Rln 06 26 14 edition

Coastal Neighborhood Council Inquiry Becomes a Civics Lesson

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

Participating in a democratic system of government as a responsible citizen is difficult.

It requires a large number of individuals to come to a consensus on issues affecting the entire community. For many Americans, this process is too slow and too messy, causing them to unconsciously wish for a single authoritarian figure to simply solve problems and move things forward.

The June 16 Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council stakeholders meeting was a good example of that tendency.

A Lesson in Civics for Coastal/ to p. 3

According to research, coal has been at war with people.

Stop Calling the Iraq War a ‘Mistake’

The Local Publication You Actually Read

IN THIS ISSUE: Republicans Charge Obama with War on Coal

Two-time presidential candidate and former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, goes off on the effort to revision the Iraq War.

MOLAA Announces Major Change

Photo by Terelle Jerricks. Special thanks to Tommy and Tony Amalfitano for use of the 1939 Chevrolet “Cantrell Edition” Woody in the background.

SERVING THE SEVEN CITIES OF THE SAN PEDRO/ LONG BEACH HARBOR AREA

June 27 - July 10, 2014

The Museum of Latin American Art revised its policy on Latin American art to include Chicano art.

Observers note the change was a matter of policy catching up with reality.

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

State Lands Commission Chair Calls Rancho LPG Insurance “Absurd” But impact on Rancho operations remains unclear

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

On June 19, the State Lands Commission voted to continue a review of Rancho LPG’s revocable permit, which the Port of Los Angeles issues for the use of a railroad spur. The spur is within the legislative trust grant to POLA. The review of the calendar item began with a staff report essentially denying jurisdiction. The report was so glowing from Rancho’s point of view that their own presentation involved little more than a two-sentence “amen.”

But the commission’s acting chairman, Alan Gordon, a deputy controller for environmental policy under State Controller John Chiang, called Rancho’s claimed level of $500 million insurance, “frankly absurd.”

The 2010 San Bruno explosion has already cost much more for a much smaller blast radius.

More importantly, Gordon said, “there may be an issue,” for the State Lands Commission to deal with if that is all Rancho’s parent company is responsible for.

“If I lived in these communities, I would be as concerned as you are,” said Gordon in his concluding remarks. “It’s a classic environmental

Railroad spur used regularly by Rancho LPG on Gaffey Street and Westmont Drive in San Pedro. File photo.

justice issue.”

Still, it remained unclear what sort of action the commission might take, if any. But the commission continued the item for future action as it seeks more information from Rancho.

At the very least, state-level awareness is

being raised that there’s a serious problem here in San Pedro with the Rancho facility.

“I have no doubt that this type of facility would never be permitted today near a residential community,” said Gordon, before acknowledging Rancho’s protected status as a grandfathered facility.

But grandfathered status itself is now

coming under increased scrutiny given the levels of threat involved across a wide range of facilities. Environmental Protection Agency’s new global warming regulations do not exempt grandfathered facilities, for example [see “Coal’s War on People,” p. 20].

The commission’s lawyer, Catherine Colson, made the staff’s presentation, which tilted the playing field sharply in Rancho’s favor.

“The commission has limited authority to overrule a decision by a grantee [such as the Port],” she said. She went on to say that, “generally railroads have been considered consistent with the public trust doctrine,” and Rancho’s use of the PHL rail spur was a “small temporary use,” which “would not be considered inconsistent with the trust,” since it provided income to the port and did not “interfere with trust uses and needs.” Moreover, the commission has never held title to the rail spur land, Colson noted.

Colson also affirmed that the EPA had stated “according to their calculations, their worst case consequence radius for the two main tanks at the rancho facility is half a mile radius.”

This touched off a discussion between Gordon, Colson and the commission’s Executive Officer Jennifer Lucchesi. The discussion was revisited by several of the 20 public commentators, including former oil industry consultant Connie Rutter, who explained that the half-mile radius is “not truly a worst case, but it’s a legal worst case.” It assumes that only one tank will explode State Lands Commission/ to p. 20

June 27 - July 10, 2014

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

NLRB Slams Green Fleet Systems with Labor Law Violations

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On June 19, the National Labor Relations Board, Region 21, issued a consolidated complaint, encompassing more than 50 serious labor law violations against Green Fleet Systems.

This is the latest blow to the illegal port trucking business model. Green Fleet Systems is one of the larger local port trucking companies.

The complaint consolidates charges from four outstanding cases filed from March 2013 through January 2014, also revoking a settlement agreement for the first case, due to subsequent violations by Green Fleet. A number of charges involve intimidation and retaliation against employees challenging their illegal

misclassification as independent contractors, but the most vicious violations are directed against labor organizing.

“Green Fleet is a recidivist employer that has been undaunted in its efforts to circumvent the National Labor Relations Act, including flagrantly violating a prior NLRB settlement agreement and callously waging a campaign of hallmark unfair labor practices designed to nip in the bud and destroy the union’s organizing drive,” said Julie Gutman Dickinson, a lawyer for International Brotherhood of Teamsters Port Division. “We will take every step necessary to NLRB Sues Green Fleet/ to p. 5

from p. 1

A Lesson in Civics for Coastal

The Cabrillo Marina Community Building was packed, but the extra number of people weren’t there to hear board member James Dimon’s update on his progress in addressing the rash of tagging incidents at Point Fermin; community member John Stinson’s report on a student art show at Crafted; or Los Angeles Police Department Senior Lead Officer Eve White’s report about the record lows in violent crime, rising thefts and burglaries.

The same number of people who arrived at 6:30 p.m. were still there two hours later for the last three items on the agenda that ultimately took up another two-and-half hours. They were there for agenda items 11 through 15. Though agenda items 11 through 13 were described as items for discussion and inquiry, they appeared just before items 14 and 15. The motions were to request that the Los Angeles Ethics Commission investigate alleged ethics violations by board President Dave Behar and to remove Behar as president.

Ultimately, the two motions were tabled with five members voting “no” on both.

The council board has been roiling in controversy for the past two months about Behar’s alleged ethics violations, which include use of the council’s logo without board approval on a flier promoting a June 26 volleyball tournament.

Ed Pleumer, former chairman of the council’s Recreation and Parks Committee recounted the events that led committee members to remove the tournament outside of the purview of the neighborhood council and produce it on their own with the sponsorship of the San Pedro Pirate Booster club.

Pleumer attempted to argue, with volleyball tournament flier and T-shirt in hand, that Behar used the council’s logo to give the appearance that he had secured the necessary community support for the tournament than he actually had. He said

that Behar’s actions, “appeared to be patterned.

It’s not a coincidence. It’s premeditated. We are calling into question why these logos are being used without authorization.”

Behar, raring to put up vigorous defense noted his contribution of $4,000 to install the volleyball courts after the council board supported the installation of two temporary volleyball courts in 2013. He went on to accuse the council’s Recreation and Parks Committee of numerous Brown Act violations before noting the fact that he donated the logo to the council and the city for their use.

Behar appeared to suggest that the former Recs and Parks Committee should have been thankful for his involvement.

“This flier, which by the way, I must note, the flier I presented at that meeting…rescued your group in a strange way when they had tabled your event… I had suggested this is a great event and I think you should support this event,” Behar said in his recounting of events.

Behar never addressed the issue of the logo directly.

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment official Tom Soong affirmed that use of the council logo without board approval was a violation of ethics rules. Soong may as well have been whispering to himself when he spoke, since board members and Behar supporters continued to argue that it was just a logo.

Board member Dan Malstrom said he believed the board’s support of the installation also meant support for any other event involving the installed courts.

At least two audience members spoke during the comment period for the express purpose of blasting the board for taking up the logo issue, and accuse the board of wasting people’s time and cited them as “what’s wrong with government.”

The board discussed this item for 45 minutes before audience member Brian White seeking resolution of the issue concluded the discussion.

“We have heard that there’s an appearance standard, some people see one thing, other people see another,” White said. “I find it very hard to believe that anyone would ever use a logo again without board permission. This made an issue apparent. I don’t think anyone will infringe on this again and don’t think we need to make a big deal of this.”

The second inquiry was regarding payments made to PVNet for video services the company rendered in 2013 and whether Behar had a business relationship with PVNet at the time it was awarded a 6-month contract. This issue has dogged Behar for about a year after board members noted that PVNet was paid through an account labeled SQ*Avenue I, coincidentally the same name of a corporation Behar is touted as founding in 1999.

Random Lengths queried PVNet Executive Director Ted Vegvari about the matter and he replied in an email: With regards to your question, at the time when we provided service to CSPNC we did not have credit card processing and sought advice from several sources, one of which was Dave Behar.

We established an account with merchant services provider Square and used “avenue i” as a project name via a merchant services provider – SQ was simply an internal identifier for the small CSPNC project. We felt the name was applicable as it relates to neighborhoods and streets, and it was not in use by anyone. All monies came directly to PVNet, and the product that was delivered far exceeded the requirements and everyone’s expectations. We were very proud of the product that was delivered. During the CSPNC meeting at which we were selected to provide service, there was an ugly bit Civics Lesson/ to p. 21

Community Announcements:

Harbor Area Filipino Migrant Center Dinner The Filipino Migrant Center will be hosting its 4th Annual General Assembly and Dinner Celebration, June 28, St. Cyprian Catholic Church Social Hall in Long Beach.

The event marks the group’s fourth year of serving and organizing low-income Filipino youth and workers in Southern California.

Filipino Migrant Center members and affiliated organizations will discuss and unite on the organization’s issue priorities and program of action for the year 2014-2015, and approve its board of directors.

Details: (562) 438-9515; info@filipinomigrantcenter.org Venue: Cyprian Catholic Church Social Hall Location: 4714 Clark Ave., Long Beach Home Ownership Fair The Pacific West Association of Realtors and the California Association of Realtors is hosting a home ownership fair, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 28, at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach.

Participants will have the opportunity to speak to qualified professionals involved in the real estate industry and gain a better understanding of the benefits and requirements of homeownership.

Sessions will be in English and Spanish to provide more detailed information on topics related to buying a home, including down payment assistance, credit repair and mortgage loans.

Details: (818) 804-1079 Venue: MOLAA Location: 628 Los Alamitos Ave., Long Beach

Outreach Efforts Continue for Southeast Area Specific Plan Outreach efforts are continuing for the preparation of the Long Beach Southeast Area Specific Plan. The public is invited to provide input on the new plan that will affect 1,500 acres of southeast Long Beach.

The Community Advisory Committee meetings has scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 9 at the Seafarer Room of the Best Western Golden Sails Hotel. In addition, a public workshop is scheduled for Aug. 6 at the same venue. Both events are free and will feature similar content.

Details: (562) 570-6922 Venue: Best Western Golden Sails Hotel Location: 6285 E. PCH, Long Beach

The Local Publication You Actually Read

City Seeks Poet Laureate Candidates Nominations will be accepted for the Los Angeles’ Poet Laureate Program until 4 p.m.

July 1.

The City of Los Angeles Poet Laureate will serve as the official ambassador of Los Angeles’ vibrant poetry and literary culture. The Poet Laureate will use the position as a platform to promote the city’s great writers, demonstrating the tremendous value of poetry and written word throughout all parts of the community.

Los Angeles’ Poet Laureate will serve for a term of two years, from August 2014 to October 2016, and will receive a $10,000 annual grant from DCA. Details: http://tinyurl.com/otu57c7

June 27 - July 10, 2014

CERT Training The Los Angeles Fire Department is offering a Community Emergency Response Team training, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. July 9 through Aug. 20, at San Pedro Mental Health.

Details: (310) 519-6218; MSalas@dmh. lacounty.gov Venue: San Pedro Mental Health 3 Location: 150 W. 7th St., San Pedro.

Garcetti Nominates Arts Advocate to Cultural Affairs

By Andrea Serna, Arts and Culture Writer Mayor Eric Garcetti nominated a local arts activist to head the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Los Angeles City Council must confirm Danielle Brazell, who has deep ties to the Los Angeles arts scene, as cultural affairs chief.

Brazell’s nomination created excitement in the arts community. She began her career as an apprentice out of high school, at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, where she taught community workshops.

In 1999, she became the artistic director of Highways and revamped its programming. She formalized a pipeline for emerging artists to present at the venue.

June 27 - July 10, 2014

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

Mayor Garcetti’s nominee to lead the Department of Cultural Affairs Danielle Brazell. Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office.

