What a year. We had three major elections, two Red Bull events, marijuana ordinances and budget troubles, floods and massive student protests, and said goodbye to too many people far too soon. Take a look back at the year 2010 with this recap article, highlighting our most popular and important stories from the past twelve months. If you’re feeling especially reminiscent, check out our 2009 Year In Review here.
See you in 2011!
January
01.01 Long Beach rang in the new year with style, as energy drink giant Red Bull held a massive event that drew 30,000 people downtown as extreme sports star Travis Pastrana set a new record for distance jumped by a rally car when he flew more than 250 feet over Rainbow Harbor.
01.07 The TED Conference made its return to Long Beach in 2010, and columnist Brian Ulaszewski argued that its arrival should be the city’s call for greatness.
01.13 In stark contrast compared to the 2009 edition, Mayor Bob Foster delivered his 2010 State of the City address with optimism for recovery in the wake of the recession.
01.18 A popular tradition continued as the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade danced through central Long Beach to mark the civil rights pioneer’s birthday.
01.21 A once undersized and hazardous skate park was reborne at its anticipated unveiling when the 18th Street Skate Park was opened for use to an entire community of local youth in need of open space.
01.19 and 20 Record rains fell on Long Beach in a single day and the city’s storm drains were not prepared. Several parts of the city flooded and millions of dollars of damage was caused. Near Wilson High School, dozens of cars were completely submerged and destroyed. Stores from Belmont Shore and homes all over the city were flooded. The good news? The storm produced waves big enough to surf.
01.22 One week after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, we met a Haitian-born Long Beach doctor running frequent inspiring and hazardous rescue missions to his native country.
February
02.03 After nearly six months of searching, the Long Beach Police Department named Jim McDonnell its new Chief. He had previously served as the second in command for the LAPD and has been nationally recognized for unique policing techniques.
02.08 The Long Beach Post turns three years old and announces a lofty set of goals.
02.09 Several Democratic organizations pulled together to oppose comments made by then-City Council candidate Steven Neal when he told the Long Beach Business Journal that he believes marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman. Neal would later apologize for the remarks.
02.15 The Long Beach Post offers one week of free advertising to any Long Beach business. The demand is so great that we were forced to expand the offer over two weeks in order to accommodate everyone.
02.17 The Long Beach Post was first to report that the family of slain teenager Melody Ross – who was posthumously named the Long beach Post Person of the Year and whose death sparked the community into outrage – filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Long Beach and Long Beach Unified School District. The decision to file split the Ross family, some of whom believed it was wrong to sue after receiving so much support from the city.
02.20 Members of the Westboro Baptist Church – known for protesting military funerals and carrying “God Hates Fags” signs – comes to Long Beach to find a surprise waiting for them: Thousands of Wilson High students staging a counter-protest in support of their diversity and the gay community. The event sparked arguments about whether or not a counter-protest is also counter-productive by bringing the group more attention, but overwhelmingly the attitude of readers was one of pride in the students. The story remains our most viewed article ever, as does the YouTube video we produced.
02.22 A little Cajun flavor comes to the Beach when the Mardi Gras Parade romps through Rainbow Harbor.
02.27 Rumors swirled around City Manager Pat West as it appeared that some councilmembers may have been trying to force him out. It never happened, but set the stage for a volatile political atmosphere leading up to heated election races and a painstaking budget process.
March
03.03 The City Council approves a handful of ordinances to assist local artists and arts organizations in Long Beach as City Hall is filled with supporters.
03.03 Three art museums in Long Beach will participate in a landmark gallery produced by the Getty in Los Angeles. The exhibits will run in 2011.
03.04 Guitarist Tom Morello, best known for his work with Rage Against the Machine, performs during a rally in the Wilson High School gym to support the local teachers’ union as many are fired due to massive budget cuts.
03.05 An armed man robbing the Farmers & Merchants Bank on Bellflower Blvd. is wrestled to the ground by a civilian. Both men are shot as they wrestle for the robber’s weapon, but are not seriously injured. A security guard takes the robber into custody and as local newspapers praise the civilian as a hero in the headlines, he later sues the city.
03.10 The City Council approves an initial ordinance to regulate the operation of medical marijuana collectives within city limits. They would revisit the ordinance six months later, and make it more strict.
03.11 A woman drives through a guardrail on the 710 Freeway and falls 40 feet into the Los Angeles River. She is underwater for several minutes before rescuers can reach her and rush her to a hospital. The woman survives but suffers brain damage.
