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City Controller Candidate Cary Brazeman Gets Introduction to SP at Fundraiser p. 3

Amber Mercome Speaks on Her Role in ICT’s Ain’t Misbehavin’ p. 11

Dark Blue Mondaze Stage Community Theater Series, Getting Rave Reviews p. 17

See p. 12-13

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

For years now, Republicans have been working themselves up into a frenzy over the prospect of systematic electoral fraud.

The claim has always been sharply at odds with the recorded rarity of voter fraud cases, even under the eager eyes of the Bush administration. But now there’s an even bigger, more blatant problem with the accusation. In late September, news began spreading that a Republican consulting firm—

working in dozens of states—was itself responsible for a widespread pattern of illegal activities, including surreptitiously destroying

Democratic voter registration forms.

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Richardson Campaign’s Steep Mountain to Climb By Kevin Walker, Community News Reporter

Redistricting and ethics violations might put Rep. Laura Richardson out of a job come November.

Richardson, who has represented California’s 37th District in the U.S. House of Representatives for five years was reprimanded by that body’s ethics committee in August for misusing her staff to campaign. This, after being cleared of earlier charges. She also is lagging in the polls behind competitor,

District 36 Rep. Janice Hahn, for the newly formed 44th district.The 44th, which encompasses San Pedro, Wilmington, Carson, Compton, South

Gate and north Long Beach is the product of the redistricting process following the 2010 census. That year, voters also passed Proposition 14, which turned the California general election into runoffs between the top two primary candidates, regardless of party affiliation.

Reprimand Doesn’t Slow Richardson/ to p. 6

The Wolf Who Cried Wolf/ to p. 7

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Harbor AreaCommitted to independent journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for more than 30 years

HARBOR AREA

Marriage Equality Phone BankingCome out and work for Marriage Equal-

ity, from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, at The Center in Long Beach.

Marriage Equality, ACLU, and The Center in Long Beach are partnering in this phone banking effort to support the referendum on same-sex marriage in Washington State. Details: porterg@centerlb.org Venue: The Center in Long BeachLocation: 2017 E. 4th Street, Long Beach

Harbor Occupational Center Open House

Tour the campus and learn about the great training opportunities available, from 10 to 12 p.m. Oct. 19, at Harbor Service Center in San Pedro. Details: (310) 547-5551; www.harboroc.orgVenue: Harbor Service CenterLocation: 740 N. Pacific Ave. San Pedro

Calling All CatalystsCome to the second annual gathering

of the entire Catalyst Network Communities, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 20, at the new Catalyst Center for Urban Sustainability in Long Beach.

The Assembly of the Catalyst Network of Communities is a unifying community experience that provides a tangible connec-tion between individuals and organizations throughout the various relational networks while showcasing the impact that collabora-tion has on the city.

The idea is for everyone to bring every-one, not just a representative. The event will feature:

• All Catalyst-Adopted Groups and Cata-lyst Collaborative Projects

• Grand opening of the new Catalyst Center for Urban Sustainability

• Grand re-opening of the Long Beach Free Store

• The Urban Oasis and the Plant Nurs-ery

• Education stations: solar, water, recy-cling, bicycle

• The new DIY Maker Space and HUB Bike Shop

• The new Butterfly CoveDetails: www.GoCatalyst.org/Assem-bly2012Venue: Catalyst Center for Urban SustainabilityLocation: 1730 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach

CERT Training Meet the people who can save you in an

emergency, learn the simple skills that can help save yourself and your family, and build peace of mind by preparing for emergen-cies, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 20, at Peck Park Community Center in San Pedro. Details: www.preparesanpedro.org Venue: Peck Park Community CenterLocation: 560 N. Western Ave., San Pedro

San Pedro Democratic Club MeetingCome to watch the last presidential de-

bate with the San Pedro Democratic Club, from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. Oct. 22, at the El Coyote Restaurant.

Come enjoy good food and company as President Obama and Gov. Romney face-off for the last time before the election. A Q-and-A on the Los Angeles City elections in March with mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti and city controller candidate Ron Galperin will be hosted after. Details: (310) 367-7186; RWBrandin@aol.comVenue: El Coyote RestaurantLocation: 800 S. Pacific, San Pedro

POLA Master Plan Update WorkshopAttend a public workshop to learn about

and provide comment on the Port of Los Angeles Port Master Plan update, at 6 p.m. Oct. 25, at the Banning’s Landing Communi-

“Shrimp Not Shoes.” That’s the headline Random

Lengths used to characterize the expert advice of the Urban Land In-stitute on how to successfully and sustainably redevelop the Ports O’

“People will come here to buy shrimp, but not to buy shoes,” said Urban Land Institute consultant Dan Rosenfeld, at the time.

That’s what naturally draws people to the waterfront to buy and that’s what the redeveloped site should focus on. It’s called “rid-ing the horse in the direction it’s going.” New development should build on historical, cultural and lo-cational strengths, stressing quality and long-time sustainability over quantity and short-term splash. That was the institute’s message.

Sue Castillo, who chairs the Land Use committee for Central

San Pedro Neighborhood Council, was impressed on re-reading institute’s rec-ommendations.

“I’d read it a few years ago,” she said, “and couldn’t agree more with what they say.”

But the port has often seemed to have other ideas, and the initial secrecy about who had responded started raising old fears in some quarters. After almost a week, the Port reversed its initial deci-sion, and released the names of the devel-opers, which include:

Battaglia Inc., Cal-Coast Companies LLC, LA Waterfront Alliance, Majestic Realty Co., McArthurGlen Group, Ris-ing Realty Partners, Sonnenblick Devel-opment LLC, Strata Properties & TFO/TDD Partners.

A five-person panel, not yet finalized, will decide which firm will get the nod.

Those listed have a range of particular strengths, from residential to commercial development, even theme parks, but one thing was missing.

“I don’t see people on their list who have much ado about waterfronts,” said June Smith, co-chair of the Port Com-munity Advisory Committee, who’s been part of the waterfront development pro-cess on the community side from the very beginning.

Meanwhile, a number of tell-tale warning signs in the RFQ (request for qualifications) guiding the selection pro-cess—what’s emphasized, and what’s left out—hinted at possible failures to learn from past experience, community input and outside expert advice—though Port staff insisted this is not the case. And Castillo remains hopeful they’re right.

“The Port, so far in the RFQ process, has held the community at arm’s length,” Castillo said.“(But) we hope that the ULI study recommendations are very much in

Ports O’ Call Redevelopment: Eight Developers in the RunningBy Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

Call site following an intensive process of consultation with the community in early 2008.

We’re about to find out how well the Port of Los Angeles was listening, as eight companies have responded to the port’s so-licitation of potential developers. A single developer will be chosen by the end of the year, POLA of-ficials said.

POLA released the identities of RFQ providers to develop Ports O’Call. Resistance from residents and community members rose after it was announced that POLA would take over management of Ports O’ Call Village. File photo.

Identities Released/ to p. 4 Community Announcements/ to p. 5

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Desiring serious political conversation with

neighbors and friends, Janet Gunter, Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council member, hosted a fundraising event inside her pool house, Oct. 11.

There, she introduced the beneficiary for monies raised that night, her favorite candidate for Los Angeles City Controller, Cary Brazeman, from Los Angeles’ West Valley region.

Attending the fundraiser and eager to meet Brazeman were other neighborhood council members, concerned neighbors, San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United members, Port employees and Gunter’s friends and associates.

From the start, Brazeman planned to stick to his primary campaign issue: sidewalks and the city’s vulnerability to liability lawsuits as result of putting off repairs. But fundraiser attendees had other ideas and repeatedly shifted the conversation to San Pedro’s Rancho LPG Holdings tanks.

Community residents have complained for more than a decade about the company’s 80-feet tall propane and butane tanks, arguing that the tanks pose an imminent threat if there’s a serious earthquake or act of terrorism. They’d also like Los Angeles to consider relocating the tanks to the desert and far away from people, due to safety risks.

Until Brazeman came onto the political scene, Gunter said the topic of the LPG tanks had fallen

upon deaf ears in Los Angeles. Gunter recalled approaching Councilman and Controller’s Office candidate Dennis Zine, with San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United Inc. members, Chuck Hart and Jody James, and leaving feeling very disappointed, if not outraged.

“Dennis does not score very highly on this issue,” James said. “There was no real dialogue. Just garbage!”

“I believe Cary Brazeman stands apart from the others on this point,” Gunter said. “He gets it. He has already proven through his community efforts that he has the backbone to fight for the protection and quality of life… My goal is to make San Pedro and Harbor Area residents aware that we DO have a choice for the LA city controller seat that will help us. We just need to get him into office!”

Gunter noted that Brazeman drove to the LPG site to get a physical lay of the land.

“That is when he started asking serious questions about the issue of city liability and how the city and residents would ever be compensated if a catastrophe should occur,” Gunter said.

“Cary spoke for the community,” said James, at Gunter’s party, just before Brazeman arrived to be introduced.

James said her support of Brazeman’s candidacy was, “based on his record of looking at issues from the perspective of what the public needs, and for his strong emphasis on public

safety.“When I met him, I thought he was a

superstar!”Brazeman is the chief executive of The

Corporate Storyteller, a national marketing and public relations agency that he founded in 2000. In the late 1990s, Brazeman left the Real Estate Roundtable in Washington D.C. for the Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis, a large commercial real estate services firm.

Born and reared in a Jewish home, Brazeman is openly gay and is a member of Congregation Kol Ami, a West Hollywood group promoting progressive spirituality, diversity, inclusion and social justice.

A long time community advocate, Brazeman served on his neighborhood council and CityWatchLA contributing columnist. He is not registered with any political party.

Brazeman gained attention after forming the

watchdog organization, LA Neighbors United in 2009 in response to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s attempt to loosen city zoning code protections.

But at the fundraiser, Brazeman struggled to explain his credentials and who he was to people who hadn’t previously heard of him. At one point, after questions were raised about his qualifications for the second time, Brazeman simply replied he was a college graduate, a private business owner and very comfortable with income statements and balance sheets.

For his part, Brazeman sought to minimize expectations without alienating attendees by

Brazeman Drives Campaign on City Sidewalks By Tami Jackson, Community News Reporter

Candidate for Los Angeles City Controller’s office, Cary Brazeman and community activist Janet Gunter at a fundraising event in Gunter’s home. Photo: Tami Jackson.

noting that he’s not able to subpoena all of Rancho’s records since he’s not yet in the political system. But that as a start, a new environmental impact report or hazardous risk assessment could be initiated. Brazeman then pulled the conversation back to sidewalks,

Cary Brazeman/ to p. 22

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their plans as they move toward exclusive nego-tiation... I’m sure that they are starting with an ‘open mind,’... in order to allow developer con-cepts to flow freely. However, if what comes of that is not fairly consistent with the ULI study, the community is likely to react negatively.”

Port spokesman Arley Baker confirmed the relative unconstrained initial state.

“The Port does not have a list of specific types of tenants,” he said, for example. Then added, “But it goes without saying that this is a town with a distinctive character, Ports O’Call is a distinctive development opportunity and ‘cook-ie-cutter’ approaches won’t work.”

He also indicated how important community

views could be. “Certainly, the community’s interest, ‘buy in’

and patronage of businesses in the new develop-ment will be important to the overall success of the development,” he said.

While no specific tenants have been named at this point, the Port expects that currently thriving businesses will be an important part of the mix.

Past history is instructive, however. Much to her credit, the Port’s point person in the insti-tute consultation process, Katherine McDermot tried to convey its message back to the Harbor Commission. But then-President S. David Free-man quickly cut her off, saying that what the Port needed to do was to put together an attractive

package of incentives to attract a big money de-veloper to get the job done right—exactly the op-posite of the community-sensitive, sight-specific approach recommended by the institute. Then, the Great Recession intervened.

While the announcement—four years after that study—was welcome as long overdue, it also stirred long-simmering fears.

“I’m so pleased to see that the Port has finally decided that we need to move forward again,” Smith said. “But I think that we do have to ask these hard questions,” chief among which is “the seamless interface with downtown, and not doing the merchants, who already exist there, harm.”

“Synergy with downtown, physically, cultur-ally and economically, will be very important,” Castillo agreed, “But the ULI study did not lay out in any detail how that might be achieved. It will be the topic of much conversation to come.”

Yet, the RFQ was strangely blank on the topic. It addressed the issue of compatibility with other waterfront development, but not with exist-ing businesses downtown.

When Random Lengths raised the issue with the Port, staff pointed to the workshop process dealing with physical comparability—“specifically the transition from Harbor Boule-vard to a realigned roadway leading to the wa-terfront area and Ports O’Call parcel,” which Castillo was intimately involved with.

While that process was certainly positive and welcome, it did not address commercial compat-ibility, and the off-point response actually illus-trated the underlying concern about lack of com-munication, even with the best of intentions.

Smith’s ultimate fear is that “It’s deja vu all over again from the 1960s, where they go in and they develop whatever it is that they want to de-velop.”

Ports O’ Call was a short-term success, draw-ing over a million visitors a year at its peak, but declined precipitously because it wasn’t ground-ed in anything local, Smith said—particularly the rich diversity of ethnic, fishing-based cultures that form San Pedro’s social bedrock.