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In 2009, Brazell was named the first executive director of Arts for LA, an advocacy group that represents 160 member organizations. Her mission at the organization was to fully integrate the arts into the fabric of life in Los Angeles.

Her resumé includes numerous grants and awards, including a Getty Fellowship. She serves on the board of Californians for the Arts, on the Arts for All Executive Committee and she represents Arts for LA on the Policy Committee of the California Alliance for Arts Education.

The Department of Cultural Affairs has a budget of roughly $9 million. The department oversees the city’s grants to artists and arts groups. It is also responsible for commissions to public art work, several city-owned arts centers such as the Los Angeles Theatre Center, the Warner Grand Theatre and landmarks such as the Watts Towers.

from p. 2

Sen. Wright Found Guilty, Suspended

By Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter

achieve justice for the drivers of Green Fleet,” Charges include: • Firing union activist employees Mateo Mares and Amilcar Cardona in retaliation for their union and other protected concerted activities, including filing wage claims at the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement; • Discriminating against employees Mateo Mares and Amilcar Cardona by denying work and creating more onerous working conditions in retaliation for engaging in union and/or protected concerted activities and in order to discourage union and protected concerted activities, union membership, and/or support for the union; • Threatening to fire employees in retaliation for their union and other protected concerted activities; • Threatening to cease operations (plant closure) in retaliation for employees’ union and other protected concerted activities; • Threatening to sue employees in retaliation for their union and other protected concerted activities; • Conditioning employees’ continued employment on withdrawal of their wage and hour claims filed with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement; • Encouraging and/or permitting non-union supporter employees to harass, provoke, and/or assault union supporter employees; • Interrogating employees about their union and other protected concerted activities; • Coercing employees to sign anti-union petitions; • Threatening that union supporters deserve to die; Thomas Lenz, a lawyer representing Green Fleet claimed, “A majority of Green Fleet’s employee drivers do not support the Teamsters Union.”

Little wonder.

The case goes before an administrative law judge in August.

—Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

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June 27 - July 10, 2014

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DESIGNS

On March 28, California’s senate voted to suspend three of its own, including Rod Wright, Senate District-35, whose district includes Carson.

On Jan. 28, a Los Angeles jury found Wright guilty of eight felony charges related to residency requirements for state legislators.

Wright is termed State senator Rod out in 2016, but these Wright while on trial for events make it likely his vote fraud charges. File seat will be open much photo sooner. Sentencing is scheduled for July 21, although it’s already been delayed twice.

Wright faces a maximum penalty of eight years and four months in prison, although there are other possible outcomes.

The charges against Wright included two counts of perjury that stemmed from him declaring on his 2007 voter registration form and his 2008 declaration of candidacy that he resided in Inglewood. The jury decided he actually resided elsewhere and outside his then-district boundaries.

One count charged a false declaration of candidacy. The five remaining counts related to voter fraud—voting while falsely registered.

The other senators suspended on March 28—both Democrats facing term limits this year—were Leland Yee, Senate District 8, San Francisco, and Ron Calderon, Senate District 30, Montebello. Both were recently indicted on unrelated federal charges, Calderon for bribery and Yee for gun-running. Their cases are expected to not see trial before next year.

Wright’s lawyer, Winston Kevin McKesson said he is preparing to ask the judge, Kathleen Kennedy, to overturn the jury verdict. If that happens, he also said, the prosecution has 60 days to seek a new trial but he doesn’t “see them trying it over again.”

If the judge denies the motion and sentences Wright, McKesson said, he’ll file a motion for an appeal.

Wright did not respond to a phone message from this paper asking for comment. However, he told the press after the verdict: “I believe I followed the law as written and this case was decided based not on the law but based on perception…We learned you can follow the law and still be charged and convicted based on others’ perception of the law.”

Random Lengths asked Mark Hedlund, communication director for Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Senate District 6, Sacramento, about the suspensions, which are without precedent.

“They’re (the senators) innocent until proven guilty,” he responded.

“Expulsion is permanent. Suspension is not permanent.”

He argued Wright cannot be considered convicted until the judge affirms the conviction.

“If the judge upholds the conviction and sentencing, at that point Steinberg will ask for resignation or expulsion,” Hedlund said.

That would be true even if Wright appealed, he added.

For precedent Hedlund pointed to the Shrimpscam scandal in the ‘80s, when some of the legislators indicted were allowed to keep their seats while on trial.

“If the pro tem had made the decision to expel, the politically expedient thing would have been to do that,” he said. “There would have been a special election and those Democratic seats could have been easily filled with other Democrats….

He’s doing what he thinks is right, not being politically expedient.”

Local Democratic activist Julian Burger was asked about the scandals’ effects on the party. He said that he thought they may have been a factor in low voter turnout for the recent primary.

“People lose heart,” he stated.

Burger also said that because Wright hasn’t been removed from office and the sentencing has been postponed until July, a special election probably won’t happen until after the November election—maybe in January 2015. He added assembly members Isadore Hall III and Steve Bradford are the most likely potential candidates. However, because any possibility of a special election is so far in the future, other more progressive candidates could emerge.

“Wright’s strictly a pro-business Democrat,” Burger asserted.

He also wondered aloud if the party had tried any measures to resolve Wright’s situation before things went this far.

NLRB Sues Green Fleet

5

When the City Attorney Comes to Town

Mike Feuer Announces renewed Neighborhood Prosecutor Efforts James Preston Allen, Publisher

June 27 - July 10, 2014

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

Watching City Attorney Mike Feuer explain his goals for the Neighborhood Prosecutor program was in sharp contrast compared to the hubris of what I remember from former City Attorney Carmen Trutanich. The difference being like a cat in an antique store versus a bull in a china shop.

Feuer, is both a politician and a lawyer and doesn’t apologize for being either. His quaint, slightly old fashion, even liberal, ideal that the law should work for the common citizen and not just as a cudgel to protect the rich and powerful, was refreshing.

Then, I was struck by the oddly named, “Neighborhood Prosecutors,” the legal advocates that Feuer is in process of dispatching to the city’s 16 police divisions, including Harbor Division. This inherited title could be misinterpreted in one of several ways other than what it’s supposed to mean.

What does this neighborhood prosecutor do exactly? Everything from nuisance abatement on slumlords to building code enforcement, and from settling neighbor complaints on gas powered leaf blowers to animal control problems. Do you have a quality of life issue? Call the neighborhood prosecutor at your local police station.

They really should be called “legal advocates,” though. Their job mostly involves dispute resolution, coordination of city services to promote community problem solving and assistance for the city so it may live up to its promise of providing a safe and secure community rather than prosecuting anyone. Or are they just carrying out the second half of the pledge, “to protect and to serve,” something that Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has been promising in the police department’s “community-based policing” policy this past five years?

Clearly, many of the senior lead officers have been doing this job for years, albeit without the legal tools to do much more than file reports, write tickets or mediate problems.

They do an earnest job, but as any experienced police officer will readily admit, “you can’t arrest your way out of every problem.” Nor should we, the citizens, expect them to. The overzealous willingness to use handcuffs over the past three decades, along with the added onus that three strikes and zero tolerance laws has only exacerbated the overcrowded conditions in our prisons.

Our collective misguided sense of justice has lead to abuses in the Los Angeles County

6

Central Jail that are only now being exposed by federal investigators. But that is the subject for another related column.

Clearly there is only so much that a neighborhood prosecutor, or for that matter, the LAPD can do. At a recent community meeting in which Harbor Division’s Neighborhood Prosecutor, Lauren Halligen, was introduced, one citizen brought up the prevalence of “street bombing” by our youths reveling in the thrill of downhill skateboarding through stop signed intersections at their own peril. An ordinance recently passed prohibiting street bombing with measures that we adults find reasonable and necessary as skateboard culture continues to expand. Yet, from what I have observed, there is hardly a police officer who will take the time to pursue a group of skateboarding juveniles even when it happens right in front of them, unless there is an accident resulting in bodily injury. These are crimes that no one really wants to prosecute but causes continual alarm.

They are not quite as annoying though as the prevalence of the green cross medical marijuana shops that grow like weeds in the sidewalk cracks.

The problem here, as the city attorney explained is that when the citizens of Los Angeles passed measure D in 2012, the citizens didn’t pass a law that regulated pot shops so much as making all the pot shops “illegal.”

Measure D, he explained, only allows for an “affirmative” defense by these businesses once they are cited and prosecuted. Because of this, the city hasn’t had a definitive list until now. The city attorney’s office now has a list of the 42 (or maybe 43) medical marijuana shops in the Harbor Division territory. The complaints by some neighbors has brought enforcement on some of these shops and the popping up of others in a curious whack-amole kind of hide-n-seek enforcement.

This would seem like a curious kind of exercise given that public opinion on full legalization seems to be trending towards a statewide Colorado-type proposition that would make local enforcement somewhat irrelevant in the near future. Still, the issue of community standards, nuisance abatement and quality of life seem to be the only things this neighborhood advocate, as I will suggest they be called, can get her hands on. The more overarching issues of opening the Harbor Division jail, or bringing back a working courthouse to our local 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. XXXV : No. 13

Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communities of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations throughout the seven cities of the Harbor Area.

Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya info@graphictouchdesigns.com Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com Assistant Editor Zamná Ávila zamna@randomlengthsnews.com

jurisdiction are still beyond the reach of both the City Attorney’s Office, LAPD or even the mayor and city council. And both of these are more of a crime to the general population of the Harbor Area than most anything else.

We have become complacent with our lack of access to the justice system. We have become convinced that we don’t have the power or the political will to change the trajectory of budget deficits. We have become convinced that we can’t

influence our state legislature, our superior courts or Gov. Jerry Brown that there is an inherent injustice taking place.

However, City Attorney Mike Feuer, as our advocate for the people of Los Angeles, knows how this gets done. And, if he wants us to support his Neighborhood Prosecutor initiative, he needs to be our community advocate for equal access to the larger justice system.

An Injury to One

An Undelivered Culmination Speech for Dana Middle School

By Arlo Tinsman-Kongshaug

Editor’s Note: The following was written as part of a Dana Middle School English class writing assignment in which Arlo was asked to write a speech for Dana Middle School’s culmination ceremony. Arlo’s speech was ultimately not selected to be read at the ceremony, but the editorial staff at Random Lengths thought this speech to be a worthwhile read. He is the son of RL’s former editor, Erik Kongshaug. Enjoy.

Well, I thought it was in the distant future, but now it’s staring me right in the face: Culmination, the end of the road. Don’t expect this speech to be the kind of speech one usually hears around this time. You know, the kind where you talk about how great your teachers are, your plans for the future and stuff like that.

First of all, I would like to address the many people who did not culminate (and who are conveniently left unmentioned in this ceremony).

A lot of the people here at Dana believe that these kids (who make up a huge portion of the school) didn’t graduate because they are somehow

Columnists/Reporters Lyn Jensen Carson B. Noel Barr Music Dude John Farrell Curtain Call Lori Lynn Hirsch-Stokoe Food Writer Andrea Serna Arts Writer Malina Paris Culture Writer Calendar 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Betty Guevara, Robin Doyno, Phillilp Cooke Contributors Greggory Moore, Danny Simon, Arlo Tinsman-Kongshaug, Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Cartoonists Ann Cleaves, Andy Singer, Matt Wuerker Advertising Production Mathew Highland, Suzanne Matsumiya Advertising Representative Mathew Highland reads@randomlengthsnews.com adv@randomlengthsnews.com Editorial Intern Joseph Baroud Display advertising (310) 519-1442 Classifieds (310) 519-1016 www.randomlengthsnews.com

dumber or inferior to those who did. Some people may think that’s absurd, but it’s what we’re taught to think.

I have a friend (who will go unnamed) who is one of the smartest people I know. He can fix things that most people will just throw away once broken and would not even consider reparable.

He isn’t an honors kid, but that doesn’t stop him from using big words when he expresses himself and he has all these ideas that just flood in one after the other. He tried hard to culminate but when he saw he still had an F in English two weeks away from culmination he gave up. “Why would he give up when he still had time left?” some might ask. “And if he was so smart, then why did he have bad grades?”

You see, when kids get to middle school people take it upon themselves to divide them.

They take the ones with good test scores, put them in the honors program and call them “gifted.” They take everyone else and call them continued on following page

Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com.

Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @ randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email adv@randomelengthsnews.com or reads@ randomlengthsnews.com.

