.

Event producer for Devourmedia, Aneesa Moore, sees this dynamic firsthand. Moore has been booking bands for the Blue Cafe in Long Beach since it moved to Pine Avenue from the Promenade in downtown Long Beach in 2010.

The move to downstairs of the Mariposa is a significant change from their prominent location on the Promenade.

The Mariposa does salsa and merengue with a DJ, attracting a Top 40 mainstream crowd while the Blue Cafe does live entertainment and music that includes old school hip hop, indie rock bands, psychedelic experimental, and ambient.

“It kind of throws off the people that come for the live music because they walk in, they hear the salsa/merengue, then see the crowd, they’re really confused,” Moore explained.

Moore described promoting music at the Cafe as like, “pulling teeth.”

“After living in Long Beach for over three years, I know the scene there and what people are into, what they’re willing to pay for,” Moore explained.

Moore’s demographic is generally younger and less disposable income. As a result, they tend to expect to go to a live entertainment venue for free adding an extra burden on sustaining a

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

ager before changing careers into a jazz music promoter, Kreibich says the key to her success was her creating music scenes to sustain the music she loves: jazz. In the company’s early days, she focused mainly on hotels, since they already had the resources to maintain musicians in the way that they should.

“Working in a hotel they usually have a grand piano on site, electronics and sound systems ... and an area devoted to music,” Kreibich said. She noted that the hotels already had a built-in audience in the guests staying at the hotel.

“They would come down for the evening and have a wonderful time,” she said. “There was like a two prong thing happening there that was a benefit to the hotel. Not only did I get the community out to support the jazz artists, but now we had the hotel guests coming down and supporting them.”

Kreibich was successful enough to gain the confidence to branch out to smaller, mom-andpop venues.

“They were the most challenging because they were focused more on ‘I have to make my money that night. We can’t really wait to build and brand this,’” Kreibich noted.

Kreibich, whose education background includes marketing, described the impatience and lack of marketing savvy of many restaurant and club proprietors as a revelation.

“I realized from the beginning the reason lots of clubs were closing and jazz was not maintaining was because they had no idea of how to run a jazz club and how to market the music.”

Kreibich explained that one of her biggest challenges is balancing the interest of making money for the venue and fulfilling the artistic side of the musicians.

“There are things structured on the musician’s side that the musicians don’t necessarily like.

[Like] when you say, ‘keep the original music at a minimum and play the standards... so that the consumer base can relate to you,’” Kreibich explained.

“It used to be that you could get somebody very

Lily CAI Chinese Dance The Lily CAI Chinese Dance Company Dynasties and Beyond will be at the James Armstrong Theatre on April 6, at 8 p.m. This company melds ancient Chinese forms with modern dance in an artistic and inventive marriage of style portraying the Chinese Woman. Admission will be $30.

Details: (310) 781-7150; www.torranceca.gov Venue: James Armstrong Theatre Location: 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance

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Calendar continued from page 17.

April 19

I Can We Can Introductory Theater of the Oppressed Workshop at Grand Annex presents I Can We Can, April 19, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Come learn theatrical techniques to notice your personal threshold between what you feel you can and can’t do to help end abuse and take action to move that threshold.

Details: (310) 833-4813; RSVP at jgale@awbw.org Venue: Grand Annex Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Art

Support Your Community. Shop Local!

Museum of Latin American Art: Project Room Marta Chilindron: Integral Geometries The work of artist Marta Chilindrón (Argentina, b.

1951) has been informed by her explorations of geometric forms, materials and the relationship between perspective and sculpture. The artist began experimenting with these modular forms at the end of the 1970s, producing unfolding sculptures of simplified furniture forms that collapse in space. Integral Geometries features previously created and new works by Chilindrón, including a series of scale models which you can manipulate in order to understand the unfolding systems of the sculptures. Integral Geometries is funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. 5:Post Harbor Recent Works By: Nerissa Cook, Oscar Duarte, Christopher Hernandez, Elizabeth Medina, Eduardo Silva.

March 30- May 4.

