Facing Problems, Finding Solutions

For Long Beach, 2023 was marked by high-profile crimes, deaths and highway and online safety and security. Though no story rose to the top in dominating the year, such as COVID did earlier this decade, it should be noted that the impact of only a few of these stories will linger in the coming years. Oh yeah, the term of the year as coined by the media is “guard rails” – not in a traffic or safety context, but in the political arena.

Crime

Downtown. During and just after the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, a whole lotta shooting goin’ on, apparently by the same gunslinger at the 600 block of Ocean Boulevard, Atlantic Avenue near Seventh Street and Third Street and Elm Avenue. Ending almost two hours later when an officer wounded the suspect. No officers were injured but one victim was shot.  Police said, “It is believed the same suspect could be responsible for all incidents.”

On Aug. 20, three vehicle blazes broke out in the apartment complex’s possibly secure underground garage at Camden Harbor View Apartments along Cedar Walk. An arson suspect was arrested but released. On Sept. 5, a truck was torched, the fifth of similar fires in the area.

On Oct. 20, at the 140 block of Linden Avenue, hairdresser Rebekah Pedersen was attacked by a large man who exposed himself and sexually assaulted her. A man near the scene used pepper spray to ward off the molester. Police arrested 30-year-old Miguel Avila for sexual battery; bail: $1,000, which soon increased to $75,000. This case sparked outrage over appropriate charges and bail amounts and overall safety in the downtown area.

Tragic Deaths and Passings

On Aug. 5, a 35-foot powerboat at the Alamitos Bay refueling dock in the 200 block of Marina Drive caught fire. Margaret Lynn Gentry, 60, from Inglewood and Sharon Gentry, 75, from Atlanta died and three others were critically injured. Fumes from fueling a boat can be dangerous if not dissipated before the engine is started.

The Oct. 4 deaths of retired DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor, 81, and wife Judy Taylor, 75, who had an advanced stage of Parkinson’s disease at their home on the 5600 block of Corso Di Napoli are being investigated as a murder-suicide.

Legendary KMET and KLOS rock DJ, Jim Ladd passed away on Dec. 17 at age 75 in Carmichael, California. Selected for the Long Beach City College Hall of Fame, Ladd resided in Belmont Shore from 1967 to 1969 while working at KNAC where he got his start in commercial radio.

Traffic Accidents and Deaths

Long Beach reduced speed limits on 92 miles of Long Beach streets on Sept. 26 as part of the citywide effort to improve roadway safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.

On Oct. 14, an eastbound Chevrolet Bolt in the westbound lanes of Shoreline Drive driven at high speed by Khalid Yagobbi, 46 of Los Angeles struck and killed Romelia Cuarenta Aguilar, 60, of Long Beach, who was pushing a stroller in a crosswalk. The FBI was called in to investigate. Yagobbi was held for murder; bail: $2,000,000.

Midnight drag racing has begun to be a problem for Bellflower Boulevard. as well as Clark Avenue and Los Coyotes Diagonal. As Fourth District Council candidate Gerrie Schipske wrote to the city manager on Dec. 3, “street racing on Studebaker which results in the racers going into the back of El Dorado Park West and spinning out their cars on the park grass.”.

On Dec. 11, at Wardlow Road. and Bellflower Boulevard, a two-vehicle collision. Said a witness, online, “early 20-somethings racing, one car hit an older woman in a car trying to turn. The other racer drove away. Woman seemed pretty severely injured but was awake. The race car’s passenger broke both arms and leg. The 21-year-old driver walked away.”

Government, Politics, Business

In September, the news site LB Post, by erecting a paywall requiring a subscription from readers joined the Press-Telegram, the co-owned Grunion Gazette, OC Register, Daily Breeze as well as the Post-owned Business Journal in this practice, leaving the Beachcomber the only major local news on-line site without such a wall. In early December, LB Post announced a change in ownership, “after serving the public for 16 years, we are now in the hands of the community, where news belongs.” No mention was made of a newly reinforced paywall.

On Oct. 10, Nearly 200 students and others gathered at the CSULB Central Quad for the La Fuerza Student Association sponsored “Day of Resistance: Protest for Palestine” to condemn Israel’s Gaza Strip counterattack in response to a Hamas-led invasion. 

In mid-November, the city’s computer network experienced a hack attack causing the shutdown of the system for about two weeks. When the city returned online, users were informed that their information may have been compromised.

Also, in mid-November, Long Beach City College experienced a blown transformer, necessitating six large generators for power, loud enough to be heard by nearby residents. As of Christmas 2023, repairs were still pending, generators were still generating.