“That is what made San Pedro vibrant and colorful and culturally diverse, and attractive as a place to come, have fun, see another slice of life,” Smith said.

It’s a formula that “never goes out of style,” she said, adding, “We want this to be a success all the way around, not just a success for the de-velopers.”

Castillo has similar concerns, but comes across as more optimistic. The Port’s plans for community involvement seems somewhat vague, and potentially back-loaded, but the community won’t just passively wait around, she indicated

“After the board approves the developer se-lection, the selected developer is expected to reach out for community input and feedback,” Baker said. “There is no specific timetable set but public input will be sought and reviewed by the selected developer.”

“The San Pedro neighborhood councils are moving forward, in concert with the (Port Com-munity Advisory Committee) waterfront steering committee, with a community Ports O’ Call fo-rum,” Castillo said. The date is still to be deter-mined.

“Adopting a position that names the ULI rec-ommendations as ‘the gold standard’ of redevel-opment, might well come out of it,” she added.

Baker seemed to suggest the Port might be predisposed to listen.

“The port and community spent more than a decade educating themselves and trying to un-derstand what kind of development attributes would work for the LA Waterfront,” he said. “Why would the Port disregard such a long and valuable educational process?”

Identities of Ports O’Call RFQ Respondants Releasedfrom p. 2

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ty Center in Wilmington. All members of the public are welcome.Details: (310) 732-3850Venue: Banning’s Landing Community CenterLocation: 100 E. Water St., Wilmington

California’s Clean Transportation FutureLearn about the future of transportation at

a panel discussion, from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 25, at The Point in the Walter Pyramid at Cal State Long Beach. A wide range of clean and advanced trans-portation technologies are being developed that can provide significant environmental and eco-nomic benefits. With the right policies in place, California can be a global leader in this field, and can reap significant environmental and economic benefits as a result.

Panel of experts include, Peter Greenwald of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Daniel Abraham of the Argonne National Labora-tory, Jeff Reed of San Diego Gas and Electric, and Nick Sramek of the Board of Harbor Commission-ers The Port of Long BeachDetails: coe-dev@csulb.eduVenue: The Point, Walter Pyramid at CSULBLocation: 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach

NWSPNC Youth Board Seat AvailableNorthwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council

is looking for a new youth representative. The representative will be a full voting member of the council. All applications must be submitted by Oct. 26. Details: www.nwsanpedro.org

E-waste Recycling Day at Millikan HighRam Baseball Boosters will have a free e-

waste recycle drop-off and an used book collec-tion along with a car wash and pancake break-fast, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 26, at Millikan High School in Long Beach.

Drive through or drop-off e-waste (TV’s, com-puters, monitors, loose electrical cords, etc.) and used books and then have your car washed for only $5.Fundraising proceeds benefit the Ram Baseball Program and a community service for a local literary program. Details: (562) 799-4009Venue: Millikan High SchoolLocation: 2800 Snowden Ave., Long Beach

Sharefest 9th Annual Community Fund-raiser

Join Sharefest for the Evening of Community Fund-raiser, to celebrate this year’s success sto-ries and help support the work they have going forward to create healthy communities, at 6 p.m. Nov. 3, at the Torrance Marriott Hotel.Details: (310) 626-8106; www.sharefestinc.org Venue: Torrance Marriott HotelLocation: 3635 Fashion Way, Torrance

Community Announcements:

Harbor Area

State Assembly Speaker John Perez has tar-geted the campaign for the new Assembly Dis-trict 66 as the most competitive in the South Bay and a must-win for Democrats, according to local party activist Julian Burger.

“The important thing about the race is that the Democrats are shy by two seats of having a two-thirds majority in the Assembly,” Burger explained.

Perez is focusing statewide party resources on three seats he calls “toss-up seats” and the new Assembly District 66 is the only one that’s in Los Angeles County.

Democrat Al Muratsuchi, who works for the state Attorney General and also serves on the Torrance School Board, is running against con-servative Republican Craig Huey—who ran a gutter campaign against Janice Hahn in the spe-cial election for Congress last year—to represent the district that includes the unincorporated strip known as West Carson, along the 110 freeway. It also roughly encompasses Lomita, Harbor City, South Gardena, and large sections of Palos Verdes, Torrance and Redondo Beach.

“You have a rightwing in the State Assembly that will hold up anything and everything unless it meets exactly what their needs are,” Burger explained about the importance of this race. “If we don’t have the ability to say we don’t want to deal with you… you are always going to have to barter away the needs of society—that’s as far as women are concerned, and minorities, too.”

Burger is President of the Progressive Demo-cratic Club that meets monthly in Carson. Dur-ing this election he’s working with several other Democratic clubs under an umbrella organiza-tion, United Democrats of South Bay, to arrange phone banking at the Democratic call center on University Drive in north Carson.

He notes, “This is a very Democratic area.”At present Organizing For America, which is

working to re-elect Obama, is using the Univer-sity Center at Cal State University Dominguez Hills for phone banking five days a week. Burger wants to schedule phone banking for Muratsuchi on two other days every week. He’d also like to make the center available for campaigns for de-feating Proposition 32 and passing Prop. 30. He also suggested that Rep. Janice Hahn’s campaign could perhaps use the phone bank center, too.

Burger recalled how phone banking at the same location was important during the 2008 Obama campaign, “You couldn’t get into that place,” he said of the number of Obama volun-teers. “They actually had to ask people—I’ve never seen this before in a campaign—to come back later and they gave them specific dates and times, and those people came back. In any other campaign they would have never come back.”

“Enthusiasm for Obama has really dropped,”

he acknowledged, when comparing this election to 2008. “People that do support Obama are not as strident as they used to be so it’s a much tougher sell.”

Besides campaigning for Muratsuchi, Burger is putting major emphasis on defeating Proposi-tion 32. “This issue makes it more difficult to fund Democratic campaigns from labor financial sources,” he explained.

Noting how California voters defeated essen-tially the same issue in 2005, he added, “I think [defeating] Proposition 32 is important basically because these days, realistically speaking, the in-put of labor is critical to Democratic campaigns, and if you basically neuter that, you are going to hurt the ability of Democrats to get out a message

Julian Burger: Muratsuchi Must Win; 32 Must LoseBy Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter

Editor’s Note: For more than a decade Julian Burger has been a leading member of the Democratic Party in the South Bay. He has worked as a field director on various partisan and non-partisan campaigns, including Carson Mayor Jim Dear Anti-Recall campaign, the candidacies of Marcy Winograd for Congress, and Los Ange-les County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas. Burger has also served as President of the Progressive Democratic Club for many years, and is a longtime active member of the Gardena Valley Democratic Club, San Pedro Demo-cratic Club and Mexican-American Democratic Club. He recently sat down with Random Lengths’ Lyn Jensen to discuss key Democratic strategies leading up to the Nov. 6 election. Julian Burger/ to p. 6

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New Report Shows BNSF Railyard Location Potentially Harmful to Residents

A revised draft environmental impact report released by the Harbor Commission seems to have affirmed community concerns about significant health hazards related to the proposed location of a Burlington Northern/Santa Fe (BNSF) rail yard in close proximity to public schools, playgrounds, day care centers and homes.

Twenty organizations pledged to call on the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners to withdraw the draft environmental impact report at the Oct. 18 public hearing in Wilmington. The rail yard is called the Southern California International Gateway (SCIG rail yard).

BNSF and the Port of Los Angeles have consistently claimed that building the SCIG rail yard in Wilmington close to homes and schools in west Long Beach would take millions of trucks off the Interstate 710 Freeway that currently travel to

the BNSF Hobart Yard, in Commerce, Calif. Opposing community groups say that the

“Revised” DEIR admits for the first time that there will be significant adverse health effects from air pollution and noise for residents living near the proposed BNSF SCIG rail yard. They also point out that BNSF plans a massive expansion of its Hobart Yard in City of Commerce, which could increase the number of trucks traveling up the I-710 Freeway to that rail facility. The public hearing is from 6 to 8 p.m. Area residents and experts will testify.

Rep. Richardson Announces $1.5 Million Homeland Security Grant

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently issued a $1.5 million grant to the Los Angeles and Long Beach area regional partners to enhance coordination for detection of nuclear materials that may be used as a weapon in a terrorist attack. Rep. Laura Richardson, a House Committee on Homeland Security made the announcement. Funding for the Securing the Cities Initiative is awarded to high-threat, high-density urban areas.

Walmart Walkouts WidenOn Oct. 10, Walmart watched its first

strike in its 50-year history spread from 60 employees in Los Angeles to thousands in a dozen cities throughout the country in less than a week.

Workers walked off the job in Dallas, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Miami, Washington, D.C., Sacramento, Chicago, Orlando, parts of Kentucky, Missouri and Minnesota. Hundreds rallied outside of Wal-Mar Stores Inc., the corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. on Oct. 10, carrying signs such as “Walmart Stop Wage Theft Now!”

Some workers are threatening to strike on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which is considered one of the busiest days for shopping.

OUR Walmart, an organization of Walmart employees, organized the strike. OUR Walmart is backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers union, but hasn’t sought union recognition from Walmart.

The workers are protesting company attempts to silence and retaliate against workers for speaking out for improvements on the job. Walmart employees, who are not unionized, have long complained of low pay and lack of benefits, such as health care, which many have in theory, but not in practice because they aren’t allowed to work enough hours to qualify as full time.

Walmart is the largest retailer in the United States, with more than 2.1 million employees globally, including 1.4 million throughout the

to labor.” More participation by women, minorities,

and labor may make the difference for Demo-crats in this election, Burger suggested, com-menting, “You can pretty much depend on the African-American community to vote Demo-cratic. You’d think the Hispanic community would be stridently Democratic but not neces-sarily.”

He also said, “I’ve noticed in totality [while there may be fewer Democratic volunteers] there are more women volunteering in labor. I see a lot more women in organized labor par-ticipating in these campaigns.”

As to why that may be so, he answered, “I think that basically women feel they need to participate to make sure they retain some of the rights they worked hard to get.”

The net effect of these two changes has been that voters in the new 44th will have a choice between two candidates in November, but not two parties. Richardson and Hahn both are Democrats, unsurprising given the Harbor Area’s traditionally liberal politics.

However, what is surprising, was the lopsidedness of Richardson’s loss in the June primary, losing by nearly 20 percentage points in a two candidate race.

“She’s [Richardson] got a lot of problems...the thing is she lost by a little less than 20 percent of the vote,” said Julian Burger, a Wilmington resident and President of the Progressive Democratic Club.

Burger has worked as a campaign strategist and organizer for numerous Democratic campaigns in the Harbor Area, including the Carson Mayor Jim Dear, Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas.

“She’s always had problems running on the edge,” he said, referencing a 2010 investigation into possible ethics violations committed by Richardson.

That scandal erupted after accusations were made that the congresswoman had received preferential treatment from the now defunct bank, Washington Mutual, after a house she owned in Sacramento fell into foreclosure.

It was suspected by investigators that Richardson had used her position as an elected official to get Washington Mutual, now owned by JP Morgan Chase, to rescind the sale of her foreclosed home to an individual who had bought the property at auction and that she knowingly submitted fraudulent information to the bank when applying for a mortgage.

The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which conducted the investigation eventually cleared the congresswoman of wrongdoing concluding that it was Richardson’s mortgage broker Charles Thomas that had submitted the fraudulent information to the bank without her knowledge.

They also found that Washington Mutual’s decisions to reverse the sale of Richardson’s foreclosed home and to renegotiate the terms of her mortgage to be “commercially reasonable.”

Washington Mutual later signed a nondisclosure agreement with the buyer of Richardson’s home, paying an additional $100,000 beyond the amount it refunded for the

attempted purchase.Burger believes, however, that while the

congresswoman escaped a formal reprimand, the incident left a bad taste in the mouths of many of her constituents and that confidence in her as an elected official was eroded as a result.

“Some people are very unhappy with her,” Burger said. “Some of these people have a lot of pull in the community.”

Richardson quickly raised the ire of House ethics investigators again, in November 2010, just four months after the conclusion of the investigation into her dealings with Washington Mutual, when investigators opened an inquiry into alleged misuse of her congressional staff.

The congresswoman was less fortunate this time around, being officially reprimanded by the House Ethics Committee and fined $10,000.

In the official report, released by the committee in August, investigators indicate that Richardson had regularly pressured her official staff in both her Washington D.C. and Long Beach offices to attend political fundraisers in addition to their normal work duties.

The report also found that two high ranking staff members, Chief of Staff Shirley Cooks and Deputy District Director Daysha Austin, were found to have dedicated most of their time to Richardson’s 2010 campaign for reelection. Both were issued letters of reproval by the Ethics Committee.

“If you walk into any campaign office, there’s always a lot of staff people there,” Burger said. “She must have really went overboard or must have been so blatant it was obvious.”

Burger says that the use of official staff by elected officials for campaign purposes is commonplace, and that anger among Richardson’s subordinates would have to be serious for an investigation to take place.