Details: (310) 600-4873 Venue: Fine Arts Gallery, Los Angeles Harbor College Location: 1111 Figueroa Place, Wilmington Then and Now: One Hundred Years of California Impressionism The Palos Verdes Art Center/Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education celebrates their grand re-opening with an extraordinary plein air painting exhibition including signature artists from the California Art Club’s traveling exhibition. A historical look at plein air paintings through private collections to include the first painting acquired by the Palos Verdes Art Center in 1931; and a look at California Art Club members living in Palos Verdes, giving a local emphasis to the entire exhibition.

The show runs March 23 through May 5.

Details: www.pvartcenter.org, (310) 541-2479 Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center Location: 5504 Crestridge Rd., Palos Verdes 90274 Searchin’: Los Angeles and the Quest for the Sublime Searchin’ is an exhibition that considers contemporary, critical engagements with the theoretical sublime. Inspired by 70s Californian conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader’s project, In Search of the Miraculous, the contemporary artists whose work makes up this exhibition re-examine his quest for the sublime and through it, launch their own journeys into the wilderness.

The show runs through April 19.

Details: www.angelsgateart.org Venue: Angels Gate Cultural Center, main gallery Location: 3601 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro

April 5 – 18, 2013

Home Alone Presentation of the new photo book Home Alone by photographer Tim Maxeiner. Shot completely in San Pedro. Tim Maxeiner, lives in Los Angeles. As a passionate surfer and skateboarder, he knows the California coast by heart. Finally, he settled in San Pedro, the port district of Los Angeles. There, he came to know the particular ‘car culture’ which inspired this book.

Details: timmaxeiner.com Venue: Le Grand Salon - In the Historic Arcade Building Location: 479 W. 6th St. San Pedro

18

The Speck Inside Your Eye This exhibition brings together an eclectic mix of artworks combined and interpreted creatively to challenge the imagination.The Speck Inside Your Eye is and interpretation of the artist’s view of how the world sees us and how quick we are to be judgemental. Artist’s reception is April 6, from 6 to 10 p.m.

Venue: Gallery Azul Location: 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro

When It’s You That’s Cookin’ by: Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

I

recently came an across email with a subject line that read, “Bacon Sunscreen and Bacon Condoms.” I get more than a hundred junk emails in my inbox everyday. To get emails such as this is not unusual. The adolescent in me that watched the Simpsons from when it first aired to well into his 30s, wanted to see what kind of Homers thought this one up.

The email turned out to be the real deal. These just happened to be a couple of products among almost a dozen others related to bacon. They sell all manner of bacon seasonings and condiments intended to go on just about everything. Their website’s “About” section confirmed my initial thought. The bacon condom and sunscreen came from a pair of “Homer Simpsons” on the couch flipping through channels for a ballgame when the thought occurred to them. I’m pretty certain the words, “hmmmm.....bacon,” escaped their drooling mouths in Homeresque fashion.

I explored the company’s website they also offer Bacon Salt, Baconnaise, Bacon pop, bacon ranch, bacon croutons, bacon gravy, bacon rub,

bacon crispy bake, and bacon Lip Balm. It’s no wonder retail prices for sliced bacon reached historic highs. In 2010, the retail price for bacon reached $4.04 per pound, the highest in 30 years in US cities. It’s $4.51 per pound as of February 2013.

This bacon obsession strikes me as a backlash of sorts. Or maybe a backlash of a backlash of a backlash perhaps. We live in time where people in certain parts of the country, in rejection of a “Nanny State,” thumb their noses at every new report that tells them what the can’t eat any more to stay alive. This same group of people who attack the First Lady’s Move campaign when they’re not attacking the president for one thing or another.

Actually, the rise in the popularity of porkbellies is rooted in the rising cost of other meats.

Consumers have been switching to lower cost meats such as pork-bellies thus contributing to rise in retail prices, along with rise in feed cost.

