RLn 8-5-21

Evicted

Mobile home park residents are left wondering if they will be next

By Fabiola Esqueda, GNI Fellow and Carson Reporter

SP veterinarian under fire for alleged shady practices p. 3 CSUDH and Carson sign partnership agreement for clean slate p. 4

Delayed, Not Defeated

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

“There was an attack carried out on Jan. 6, and a hitman sent them.

I want you to get to the bottom of that.”

— ­Officer Harry Dunn, Capitol Police

Why signature? Because it embodied the violence, illogic, incoherence and profound disconnect from reality that defined that attack.

Yet it would be a profound mistake to characterize the insurrection — and Trump’s efforts that motivated it — as a failure. It may well have been a success, after all: with an effective date of January 2024. While there’s much we still don’t know, five things are clear: 1) Trump attempted to stay in power, regardless of

August 5 - 18, 2021

“Hang Mike Pence!” That was the signature, selfdefeating cry of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Why the cry?

Because Pence would not assume dictatorial power and refuse to count electoral votes that Joe Biden won in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia, which would allow the House of Representatives to declare Donald Trump president on a one-state-one-vote basis. It was self-defeating because if Pence were hung, no one else would do it in his place.

what the voters wanted. 2) Republican politicians were divided on whether to support him and how far to go.

3) Republican politicians publicly diminished their support immediately after the insurrection — as did Republican voters. 4) But support for Trump and even the insurrection itself has been resolidified since. 5) A profound threat to our democracy remains.

Points 2, 3 and 4 are straightforward, confirmed by congressional votes, public statements and polling data. For example, Republican leaders vocally supported a bipartisan commission to investigate insurrection after it happened, but they’ve since blocked it and are now attacking Democrats for investigating anyway — and for including two non-Trump Republicans in the investigation committee. As for GOP voters, a CBS/ YouGov poll found that 39% of Republicans strongly disapprove of the insurrection, down from 51% in January. More ominously 55% would describe it as “defending freedom” and 51% as “patriotism,” compared to just 31% and 29% respectively in January. Mean-

Changes at Retro Row’s Vine leave it very much the same p. 9

Trump’s Insurrection:

Sergio Noyoa is exhausted after a long morning of moving out what he can before the closure of Park Granada on July 28. Photo by Fabiola Esqueda

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

Some attend protests, hoping that someone will listen; others stay home, scared that the local politicians will retaliate for speaking up against them; a few have given up the fight.

Less than two months have passed since a judge ordered the indefinite closure of Park Granada Trailer Lodge Mobile, or Park Granada located at the corner of Main and Carson streets.

A three-minute drive and you will find yourself across Carson Civic Center and Park Avalon, a mobile home park in danger of closure. In the opposite direction in Alondra Boulevard rests Rancho Dominguez Mobile Estates, slated to shut down in two and a half years.

In recent years the City of Carson has become a new hit for big shot developers. A newer Los Angeles County city off the 405 Freeway, the City Planning Commission has hoped to shift Carson from a manufacturing city with industrial and factory structures to a modern hip location to gather. But mobile home parks are seeing the consequences.

During a time where the coronavirus pandemic has claimed 24,685 lives in Los Angeles County, landlords continue to evict tenants and homeowners in land leases. Despite a federal ban to stop the displacements, Carson mobile home parks are in jeopardy. With three parks set to close and others on the verge, residents are experiencing emotional turmoil.

And residents of other mobile home parks are left wondering when they will be next.

[See Who’s Next, p. 4]

[See Coup, p. 15]

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August 5 - 18, 2021

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Community Announcements:

Harbor Area Veterans’ Voices 2021

The Palos Verdes Library District invites the public to share stories of military service in a radio-style interview. Stories can range from recognizing or remembering fellow service members or particular events of your service.

Your story will become part of a Veterans Day video project planned for November. Bring photos or other materials related to your service to make those part of the project too.

PVLD will be recording on Saturdays in August at the Peninsula Center Library. To view the 2019 Veterans’ Voices project, visit pvld.org/ honoringveterans Time: 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Details: www.pvlibrary.wufoo.com/veteransvoices-2021

Countywide Effort Encourages Residents to Help Identify Recreation Needs

The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation or DPR is launching activities to inform and engage county residents about the Regional and Rural Edition, which is a focused update of the 2016 Los Angeles Countywide Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment. Specifically, it will apply an equity lens to comprehensively identify, analyze, map, and document: • The need for regional facilities, including regional parks, beaches and lakes, trails, and natural areas and open spaces; and • The park needs of rural communities in the Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Santa Monica Mountains, and Santa Catalina Island.

A series of online workshops are scheduled for August and September. Each workshop will include a presentation about the Regional and Rural Edition and specific information about the study area, allowing for more focused discussions based on geography and the unique attributes of each area.

Details: www.lacountyparkneeds.org/rre-home

Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 40 Years

San Pedro Pet Clinic Under Heavy Criticism

By Hunter Chase, Community News Reporter

Customers are accusing the Peninsula Pet Clinic in San Pedro of overcharging, and treating customers and animals poorly. The clinic is owned by Dr. Anyes Van Volkenburgh, who in December 2020 led a protest against COVID-19 lockdown orders in San Pedro.

Although San Pedro resident Mitzi Morin has never patronized Pet Peninsula Clinic, she was compelled to get involved with the clinic after seeing a July 21 posting on Facebook by Lana Haley, who couldn’t pay $243 to the clinic to reclaim a cat. Haley said she had already paid $500, but the staff demanded an additional $243. Morin volunteered to pay it and bring the cat to the owner.

When Morin entered the clinic, she said that both Van Volkenburgh and her receptionist started yelling at her.

“They were both screaming, honest-to-God, like The Exorcist,” Morin said. “I’m a 45-year retired psychiatric nurse. I’ve seen it all, inpatient, outpatient. I was rattled.”

Morin said that Van Volkenburgh told her the clinic could not accept her payment because she did not own the cat. But the cat’s owner could not bring in the payment because Van Volkenburgh had already banned her from the premises. Meanwhile, every time Morin spoke, Van Volkenburgh screamed that she was adding an additional $100 to the bill, until the total came to $643.

At this point, both Morin and Van Volkenburgh called the Los Angeles Police Depart-

Dr. Anyes Van Volkenburgh, owner of the Peninsula Pet Clinic. Photo taken from one of the clinic’s digital ads

ment. It took the police 30 minutes to convince Van Volkenburgh to return the bill to the original $243. But Van Volkenburgh demanded cash.

Fortunately, Morin had that much on her. She paid Van Volkenburgh, who gave her the cat.

Morin said she felt physically sickened and did not get an itemized bill for what the clinic did to the cat, or a diagnostic impression.

The next day, Morin called Peninsula Pet Clinic and requested Van Volkenburgh’s license number. The staff refused. Eventually Morin got the number from the Veterinary Medical Board;

she said she spread it over Facebook.

Efforts were made to contact Van Volkenburgh, but as of the time of production, neither she nor any representative of the clinic responded to requests for an interview. However, Van Volkenburgh did post a message in response to negative Yelp reviews on the clinic’s website, but the date she posted it is unclear: We make the world a better place by being here every day and helping animals. That’s our duty and our purpose. We are very skilled and very good at what we do.

What do you hope to accomplish by writing nasty Yelp reviews? What is your purpose?

Yes, there is definitely a pandemic going on out there. A pandemic of STUPID. And no mask is going to fix it.

No, I do not wear a mask to see my patients.

I believe in freedom. The USA is all about Freedom.

She went on to write that the clinic has seen an increase in business since the pandemic began.

She wrote that the clinic serves more than 1,000 animals each month and has 300 new clients each month.

She went on to explain her reasoning for her high prices.

“Instead of yelping about me, why don’t you look at your own integrity and ethics and consider whether you deserve to own a pet,” Van Volken[See Veterinarian, p. 13]

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

August 5 - 18, 2021

3

Leonor Gonzalez, 48, has lived in Park Avalon for 13 years.

When she is not handling resident concerns as their home owners association secretary or organizing the next rally, she is receiving countless treatments for chronic pain.

Gonzalez cannot afford to move if the park closure plan finalizes. She has been on medical leave for six years. Her husband is the sole provider, and with one daughter in college and another starting this coming fall, money is scarce.

She said the hardest thing would be having to start all over again.

“This is my home. I was hoping to be there when I retire and now for someone to just come along and say, ‘this is what I am going to give you,’ it’s not fair to me. It’s not fair to my family,” she said.

Despite the uncertainty and stress, Gonzalez shows no signs of slowing down. After all, she is a cancer survivor. Giving up is not an option.

While some park residents have time to brainstorm a plan before moving, the residents living at Park Granada, the 26 unit mobile home park, did not have such luxury.

Peter Starflinger, owner of Park Granada, has filed bankruptcy several times. Residents say they were not surprised by his plans. But what happened next caused a panic.

The judge gave them until July 28 to leave their homes. No warning, just a two month notice.

Sergio Noyoa, 65, cleans what is left of his mother-in-law’s home. These days, she spends her time in a hospital bed due to health issues.

The plan is for her to move in with him and his wife after she gets better.

Since the notice of eviction, Noyoa and his friend Enrique Garcia have spent weekend mornings moving heavy boxes, furniture and lumber. What Noyoa does not keep is driven the following day to Rosarito, a small Mexican beach town along the border to give to locals.

Noyoa says he blames the City of Carson for what is happening.