03.16 Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D-Carson, Long Beach) causes controversy again when she and her staff commission a police helicopter to take a tour of her district.
03.19 Long Beach loses its alternative weekly magazine as the District Weekly folds on the cusp of its third anniversary. A judge would later find that the District owed its staffers more than $70,000 in unpaid wages and benefits. Long Beach Post columnist Greggory Moore, a former District staffer, recounts his time there in a heartfelt goodbye column.
03.19 Mayor Bob Foster conducts a live online interview with Long Beach Post readers through a live video feed as readers submit questions through their Facebook accounts.
April
04.01 The City announces that the Queen Mary will embark on an around-the-world sailing trip, selling off precious pieces of art and historical Long Beach artifacts at each stop. Oh, by the way – happy April Fool’s Day. Gotcha.
04.08 Long Beach City College unveils one of its many new buildings with an impressive $8.8 million Trades and Technology building to assist students.
04.07 Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Steve Goodling, one of the highest-ranking business officials in the city, suddenly resigns his position with the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA) Board of Directors. Goodling refuses to comment on his reasons, but sources say it signals a disconnect between the DLBA leadership and the business owners they are supposed to serve. Several restaurants speak out against confusing parking policies and other frustrations as downtown Long Beach struggles to regain its footing after the recession.
04.14 Long Beach elects a new City Prosecutor and two new councilmembers, while retaining the Mayor, City Attorney, City Auditor and three other councilmembers.
04.16 Off the success of the live chat with Mayor Bob Foster, readers conduct a live online video interview with Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe.
04.21 The City Council votes to self-impose a $47,000 loss in order to reduce rents to the local yacht club and other waterfront locations. Many in the community express outrage over the apparent special treatment while the city is mired in financial chaos.
04.22 A ten-year, $1 billion development project is approved to move forward for the renovation of a downtown mixed-use building that constitutes a major part of the Long Beach oceanfront skyline.
04.23 The Long Beach Airport releases long-awaited designs for its facility upgrades in an impressive walkthrough video.
04.23 The story of the death of Melody Ross continues to take tragic turns, as two teenage girls are arrested for intimidating witnesses testifying on the stand against Ross’ accused killers.
04.28 Well-known local developer Tom Dean is not charged by the L.A. County District Attorney, after being arrested for domestic abuse by the LBPD. Officers responded to a call from Dean’s wife and arrested him because they observed injuries consistent with domestic abuse. An LBPD officer says that deciding not to charge after observing injuries consistent with domestic abuse is “unusual.”
04.30 A transgender graduate student is attacked on the campus of Cal State Long Beach and the incident sparks a week of marches, rallies and impassioned pleas for equality. The attacker reportedly forced his way into a bathroom stall and carved the word “It” into the chest of the 27-year old student.
May
05.03 The Redevelopment Agency approves the partial demolition of the historic Atlantic Theater in Bixby Knolls. The site had been unused for decades, but community residents rallied around the structure because of its iconic stature and intricate features. The site will be turned into a shopping center.
05.04 The Salvation Army announces that they are withdrawing from their project to build a world-class educational and athletic Kroc Center facility in the heart of a crime-plagued Long Beach neighborhood. City officials try to coerce them back into the project, but the Salvation Army holds firm because they claim the city did not hold up its fundraising end of the bargain, in addition to other complications. Both youth and adults in the area say they are not surprised that promises were not kept. The cancellation of the Kroc Center is a devastating blow to the surrounding community, the significance of which cannot be overstated.
05.05 Several businesses close or leave their locations at the downtown Pike shopping center within a matter of weeks, leading columnist Brian Ulaszewski to examine the development’s challenges and take a look into its future.
05.05 One of the most famous car dealerships in the state, Cal Worthington Ford in Long Beach, threatens to leave the city unless the City Council grants a $600,000 loan to keep people employed and expand the facility over five years. They do.
05.07 The second+pch development poised to take over the Seaport Marina Hotel on 2nd Street and Pacific Coast Highway was speeding ahead early in the year, but many residents had concerns about some of the buildings’ height and increased traffic projections. Supporters say the mixed-use project will serve as the gateway to east Long Beach.
05.10 Thousands participate in the first Long Beach Bike Tour, a 30-mile ride around some of the more scenic bike paths in the city. We rode along, as well, and even produced a photo gallery of shots taken along the ride.