One of the most damning examples of staff discontent came in March of this year, when

Brenda Cruz, a staffer placed in the Richardson congressional office as part of a fellowship through the Wounded Warrior Program resigned citing mistreatment and corruption on the part of the congresswoman.

In an e-mail to Richardson, Cruz wrote that she’d “rather be at war than work under people that are morally corrupt.”

While this year’s reprimand is Richardson’s first official ethics violation, independent watch groups have repeatedly identified her as one of the House of Representatives most corrupt members.

She has earned a place on this years Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington “CREW’s Most Corrupt” list, a dubious distinction she has held three times before.

The Washington D.C.-based group highlights, not only Richardson’s misdeeds, but her efforts to conceal them which included retroactively changing the employment status of certain staffers and having a subpoena served against her for failing to deliver documents to investigators.

The congresswoman’s problems with staff are in stark contrast to Rep. Hahn, whose campaign’s organization was reportedly key in winning early support from the local Democratic party clubs ahead of the pre-primary endorsement conference in February.

“Janice Hahn’s staff was in the clubs, in the meetings, way before Thanksgiving…normally people wait till the beginning of the year,” Burger said. “Laura [Rep. Richardson] was just behind on that.”

The consequence for Richardson has been the loss of the California Democratic party’s support in favor of Hahn and an anemic list of endorsements from public officials and party operatives for the Richardson campaign.

Long Beach Councilman Steve Neal, who

Julian Burgerfrom p. 5

from p. 1

Reprimand Doesn’t Slow Richardson

Above, Rep. Laura Richardson continues campaigning hard. The congresswoman has been seen at a number community meetings and events delivering her standard pitch of having represented more of the new district than her opponent, Congresswoman Janice Hahn. Right, Richardson was reprimanded by the House for violating campaign laws. File photo.

News Briefs/ to p. 10 Richardson/ to p. 22

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The consulting firm—originally known as Sproul and Associates, founded by former Arizona Republican Party state chairman, Nathan Sproul—has a long history of both barely legal and clearly illegal shenanigans, including similar past incidents of destroying voter registration forms. These date back as far as the 2004 elections, when Random Lengths first reported on their activities. Yet, when the news broke, Republican officials made a big show of shocked surprise, and quickly fired the firm—both at the state and national levels—only to have them rehired by unnamed entities to get out the vote.

But this is only one of two different organizational forms taken by conservatives which may effectively prevent tens of thousands of votes from being cast. The other is a self-styled grassroots “voter protection” offshoot of the Tea Party movement, known as “True The Vote” and its various different state-level affiliates. The Tea Party, we are constantly reminded, is not racist. But True The Vote was formed out of large-scale poll-watching effort in 2009, concentrated in black and Latino districts. As shocking and outrageous as these activities may be—as well as sometimes being illegal—the number of voters they prevent from voting pales in comparison to those who may be prevented by a new wave of laws passed since the 2010 midterms.

The 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Study found that as many as 3 million people who actively tried to vote in 2008 were denied, while another 4 million were discouraged from voting by administrative barriers. Yet, a surprisingly large number of Republicans—a majority of them, 52 percent, in a November 2009 poll—believe the exact opposite: that instead of legitimate voters being denied the right to vote, the election was really won by John McCain, but was stolen by ACORN, meaning that nearly 10 million fraudulent votes were cast.

There are two major problems for people who believe in this conspiracy theory: First, there is no evidence whatsoever of any sort of organized, much less massive, voter fraud, either in 2008 or any other recent American election. Second, Republicans controlled the White House and the Justice Department in 2008. Enforcing election law is their responsibility. If the conspiracy theorists are right, then the Republicans themselves were in on the conspiracy—at least on the cover up side.

Despite the patent absurdity of such claims, a tidal wave of state laws have been proposed to counter this non-existent problem, ever since the 2010 midterm elections, when Republicans won the largest number of state legislative seats they’ve ever held since 1928.

Accord to the Brennan Center for Justice, since the mid-term elections:

41 states introduced 180 restrictive laws.34 states introduced photo ID laws34 states introduced proof of citizenship requirements.34 states introduced bills to limit registration.34 states introduced bills to reduce early voting periods.Many of these attempted restrictions failed,

of course. But many did not. To make sense of such sweeping political activity that flies in the face of all evidence, we need to consider the history of voting rights in America. We need to understand how rights have been expanded and restricted in the past, and how those changes have been justified, often with little regard for any supporting facts.

Harvard historian Alexander Keyssar is the man who wrote the book on the subject, The Right To Vote: The Contested History of

Democracy in America, first published in 2000. It described how attitudes toward

voting changed over time, with four broad historical eras—a general

expansion of the franchise in the early

19th century, as property requirements for white males were increasingly rolled back, followed by a period of procedure-based contraction up until about the 1920s, then a period of relative stasis until the Civil Rights era lead a vigorous expansion.

Prior to the 2004 election, Random Lengths interviewed Keyssar about the growing problem of voter suppression emerging at the time.

“I can’t say it’s unprecedented,” said Keyssar at the time, since no one openly advocates rolling back rights. “It is something that is new, and it is semi-organized. It may be fully organized... (Still,) what we’re seeing is characteristic of this fourth period.”

However, he now sees it differently, as the pattern of throwing up procedural hurdles to certain groups of voters has intensified dramatically, recalling the pattern of the second historical period, particularly in the North, where urban, largely immigrant working class voters were prevented from voting in droves through the use of specially-tailored registration requirements.

“I think we quite likely are in a different period, where an issue that seemed to be settled by 1970 is unsettled again,” Keyssar said. “I don’t think anyone is going to propose that we impose a property restriction, or impose racial restrictions. But I think there is certainly conflict over any measures that would try to guarantee, or procedures that would guarantee, that the law be made a reality.”

Indeed, Keyssar referred to the 1993 National Voter Registration Act—commonly known as “Motor Voter,” which called for widespread, routine use of public service agencies to register people to vote. In one sense, conservative efforts to restrict voting were a response to the act’s expansion of the electorate, he said. But even the original expansion was fiercely resisted,

particularly the provision that registration forms be made available in agencies serving low-income Americans.

In a 2008, 15-year progress report, the non-profit voter registration group, Project Vote, observed, “many problems the NVRA sought to address remain uncured, and its full promise remains unfulfilled.” In particular, “Section 7 [requiring registration forms at public assistance and disability service agencies] has been largely neglected (and in some cases almost wholly ignored) by many state agencies.”

Oversight failures “have contributed to the pervasive failure of Section 7, to the disadvantage of millions of eligible low-income and minority Americans.”

This represents a base level of built-in voter suppression even before the current organized backlash began.

“The last 18 months saw the biggest wave of new voting restrictions in the United States in many decades,” said Lawrence Norden, the Brennan Center’s deputy director of the Democracy Program. “Nineteen state legislatures and governors across the country passed new laws making it harder to register to vote, cutting back on early and weekend voting, and requiring government-issued photo ID, which many Americans do not have, in order to cast a ballot that will be counted.”

However, there was significant pushback.

“In all, 11 courts in eight states blocked or seriously weakened the new restrictions,” Norden noted. “In two states, voters got these new restrictions repealed through the referendum process. And in 5 more states, governors vetoed new restrictions passed by their state legislatures... The result is that while there will be new restrictions on voting this November, they won’t be nearly as severe or widespread as we feared just a few months ago,” he concluded.

Still, if Republicans manage to keep the race close, there remains a very real chance that voter suppression could tip the election outcome. States where such laws remain in place cast 203 electoral votes, or 75 percent of the total needed to win the presidency.

These include the swing states of Florida, Virginia, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Iowa. Last minute appeals from Ohio (which tried to roll back early voting in heavily Democratic counties only) were just turned down by the Supreme Court on Oct. 16, while Pennsylvania saw its photo identification requirement postponed, but contradictory information is still being spread to the public.

Thus, even with formal restrictions rolled back, or in some cases delayed, the chaos, confusion and uncertainty already created may help prevent some voters from casting a vote—even above and beyond the 7 million who were kept from voting in 2008.

This brings us back to the potentially crucial impacts of Nathan Sproul and True the Vote. Sproul and Associates was involved in questionable, even illegal activities in several states in 2004, along with a second organization, an apparent Sproul shell corporation, Voters Outreach of America.

As Random Lengths reported in the

“Sproul is a sophisticated operator in the Karl Rove mold.”

“When you cry wolf, and there’s no wolf, you undermine your credibility, and you have unjustly inconvenienced a legally registered voter, and that can border on voter intimidation.”

—Republican Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted

The Wolf Who Cried Wolffrom p. 1

Republican Voter Fraud/ to p. 22

Nathan Sproul, former Arizona Republican Party chairman, was fired by the RNC for allegedly ille-gal voter registration fraud, then rehired by them under another name.

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“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do some-

thing about it.”

Columnists/ReportersLyn Jensen CarsonB. Noel Barr Music DudeJohn Farrell Curtain CallGretchen Williams EntréeAndrea Serna Arts WriterMalina Paris Culture WriterKevin Walker Community NewsTami Jackson Community News

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Calendar 14days@randomlengthsnews.com

PhotographersTerelle Jerricks, Slobodan Dimitrov, Robin Doyno, Betty Guevarra

CartoonistsAnn Cleaves, Andy Singer, Matt Wuerker

Random Lengths News editorial office is located at 1300 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA 90731, (310) 519-1016. Address correspondence regarding news items and news tips only to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email to editor @randomlengthsnews.com.Send Letters to the Editor or requests for subscription information to james @randomlengthsnews.com. To be considered for publication, all Letters to the Editor should be typewritten, must be signed, with address and phone number included (these will not be published, but for verification only) and be kept to about 250 words. To submit advertising copy email adv@randomelengthsnews.com or reads@randomlengthsnews.com.Extra copies and back issues are available by mail for $3 per copy while supplies last. Subscriptions are available for $35 per year for 27 issues.Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We wel-come articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right to express those opinions. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Reporting Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2012 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.

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—Mark TwainVol. XXXIII : No. 21

Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communi-ties of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations throughout the seven cities of the Harbor Area.www.randomlengthsnews.com

Contributors Danny Simon, Arthur R. Vinsel

PROPOSITION 32 – Political contributions by payroll deduction. Initiative statute. If enacted, it will:

Ban both corporate and union contributions to state and local candidates,

Ban contributions by government contractors to the politicians who control contracts awarded to them,

Ban automatic deductions by corporations, unions, and government of employees’ wages to be used for politics.

Vote No: Political Action Committees and Super Political Action Committees utilized by wealthy individuals and corporations can contin-ue contributing unlimited sums of money to state and local candidates. This law is intended to clip the wings of labor organizers and reducing the clout of organized workers. Those in favor of this proposition include the Lincoln Club of Orange County, which boasts of having a large role in getting the Citizens United case to the Supreme Court. Opposed: Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Chris Dombrowski, No on 32 campaign.

PROPOSITION 33—Auto insurance prices based on driver’s history of insurance coverage. Initiative statute. If enacted, it will:

Allow insurers to offer discounts to new cus-tomers who can prove they were continuously covered by any licensed auto insurance company over the previous five years. These discounts are known as “persistency discounts” or “loyalty dis-counts” and under current California law, insur-

ance companies can only offer them to existing customers.

Vote No: This is Mercury Insurance’s George Joseph’s Holy Grail that he’s been try-ing to achieve since the passage of Prop. 103 that reigned wild west nature of the auto insurance market. If auto insurance companies are allowed to give steep discounts to continuously insured drivers, the costs has to be made up somewhere. That will likely mean the burden will fall on first time drivers and poor people. This could lead to a situation where these drivers go without insur-ance and simply purchase cheap used cars every time their cars are impounded for non-compli-ance. Also opposed: Brian Stedge of Consumer Watchdog, Richard Holober, Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California, and California Democratic Party.

PROPOSITION 34—Repeal death penalty. Initiative statute.

Repeals death penalty and replaces it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Applies retroactively to existing death sentences. Directs $100 million to law enforcement agen-cies for investigations of homicide and rape cases. Fiscal Impact: Ongoing state and county criminal justice savings of about $130 million annually within a few years, which could vary by tens of millions of dollars. One-time state costs of $100 million for local law enforcement grants. Supporters: Steve Smith YES on 34—SAFE California Campaign, Jeanne Woodford, former

STATEWIDE MEASURESEditor’s Note: Below is the second installment of ballot initiatives on Nov. 6 general election. We will

publish a recap Random Lengths’ positions in the next edition, which is the last before the election.

t is quite curious how our national debates have come to resemble reality TV shows and boxing matches.

As Gov. Mitt Romney, the challenger, and President Barack Obama, the champion, circled each other on the floor like boxers in a ring, each debate was charac-terized as 90-minute rounds. After-wards, pundits sounded like sports-

ten to the true causes and the real culprits of the Great Recession. And, Romney is not at the top of my list of people I’d trust to do it either.

The election comes down to this: Are you go-ing vote for those who will protect the interests

of the vast working class majority or are you misguided enough to vote for the people who tanked the economy and subscribe to the “I’ve got mine” principle of laissez-faire economics?