“The city says it is helping, but it’s just a fantasy, a fairytale,’’ he said in Spanish. “I pity all those politicians that side with injustice.”

Top, Leonor Gonzalez takes a quick scan around her home of 13 years that she is Some Park Granada residents are refusing in danger of losing. Tina Delgadillo reads off a document on the closure of Park to vacate their homes. But others like Tina Granada. Photos by Fabiola Esqueda

[Who’s Next, from p. 1]

Real People, Real News, Totally Relevant

Who’s Next?

City, CSUDH Sign Partnership to Turn Carson into College Town

August 5 - 18, 2021

By Iracema Navarro, Reporter Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes and Cal State Dominguez Hills President Thomas Parham recently formalized a working partnership.

The Town and Gown Promise, signed July 18, includes a commitment to increase communication between the city and the university by creating a mutually managed taskforce to develop programs.

“It is important that we carefully plan in unison with the university to enhance our projects and programs while moving the City of Carson forward,” said Davis-Holmes, who earned her bachelor and master degrees at CSUDH, in a released statement. “The Town and Gown Promise will strengthen our relationship with the university, ensure that we have mutually enhanced beneficial pursuits and secure our future unlimited.”

Collaborative projects have already been underway, including Cal State Dominguez’s PRAXIS City Arts Park, a program in which CSUDH art students teach art Carson youth between the ages of 8 and 11. Another is the CommunityHELP program to study seniors at Carson’s Community Center with occupational therapy.

Under the new leadership and support staff from Carson and CSUDH, they now have a common goal to make Carson a city known for its college.

Those in attendance witnessed one of the three significant new construction buildings CSUDH has to offer. The four4

story Innovation and Instruction Building is set to open in 2021, the front door building to the campus.

The campus is a state-owned and controlled university founded in 1960. Carson was only incorporated in 1968. Within the past 50 years, the university was never obligated to consult the growing city when it chose to develop any part of its property.

Tensions between the city and the university rose as CSUDH added more housing for its students and allowed the multi-use sports stadium, now called the Dignity Health Sports Center, to be built without city consultation or direct contribution of funds outside of sales taxes.

Former Mayor Albert Robles attempted to change this dynamic, resulting in a somewhat antagonistic relationship.

The university pushed back and largely did not engage the city.

Davis-Holmes, who took office this past November, said she has made it her mission to improve the relationship between the city and university via cooperation rather than acrimony.

“Shame on past leadership,” said Davis-Holmes, the first Black female mayor of the city, at the signing ceremony, her blast leaving no doubt about which side she considered more responsible for the difficulties.

Parham echoed Davis-Holmes sentiments.

“It tells us our history is inextricably linked,” he said. “How dare [we] not collaborate and connect. We love having all Carson residents embrace the Toro nation as their own; this is your university.”

Maria Orozco, second from left, and other residents of Rancho Dominguez Mobile Estates protesting in front of Carson Civic Center on July 15, 2021. Photo by Fabiola Esqueda

Delgadillo are ready to move on with their lives.

Delgadillo has lived in her quaint mobile home for 15 years.

In those 15 years, she married, battled cancer and started a small candle business. She has lived comfortably, without the fear of figuring out how she will have to pay rent. But that comfort was taken.

She is moving to a smaller place not far from Park Granada.

But her new rent is a 517% increase from what she is paying at the park. Delgadillo has gone from being a homeowner to a renter.

Heidi Marston, executive director of Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA claims that Los Angeles County is 500,000 short of needed affordable housing.

Carson mobile homes range from $300 to $500 in rent lease.

The minimum rent in surrounding areas is approximately $1,400.

For Delgadillo and other residents this just isn’t affordable.

Park Granada residents say they have experienced harassment from owner Peter Starflinger. Many residents have gotten in verbal altercations with Starflinger.

Noyoa said Starflinger forced him to remove a ramp he built for his handicapped family member.

Delgadillo says Starflinger targeting the most vulnerable, including the elderly and disabled, has been a common thing for years.

One Park Granada resident said she was terrified of speaking up because she was afraid that the City of Carson and Starflinger would come after her with vengeance.

“He has a way to get even,” Delgadillo said. “He has the money to back it up.”

This is a recurring theme within many seniors and non-English speaking residents, including in Park Avalon.

“A lot of the Hispanic residents are scared,” said Leonor Gonzalez. “They don’t know how to defend themselves.”

For Maria Orozco, uncertainty is not a huge worry anymore.

Her home in Rancho Dominguez Mobile Estates will be closing in two and a half years, and after an exhausting fight, residents won a better deal than what the owner initially had hoped to get.

Yet, residents like Orozco had long-term plans of retirement and stability.

Residents living at the 81 unit park expressed that submitting a closure application during a pandemic was inhuman. Many residents said they experienced depression and intense anxiety.

Orozco plans to move to Lancaster with her daughter. She was diagnosed with throat cancer and wants to focus on her health.

Something she has not been able to do with the pressure of potentially losing her home.

Back in Park Avalon, Gonzalez is back to rallying the 133 unit park. Her neighbors respect and admire her.

“We have to join with other parks because whatever happens with these parks are going to affect all the other parks,” said Gonzalez.

Carson’s Development Dream Never Included Affordable Housing

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

Contrary to what electeds in Carson are saying, affordable housing unaffordability in Carson’s development vision is a feature rather than a bug.

According to research conducted by the Urban Development Project led by UC Berkeley and the University of Toronto, the only tool the City of Carson has to protect affordable housing is the mobile home park rent control ordinance. The team reported in 2018 that the city did not have among other protections: Just cause eviction ordinance Rent control/stabilization Rent review boards and/or mediation Single-room occupancy preservation Condominium conversion regulations Below market rate housing Foreclosure assistance Community land trusts Housing trust fund

The one spot where the city fought to protect housing affordability was its passing of a mobile home park rent control ordinance that made it extremely difficult to raise rents. Park owners challenged the ordinance all the way to the Supreme Court and lost.

News articles during this period reveal that the elected at the time viewed mobile park residents as transient rather than actual residents.

This only changed, somewhat, when park residents organized and began actively participating in city elections. But that did not keep the mobile home park owners from continually suing the city over rent control.

One of the primary features of the ordinance was that each park had to apply for rent increases rather than it be applied to all the parks collectively. The park owners fought this ordinance and thought courts would side with them. They were mistaken.

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, Carson formed a 15-member rent control review board to adjudicate requests for rent increases. Sometimes they were granted. Sometimes not. If the rent hikes were granted, the hike would be less than what the park owners requested. The rental control board was cut to seven members by more conservative Carson city council majorities. And the members that ended up on the rent control boards were often mobile home park owners.

Until 2018, the City of Carson had one of the strongest mobile home park rent control ordinances in California.

But years of litigious pressure brought by the eccentric mobile home park millionaire, James Goldstein, caused the city to stop defending the ordinance due in large part to a financial crisis after being sued dozens of times over a period of 30 years.

The amended ordinance granted an annual increase of 75% of the difference in the Consumer Price Index from the date of the last rent increase.

The ordinance also includes an 8% ceiling and no floor.

Though Carson’s rent control ordinance has been relaxed, other forces have led to the conversion of former landfills, industrial sites and mobile home parks into luxury condo and apartments.

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

August 5 - 18, 2021

5

Smart Policing vs. Dumb Ordinances

Buscaino wins the anti-camping ordinance, but it’s still not a solution James Preston Allen, Publisher

By a 13-2 vote on July 28, the Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance that promises to prevent sidewalk camping in many areas. Councilman Mike Bonin and Councilwoman Nithya Raman were the only two who voted against the measure. Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the ordinance the next day.

I do not know a single Los Angeles Police Department officer, nor anyone else in law enforcement, with the exception of 15th Council District representative Buscaino (a LAPD reserve officer), who relishes the job of policing the homeless.

In fact, if you speak with any of the LAPD leadership, they, without exception, understand that they could provide more resources to other crimes if they weren’t playing social worker to the city’s growing unsheltered population. They all understand that we cannot “arrest our way out of the homeless crisis.”

However, the press release from Buscaino’s office reads: This week Council returned from summer recess where they continued to address the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles. ‘This week’s action to limit camping in sensitive areas was a good step in the right direction, but I still don’t think this ordinance is enough. We must still pass a law that says you cannot camp on the sidewalk if you have been offered housing,’ said Councilmember Buscaino.

August 5 - 18, 2021

Real People, Real News, Totally Relevant

This narrative of his was broadcast citywide a few weeks ago when he showed up at the Venice Boardwalk to announce his candidacy to become the next mayor of Los Angeles while pointing out the “encampment issue” in Councilman Mike Bonin’s district. This campaign stunt was only made more poignant when the encampment along Beacon Street in Buscaino’s own district, which has languished for years, was suddenly mostly cleaned up.

As if by magic the very day that he kicks off his campaign the streets surrounding the U.S. Post Office in San Pedro were clear and Joe is being interviewed by Fox News walking down the sidewalk complaining about the rest of the city.

The problem with “outlawing” encampments is this — on any given night in LA County, there are some 66,436 homeless people on our street. According to the Los

6

Angeles Homeless Authority the shelter capacity on any given night was 24,616 beds. There still aren’t even half enough beds for all these people, even if they wanted them. The other underlying problem is that in the gold rush to build more housing the city has started a gentrification push for upscale units renting for more than $2,000 each in the more affordable areas of the city without the mandated 15% low income units.