05.11 The Long Beach Post launches CityPay, a searchable database that contains salary information for every public employee in the city. It quickly became one of our most viewed articles of all time, but had to be removed when it became apparent that the City provided incorrect information. Controversy swirled as some believed that the tool shone a light too bright on public employees. In light of situations like that in the city of Bell a few months later, Governor Schwarzenegger signs a statewide bill mandating the yearly posting of salaries of local city and county public employees on a state web site.
05.16 One of the largest gay-themed events in the country continues as the 27th annual Long Beach Pride Parade and Festival draws huge crowds and continues the effort for equality.
05.17 The Long Beach Fire Department names 8-year firefighter and longtime City employee Alan Patalano as the new Chief of the department.
05.18 The award-winning skateboarding documentary On The Grind, about Long Beach skaters using the sport to escape violence, premieres at the Art Theatre to cheers. Regulars at the 18th Street Skate Park figure heavily in the film and showed up in droves to the premiere, hoisting the mother of their fallen friend onto their shoulders before skating off to find their next rail.
05.20 Electric car company Tesla Motors spurns both the cities of Long Beach and Downey after more than one year of negotiating to build a massive production facility in both places. The company decides to take its work to Fremont, instead. Readers were quick to blame city officials for not doing enough to entice the company, but the Long Beach Post for months had reported on Tesla’s history of backing out of deals and their future financial uncertainty.
05.20 Long Beach officers arrest eight people believed to be involved with the East Side Longos, one of the city’s most violent and notorious street gangs. One suspect is believed to have been involved in eleven shootings and is charged with nine counts of attempted murder.
05.24 We pick up a surfboard and join environmental advocates in an ocean ceremony meant to raise awareness of the effort to reconfigure the Long Beach Breakwater, hopefully improving local water quality and perhaps bringing waves back to the coast. Months later, the Army Corps of Engineers indicates their interest in moving forward with a study, a massive leap forward in the process.
June
06.01 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the state’s application for federal Race To The Top education funding at a Long Beach elementary school, predicting success after California was denied in its 2009 bid. Ultimately, it would prove to be unsuccessful again.
06.05 Construction begins on the roads of 2nd Street in Naples and Belmont Shore in an effort to improve and renovate the road conditions. Traffic is strangled as the work continues through the busy summer and during work hours. It only lasts a few months and is without a doubt successful, but resident complaints were loud and clear.
06.04 Longtime editor and staffer John Futch announces that he will leave the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Six months later, not only is Futch still on the job, but he now serves three roles as Executive City Editor, Sports Editor and Photo Editor as other positions are downsized.
06.07 Long Beach closes escrow on a land swap to acquire huge swaths of wetlands property in exchange for giving up a westside public service yard to developer Tom Dean. The plan was hotly debated in 2009, first praised by environmentalists for the intention to restore natural habitat, but quickly opposed when many believed that the land was contaminated and beyond restoration when Dean would not allow a thorough examination. Closer looks into the deal seemed to indicate that Dean was receiving a heavily-lopsided value in the trade.
06.08 The Long Beach Post conducts a Q&A with retiring Parks, Recreation & Marine director Phil Hester as he plans for retirement.
06.09 After a tough battle from incumbent Tonia Reyes Uranga as a write-in candidate, James Johnson wins a head-to-head vote for the seat of the 7th District City Council seat.
06.13 Columnist Sander Wolff produces a video of the art murals produced on the side of the old, deserted Press-Telegram building after an effort led by We Love Long Beach and others. A few months later, fire breaks out at the building, which has become a frequent home for the homeless. Grand plans to restore the building as desirable lofts are still logjammed by the economy.
06.15 The magazine Newsweek names seven Long Beach high schools to its annual list of the best in the country. The California Academy of Math & Sciences (CAMS), on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills but operated by the LBUSD, ranks highest.
06.17 It is announced that the popular car show Hot August Nights will bring its talents to Long Beach on an annual basis beginning in 2011. The announcement creates a stir in Nevada, where city officials believe they will be left in the dust after more than twenty years of hosting the show, which typically draws hundreds of thousands of people.
06.23 Financial giant Goldman Sachs announces a partnership with Long Beach City College to hold classes on assisting local small businesses, allowing accepted companies access to their funds and expertise in order to help them expand and thrive in a post-recession economy.
July
07.01 Congresswoman Laura Richardson is cleared of any wrongdoing or ethical violations after her defaulted Sacramento home had been auctioned off, then returned to her by Wells Fargo.
07.01 Without much fanfare, the historic Looff’s Cupola in downtown Long Beach was moved to storage after decades of sitting forlornly in a parking lot. It had once been an important part of the city landscape, serving as the top of the carousel when Long Beach’s amusement park was known as the Coney Island of the West.
