Often some of the best stories of the year get overshadowed by crime or other high-profile topics, but are deserving of recognition nonetheless. This year we’ve taken a look back at some of our favorite reads that you may have missed in 2019.
Real estate
The Post this year began a weekly real estate series by columnist Tim Grobaty that has proved very popular. The series has explored everything from the myth of Midget Town on La Linda Drive to some of the truly horrific homes on the market to the styles of architecture—from Cliff May to Edward Killingsworth—that make Long Beach a unique place to live.
One unintended side effect of this series: We’ve gotten a peek at the issue of housing and affordability without writing about the issues directly. We’ve gotten to see what homes are selling for, and what first-time home buyers and renters face in this overheated market, simply by looking at the properties listed in our community.
One of the most absurd stories—and not surprisingly, among our favorites—was a story in April about a strip of land (4-feet wide and 96-feet long) for sale in Bixby Knolls at a whopping price of $17,995.
A brave man in a racist world
In February the Post published a story by contributor Anthony Pignataro about a little-known man named Elijah Lane who, in 1919, presented the Long Beach City Council with a petition signed by 20 people asking to discontinue a game at the Pike called “Drowning the [N-word].”
This act of bravery was profound. The games were very popular around the country—even in Western states far removed from the Jim Crow South—at a time when it was dangerous to be African American. And consider that in 1920, there were just 142 African Americans living in Long Beach, but by 1924, the press noted that the local Ku Klux Klan Klavern had more than 10,000 members.
It was an extremely moving and well-researched story about the simple act of taking a stand and asking leaders to change something that is wrong—even if it failed.
Climate change
Climate change is perhaps the most consequential topic of our world today, but we at the Post struggled with how to make it real for local residents. The staff spent months collaborating on a multi-part package of stories—and contracting with a local GIS expert to help us map the coastal topography—examining how a warming planet will specifically impact our city.
We looked at five areas that are of particular concern for city planners and environmental experts alike: Sea level rise along the peninsula and Naples island, rising temperatures, water shortages, air quality and the Port of Long Beach.
The series came as the city of Long Beach works to compile a comprehensive report on how it can mitigate the impact of climate change, and adapt to what we know will be inevitable change to the way we all live.
Social media inspiration
Social media is often disparaged for enabling bullies and polarizing opinions, but sometimes, it can yield something truly inspiring. In August a Long Beach native, now a Biola University professor, posted a message on Twitter about wanting to find her second-grade teacher, Mrs. Hoagland, at Bret Harte Elementary in North Long Beach.
Nancy Wang Yuen, now 43, had just moved to Long Beach from Taiwan in second grade. The teacher found she’d never had a birthday party and made it happen, gathering students for a miniature golf outing and Chinese food.
Spoiler alert: Yuen found the teacher in short order—again, thanks to social media (and press coverage, we like to think).
Stories behind the story
We cover a lot of sadness in the news business. Humanizing tragedy is often time-consuming, but allows readers a window into the more complicated motivations and circumstances behind why people do what they do.
In September, a young man named Thomas had been accused of making criminal threats at Cabrillo High School. But what happens when the person making threats has autism and can’t communicate well, but finds himself arrested for a felony and now navigating the court system? And can one blame police and school officials in this era of fear over school shootings? This story in October by Valerie Osier explored this complex dynamic.
The Post also committed significant time and resources to a deeper investigation of one of the city’s most brutal crimes in 2019: Rosa Hernandez was walking home around noon on a Monday in May after having breakfast with a friend when she was randomly beaten to death with an electric scooter.
Breaking news reporter Jeremiah Dobruck spent two months researching the background of the man accused, a 27-year-old who had recently arrived in Long Beach from Louisiana. We also got to tell the moving story of the victim, and her journey to Long Beach from Mexico, as well as the pain endured by her husband, Manuel.
The reporting resulted in a project called Broken, which explored the paths of these two strangers—a mentally ill young man and a devout older woman—and whether more have been done to save them both.