In the era of escalating real estate prices, which LA County Assessor Jeffery Prang noted in his recent report, property prices on average have risen over 21% in the year of the pandemic. Now along comes Joe with his anti-camping ordinance that will force the unhoused to accept shelter that does not exist or to be cited with a ticket for which they probably can’t pay. The consequence is that the next time they are stopped for “illegal” camping, they will be hit with an outstanding bench warrant, then taken to jail. This is not what we want our police force to do.

Well, I suppose Joe deserves a pat on the back or “atta boy” Joe for getting our unsheltered neighbors into a bed for a few days. It will just come at the cost of their possessions, including at times their ID’s, social security cards and other critical documents. This, while being released into the general population to start all over again.

This rather Sisyphean exercise which these desperately poor souls will be forced into by our dear councilman prefaces now they will be given multiple opportunities to accept shelter and assistance before this ordinance is enforced on them. Many would not call this compassionate.

Instead, it sounds a lot like what is coming out of the Los Angeles GOP in their campaign to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Sept. 14 recall.

Just the other day, the LA Republican Party released a statement that read in part: California has a worsening homeless crisis with no end in sight. California’s elected officials continue to put bandaids on the problem, while incentivizing homeless people from other states to come here and take advantage of the sunny weather and government handouts, with no accountability for the health crisis homeless encampments have created. Moreover, our citizens do not feel safe being out in their own neighborhoods, or at local stores

“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. XLII : No. 16

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 Harbor Area.

because of fear of attack by some of these unstable homeless people. As of 2021, about 568,000 people in the United States are experiencing homelessness, with 151,000 in California, 66,436 in Los Angeles County, and 41,290 in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Authority homelessness count. Los Angeles has the most unsheltered homeless people out of any major US city. We are looking more like a third world country rather than a community of which we can be proud.

So as you can see, they, like Buscaino, has a handle (and some misconceptions) on

who the homeless actually are (70% of all our unsheltered neighbors come from the areas in which they are now homeless). And the LA GOP, like our councilman, doesn’t really offer up any solutions. Not more public housing, not a substantial increase in low income housing, not an end to evictions, but yes, this is beginning to look like a third world country. But this is more because of four decades of neo-conservative austerity spending, tax breaks for the wealthy and a failure to invest in domestic job growth than the failure of local and state governments to invest in affordable housing. We’ve exported our middle class jobs and now we are paying for it, thank you, President Ronald Reagan.

The Time for Magical Thinking is Over

By Norman Solomon

For a while, President Joe Biden seemed to be recovering from chronic fantasies about Republicans in Congress. But recently he had a relapse — harming prospects for key progressive legislation and reducing the already slim hopes that the GOP can be prevented from winning control of the House and Senate in midterm elections 15 months from now.

Biden’s reflex has been to gladhand his way across the aisle. On the campaign trail in May 2019, he proclaimed: “The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House. Not a joke. You will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.”

A year and a half later, the president-elect threw some bipartisan bromides into his victory speech — lamenting “the refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another,”

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contending that the American people “want us to cooperate,” and pledging “that’s the choice I’ll make.”

But the notion of cooperating with Republican leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Kevin McCarthy was always a fool’s errand. That reality might as well have been blinking in big neon letters across the Capitol Dome since January, as Republicans continually doubled down on complete intransigence. By early March, when the landmark American Rescue Plan squeaked through Congress, Biden had new reasons to wise up.

Passage of the $1.9 trillion measure, Biden said, “proves we can do big things, important things in this country.”

But passage also proved that every Republican in the House and Senate is dedicated to [See Magical Thinking, p. 7]

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RANDOMLetters A Willful Ignorance of Impending Doom

As we witness the grim outcome of the collapse of the Surfside condo building and its 160+ deaths, we understand the willingness to play down warnings that preceded the catastrophe. It is sad, indeed.

I cannot help but reckon back to the unfathomable “acknowledged” danger posed to “thousands” of residents in the Los Angeles harbor area from over 25 million gallons of highly explosive butane and propane gases that continues to be stored in their literal backyard for almost 50 years now! These storage tanks were built “without building permits” in 1973 for a projected life span of 25 years, and to an earthquake substandard of 5.5 mag. while sitting in a EQ fault zone of mag. 7.4! This prolonged extraordinary willful ignorance to disregard public safety is intolerable and unacceptable in light of the

overwhelming scope of disaster that this storage facility represents. Yet, here we sit on the precipice of doom under the most vulnerable of conditions possible.

Renowned forensics risks professor, Bob Bea, has repeatedly warned of our government’s persistence to disregard obvious hazards due to: hubris, arrogance, indolence, ignorance and greed.

Employing these traits will ultimately guarantee disaster....sooner or later. The Plains All American Pipeline owned Rancho LPG LLC facility represents the Poster Child for his testimony. The catastrophe here awaits. The threat does not get any more obvious than this.

Janet Schaaf-Gunter San Pedro

Vet Refuses Payment, Cat Held for Ransom

I have never written a letter to the editor in my life. So clearly, the interaction with Dr Volkenburgh, License # 15031 on July 21, 2021at her Peninsula Pet Clinic was so appalling that I feel

[Magical Thinking, from p. 6]

Magical Thinking

Mitzi Morin, You can file a complaint with the agencies listed below: Department of Consumer Affairs, Consumer Information Center 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112 Sacramento, CA 95834

For additional assistance, call

the Consumer Information Center: 800-952-5210. mail a complaint form to the address above and copy the complaint with the Veterinary Medical Board Filing a complaint with a state agency can be intimidating.

However, the Veterinary Medical Board cannot take action without input from the public regarding activities that may cause actual harm or create a potential for harm to animal patients. We encourage you to submit your complaint online through the board’s BreEZe online complaint system. Any questions regarding the complaint process can be directed to the board at [See Letters, p. 13]

August 5 - 18, 2021

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and the author of many books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

ethical and illegal extortion, you pay or no pet and raising the agreed upon bill hundreds as the owner arrives to pick up their pet. Read Yelp, FB and Next DoorNeighbor with a kleenex to corroborate this.

Mitzi Morin, RN (ret.)

San Pedro

get done.” On voting rights, the president said he wants to “bring along Republicans who I know know better.”

Many activists quickly demolished those claims. “This answer from Biden on the filibuster just doesn’t make sense,” tweeted Sawyer Hackett, executive director of People First Future.

“Republicans aren’t going to wake up and ‘know better’ than suppressing the vote. The filibuster encourages them to obstruct and our reluctance to end it emboldens them to do worse.”

The response from the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, was aptly caustic: “What are their names? Name the Republicans who know better.

This is not a strategy. The time for magical thinking is over.”

As Biden slid into illogical ramblings on CNN to support retaining the filibuster, the implications were ominous and far-reaching. In the words of the Our Revolution organization, Biden “refused to support doing what must be done to secure voting rights. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he continues to entertain the possibility of getting 10 Republican votes for voting rights.

Back here, in reality, precisely zero Republicans voted in support of the For the People Act, and there is no reason to expect that to change.”

When Biden became president, the Washington Post reported that he had chosen to place a portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the most prominent spot inside the Oval Office, as “a clear nod to a president who helped the country through significant crises, a challenge Biden now also faces.”

But Biden’s recurrent yearning not to polarize with Republican leaders is in stark contrast to FDR’s approach.

Near the end of his first term, in a Madison Square Garden speech condemning “the economic royalists,” Roosevelt said: “They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.”

But now, in his recurrent search for cooperation, Biden seems eager for his Republican foes to like him. It’s a ridiculous and dangerous quest.

officer as a retired LA County Psychiatric Emergency RN who had worked alongside LAPD many times writing 5150’s for 72 hour involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations. Unfortunately, there is no Danger to Animal category I thought because Dr. Volkenburgh clearly met the criteria.

The bill was finally reduced to the $243 ordinal fee. The cat owner got her darling Mickey but no itemized receipt of services rendered or diagnostic impressions.

This was an emergency visit. I had to pay in cash.

Please consider posting this in your newspaper so that our dear, hardworking San Pedrans and their beloved pets will be spared her un-

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

stopping this country from doing “big, important things.” The American Rescue Plan got through Congress without a single Republican vote.

As the American Prospect’s executive editor, David Dayen, pointed out at the time, many of the major gains in the rescue package were fundamental yet fragile. While purported “freemarket solutions” had been set aside, crucial provisions were put on a timer to sunset: “We have the outline of a child allowance but it expires in a year. The [Affordable Care Act] subsidies expire in two years. The massive expansion of unemployment eligibility for a much wider group of workers is now done on Labor Day weekend.

There’s a modicum of ongoing public investment, but mostly this returns us to a steady state, with decisions to make from there.”

Whether progress can be sustained and accelerated during the next several years will largely depend on ending Republican leverage over the Senate via the filibuster and preventing a GOP congressional majority from taking hold in January 2023. The new temporary measures, Dayen notes, could all be made permanent, “with automatic stabilizers that kick in during downturns, and Federal Reserve bank accounts for every American to fill when needed. We could ensure that federal support sustaining critical features of public life remains in place. We could choose to not build a pop-up safety net but an ongoing one.”

The obstacles to enacting long-term structural changes will be heightened to the extent that Biden relapses into a futile quest for “bipartisanship.” This year, the GOP’s methodical assaults on voting rights — well underway in numerous states controlled by Republican legislatures and governors — could be somewhat counteracted by strong, democracy-oriented federal legislation. And that won’t happen if the Senate filibuster remains in place.