My critics on the right like to call me and Obama socialists, or worse. But I’d like to remind those who think that working for the common good is some kind of socialist ideol-ogy that it was the founding fathers

of this republic who used the Latin phrase “e pluribus unum,” Out of many, one. Originally, this suggested the emergence of a single nation out of many colonies or states. In recent years, it has come to suggest that out of many peoples, races, religions and ancestries has emerged a sin-gle people and nation—illustrating the concept of the melting pot. It also reminds us that we are stronger united and not divided, as we have been many times over the course of our history.

I’d like to think that the majority of our citi-zens still understand this concept of enlightened self-interest that is enshrined on our national seal. Clearly the decline in public education, the dumbing down of the electorate with false infor-mation and the emphasis on “In God We Trust” (which was added to our currency during the Mc-Carthy era) has overwhelmed our common sense. Have we become too stupid to see through Rom-ney’s shameless hucksterism for money rather than the material well being of ourselves or our country?

So if you are still one of those who are con-fused after all these debates and confusing televi-sion ads, let me give you some sage advice: One of the most important lessons I have learned in the last 35 years of doing business is that when someone tells you to “trust me,” like Romney says with his secret tax plan, protect your wallet because you’re about to get robbed. And that’s what it comes down to with the Romney-Ryan tax plan.

casters deconstructing a fight in their instant commentary. Ring-side, fans rally their champion and bash the opponent on Face-book and Twitter. Nielson-wire reported that 67.2 million tuned in to watch after the first debate. We should devise a point system like we have in boxing to determine a winner when there aren’t any knockdowns or knockouts. It was clear Obama won the second debate, but there was no K.O.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: you can never ask enough questions to de-termine what a candidate will do once in of-fice and has to face real-life decisions. From either candidate, we only have a record of their past actions that says anything about their true character. Romney clearly repre-sents the elite money class. His résumé at Bain Capital speaks volumes. Obama’s pop-ulist-progressive leanings are explained by his background as a community organizer. Both want to appear to be centrists, but the question of the day seems to be, “Where is the center of American politics today?”

The decision at the polling booth couldn’t be clearer this time around. Do the voters want to return to the failed “trickle-down” economics of the Reagan-Bush era and the endless war theory of Bush-Cheney? Or, do we move forward with the policies that we know have worked before—solutions de-rived from the New Deal era? Obviously, the Wall Street bankers don’t want more regula-tions. But after their most recent economic blowout, who could possibly trust them to exercise ethical restraint or even good judge-ment? Even now, we still haven’t really got-

After the Debates Are OverDoes America still understand the concept of enlightened self interest?By James Preston Allen, Publisher

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RANDOMLetters

Community AnnouncementBNSF SCIG Railyard Hearing

Public comments are being taken at the BNSF Southern California International Gate-way Public Hearing, from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 18, at Banning’s Landing in Wilmington. Mem-bers of 20 organizations op-posed to the project will hold a demonstration outside.

The Port of Los Angeles has recirculated some of the chap-ters from the BNSF SCIG Draft Environmental Impact Report released in September 2011. Significant new information added and changes include a 2010 baseline analysis, 50-year operations period for the gateway, use of the 2009 San Pedro Bay Ports cargo demand forecast, updated air quality models and traffic, noise and census data. But the proposed location has not changed and the toxic railyard would still be built next to schools and homes.

Stakeholders have up to Nov. 9 to comment on this proj-ect. Written comments should be sent to Christopher Can-non, Director of Environmental Management Division, 425 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731 or via e-mail to ceqa-comments@portla.org. E-mail comments should include the project title in the subject line and a valid mailing address within the email. Comment letters must be postmarked by Nov. 9. For additional infor-mation, please contact Lisa Ochsner, CEQA Supervisor at (310) 732-3675.Details: (562) 888-1683 (com-munity opposition)Venue: Banning’s LandingLocation: 100 E. Water St., Wilmington

Wilmington Exposed to West Nile Virus—Councilman Buscaino Can Fix It, but Will He?

Children involved in the Wilm-ington Pilot football and cheer pro-gram work hard. The substandard practice conditions they endure are testament to the fact. Now they have another obstacle. They must risk contracting West Nile Virus in order to complete this season of the sport they love. Here are the facts:

On Oct. 3, 2012, Council-man Buscaino met with over 300 Wilmington residents ostensibly about a new park in east Wilming-ton that may or may not ever be built. The crowd was a confusing sight—simultaneously beautiful and horrific. Two hundred wonder-ful children, their caring parents and concerned Wilmington resi-dents were there on a night when the children should have been practicing for gameday on Sat-urday to make the memories that will propel them to a better future. Instead, they were at this dog-and-

pony-show hoping to get some relief from L.A. City government as they face down a tri-fold public health threat.

Is Wilmington a toxic zone (à la Three Mile Island) where youth cannot play football without risk-ing of contracting West Nile Virus, extreme risk of broken bones and contusions due to the condition of field for over 9 years and breathing problems due to same dustbowl? We hope not and that is why the people showed up and faced down Joe Buscaino. He had no answers for the mostly brown faces as to why they are sporting bandages and dust masks and cringe when-ever they hear about West Nile Virus on the news as they itch all over from multiple bites from a mosquito that may have the bug.

Buscaino can fix this problem overnight by insisting that the Ban-ning High baseball field be made available to these kids now.

Paul PereiraWilmington

San Pedro “In the Picture”

Just saw some breathtaking footage shot in San Pedro at the Cinerama Dome. “In the Picture” is the last 3-strip Cinerama film to be made—finished this year, shot in the vintage super widescreen process using vintage equipment. The travelogue is filmed in South-ern California locations from Grif-fith Park to San Pedro Bay—with a good portion of the film shot of/from the Exy Johnson and Irving Johnson featuring the youth Top-Sail program. Many folks from the TopSail and Cabrillo Marina where in the audience—as were cast and crew a number of industry folks (by happenstance I sat next to Leonard Maltin). This is the first film shot in Cinerama in 50 years.

There are three or four more screenings of the film as a short be-fore other Cinerama features at the Arclight Cinerama Dome through Wednesday of next week.

The film was accompanied by a documentary on the making of the film—and the making of documen-tary may have been longer than the film itself. That documentary, of course, also featured footage taken in the harbor, past Angels Gate and out to sea.

The dialogue and acting of “In The Picture” is corny and cheesy—deliberately a throwback to the 1950s travelogue style.

Tom PoliteoSan Pedro

The Bell Has Tolled After nearly 47 years and in

some cases your So Cal Gas liai-son for the past 26+ years, I have elected to retire. All is good in this decision and it was a great run. The short-term plan is to decompress over the holidays. In 2013 will come a personal reassessment on what/where/when I shall go. That is, once MY projects are done! As the resident problem-solver of the gas world, it is simply time to solve a few of my own.

While my last day here is pro-jected to be Oct. 19, I suspect there will be news on my replacement

early in the New Year. It’s been a blast! Hmmm, may-

be I should rephrase that…FUN. In any case, I will be around, just wearing a different hat. I look for-ward to our paths crossing again. A reception is planned for Oct. 27, 3 p.m. in Torrance. Details and flyer coming.

Dennis C. LordPublic Affairs Manager

The Gas Company“Glad to be of Service”

Off the Wall“What’s on my mind? No

matter what Romney comes up with in the first debate, there is no evidence, in his acts and in words, that he is in any way qualified to represent the American people. My advice to Obama: pay homage to the professionalism of Romney’s debate preparers and the quality of his so-called zingers (if merited, we’ll see), then cite Romney’s re-cord. It’s the most devastating evi-dence there is. Hoping the RNC’s craven, undemocratic attempt to swing the election through gaming the system with closeted neo-Jim Crow actions will not go unmen-tioned.

The RNC has attempted to preempt criticism by firing their fraudulent voter registration con-tractor—yeah, nice, but geez… isn’t the idea of disenfranchising people the ultimate undemocratic act? Truly craven…How ironic that the party so worried about voter fraud would prove to be the only fraudulent force out there. And Romney, the puppet of neo-con puppeteers on foreign policy is a joke. God help us, whatever God happens to be listening. They say people vote their pocketbook. If you follow that logic people will vote democracy right out the win-dow. The upside is, the American people seem to see through all the shenanigans and that is heartening. So ask me how I really feel.

William Below Paris, France

Point Vista ProjectWhat San Pedro needs is a

golf course with a clubhouse and pro shop. A course designed by a professional! Major tournaments could be held here such as the U.S. Open. San Pedro could be another Pebble Beach with Rolling Hills course and P.V. Estates included.

If 1 Star Financial, Inc. would develop this it would grow as a moneymaker with the years, not a one-shot housing development. It would be good for all industries in San Pedro as the USS Iowa is. I’m sure the San Pedro Cham-ber of Commerce would love it. Check with City Councilman Joe Buscaino and Janice Hahn for positive output. There is a base of dockworkers, men and women, to start the membership. Let’s move forward with the 1 Star Finan-cial, Inc. Think of Western Ave, “a beautiful open space,” with far less traffic and while we are at it, let’s take San Pedro back from LA and see our waterfront bloom when the profits are spent at home, not in East LA. Take a look at Long Beach waterfront that spends some of their profits there.

Mary Ellen OlsenSan Pedro

Thank YouThank you for your newspaper!

Please find my renewal, although, it does not seem a year since I started my subscription. However, I do not want to risk not receiving it. Also kudos for your article, AT LENGTH, in your August 10-23 issue titled “Remembering Our Fu-ture, Imagining Our Past.” I only lived in San Pedro for a short time in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, but always loved your paper and still do today. It helps me stay con-nected to San Pedro and the Harbor Area of which I am so fond.

Well, I must keep this note short or pay higher postage. Bon-sai! Please keep the local news and all of your wonderful comments coming. I may be remembered

from the times I spent with the Ki-wanis Club in San Pedro.

Here is to me visiting in the near future. Keep up the honest news.

Steven MeyerDenver, CO

ILWU Joins Alex’s Lemonade Stand

Random Lengths was kind enough to publish an article about our recent fundraiser. Our char-ity effort needs publicity and ap-preciates the coverage. When one begins an important project it is best to start by getting people to-gether and setting targets. The ILWU Walk the Coast Committee in Southern California did exactly that. The Committee set goals for

the San Pedro portion of the inau-gural ILWU Walk the Coast charity event. Committee members from Locals 13, 63 and 94 chose to work with the community in an effort to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. This is a char-ity founded by 4-year-old Alex-andra Scott—Alex. While Alex was in treatment for her serious illness, neuroblastoma, Alex told her mother that after she got out of the hospital she would hold a lemonade sale and raise money for other children. Alex raised $1,000 with her lemonade stand. Word of her unselfish undertaking spread. By the time Alex succumbed to her disease at age 8, she had raised over $1,000,000. Beautiful Alex

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country. The company has worked aggressively to stay a non-union workplace.

Non-union workers, as well as unionized employees have the right to concertedly walk off the job in protest. Whether employers can legally permanently replace striking workers (effectively terminating them) depends on whether a strike is ruled to have been in protest of unfair labor practices, and whether the workers offered to come back before the company had hired replacements.

RPV To Take More Active Role vs. Rancho LPG

On Oct. 16, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council engaged in a prolonged deliberation ”options for responding to community concerns regarding the Rancho LPG butane storage facility.”

“Border Issues” involving neighboring jurisdictions—usually proposed new

developments—is a regular part of Rancho Palos Verdes council business.

A released staff report noted, “that truly independent, peer-reviewed risk assessment of the facility conducted by a reputable and experienced engineering firm might serve to address community concerns about the facility.”

City Council staff presented five options to help structure council deliberations, ranging from dropping the issue entirely to becoming a lead appellant and/or plaintiff to “challenge any entitlement, permit or other action granted by the City of Los Angeles or some other agency.”

Rancho LPG has long promoted the impression that a definitive review already existed, in the form of a study from Michigan Tech University. However, homeowner activist Janet Gunter brought a letter from Michigan Tech, underscoring activists’ criticism that the study is merely the private consulting work of a chemistry professor without expertise in civil engineering or seismic studies, both of which are crucial issues for any comprehensive risk analysis.

The council opted to take a more proactive role, together with other jurisdictions, though stopping short of commissioning its own study, which staff estimated could cost $25,000 to $50,000.

from p. 6

was our inspiration to set a coal of $25,000 for our August 11th fund-raiser. ILWU Walk the Coast Com-mittee is proud to announce that the union and the community met that goal. In fact, we went well be-yond. Working together we raised $75,000!

This accomplishment had two great partners, our union and our community. No one person is responsible. It was a tremendous team effort with many entitled to thank. With so many contributors it is impossible to list everyone here. We don’t want to leave even one person off what is a long list. We must however acknowledge some people and organizations that were absolutely instrumental in the suc-cess of the day. Alex’s parents, Liz and Jay Scott co-chair the wonder-ful charity that gives the opportu-nity to help children. The ILWU Southern California Pensioners provided funds for expenses. Their backing allowed 100 percent of donations to go directly to ALSF. ILWU President Bob McEllrath supported the coastwise effort. We owe a lot to SSA for allowing

the free use of their Outer Harbor warehouse. All three locals—13, 63 and 94 donated money and re-sources.