07.05 Briefly, the City Council flirted with the idea of canceling one meeting per month and meeting just every other week. For a city the size of Long Beach, this was a confusing move. Supporters said it was an attempt to save money. In the end, with a bleak financial future and solutions needed fast, the idea was too difficult for some to justify and the idea died.
07.06 Some clerical and office workers at the Port of Long Beach remained on strike for several days as they negotiated terms of their new contracts. Operations were not affected but the movement reminded many of larger scale work stoppages that ground the port to a halt in 2002.
07.08 A court ruled that the Long Beach Unified School District was justified in its firing of more than 350 teachers after the union took them to court.
07.14 After a dismal 2009, the Port of Long Beach began to show incredibly strong traffic numbers in June that would continue through 2010. As the economy recovered, we would later learn, shippers flocked to harbors that they knew would be able to ship their products quickly.
07.14 Police seize cocaine and methamphetamine collectively worth over $10 million in the largest drug bust in Long Beach history. The cocaine was found in Compton, while the meth was right here at PCH and Magnolia.
07.20 A Long Beach woman shot and killed a 25-year old man when he and a friend were apparently fleeing from an assault and ran across her roof. The man dropped to the ground and the woman and her husband came outside with weapons. She fired twice, killing the man, but charges were not filed.
07.23 Columnist Brian Ulaszewski floats around an idea, wondering what it would take and what would happen if we removed a prominent freeway. Hmm…
07.26 City management employee Dave Wodynski, a key player in the effort to craft budgets in difficult financial times, dies suddenly at the too-young age of 40.
August
08.03 Aircraft manufacturer Boeing, still the city’s largest employer, moves 800 jobs from Long Beach to the midwest. Analysts say the action does not bode well for the proud but diminishing history of aviation in the city.
08.04 A judge finds Proposition 8 unconstitutional, momentarily making it legal for same-sex marriages to marry. The ruling is quickly appealed and continues through legal battles today, but the celebrations throughout Long Beach and the state were significant.
08.07 Cities that lie upstream of the Los Angeles River from Long Beach will receive millions to be fitted with stormdrain gates that will keep trash and debris from entering the waterway and washing up on local beaches. Pollution from these twenty-plus cities is the single greatest contributor to Long Beach’s notoriously terrible water quality.
08.09 The Long Beach Post launches an updated site that is easier to navigate and share through social media.
08.10 Candidates for the United States Senate make Long Beach a hotspot with frequent visits, as challenger Carly Fiorina campaigns to bring jobs back to the state while incumbent Barbara Boxer holds a fundraiser at a downtown restaurant.
08.17 I swear, this is the last time. No really, this time I mean it. Acres of Books is closed. The iconic bookstore held THREE special openings in 2010, more than two years after it had been shuttered. It, and the buildings next to it, are supposed to be replaced by a City effort to jumpstart the arts but plans have slowed to a crawl due to the economy.
08.17 A giant inflatable turtle holds court at City Hall to lobby for a ban on plastic bags. Months later, Los Angeles County will approve a ban and the city of Long Beach is in the process of taking similar action.
08.18 Councilmembers float the idea of raising extra revenue by selling naming rights to corporate sponsors, as some other cities do. Little has come of the plan since then, but it gave us a chance to have some fun with the graphics.
08.21 Wilson High School teacher Devon Day writes an impassioned plea for help in saving local libraries that are at risk of having their hours and services cut due to budget constraints.
08.23 Downtown Long Beach is jam-packed as more than 100,000 gather to watch Red Bull host their Flugtag event at Rainbow Harbor. It’s hot, it’s wacky, it’s definitely crazy. It was awesome. Rumor is that Red Bull plans to host an event in their popular air racing series in Long Beach in the future.
08.24 Three people are killed when two cars race down Ocean Boulevard at dangerously high speeds and crash into the Peninsula rock. The two teenage drivers survived, and face felony manslaughter charges. One of the cars was stolen.
08.26 Officials release massive plans to expand Drake Park along the Los Angeles River on the west side of Long Beach. We display the design in great detail.
September
09.03 Do you sometimes forget how close we live to a thriving underwater ecosystem? I do. But I was reminded when blue whales began showing up in record numbers just off the coast of our city. They’re just one of hundreds of nearby marine species. Check out a whale-watching cruise if you get a chance.
09.09 Long Beach gets $1.5 million to fight foreclosures in areas of the city that have been devastated by the recession.