Yet Biden, even while denouncing attacks on voting rights, now seems quite willing to help Republicans retain the filibuster as a pivotal tool for protecting and enabling those attacks. During a CNN town hall last week, Biden said he favors tweaking the Senate rules to require that some senator keeps talking on the floor to continue a filibuster — but he’s against getting rid of the filibuster. Eliminating it, Biden said, would “throw the entire Congress into chaos and nothing will

compelled to do so.

I responded to a FB post that day by a woman reporting that a cat owner was sobbing because Dr. Volkenburg refused partial payment to release her beloved cat, Mickey. The owner would get paid a few days later.

Dr. Volkenburgh and the cat owner both called the LAPD. Nothing was resolved.

I drove up and walked in the clinic to pay the cat owner’s bill in full. Dr. Volkenburg refused my payment because I was not the owner. The owner had been banned by her from the Clinic premises. The owner came outside the front door and Dr. Volkenburgh refused my payment again. Each time I verbally protested, she stood close to the receptionist and yelled, “and ANOTHER $100!” I was astounded and she did it three more times! The receptionist looked up and yelled, “that’s $643” to get the cat!

I informed them both I was calling LAPD and the receptionist said so was she.

I introduced myself to the lead

7

Life After Mother

Another Death in the Family

By Lyn Jensen, Columnist

August 5 - 18, 2021

Real People, Real News, Totally Relevant

When I started living in my mother’s home, ten, is in a large gray ceramic canister. She it came with her two cats, Benny and Faith. Now had the ashes of Tony Tomcat, who stayed it’s just Faith. Benny, the old black (neutered) tom, when his owner left, sewn into a memory pilwent to the vet in June and never came home. The low. It’s in a basket next to the wooden box vet diagnosed him with terminal cancer and rec- and metal canister that housed him before the memory pillow did. ommended euthanasia.

I knew my senior cat was deAbout a dozen more veloping multiple major physifamily cats are buried in the cal problems, as seniors do, but yard. I know the locations both his body and mind still of several graves but not all. seemed strong and sharp, and I When I had an estate sale, was stunned to discover he had a some genius ripped several tumor that affected half his face decorative paving stones out and could only have been causof the ground (I think some ing him great discomfort. I could of those stones marked cat have maybe cared for him at home graves) and I’ve never been a little longer, but that would have able to get the stones set back only been delaying the inevitable. just the way they were. In one I asked about hospice care for Now only Faith remains. Photo corner of the yard, I tried to

by Lyn Jensen cats, although I expected and got a cover over some exposed cat “no.” I asked about grief counseling for pet owners bones, only to later find my gardener, whose and the response was “no” again. Later some friends genius rivals the stone-ripper’s, left a cat skull sitting on top of the garbage. When I checked helpfully shared some grief counseling sources.

I decided to have the vet handle Ben’s crema- the corner I suspected the skull came from, I tion and return the ashes to me. When I went to no longer found bones, so I suspect the bones pick up the remains, they came in an attractive went in the garbage, too.

I’ve tried to find someone — a veterinariwooden box — such a little box for such a big kitty — with a card and tag reading “Benny Jensen” and an or a scientist, maybe — who might be willall placed inside a soft filmy bag tied with ribbon ing to exhume the cat graves in a professional manner and arrange for a more dignified restand gold cord.

Benny joins the ashes of two of my mother’s ing place, but so far the search has been fruitother cats, which are kept in her old bedroom, on less. I’ll either have to find new resting places her headboard designed like a bookcase. Killian, or someone else is going to be digging up my who she mothered when he was an abandoned kit- cats’ bones someday.

8

By Greggory Moore, Columnist But as things got going and we got our entertainment license and were able to start having events, it’s gotten busier and busier, especially on the weekends. […] It seems like once the vaccine was widely available, it just got busy and it feels like the way it was before the pandemic — which is really all we could ask for. Anything better than that is a bonus.”

Lovelis said the chance to take over 4th Street Vine came “completely out of the blue.”

“There was no prior conversation about it. I didn’t [even] know the bar was for sale,” Lovelis said. “Jim had a buyer from Northern California, [but] called me and said, ‘I don’t know this person; I can’t sell it to this person. But I thought of you and Emily as someone who could take over.’ […] He knew how much music and community mean to us.

He needed to give it to somebody who cared about those things in the way that he does. And he knew we would keep the staff.”

Lovelis and Rollins had never considered owning a business. Lovelis worked in audio production, while Rollins was a district manager for Urban Outfitters. But with Lovelis “kind of toying with the idea of a career change” even before the pandemic significantly hit his industry — and with Rollins on maternity leave — the timing seemed strangely good. And

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It’s just after 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 15, when I walk into the wine bar-cum-performance space formerly known as 4th Street Vine — now simply Vine — to interview Emily Rollins and Dustin Lovelis, who took over from original owners Jim and Sophia Ritson in December and reopened in April.

Rollins tells me Lovelis has been called away on an audio emergency — they blew out their speakers at the prior night’s show.

She’s busy working plus taking care of their infant son, Dylan, who lolls contentedly on a blanket spread out on the floor.

Maybe I could come back in three hours or so?

Lovelis is ready for me when I return, but Rollins and Dylan are off, so the two of us take a table on the back patio, which is busier than I expect considering the combination of daytime and the fact that Los Angeles County has just signaled that COVID-19 isn’t done with us yet, announcing a new indoor mask mandate. That business got this good, this soon, is a pleasant surprise to Lovelis.

“It was a little slow [at first] because I think people were still afraid to come out,” he said. “The vaccine was still kind of making its way to the 55-and-under crowd. [And] I think it kind of took a while for people’s brains to unravel what just happened and to be comfortable being next to each other even outdoors.

There was a PTSD that was created.

[See 4th Street, p. 11]

August 5 - 18, 2021

Illustration by Brenda Lopez

9

I

August 5 - 18, 2021

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n the early days of human civilization, before there were canning jars, refrigeration and freezer bags, fermentation was the most common way to preserve food. To this day many of our favorite delicacies, including booze and chocolate, depend on fermentation.

But a lot of home cooks and food savers, myself included, feel intimidated by the prospect.

We’re more likely to make vinegar pickles than fermented sour pickles, in part because the rules are more clear with canning. There’s less sniffing involved.

The word “ferment,” after all, also means “a state of confusion, change, and lack of order or fighting,” all of which apply to the fermentation behind your beer. It’s a fight between the microbes you want to win and the ones you want to die and you tip the field in your favor, causing the change you want.

Conceptually, fermentation is the antithesis of most conventional food preservation techniques, as it encourages bacterial growth while most other techniques aim to create a sterile environment in a quest for suspended, lifeless animation. Fermented food doesn’t usually look anything like what it once did, but it’s very much alive with microorganisms.

Inside these microbes are living enzymes that preserve food by transforming it, converting sugars into alcohol and acid.

There has never been a case of food poisoning from the fermentation of vegetables, I was told by Sandor Katz, a teacher and author and, first and foremost, a fermenter who is coming to Hamilton, Montana, to keynote a September gathering of fermentation enthusiasts.

“You could end up with a mushy texture that you hate, or end up with a surface growth that’s ugly and scares you, but there’s no case history of making anyone sick,” Katz said. “ I’ve

10

BIG NICK’S PIZZA

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

The best selection of Italian specialties include hearty calzones, an array of pastas and our amazing selection of signature pizzas. We are taking all safety precautions to protect our diners and staff.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on new developments. Call for fast delivery or to place a pick up order. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fri.Sun. Big Nicks’ Pizza, 1110 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro, 310-732-5800, www.bignickspizza.com

BUONO’S AUTHENTIC PIZZERIA

Family owned and operated since 1965, Buono’s is famous for award-winning brick oven baked pizza.

Buono’s also offers classic Italian dishes and sauces based on tried-and-true family recipes and hand-selected fresh ingredients. Now limited dine-in and patio service, takeout and delivery. Hours: Sun.Thurs. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Buono’s Pizzeria, 222 W. 6th St., San Pedro, 310-547-0655, www.buonospizza.com

Fermenting Contentment

By Ari LeVaux, Flash in the Pan Columnist

Erin Belmont divulges the mix of peppers that go Photo by Ari LeVaux

definitely thrown stuff away. I’ve removed a top layer. But I’ve discovered that the bottom is fine. The surface phenomenon is almost always caused by oxygen.”

Katz said that one of his newer pet ferments is a Chinese brine called pao cai (pronounced “pao tsai”). It’s made with spice mixes that vary region to region in China. Some of the seasonings are familiar, like ginger and garlic, and some are Chinese herbs that are less known, but certainly available at Chinese herb stores or online. Katz details this brine in his new book Fermentation Journeys, which is based on his worldwide travels and the ferments he discovered along the way. Katz will be unveiling his pao cai as well as other tricks at the gathering, his first live workshop since the pandemic hit — and he’s excited.

CONRAD’S MEXICAN GRILL

Conrad’s reflects the cuisine of Oaxaca with a focus fresh on local, seasonal ingredients for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Now Conrad’s features Peruvian dishes, as well as an inventive Mexican vegetarian and vegan menu. Dine in, dine al fresco or order online for curbside pick up and delivery.