Dan ImbagliazzoChairman ILWU Walk

the Coast CommitteeRancho Palos Verdes

Watch Your Wallets and Purses

California’s open government laws provide for public access to records of taxpayer-funded insti-tutions such as school districts. However, when recently petitioned to provide documents related to LAUSD’s plan for its Workforce Development and Adult Education programs the District denied the request citing an obscure code sec-tion that permits denial when the institution believes that the public interests is best served by non dis-closure.

They need only note that on July 1st, 2012, LAUSD drained hundred of millions of dollars out of Workforce Development and Adult Education accounts and in-fused them into the K-12 system.

On that date LAUSD effec-tively expelled hundreds of thou-sands of poor and unemployed

adult learners—further disenfran-chising those most in need. And on that date LAUSD sent hundreds of its mid-level administrators and thousands of its Workforce De-velopment and Adult Educations instructors out to stand heel-to-toe with their former students in the County’s archipelago of stagnant unemployment lines.

At the polls on November 6, taxpayers need only recall that Su-perintendent Cortines shepherded all LAUSD programs, includ-ing Workforce Development and Adult Education, through the dark-est days of the economic meltdown and delivered them in tact to the current administration—and that LAUSD’S fiscal situation has im-proved not worsened since then.

Behind closed doors LAUSD’s Administration is executing a plan to do les with more while continu-ing to cry poor, and they believe it’s in your best interest not to know–certainly not before November 6.

Will a vote for Proposition 30 restore programs for those most in need

No. Ed MorrisLong Beach

Warden of San Quentin State Prison, Jennifer A. Waggoner, president of the League of Women Voters of California.

Vote Yes: In the months leading up to the June 5 primary, candidates running for Los Angeles County’s District Attorney’s office whom Ran-dom Lengths interviewed, repeatedly remarked on the flaws in California’s use of the death pen-alty—not on the grounds that there aren’t those that deserved the ultimate penalty, but on the grounds that the statute is costly in maintaining the integrity of California’s justice system.

PROPOSITION 35—Human trafficking. Ini-tiative statute.

Increases prison sentences and fines for hu-man trafficking convictions. Requires convicted human traffickers to register as sex offenders. Requires registered sex offenders to disclose In-ternet activities and identities.

Vote Yes. Supporters: Kristine Kil, Leah Albright-Byrd,

Withelma Ortiz and Carissa Phelps, survivors of human trafficking, Marc Klaas, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Jackie Speier, Planned Parenthood, NOW, the Califor-nia Labor Federation, Crime Victims United of California, Peace Officers Research Association of California, the California Fraternal Order of Police, the National Latino Peace Officers Asso-ciation (State of California), the California Asso-ciation of Highway Patrolmen, and the California Police Chiefs Association.

PROPOSITION 36—Revises Three Strikes law. Initiative statute.

Revises law to impose life sentence only when new felony conviction is serious or violent. May authorize re-sentencing if third strike con-viction was not serious or violent. Fiscal Impact: Ongoing state correctional savings of around $70 million annually, with even greater savings (up to $90 million) within the next couple of decades. These savings could vary significantly depending

on future state actions.Vote Yes: This is a much needed fix to a

law that’s done more to incarcerate minor of-fense criminals, resulting in massive increases in spending on California’s penal system. Support-ers: Steve Cooley, L.A. County district attorney, George Gascon, district attorney for San Fran-cisco, David Mills, professor at Stanford Law School, Jeffrey F. Rosen, district attorney for Santa Clara County, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.

PROPOSITION 37—Genetically engineered food labeling. Initiative statute.

Requires labeling of food sold to consumers made from plants or animals with genetic mate-rial changed in specified ways. Prohibits market-ing such food, or other processed food, as “natu-ral.” Provides exemptions.

Fiscal Impact: Increased annual state costs from a few hundred thousand dollars to over $1 million to regulate the labeling of genetically engineered foods. Additional, but likely not sig-nificant, governmental costs to address violations under the measure.

Vote Yes: See the Ari le Vaux column on pg. 12. Organic Consumers’ Association, Nature’s Path, The Institute for Responsible Technology, the California Democratic Party

PROPOSITION 38—Tax to fund education and early childhood programs. Initiative statute.

Increases taxes on earnings using sliding scale for 12 years. Revenues go to K–12 schools and early childhood programs, and for four years to repaying state debt.

Fiscal Impact: Increased state tax revenues for 12 years—roughly $10 billion annually in initial years, tending to grow over time. Funds used for schools, childcare and preschool, as well as providing savings on state debt payments.

A Lukewarm Yes: We give it a lukewarm yes only because it would provide more funding for schools. The problem, however, is that this proposition will not keep the budget axe at bay since funding from Prop. 38 will only start in the 2013-14 fiscal year, while Gov. Jerry Brown’s Prop. 30 will kick in this current tax year. Also, if Prop. 38 winds up getting more votes than Prop.

30, then money for public safety, namely the Governor’s realignment plan that shifted nonvio-lent offenders to County facilities, will be left in a lurch. It’s important that voters remember that Brown was elected to solve California’s systemic budget deficits. There shouldn’t be any surprise that he chose a systemic solution. Supporters: Pasadena lawyer Molly Munger, the California State Parents Teacher Association, actor Edward James Olmos, Arun Ramanathan, executive di-rector of Education Trust-West.

PROPOSITION 39—Tax treatment for multi-state businesses. Clean energy and energy effi-ciency funding. Initiative statute.

Requires multi-state businesses to pay in-come taxes based on percentage of their sales in California. Dedicates revenues for five years to clean/efficient energy projects.

Fiscal Impact: Increased state revenues of $1 billion annually, with half of the revenues within the next five years spent on energy efficiency projects. Of the remaining revenues, a significant portion likely would be spent on schools.

Vote Yes: Every little bit counts. Supporters: Yes on 39—Californians to Close the Out-of-State Corporate Tax Loophole

PROPOSITION 40—Redistricting. State Sen-ate districts. Referendum.

A “Yes” vote approves and a “No” vote re-jects new State Senate districts drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission. If rejected, districts will be adjusted by officials supervised by the California Supreme Court.

Fiscal Impact: Approving the referendum would have no fiscal impact on the state and local governments. Rejecting the referendum would result in a one-time cost of about $1 million to the state and counties.

Emphatic Vote Yes: Allowing a citizens Redistricting Commission to redraw state sen-ate districts was a Republican idea. When things didn’t go their way, they decided to launch a bal-lot initiative to overturn it. When the courts ruled that the redrawn senate districts were valid, the sponsors of this proposition walked away from this initiative.

RANDOMLettersfrom p. 9

State Measuresfrom p. 9

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October 19 – Novem

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by: Melina Paris, Music Writer & Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

Misbehavin’ to page 18.

Amber mercome: She’S JuSt Fine repriSing ArmeliA mcQueen’S role

It’s amazing that the Ain’t Misbehavin’ musical revue was only resurrected after playwright and director Murray Horwitz invited his friend, theater director and producer, Richard Maltby Jr. to listen to an old Fats Waller record he discovered.

When the revue was staged in 1978, the Harlem Renaissance had largely faded from the public’s consciousness.

Within its first four weeks, this musical revue won almost every award a musical can win in a Broadway season. Ain’t Misbehavin’ garnered Best Musical from the Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, the Outer Critics Circle Awards and the Drama Desk Awards. It even snagged three Tony Awards.

In the Broadway production the actor’s real names were used for their character names, which included: Nell Carter, André DeShields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page, and Charlayne Woodard are used. In a nod back to the original production, director Saundra McClain has done the same for the current International City Theater production that runs until Nov. 4.

In this production, San Pedro resident Amber Mercome reprises the role played by Armelia McQueen. Mercome notes that no one has seen Ain’t Misbehavin quite like this current production.

“I really appreciate the stories our director Saundra McClain has interwoven in this production,” Mercome said. “It’s genius.”

Originally the show was just a revue where the singers come out sing their number. There is little story to it, one song would lead right into another. In this production, McClain woven in character development where there wasn’t.

“I have a relationship with a male character that comes back later in the story,” Mercome explained. “It’s amazing that she could create that with just blocking and staging alone.”

Mercome’s preparation included studying the original Broadway production of the revue as well as many of the following productions

Amber Mercome reprises the role of Amelia McQueen from the first run of Ain’t Misbehavin in 1978. Photo by Suzanne Mapes

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The Loft GalleryPortraits: Works by L.A. Assemblage GroupOpen Studios: Candice Gawne, Carol Hungerford, Sam Arno, Daniel Porras Murial Olguin, Jan Govaerts, Anne Marie Rawlinson, & Nancy Towne Schultz401 S. Mesa St. • 310.831.5757 • Open 6–9pm & by appt.

Gallery 345Gloria D Lee and Pat Wooley continue to show new works and other work including retablos and celebrate Day of the Dead. 1st Thursday 6-9pm and by appointment. Artsail@roadrunner and 310 545 0832.• 345 W. 7th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731

Richard A. Lopez Art StudioCelebrating Dia de los Muertos, First Thursday Art WalkGrand Opening Art Sale, 35 - 50% Off • Nov. 1 - 4thHours: Thurs. & Fri. 6-9 pm, Sat. 11 am-7pm, Sun. 12-5 pm372 W. 7th St., San Pedro 90731 • 562.370.7883 or 562.438.4938ralopezart.com

Michael Stearns StudioMichael Stearns Studios is showing mixed media sculptures and altar pieces in a show titled “Loss, Memories, and Changes.” Much of the work is based on veteran issues which relate to Stearns service during Vietnam and certainly apply in today’s world. Open 1st Thursday Art Walk, by appointment, or by chance. 347 W. 7th St. • 562.400.0544 • Michaelstearnsstudio.com

310-832-6474309 W. 7th St., San Pedro

310-832-6474309 W. 7th St., San Pedro

With RLn Coupon. Not combinable with any other offer. Expires 11-02-12

With RLn Coupon. Not combinable with any other offer. Expires 11-02-12

Free CoffeeWith Purchase of Any Strudel

20% OFFPumpkin, Apple & Cranberry Strudel!

302 W. 7th Street • 310. 833.1589

–Entertainment Calendar–

– www.godmotherssaloon.com –

Karaoke Every Tuesday at 8pm with AmoretteJazz Jam every Wednesday 7 - 11pm

AzureAWOLMama’s BoysTJ RoxxMLC BandRick’s JamnesiaLonghorns

7pm

9pm

9pm

9pm

9pm

9pm

9pm

Thurs 11/1Fri 11/2Fri 11/9Sat 11/10Fri 11/16Sat 11/17Fri 11/23

First

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Request For Proposals – HEALTH CARE GRANT PROGRAM, ROUND 2— Deadline Nov. 30, 2012Harbor Community Benefit Foundation

(HCBF) is pleased to announce the availability of $750,000 in funding for its Health Care Grant Program, Round 2. A Request For Proposals (RFP) is available on line: www.hcbf.org/projects

Williams’ Book Store

williamsbooks@aol.comwww.williamsbookstore.com

443 W. 6th St. • 310-832-3631

BOOK SIGNING & ReadingNov 1st • 6:30-8:30 pm

“The Storm From Hell” & “How to Yard Sale” by: Enock Lynn Norrmon

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by: Ari Le Vaux, Syndicated Columnist

The Dinner Party Is On The Ballot

Aside from the presidential election, California’s Proposition 37 may turn out to be the most important national issue decided on Nov. 6.

The ballot initiative, which would require labeling of food that includes genetically modified organisms, is significant on many levels. In part, of course, it’s a referendum on the public’s desire and trust for genetically modified organisms. But it could also be cast purely as a right to know issue.

It’s also a study in the relative power of money and people in politics. Nationwide, polls

consistently show that 90 percent of the population wants genetically modified organism labeling, and the percentage is higher in California. But support for Prop. 37 itself is currently polling between 60 to 70 percent. The difference, we can assume, at least in part, result from Prop. 37 supporters being outspent by the opposition $35 million to $4 million. Whether Prop. 37 passes or fails it will say more about money in politics than the value or danger of genetically modified food.

Monsanto, a multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation that is a leading producer of the herbicide glyphosate and also

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• Happy Hour •ANNouNcEmENT—JuNE’S BAr HAS rEmodELEd ANd rEopENEd.June’s Bar • Happy Hour: Mon. to Fri., 4 to 7 p.m. $1.00 Off drinks. 310-521-9804, 1100 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro. In the previous edition the incorrect phone number was published. The correct number is 310-521-9804.

