________________ LONG BEACH _______________
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
July 4th race attracts hundreds
lunch for beach staff on Chamber
Passes, money stolen Sunday
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Vol. 33 No. 28
JUlY 7 - 13, 2022
$1.00
North Park: We need flood protection bulkheading along Reynolds Channel, from Monroe Boulevard to Memorial Park, as well Crystal Lake told the Long as construction of a new pump Beach City Council Tuesday station on Riverside Boulevard. night that, as a 60-year resident The other project involves of the city’s North Park section, drainage improvement on Pine “I have sand in my shoes.” Street, which is 95 percent comThat, Lake said, she likes. plete. But, she said, she During Hur riregularly has somecane Sandy in 2012, thing else in her some North Park shoes that she residents say, water doesn’t like — water. rose to their front Lake said the porches. But even largely Black North during relatively Park section of town light rain, they say, has been ignored there is flooding. over the years by the Lake noted that city when it comes the lowest elevation to flooding prob- CRYSTAl lAke of the city is on its lems. “There are North Park resident b ay s i d e, wh e re flood protections, or N o r t h Pa rk i s. measures for flood “There should be an protections, in Long Beach,” she uproar by the entire city,” she said, “with the exception of said. “That side of the city North Park.” She added that should have protection. What flooding has ruined dozens of measures are being taken to her shoes. move this project forward expeLong Beach has two major ditiously?” she added of the projects earmarked to provide FEMA proposal. protection from flooding. The John McNally, a spokesman Federal Emergency Manage- for the city, said that the city’s ment Agency has pledged $39 public works commissioner, Joe million for what is being called Febrizio, is currently negotiatthe North Shore Critical Infra- ing with contractors to build structure Protection Project, bulkheads for the North Park which is to include new steel Continued on page 14
By JAMeS BeRNSTeIN jbernstein@liherald.com
T
Tim Baker/Herald
The ReV. SUe Bock and sign interpreter Judith Rackovitch began Sunday services at St. James Jerusalem Episcopal Church.
Bringing the word of God to the deaf at St. James Church By JAMeS BeRNSTeIN jbernstein@liherald.com
It looked like any Sunday-morning service at St. James Jerusalem Episcopal Church in Long Beach. The pastor, Susan Bock, dressed in white robes, read prayers to a small congregation seated before her in a lush green garden outside the chapel. Instead of the predicted rain, a yellowing sun bathed the garden. But there was a marked difference: A woman in dark clothing stood beside Bock, waving her arms as if she were conducting a symphony. And in fact, she was — a symphony for the deaf. Long Beach’s only Episcopal church
employs a sign language interpreter once a month for those who cannot hear the prayers and songs of the service — a more popular feature in religious institutions that once paid scant heed to the deaf. The service with the interpreter is streamed and made available on Facebook for the hearing impaired who cannot attend in person. The interpreter, Judith Rackovitch, 62, of Long Beach, works for an agency, Mill Neck Interpreting, and on other Sundays she is busy at other churches as well as at funerals and other religious services. Bock, soft-spoken with a ready smile, has been the pastor at the Episcopal church for the Continued on page 4
here should be an uproar by the entire city.