Hours: Mon.-Sat. 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. S. Conrad’s Mexican Grill, 376. W. 6th St., San Pedro 424-264-5452, www.conradsmexicangrill.com

HAPPY DINER #1

The Happy Diner #1 in Downtown San Pedro isn’t your average diner. The selections range from Italian- and Mexicaninfluenced entrées to American Continental. Happy Diner chefs are always creating something new—take your pick of grilled salmon over pasta or tilapia and vegetables prepared any way you like. Dine in or al fresco or call for takeout. Hours: Mon.-Wed. 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thurs.Sat. 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sun. 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Happy Diner #1, 617 S. Centre St., San Pedro, 310-241-0917, www.happydinersp.com

I barely know the basics of fermentation, though I’ve got pretty much every other preservation technique down, from blanching and freezing my green vegetables to the perfect pickled peppers, to any of my tomato products.

But I’ve always avoided fermentation like some final frontier I wasn’t worthy or ready to breach.

To help get up to speed before Sandor shows up, I drove to a local commercial food kitchen to meet Erin into her hot sauce.

Belmont, a fermenter and co-organizer of the Bacteria Bazaar. She was making a batch of pepper paste for her House of Ferments label of fermented products and I was there to make my own batch of paste.

After a few minutes in Erin’s rented kitchen, it was clear that preparing a reasonable-sized batch of Panama hot sauce is less work than making a salad on most days. One caveat for that statement: unlike a salad or most other dishes, a ferment needs to be stewarded for weeks after it’s been made, like carefully docking a ship in port, but slower.

First we cleaned and weighed some fresh habanero and mini yellow peppers. They were all I could find at the store in early July that wasn’t green or a sweet bell, both of which were off limits, she said. Erin herself was using dried peppers from this past year, which she’d

HAPPY DINER #2

Built on the success of Happy Diner #1, Happy Diner #2 offers American favorites like omelets and burgers, fresh salads, plus pasta and Mexican dishes are served. Order online for delivery or call for pickup.

Hours: Mon. - Sat. 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Happy Diner #2, 1931 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro, 310-935-2933, www.happydinersp.com

HAPPY DELI

The Happy Deli is a small place with a big menu. Food is made-to-order using the freshest ingredients. Breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches include a small coffee. For lunch or dinner select from fresh salads, wraps, buffalo wings, cold and hot sandwiches, burgers and dogs. Order online or call for takeout or delivery.

Hours: Mon. - Sat. 6 am. to 8 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Happy Deli, 530 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro, 424-364-0319, www.happydelisp.com

purchased in bulk from a farmer named Mr. Sunshine.

My peppers came out to 1,217 grams. We put them in a food processor with a few cloves of garlic and added 24 grams of salt for about a 2% brine — standard for a vegetable ferment.

I returned home from the commercial kitchen with my activated pepper paste and set it on the shelf, with the lid loose so gas could escape as the fermentation began. I’d give it a gentle shake every day, because it seemed to want to separate into liquid below and pepper paste up top. Each time I shook it around it would foam a bit and then settle. After about a week I could taste the fermentation happening.

It was promising, but evolving slowly, and I wasn’t happy with how it kept separating, and the daily shaking routine to keep the ferment active didn’t feel right. I added more salt, and things got right in a hurry. Within days the separated pulp and liquid recombined into a homogenous mixture. And the flavor became sharply more acidic, which made it more interesting and satisfying and useful.

The reason I was so stressed about my separating paste is that, to paraphrase Katz, oxygen can make things ugly at the surface of the ferment. If I hadn’t been able to get it to mix, my wife said I’d have had to weigh it down somehow or risk a bad outcome. She weighs her sauerkraut down with a bag of water.

My pepper paste hasn’t separated since I added salt, but I can’t say it has yet hit full maturity. And I can’t say it’s ever going to reach full maturity at the rate I have been “evaluating” it, especially since adding the salt. Lately, I’ve enjoyed evaluating it mixed with mayonnaise and chopped fresh onions atop tomato slices. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I’m sure it will involve that sour, spicy brine.

SAN PEDRO BREWING COMPANY

A micro brewery and American grill, SPBC features handcrafted award-winning ales and lagers served with creative pastas, BBQ, sandwiches, salads and burgers. Order your growlers, house drafts and cocktails to go (with food purchase)! Open daily 12 to 8 p.m. for indoor or al fresco dining, takeout and delivery through Grubhub, Postmates and Doordash. San Pedro Brewing Company, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro, 310-831-5663, www.sanpedrobrewing.com

WEST COAST PHILLY’S

Welcome to West Coast Philly’s Cheesesteak and Hoagies where authentic Philly cheesesteaks meet the waterfront in San Pedro. Along with serving the classic cheesesteak, West Coast Philly’s puts its unique twist on its cheesesteaks and hoagies. Also on the menu are subs, burgers, wings and salads. Happy hour from 2 to 6 p.m., Mon.-Thurs. Indoor dining or order online or call for pickup. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. West Coast Philly’s, 1902 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, 424-264-5322, www.westcoastphillys.com

Support Independent Restaurants • Dining Guide online: www.randomlengthsnews.com/dining-guide [See Calendar, page 16]

[4th Street, from p. 9]

4th Street Vine on Retro Row

spotlight a broader array of whatever is going on locally.

It’s barely 6 p.m. at this point, and we can’t help noticing that, as much as they don’t want to intrude, the staff have been covetously eying our table, needing the real estate to accommodate new arrivals.

“It’s still surreal to us,” Lovelis said as we yield to the needs of the clientele.

“We’re walking around saying, ‘Whoa, this is happening.’ […] But this doesn’t really feel like work: [it’s like] I’m just hosting a constant house party.”

Vine is at 2142 E. 4th St., Long Beach.

To keep up with what’s happening there, follow them on Instagram: @vine_lb.

Shop San Pedro In Person for a great selection of new & used vinyl, cassettes & CDs Open evenings on First Thursdays of every month

Open 11 to 5, Tues.-Sun.

447 W. 6th St., San Pedro • 424-264-5335 www.jdcrecordstore.com

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Enjoy Retro, Vintage, Second-hand & Pawn shopping in San Pedro

August 5 - 18, 2021

although they knew nothing about operating a wine bar, they understood 4th Street Vine’s underlying spirit.

“The way that Jim and Sophia built this place and the environment that they created — trying to stay plugged into the community and support music and local art, which is part of what makes this place special — is something I do know about,” Lovelis said. “To us, that was probably the easiest part of the sell. [It wasn’t] just a good business opportunity: it was [also] a good social opportunity. […] It wasn’t actually a hard decision; it just took us a while to figure out whether we could handle it, because Emily was in her third trimester.”

Lovelis calls Rollins “the real hero of this story,” citing not only her ability to handle taking over a new business while on the verge of childbirth, but also noting that it is her business acumen that makes Vine a possibility at all.

For all that, he’s had a front-row seat to the patriarchal bias to which businesswomen are subjected.

“People will say, ‘Are you the new owner?’ to me — and not say anything to her,” he reports. “She’s an essential part of this business operating properly, and she had a baby in the middle of our opening. […] If they could see how little I know about running a business properly [on my own], they wouldn’t even consider me part-owner. This place would run itself into the ground if she weren’t a part of it. I need her influence, knowledge, and background to make this work. [Without her] I’d see the profit-and-loss statement and say, ‘Whoa, I made $4 for the year?!’ We need both our personalities to make this place operate the way it’s supposed to.”

A longtime touring musician and staple of the Long Beach music scene, Lovelis knows music — and that experience and empathy with the performance side helps him to do right by the artists he hosts. “[From having] always been on the other side of booking, where I’m trying to get shows to play and need to know the sound set-up, what time load-in is, [etc.], it’s nice to be able to anticipate musicians’ needs,” he said. “I know the value of having trust in the venue, knowing what to expect when you get there. I’ve dealt with a lot of shitty promoters and bar owners before; I’ll make it my life’s mission never to be one of those people. Jim had the same mentality.

It’s just about being ethical.”

The new owners’ intention is for Vine to be a continuation of what came before rather than a complete rebrand.

“We’re doing the same thing with a different logo,” said Lovelis, noting that the reputation the Ritsons built was strong enough to entice someone as prominent as Mike Watt to perform.

“To have someone of that caliber be willing to play a free show is huge. I couldn’t open up a place from scratch and expect that kind of trust from an artist of that stature.”

One of the only notable changes is that, in lieu of new art exhibitions going up on the walls, Vine has begun publishing an eponymous quarterly zine, each issue featuring the work of multiple visual artists, along with interviews, poetry, and more. This, says Lovelis, allows Vine’s interior to maintain a consistent aesthetic while simultaneously enabling the venue to

11

MUSIC Aug. 5

Connie Rouse, Diane Kula and Friends Diane Kula will be playing solos and also accompany jazz vocalist Connie Rouse and several surprise guests.

This is a First Thursday performance, no cover, donations accepted.

Time: 7 p.m. Aug. 5 Cost: Free Details: www.collageartculture.com/events Venue: Collage, 731 S, Pacific Ave., San Pedro Big City Hillbillies Be entertained by the Big City Hillbillies, a high energy, boot stomping, swing your partner ‘round dance band.

A $5 donation suggested.