Blu Bar at crowne plaza • $4 Drinks and half off appetizers. (310) 519-8200, 601 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro

The chowder Barge • Try the 34oz. cap-tain’s mug! (310) 830-7937, 611 N. Henry Ford, Leeward Bay Marina, Wilmington

Godmother’s Saloon • Live jazz from Mike Guerrero Trio: 7 p.m. every Wed. (310) 833-1589, 302 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Iron city Tavern • Happy Hour 1/2-price appetizers & drink specials: 4 to 6 p.m. Mon. to Fri. 589 W. 9th St., San Pedro; (310) 547-4766

ports o’ call • Happy Hour: Mon. to Fri., 3 to 8 p.m. Taco Tuesdays. Oyster shooter & bloody mary Wednesdays. (310) 833-3553, Berth 76 Ports O’ Call Village, San Pedro

San pedro Brewing co. • Happy Hour: 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., Mon. to Fri. (310) 831-5663, 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Whale & Ale • Happy Hour: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mon to Fri., 4 to 7 p.m. on Wed. Late Night Happy Hour: 10 p.m. to Midnight, Fri. Only. (310) 832-0363, 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Happy Hour Listings Are Paid Advertising

Día de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition with ancient roots, dating to the Aztec and Mayan populations in Latin America. Although it is a “pagan” holiday the Catholic Church, as they have been known to do, connected the celebration to their church holidays of All Souls Day and All Saints Day. For hundreds of years this holiday was unknown in the United States, but thanks in large part to the wave of immigration from Mexico, it has been adopted with enthusiasm by Americans. The holiday coincides with our celebration of Halloween, but in contrast, celebrates the connections to the departed loved ones. Each year there are more local festivals marking this holiday. Most are small and intimate, marked by families honoring the memories of their lost relations. More and more the celebrations are taking on the flavor of the traditional Latin American festivals. Here are a few suggestions which should keep you part of the celebration this year:

día de los muertos Festival at the WaterfrontOn Nov. 1, 6th Street between Pacific Avenue and Mesa Street will be filled with the sounds of traditional and contemporary Latin-American performers including Aztec dancers, mariachi, folklorico dancers and members of the Grammy Award winning Mariachi Divas. Organizers promise altars, strolling musicians, local color and delicious Latin American cuisine and international offerings from dozens of San Pedro’s great Downtown restaurants. This event takes place at 3:30–10 p.m.details: sanpedrodayofthedead.comVenue: Downtown San Pedro Location: 400 block of 6th St., San Pedro

Azul’s día de los muertos ExhibitGallery Azul has a long history of celebrating Day of the Dead and providing education and insight to the San Pedro community about this ancient Mexican festival. This year they celebrate in a new, downsized gallery. Exhibition will be small works restricted to 5 by 7 inches, all depicting the celebration of departed loved ones. details: galleryazul.comVenue: Gallery AzulLocation: 520 W. 8th St., San Pedro

day of the dead concertThe Museum of Latin American Art celebrates Day of the Dead with a rockabilly concert lineup that is sure to please the local hipster population. They even throw in a little pachuco styling for good luck. High-Strung Ramblers, the Rhythm Shakers and Pachucho Jose y Los Díamantes promise to get you up dancing at this next generation celebration of Day of the Dead. Members $10, non-members $15. This event takes place at 11 a.m. October 28.details: molaa.orgVenue: Museum of Latin American ArtLocation: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach

día de los muertos celebration olvera StyleCelebrate Día de los Muertos with your gente. For a taste of old Mexico go to Olvera Street. The Olvera Street Merchants will host their annual Día de los Muertos celebration from Oct. 25 through Nov. 4, at El Pueblo Historical Monument. Street performances, children’s workshops, mariachis, and authentic Novenarios processions held each night beginning at 7 p.m.details: (213) 625-7074Venue: Olvera StreetLocation: 125 Paseo de la Plaza, Los Angeles

día de los muertos at Hollywood Forever cemeteryCelebrate Day of the Dead the way it was meant to be done, — in a cemetery! This is the big boy, the granddaddy of the festivals. Although locals in the local Mexican communities have celebrated this day for generations, Hollywood Forever really lit the fire for the recent craze that has swept across the American culture. Dress in costume, bring a camera, prepare for a huge crowd. This year Los Angeles culture mashers Ozomatli will be performing, along with La Santa Cecilia, Very Be Careful, Las Cafeteras and Tribu. All that and much, much more. Gates open on Oct. 27 at 12 p.m. and close at 12 a.m. details: ladayofthedead.com Venue: Hollywood Forever CemeteryLocation: 6000 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood

Día De Los Muertos in the HarborCompiled by: Andrea Serna, Art Writer

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BIG NIck’S pIzzATradition, variety

and fast delivery; you get it all at Big Nick’s Pizza. The best selection of Italian specialties include hear ty calzones, an array of pastas and of course, our amazing selection of signature pizzas,

each piled high with the freshest toppings. Like wings or greens? We also offer an excellent selection of appetizers, salads, beer and wine. Call for fast delivery. Hours: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 10 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat. 1110 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 732-5800

BoArdWALk GrILLC a s u a l

w a t e r f r o n t dining at i ts finest! Famous fo r s labs o f Chicago-style baby back ribs, f i sh -n -ch ips ,

rich clam chowder, cold beer on tap and wine. Full lunch menu also includes salads, sandwiches and burgers. Indoor and outdoor patio dining available. Proudly pouring Starbucks coffee. Open 7 days a week. Free Parking. 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 519-7551

BuoNo’S AuTHENTIc pIzzErIAA San Pedro

landmark for over 40 years, famous for exceptional award-winning pizza baked in b r i c k o v e n s . B u o n o ’ s a l s o of fe rs c lass ic

Italian dishes and sauces based on tried-and-true family recipes and hand-selected ingredients that are prepared fresh. You can dine-in or take-out. Delivery and catering are also provided. Additionally, there are two locations in Long Beach. Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. 1432 S. Gaffey St., San Pedro • (310) 547-0655 www.buonospizza.com

THE cHoWdEr BArGEL.A. Harbor’s

famous floating r e s t a u r a n t , surrounded by boats in Leeward Bay Marina. Dine inside by our fire place, or outside on our deck. This unique spot ser ves g reat s a n d w i c h e s , burgers, fish &

chips, wings and of course, the BEST clam chowder anywhere! Try our sourdough bread bowl and daily specials. Wine and beer on tap or by the bottle, featuring our 34oz Captains Mug! The new owners have kept the “funkiness” of the old barge, and stepped it up several notches. Watch the games on our big screen TVs, utilize our WiFi and enjoy our XM tunes. THE place for your next party. Hours: Mon, Tues 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Wed, Thurs 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Fri, Sat, Sun 9 a.m.–8 p.m. 611 N. Henry Ford, (at Anaheim) Leeward Bay Marina, Wilmington • (310) 830-7937 www.ChowderBarge.com

IroN cITY TAVErNIron City fea-tures a newly renovated din-ing room and wonderfully re-stored bar in a modern setting. The most com-

fortable gastropub in San Pedro, Iron City offers casual dining for lunch and dinner with food service at the bar. Catch all sporting events on seven 50” screens in surround sound and listen to your favorite tunes on our internet jukebox. (Iron City is a supporter of the Black & Gold.) Iron City features authentic Philly cheese steaks, various hot sandwiches and burgers, calamari steaks and a variety of Italian pasta dishes. Hours:10:30 a.m.-2a.m. 7 days a week. Happy hour from 4-6 p.m. featuring 1/2 priced appetiz-ers and drink specials. Free parking in rear. 589 W. 9th St., San Pedro • (310) 547-4766

mISHI’S STrudEL BAkErY Mishi’s is a fragrant landmark on 7th Street, where it is possible to find Nirvana by following your nose. The enticing aroma of baking strudel is impossible to resist, and the darling café is warm and welcoming like your favorite auntie’s house.

Aniko and Mishi have expanded the menu to include homemade goulash soup and a variety of sweet and savory Hungarian strudels, crepes and pastas. The best indulgence is taking a frozen strudel home to bake in your own kitchen and create that heavenly aroma at your house. Mishi’s Strudel Bakery and Café, 309 W.7th St., St., San Pedro • (310) 832-6474 www.mishisstrudel.com

NIko’S pIzzErIADowntown San

Pe d ro ’ s n ewe s t restaurant features a full Italian menu, as well as pizza, and a beer and wine bar. We carry a wide selection of beers on tap and by the

bottle. Watch sporting events on plasma TV screens throughout the restaurant. Delivery service to all of San Pedro, Port locations, and hotels. 399 W. 6th St., San Pedro (at the corner of Mesa and 6th sts.) • (310) 241-1400

porTS o’cALL WATErFroNT dININGSince 1961 we’ve

extended a hear ty welcome to visitors from every corner of the globe. Delight in an awe-inspiring view of the dynamic LA Harbor while enjoying exquisite

Coastal California Cuisine and Varietals. Relax in the Plank Bar or Outdoor Patio for the best Happy Hour on the Waterfront. With the Award-Winning Sunday Champagne Brunch, receive the first SPIRIT CRUISES Harbor Cruise of the day FREE. Open 7 days, lunch and dinner. Free Parking. 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 76, San Pedro • (310) 833-3553 www.Portsocalldining.com

SAN pEdro BrEWING compNAY

SPBC has an eclectic menu featuring pastas, steaks, seafood, sandwiches, salads, delicious appetizers, and great BBQ. Handcrafted ales and lagers are made on the premises. A full bar with made-from-scratch margaritas and a martini menu all add fun to the warm and

friendly atmosphere. WIFI bar connected for Web surfing and e-mail—bring your laptop. Hours: From 11:30 a.m., daily. 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro • (310) 831-5663 www.sanpedrobrewing.com

SpIrIT cruISESA n i n s t a n t

party! Complete with all you need to relax and enjoy while the majesty of the harbor

slips by. Our three yachts and seasoned staff provide for an exquisite excursion every time, and “all-inclusive” pricing makes party planning easy! Dinner Cruise features a 3-course meal, full bar, unlimited cocktails and starlight dancing. Offering the ultimate excursion for any occasion. Free Parking. 1199 Nagoya Way, LA Harbor - Berth 77, San Pedro • (310) 548-8080, (562) 495-5884 www.spiritmarine.com

THINk cAFéThink Café is giving

downtown San Pedro a taste of sophistication for breakfast and lunchtime, and dinner. Located in the heart of downtown on 5th Street, Think Café’ has been a magnet for local s and business types alike for over 15 years.

The special secret of Think Café? Dining outside on the patio. Lovely for latte’ in the morning or soup and salad at midday, the patio is a wonderful rendezvous in the evening, perfect for enjoying a selection from the wine list. The Café’ also boasts a selection of imported beers. Breakfast at the Café’ runs the gamut from bacon and eggs to eggs Benedict, with a wide variety of dishes to awaken the taste buds. Think Café’s sandwiches are hard to beat. 302 W. 5th St. Suite 105, San Pedro • (310) 519-3662

TruSELA’SSouthern Italian & Cali-fornia Cuisine • Bob and Josephine Trusela have been awarded the “Most Promising New Restaurant 2010” award and three stars 2011 and 2012, by the

Southern California Restaurant Writers Association. Catering available for all ocassions. Hours: Sun. 5 p.m.–Close, Lunch: Tues–Fri 11:30–2:30, Dinner: Tues–Sat 5 p.m.–Closing. 28158 S. Western Ave., San Pedro • (310) 547–0993 www.truselas.com

THE WHALE & ALESan Pedro’s

British Gastro Pub offers comfortable d in ing in oak paneled setting, featuring English fish & chips, roast

prime rib, sea bass, rack of lamb, beef Wellington, English pies, venison, salmon, swordfish & vegan/vegetarian dishes. Open for lunch & dinner, 7days/wk; great selection of wines; 14 British tap ales, & full bar. Frequent live Music. First Thursday live band & special fixed price menu. Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri. 11:30 a.m.-midnight Sat. & Sun. 1-10 p.m. Bar open late. 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro • (310) 832-0363 • www.whaleandale.com

To AdVErTISE cALL: (310) 519-1442

—RLn Guide to fine dining—EntertainmentocToBEr 19

Bettman & HalpinBettman & Halpin are an uplifting original folk-Americana-bluegrass duo with jazz and blues influences ranging from up tempo down home fiddlin’ to jazzy torch to heart wrenching ballads, at 8 p.m. Oct. 19, at Alvas Showroom. Tickets are $20. details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom.comVenue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

The china Wife motorsReggae band The China Wife Motors, perform at 10 p.m. Oct. 19, at the San Pedro Brewing Co. Cover is $3. details: www.sanpedrobrewing.comVenue: San Pedro BrewingLocation: 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Jennifer keith Quintet Vocalist and pin-up doll Jennifer Keith stems from Hollywood royalty being the descendant of RKO pictures, at 8 p.m. at Harvelle’s in Long Beach. Two drink minimum.details: http://longbeach.harvelles.comVenue: Harvelle’sLocation: 206 The Promenade N., Long Beach

rick parma and chitown SoulSax man Rick Parma and Chitown Soul is back playing rhythm and blues jams, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19, at the Chophouse. details: http://7thstreetchophouse.comVenue: 7th Street ChophouseLocation: 465 W. 7th St.San Pedro

ocToBEr 20Frank unzueta and one WorldLed by singer-songwriter guitarist Frank Unzueta, One World’s original Latin sound is an exciting blend of hot Latin rhythms, romantic Spanish guitars and sensuous love songs. The band’s dynamic live performances feature music from their latest critically acclaimed CD release, L.A. Mambo and new songs from their new album currently in production. With beautiful vocal harmonies, a thunderous percussion section, a lovely Latin violin and fiery guitars expect Frank Unzueta and One World to bring down the house at every show. Be ready to be Latinized.details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom.comVenue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

oktoberfest at San pedro BrewingCelebrate the fall season with music and specialty craft brews starting at 10 p.m. Oct. 20 at San Pedro Brewing Co. Cover is $3.details: www.sanpedrobrewing.comVenue: San Pedro BrewingLocation: 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro

dW3The Harbor Area’s own soul and rythm and blues band DW3 is back at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20, at the Chophouse. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.details: http://7thstreetchophouse.comVenue: 7th Street ChophouseLocation: 465 W. 7th St.San Pedro

ocToBEr 21russian Bossa Nova...WHITE ForTThe Iron Curtain couldn’t hold out rock ’n’ roll, though, and soon Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles were sharing a gallon of vodka with Mozart and Tchaikovsky. The result? White Fort--a unique hybrid of rock, folk and classical music, propelled by a Russian ethnic pulse and rocket fuel. details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom.comVenue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

ocToBEr 26Joel GainesJoel Gaines performs at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at the 7th Street Chophouse in San Pedro. details: http://7thstreetchophouse.comVenue: 7th Street ChophouseLocation: 465 W. 7th St.San Pedro

matt SLocum TrIoAward-winning New York drummer-composer

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Calendar from page 16.