Extra copies and back issues are available by mail for $3 per copy while supplies last. Subscriptions are available for $35 per year for 27 issues.

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 2014 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.

Choose the Right Sheriff

RANDOMLetters Open Letter to a Local Judge

from previous page

Culmination

doing a search to find this Korean War Memorial, I discovered that there are several in California plus the one in our nation’s capitol.

“The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located in Washington, D.C.’s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. It commemorates those who served in the Korean War. “ It is called the “Forgotten War” mainly because it was the first modern conflict that America didn’t win and has been kind of an embarrassment to our national pride ever since. The lessons we should have learned in Korea More Letters/ to p. 8

Fourth of July

Here’s a blast from the past from Richard Karl Koch, aka Richard Karl, aka Mike Prescott.

I’m pretty sure you knew all these names were me. Hope this finds you well and happy.

Just got my copy of Westways the AAA monthly with a great photo of the [Korean] Bell and a short story about its refurbishment.

Makes me want to come for the

June 27 - July 10, 2014

“general” and look down on them as stupid compared to their “gifted” counterparts.

I remember a conversation I had in the seventh grade where the girl I was talking with promptly told me that all people in general classes were only in those classes because they refused to do their work and we’re all just slackers and goof-offs.

What appalled me even more happened at an open house that same year when a teacher opened his speech by stating how relieved he was about getting an honors class and how glad he was that he would get to teach smart kids instead of a non-honors class.

With all this academic encouragement it’s a small wonder my friend threw in the towel. I know many people who did not culminate and people who aren’t in honors, and not one of them would I consider stupid. But they are told they are. So they become what people tell them to be.

Why does such prejudice have to be exerted? What if we had no honors program? No way of telling people if they’re smart or dumb? If we were taught together, given the same opportunities and statuses? If people gate themselves off, how is a public school system really a public school system?

As the Longshore motto says, “An injury to one is an injury to all,” and the schools would do good to remember that.

We now have two candidates for Sheriff of Los Angeles County, Jim McDonnell and Paul Tanaka.

It is public knowledge that Paul Tanaka is a subject in the FBI investigation that has so far led to the arrest of 20 deputies.

What is not public knowledge, but I believe should be, is that there is strong circumstantial evidence that Jim McDonnell may also be involved in a case in which the Long Beach Police Department is covering up federal felonies.

While the incident that triggered this was nowhere near as brutal as the conditions in the Central Jail, Chief McDonnell’s response has demonstrated what we can expect of him in a similar situation. I realize that this is a very serious accusation, but I would not make it without proof of what I am saying.

I have evidence in the form of official police records, an audio recording, photos and eyewitness accounts that document 13 federal misdemeanors, 23 federal felonies and at least ten miscellaneous state crimes in which the Long Beach Police were involved. The crimes include: · 18 USC 242 – Deprivation of rights under color of law, a misdemeanor, · 18 USC 241 – Conspiracy to deprive of rights, a felony, · 18 USC 1519 – Altering, concealing or destroying evidence in a federal investigation, a felony, and · 18 USC 371 – Conspiracy (regards 18 USC 1519), a felony.

Full details and documentation are posted at http://interestingtimes. info/LBPD/.

When Chief McDonnell was first notified that there was a potential violation of these codes, his response was to give the information to the Lieutenant in charge of the unit that should have been investigated, rather than to internal affairs.

For the record, the charges against the deputies arrested by the FBI are: · 18 USC 242, · 18 USC 241, · 18 USC 1519, and · 18 USC 371 (regards 18 USC 1519).

So, it looks like Chief McDonnell will fit right in to the current culture at the Sheriff’s Department.

I don’t believe that is what we need or deserve and I am calling on Chief McDonnell to withdraw from the race for sheriff.

George McCalip Long Beach

that was true I would really have a thing or two to say to the Chosin Few for raising all that ruckus.

If you know any of the people who were involved in the Friends of the Bell or some of the downtown folks, like Janet Gunter, give them a hello for me.

Wish I could get there for the fourth.

Richard Koch Joshua Tree Dear Richard, The vets group, the Chosen Few, decamped San Pedro and headed up north and landed their monument in one of those suburbs off of Interstate 5, near the San Luis Reservoir in Santa Nella. However,

The Local Publication You Actually Read

[This letter was reprinted as it relates to the last editorial on why the San Pedro Court is still closed] The 2014- 2015 budget is now official. The trial courts will receive no general operational funding other than that proposed in the May Revise. The trial court budget will be only $160 million over last year’s funding, as follows: (1) $86.3 million for local operations, (2) $42.8 million to cover increases in employee retirement and health care benefits (rejecting any backfill for courts who pay the employee portion of retirement benefits), and (3) $30.9 million to cover approximately one-half of the fee revenue shortfall only recently reported by the AOC. Some modest additional amounts are not for trial court general operations. The budget provides for some increases in state funding, security funding, funding targeted at “recidivism reduction,” and $40 million in construction money paid to the Immediate and Critical Needs Account. Of course, the increase in ICNA funding is more than offset by the payment for the annual service fee ($54.2 million) on the Long Beach courthouse that the AOC mistakenly hoped would come from the general fund, not the court’s budget.

There’s no way to spin or softpedal it: This budget is not good news for the courts. The amount provided is at least $137 million less than the trial courts need just to maintain current services.

There are no more reserves. The trial courts of this state will need to reduce operational costs once again by millions of dollars.

The budget increase is less than a third of the $612 million boost that the Chief Justice requested in her “Three-Year Blueprint” for the judiciary, and its $83 million below what the Chief

Justice said we need just to tread water. The bulk of the money is already spoken for. Much of it will go to cover increases in employee benefits and to compensate in part for the coming year’s $70 million shortfall in court fees—the shortfall that the Judicial Council claimed it had been “monitoring” all along.

There’s nothing left with which to reopen mothballed courtrooms and shuttered courthouses.

We can expect more pain on top of the devastation of the last few years. Many counties can expect even longer lines at the traffic windows, even longer waits for trial dates, even higher stacks of files for our overworked clerks to process.

After the CCMS debacle and years of AOC doublespeak, we have little credibility with the other branches of government. The pleas of the Chief Justice and the AOC’s Office of Governmental Affairs are falling on deaf ears. Nobody is paying attention to them.

We need to start from scratch.

The judges of this state must awaken to the fact that the current structure of trial court funding and administration is a failure. It is completely broken. We need to rebuild credibility and start over with new ideas. We need an independent voice in Sacramento not tied to the existing failed bureaucracy, capable of proposing a fresh start. The Alliance sponsored the forthcoming audit of the AOC. Judges need to embrace that audit rather than resist it. With the results of the audit expected before the end of this calendar year, judges will be equipped to propose the revisions we need to ensure adequate funding of the courts.

The Alliance will keep working with our allies in the Legislature to reform the funding mechanisms for the courts and judicial branch administration. If you want to join us, just respond to this e-mail.

Directors, Alliance of California Judges

ceremonies, but it’s a real stretch for me to drive that far. I’m 80 now and disabled.

As you surely know I was the President of “Friends of the Friendship Bell” and what you may not know is that it was my observation that the sculptor had not received approval from the Cultural Affairs Commission for the new version and that revelation brought an end to the problem. I have been told that the vets never did use the new site given to them just west of the Bell. I hope they got their goals in some way, although I see in the article in Westways that the Bell was gifted also in honor of the vets. That is news to me and if

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RANDOMLetters

from p. 7

were not used in Vietnam and unfortunately brought us the same results in Iraq as we now see and will probably end similarly in Afghanistan. This is not a critique of the soldiers who fought in these conflicts, but of the generals and politicians, who never learned the lessons of history in order not to repeat them.

James Preston Allen, Publisher

Iraq Intervention?

Enough is Enough

Yesterday, I addressed my colleagues on the House floor to

voice my opposition to further U.S. military intervention in Iraq.

It was misguided 11 years ago, and it would be misguided now.

Let us not repeat history.

Nearly 4,500 brave men and women have already sacrificed their lives for a misguided mission in Iraq and more than 30,000 Americans have come home emotionally and physically scarred.

Prime Minister Maliki has failed, and it is now time for the people of Iraq to determine the future of their nation, and lead Iraq forward without the involvement of the United States.

I support providing support

and safe passage for Americans at our embassy or in Iraq, but no more combat troops should be sent to Iraq. We have no place trying to solve a modern day civil war Janice Hahn Member of Congress

The First Casualty of War is the Truth

We observe with the buildup of US forces in Iraq and the Ukraine the danger to our civil liberties becomes greater.

The current situation in a small town in Michigan is an example of this. Currently governmental terroristic tactics are directed at the Reverend Pinkney, a leader who, with others fought and mobilized

voters in Benton Harbor to recall the mayor. The Benton Harbor City and County clerks verified enough signatures as valid for a recall election of the mayor, Jim Hightower.

Instead of setting the election to occur, local authorities had the Rev. Pinkney arrested on bogus charges of voter fraud. That the full might of the government would be turned on a small town preacher show that, in fact the government is frightened of its own people.

The court then issued a completely unprecedented order that neither Rev. Pinkney nor his wife, Dorothy (who isn’t even charged with a crime) can use a computer. No case has been located in which a non-convicted person is ordered entirely to stop using a computer.

This makes Reverend Pinkney the first American to be banned from the Internet.

This 4th of July at 10 a.m.

San Pedro Neighbors for Peace & Justice and friends and supporters will observe this holiday with an event at Liberty Hill (located at

5th and Harbor) recognizing the Bill of Rights, particularly the right of freedom of assembly and the freedom of Speech. Speakers will include Helen Grove of the Catholic Worker, Hamid Kahn of StopLAPDspying.com and Art Almeida, San Pedro Historian.

Please join us and make your voice heard.

Chris Venn San Pedro Neighbors for Peace & Justice

No New War in Iraq!

Sen. Lindsey Graham and other pro-war voices have called for direct U.S. military action in Iraq following the failure of the Iraqi Army to defend Mosul against Sunni insurgents. These calls, amplified in the media, are putting pressure on the Obama Administration for direct U.S. military intervention in Iraq, including airstrikes.

Senate Armed Services Chair Carl Levin has correctly called for caution. Levin said: “It’s unclear

how air strikes on our part can succeed unless the Iraqi army is willing to fight, and that’s uncertain given the fact that several Iraqi army divisions have melted away.”

As the New York Times has written, “The United States simply cannot be sucked into another round of war in Iraq.”

The U.S. war in Iraq ended in 2011 with the withdrawal of our troops, and the last thing we need is a new U.S. war in Iraq. President Obama has been right to say that the Iraqi government must be responsible for security in Iraq.

To avoid another rush to war, Members of Congress must insist that an explicit Congressional authorization of force precede any direct U.S. military action in Iraq, including airstrikes. This is how we stopped the U.S. bombing of Syria: by getting Members of Congress to insist that President Obama comes to Congress for authorization before any U.S. bombing.

Robert Naiman and Megan Iorio Just Foreign Policy

Stop Calling the Iraq War a ‘Mistake’

June 27 - July 10, 2014

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

By Dennis Kucinich, former 16-year U.S. Representative; two-time Presidential Candidate

8

As Iraq descends into chaos again, more than a decade after “Mission Accomplished,” media commentators and politicians have mostly agreed upon calling the war a “mistake.”

But the “mistake” rhetoric is the language of denial, not contrition: it minimizes the Iraq War’s disastrous consequences, removes blame, and deprives Americans of any chance to learn from our generation’s foreign policy disaster. The Iraq War was not a “mistake”—it resulted from calculated deception. The painful, unvarnished fact is that we were lied to. Now is the time to have the willingness to say that.

In fact, the truth about Iraq was widely available, but it was ignored. There were no weapons of mass destruction.

Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. The war wasn’t about liberating the Iraqi people. I said this in Congress in 2002. Millions of people who marched in America in protest of the war knew the truth, but were maligned by members of both parties for opposing the president in a time of war -- and even leveled with the spurious charge of “not supporting the troops.”

I’ve written and spoken widely about this topic. So, today I offer two ways we can begin to address our role: 1) President Obama must tell us the truth about Iraq and

Recent photo of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant forces as they roll through Iraq capturing town after town. File photo.

the false scenario that caused us to go to war.

When Obama took office in 2008, he announced that his administration would not investigate or prosecute the architects of the Iraq War. Essentially, he suspended public debate about the war. That may have felt good in the short term for those who wanted to move on, but when you’re talking about a war initiated through lies, bygones can’t be bygones.