In this culinary end-of-times moment, bacon has become an important element in our gastronomic hedonism as evidenced by the bacon-

Then and Now at the Palos Verdes Art Center by: Andrea Serna, Contributing Arts Writer

T

he Palos Verdes Art Center recently celebrated the completion of a $5.5 million renovation with an extraordinary exhibition of California plein air art.

The exhibition Then and Now: One Hundred Years of California Impression perfectly defines, and grounds the new art center. The Palos Verdes Art Center began its history in 1931 with its first acquisition for the permanent collection, Paul Lauritz’s Western Sea and Coast, considered an important example of California plein air painting.

The inclusion of this piece brings the center full circle, from its humble rural beginnings 82 years ago, towards a distinguished contemporary center for the arts.

The exhibition is presented in three parts, staged in three galleries of the beautifully refurbished building. Each gallery offers a visually compelling experience for the visitor.

Jean Stern of the Irvine Museum curated the first installation that greets the visitor in the main gallery, Preserving the Environment Today. This exhibition highlights work of the prestigious California Art Club signature artists. The art club, established in 1909, underwent a revival in 1993 by contemporary artists seeking to promote artistic techniques nearly forgotten. In the second half of

the 20th century representational art fell out of vogue but enthusiasts of plein air art like to say, “Traditional art is the new avant garde.”

This exhibition proves their point. This style is a vehicle for painting landscapes in the manner that captures light – ever changing light – in an environment that cannot be duplicated, even with digital methods. When you see these paintings you are encouraged to look for the light. Photography gives a small window from which to look through, but landscape painters have the advantage of a 360-degree view. These paintings are objective.

As opposed to abstract paintings you do not need to know anything about the artists to appreciate these masterpieces.

“To paint the landscape is to paint the natural forms all around us,” says curator Jean Stern. “It is one of the most ancient of human endeavors. The natural world is unequivocally the most supreme of art subjects.”

Plein air painting was the result of a modern technological advance in the 19th century. The French term, meaning “in the open air” describes painting outdoors. Until the late 1800s artists were confined to the studio by oil paints, which hardened when exposed to cold air. With the introduction of paint in tubes, artists were freed to

flavored condoms and sunscreen being pushed by J&D Foods. All sorts of word associations come to mind with these products, which, at least for me, includes: carnivore, cannibal, carnal, consummate —words that exist in the context of satiating an appetite of some sort.

Though it is entirely possible J&D intended this promotional email to grab attention for their company, they intrinsically know that it is these particular appetites they’re trying to attract, as evidenced by the tongue in cheek sense of humor they applied to this sunscreen sales pitch: “It’s designed to keep even the most delicate skin protected from harmful UV rays and smelling like something delicious is cooking for several hours.... please note that while pigs are not natural prey for sharks, we can’t guarantee that they won’t be ravenously hungry after smelling you.”

J&D takes the joke a little further with the bacon flavored condoms with: Make Your Meat Look Like Meat. Truly the new standard of animal protein themed prophylactics Bacon Condoms are proudly Made in America of the highest quality latex and rigorously tested to help ensure the utmost reliability and safety for when you’re makin’ Bacon. And as an added bonus, each Bacon Condom has been generously coated with J&D’s baconlube™, an ultra premium Bacon flavored personal lubricant.”

It’s not easy to discern whether J&D is winking at us, while letting us in on the joke, or is turning the joke into something more sober. I just know that with the recent wave of cannibalism incidents in the past few years, I won’t be able to handle the light hearted banter of, “Hmmm baby, you look good enough to eat!” It may not end well if I’m what’s on the menu. explore the landscape. French impressionists such as Monet popularized landscapes during this time.

Impressionists reached their peak of popularity in the years before the Great Depression. Landscape painters loaded up their little pochade boxes, hiked up to the bluff or into a meadow and grabbed the early morning light.

These early pioneer artists are represented in the Walker Gallery with Historic California Plein Air Paintings, a collection gathered mostly from private collections. Artists from historic art colonies in Laguna Beach and Carmel as well as the Sierra region are included in this gallery. William Wendt, one of the founders of the California Art Club is here, as well as Paul Lauritz’s Western Sea and Coast, the first piece acquired by the center.