Calendar to page 18.

COME iN 30s OR 40s COsTUME & WiN A PRizEPeople’s Palace • 365 W. 6th st., san Pedro • 310–547–BFiT (2348)

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www.RandomLengthsNews.comFind Random Lengths News On Facebook and look for the R. Pedro Facebook page for local events. 310-519-1442

and USC alumnus Matt Slocum has emerged as a leading double threat jazz artist of his generation. His trio has earned a reputation as one of the premier modern, yet swinging, emerging ensembles in jazz today. details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom.comVenue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

San pedro Brewing’s 2day Halloween partyOn this two night event, patrons are encouraged to come costumed and ready to boogie starting at 10 p.m. Oct. 26, at the San Pedro Brewing Co. details: www.sanpedrobrewing.comVenue: San Pedro BrewingLocation: 331 W. 6th St., San Pedro

ocToBEr 27denny Seiwell Trio Denny’s Signature Drumming can be heard on records by Art Garfunkel, James Brown, Astrud Gilberto, Deniece Williams, Janis Joplin’s posthumus Farewell Song album, Billy Joel’s Cold Spring Harbor and McCartney’s Ram, Wildlife and Red Rose Speedway albums. Ticket are $20.details: (800) 403-3447; www.alvasshowroom.comVenue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

ThereThere performs at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at DiPiazza’s Lava Lounge in Long Beach. details: (562) 498-2461Venue: diPiazza Restaurant & LoungeLocation: 5205 E. Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach

ocToBEr 27Neil Halstead LiveNeil Halstead will be coming back to celebrate his new release, Palindrome Hunches, at 1 p.m. Oct. 27, at Fingerprints in Long Beach. Full of quietly plucked nylon-stringed guitar, Neil’s sound has much more in common with singer-songwriters like Nick Drake, SunKilMoon and Alexi Murdoch than it does with his musical history, and while he’s recently begun talking about the possibility of a Slowdive reunion, and he even breaks out an acoustic Slowdive cover onNoisetrade, his solo work takes the quiet beauty of Mojave 3 and opens it so wide that it envelopes you; beauty isn’t

Ron Linden of TransVagrant and Warschaw Gallery has acquired a reputation for consistently producing memorable exhibitions in his alternative gallery space on the corner of Pacific Avenue and 6th Street. In his latest curated exhibit, he asks the casual art lover to imagine a painter whose day job consists of long hours forming and shaping various rubber compounds to demanding specifications in a tire shop. This is how Linden describes young sculptor Nate Jones’ work in Industrial / Abstract, which is being featured at TransVagrant and Warschaw Gallery in San Pedro.

Jones grew up in Signal Hill, working in his father’s tire shop, Nate Jones Tires. Surrounded by the durable material his entire life, Jones was challenged in 2004 during his bachelor of fine arts program at Cal State Long Beach to come up with a new expression for his art, which originated in a painting class. Jones tells us he uses tire shavings as “paint” to create abstract expressionist pieces that are painterly, yet not spontaneous, but rather intentional and carefully directed.

Jones connection to his media is deep and visceral, an affinity picked up from working side

by side with his father as a child. The manipulation of the discarded rubber byproduct, mimes his paintings, which are also displayed in this show.

Initially laying down his ideas in pencil and paper, Jones develops his concepts into large scale color infused sculptures, which surprise the visitor with wit, insight and intelligence.

Although his early experiments with the materials are included in this show, Jones presents us with two major themes. Not obviously evident, the young artist has replicated clients from his father’s tire shop in the series titled “Customers.” One piece from this series, which he describes as an abstract portrait, is “Harvey,” a sculpture that depicts the entire arch of a favorite client’s life. Created in two components, approximately 10 feet long, it tells the story of Harvey’s life.

“Harvey essentially takes its profile from a bar graph of a person’s life,” Jones says. “Harvey was a World War II fighter pilot. At the pinnacle of his life he was shooting up in the air, flying his fighter plane and then the gradual decline after his peak, the sculpture gets darker and darker and ultimately drops off.”

The two individual sections are titled “Harvey’s Take Off” and “Harvey’s Landing.” Other colorful characters from the tire shop are also represented in the exhibition.

A second theme represented is his “Meat” series. The observer may assume that Nate Jones has adhered to the popular movement towards vegetarianism, in his beautifully horrific depictions of the products of the meat industry. Jones disavows any political statement in this series. Rather the material itself inspired the appearance of blood and innards. While colorizing the rubber he realized “how bodily it looked.”

In Italy, Jones attended a painting show at a converted slaughter house and was inspired by the hooks and hoists which were left in the building.

“I was drawn to the grotesque nature, but in kind of a humorous way,” he says. “I like the dichotomy that the pieces are beautiful and kind of scary at the same time.”

Jones studied at Academia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy, and received his fine arts bachelor’s degree in painting and drawing from CSULB in 2005. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions in Southern California and Italy.

Nate Jones Sr. says his son revealed his artistic talents early in life. On a road trip to Prescott, Arizona, when the younger Jones was nine years old, he entertained himself in the backseat with a sketch book. While in Prescott the family visited an art studio and met local artist Fred Lucas. Lucas, a well-known western artist was taken with young Nate’s observations of the details in the fine art showing in his gallery. During the discussion Lucas asked to see Nate’s sketches. Impressed with the talent of the juvenile artist, Lucas offered to trade one of his paintings for two of Nate’s sketches. An obviously proud father has kept the painting as proof of the value of his son’s talent.

Industrial / Abstract runs through Nov. 24. Gallery hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and by appointment. Details: (310) 600-4873Venue: TransVagran t and Warschaw GalleryLocation: 600 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

Where the Rubber Hits the Roadby: Andrea Serna, Arts Writer

Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, opened the Dark Blue Mondaze series. It was supposed to have ended in September, but it was such a suc-cess that it is being brought back for two additional performances, at 2 and 7 p.m. on Oct. 28. The caste of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf: Charnayne Brooks (Lady in Green), Imani Burton (Sechita), Briana Hamilton (Lady In Pink), Ruby Livingston (Lady In Orange), Jennifer Talton (Lady In Blue), Shenika Travis (Lady in Purple), KasiTeYana (Lady In Yellow), and Stevi Meredith (Lady in Red)

Artist Nate Jones standing next to one of his art pieces at the Warschaw Gallery at his opening on Sept. 29. Photo by Betty Guevara

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Calendar from page 17.

Continued from page 14.

Continued from page 11.

of genetically engineered seed, predictably has given the most to defeat Prop. 37, donating almost twice the total amount raised by the measure’s supporters, most of whom are individuals rather than corporations.

Meanwhile, few Californians have opened their wallets to the industry’s anti-labeling campaigns. This is hardly a surprise, as genetically modified organisms have yet to offer any tangible benefit to consumers, other than perhaps price, and that’s a big perhaps, and labeling won’t affect that. There’s simply nothing for an eater to lose by having an extra label on their food and even with all of their money, “Big Food” corporations are having a hard time changing that.

Lined up behind Monsanto are DuPont, BASF, Bayer, Dow, Pepsi, Nestle, Coca-Cola and ConAgra, in descending order of millions spent in support of Prop. 37, before we reach Syngenta, which at $1 million has contributed on par with Prop. 37’s biggest supporter, the natural health and nutrition website Mercola.

Many of the organic brands routinely consumed by presumably Prop. 37 supporters-including Cascadian Farms, Silk and Horizon-are owned by corporate supporters of Prop. 37’s opposition, multinationals like Kellogg, General Mills and Kraft. While some shoppers might feel betrayed by this reality, it shouldn’t be a surprise.

Labeling would clearly weaken a key marketing advantage that organic growers and processors now enjoy. Organic certification is currently the only legal way to market a food product as genetically modified organism-free. Mandatory labeling would allow the nonorganic competition to advertise any genetically modified organism-free status, which is a huge competitive advantage to give away. Organic companies that support Prop. 37 are probably doing so against their financial interest.

That said, with activist organizations like the Cornucopia Institute, publicly praising and shaming organic food companies based on their support or opposition — and even for staying neutral on the issue — financial support of Prop. 37 might also be good for business. A $50,000 contribution to the “Yes on 37” campaign by organic meat purveyor Applegate moved it from Cornucopia’s lukewarm “On the Sidelines” category to the “Organic Heroes” list. This was money wisely spent, because in marketing, like politics, message is money and money is message.

As goes California, so often goes the rest of the country. The rest of the country doesn’t appear to need much convincing. If the infrastructure necessary to label in California were put in place, the debate over genetically modified organism labeling would essentially be over nationally as well.

Worldwide, more than 60 countries have passed genetically modified organism labeling laws, but the United States is a special prize in the genetically modified organism wars, both symbolically and strategically. This is the birthplace to many of the technologies in question, and home to most of the companies that profit from them. The genetically modified organism industry is a load-bearing wall in the “Big Food” edifice. And while “Big Food” is in no danger of collapsing, on November 6 we may get a sense of how much bigger it can get.

This question is at the heart of many other food issues that are often debated, from the use of antibiotics in cattle feed to outbreaks of foodborne illness to the safety of raw milk to the definition of organic.

“Big Food” vs whatever we call the rebellion... “Small Food”? Michael Pollan’s headline writer calls it the Dinner Party in a recent New York Times piece, in which he argued that Prop. 37’s passing would make the food movement, as he

calls it, more than just a market for Whole Foods to expand into. A win would mean, for the first time ever, a seat at the grown-up table.

The Dinner Party may not strike fear into the hearts of politicians the way the Tea Party does, and its ascension nowhere near as dramatic. It doesn’t have lobbyists or unions to enhance its political power. But the movement’s popular support is steadily growing, and its message has matured, though it has yet to have a coming of age event.

The creation of the National Organic Program is seen by some as a major milestone in the history of the food movement, because it lent institutional credibility to organic agriculture. But really, it was more of a milestone for “Big Food” in that it gained access to the fastest growing segment of the food retail sector through the program.

The Organic Trade Association, which has members from Big, small, and medium organic on its board and normally avoids taking political positions, has endorsed Prop. 37, calling it a right to know issue. Even Whole Foods, a notorious fence sitter along the divide between “Big Food” and “Small Food”, has come out in favor of Prop 37. Like rats scurrying from a sinking ship, former full-blooded allies of the genetically modified organism industry are now scurrying to the correct side of popular opinion, like the American Dietetic Association, which recently came out in favor of Prop. 37.

It’s looking like Prop. 37 is going to pass, and if so it would be unprecedented. And if the measure somehow loses, it would be a sobering moment for even those with no concern about genetically modified organism in their food. It would mean the corporations really are running the show.

