Good morning, Long Beach. It’s Monday, Dec. 22. Here’s what you need to know to start the Christmas week.

City meetings

This week marks the celebration of the winter holidays. With the exception of emergency services, city offices in Long Beach will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The doors will be closed at public schools, post offices, city courts, libraries and transit agencies. 

City parks, fire stations, animal control, the airport, and utility dispatches will stay open. City buses will run on modified routes, operating every 30 minutes along main stops and 60 to 120 minutes along route branches. For more information, visit here. 

Neither the Long Beach City Council nor any of its committees will hold a quorum this week. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will not meet until Jan. 6. 

There will be no street sweeping or trash collection on Thursday, so switch your alarms and sleep in. Parking meters, however, will be enforced unless it states “Exempt on Holidays.”

City operations will continue on normal operating hours on Christmas Eve, though libraries will close at 5 p.m. Facilities will re-open to normal hours on Friday. 

For those looking to ditch their live Christmas tree, the city is accepting drop-offs at 13 locations citywide, at no charge. 

Otherwise, to all have a wonderful week and see you in the New Year. 

Business events and information

  • The city of Long Beach is asking Westside business owners to join them for a networking workshop on Jan. 8 from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Casa Chaskis (2380 Santa Fe Ave.) Attendees will have the opportunity to offer advice and feedback on a city bid to create a business association for West Long Beach. Those interested in attending are encouraged to RSVP online.
  • Tariffs be darned. It’s been a busy year for the Port of Long Beach — quite possibly the busiest on record. Seaport officials on Thursday said they just closing in on the second-busiest November in history, putting the Port on course to exceed its all-time record of 9.6 million cargo containers, set last year. Despite cargo movement declining in November by 7.5%, the seaport through its first 11 months is 2.9% from the same period last year. For more information on cargo numbers, visit polb.com/statistics.

ICYMI — California and national news

  • Belmont Shore says public drinking is a scourge; police hardly ever ticket it (Long Beach Post)
  • Long Beach teachers ratify new contract after extended negotiations (Long Beach Post)
  • Speed cameras to start issuing tickets in Long Beach by fall 2026 (Long Beach Post)
  • As it tries to cool neighborhoods, Long Beach seeks to sharpen its ban on some artificial turf  (Long Beach Post)
  • It’s running at a pace not seen since the 1980s. So why is Long Beach’s housing market still headed for a slowdown? (Long Beach Post)