Time: 7 to 8 p.m. Aug. 5 Cost: Free Details: https://tinyurl.com/ eldorado-summer-concerts Venue: El Dorado Nature Center, 7550 E. Spring St., Long Beach

Aug. 7

The Swing Riots Quirktette Enjoy a lively mix of ’30s music including gypsy jazz, Eastern European tunes and of course swing music. The group has been together for a dozen years and has played jazz clubs, immigrant weddings and funerals, and lots of really sketchy dive bars.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 Cost: $10 Details: www.eventbrite. com/the-swing-riots-quirktetteVenue: Collage, 731 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

August 5 - 18, 2021

Real People, Real News, Totally Relevant

Summer Swing Nights: Drive-in Edition Celebrate the return of live entertainment with Summer Swing Nights: Drive-In Edition concert series featuring the jazzy vocal stylings of The Swing Tones, accompanied by a live seven-piece

12

COMEDY

big band plus swing dance lessons.

Time: 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Aug. 7 Cost: $50 Details: 323-365-6650; www.tinyurl.com/summer-swing-elcamino Venue: El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance

Aug. 8

Sexy Sundays Comedy Show Liebman and Co. presents Sexy Sunday’s Comedy Show in Downtown San Pedro, the longest running comedy show in Los Angeles. Come see the hottest live comedians from all over greater Los Angeles County.

Time: 7:30 to 9 p.m. Aug. 8 Cost: $10 Details: www.eventbrite.com/e/ sexy-sundays-comedy-show Venue: Sacred Grounds, 468 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Aug. 8

South Bay New Orleans Jazz Club Session This is a traditional jazz session free to performing musicians.

Time: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 8 Cost: $12 Details: 310-377-2441; alvasshowroom.com Venue: Alvas Showroom, 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

Aug. 13

The BIG fOIST! The BIG fOIST record swap meet will be running concurrently with The Sardine’s music fest. Single day passes are still available for the music fest. The swap will be directly next door to the Sardine at 1105 W. Pacific Ave. and the Swap will be 21 and up.

Time: 6 p.m. Aug. 13 to 11 p.m.

Aug. 15 Cost: Free Details: www.recessops.com/collections/tickets Venue: The Sardine, 1101 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

Aug. 14

Kasey Lansdale This small-town Texas girl has recorded with Grammy Awardwinning producer John Carter Cash and will be performing music from her latest release, Living in the Moment from the EP Leave Her Wild.

Time: 7 p.m. Aug. 14 Cost: $32 to $70 Details: 310-781-7171; www.torrancearts.org Venue: Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance

Aug. 17

Lisa Haley & the Zydecats This Grammy-nominated artist entertains audiences with Americana, Cajun and zydeco folk-rock

THEATER Aug. 13

music. Join this series of free summer concerts at The Amphitheater at Wilson Park.

Time: 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 17 Cost: Free Details: www.arts.torranceca.gov/ the-arts/summerconcerts Venue: The Amphitheater at Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance

Aug. 19

Speakeasy Tunes Chanteuse Stacey Morse and pianist Dan Spector trill tunes from the 1920s to the 2020s. Jazz, blues and singalong tunes create an evening of sonic and phonic finger food.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 Cost: $15 Details: eventbrite.com/e/speakeasy-tunes Venue: Collage, 731 S.Pacific Ave., San Pedro Steel Parade Steel Parade is a one-man, full time singing steel drummer who plays world music with a SoCal vibe.

Time: 7 to 8 p.m. Aug. 19 Cost: Free, $5 donation suggested Details: https://tinyurl.com/eldorado-summer-concerts Venue: El Dorado Nature Center, 7550 E. Spring St., Long Beach

Aug. 20

Tom Rigney and Flambeau The fiery, electrifying violinist/composer, Tom Rigney, joined forces with the finest musicians on the San Francisco roots music scene to form Tom Rigney and Flambeau.

Time: Aug. 20 Cost: $107 (Adult) includes a buffet dinner and dessert with the show Details: palosverdesperformingarts.com Venue: Norris Theatre, 27570 Norris Center Dr., Rolling Hills Estates

Aug. 28

Leimert Park Jazz Festival Join the fourth annual celebration of jazz, community and the cultural heritage of Leimert Park. The festival brings together a culturally diverse, family-friendly audience to enjoy outstanding jazz from local and world-renowned artists including Dwight Trible, Munyungo Jackson, Sy Smith and Michael O’Neil with more to be announced.

You can also join via livestream from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 28 Cost: Free Details: www.leimertparkjazzfestival.com Venue: Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza

Love’s Labour’s Lost A young king and his companions vow to swear off worldly pleasures and devote themselves to gaining eternal fame through scholastic pursuits. But a princess and her ladies render their oath difficult to keep.

Time: 8 p.m. Aug. 13 through Aug. 15, and Aug. 20 through Aug. 22 Cost: Free Details: 310-217-7596; info@shakespearebythesea.org Venue: Point Fermin Park, 807 W. Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro

DANCE Aug. 14

The Swing Tones’ Swing Dancing and Lessons Celebrate the “Summer Swing Nights: Back to the Museum” concert series featuring the jazzy vocal stylings of The Swing Tones with special guest Antonia Bennett plus performances by the Los Angeles Swing Dance Posse with Chester Whitmore. Free swing dance lessons are included with admission — whether you attend as a single or a couple.

Time: 8 to 10 p.m. Aug. 14 Cost: $35 to $100 Details: www.eventbrite.com/e/ summer-swing-nights-2021 Venue: Automobile Driving Museum, 610 Lairport St., El Segundo

ARTS Aug. 5

Soundpedro2021 First of a series of artist-curated events, other dates between August and November. Soundpedro is an annual ear-oriented multisensory event, presenting artists whose work addresses sound and aural perception in combination with other senses, produced by the Long Beach artist group FLOOD and hosted by Angels Gate Cultural Center.

Time: Aug. 5 and Aug. 11 Details: soundpedro.org Mixed Emotions Collage’s first gallery show is all about food and emotions, expressed by images of food as wearable art and by cooking and serving utensils that have been modified with cut-out letters from a century-old cookbook. This exhibition is curated by Carolyn Tillie, author of A Feast For The Eyes: Edible Art from Apple to Zucchini.

The show will run until Sept. 12, and while it is up, Collage will be presenting a series of culinary events.

Time: Aug. 5 through Sept. 12 Cost: Free Details: collageartculture.com Venue: Collage, 731 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro PVAC Presents Three Online Exhibitions Palos Verdes Art Center / Beverly G. Alpay Center for Arts Education announces the reopening of three

exhibitions now available to view online. The Summer Show, Annie Appel: The Mexico Journeys — Carmelita, and Don Crocker: Love of Place will be online in their entirety at pvartcenter.org.

Time: Now through Aug. 21 Cost: Free Details: 310-541-2479; pvartcenter.org So Close Right Now So Close Right Now is an exhibition of work by Los Angeles artist Ian Byers-Gamber featuring more than 100 portrait photographs created by the artist throughout the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic documenting more than 100 community members of the Los Angeles art world. The exhibition is online and free to the public, now through October 23.

Time: 7 p.m. Sept. 8.

Cost: Free Details: gallery.csudh.edu Location: Via Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/Byers-Gamber-CSUDH

Aug. 12

Multiples Multiples shares a strategy of building meaning from the multiple, as found in iterative series, repetition of mass-produced objects and images in new and siteresponsive works. Attendees can register for the live artist talk at eventbrite.

Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 12 Cost: Free Details: eventbrite.com/e/galleryconversations-multiples

Aug. 21

ULTRA! A new public art exhibition featuring more than 20 artworks from contemporary artists throughout Torrance. Sculpture, installation, video projection and interactive experiences are among the works in various locations. Ultra! Extra Live Performances by: Ibuki Kuramochi and Beck+Col with Tetiana Sklyarova and Kayla Aguila. The exhibitions runs through Aug. 28.

Time: 3 p.m. Aug. 21 Cost: Free Details: www.torranceartmuseum.com/upcoming-exhibitions Venue: Torrance Art Museum, 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance

Aug. 28

Even Sparkles Have Shadows The artworks of Even Sparkles Have Shadows are colorful, playful, radiant images — at first glance. However, closer examination reveals a curious undertone of hidden meaning and deeper, sometimes darker stories beneath their glittering veneer.

Time: Aug. 28 Cost: Free Details: www.torranceartmuseum.com/sparkles Venue: Torrance Art Museum, 3320 Civic Center Drive, Torrance

FOOD

Aug. 21

Tenth Annual Taste of Brews LB Taste of Brews returns to the Lighthouse Park in August. The 10th annual event infuses dozens of craft beers and select hard ciders, seltzers and kombucha along with SoCal’s premier mobile restaurants, all at an amazing ocean-front venue.

Time: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 21 Details: tasteofbrews.com Venue: Shoreline Aquatic Park, 200 Aquarium Way, LongBeach

COMMUNITY Aug. 15

Wilmington CicLAvia Over two miles of streets will be open just for walking, biking, roll-

ing, dancing and rejoicing. Along the route you’ll see public art dotting the buildings and the massive Port of Long Beach just across the East Basin.

Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 15 Cost: Free Details: 213-355-8500; www.ciclavia.org/wilmington21 Location: Between Banning Park and Wilmington Waterfront Park, Wilmington

Aug. 21

Docent Guided Nature Walk Join a tour of the Point Vicente Interpretive Center museum, the native plant garden and a walk along the spectacular bluff top at the Vicente Bluff Reserve followed by a possible tour of the Point Vicente Lighthouse ground hosted by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, if open.

Free parking will be available.