The unwillingness to confront the truth about the Iraq War has induced a form of amnesia which is hazardous to our nation’s health. Willful forgetting doesn’t heal, it opens the door to more lying. As today’s debate ensues about new potential military “solutions” to stem violence in Iraq, let’s remember how and why we intervened in Iraq in 2003.

2) Journalists and media commentators should stop giving inordinate air and print time to people who were either utterly wrong in their support

of the war or willful in their calculations to make war.

By and large, our Fourth Estate accepted uncritically the imperative for war described by top administration officials and congressional leaders.

The media fanned the flames of war by not giving adequate coverage to the arguments against military intervention.

President Obama didn’t start the Iraq War, but he has the opportunity now to tell the truth. That we were wrong to go in. That the cause of war was unjust. That more problems were created by military intervention than solved.

That the present violence and chaos in Iraq derives from the decision which took America to war in 2003. More than a decade later, it should not take courage to point out the Iraq war was based on lies.

Follow Dennis on Facebook: www.facebook.com/denniskucinich Follow Dennis J. Kucinich on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Dennis_ Kucinich

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

Continued on page 16.

June 27 – July 10, 2014

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Photo courtesy of Port of Los Angeles

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June 27 – July 10, 2014

Independent And Free.

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

June 27 – July 10, 2014

11

Photo courtesy of Battleship Iowa

Summer’s Here and the Time is Right

By Andrea Serna, Arts and Culture Writer

P

Independent And Free.

ut on your lightest cotton clothes and celebrate the full glory of life in Southern California. Summer is here!

In the beautiful Los Angeles Harbor Area and surrounding communities, we are blessed with a wealth of options for family and adult entertainment. Actually, it is almost an embarrassment of riches. With the aching memory of the great recession beginning to fade and a little

Japanese Restaurant Sushi Bar 380 W. 6th St. • 832-5585 June 27 – July 10, 2014

Continued on page 15.

Enjoy Dinner Before the Show At:

SUSHI BAR

12

more jingle in the pocket, many folks are in the mood for some fun again.

My personal favorites are summer concerts in the park. These happen in nearly every neighborhood. Gathering neighbors and friends with a nice chilled bottle of sauvignon blanc, a picnic dinner and dancing to some good-time music provides relaxation for the body and food for the soul.

Shrek the Musical

FRI 6/27 | 7:30pM Sat 6/28 | 7:30pM Sun 6/29 | 2:00pM Sat 7/5 | 2:00pm & 7:30pM Sun 7/6 | 2:00pM Part romance, part twisted fairytale and all hilarious fun, this musical - based on the Oscar®winning DreamWorks film - brings everyone’s favorite ogre to life

Summer Musical Theatre Camp: “Hairspray Jr.”

M-F 7/14 – 7/25 | 9AM-1PM Encore Entertainers’ two week camp provides vocal, acting and dance training for 4 – 13 yr olds.

Performance on 7/25 at 5pm.

Tuition & program information at Encoreentertainers.org.

310.548.2493 • 478 W. 6th St.

Historic Downtown San Pedro 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 or GrandVision.org. Events, dates, show times and ticket prices are subject to change without notice.

Art

Openings

|

Fine

Dining

National Watercolor Society 2014 All Member Exhibition

|

Live

Music

|

S p e c i al

P e r fo r ma n c e s

Michael Stearns Studio 347

Runs through August 17.

Regular gallery hours are Thursdays through Sundays, 11am - 3pm. 915 S. Pacific Ave. www.nationalwatercolorsociety.org

Studio Gallery 345

Pathways

Color hot, color cool. Come on down.

Pat Woolley and Gloria D Lee present paintings, cards, books, and monoprints. Open 6-9 pm on 1st Thursday and by appointment. For more information call Gloria at 310.545.0832 or Pat at 310.374.8055 • 345 W. 7th Street San Pedro

Michael Stearns Studio 347 presents Pathways, works by artist Michael Stearns. Strong colors come together to trace the artists encounter with the genetic connections of mankind. Artist reception during the First Thursday Artwalk, July 3, 6 - 9 p.m.

Michael Stearns Studio 347, 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro. michael@michaelstearnsstudio.com

It’s Summertime

|

F ood

Trucks

The Loft Gallery Local Color

Presented by Randy Higbee and Carol Hungerford.

Loft Artists: Candice Gawne, Carol Hungerford, Sam Arno, Daniel Porras, Murial Olguin, Jan Govaerts, Anne Marie Rawlinson, & Nancy Towne Schultz. • Open First Thursday 6–9 p.m. Open Saturdays & Sundays 2-5 p.m. • 401 S. Mesa St. • 310.831.5757

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

Advertise Here for As Low As

$35

per Month!

(310) 519-1442 June 27 – July 10, 2014

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Entertainment June 27

L.A. Vation The Alpine Village is hosting L.A. Vation at 8 p.m., June 27. L.A. Vation is a tribute to the U2 band. Dinner and cocktails will be served. Nobody younger than 21 years is allowed. The cover charge will be $10.

D e t a i l s : ( 310 ) 3 27 - 4 3 8 4 ex t . 24 5 ; j o n @ alpinevillagecenter.com Venue: Alpine Village Location: 833 W. Torrance Blvd., Torrance

June 28

Josh Nelson and Susan Sinner Josh Nelson and Susan Sinner are performing at Alvas Showroom at 8 p.m., June 28. Sinner is a vocalist who has been singing and performing for close to 20 years. Nelson is a jazz pianist, composer, teacher and recording artist. Admission is $20.

Details: (800) 403-3447; www.AlvasShowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Elvis and the Beatles; The Greatest Concert that Never was Elvis and the Beatles: The Greatest Concert that Never was will be hosted at the Alpine Village at 4 p.m., June 28. This is a tribute concert to the Beatles and the King. Dinner and cocktails will be served. Nobody younger than 21 years will be allowed. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

D e t a i l s : ( 310 ) 3 27 - 4 3 8 4 ex t . 24 5 ; j o n @ alpinevillagecenter.com Venue: Alpine Village Location: 833 W. Torrance Blvd., Torrance La Charanga Cubana La Charanga Cubana is performing at the Grand Annex Theatre at 8 p.m., June 28. The band playing old-style Cuban dance music features the violin, flute, congas, trumpet and timbales. Admission is $15 at the door, $12 in advance. A cabaret table seat will cost $15 and cafe deck VIP ticket are $20.

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

Independent And Free.

June 29

One Night Stand Music group, One Night Stand, will be performing at Alvas Showroom at 4 p.m., June 29. The 7-member band will make music with the: keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, percussions and electric viola. The band will be previewing songs from their upcoming CD, Succisa Veriscit. Admission is $20.

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

July 3

Rock on the Dock Faragher Productions presents Rock on the Dock from 7 to 11 p.m., July 3. Get a chance to see Willard Snow’s rock-inspired artwork and hear some of Los Angeles’ rock-pop gems. Admission is $35 at the door and $30 in advance.

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

July 5

Brooklyn 232 Brooklyn 232 will be performing rock covers at Crafted from 2 to 5:30 p.m., July 5.

Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted Port of Los Angeles Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro; Warehouse 10

June 27 – July 10, 2014

July 6

Leon Wesley Sextet The Leon Wesley Sextet is performing at Alvas Showroom at 4 p.m., July 6. The sextet consists of Wesley and six others. They will be bringing you the sounds of the: trumpet, flugelhorn, euphonium, tenor sax, piano, guitar, bass and drums. The band likes to explore old compositions by jazz greats. Admission is $20.

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

July 11

Jimmy Branly and Otmaro Ruiz with Special Guest Francisco Torres Jimmy Branly and Otmaro Ruiz will be playing Alvas Showroom with special guest Francisco Torres at 8 p.m., July 11. The three will be playing with another two who will be on the trombone, drums, piano, bass 14 Calendar continued on page 17.

Photo by Michele Yoshida

28 at 7:30 p.m., June 29 at 2 p.m., July 5 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and on July 6 at 2:00 p.m.

Admission is $22 for children and seniors, and $27 for adults.

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

book signing with Pattie Boyd, the ultimate 60s rock muse and first wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton.

Details: www.catalinamuseum.org Venue: Catalina Island Museum Theater Location: 220 Metropole Ave., Avalon

Midsummer Night’s Dream

You won’t want to miss Adventures From Paradise, A Tribute to Minnie Ripperton, 8 p.m. July 12, at the Grand Performances at California Plaza in Los Angeles, probably the coolest free concert venue to be found anywhere. Grand Performances presents free performing arts that reflect the best of global culture and inspire community among Angelenos.

Details: www.grandperformances.org Venue: Grand Performances at California Plaza Location: 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

On June 26 and 28, at 8 p.m. the ultimate celebration of summer mischief and magic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream comes back to Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. Let Puck entertain you with extraordinary feats of mischief, as he mercilessly toys with lovers of all kinds, humans and fairies alike. “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

Details: www.shakespearebythesea.org/ Venue: Point Fermin Park Location: 807 W. Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro

Minnie Ripperton Tribute

Legends Car Show By The Sea

When it comes to classic cars, restoration and elevation to their former showroom quality glory, the absolute piece de resistance is Legends, San Pedro’s exclusive Car Club, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 24, at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.

The Legends Car Club consists of a camaraderie. People come from the same era and talk cars. Anyone with a classic car is accepted.

Expect food, fun and music at the bandstand, plus the most glorious custom low-riding cars on the scene.

Details: http://thelegendscarclub.com Venue: Point Fermin Park Location: 807 W. Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro

Hamlet

continued from page 12.

Summer’s Here…

Your favorite activity may be taking the children down to Cabrillo Beach, Shakespeare

By The Sea at Point Fermin Park, catching a rock inspired art show at the Grand Annex Theatre or cruising in your lowrider car.

So where to start? I suggest we start in the heart of downtown San Pedro and wander past the city limits to see what’s going on out there.

First Thursday Artwalk

Third Thursday (and Second Thursday too!)

Shrek the Musical

Encore Entertainers presents Shrek the Musical June 27 through July 6. Part romance, part fairy tale, this musical brings shrek to life along with his feisty princess and a donkey that won’t shut up. This event takes place June 27 and

Kick off the Independence Day weekend, on July 3, with Rock The Dock. Faragher Productions is stirring up First Thursday Art Walks, with the premier presentation of Willard Snow’s Legends & Idols Concert & Art Exhibit titled, Rock On The Dock. Take in Willard Snow’s rock-inspired artwork and hear some of Los Angeles’ best rockpop gems. John Mayer’s guitarist Zane Carney comes to the Annex stage with his trio, delivering his own sometimes-sweet-sometimes-gritty folkpop, along with Los Angeles favorite Keaton Simons Band and openers, The Neighborhood Bullys.

Details: http://www.grandvision.org/ Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

310-831-1906

1150 Nagoya Way, San Pedro, CA

On the Waterfront at the SP Fish Market

Independence Day Weekend Celebration

Celebrate America’s independence with a three-day long festival aboard the historic Battleship Iowa. This ‘Ports O’ Fun’ weekend includes, all-American barbeque, a beer garden, live entertainment, vintage military vehicles, face painting, an inflatable obstacle course and ship tours. The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

July 4 through 6.

Details: www.pacificbattleship.com or 877-446-9261 Venue: Battleship Iowa Location: 250 S. Harbor Blvd., San Pedro

A Hard Day’s Night

Cut your ties to the mainland and sail over to the island of love. The Avalon Island Casino celebrates the 50th anniversary of the release of A Hard Day’s Night, starting at 7 p.m. July 6, Catalina Island Museum Theater. Film critic Roger Ebert called the Beatles’ film “one of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies.” The screening will be followed by a rare interview and

June 27 – July 10, 2014

The downtown business owners are expanding on the popular First Thursday concept to include Third Thursday ‘Live@6.’ An outdoor stage at 6th and Mesa street will provide music and even a light show. A second Thursday called ‘Night Out’ will also provide live music and other activities.

Eric Eisenberg, president of the San Pedro Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District, says the objective is to “make Thursdays the night to be in downtown.... People can come here on Thursday nights and always find something going on in downtown San Pedro.”

Venue: Downtown San Pedro

Warner Grand Annex – Rock The Dock

Adults $15 • Seniors $13 Kids under 11 FREE (with adult, limit 3) Call for group rates.

