They say that the happiest days in a boat owner’s life are the day that they buy it and the day that they sell it. After 35 years of using commercial office space, that saying applies to Beachcomber as well.
Those of us in the news business tend to be “news junkies,” meaning that we watch several TV newscasts, read multiple newspapers and follow many online news sources.
There is an important distinction between “news” and “commentary,” otherwise known as “opinion.”
I owe Ian Patton, executive director and co-founder of the Long Beach Reform Coalition (LBRC), credit for sparking this piece. His recent Facebook post broke down a staggering truth in plain numbers: Long Beach just spent $6 million for 12 beds in a decrepit, dangerous industrial zone.
The job of “helping people on the worst day of their lives” is one way that LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell described police work. He was part of a Rotary Club dinner panel discussion consisting of LA County Sheriff Robert Luna and LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish two weeks ago.
Shutting down our commercial office space of the past 47 years has been a challenge. Initially – in the late 1970s – I shared an office with Stephanie James in Seal Beach, until baby girls came along for each of us.
Recently, I discovered my driver’s license was about to expire, so happy birthday, you are no longer eligible to renew by mail. A DMV appearance is required, I guess, by law.
Four years ago this month, my wife and I pulled into the bustling parking lot at 1901 E Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. It was our first visit to Mariscos El Garage, a family-run seafood truck we had just read about in a moving LA TACO feature. The lot was packed. Lines were long.
We started this journey with the first issue of the Beachcomber on July 19, 2000, and celebrated our 25th anniversary last Friday. My company, Beeler & Associates, had just completed a year-long Census 2000 project for the City of Long Beach.
Baseball legend Yogi Berra is attributed to the phrase “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” The earliest evidence of this expression dates to 1913, but Berra used it in the 1980s to tell visitors that either road will lead to his house.
About 90 percent of the news releases sent to the Beachcomber end up in the trash can. This confirms what one UCLA professor stated back in the 1970s as I pursued a professional designation in public relations.