Time: 10 a.m. Aug. 21 Cost: Free Details: 310-544-5260; www.losserenos.org Location: PVIC, 31501 Palos Verdes Drive West, Rancho Palos Verdes

Aug. 31

LA Harbor Peace Week 2021 A week of activities in San Pedro as an alternative to the normalization of war during the U.S. military’s “LA Fleet Week.” Instead, we promote the solutions of peace in the world and in our towns.

Time: Events will happen from Aug. 31 through Sept. 6. Check the upcoming calendar issues for more Peace Week events Cost: Free Details: 310-971-8280; sojournerrb@yahoo.com Locations: Various Peace Week kick off press conference/MFS “Leaving Afghanistan: War was never the answer.”

Time: 4 to 5 p.m. Aug. 31 Location: 5th St. and Centre St., with a march to the U.S.S Iowa afterward.

Sept. 3

LA Fleet Week 2021 LA Fleet Week is an annual, multiday celebration of our nation’s sea services held on the LA Waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles over the extended Labor Day weekend.

Past events have included active

duty ship tours, military displays and equipment demonstrations, live entertainment, aircraft flyovers, STEM expo for kids of all ages, the annual Conquer the Bridge Labor Day 5.3 mile walk/ run over the Vincent Thomas Bridge, sports tournaments and the Galley Wars culinary cookoff competition between sailor, marine and coastguard teams.

Time: Sept. 3 to 6 Cost: Free Details: www.lafleetweek.com Venue: Port of Los Angeles Festival Of Sail at the LA Waterfront The three-day 2021 Festival of Sail in San Pedro during Labor Day Weekend will have nonprofits, institutions, agencies and industries showcasing their opportunities for youth education, careers and community involvement.

Time: Sept. 3 to 6 Details: www.lamitopsail.org/

RANDOMLetters [Letters, from p. 7]

(916) 515-5220. Please make sure to provide documentation with your complaint.

James Preston Allen Publisher

Attacking the Messengers

Linda Alexander and Lou Caravella certainly have it out for you. I totally agree with your position regarding Lou. I think Central [San Pedro Neighborhood Council] should try to get him removed.

I’m not familiar with the content of the article that Alexander calls you out.

What about Gene Seroka’s bully pulpit? The general public can’t ever engage with him and his outright lies of the facts as well as his subordinates. The NC port committee reps are too busy sucking up. Just last week I could not believe how a couple of Coastal’s board members just sucked up to Mike Galvin with his presentation of the port’s future plans.

Yes, we should be polite, but there should be no sucking up to an agency that ignores the community. And the neighborhood councils rather suck up to the port than stand up for the rights of the

community.

It is a sad state of affairs.

Thanks for your holding the line.

James Campeau San Pedro

Hateful Hillbillies

“In the wake of Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat… many people who spout QAnon’s false claims have hatched a new plan: run for school board or local office, spread the gospel of Q, but don’t call it QAnon.”

— NBC News’ Ben Collins (July 7, 2021)

You may ask yourself, why would a group of hateful homicidal hillbillies like these crazy QAnon crackpots waste their time on local school boards, when these white supremacist whack jobs can better display their disgusting delusions by running for Congress instead?

Skip running for the local school board, conservative crossburning anti-Semites, and run for Congress as your fascist fuhrer Orange Hitler commands! (Traitor Trump now reportedly wants to become Speaker of the House, since Putin’s puppet Trump would of course be a sure loser again attempting to take on the popular President Biden in 2024.)

Kool-Aid drinking QAnon cult members are dumb-as-dirt dysfunctional dolts, no doubt, but even

[Veterinarian, from p. 3]

Local Veterinarian

You Omitted My Signature Text

Your outlet published a letter I recently sent to you and your staff, forwarded below.

Your published version of my letter omitted the opinionsmy-own statement from my signature text. Your publisher then responded to his own inaccurately published letter, attacking me for attributing opinions to others.

Lou Caravella San Pedro Mr. Carvella, The point of my last response (with or without your disclaimer) is that you are proscribed in the bylaws from opining with the title of “president” as it makes you appear to be speaking for the entire council, which you are not in this instance. The cure is to take the title off of your petty vitriol when attacking others.

James Preston Allen Publisher

After the staff treated his dog, Gierach was given one-month’s prescription for its medication.

Gierach said he was told to return in a month for bloodwork and radiology to ensure the medication was working. When he did, everything was fine, but the staff did not give him any more prescriptions.

“I called back,” Gierach said. “I got guff from the people behind the desk. I was told that it was my responsibility to get those prescriptions over to them.”

Gierach said he told the staff he did not receive any prescriptions from the Peninsula Pet Clinic.

When he got no response, he began sending emails demanding that the clinic fill the prescriptions. Gierach said he soon received a cease-and-desist letter from the clinic’s attorney, claiming he was sending too many emails.

“According to the lawyer, I would not be charged, because the services that I required were not provided,” Gierach said. “I was forced to take my dog [elsewhere] and spend over $700 now for the same tests, plus an emergency room visit, in order to get immediate medications.”

In April 2021, three months later, Gierach said the clinic charged him for the prescription anyway.

“That left me, a fully disabled U.S. vet with only my pension to rely on these days, utterly and completely broke in the middle of the month, without any way to buy food,” Gierach said.

As for Morin, she now is part of a private Facebook group with more than 200 members that is trying to put the clinic out of business.

They are staging a protest on Aug. 14. In addition, Morin filed an official complaint with the Veterinary Medical Board, which is investigating the clinic.

“I want to get her unlicensed, because I don’t want her to be just kicked out of town and go somewhere else to do her dirty business,” she said.

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

August 5 - 18, 2021

burgh wrote. “Because you probably don’t.”

“Would you want cheap care for your mother?” she asked, rhetorically. “A discount doctor for your child? I hope not. Then why would you want that for your pet?”

The clinic has a two-star rating on Yelp. Not all of the reviews are negative, such as Patti S. from San Francisco. She wrote that she does not understand the negative reviews, and that she took her pet to the clinic on June 26, 2021, when other veterinarians were not available.

“I found the staff to be extremely nice, and Dr. V was very impressive too,” Patti wrote. “I felt they were very compassionate AND professional.”

Patti wrote that her pet stayed in the clinic for a few days and fully recovered. She also wrote that her pet seemed to be comfortable with Van Volkenburgh.

“It seems that most people are complaining about rude staff (which I never encountered) and money gouging,” Patti wrote. “I feel you get what you pay for. I would definitely recommend them.”

However, other patients left far more negative reviews, such as Jen M. from Kernville, Calif. She wrote that when she started taking her dog to another vet, it started doing better, and did not have any of the health issues the clinic said it had.

“They bullshit and misdiagnose so they can charge you for unnecessary X-rays scans and ultrasounds,” Jen wrote. “I have spoken with some of my other friends and they experienced the same thing. It’s an automatic $500 every time I go in.”

Ryan Gierach, retired editor and publisher of WeHo News in West Hollywood is still in a dispute with Peninsula Pet Clinic regarding charges from December 2020. He took his dog to the clinic in November 2020. It was suffering from congestive heart failure. “[I] was overwhelmed and only interested in getting him right,” Gierach said. “So, I looked past the anti-vaxxing and the anti-masker attitudes there.”

with a borderline IQ of 73 like dimwitted Donald Trump, Y’all Qaeda should be woke enough by now to realize following the foolish, pathetic political paths of Marjorie Traitor Greene and Matt “The Molester” Gaetz is pure folly from which the Rapepublican Party will never recover.

Jake Pickering Arcata, Calif.

Arturo Garcia-Ayala contributed to this story.

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CLASSIFIED ADS & DBA FILINGS RLNews is looking for freelance food and music writers who are knowledgeable about San Pedro and Long Beach area restaurants, culture and music scenes. Experienced writers preferred, but will consider aspiring bloggers. We are looking for writers who have a curiosity for a wide range of cuisines or music in the greater LA / Long Beach Harbor Area.

Committment to writing to deadline is a must. Having a strong social media following and bi-lingual skills is a plus.

Submit inquiries and any links to your writing to editor@ randomlengthsnews.com or call 310-519-1442 weekdays.

COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM! Train ONLINE to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk Professional now! Grants and Scholarships available for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details! 1-855-554-4616 (AAN

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Real People, Real News, Totally Relevant

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AUTOS

CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too!

Call 866-535-9689 (AAN CAN) DONATE YOUR CAR TO KIDS. Your donation helps fund the search for missing children. Accepting Trucks, Motorcycles & RV’s, too!

Fast Free Pickup – Running or Not - 24 Hour Response Maximum Tax Donation – Call 877-266-0681 (AAN CAN)

Bulletin Board Serving the South Bay

DIVORCE • TRUST BANKRUPTCY $99 Down•Low Cost Attorney Assisted Law

(310) 781-2823

ADULT PULL-UP DIAPERS Xlarge case of 60 $30 VINYL EXAM GLOVES powder-free, small size box of 100 $20

310-719-8884

Don Marshall CPA, Inc. (310) 833-8977

Don Marshall, MBA, CPA

August 5 - 18, 2021

Specializing in small businesses CPA quality service at very reasonable rates www.donmarshallcpa.com

14

PLEASE HELP!

The animals at the Harbor Animal Shelter have ongoing need for used blankets, comforters, pet beds.* Drop off at Harbor Animal Shelter 957 N. Gaffey St.,San Pedro • 888-452-7381, x 143 PLEASE SPAY/NEUTER YOUR PET! *In any condition. We will wash and mend.

