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Vol. 33 No. 10
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Sibomana wins state mat title Long Beach eighth-grader rolls to 102-pound championship By ToNY BellissiMo tbellissimo@liherald.com
Ray Nelson/Herald
loNG BeACH’s DuNiA Sibomana knocked off two previously undefeated opponents as well as the No. 1 seed to capture the state 102-pound wrestling championship last Saturday in Albany.
He is only 14 years old, but Dunia Sibomana has already experienced a life’s worth of tragedy and triumph. Last Saturday night at Albany’s MVP Arena, the eighthgrader from Long Beach added his name to the New York state wrestling history book when he capped a dominant weekend with a pin of No. 1-seed Ryan Ferrara, of Chenango Forks, in 1 minute, 32 seconds to capture the 102-pound Division I state championship.
Sibomana, who was seeded third, won his first three matches in the tournament by a combined score of 35-7. He’s the 17th state champ in Long Beach program history. “I really can’t believe it,” said Sibomana, who finished the season with 35 wins in 37 matches. “There was definitely so much competition, and I’m so excited to win.” Long Beach head coach Ray Adams said that Dunia’s road to the state title went through major contenders. “His quarterfinal and semifinal wins Continued on page 5
Chamber: Almost no one wants to pay for parking By BReNDAN CARpeNTeR bcarpenter@liherald.com
The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce this week released the results of a survey on the issue of parking meters in the city, saying it had found overwhelming opposition to a plan that was introduced by the City Council in the beginning of February. According to the chamber, 93.6 percent of survey respondents opposed the plan to install parking meters, primarily in the city’s central business district. Additionally, 95.8 percent said they would not be willing to pay for an annual permit to park in
designated spots in the business district. The chamber reported that 1,684 people had responded to the online survey, which was posted in early February, and 85.2 percent were Long Beach residents. In a statement on Wednesday, city spokesman John McNally said, “It’s a bit premature to be putting out a poll on a program that’s very much still in the development phase. “Nonetheless, I don’t think anyone thought it would be popular to charge for something currently free,” McNally added, “but we need better parking behavior to help our downtown businesses, and the City needs to
T
he chamber isn’t against a parking plan, but it has to be equitable.
leAH TozeR
Chamber co-chair diversify its revenue streams so our financial recovery isn’t done on the backs of our residents through property tax increases. If done well, we think this program can achieve both those ends.” Chamber Co-chair Leah Tozer
said she wasn’t surprised by the results. There is concern among residents and business owners, she said, because not all of the information about the plan is available, which influenced people’s responses. The survey consisted of more than two dozen questions seeking to learn how difficult respondents found parking in the city,
whether they would be willing to pay for spots, whether they were aware of the plan and whether they supported it. According to the chamber, nearly 95 percent of those who responded said they believed that metered parking would actually reduce business activity, and nearly 90 percent said they Continued on page 14