I’m a Long Beach resident who was disappointed to see the opinion piece on my doorstep last week advocating for autonomous cars in Long Beach in preparation for the 2028 Olympics.
There are a little over 900 days until the LA28 Olympics commence, and while Long Beach City and the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee have already made their plans, a massive, overlooked problem is barreling toward us: traffic.
As a young LAPD recruit, the first thing I learned when I pinned on a badge was simple but profound: power must always be visible and accountable. A nameplate, a badge number, an agency insignia – those aren’t just pieces of metal and cloth.
As a former LAPD Deputy Chief, and before that a captain in South Central Los Angeles, I have lived through the history of police officers being assigned to schools.
Many years ago, as a newly minted New York City restaurant manager, I was reviewing the restaurant’s service contracts. I noted what appeared to be the exorbitant monthly trash collection charge.
What happened last week at Andres Car Wash and Coast Hand Car Wash was not immigration enforcement. It was a dragnet of terror. ICE agents stormed the Long Beach properties without judicial warrants, snatching up workers in defiance of a court order that explicitly prohibited raids of this kind.
I owe Ian Patton, executive director and co-founder of the Long Beach Reform Coalition (LBRC), credit for sparking this piece. His recent Facebook post broke down a staggering truth in plain numbers: Long Beach just spent $6 million for 12 beds in a decrepit, dangerous industrial zone.
Four years ago this month, my wife and I pulled into the bustling parking lot at 1901 E Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. It was our first visit to Mariscos El Garage, a family-run seafood truck we had just read about in a moving LA TACO feature. The lot was packed. Lines were long.
We arrived early – my wife, several neighbors, and I – stepping off the municipal bus at 8:30 a.m. near Bixby Park, a half-hour before the No Kings Day demonstration was scheduled to begin. But it was already clear: this wasn’t going to be an ordinary protest.