The final component to this milestone exhibition is Local Perspective, shown in the Norris Gallery. This segment of the show celebrates the natural beauty of the Palos Verdes Peninsula and features work selected by Scott Canty, the exhibition director. Familiar images of our breathtaking local coastline, at once serene as well as confidently dynamic are reminders of why we live here.

“The great outdoors is the Church of the Blue Dome and I worship in it” says California Arts Club member Jean LeGassick.

Take a visit to the new Palos Verdes Art Center.

Details: (310) 541-2479; pvartcenter.org Venue: Palos Verdes Art Center Location: 5504 Crestridge Rd., Palos Verdes Stay current with arts and entertainment http://tinyurl.com/rln-arts-entertainment

from p. 7

Turbo Tax Fought Simple filing IRS and a handful of companies.

But this past tax year, only about 3 million filers had used Free File, according to a Treasury tally through April 28.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Intuit said it provided about 1.2 million free federal returns for the 2011 tax season. The company and competitors typically advertise free federal filing on the Web but also pitch other paid services, such as filing certain state returns.

Government studies have split about whether a return-free system would save or cost the IRS money, according to a 2003 Treasury report.

Unless the tax code was simplified, the report said, it would add work for employers and the IRS, which would have to process tax records sooner.

Some independent tax experts see potential problems with a returnfree system.

Eric Toder, co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said the IRS, “an overpressed agency that’s being asked to do a lot of things,” shouldn’t be asked to do what software companies could easily do.

James Maule, a professor at

Villanova University School of Law, said the average taxpayer probably wouldn’t scrutinize a prefilled return for accuracy or potential credits. “Some people might get this thing that says this is your tax bill and just pay it, like with property tax bills,” Maule said.

••• So far, the only true test case for return-free filing in the United States has been in Intuit’s home state.

In 2005, California launched a pilot program called ReadyReturn.

As it fought against the program over the next five years, Intuit spent more than $3 million on overall lobbying and political campaigns in the state, according to Dennis J. Ventry Jr., a professor at UC Davis School of Law who specializes in tax policy and legal ethics.

Explaining the company’s stance, Intuit spokeswoman Miller told the Los Angeles Times in 2006 that it was “a fundamental conflict of interest for the state’s tax collector and enforcer to also become people’s tax preparer.”

The following month, an ad in The Sacramento Bee, paid for by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, cautioned

“Taxpayers beware” and said ReadyReturn “could be very harmful to taxpayers.” The ad pointed to a now-defunct website, taxthreat. com, opposing ReadyReturn.

Former California Republican legislator Tom Campbell recalls being surprised at the opposition.

“The government imposed the income tax burden in the first place,” he told ProPublica. “So if it wants to make it easier, for heaven’s sake, why not?”

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed at the time, Campbell wrote he “never saw as clear a case of lobbying power putting private interests first over public benefit.”

Joseph Bankman, a Stanford Law School professor who helped design ReadyReturn, says he spent close to $30,000 of his own money to hire a lobbyist to defend the program in the legislature. Intuit made political contributions to scores of legislative candidates, Bankman said and gave $1 million in 2006 to a group backing a ReadyReturn opponent for state controller.

ReadyReturn survived, but with essentially no marketing budget it is not widely known. Fewer than

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says the IRS wants to “socialize all tax preparation in America” to get higher tax revenues.

A year after Norquist wrote Bush, a bill to limit return-free filing was introduced by a pair of unlikely allies: Reps. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the conservative House majority leader, and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a liberal stalwart whose district includes Silicon Valley.

Intuit’s political committee and employees have contributed to both.

Cantor and his leadership political action committee have received $26,100 in the past five years from the company’s PAC and employees.

In the last two years, the Intuit PAC and employees donated $26,000 to Lofgren.

A spokeswoman said in an email that Cantor “doesn’t believe the IRS should be in the business of filling out your tax returns for you,” and that the bill was designed to “prevent the IRS from circumventing Congress.”

Lofgren did not respond to requests for comment.