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

First Thursdays just seem to get better. The artwalk is drawing visitors from all over the Greater Los Angeles area with stimulating art in real working artist’s studios, vintage record stores and, of course, the food trucks. The majority of the action takes place on 6th and 7th street, between Pacific Avenue and Centre Street. If you find the thought of walking into an art gallery a bit intimidating, the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce offers a free walking tour beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Details: San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Location: 390 W. 7th St., San Pedro

“Something’s rotten in Denmark,” as you experience the ultimate royal family drama: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, at 8 p.m. June 27, and July 3 and 5, at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro. Disturbed by the ghost of his father, the despondent prince weighs family loyalty and self-preservation against his duty to the crown, with tragic results.

Details: www.shakespearebythesea.org Venue: Point Fermin Park Location: 807 W. Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro

15

Tradition, variety and fast delivery; you get it all at Big Nick’s Pizza.

The best selection of Italian specialties include hearty calzones, an array of pastas and of course, our amazing selection of signature pizzas, each piled high with the freshest toppings.

Like wings or greens?

We also offer an excellent selection of appetizers, salads, beer and wine. Call for fast delivery. Hours: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-11:30 p.m.

Fri. & Sat. Big Nick’s Pizza • 1110 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 732-5800

continental. The Happy Diner chefs are always creating s o m e t h i n g n ew.

They believe that if an item is good, its reputation will get around by word of mouth. You can even find items normally found at curbside lonchera trucks. You can take your pick of grilled salmon over pasta or tilapia and vegetables, prepared anyway you like. Another item that’s emerged from their flair for the creative is their chicken enchiladas soup made from scratch, a soup Roman describes as very thin and flavorful. Happy Diner • (310) 2410917 • 617 S. Centre St., San Pedro

Boardwalk Grill

The Original Las Brisas

Big Nick’s Pizza

Independent And Free.

C a s u a l waterfront dining at its finest! Famous for slabs of Chicago-style baby back ribs, fish-n-chips, rich clam chowder, cold beer on tap and wine. Full lunch menu also includes salads, sandwiches and burgers.

Indoor and outdoor patio dining available. Proudly pouring Starbucks coffee. Open 7 days a week.

Free Parking. Boardwalk Grill • 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 519-7551 Buono’s Authentic Pizzeria A San Pedro landmark for over 40 years, famous fo r exc e p t i o n a l award-winning pizza baked in brick ovens. Buono’s also offers classic Italian dishes and sauces based on tried-and-true family recipes and hand-selected ingredients that are prepared fresh. You can dine-in or take-out. Delivery and catering are also provided. Additionally, there are two locations in Long Beach. Hours: Sun.-Thurs.

11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. • Buono’s Pizzeria • 1432 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 547-0655 www.buonospizza.com

June 27 – July 10, 2014

El Cuco Restaurant

16

Playa El Cuco is the quintessential El Salvadorean beach and El Cuco Restaurant s e r v e s quintessential Salvadorean cuisine right here in San Pedro. A wide variety of pupusas-made fresh daily-plus empanadas, platanos, pastelitos, as well as authentic Mexican favorites. Wine and imported and domestic beers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner served 7 days a week. Free parking. El Cuco Restaurant • 234 N. Pacific Ave., San Pedro • (310) 521-9509 Happy Diner The Happy Diner isn’t your average diner. If you pay attention to their special menu on their blackboards (yeah plural, they have about three), it’s almost a certainty you’re going to find something new from week to week. The cuisine runs the gamut of Italian and Mexican cuisine to American

Las Brisas #2 is family owned and operated.

All the food in made in house, down to the chips and salsas. Las Brisas is known for its Al Pastor meat and Signature Dishes created by chef Gilberto De Haro. Catering available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner served 7 days a week. Free parking. Las Brisas #2 • 1110 N. Gaffey St. (Channel & Gaffey) • San Pedro • (310) 833-4395 Lighthouse Cafe

The favorite local cafe for the point Fermin area of San Pedro great breakfasts, lunches and even dinners. Serving traditional offering for breakfast along with specialty omelets, espresso and cappuccino.

Lunches include a delicious selection of soups, salads, burgers and sandwiches with hearty portions as well as Chef’s Creations. Dinners feature Top Sirloin Steak or Prime Rib as well as a kids menu. Beer and wine are served. Free Wi-Fi and is pet friendly on the patio. Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. close to Cabrillo Beach and the Korean Bell, Point Fermin area.

Lighthouse Cafe • 508 West 39th St., San Pedro.

310- 548- 3354 Mishi’s Strudel Bakery

Mishi’s is a fragrant landmark on 7th Street, where it is possible to find Nir vana by following your nose.

The enticing aroma of baking strudel is impossible to resist, and the café is warm and welcoming like your favorite auntie’s house. Aniko and Mishi have expanded the menu to include homemade goulash, soups and a variety of sweet and savory Hungarian strudels, crépes and pastas. Take a frozen strudel home to bake in your own kitchen and create that heavenly aroma at your house. Mishi’s Strudel Bakery and Café, 309 W.7th St., San Pedro • (310) 832-6474 www. mishisstrudel.com

Nazelie’s Lebanese Cuisine

Nazelie’s L e b a n e s e Cuisine is a favorite of the n e i g h b o rh o o d for the terrific kabobs, beef or chicken shawarma, lamb dishes and falafel. Nazelie’s chicken and rice soup with lemon is like a warm embrace—it takes chicken soup to a whole new level. Nazelie uses a recipe handed down in her family for generations, starting with homemade chicken broth, and adding a refreshing touch of lemon for taste and nutrients. Nazelie’s Lebanese Café, 1919 S.Pacific Avenue, San Pedro. (310) 519-1919 PHILIE B’S ON SIXTH Owner Philie Buscemi welcomes you to Philie B’s on Sixth, where New York style pizza, Sicilian rice balls and pizza by-the-slice are the specialties. Fresh hot or cold sandwiches, gourmet pizzas, and fresh salads are also served.

Try the “White Pizza” with smooth ricotta, mozzarella and sharp PecorinoRomano cheeses topped with torn fresh basil.

Extended hours accommodate San Pedro’s unique lifestyle and work schedules. Catering and fast, free local delivery ($15 min.) available.

Philie B’s On Sixth • 347 W. 6th Street, San Pedro (310) 514-2500 www.philiebsonsixth.com PORTS O’CALL WATERFRONT DINING S i n c e 19 61 we ’ ve extended a hear ty welcome to visitors from every corner of the globe. Delight in an awe-inspiring view of the dynamic LA Harbor while enjoying exquisite Coastal California Cuisine and Varietals. Relax in the Plank Bar or Outdoor Patio for the best Happy Hour on the Waterfront. With the Award-Winning Sunday Champagne Brunch, receive the first SPIRIT CRUISES Harbor Cruise of the day FREE. Open 7 days, lunch and dinner. Free Parking. Ports O’Call Waterfront Dining • 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 76, San Pedro • (310) 833-3553 www.Portsocalldining.com

and “all-inclusive” p r i c i n g m a ke s par ty planning easy! Dinner Cruise features a 3-course meal, full bar, unlimited cocktails and starlight dancing. Offering the ultimate excursion for any occasion. Free Parking.

Spirit Cruises • 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 548-8080, (562) 495-5884 • www.spiritmarine.com The Whale & Ale

San Pedro’s British Gastro Pub offers comfortable dining in oak paneled setting, featuring English fish & chips, roast prime rib, sea bass, rack of lamb, beef Wellington, meat pies, salmon, swordfish & vegetarian dishes. Open for lunch & dinner, 7days/wk; great selection of wines; 14 British tap ales, & full bar. Frequent live music. First Thursday live band & special fixed price menu. Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri. 11:30 a.m.-midnight Sat. & Sun. 1-10 p.m. Bar open late. The Whale & Ale • 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro • (310) 832-0363 • www. whaleandale.com

To Advertise in Random Lengths News’ Dining Directory for the Harbor Area, Call (310) 519–1442.

Get the Dining Guide to GO Put It In Your Pocket!

San Pedro Brewing Company A microbrewer y and American grill, SPBC features hand-craf ted award-winning ales and lagers served with creative pastas, bbq, sandwiches, salads and burgers. A full bar with made-fromscratch margaritas and a martini menu all add fun to the warm and friendly atmosphere. WI-FI bar connected for Web surfing and e-mail—bring your laptop. Live music on Saturdays. Hours: From 11:30 a.m., daily. San Pedro Brewing Company • 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (310) 831-5663 • www.sanpedrobrewing.com SPIRIT CRUISES An instant party! Complete with all you need to relax and enjoy while the majesty of the harbor slips by. Our three yachts and seasoned staff provide for an exquisite excursion every time,

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Farmer Turns a City Dump into Urban Farm

By Lori Lynn Hirsch Stokoe, Food Writer and Photographer

Calendar from page 14. and percussion. Admission is $20.

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

July 12

Eric Rigler - Celtic Concert Eric Rigler will be performing at Alvas Showroom 8 p.m., July 12. Rigler will team up with Dirk Freymouth to play Celtic music. Admission is $20.

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

July 13

Tom McDermott Tom McDermott is performing at Alvas Showroom at 2:30 p.m., July 13. McDermott is a piano player and composer from New Orleans. He was part of the Dukes of Dixieland in the 1990s. Admission is $20.

Details: (800) 403-3447; www.AlvasShowroom. com Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro Virgil Donati Band The Virgil Donati Band will be playing at Alvas Showroom 6 p.m., July 13. Donati’s band is made up of four members who are on the drums, bass, keys and guitar. Crawford has been performing in Los Angeles since he has moved here in 2008.

Admission is $20.

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

July 18

Julian Coryell Trio The Julian Coryell Trio will be performing at Alvas Showroom at 8 p.m., July 18. The trio will be playing the guitar, vox, drums and organ. You can check a sample on the website below. Admission is $20.

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

July 25

Kofi Baker’s Tribute to Cream Kofi Baker will be playing and paying a tribute to Cream 8 p.m., July 25. Baker will be joined by two others who will be playing the drums, guitar and bass. Baker has big expectations. He is the son of drumming great Ginger Baker. Admission is $20.

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

July 26

Sir Sultry Quintet The Sir Sultry Quintet will be performing at Alvas Showroom 8 p.m. July 26. The quintet will be bringing you jazz flamenco music using the: bass, Calendar continued on page 18.

June 27 – July 10, 2014

tomatoes, asparagus and more. Another area of the farm is dedicated to an orchard of various fruit trees including lesser-known fruits such as cherimoya. The farming is labor intensive, all of the produce is grown from seed. Most of the For a $5 donation (no one is turned away) seeds are heirloom variety, many over 100 years old. Heirloom seeds are cultivars whose unique visitors can tour the farm with Kanno while she qualities have been maintained by gardeners shares her passion for biodynamic farming and how the dream became a reality in the past three throughout many decades.

Hens are pastured, they eat organic grains and years. The Ladyfarmer, a local mobile café, serves forage for bugs. Not only does Farmstand 59 profit hot breakfast made from farm fresh produce and from the sale of just-laid eggs, these hens help with eggs, and Pop Up Coffee provides coffee and tea. pest control and soil fertility. Kanno explains that Could there be a more delightful way to shop for healthy soil is the key to healthy plants. During food on a Saturday morning and simultaneously the day chickens roam a large fenced area of the support local agriculture?

Not only is Kanno true to her mission to develop farm, at night they sleep in coop, protected from farmland in an urban setting and offer healthy food predators and the elements.

“We have very happy and healthy hens and choices, she has also created a place for locals to a beautiful little farm,” Kanno said. “We love learn about gardening and volunteering. Long showing guests around the farm to see our growing Beach Local Farm Stand 59 offers a delicious rural experience for the urban family. practices and operations up close.”

Farmstand 59 opened on June 14 and it is open Details: www.longbeachlocal.org every Second Saturday after that from 10 a.m. to 1 Venue: Farm Lot 59 p.m. Each “Second Saturday Market Place” features Location: 2714 California Ave., Long Beach farm fresh fare, including organic fruits, vegetables, flowers, and eggs.

COME WORSHIP WITH US Other merchandise Sunday School is also available, 9:45 am including heritage Morning Worship Service w a l n u t o i l , Del Haynes, pastor 11:00 am handmade produce 310-831-5446 bags, heirloom 888 Hamilton Avenue, San Pedro seeds and more.

