Bits 'n' Pieces

Protect Against Mosquitoes

Heavy winter rains, combined with the coming warmer weather, is creating an ideal situation for mosquitoes to breed. City Health Officer, Dr. Anissa Davis, advises residents to protect themselves from mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. Mosquitoes can carry serious diseases like West Nile Virus, encephalitis, malaria and Zika and present a serious public health concern.

What can people do to protect themselves?

• Empty any containers filled with water in and around the home.
• Clean and scrub bird baths and pet water bowls at least once a week.
• Dump water from potted plant saucers.
• Clean and chlorinate swimming pools and drain water from pool covers.
• Limit the watering of lawns and outdoor plants.
• Install screens on doors and windows.
• Use an EPA registered insect repellent such as DEET to prevent mosquito bites. DEET is safe for children two months and older as well as pregnant and breast-feeding mothers (always us as directed).
• Residents are urged to report unusual numbers of day-biting mosquitoes and neglected or green pools in one of the following ways:
• Call the Long Beach Mosquito Hotline at (562) 570-4132.
• Submit an online report at www.longbeach.gov/mosquitoes.
• Report dead birds to the California Department of Public Health by calling 1-877-WNV-BIRD or online at www.westnile.ca.gov.
• Residents can find more information about mosquitoes, rodents and fleas by visiting www.longbeach.gov/health.
• Celebrate Safely

The City of Long Beach is launching a comprehensive fireworks education campaign to promote a safe and festive environment citywide ahead of the Fourth of July. The “Celebrate Safely” campaign will provide education about the hazards of home-based fireworks, even those labeled ‘Safe and Sane,’ while also providing suggestions for safe ways to celebrate the holiday.

To keep the city’s residents and visitors safe, only permitted professional fireworks shows are allowed. All personal fireworks, even those deemed “safe and sane,” are illegal in Long Beach. Professional firework shows take place throughout the region and people can watch two professional shows in Long Beach:

July 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Big Bang on the Bay showcases fireworks over the Alamitos Bay Marina and can be seen from Boathouse on the Bay, Alamitos Bay beaches and the Peninsula area of Long Beach.

July 4 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. – The Queen Mary’s All-American” 4th of July event includes live entertainment, family games, arts and crafts, special historic tours ,a patriotic movie and more. A fireworks display will commence in the evening and can be seen from the Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific and Shoreline Aquatic Park.

Here are other ways to celebrate safety:

• Have a fireworks-free BBQ
• Take a trip to a State or National Park
• Spend the day at the beach
• Connect with neighbors with a permitted block party
• Host a movie marathon
• Go for a bike ride
• Have a water-balloon fight
• Enjoy a picnic in the park
• Have a dance party with glow sticks or fiber optic wands

The city’s new fireworks campaign and messaging will be provided to the community across many city departments and a new central web page, www.longbeach.gov/fireworks, has been developed to provide information and resources regarding fireworks throughout the year. Although the campaign focuses primarily on the 4th of July, it is designed to provide safety messages for several holidays where fireworks are often illegally used in Long Beach. The campaign was developed to reach residents throughout the city, through multiple touch points, including web, social media, printed materials, outdoor signage and in-person face-to-face conversations with residents and business owners. “Celebrate Safely” coloring and activity sheets for young kids will also be disseminated as a fun way for kids to learn about fireworks safety with their peers and family.

New Strategic Plan

The City of Long Beach’s Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PRM) is launching efforts for a Strategic Plan that will engage the community in identifying goals and priorities for PRM for the next ten years.

Over the coming months, PRM will invite community members to share their ideas at community conversations and engagement events across the city, through surveys, public workshops and activities at park summer events. The city also has created a PRM Strategic Plan page with a list of outreach events and a community survey.

“Our current Strategic Plan is more than 15 years old,” said Gerardo Mouet, director of Parks, Recreation and Marine. “We want to design a new plan with community input at the core of the process.”

The Fiscal Year 2019 budget included $70,000 to update PRM’s Strategic Plan, which was last addressed in 2003. The new PRM Strategic Plan, dubbed “Parks Make Long Beach,” will cover a 10-year period, from 2020 to 2030 and is intended to incorporate the city’s existing plans with new goals as well as serving as a guide for PRM’s operational, staffing and budgeting decisions.

The launch of a new PRM Strategic Plan coincides with a pledge by Mayor Robert Garcia to work to ensure that everyone in Long Beach be within a 10-minute (half-mile) walk to a park. Currently, 81 percent of Long Beach residents are within a 10-minute walk to a park. The 10-minute walk campaign is led by the Trust for Public Land, National Recreation and Park Association and Urban Land Institute.

Property Tax Portal

The County of Los Angeles Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Treasurer and Tax Collector and Assessment Appeals Board, which administer the property tax process, launched a redesign of the Property Tax Portal today, making it increasingly convenient to access services and make payments.

The improved portal, which can be accessed at www.lacountypropertytax.com, is a collaborative effort between the four Departments and offers an enhanced user experience.

“Given the complexity of the property tax process and the number of governmental departments involved, cross-departmental collaboration is essential to providing streamlined customer service,” said Arlene Barrera, acting auditor-controller. Public and employee input are among the driving forces behind the redesign of the tax portal, which is visited more than three million times annually.

Footlighters Scholarships

Three Long Beach high school students, Bianca Porciuncula, Amanda Angeles and Mica Ramos earned top honors at Musical Theatre West’s (MTW) Footlighters Scholarship Luncheon. Celebrating excellence in theatre, 12 talented Los Angeles and Orange County students each earned $1,000 scholarships to continue their performing arts education.

Musical Theatre West Footlighters scholarships were established in 2005. Since then, the organization has awarded more than $109,000 to deserving high school students from Los Angeles and Orange Counties. In addition to the Footlighters, several named scholarships were established to honor MTW donors by their families and friends. This year, winners were selected from submissions from students attending more than 20 high schools.

The 2019 judging panel included Davis Gaines (star of Phantom of the Opera), Dennis Castellano (former UCI Musical Theatre Program Director and Music Director for many MTW shows), Tedd Watts (former MTW Education/Outreach Director) and Paul Garman (MTW Executive Director/Producer).

Don Temple Family Scholarship winner Bianca Porciuncula is a sophomore at St. Anthony High School who has performed numerous roles: Into the Woods (Witch) and Godspell (Peggy) and with St. Barnabas School, roles in Shrek the Musical Jr. and Disney’s The Lion King Jr.). “I believe that not only my never-ending love and passion for theatre will help me accomplish my goals, but that hard work will also get me there.”

Jan Ritschel Scholarship winner Amanda Angeles is a junior at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Angeles has built an impressive list of eclectic roles in such shows as The Addams Family (Wednesday), The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Olive), The Tempest (Spirit) and Once on this Island (ensemble). Angeles values any opportunity for experience. “Participating in theatre is what I adore, no matter what role I have.”

Dramatic Allied Arts Guild Scholarship winner Mica Ramos is a junior at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Ramos’ work includes Disney’s The Lion King (Nala) and Shrek the Musical (Fiona) with SBS Productions, The Addams Family (Wednesday) with Long Beach Polytechnic High School) and Disney’s Aladdin (Jasmine) with Act Out Theatre Company. “Opportunities like this will not come without effort on my part to make this dream a reality”.

Founded in 2001, the Footlighters are now several hundred individual strong, providing crucial financial support for Musical Theatre West through their activities, including luncheons, opening night dinners and other special events. The Footlighters Scholarships are presented annually to support and cultivate young artists and to assist with college expenses and professional training. For more information on the scholarship program, go to www.musical.org.