••• Intuit did not issue public statements on the return-free filing bills, but Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black has called return-free filing “brilliantly Machiavellian.” When Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Dan Coats, R-Ind., introduced a bipartisan tax reform bill in 2011 that included a return-free plan called “Easyfile,” Norquist blasted it.

“The clear goal of this measure is to raise taxes in a way that leaves politicians with clean hands,” he wrote in a letter to the two senators.

Political opposition hasn’t been the only hurdle. Supporters say returnfree filing has been overshadowed in a tax debate that has focused more on rates, deductions and deficits.

Further, return-free filing would not be available to everyone. It’s best for the slice of taxpayers with straightforward returns who don’t itemize or claim various credits.

Still, past studies estimate that this group might include 40 percent of filers or more; the IRS expects to process 147 million individual returns this year.

In separate reports, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a think tank, that Intuit helps sponsor, argues that potential costs outweigh return-free filing’s benefits. Among other things, the reports say that not many taxpayers are likely to use return-free, that new data reporting requirements could raise costs for employers, and that taxpayers could face new privacy and security risks.

The reports and Intuit also note that many taxpayers can already get free tax filing through the Free File Alliance, a consortium involving the

90,000 California taxpayers used it this past year—although those who do use it seem to be happy. Ninety-eight percent of users who filled out a survey said they would use it again. The state’s tax agency has also praised ReadyReturns, saying they are cheaper to process than paper returns.

Bankman thinks national return-free filing could make many others happy, too.

“We’d have tens of millions of taxpayers,” he said, “no longer find April 15 a day of frustration and anxiety.”

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Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013034874 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Unique Designs and Promotional Products, 4309 Everett Ct, Vernon CA 90058.

County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): David E. Soto Jr., 435 W. 1st Street, San Pedro, CA 90731.

This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above 02/1/2013. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ David E. Soto Jr. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code).

Amended (New Filing): 03/07/13, 03/21/13, 04/04/13, 04/18/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013038133 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Absolute Supervision, 1714 W. 238th St. Los Angeles, CA 90501. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Robert Anthony Torres 1714 W. 238th St., Los Angeles, CA 90501. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 50839, Los Angeles, CA 90050. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above 01/1/2008. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS FILINGS as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Robert Anthony Torres. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code).

Amended (New Filing): 03/07/13, 03/21/13, 04/04/13, 04/18/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013038134 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Good Look Feel Good, 565 W. 15th St. #F, San Pedro, CA 90731. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Carlos Hernandez, 565 W. 15th St. #F, San Pedro, CA 90731. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above 07/04/2011. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Carlos Hernandez. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code).

Amended (New Filing): 03/07/13, 03/21/13, 04/04/13, 04/18/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013040861 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Miss Astrid, 1575 Spinnaker Dr., 105B, Ventura CA, 93001. County of Los

Angeles. Registered owner(s): Richard Lynn Parks, 1575 Spinnaker Dr., 105B, Ventura CA, 93001. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above 01/15/2013. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Richard Lynn Parks. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 28, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code).

Amended (New Filing): 03/07/13, 03/21/13, 04/04/13, 04/18/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013024628 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Zaremba and Associates, 75 Malaga Cove Plaza, Suite Eight, Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90274. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Marc B. Zaremba, 471 Peninsula Center, Apt. #372, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above 02/14/2013. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.) San Pedro Healing Arts Inc. S/ Marc B. Zaremba. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 5, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner.

A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business

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Arjay Plaza is located at the corner of Hawthorne and Lomita blvds. in the city of Torrance. Over 150,000 cars pass by each day. This area has a night time population of 142,000 and during the day over 600,000 people pass through the city. Torrance has a diversified business and residential mix.

Please contact us at (310) 994-7400 for all inquiries.

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013048326 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Local 420 Patients Collective, 600 S. Pacific Ave., #104. County of Los Angeles. Articles of incorporation: 461717368. Registered owner(s): General Organics, 11 Hillrise, Dove Canyon, CA 92679, California. This business is conducted by a corporation. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above February 15, 2013. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Peter Jason Cappely, president. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 12, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner.