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

Long littered with car bumpers, scrap metal and trash, a land plot in Long Beach has been transformed into a charming little urban farm.

There, everything is organically grown and tended to the old fashioned way—by hand, without the use of chemicals or pesticides.

Farmer and founder Sasha Kanno has built a successful enterprise with the help of grants, donations and a team of community volunteers. Long Beach Local, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is an agriculture-based operation focused on training young farmers and educating residents about urban farming. Kanno is a visionary with a background in floral design and community gardening, who saw the potential for urban agriculture in Long Beach.

Sale of just-harvested produce, eggs and honey from the roadside stand helps keep the business sustainable. Not only do the bees produce profitable honey, they are important for pollination of the crops as well. In addition to fresh picked vegetables and lettuces, esoteric items such as sunchokes and fennel pollen are sold to local restaurants, Michael’s on Naples being one of the biggest customers.

Micro-greens, which are grown in a greenhouse entirely built from salvaged materials, are a popular garnish used by many chefs.

The one-acre farm has its own microclimate, noticeably hotter than the surrounding neighborhood. Kanno’s philosophy is not to fight nature, if there is a plant that doesn’t grow well there, she will move on to another. Along with her team of volunteers, she maintains raised beds growing chives, leeks and various herbs, and rows and rows of lettuces, squash, melons, eggplant,

Matthew Morreale: St. Judes Children’s Hospital Fundraiser Matthew Morreale is playing at Alvas Showroom from 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., July 13. Morreale will be playing as a fundraiser for St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital. Ten-year old Matthew has been writing, performing and composing music since he was a toddler. He was 5 years old when he first performed at Alvas. Any donation will be accepted.

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

17

Calendar from page 17. sax, flute, guitar, vox, drums, piano, synths and a flamenco dancer. Admission is $20.

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

Community/Family June 27

6th Annual Cars and Stripes Forever The 6th Annual Cars and Stripes Forever show is taking place from 5 to 10 p.m., June 27. The show features hundreds of classic cars and motorcycles, music, fountain shows, and a food and beer garden. The event will conclude with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.

Details: (310) 832-7272; www.sanpedrochamber. com Venue: Port of Los Angeles Location: Harbor Blvd., San Pedro Creation Station: Tie Dye Station Crafted’s Creation Station is holding a Tye Dye station on June 27. Come tie, twirl, dip and paint a tie dye shirt. Crafted will be hosting this class all weekend.

Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted Port of Los Angeles Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro; Warehouse 10

June 28

Meet the Grunion The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium will be screening a film about grunion at 9 p.m., June 28. Prior to the showing, everyone with meet on the beach to await the grunion. Grunion may be caught during the months of March, June and July. Admission is $5 and $1 for seniors, students and children.

Details: (310) 548-7562; www. cabrillomarineaquarium.org Venue: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Location: 3270 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

Independent And Free.

Mom and Pop up Shop SoCal Etsy Guild presents Mom and Pop up Shop from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., June 28. This one-day festival showcases dozens of SoCal’s modern makers of handmade soap, lotions clothing and jewelry. You can come and also enjoy music, art projects, a hula hoop station and face painting.

Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted Port of Los Angeles Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro; Warehouse 10 Free Zumba The Southbay Pavillion is offering free zumba lessons from 9 to 10 a.m., June 28 and every Saturday.

Details: (310) 366-6629; www.southbaypavillion. com Venue: Southbay Pavillion Location: 20700 Avalon Blvd., Carson Free Koga The Southbay Pavillion is offering free koga lessons from 8 to 9 a.m., June 28 and every Saturday.

Details: (310) 366-6629; www.southbaypavillion. com Venue: Southbay Pavillion Location: 20700 Avalon Blvd., Carson

June 29

June 27 – July 10, 2014

Premier Bridal Show The Long Beach Convention Center is hosting the Premier Bridal Show on June 29. The event will be showcasing some of California’s top wedding professionals. Get a chance to shop and preview new ideas. Also get a chance to taste gourmet cakes and cuisines.

Details: (714) 572-1363; www.premierbridalshows. com Venue: Long Beach Convention; Grand Ballroom Location: 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

18

Craft Beer and Food Festival Crafted is hosting the Craft Beer and Food Festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., June 29. The festival is to celebrate Crafted’s two-year anniversary.

Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted Port of Los Angeles Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro Beginning Glass Fusing Crafted is hosting a beginning glass fusing class from 1 to 4 p.m., June 29. The class will cover Calendar continued on page 19.

“When it first opened its doors back in 1996 all of the artists in the Los Angeles area were excited to have Latino Art being displayed in their local community,” Amado said. “We were astonished and grateful. After the excitement, we then realized that we had no shot at ever exhibiting at such a grand venue.

--Long Beach Chicano artist, Steven Amado, a.k.a. Chatismo

Museum of Latin American Art Announces Major Change

By Andrea Serna, Arts and Culture Writer

S

ince its inception in 1996, the Museum of Latin American Art, MOLAA, has worked under the constrictions of a mission statement that focused on the work of artists who have lived and worked in Latin America post–1945.

The question of what is Latin American art, and who falls under the definition has plagued the museum almost from the start. President and CEO Stuart Ashman, who came to the museum in 2011, led the efforts to clarify the mission of the museum.

At the April meeting of MOLAA’s board of directors, the board unanimously passed a resolution that clarified the definition of Latin American art to include Chicano art and art created by people of Latin American descent who have lived exclusively in the United States.

“I am very pleased that the Board of Directors of the Museum of Latin American Art took this important step,” Ashman said. “In addition to acknowledging the Latino artists in our region, this action will expand the museum’s ability to serve the community and maintain its relevance to an even larger audience”.

Founder Robert Gumbiner fell in love with Latin American art several decades before the medium was popular. His early collection was displayed in the Long Beach offices of Family Health Plan, the health maintenance organization that he founded. Gumbiner’s belief was that art had the power to heal the body and elevate the soul. He was also a man who loved a bargain. Art from Latin America was an affordable investment when he began his collection. Throughout the years the value of Latin American art increased and the museum he founded attracted artists and visitors from all of the United States, Latin America and beyond.

Long Beach photographer D.W. Gastélum serves on the advisory board at The Art Exchange, a Long Beach nonprofit that supports working artists and arts education. Gastélum expressed pleasure in the broadening of the mission statement.

“I see it as policy catching up with reality,” Gastélum said. “I agree with a statement by Latin Jazz musician Otmaro Ruiz, who said, ‘Latin America starts here (Los Angeles) and goes to Patagonia.’There are a lot of different styles and experiences that go into making Latin American Art.” “Some of us think that people who lived and worked in the part of the U.S. that fell under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which was not that long ago, are Latin Americans and always have been…. I think it is a positive step for MOLAA and I am looking forward to seeing additional dynamic exhibits there.”

Young, local Latino artists who visit the museum find inspiration from the great works on display. Agustín Bejarano of Cuba, Fernando Botero of Colombia and José Gurvich of Uruguay all have a place in the permanent collection.

But students and artists seeking the work of members of the Chicano art movement have been frustrated by their exclusion from the walls of the museum.

These artists did not qualify for exhibition under the constraints of the previous mission statement.

Long Beach Chicano artist, Steven Amado, who works under the name Chatismo, has a long history with the museum. He began his association with MOLAA as an intern in high school; now he is an educator at Jordan High School in Long Beach.

“When it first opened its doors back in 1996 all of the artists in the Los Angeles area were excited to have Latino Art being displayed in their local community,” Amado said. “We were astonished and grateful. After the excitement, we then realized that we had no shot at ever exhibiting at such a grand venue.

We had heard about the policy that only Latino artists living outside of the United States were allowed to exhibit. MOLAA has always been a great support and inspiration to many visual artists in Southern California. It would be a dream

come true to finally be able to display art in the museum here in the City of Long Beach, right in our back yard.”

In 2011 a crack was opened in the door to the art movement. The Getty Museum funded Pacific Standard Time. The sweeping collaboration of 60 cultural organizations, Pacific Standard Time told the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major new force. MOLAA was given the opportunity to represent Latino artists in Los Angeles.

For the first time MOLAA opened its arms to embrace this branch of the family. The exhibition Mex/LA featured the work of many Chicano artists, including Rudy Cuéllar, founding member of the Sacramento-based artist collective the Royal Chicano Air Force, Andy Zermaño, Yolanda López, John Valadez and Harry Gamboa Jr. The first piece of artwork that visitors encountered when they came to see Mex/LA was Gypsy Rose, the famous lowrider car by Jesse Valadez Sr. that was installed in MOLAA’s lobby.

The museum can now officially open its doors to the entire Latino community – those living in their native countries, the United States or abroad. It is already planning its first Biennial of Latin(o) American Art in 2016 in conjunction with MOLAA’s 20th anniversary. This exhibit will bring 30 artists from the United States, Latin America and elsewhere and will be selected by three guest curators.

Amado confirms his pleasure at the recognition of his community of artists.

“I think it’s a great moment in history for the museum,” said Amado. “A time for celebration and a great accomplishment for today’s modern Chicano arts movement. Artists living in the United States of Latino descent can now strive for bigger, better things and hope to be exhibited at MOLAA. It’s about time; we can dream big now.”

Andrea Serna was on staff at the Museum of Latin American Art from 2000 to 2008, where she worked as the membership marketing manager.

Get Some Fun in the Sun at POLA

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor and Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor

Calendar from page 18. all the basics of glass knowledge and techniques.

Learn how to cut and design a fused glass project.

The class fee is $60 with all supplies included.

Pre-registration is required.

Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted Port of Los Angeles; Booth A194 Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro; Warehouse 10 Mini Introduction to Metal Clay Crafted is hosting a mini introduction to metal clay course from 2 to 5 p.m., June 29. Learn how to make a pendant from silver clay. The instructor, who is an accomplished metal clay artisan, will guide you through the whole process. The class will cost $85 and includes instructions, hand-out, pack of clay, one small gemstone and use of all tools and materials necessary to complete the project.

Advanced registration and payment is required.

Details: (626) 375-9839; delia@phoenixmagyk. com Venue: Crafted Port of Los Angeles Warehouse 10 Location: 112 E 22nd St., San Pedro

July 4

July 10

SPCC Network Mixer The San Pedro Chamber of Commerce is hosting a network mixer from 5 to 7 p.m., July 10. Get a chance to meet your fellow chamber members or find out about chamber membership. There will be appetizers and drinks to be enjoyed. Admission is $5.

Details: (310) 832-7272; www.sanpedrocc.com Venue: Grand Annex Theatre Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

July 12

Culture Shock 2014 Culture Shock 2014 will be at the Long Beach Convention Center July 12. Culture Shock cultivates self-worth, dignity and respect through the power of music and dance. Admission will be $20 through June 6 and $25 after that date.

Details: www.cultureshockla.org Venue: Terrace Theatre; Long Beach Convention Center Location: 300 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach Intermediate Quilting Class Crafted is hosting an intermediate quilting class from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., July 12. This class will teach how to read a quilt pattern and make a small wall quilt. It will also teach about battings, backings and bindings. Some familiarity with a sewing machine is highly recommended.

Details: (310) 732-1270; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted; Port of Los Angeles Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro; Warehouse 10

July 18

Mary Star Fiesta Mary Star is hosting their 67th annual fiesta at 5 p.m., July 18, and 12 p.m. July 19 and 20. There will be carnival rides, games, a raffle, bingo and food.

Details: (310) 833-3541 ext. 203; fiesta@marystar. org Venue: Mary Star of the Sea Parish Location: 870 W. 8th St., San Pedro

July 26

Victory at Sea Cruise The Victory at Sea Cruise is taking place from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. July 26. The event will start off with a all-you-can-eat breakfast. Participants will get a chance to explore the ship and its museums at their leisure. There will also be an engine-room tour and opportunities to visit the bridge, chartroom and radio room. Tickets for the tour will cost $155 and $80 for children younger than 12 years.

Details: (310) 519-9545; www.sanpedrocc.com Venue: S.S. Lane Victory Location: Port of Los Angeles, Berth 49, San Pedro

July 27

Mini-Intro to Metal Clay Class Crafted is hosting a mini-intro to metal clay class from 2 to 5 p.m., July 27. This class will teach how to make pendants from silver clay. The instructor is certified through the Rio Grande and PMC connections. The class costs $85 and will include: instruction, handout, pack of clay, small gemstone

June 27

Shrek the Musical Encore Entertainers presents Shrek the Musical June 27 through July 6. Part romance, part fairy tale, this musical brings shrek to life along with his feisty princess and a donkey that won’t shut up. This event takes place June 27-28 at 7:30 p.m., June 29 at 2 p.m., July 5 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and on July 6 at 2:00 p.m. Admission is $22 for children and seniors, and $27 for adults.

