2024 Long Beach – Three Months Early

As described in the Beachcomber article, “Bridges, Bags and Broken Bonds” (August 22, 2024), advanced by the Long Beach City Council and Mayor Bob Foster, the ban on lighter free grocery bags influenced public opinion into mandating thicker, non-recyclable, single-use plastic bags costing the consumer ten cents a pop, often ending up in landfills and the ocean. The era of the thick bag mandate was voted out by the California legislature, likely to be signed by Governor Newsom, taking effect in 2026. What’s the rush?

Speaking of Sea Junk

SpaceX will build a West Coast Recovery Operations Hub in the harbor for the Dragon device to recover Falcon 9 rockets hopefully splashing down away from private pleasure craft, cruise ships and the newly reconditioned Queen Mary located one pier away.

As SpaceX has success removing extra-terrestrial junk from the ocean, could its genius at removal solve the problem of intra-city terrestrial junk that historically has plagued Long Beach beaches every time a major storm washes out the L.A. River?

Speaking of the Weather

In early September, Long Beach heated up to a record-setting 109 degrees Fahrenheit, not a problem to many who have air conditioning, or have access to public libraries, senior centers or workplaces with cooler air. No such for those youngsters who are mandated to attend an unlucky 13 Long Beach schools.

The schools are Tucker Elementary, Henry Elementary, Carver Elementary, Los Cerritos Elementary, Gant Elementary, Tincher Preparatory; Stanford Middle, Hoover Middle, Marshall Middle, Washington Middle; and Poly High, Sato High and Millikan High School, amounting to 16 percent of the district’s schools.

The district said each school has window coverings, classroom fans and reflective window tinting and has also added new water fountains and filling stations across the district, but he lack of our normal sea breeze keeps the hothouse hot for kids, while their parents or guardians have access to a variety of cooler environments.

Speaking of a Daily Breeze

The newspaper business in our area finds ways to compete. LBPost has lifted its paywall and has made reporting available to competing outlets like the Beachcomber. Not so the Press-Telegram (PT), our local subsidiary to the Daily Breeze out of Torrance, both entities owned by an East Coast hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, described by the Washington Post as “seemingly intent on destroying local newspapers.”

That’s just the way it is. The PT and the co-owned Grunion Gazette maintain a pay wall, even though the Gazette is free on the streets. Recently, the PT offered readers a $1 deal. Free access to online stories for a year. But as usual, a catch. Those who sign up are inundated with ads for a new $6 for two-year plan. But make sure to record the date, because after the one or two year plans expires, those who don’t cancel are on the hook for the regular $364 per year, though the small print allows for cancellation at any time. In the meantime, the Beachcomber remains free of charge, no matter the format, except for subscriptions.

Speaking of Hedge Funds

The ever popular 99 Cent Only Stores with three locations in Long Beach, along with the larger storefront in Lakewood have closed their doors for good. In October 2011, the company agreed to a $1.6-billion buy-out by private equity firm Ares Management and the CPP Investment Board. Word is that once acquired by these hedge funds, the owners found few ways to parcel out valuable parts as is their wont, so they just closed up shop.

In just a few days after these closings, Dollar Tree announced they will fill in the vacancies, having acquired the leases of dozens of 99 Cents Only Stores with plans to reopen these stores with its own products as early as fall 2024. As Dollar Tree stocks mostly toys and crafts, health and wellness and various tchotchkes, it holds much less in the way of mainly processed food and little if any in the way of fresh food.

Speaking of Grocery Stores

The only geographic entity in the greater Long Beach area with a population of zero (excepting prisoners) is Terminal Island. Emptied by the feds at the start of WWII as the population was mainly Japanese involved in the fishing trade who were interred, the L.A. Harbor is considering tearing down the last vestige of Japanese presence, a small row of storefronts on Tuna Street. Instead, politicos might consider housing some homeless by outfitting the huge stockpile of empty shipping containers stored on the island and elsewhere and rehabbing these storefronts into viable businesses serving this population instead of destroying this asset.

Speaking of Homelessness

After a Supreme Court decision allowing it and Newsom’s order to enforce it, Gumbiner Park at Seventh and Alamitos was ground zero for an eviction of homeless activity, police enforcing the removal of their shelters and possessions. Of a total of about 3,370 homeless people citywide, those who turn down an offer of supportive services and shelter and /or refuse to move could be ticketed or arrested. Other clear outs are scheduled for Billie Jean King Main Library and Lincoln Park downtown as well as Veterans Park and Jenni Rivera Memorial Park.