A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code). Amended (New Filing): 04/04/13, 04/18/13, 05/02/13, 05/16/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013056858 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Myfunkysocks, 4005 Admirable Dr., Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Kerry Rizzo, 4005 Admirable Dr., Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275. This business is conducted by an individual.

The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above October 1, 2010. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Peter Jason Cappely, president.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 21, 2013.

Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013062328 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Soderstrom Garage Doors, 1221 Lyndon St., #10, South Pasadena, CA 91030. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Derek Soderstrom, 1221 Lyndon St., #10, South Pasadena, CA 91030. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above October 1, 2010. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Derek Soderstrom. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 29, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner.

A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code). Amended (New Filing): 04/04/13, 04/18/13, 05/02/13, 05/16/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013056860 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Zelaya Services, 7606 S. Harvard Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90047. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Mauricio Zelaya, 7606 S. Harvard Blvd.,

Los Angeles, CA 90047. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Mauricio Zelaya.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 21, 2013.

Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code).

Amended (New Filing): 04/04/13, 04/18/13, 05/02/13, 05/16/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013044529 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Babes Secret Stash, 1767 W. Chandeleur Dr., San Pedro, CA 90732. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Connie Lepkosky, 1767 W. Chandeleur Dr., San Pedro, CA 90732. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.).

S/ Connie Lepkosky. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 6, 2013. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of

the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner.

A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code). Amended (New Filing): 04/04/13, 04/18/13, 05/02/13, 05/16/13 Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013038133 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Absolute Supervision, 1714 W. 238th St., Los Angeles, CA 90501. County of Los Angeles. Registered owner(s): Robert Anthony Torres, 1714 W. 238th St., Los Angeles, CA 90501. This business is conducted by an individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Robert Anthony Torres. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Jan. 1, 2008. Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner.

A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code). Amended (New Filing): 04/04/13, 04/18/13, 05/02/13, 05/16/13

LEGAL FILINGS NOTICE OF INTENT (NOI) / NOTICE OF PREPARATION (NOP) for the BERTHS 212-224 [YTI] CONTAINER TERMINAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT Notice is hereby given under the auspices of the California Environmental Quality Act (Section 21080.4), that the United Stated Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department have prepared a joint

Notice of Intent (NOI) / Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the Berths 212-224 [YTI] Container Terminal Improvements Project located at 701 New Dock Street on Terminal Island.

The project may have significant impacts to the following resources categories: Aesthetics, Air Quality, Biological, Cultural, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality,

Noise, and Transportation/Traffic.

A public scoping meeting will be held on April 23 at 6:00 pm in the Board Room at the Harbor Administration Building, 425 S. Palos Verdes Street, San Pedro, CA. Copies of the NOI/NOP are available for review at: Los Angeles Public Library, San Pedro Branch, 921 South Gaffey St., San Pedro, California; Los Angeles Public Library, Wilmington Branch, 1300 North Avalon Blvd, Wilmington, California; and Los Angeles Harbor Department, Environmental Management Division, 222 W. 6th Street, San Pedro, California. The public notice and the entire document are available at the Port of Los Angeles web site: http:// www.portoflosangeles.org.

Written comments on the NOI/NOP will be received until May 6, 2013 and should be sent to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, Regulatory Division, Ventura Field Office, c/o Theresa Stevens, Ph.D., 2151 Alessandro Drive, Suite 110, Ventura, California 93001 and Christopher Cannon, Director of Environmental Management, Port of Los Angeles, 425 South Palos Verdes Street, San Pedro CA 90731 or via e-mail to Theresa.

Stevens@usace.army.mil and ceqacomments@portla. org. Comments sent via email should include the project title in the e-mail’s subject line and a valid mailing address within the email.

For additional information, please contact Laura Masterson at the Port of Los Angeles at (310) 73221 3675.

April 5 - 18, 2013

Coffee House business for sale 14,000 sq Ft. retail/office for rent/lease • Desirable location at Hawthorne and Lomita blvds.