Details: (310) 548-2493; www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro Mama Won’t Fly The Little Fish Theatre presents Mama Won’t Fly at 8 p.m., June 27. A girl has to get her mother from Alabama to California for her brother’s wedding, but there’s one small problem, mama won’t fly. Tickets begin at $22. The show will be screening through July 19.

Details: (310) 512-6030; www.littlefishtheatre.org Venue: Little Fish Theatre Location: 777 S Centre St., San Pedro Hamlet Shakespeare by the Sea will be performing Hamlet at Point Fermin Park at 8 p.m., June 27. Hamlet will also be performed July 3 at Point Fermin.

Details: www.shakespearebythesea.org Venue: Point Fermin Park Location: 807 Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro

June 28

Dream Shakespeare by the Sea will be performing Dream at Point Fermin Park at 8 p.m., June 28. They will also be performing Dream on July 5.

Details: www.shakespearebythesea.org Venue: Point Fermin Park Location: 807 Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro

Art July 3

Unexpected Activity Gallery owner Robin Hinchliff can be counted on for thought provoking exhibitions at Angel’s Ink. This month the exhibit titled Unexpected Activity features works on paper and whimsical sculptures. Artists include Nathan Huff, Elisa Salcedo, Camilla Taylor, David Van Patten and Zelda Zinn.

Details: robinalert@yahoo.com Venue: Angel’s Ink Gallery Location: 366 W. 7th St., San Pedro Pathways Michael Stearns Studio 347 presents Pathways, Works By Artist Michael Stearns. Strong colors come together to trace the artists encounter with genetic connections of mankind. Artist reception takes place during the First Thursday Artwalk, July 3, 6 to 9 p.m.

Details: michael@michaelstearnsstudio.com Venue: Michael Stearns Studio 347 Location: 347 W. 7th St., San Pedro Magical Realism and Modern Oaxaca: Remembering Gabriel García Márquez In homage to the recent passing of world-renowned novelist Gabriel García Márquez, The Museum of Latin American Art presents selections from the Permanent Collection that celebrate the influence of Realismo Mágico / Magical Realism, Latin American’s most influential literary movement popularized by Márquez. Painters Laura Hernández, Rodolfo Morales, and Francisco Toledo, all presented here, catalyze the influence of Realismo Mágico in Modern Latin American Art. This exhibition was curated by MOLAA CEO and President Stuart Ashman.

The exhibit runs through Nov. 30.

Details: molaa.org Venue: Museum of Latin American Art Location: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach

What sets RLn apart from the rest?

June 27 – July 10, 2014

Enjoy more than 100 classic cars, fireworks, food trucks and a beer garden. For details visit www.portoflosangeles.org/community/ cars_and_stripes.asp.

Speaking of Fourth of July Celebration events, the Cabrillo Beach Booster Club is hosting their annual Cabrillo Beach Fireworks Spectacular, starting at 12 p.m. July 4, at Cabrillo Beach, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro. The evening will include music, activities and fireworks.

July 4 won’t be the only time to cozy up in the outdoors with the family. Los Angeles is sponsoring free outdoor movie night and related activities throughout the city, including Wilmington and San Pedro. The family-friendly film Frozen will be featured at the Wilmington Waterfront Park July 10 from 8 to 10 p.m., preceded by family activities from 6 to 8p.m.

The entire month of August seems to be all about the ocean going boats starting with the outdoor screening on a barge at the Downtown Harbor Plaza from 8 to 10 p.m. on Aug. 1.

Harbor residents will be treated to a screening of the 1988 classic, Big, preceded by family activities from 6 to 8 p.m. the same day.

On Aug. 9 and 10, is the 14th annual Navy Days at the Port of Los Angeles, during which naval ships will call to port for all to see. Visit http://navydaysla.org/ for details.

Navy Days will be followed by the TallShips festival two weeks later from August 20 to August 24.

The final ship related event is the Paper Mache Yacht Challenge on Sept. 10, in which competitors can test their paper yacht building skills and compete against others by setting their yacht a-sail at the Fanfare Fountain in San Pedro.

All proceeds go to local non-profits.

Harbor residents have traditionally capped their summer fun, not at Labor Day, but with the Lobster Festival which is scheduled for Sept. 12 through 14, at San Pedro’s Port’s O’ Call Village.

Visit http://lobsterfest.com/ for details.

The Lobster Festival will feature the scenic outdoor park along the waterfront, shops, dancing street performers, a pirate camp, tall ships, arts and crafts, and up-and-coming acts.

With so many opportunities at the Port of Los Angeles, there is no reason to leave the Harbor Area.

Theater/Film

ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment

The Port of Los Angeles is hosting a number of major events this summer, including such annual events as Fiesta Corazón del Puerto, Cars and Stripes, and the TallShips festival, which will take place in the Los Angeles Harbor in August.

The most intriguing feature, if not the strangest one, is the inclusion of artist Florentijn Hofman’s 85-foot rubber duck in the parade of tall ships.

On his website Hofman bills the rubber duck as knowing no frontiers, as being indiscriminate between people and having no political connotation.

Hofman says that the friendly, floating, rubber duck has healing properties. “It can relieve world tensions as well as define them.”

With all that is happening in the world, that bold statement is a heavy burden for a rubber duck to bear. But the Rubber Duck isn’t the only inflatable art in Hofman’s collection. Hofman installed a floating air sculpture called “Mickey Pig” in Strasburg, Germany that seems to unintentionally make the statement, “When pigs fly....” leaving the rest of the sentence to be filled in by the viewer. In Querétaro, Mexico, Hofman installed a oversized dead fly for Día de los Muertos.

On his website, Hofman states that his sculptures originate from everyday objects — objects such as a straightforward paper boat, a pictogram of an industrial zone. He’s a public artist who attempts to capture the attention of children with large scale objects that they would play with if they were scaled to their size.

Not all of his work are cartoonish or blowup. He utilizes many different kinds of media, whether it be wood, metal, paper mache, or other forms; inflatables, window stickers or agricultural plastic sheeting.

Hofman’s point is to invade space for a short period time and then make art’s presence felt with its absence when the exhibition is finished.

The TallShips Festival LA 2014 starts at 10 a.m. Aug. 20. Hofman’s Rubber Duck will be in the grand parade of ships floating in the harbor. For details visit http://tallshipsfestivalla.com.

Before the TallShips festival is the Cars & Stripes Forever event scheduled for June 27 from 5 to 10 p.m. on Harbor Boulevard, near the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

This is a perfect way kick off the Fourth of July celebrations for the week. The evening will include live music performances by One Ten South, Identity Crisis, Radioactive and Smokin Cobras.

Cabrillo Beach July 4 Spectacular Cabrillo Beach is hosting its July 4 Spectacular from 12 to 10 p.m., July 4. The event will feature music, activities and fireworks.

Details: www.sanpedrocc.com Venue: Cabrillo Beach Location: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

and use of all tools.

Details: (626) 375-9839; www.craftedportla.com Venue: Crafted; Port of Los Angeles Location: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro; Warehouse 10

19

Coal’s War On People

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

Coal is killing us. Global warming is only part of the problem. But if we can start cutting back because of global warming, the other benefits of cutting back coal could spur us get to the rate of change we need.

A

Serving the Seven Cities of the Harbor Area

s Barack Obama’s administration belatedly prepared to take the most sweeping steps to combat global warming in U.S. history, Republican critics sought to brand it as a “war on coal.” And, when the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules were announced, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “This is the single worst blow to Kentucky’s economy in modern times.”

But, the reality is starkly at odds with the propaganda line.

It’s not just that the national carbon dioxide emissions reduction target—30 percent—is much higher than the 18 percent target for Kentucky, the whole notion of a “war on coal” is totally perverse.

As a growing body of research shows, coal has long been at war with people, costing thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars every year— such a heavy toll that it would be a net plus for our economy if we could stop using it, even without considering the costs of global warming.

This is even the case for Appalachia itself, the heart of the coal economy, according to a 2009 paper, “Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions: The Value of Statistical Life Lost.” That paper concluded, “The human cost of the Appalachian coal mining economy outweighs its economic benefits,” with a best estimate cost of $50 billion, compared to just $8 billion in economic benefits from the industry.

Given those findings, Random Lengths turned to Michael Hendryx, a professor of public health who co-authored that paper, to get his response to McConnell’s claim.

“McConnell’s comment is predictable, I suppose,” Hendryx said. “The new proposed rule does signal a clear change away from coal to other energy sources.”

McConnell-style resistance could make this particularly difficult, he went on to note.

“If Kentucky and other coal regions in Appalachia continue to bury their heads in the sand and do nothing to build a post-coal economy, the change will probably be a blow to those economies, at least for a time,” he said.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, Hendryx went on to point out.

“Instead, the time is long past for the region to get serious about building new economies and new jobs that are not coal dependent and it is important to understand that this should be done regardless of the new rule, because coal production in the region is in permanent decline, because the recoverable reserves are in decline and because other fuel sources are already eating coal’s lunch,” he said. “The region should be moving away from coal for purely economic reasons if the politicians there really care about the welfare of their people.”

A

June 27 - July 10, 2014

similar point was made by Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth, whose district includes much of Louisville.

“I don’t worry too much about the economic impact, I worry about what’s happening to our coal miners, but that’s been happening for 30 years,” Speaking on MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki on June 20 7. “We transitioned from deep mining to

mountain top removal, where we just blow off the tops of mountains, and scoop the coal out with bulldozers, we’ve lost about 80 percent of our coal jobs over the last 30 years, basically because of the mechanization of the process and also because, more recently, the low cost of natural gas as an alternative. So it’s not EPA that has cost coal mining jobs in Kentucky, it’s market forces.”

Indeed, the way the EPA regulations are structured, Kentucky will be relatively protected from rapid change. State reduction goals vary widely, based primarily on how easy or hard such transitions may be from now until 2030.

Kentucky, as already noted, only has to reduce emissions by 18 percent. That’s barely more than 1 percent per year, among the lowest nationwide. Next-door neighbors Virginia and Tennessee must reduce their emissions 38 and 39

percent, respectively, while coal-intensive West Virginia’s target is 20 percent. States are also given tremendous flexibility in determining how to reach their goals. All this is meant to make the transitions as easy as possible.

“Adding health to the discussion only strengthens the need for change,” Hendryx said.

“Coal emissions from power plants are still more polluting than other fuel sources, and coal

extraction and processing is highly polluting to local environments. People in coal mining communities suffer some of the worst health statistics in the entire nation, and no matter whether the causes of those health problems are a direct result of environmental impacts or the indirect result of poverty, the path ahead is the same. We need to transition completely and permanently away from continued on following page

from p. 2

State Lands Commission

without detonating another, and it assumes the “impound basin” that can only capture one percent of the tank’s contents. “Three miles was the standard. Less than a month before this... regulation was to take effect, from the EPA, the American Petroleum Institutes, the API, had sued them,” Rutter explained.

To avoid litigation, the EPA adopted a mitigation formula used for toxic spills—not explosions—which Rutter characterized as “probably the difference between attorneys making the decision and the engineers making the decisions.” In short, the legally-defined “worst-case scenario” (a little more than a three-fourths-square-mile area) bears little relation to the actual, real world, worst-case scenario (just more than 28 square miles for a one-tank explosion, almost certainly causing further explosions as well).

This sort of looking glass “logic” has enabled Rancho and its predecessors to escape responsibility for 40 years. But in making the community’s case, lawyer Noel Weiss breezed past the calculation issues in a different way.

“The real issue, when we’re talking about liability and exposure is what if Rancho is wrong?” Weiss said. “What if there’s an accident? What if that calculation is wrong?

That’s really the issue. How is risk basically going to be allocated here?”

Weiss raised a number of other issues as well—not least the fact that Rancho is a financially insolvent shell corporation.

He said that a statewide rule excludes such entities from state tidelands activities and that would not be micro-managing, but rather a wise means of protecting the public interest and reallocating risk more properly. While subsequent testimony and discussion ranged across many issues and angles, the main thrust of Weiss’s argument appeared to carry the most weight in the end. Whether it’s enough remains to be seen.

