Community News

July 4 Celebrations Fizzle

The City of Long Beach has prohibited July 4th block parties this year on grounds similar to disallowing professional fireworks at Alamitos Bay (July 3) and the Queen Mary (July 4). “Events like fireworks shows and block parties encourage large gatherings, and such gatherings are not permitted, per the State of California,” a city release says.

The city’s Department of Parks/Recreation has also announced on its website: “Based on the large gatherings, hands-on activities that require sharing of equipment and materials, and inability to implement physical distancing protocols for these events, the Municipal Band Concert Series will not be offered this summer.”

The County of Los Angeles has issued a new public health order that bans all large-scale fireworks shows in the county in order to reduce the chances of people congregating and creating a COVID-19 transmission situation.

The City of Lakewood appealed strongly to the county because it had designed a July 3rd fireworks event to not involve people congregating. The event was designed so that people could see the fireworks from their property or nearby, but not at a single gathering location.

However, the county turned down the appeal and stood by the need to maintain a one-size-fits-all cancellation of all fireworks shows in the county for the time being.

By Bill Pearl

Care Packages for Nurses from Grateful Patient

Caring for the community is what the physicians, staff and volunteers at Dignity Health - St. Mary Medical Center do every day.

Five years ago, Nellie de la Cruz, a now 10-year-old Long Beach student at Herrera Elementary, was a reoccurring patient to St. Mary’s pediatric unit. From the young age of six months old until six years old, Nellie was in and out of hospitals with kidney infections.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nellie and her friend, Arlene Ramirez, formed a bond that would impact hundreds of lives across Long Beach. They call themselves The Cancer Fighters. “We’re just two girls trying to make a difference in our community, even though we are young, we want to show other kids that we can help too,” states Nellie.

The duo has raised hundreds of dollars in order to donate dozens of pizzas and other meals to local first responders, including police stations and hospitals.

Now, Nellie returned to St. Mary to deliver 80 individually wrapped care packages, including handmade bracelets and thank you notes, to the St. Mary nurses in perinatal, labor and delivery, NICU, post-partum and pediatrics.

“The generosity of our community throughout the pandemic has been overwhelming,” shared Carolyn Caldwell, St. Mary Hospital President. “But to have a young girl who has been through so much, return to express her gratitude to our caregivers, just really fills your soul with hope that the future is bright.”

At Dignity Health, the saying ‘Hello humankindness’ is more than a slogan, it’s a way of life, it’s how the hospital system cares for its patients.

Nellie Lopez, the mother of Nellie de la Cruz, expressed her recollection of the kindness of the staff each time she was in the hospital, “What I remember most is how nice the nurses, doctors and the Sisters were to Nellie and our family. To see Nellie spreading kindness to others is really special, and I know part of it is because of the kindness she experienced at the hospital.”

No Knock Warrants

On June 16, the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) issued a special order implementing further requirements and approval levels when officers are seeking to execute a “no-knock” warrant.

“We will continue to listen to our community in the spirit of building trust and reducing the overall use of force,” said Police Chief Robert Luna. “No-knock warrants are useful in certain situations; however, they can be inherently dangerous for our officers, as well as community members. By requiring multi-level approvals, we will ensure training, policies and procedures are being properly followed and enhance the safety for all of those involved.”

California Penal Code, Section 844 requires police officers to give “knock notice” prior to forcing entry to serve a search warrant. The courts have long held that there may be articulable facts which lead an officer to seek judicial approval to suspend the “knock notice” requirement. While this process still exits, the LBPD is seeking to standardize and track when such requests are made.

Officers will now be required to seek approval from a supervisor of the rank of Deputy Chief, before seeking judicial approval to serve a “no-knock” warrant.

Laptops Gifted to Students

The Long Beach Center for Economic Inclusion (LBCEI) presented Long Beach City College (LBCC) a donation of 100 Chromebook laptop computers for LBCC students on June 22 as part of the citywide #InThisTogetherLB pandemic emergency response campaign.

Together, LBCEI and LBCC distributed the 100 Chromebooks during an event at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library to incoming LBCC students who live in North Long Beach.

The #InThisTogetherLB campaign has been LBCEI’s pandemic emergency response initiative that directed $250,000 of program funding primarily from BRIDGE Development Partners, along with funding from Wells Fargo and the Office of Long Beach Councilmember Rex Richardson to support under-served families and underrepresented small businesses in North, Central and West Long Beach over the past two months. Funds have supported #InThisTogetherLB partner agencies in their community crisis relief efforts, including the contribution of Chromebooks refurbished by human-I-T for LBCC and YMCA students.

LBCEI, a community development corporation, aims to create an environment where everyone, including students, has a seat at the table and an opportunity to thrive. Youth development is a critical program element of the organization. One of LBCEI’s #InThisTogether goals has included getting technology into the hands of young people in most need – especially in light of mandated online classroom instruction that students must currently participate in during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wells Fargo was the initial funding partner for LBCEI.

 “Our current health and economic emergency has had a profound impact on how we access work, health and education, forcing students and families without access to internet and technology off a digital cliff,” said Councilmember Rex Richardson. “I’m proud to support our incoming students from Uptown by providing these Chromebooks as a critical resource for their success.”

CAMEO Program’s Drive-In Graduation Held

CAMEO Professional Auxiliary of Assistance League of Long Beach (ALLB) celebrated its 2020 mentoring program graduates in a unique ‘socially distanced’ way on June 7. You may have heard of drive-by graduation parades, but CAMEO students and their parents had an opportunity to have a drive-in graduation.

Each student was scheduled at a different time to stop by the ALLB parking lot to visit a series of decorated stations where socially distanced, masked mentors cheered them on. There they picked up their scholarship certificate, computer or iPad, printer and other gifts.

“We’ve missed being with our students so much these past few months that we didn’t want to say congratulations and goodbye without seeing them in person,” Maria Harris, mentoring chair explained. “We normally host a luncheon with speeches and awards. This year we wanted to make graduation an equally special and fun occasion for our graduates.”

The 2020 CAMEO graduating class included seven Long Beach high school seniors who have completed a three-year mentoring program, as well as three Long Beach City College students who completed a two-year mentoring program. “2020 has been an especially challenging year for our students, but I am proud of their achievements over the past several years with us,” said CAMEO Chair, Carmen Guess. “I’ve seen all of them grow and persevere to reach their full potential.”

CAMEO’s mentoring program is designed to guide under-served Long Beach high school and community college students through a one-on-one mentoring program to help them identify and fulfill their college and career goals. In addition to mentoring, the students attend monthly enrichment workshops and cultural activities, complete two paid summer internships, receive funds for the purchase of books and academic materials, and upon graduation, receive academic scholarships and computers.

CAMEO students benefit from gracious community donations and the involvement of volunteer mentors. For more information or to donate, please visit us at www.allb.org/cameo. For questions about how you can get involved, please email CAMEO@ALLB.org.