09.10 Columnist Greggory Moore returns from the Burning Man music festival with lessons to bring back to Long Beach.
09.12 In an annual memorial ceremony downtown, city officials and members of the Police and Fire departments remember those lost in the attacks of September 11, 2001. A few days later, the City Council approves a budget with massive cuts to both departments.
09.16 State Senator Rod Wright (D) pleads Not Guilty to charges of eight felony counts that include voter registration fraud and many others. He receives support from Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and is planning his defense.
09.16 Mayor Bob Foster opens a financing committee, potentially for a future run for California State Treasurer. He spent the previous months and weeks talking about the need to reform pensions and work with unions to create more sustainable budgets.
09.17 Repeated break-ins in Belmont Shore force authorities to issue warnings about cat burglars, and advise residents to keep doors and windows closed and secure.
09.17 Park(ing) Day L.A. is an effort to turn parking spaces into green parks, and catches on in Long Beach as students and local book stores participate.
09.18 President Barack Obama nominates Long Beach Harbor Board Commissioner Mario Cordero to the Federal Maritime Commission.
09.20 Continuing to talk tough on finances, Mayor Foster cuts $2.7 million from the proposed budget and shuts down a Port of Long Beach plan to build a new $60 million administrative office building.
09.24 Local restaurant pioneer John Morris closes his iconic downtown restaurant Smooth’s after 23 years and looks to open a new venture somewhere in Belmont Shore.
09.27 The second annual Latin American Parade dances through downtown streets, drawing a crowd even on a scorching day.
09.27 Summer comes late to Long Beach, but boy did it ever arrive. Los Angeles sees record temperatures over 115 degrees while the Long Beach Airport records highs of 109.
09.28 With the city struggling financially and recognizing that many pensions are simply not sustainable, many employee groups agreed to take cuts in order to help the budget squeeze the belt a little tighter.
09.29 A $1 billion plan to renovate the Gerald Desmond Bridge is approved. The deteriorating bridge handles massive amounts of incoming cargo and in recent years had netting installed underneath to catch falling concrete slabs.
October
10.06 The Long Beach Water Department celebrates its 100th successful conversion of a regular lawn to a sustainable, drought-tolerant landscape. They offer rebates up to $2,500 to homes willing to take the leap, and new rounds of funding are available to apply.
10.07 In a city filled with vibrant non-profit organizations that are vital to the community, how do they weather the economic storm? Reporter Jacob Beizer takes a look and finds out.
10.07 Four off-duty servicemen were honored when they came to the aid of a police officer being stabbed in the head in an attack. The men tackled the attacker and assisted the officer until paramedics arrived. Just a few days later, three of the men were shipped to Afghanistan.
10.08 At a conference held on the campus of Cal State Long Beach, industry experts say that ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles are built to sustain and possibly even increase business when the Panama Canal expands in 2014, despite worries that the construction would cause shipping companies to bypass the west coast entirely. It leads us to wonder whether the ports exaggerated the danger in order to get new facilities approved and fast-tracked.
10.11 Long Beach voters indicate a 63.7% approval rating for Mayor Bob Foster and discuss their voting plans for the November elections in an independent poll conducted by the Long Beach Post with Probolsky Research. They also rank the current issues most important to them.
10.12 A downtown hotel comes to the rescue when a girl testifying in a sexual assault case and her homeless family have nowhere to go for the night.
10.12 United States Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius pays a visit to Fremont Elementary in Long Beach to see the new salad bar and organic garden that teaches children to eat healthy at a young age.
10.15 Restaurant pioneer and community advocate John Morris pens an editorial about how the Port of Long Beach can regain the city’s trust by taking blame and making amends.
10.18 Arts columnist Sander Wolff takes a close and critical look at the progression of the ArtX development that has lagged in recent years.
10.19 We travel to downtown Los Angeles with First Fridays director and Bixby Knolls champion Blair Cohn to visit the L.A. ArtsWalk and observe him gaining inspiration for new projects.
10.20 The city is shocked when TMZ reports that Jesse James will shutter his West Coast Choppers operation in Long Beach and relocate to Texas after his recent divorce from actress Sandra Bullock.
10.22 Senator and longtime public servant Jenny Oropeza passes away, creating an outpouring of love and emotion from friends, family and co-workers that spend the next few weeks spreading her legacy.
10.25 Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington speaks to a large crowd at Cal State Long Beach and reporter Matt Dupree can’t hide his feelings.