Chuck Hart, President of San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, pointed out that regulatory realism had once been a reality.

“For example, the Tosco refinery, now Phillips 66, in June 1999, published and released to the public their worst case release scenario for 5 million 92 thousand gallons of butane to have a potential impact of 2.3 miles,” Hart said. ”However, the rules regarding worst case scenarios have changed. Current worst case releases are considered ‘leaks’ that are controlled within minutes—that is the reason Rancho can claim their erroneous, half-mile impact zone and play down the seriousness of their 25million-gallon liability issues. How can anyone reasonably presume this to be the case? Just one LPG tank car will result in a .42-mile impact.”

That last fact surfaced several other times as well. Homeowner and environmental activist Janet Gunter introduced the topic prior to Hart’s testimony, submitting EPA’s written calculations.

Later, San Pedro and Peninsula Homeowner’s Coalition Vice President Kathleen Woodfield called for “a thorough rail risk assessment of the rail system that moves Rancho’s product through port property,” because “there is a blast radius associated with every inch of that rail.”

Woodfield was also one of several commentators who picked up on another point Weiss made—that the operating permit agreement between the port and Pacific Harbor Line from December 1997 called for an oversight committee to monitor the transport of hazardous material, which has never been established. Such evidence of long-standing oversight lapses may not be directly relevant to the commission’s jurisdictional concerns, but it may sharpen their concern about liability issues, as part of their fiduciary duties.

Gunter also highlighted another aspect of the liability concern from the insurance company perspective.

“I did spend some time on the phone with Marsh McLennan, which is one of the largest insurers in the United States,” she told the commission. “When I told them the issue with Rancho, the guy started laughing. He said, ‘This is an LLC, right?’ He said, ‘There is no way, under these circumstances, that they would ever be able to secure proper commensurate insurance.’”

Rancho Palos Verdes City Councilman Brian Campbell also weighed on several fronts, from the widespread unanimity of community concern to Rancho’s repeated failure to produce the insurance information it had promised.

“We talk about the shell company, the LLC company here,” he said. “Trying to get information from this organization is like a shell game for us.”

Gordon later expressed a similar experience.

“There seems to be an attitude by the corporation that they have no responsibility to provide us with much of anything,” he said.

“While that may be acceptable practice in the state of Texas, it is not acceptable practice here in California.”

Campbell also spoke from his experience as a commercial real estate professional.

“I deal with bonds and insurance policies all the time,” he said. “Five-hundred-million dollars is not nearly enough.”

Campbell then tied it back to his official responsibilities. Regardless of the disputed blast radius.

“If there’s a major incident with those tanks, my constituents are going to be severely impacted, not just from a property standpoint, but from a life safety standpoint,” Campbell said. “Many residents would never have the opportunity to exit the area in a timely manner.”

The potential for mass casualties was curiously absent from almost any other mention in the proceedings. Constrained by its legislative mandate, the commission seemed solely focused on potential financial losses, not on public health and safety. But that distinction is not likely to survive public outrage, if a true worst case scenario comes to pass.

Additional public comment came from Wilmington as well as San Pedro and the Peninsula, from neighborhood council members, longshoremen, activists, parents and a representative of Los Angeles Unified School District Board President Richard Vladovic, Nancy Caballos, who said that he “shares the concerns” brought forth by the homeowners.

But this cross-section is only small foretaste of what’s to come, if government agencies continue to delay, or plead helplessness, until it’s too late.

coal and build new and cleaner economies for the people who live there.”

Hendryx has explored a number of different approaches to understand various health impacts of coal, much as researchers here in Southern California have helped uncover the impacts of air pollution and the externalized health costs of the freight transportation industry, which flows through local ports. The introduction of such health costs—especially premature deaths—into the Port of Los Angeles’ “No Net Increase” study in 2004-05, dramatically shifted the port’s calculus of what its policies should be.

It’s impossible to prove a direct connection between one person’s ill-health or premature death and a specific pollution source, a fact that shields polluters from being sued for damages.

But cumulative health impacts are another matter entirely, whether here in the shadows of the local ports, or in the hills and mountains of Appalachia, Hendryx’s research shows.

In “Mortality from heart, respiratory and kidney disease in coal mining areas of Appalachia, for both males and females, mortality rates in Appalachian counties with the highest level of coal mining were significantly higher relative to non-mining areas for chronic heart, respiratory and kidney disease, but were not higher for acute forms of illness,” Hendryx reported. “Higher rates of acute heart and respiratory mortality were found for non-Appalachian coal mining counties.”

In “Higher coronary heart disease and heart attack morbidity in Appalachian coal mining regions,” Hendryx and a coauthor found that people in Appalachian coal mining areas reported “significantly higher risk” of cardiovascular disease, angina or coronary heart disease, and heart attack.

And, in “Mortality Rates in Appalachian Coal Mining Counties: 24 Years Behind the Nation” he found that “Appalachian coal mining areas were characterized by 1,607 excess annual deaths over the period 1999–2004. Adjusted mortality rates increase with increasing coal production from 1

to 7 million tons.”

No matter how you cut it, the results were the same: the more that people were involved with coal mining, the more people suffered and died. Following these and other studies, Hendryx joined a team of researchers lead by Paul Epstein, of Harvard Medical School, which published a comprehensive review, “Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal,” in 2011. Because of the uncertainties involved, they generated three costs estimates: high, low and best. At all three levels, more than 90 percent of the costs came from three categories—the mining and community health costs, which Hendryx had focused on, the air quality impacts that come from burning coal in power plants and the global warming impacts.

The externalized costs of coal amounted to 17.84 cents per kilowatt-hour (best estimate), ranging from a low of 9.42 cents per kilowatt-hour to 26.89 cents per kilowatt-hour. Removing global warming entirely from the calculations, coal’s externalized costs amounted to 14.69 cents per kilowatt-hour (best estimate), ranging from a low of 8.36 cents per kilowatt-hour to a high of 16.18 cents per kilowatt-hour. Now, here’s the truly amazing statistic—long-term wind contracts are already being signed for 6 cents per kilowatthour. That’s cheaper than the low-range estimate of coal’s externalized costs—even without considering global warming.

Although coal is a central concern of the EPA’s new global warming regulations, it’s only because coal is so carbon intensive. Compared to natural gas, it takes twice as much carbon in coal to make the same amount of electricity. But as already noted, that doesn’t mean the heavily coal-dependent states will be asked to make the deepest cuts. The entire reduction plan was driven by practical state-level calculations, Dave Hawkins, director of Climate Programs for the Natural Resources Defense Council explained on NRDC’s Switchboard blog: “EPA developed the state targets by taking Coal’s War/ to p. 23

from p. 3

Civics Lesson

June 27 - July 10, 2014

Board member Chris Nagle apparently was the one who officially raised the red flag in the days weeks before the council meeting, questioning the coincidence. Though not present at the meeting due to travel to the World Cup games in Brazil, board member Peter Warren relayed Nagle’s concerns while attempting to defuse the charged atmosphere, noting that no one was accusing Behar of stealing money, but rather questioning the handling of the payment to PVNet and the lack of information about the issue when it was originally brought up.

For a number of board members, this letter should have been enough to clear up any questions about the payments and raised a few questions about the motivations of the board members that brought up the issue.

Board treasurer, Ted Shirley offered that Nagle

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of contentious behavior and animosity by an elderly technology challenged board member which nearly caused me to retract our offer. Approximately two weeks ago I received a call from someone claiming to be a CSPNC board member researching this same subject. It’s apparent from what this person said that he using a position of authority to carry out a personal agenda of targeting a fellow board member. The professional approach this individual should have taken is contact the fellow board member directly.

was confused by the information he was given, and then noted that those who had questions about the expenditure should have asked him. Shirley said he had all of the invoices from PVNet and that all the expenditures matched up.

The last item of inquiry was Behar’s taking over the publishing of the council’s newsletter after the board had voted to appoint board member Bob Gelfand to manage the publication.

Gelfand said he enlisted the help of long time collaborator Doug Epperhart and prefaced his comments about the council’s 2014 newsletter with an explanation of his and Epperhart’s years of experience in publishing the council’s newsletter since the founding of the council.

Gelfand said he received a call from Behar informing him he was taking over the publication.

Behar defended his actions by saying he made an executive decision to ensure that the newsletter was published on time. No one offered a timeline of events, the hard publication date for the newsletter, or the timing of when decisions were made. No one seemed to remember.

The meeting ended with the board voting 9 to 5 in favor of stripping away language citing conflict of interest violations and calls to for DONE to conduct an audit of fiscal year 2013-14. By a vote of 7 to 5 with two abstentions, the board voted in favor of tabling the motion to remove Behar from the council’s president’s seat.

As the Coastal’s June 16 meeting revealed, building consensus for every action, without cutting corners is messy and difficult. And conflict is just a part of the process.

21

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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/.

Leslie Chew, Managing partner.

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A new fictitious business name 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 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).

Original filing: 05/29/14, 06/12/14, 06/26/14, 07/10/14

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143, San Pedro, CA 90732. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started 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/.

Ida B. Sutton, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on June 6, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name 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. were to 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 name 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 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).

Original filing: 06/12/14, 06/26/14, 07/10/14, 07/24/14

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014153888 The following person is doing business as: Wav Properties, 3320 S. Denison Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Virginia Kohl, 3320 S. Denison Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731.

This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started 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

continued on following page

from p. 21

Coal’s War

each state’s power system as it operated in 2012 and then used a common toolbox of pollutionreduction measures to assess how much of a cleanup each state could achieve by 2020, with additional cleanup from 2020 to 2030.”

Hawkins goes on to explain how the figures were arrived at, “assessing how a set of four potential policies (“building blocks”) could lower each state’s carbon intensity from its 2012 starting point.” These four building blocks are: 1. Make coal plants more efficient: Hardware and software tweaks to get more electricity out of a ton of coal. (Not wasting fuel is a no-brainer.)

2. Use gas plants more effectively: Running gas power plants ahead of coal plants gets reductions from capital investments already made in the state. (It also means more carbon pollution than efficiency and renewables, which is why it will make sense for EPA and the states to place much greater reliance on the next two building blocks.)

3. Increased wind and solar: Grow renewable generation at a rate already being met by other states in the region. (This is almost a lowestcommon-denominator approach in the proposal.

We can do better.)

4. Energy efficiency: Apply energy efficiency policies already adopted by many states. (These are not bleeding edge requirements; much more middle of the pack levels of effort.)

S

tates are not required to use these building blocks. Unless they chose not to, they will each make their own plans. But they do serve to indicate how much reduction is easily attainable.

But there’s the rub—the amount of reduction that’s easily attainable is a far cry from what’s necessary.

The U.S. goal is to cut emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. But by 2050, the United States has pledged to cut emissions much more drastically—by 83 percent and we need to expanding economies like China and India join us with similarly ambitious cuts—though lagging us somewhat in time, if we’re to avoid truly catastrophic climate change.

None of this looks to be easy. But that’s where coal’s war on people comes in, with an ironically positive twist. If we start cutting coal consumption because of global warming, and then start noticing all the other benefits it brings, then we might just change our thinking fast enough to achieve the much deeper carbondioxide emission cuts that are needed to save our civilization as we know it.

DBA FILINGS from previous page

07/24/14

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014149646 The following person is doing business as: Screen Shop, 1135 Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: John Prevatt, 940 W. 8th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is

07/24/14

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2014144475 The following person is doing business as: Cycle San Pedro, 848

Crestwood,, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Tommy G Spencer, 848 Crestwood,, San Pedro, CA 90731.

Rachel L Spencer, 848 Crestwood,, San Pedro, CA 90731.. This Business is conducted by a married couple.

The date registrant started 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/. Tommy Spencer, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on June 6, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920.

A fictitious name 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. were to 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 name 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 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).

Original filing: 06/12/14, 06/26/14, 07/10/14,

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who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Virginia Kohl, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on June 6, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920.

A fictitious name 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. were to 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 name 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 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).

Original filing: 06/12/14, 06/26/14, 07/10/14,

conducted by an individual. The date registrant started 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/. John Prevatt, owner.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on June 6, 2014. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name 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. were to 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 name 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 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).

Original filing: 06/12/14, 06/26/14, 07/10/14,

07/24/14

June 27 - July 10, 2014

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June 27 - July 10, 2014

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