• Great location in Torrance, high income/ high traffic area • Close to shopping, schools, entertainment.

• Pricing to be determined.

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2013056859 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: Harbor Foot and Ankle Podiatric Medical Group, 1360 W. 6th Street #150W, San Pedro, CA 90732.

County of Los Angeles.

Registered owner(s): Bruce D. Levine DPM. This business is conducted by a corporation. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above March 13, 2013. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime.). S/ Bruce D. Levine, president.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 13, 2013.

Notice- In accordance with Subdivision (a) of Section 17920, a Fictitious Business Statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the County Clerk, except as provided in Subdivision (b) of Section 17920, where it expires 40days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A New Fictitious Business Statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code).

Amended (New Filing): 04/04/13, 04/18/13, 05/02/13, 05/16/13

the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code).

Amended (New Filing): 04/04/13, 04/18/13, 05/02/13, 05/16/13

The Local Publication You Actually Read

Business For Sale Office/Retail Space for Rent or Lease

Name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or common law (See Section 14411 et. Seq., Business and Professions Code). Amended (New Filing): 02/21/13, 03/07/13, 03/21/13, 04/04/13

from p. 2

SP Community Plan Rush Job

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did remove the upzoning from the plan, but they needlessly stirred up a hornets nest by not responding to the neighborhood council before getting everyone so stirred up.

Coastal also passed two other motions dealing with several other areas of concern, which were similarly ignored.

“We brought up the Corner Store,” Medak said. “We brought up 22nd Street and Market, on Alma. We even brought up, they left out Busy Bee Market, for example.... Any of the other motions we passed, they’re not included in the general plan.”

When asked if the process had been smooth early on, but become increasingly frustrating toward the end, Medak agreed.

“If you would look at it on a graph, I think the best expression I can find is exponential,” Medak said. “It started rather slowly, gradually, it started heating up. At the end the line’s almost vertical.

Yes, there should be trials and tribulation. There should be ups and downs. Well, that graph doesn’t have any ups and downs.”

Castillo’s motion, which the full council will consider April 9, calls for a citywide policy change from the Los Angeles City Council.

“We’ll be working with the other two neighborhood councils,” Castillo said, “Between the three of us, we should be able to start a council file,” which would mean the issue would go onto the city council agenda.

Beyond that, they’ll probably seek support from the seven council Harbor Alliance of Neighborhood Councils, Castillo said, adding, “We might be able to get Gruel or Garcetti on our side, because maybe they’re out there looking for causes.”

It’s been widely speculated that the process is being rushed to completion before Villaraigosa leaves office, a troubling echo of how the China Shipping terminal was hastily approved without an environmental impact report in the waning days of the Richard Riordan administration, leaving years of headaches for the next administration.

“If Mr. [Antonio] Villaraigosa wants a pin to put on the lapel for this, that’s a political issue,” Medak said. “But we’re more concerned with reality, what it comes down to, a 30- to 40-year community plan that San Pedrans have to live with for two generations—not Mr. Villaraigosa or his off spring. Let’s get it right the first time around, and then throw out accolades even if

DESIGNS

April 5 - 18, 2013

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

December was dominated by grassroots outrage over the proposed upzoning around 25th Street and Western Avenue. This included the testimony of several residents who gathered hundreds of signatures opposing the change.

“There was a big uproar over the height issue there,” said Ray Medak, Castillo’s counterpart in the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council.

“And, nobody mentioned that the neighborhood council already sent a motion to lower it.”

To their credit, Planning Department staff

they are late.”

“What we’re asking for is recognition that they did the wrong thing,” Castillo said. “We’d like it codified that they have to give us time when they release a significant document like that.”

In addition to the process reform, Castillo’s motion cites four areas of outstanding questions and issues in the Community Plan: “1) the optimization of the potential for new development on Gaffey Street, 2) roadway classifications in our downtown area, 3) policies that reflect the community’s desire for improved public transit, and 4) the protection of a downtown adjacent multi-family residential street;” as well as “Other questions and issues [that] might be identified if this neighborhood council was provided with reasonable time to review the plan document.”

