Bits 'N' Pieces

Euthanasia, Impounds Continue Downward Trend

The Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine’s Animal Care Services Bureau (ACS) attained a downward trend in euthanasia and impounds in 2018. The bureau is positioned to achieve even more positive results in 2019 through its progressive programs to support shelter animals and continued improvements in performance measures over the last ten years. Rescue groups including spcaLA, Friends of Long Beach Animals, Stray Cat Alliance and dozens more also helped to support ACS and contribute to these statistics.

ACS continues its 10-year trend of increasingly positive results for shelter animals:

• From 2017 to 2018, ACS decreased the number of animal impounds by 13.2 percent.
• Total euthanasia was reduced by 6.7 percent in 2018 from the year before.
• Adoption numbers were strong. In addition to the over 2,200 animals taken by the spcaLA and local rescue groups, an additional 686 were adopted directly from the ACS operated shelter.

New ACS Manager​

Staycee R. Dains will be the new manager of the city’s Animal Care Services Bureau. Dains comes to Long Beach from the City of San Jose where she has been the shelter operations supervisor for the past ten years and oversaw a staff of 100. During her time with the City of San Jose, a few of Dains’s accomplishments include:

Abolishing breed discriminatory practices.

Handling 2,500 shelter neuter returns annually (capture, neuter and return to outdoor home); rescued intake by 1,000 cats/kittens over four years.

Establishing kinder dog evaluation process which eliminated euthanasia for 400 fearful dogs.

Dains will be responsible for all operational aspects of the Animal Care Services Bureau as well as working with the Mayor’s Animal Care Visioning Task Force and the new Long Beach Animal Care Services Strategic Plan to move the bureau forward in implementing the recommendations of a recent City Auditor Services Review.

LBCC Named Finalist For Bellwether Award

Long Beach City College has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious 2019 Bellwether Award at the upcoming Community College Futures Assembly. The Bellwether Awards are the nation’s most competitive and prestigious recognition awards given to community colleges to recognize outstanding and innovative programs or practices.

LBCC submitted its groundbreaking and innovative program entitled “The Long Beach College Promise 2.0,” which provides seamless transfer to California State University, Long Beach and key industry partnerships that will provide internship and job placement opportunities for LBCC students allowing students to progress from high school to a job.

LBCC is one of ten finalists in the Planning Governance and Finance category. A team representing LBCC will present at the Bellwether College Consortium Assembly in San Antonio, Texas this February, where the winner of each category will also be announced.

LBCC is competing against more than 1,000 community college programs in the areas of: workforce development; instructional programs and services; and planning governance and finance.

The Long Beach College Promise has led to a 22 percent increase in the number of LBUSD students who are college ready, and a 55 percent increase in enrollment from LBCC to CSULB.

Promise 2.0 offers a wide range of benefits. By attending LBCC, students have access to the Port of Long Beach and other industry partners and their vast internship and employment network. LBUSD seniors who attend LBCC the fall semester immediately following their spring 2019 graduation also receive two years of free tuition at LBCC (students should demonstrate successful progress toward a certificate, degree, or transfer each term).

Rocketry Team Achieves Successful Launch

Beach Launch Team, a group of Long Beach State University engineering students, launched a new student-developed rocket to an estimated altitude of some 6,000 feet.

The rocket, Beach 1, launched Jan. 5 from the Friends of Amateur Rocketry Site near Randsburg, in the desert area of eastern Kern County, Calif.

Beach 1 features several key components – skin, fins, nose cone and communication software –developed by students attending the Long Beach campus. A mixture of liquid oxygen and methane fueled the rocket.

Lessons learned from the Saturday’s launch will help Beach Launch Team members toward their ultimate goal of victory in the Base 11 Space Challenge, which offers a $1 million prize to the first team of university students from the United States or Canada that sends a single-stage, liquid-fuel rocket into low-earth orbit by Dec. 30, 2021.

“Being a freshman and launching a rocket really gave me a glimpse of what I want to do and the goals I want to accomplish down the line. It felt surreal, seeing this project that various people gave both time and effort to take flight. At the launch site, everyone moved and worked like an industry-grade team with the goal directly set on launching the rocket,” said Christopher Tapia, the launch team’s lab manager.

The team’s success builds upon not only past achievements, but also the lessons learned from scrubbed launches.

Crime Continues to Decrease in Long Beach

The Long Beach Police Department announced today that year-end citywide crime statistics for 2018, reflect an 8.4 percent decrease in Part 1 crime, which includes reductions in both violent and property crimes when compared to 2017.

Over the past year, the Police Department achieved a number of notable accomplishments in the areas of staffing, professional and community partnerships, and community outreach:

Staffing/Hiring – Due to staffing enhancements from Measure A and the Metro contract, the Police Department continues to hold back-to-back police recruit academies. In 2018, the department graduated 40 recruit police officers from Class 92 and hired 78 recruit police officers for Class 93.

Roll Call Mental Health Training Videos – The Police Department, in partnership with the Guidance Center, a nonprofit child and family mental health service provider, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, developed a series of web-based training modules that provide officers with tools to readily identify the signs of mental illness in the field and to safely and effectively de-escalate these encounters.

Crime Lab Accreditation – The ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) recently renewed the Police Department’s Crime Laboratory accreditation in the Field of Forensic Science Testing. Of the 459 accredited forensic laboratories worldwide, the department’s crime laboratory is the first accredited to meet the new accreditation requirements for the International Organization for Standardization which develops and publishes standards for testing and calibration laboratories across scientific disciplines.

Community Engagement – Throughout the year, the department has engaged in youth and community outreach efforts including: five Community Police Academies, “Captain’s Corner” with high school football coaches and student-athletes, and “Conversation with a Cop” with local middle and high school classrooms.

Registration Now Open

Long Beach City College is now accepting applications to enroll in the 2019 Spring Semester.

Important Spring Semester dates include:

• Open Registration: Now – Jan. 23 and Jan. 25 – Feb. 6
• Spring 2018 Semester runs: Feb. 6 – June 5
• 12-week classes run: March 3 – June 2
• Eight-week classes run: Feb. 6 – April 2 and April 3 – June 4
• Commencement Ceremony: June 6

LBCC offers a wide selection of associate degrees, transfer degrees and certificates in a variety of disciplines on two campuses. Tuition is affordable, and class schedules are flexible to accommodate working students. Many online classes are also available as well as dual enrollment programs for high school students.

LBCC also offers a variety free and low-cost community education classes to assist community members who want to learn something new, or learn new skills to help them move into a new career. Classes include tai chi, music appreciation and how to write your memoirs. Free classes also include English as a Second Language, home improvement courses, and a forklift driving certification class.

Visit www.LBCC.edu to apply, see class listings, registration information and more.