10.27 The Women’s Conference makes a glorious return to downtown Long Beach and marks a grand hurrah for outgoing California First Lady Maria Shriver as the event expands both in scope and size with guests ranging from Sandra Day O’Connor to Michelle Obama.
10.28 Community residents and advocates speak strongly against plans to expand westside railyards that they fear will cause more pollution. Details are expected in mid-2011.
November
11.01 The city launches an effort to collect 100,000 pounds of food for the needy this holiday season. Hurry, there’s still time!
11.02 Police confiscate dozens of bicycles during an organized ride in east Long Beach, in an incident that sparks heated debate about what rights bike-riders do and don’t have on the streets of “America’s Most Bike-Friendly City.”
11.03 California broke from the mold in 2010 and voted in a majority of Democratic incumbents, and Long Beach was no different.
11.05 A 3.7-magnitude earthquake is centered just outside the Los Coyotes Traffic Circle in Long Beach and is felt as far away as Anaheim.
11.08 Police announce a massive injunction aimed at reducing the operations of local street gangs that have ties to the Mexican Mafia.
11.10 Headquartered in Long Beach, the California State University system approves tuition hikes for the current semester as well as the 2011 school year. Students protest by playing games outside the building. In London, students burn and loot throughout the city in protest of tuition increases.
11.10 The comment period for a plan to renovate downtown Long Beach is extended to allow the completion and inclusion of a housing study expected to be completed in January. The plan paints 25-year goals to jump start retail, office and residential space that has drawn its share of concerns.
11.11 A Carnival cruise ship is stranded at sea just days after leaving port from Long Beach. The company shuts down operation to repair the ship, a move that could cost the city millions in tourism revenue.
11.18 A 14-year old boy is killed when he answers a knock at his home and is shot. The suspects apparently shot through a metal gate and likely could not tell who they were aiming at. One of the boy’s family members has gang ties, and police believe the shooting is gang-related.
11.22 Pacific Hospital in Long Beach self-reported and prosecuted violations committed by a staff member back in 2009, and was fined $225,000 by the California Department of Public Health anyway.
11.22 More than 18 months after the land was illegally graded, the California Coastal Commission orders the owner of a 9.38-acre of wetland-area land in Long Beach to restore it to original condition after crews cleared the land of natural vegetation and even unearthed dangerous pollutants under the ground. Almost exactly one year earlier, the City of Long Beach had recommended no corrective action be taken.
11.23 The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles agree on an update to the much-heralded Clean Air Action Plan that outlines an effort to decrease pollution produced by the shipping industry,
11.30 City officials and representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers sign a cost-sharing agreement to move forward with a four-year study about the feasibility of reconfiguring the Long Beach Breakwater. Each side will contribute $4 million.
December
12.06 After bouncing from the Pike when their rent increased, the popular Long Beach Clothing Company re-opens its doors at a new location in Bixby Knolls. They plan to open a second shop around Belmont Shore in 2011.
12.06 An apartment fire nearly kills a two-year old boy when he is left alone for several hours and firefighters risk injury to save his life. The boy’s mother is arrested for child negligence.
12.08 Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe highlights employment as his main focus moving forward during his State of the County address at the Long Beach Convention Center.
12.14 Police shoot and kill a man that they believed pointed a gun at them as he sat in a Belmont Shore apartment courtyard. He was holding a water nozzle and it does not appear that the officers identified themselves or issued any warnings before firing. The man’s family had retained an attorney and plans to file a wrongful death claim.
12.14 A long-awaited Vons grocery store is renovated and re-opened in downtown Long Beach where there are few options for affordable, healthy shopping.
12.15 Student representatives of the California State University system issue a statement in support of the DREAM Act that would create an easier path to citizenship for undocumented residents who attend college or enter the military.
12.15 More than six months after approving a medical marijuana ordinance and collecting fees from businesses that followed the rules to operate legally, the City Council approves new rules that will force twelve of those medpot collectives out of business.
12.16 The Long Beach Post names We Love Long Beach found Scott Jones the 2010 Person of the Year.
12.20 Financing is secured for a $490 million courthouse that will begin construction in 2011. The current courthouse opened in 1959 and is described by the Administrative Officer of the Courts as “undersized and dilapidated.”
12.23 Again, heavy rains fall in a short burst and cause flooding and damage problems across the city, but the extent is nowhere near the trouble caused in January and Long Beach holds up pretty nicely.
12.24 One residence shows Long Beach what Christmas Spirit is all about with a home display literally bursting at the seams.
12.28 Have a safe, wonderful, joyous New Year.