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PERSONALS Well-to-do businesswoman seeking good man, 60 to 70.

310-809-0105 PETS

PEDRO PET PALS is the only group that raises funds for the City Animal Shelter and FREE vaccines and spay or neuter for our community.

310-991-0012.

DBAs $ 140 Filing & Publishing

310-519-1442

Remember to renew your DBA every 5 years

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2021122655 The following person is doing business as: (1) WEEDTIME APPARELL COMPANY, 1419 South Mesa Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County.

Registered owners: Filippo Salvato, 1419 South Mesa Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. Stephanie Salvato, 1419 South Mesa Street, 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/.

Filippo Salvato, Husband.

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on 02/25/20.

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 where it expire 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: 06/24/21, 07/08/21, 07/22/21, 08/05/21

Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2021149848 The following person is doing business as: (1) CURLEY’S CAFE, (2) WORLD FAMOUS CURLEY’S CAFE, 1999 E Willow Street, Long Beach, CA 90755. This Business is conducted by a Corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 01/2012. 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 Toman, Vice President This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on 07/01/21.

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 where it expire 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: 07/08/21, 07/22/21, 08/05/21, 08/19/21

— it works, initially.

“BAD Company”

© 2021 MATT JONES, Jonesin’ Crosswords

JOB TRAINING

For answers go to: www.randomlengthsnews.com

JOBS

ACROSS

1 File extensions?

6 Chipotle option, for short 10 Gifford’s TV successor 14 Neckwear for Fred in “Scooby-Doo” 15 “Take ___” (1985 hit) 16 “___ Ruins Everything” 17 Nicknames of two legendary bebop musicians (and the title of their 1952 album) 19 “Swan Lake” movement 20 Oscar-winning role for Forest 21 ___ Maria (coffee liqueur) 22 They’re risky 24 Obligation 26 Way to look inward?

28 “The Matrix” role for Keanu 29 Country duo behind “Ain’t Nothing ‘bout You” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” 35 Ant habitat 37 Twisted tale 38 Item on a ring 39 Get together 40 Out-and-out battle 41 Syndicate bosses 43 U.S. hwy.

44 Soldier or solder material 45 “Everybody Loves Raymond” surname 46 Caillou’s Daddy and Mommy, according to the official website (sorry, parents, I feel your pain) 50 Open ___ night

51 Spotted 52 State, to Sarkozy 55 Red, white, and blue frozen treat 59 “It’s whatever” 61 MV divided by V 62 “What You’re Made Of, We’re Made For” insurance co.

63 The McKenzie brothers of SCTV’s “Great White North” sketches 66 “Le Freak” disco group 67 Character before Borat 68 Sierra ___ (California range) 69 Hit the bottom 70 Supreme Court garb 71 “People tell me ...”

DOWN

1 Beyond zealous 2 Line that breaks the fourth wall 3 More illegible, like some signatures 4 “___ Save America” (show cohosted by Jon Favreau) (no, the other Jon Favreau) 5 Sports factoid that I’ll never understand 6 Lose luminosity 7 Sturm ___ Drang (German artistic movement) 8 In the center of 9 “The Card Players” painter Paul 10 2013 Eminem song that has a Guinness World Record 11 Without much movement 12 Twosome

13 Iowa State University location 18 “Three Men and a Baby” director Leonard 23 Homer Simpson’s neighbor 25 It’s slower than a gallop 27 Archipelago components 30 It depicts “the unit of counting or measurement,” per Wikipedia 31 Inflatable couch filler 32 SW1P, for Westminster Abbey, e.g.

33 Inert lamp gas 34 Wall St. fixture 35 “___ Your Enthusiasm” (Larry David show) 36 Unfooled by 40 Prevail 41 Station wagon, e.g.

42 Indy 500 winner Luyendyk 44 Buffet that might have several salsas 45 Current “SNL” cast member Yang 47 Return remark 48 Wee drink 49 Adjuster’s assessment 53 Upscale Honda 54 “Life of Pi” feline 55 Super Bowl XXXVII champs 56 Accident prevention org.

57 Principal 58 Ralph Lauren brand 60 Cable that connects to a TV 64 Lobster shack wear 65 “Well, la-di-freakin’-___!”

[Coup, from p. 1]

Trump’s Ongoing Coup while, a Daily Kos/Civiqs poll found that 80% of Republicans believe the election was stolen from Trump — despite the lack of supporting evidence.

However, the first and last points are more complicated and require further clarification.

Trump’s attempt to cling to power

Trump was impeached for his earliest known attempt to cling to power, when he tried to coerce the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to announce an investigation of Hunter Biden, as a way to damage Joe Biden’s reputation

his hold on power. But now we know more.

Perhaps most chillingly, the book, I Alone Can Fix It, by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker recounts that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told aides he feared Trump would call on the government to stage a coup after his election defeat.

“He saw parallels between Trump’s rhetoric about election fraud and Adolf Hitler’s insistence to his followers at the Nuremberg rallies that he was both a victim and their savior,” they write. “This is a Reichstag moment,” he told his aides.

and to congressional allies, Mr. Donoghue wrote.

This was the same playbook Trump had tried with Ukraine: Coerce others into announcing something was rotten — as he had nothing to do with it — and then he and his minions would bamboozle the world into falling in line. It was just a shade more subtle than his follow-up attempt to pressure Georgia’s Secretary of State.

“I just want you to find 11,780 votes,” as he said in a Jan. 2 call. So his pattern of coercive criminal conduct is quite clear.

events of Jan. 6. He wanted his Department of Justice to announce that the election indeed was corrupt. Now, the question is was Donald Trump acting alone in organizing the events that ultimately were going to lead to Jan. 6, and we know that cannot be the case. Ultimately there was a political network.”

In short, there was a conspiracy to overthrow the election, which means a conspiracy to overthrow the government.

On the morning of Jan. 6, Mike Pence was Trump’s last best hope. Trump had been convinced that Pence, presiding over Congress in the counting of the electoral votes, had the unilateral power to reject the electoral votes of all the states Trump claimed to have won. He had one crackpot lawyer making the argument to him — in addition to Rudy Giuliani, of course. But Pence, while loyal to a fault, was not delusional.

In a three-page statement issued before proceedings began on Jan. 6, Pence went through some of the relevant history before concluding, “It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which

electoral votes should be counted and which should not.” Only the people’s representatives in Congress could do that, as specified in the Electoral Count Act of 1887.

Trump, of course, cared nothing for history.

“If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election,” he lied to his supporters at the pre-insurrection rally.

“All Vice President Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify and we become president and you are the happiest people.”

This was Trump’s ultimate plan. But Pence wouldn’t go along.

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country,” Trump tweeted.

So the only thing left was violent intimidation. It might be a long shot, but Trump had nothing to lose — as shown

by his subsequent acquittal in the Senate for second impeachment. He simply watched things unfold as his minions rampaged through Congress.

The details remain to be found, but the broad sweep is clear, as described by Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn in the first House hearing on the insurrection.

“There was an attack carried out on Jan. 6 and a hitman sent them,’ Dunn said. “I want you to get to the bottom of that.”

Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn testified at the House Select Committee for its investigation on the Jan. 6 insurrection. File photo

A flat-out coup

August 5 - 18, 2021

In fact, it was a flat-out coup attempt, according to former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal.

“This was an attempted coup, an attempt to steal an election, and weaponizing the justice department in the process,” Katyal said on MSNBC that afternoon. “That’s both illegal and pretty much the most un-American thing you can come up with in your wild imagination.”

Former Republican Rep. David Jolly went into more detail.

“This further establishes the sequence of the plans leading up to Jan. 6,” Jolly said.

“The three sequential elements of Donald Trump’s culpability for the insurrection was first laying the predicate — the big lie. Second, issuing the invitation, telling people to come to Washington on Jan. 6, a date that no one would have otherwise known to come, and then giving the charge when he gave that speech on that day.

“What we learn from the notes was just preceding the

“The gospel of the Führer.”

What’s more, Milley and other Joint Chiefs generals also discussed resigning if they were ordered to participate in a coup, as the book also reports.

“They may try, but they’re not going to fucking succeed,” Milley said, according to the book.

“You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with the guns.”

But there are other ways.

On July 30, a new telling detail came to light about Trump’s attempt to enlist the Department of Justice on his behalf, by declaring — without evidence — that the election was corrupt. On Dec. 27, 2020 Trump made this request in a phone call to Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy, Richard Donoghue, pushing voter fraud claims that the department had already disproved. Donoghue responded that they had no power to change the election outcome, but that wasn’t Trump’s aim, according to his notes. “Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me”

Real People, Real News, Really Effective

and make his own corruption seem less exceptional. Even though there’s an actual federal law against that, using federal power to interfere with an election, only one Republican senator — Mitt Romney — voted to impeach.

Trump’s most sweeping and prolonged effort to cling to power came in the form of his repeated, years-long attacks on voting rights — promoting the myth of voter fraud, making wild claims, adding new self-serving twists, and trying to block vote-by-mail efforts undertaken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the period from election night, Nov. 3, through the insurrection on Jan. 6 was the most intensive and complex — and it’s still largely hidden, as indicated by recently revealed fragments of information. For example, during this time period it was known that Trump replaced top officials at the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice — highly unusual moves that strongly suggested he was trying to use those departments to maintain

15

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August 5 - 18, 2021

Real People, Real News, Totally Relevant