Medak is skeptical that any significant changes to plan can or will be made to the plan by the city council, either in committee or the full council.

“The concrete’s been poured, it is curing right now and good luck if you can still etch your name in it,” he said.

Nonetheless, support from the other two neighborhood councils in San Pedro seems likely, even though they haven’t had time to review Castillo’s motion yet.

“We have repeatedly asked the city for a 90 day period of review on important documents, particularly on EIRs,” said Diane Nave, in addition to Medak’s expression of similar frustrations. “It [Castillo’s motion] would be consistent with that policy. That’s about all I can say, because we didn’t specifically take an action on this one.

“We consistently asked for it because it takes that kind of time for us to review things.”

Coastal has also asked for a 90-day review period, and Medak went into some detail in terms of how long it can take to go through the committee process and deal with possible differences between committee recommendations and what the full council decides.

But Nave made a point of stressing the broader need for more time.

“It’s not just the neighborhood council, it’s the community that needs to be able to look at it,” Nave said.

The heated last-minute response to the proposed upzoning at 25th and Western seems to perfectly illustrate her point.

from p. 6

system that would carry the tar sands oil to refineries in Texas along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Contrary to industry propaganda, the oil is intended for export, and would play no role in making America “energy independent,” or in lowering domestic prices.

In an interview about the Arkansas spill, Keystone XL opponent and founder of climate action group 350.org, Bill McKibben, said “The power of the fossil fuel industry in Washington is enormous. They have all the money. The only thing we can stack up on the other side is the power of movements. We’ve been building them as fast as we can. We’ve had the largest civil disobedience action in 30 years about anything, about this pipeline. We had 40,000 people on the Mall last month in D.C. in the largest climate rally ever. I don’t know if it’s going to be enough, but we’re fighting it as hard as we can.”

Garcetti Campaigns in Pedro

SAN PEDRO—Councilman and mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti was the center of run-off rally March 30, in San Pedro.

The Harbor Area campaign, made strides with community members who often are geographically and culturally removed from the downtown Los Angeles, which is about 26 miles away.

Councilman Joe Buscaino and several area residents came together to fire up the community in his campaign to become Los Angeles’ mayor. Buscaino and several leaders of unions for workers at the Port of Los Angeles have endorsed Garcetti.

San Pedro, which has a close-knit community, is home to many working-class families with ties to the port. Garcetti met with community members, who had the opportunity to become part of the campaign for his election.

After the rally, Garcetti walked door-to-door in the Harbor area, talking to voters about his plans to create jobs and solve problems for Los Angeles residents.

Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, right, with local supporters. Photo: Jerrick Romero.

Robles from p .7

the city to take full advantage of EB-5 Foreign Investor Program.

The Foreign Investor Program would allow wealthy overseas investors to either finance or launch business ventures in local municipalities that spur economic development and job creation in exchange for a green card. California cities including Los Angeles are looking closely at this program— particularly candidates running for office.

“What I propose to do is have the City of Carson become designated as a resource center under the EB-5 program,” he said. “Other than that program, investors will be able to pool their money and the city as a partner in a publicprivate partnership [that] would be able to direct how that investment continues.

Mobile Home Park Residents

Robles is an eternal optimist and is generally

the guy that sees the glass as half full. This was particularly evident when he discussed his hopes for mobile home owners in their struggle against landowner James Goldstein and the condo conversions.

“My hope is that the city can talk to the landlord and they can work it out with the mobile home owners,” Robles said. “There are success stories where that has happened.

“My hope is that wiser heads will come together and have dialog and conversation and I understand that attorneys are involved and that there’s litigation, expensive litigation. I understand that Mr. Goldstein has millions and millions of dollars and can probably outlitigate the city. There needs to be dialogue and there are success stories in the area of mobile home parks...if Mr. Goldstein can be brought to his senses and realize there is a smarter path for everybody. Not just for the mobile home owners, but for him too.”

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RLN exp. 5/2/13

April 5 - 18, 2013

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April 5 - 18, 2013

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area