Ari LeVaux writes Flash in the Pan (www.flashinthepan.net), a syndicated weekly food column that’s graced more than 50 newspapers in 20 states.

a strong enough word. details: (562) 433-4996Venue: Fingerprints Location: 420 E. 4th St., Long Beach

Band of Horses The wheels may have come off this year’s Railroad Revival Tour, but that’s not going to stop Band of Horses from communing with its fans in nearly every market the tour was scheduled to hit including the Warner Grand.details: tickets.bandofhorses.comVenue: Warner Grand TheatreLocation: 478 W. 6th St, San Pedro

ocToBEr 18Free Foreclosure Investing WorkshopCalifornia Foreclosure Institute presents a free two-hour workshop for investors and realtors on how to get started finding and buying foreclosure properties, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28, at Angela Iacobini Library, in Lakewood. Guest speaker will be Lloyd Segal, author of “Stop Foreclosure Now” and “Foreclosure Investing.” The workshop is complimentary, but reservations are required. details: ( 888) 285-0101; www.ForeclosureWorkshop.netVenue: Angela Iacobini LibraryLocation: 4900 Clark Ave., Lakewood

ocToBEr 19The Use of RegretJoin author Greggory Moore and a host of actors and musicians as they bring The Use of Regret off the page and into your ears, at 7 p.m. Oct. 9, at Fingerprints in Long Beach. Moore and some of Long Beach’s finest theatrical talent will perform sections from the novel. Call it a literary concert-an event that couldn’t find a better home than iconic indie record store.details: (562) 433-4996 ; greggorymoore.comVenue: Fingerprints Location: 420 E. 4th St., Long Beach

ocToBEr 26 Yaoi Anime Lecture and discussion View “Kizuna,” from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 26 at The Center in Torrance. This is an opportunity to spend an hour indulging in yaoi, a genre of Japanese (and global) pop art that celebrates male-male beauty and passion, especially in anime (Japanese animation). Lecture will be facilitated by Lyn Jensen, former manga reviewer for LA Alternative and longtime yaoi fangurl. The group will take a look at popular female Japanese yaoi artists including Kodaka Kazuma, You Higuri, Yun Kouga, and Sanami Matoh. Suggested donation is $5; no one turned away.Venue: The Center Location: 16610 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance

NoVEmBEr 1cirque du Soliel’s dralionCirque du Soleil is pleased to announce that Dralion will be performing in Long Beach from Nov.1 through 4 at Long Beach Arena for six performances only. Exclusive discounted tickets available now for all shows. Fusing the 3000 year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatic arts with the multidisciplinary approach of Cirque du Soleil, Dralion (pronounced “Dra-lee-on”) draws its inspiration from Eastern philosophy and its never-ending quest for harmony between humans and nature. details: (800) 745-3000; www.cirquedusoleil.com/dralion, www.ticketmaster.comVenue: Long Beach ArenaLocation: Convention Center Walkway, Long Beach

ocToBEr 19movie night at the South Bay LGBT centerThe movie selection is determined by those present at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at the Southbay LGBT Center in Torrance. Donation are $5 door.details: (310) 328-6550; www.southbaycenter.org Venue: The Center Location: 16610 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance

community/Family

Prop 37

Misbehavin’

Theater/Film

in later years. Mercome was initially invited to audition for Nell Carter’s role, but was happy that she got to play Armelia’s role instead.

“I came into this role excited to be able to sing so many styles; classical, blues, jazz,” she said. “I relate especially to Armelia because of the range of her voice. She sings across the board, every aspect of her voice shows.

“I always look to the original cast, both Nell Carter and Armelia McQueen were women of size but there was no stopping them. They were sexy and bold and took ownership of and had pride in their looks. They were both hard working and had unmatched voices.”

With family roots dug deep in the soil of Kansas, Mercome’s family is steeped in music. Her grandparents were both musicians in Kansas City jazz scene in the 1940s and 50s. Her grandfather played the sax, upright bass and cello and her grandmother a vocalist whose range extended from blues and jazz to opera.

In terms of opera, Mercome looks to Leontyne Price, Maria Calas and her favorite Montserrat Caballé. For jazz, she looks to Nina Simone,

though Mercome acknowledges that Simone’s versatility makes it impossible to put her any one category.

Mercome counts a number of family members who’ve made or are making a career in the entertainment industry including a cousin who is studying musical theater at New York University and a television director uncle, Guerren Keith, who directed Diff’rent Strokes and 227.

“My mother is a teacher and also a costume designer, she designed and made costumes for all of our shows,” Mercome explained. “She sings well too, that gene is definitely running through our family. I think that helps my family support what I do.”

Mercomes, an accomplished operatic soprano,

studied music at Pepperdine University and has performed in various musicals and operas including the role of the old woman in Long Beach Opera’s The Difficulty of Crossing a Field, Lily in San Francisco and the Los Angeles Opera’s productions of Porgy and Bess.

She has been dancing for more than 20 years. When she’s not jetting off to stage performance across the country and beyond, Mercome is performing in Disneyland’s Aladdin: A musical Spectacular. She also made her film debut singing, Pie Jesu for the documentary, For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots.

With more than 30 songs in the original production, McClain’s rendition of the revue will not skimp on the music. Though all of the performs will be performing in nearly all of the musical scores, Mercome’s songs include “Squeeze Me,” “When the Nylons Bloom Again,” “Find Out What They Like,” “Jitterbug Waltz” and “That Ain’t Right.”

“There’s dancing throughout the show but my main numbers are “Ain’t Misbehavin” in the opening, “Jitterbug Waltz,” “This Joint is Jumpin” and “Off-Time,” Mercome said.Details: (562) 436-4610; www.ictlongbeach.orgVenue: International City TheatreLocation: 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

19

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iliar precisely with w

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October 19 - Novem

ber 1, 2012

Adopt A pet from the Harbor Care Center, 957 N. Gaffey St., San Pedro. 888-452-7381.

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Random Lengths is looking for an expe-rienced advertising/print salesperson. We are the Los Angeles Harbor Area’s oldest independent news-paper. We are a stable and growing com-pany, open for over 30 years. The candidate should have 2 or more year’s experience in outside sales. Bi-lin-gual is a plus. Please email resume and cover letter with sal-ary history to james@randomlengths news.com. Monthly base salary and commis-sion. EOE

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pet beds.* Drop off at harbor

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Buy it now at Williams Bookstore,

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Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012173918The following person is do-ing business as: elite dance Studio, 805. Deep Valley Dr., RHE, CA 90274, Los Angeles County. Registered own-ers: Dyan Lopez-Flamengo, 24602 Ravenna Ave., Car-son, CA 90745. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Dyan Lopez-Flamengo, Own-er. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los

90275, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Kenneth Roy Brewer, 924 S. Wycliff Ave., San Pedro, CA 90732. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Kenneth Roy Brewer, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on August 31, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivi-sion (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new ficti-tious business name state-ment must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing:09/06/12,09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012168860The following person is doing business as: Kids resource, 4401 Palos Drive East, Ran-cho Palos Verdes, CA 90275, Los Angeles County. Regis-tered owners: LSKO, 4401 Palos Drive East, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct.

(A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Laura Schneider, Secretary/Treasurer. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on August 21, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivi-sion (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new ficti-tious business name state-ment must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing:09/06/12,09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012183675The following person is do-ing business as: tommys Famous Burgers of San pedro, 1141 S. Gaffey Street, San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Angelo Bacoulis, 17842 Arvida Dr., Grenada Hills, CA 91344. This Busi-ness is conducted by a hus-band and wife. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: January 1, 2000. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Angelo Bacoulis, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on September 13, 2012. No-tice--In Accordance with sub-division (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement

generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new ficti-tious business name state-ment must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing: 09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12, 11/01/2012

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012177138The following person is doing business as: B & d trea-sures, 719 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Brandi Rayann Bar-nard, 772 10th Street, Apt. #4, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: NA. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Brandi Rayann Barnard, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on September 4, 2012. No-tice--In Accordance with sub-division (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new ficti-

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS FILINGS

tious business name state-ment must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Original filing: 09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12, 11/01/2012

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012198587The following person is doing business as: “life’s grand” Kids dance, Art, music, 415 W. 6th Street, San Pedro, CA, 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owner(s): Lorena Maese, 3653 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro,

Angeles on August 29, 2012. Notice--In Accor-dance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Pro-fessions code).Original filing:09/06/12,09/20/12,10/4/12, 10/18/12

Fictitious Business name Statement

File no. 2012176107The following person is doing business as: Alka pi Water rpv, 29505 S. Western Ave. Ste#104, Rancho Palos Verdes,CA

CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: Oct. 1, 2012. I declare that all in-formation in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true informa-tion which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) Lorena Maese, Owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on October 4, 2012. Notice--In Accordance with subdivi-sion (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 were to expire

40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new ficti-tious business name state-ment must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code).Or ig ina l f i l ing: 10/18/12, 11/01/2012, 11/15/12, 11/29/12

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October 19 - Novem

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Hazel Carofano died peacefully on Sept. 22,

with family by her side, at her home in San Pe-dro. She had reached the age of 95 and died of natural causes.

Hazel Mason was born in Hamden, Conn. She graduated from Hamden High, and the New Haven School of Busi-ness. In 1940, Hazel married Raymond R. Carofano, a fire-man with the Hamden Fire Department. She gave birth to their son, Raymond, in 1942. Hazel worked for the Southern New England Telephone Com-pany for 26 years and after she and her husband retired they moved to Torrance, Calif. Ha-zel worked as the office man-ager for her son at Ray Caro-fano Photography, Inc. for the next 20 years. Her beloved husband died in 1984. She moved to San Pedro in 1999, joining her son and daughter-in-law, where they lived and worked close by.

Hazel was a generous person with a good heart and who loved her family above all. She had a keen wit and sharp mind, kept abreast of

the news and was an avid voter. She loved sports, rooted for the Yankees, loved watching the Lakers and, as all who knew her, enjoyed a good martini now and then.

Hazel supported many charities and causes, among them; the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Union Rescue Mission of L.A., Red Cross, Salvation Army, Doctors Without Bor-ders, Cancer Research, and National Committee to Preserve Social Secu-rity and Medicare.

Hazel is survived by her son, Ray and his wife Nancy (Arnée), grand-daughter Krista and hus-

band Pete, grandson Tracy and wife Laurie, great-granddaughter Haley Rae, grandson Robert McCann and wife Karen, great-grand-son Christian, grandson Michael Corey Mc-Cann and wife Ingrid, and great-grandchildren Sebastien and Simone.

Hazel Marie CarofanoFeb. 19,1917 – Sept. 22, 2012

John Greenwood was a former Los Angeles Unified School District board member and president of Coro, a respected foundation that grooms future Southern California civic leaders from an early age.

Greenwood, died suddenly on Oct. 11, in his home in San Pedro. His death leaves a void not quickly or easily filled in many organizations to which he belonged or simply advised.

He exercised and was seemingly in perfect health when he underwent a physical examination two months ago.

His death was attributed to a heart attack suffered in his sleep, just as his wife Caren came to bed. She called 911. Firemen hearing his tortured gasps on the phone guided her through initial CPR efforts.

“The paramedics were there in two minutes, but there was nothing anyone could do,” said the

Over her left kidney,was a bird’s eye view of Sydney.And on her back was The Union Jack,now could you ask for more...? —Lydia the Tattooed Lady

He hit ‘Pedro in 1967 with a banjo, a head full of tunes and humor, got a degree in psychology, then stayed, convinced street performers do most people as much good.

For 40 years, Geoff Agisim lived as a sea chantey virtuoso, in bell bottom dungarees, striped pullover and Greek fisherman’s cap atop sun-bleached hair that hadn’t seen a comb since Moby Dick was a minnow.

He entertained everywhere that there was a dozen people and a whiff of salt air.

Agisim, 66, died Oct. 10 at home after rejecting the rigors of futile treatment for late stage pancreatic cancer, diagnosed in July.

“Won’t do any good,” he declared. “I should be sad, but I can’t think of him

without smiling,” said longtime friend Dirk Vandenberg, owner of Guitar Safari, in San Pedro, where Geoff played every Friday during Farmer’s Market. He always sat on a wooden box, expressly to see eye to eye with children, in whom he delighted.

Something seemed to be missing that Friday and many shoppers realized it was Agisim and his merry tunes when they saw Dirk’s memorial tableau: his banjo, a Mason jar of vivid autumn flowers and a bag of oranges.

“He was one of our local gems,” said Kathleen Woodfield, a tall, willowy fiddler who

accompanied Agisim on gigs in the early 1990s. “It’s a huge loss.”

He generally performed solo, but was often joined at the Farmer’s Market by flutist Dennis Kortheuer, a political science instructor at

Cal State University Long Beach.

Agisim was loath to guess how many sea songs he knew, but they were legion from years playing on vessels of Spirit Cruises, Catalina Express, Los Angeles Maritime Institute and the old Buccaneer Queen and Princess dinner cruise boats.

“I never stopped to count ‘em,” he said. “But I can play for eight or nine hours straight without ever duplicating.”

He quipped that it was sometimes slim pickings,

but Agisim made a living at his music, selling CDs and passing the hat. He was also talented at woodcraft and ceramic design and renowned for repair of stringed instruments.

His sister Jane Agisim Odes has returned to New York, where she is a social worker, but will be back for a later formal memorial service. He also leaves a brother, Dr. Frederick Agisim, of New Hampshire and several nieces and nephews.

Geoff was not the kind to have a girl in every port. Though he never married, he will be interred at Green Hills Memorial Park beside his life companion Janet Pharris, who died 11 years ago. They met at Cal State University Dominguez Hills in the ‘60s and were inseparable.

Friends said she was not a musician but a merry redhead who also worked on Harbor dinner tour boats.

SP Sea Chantey Master Geoff Agisim Lays Down His BanjoJune 13, 1946- Oct. 10, 2012 By Arthur R. Vinsel, Contributing Writer

couple’s daughter Liz, a deputy city attorney, who followed her father into public service.

He was rushed to nearby Little Company of Mary Hospital, where he had served as vice president of development for 10 years, when it was San Pedro Peninsula Hospital.

So widespread was his guidance, influence and gladly-lent wisdom in community affairs that people could scarcely believe such a loss.

Born Jan. 9, 1945, Greenwood grew up in La Crescenta. He was an Eagle Scout. He earned a master’s degree in political science at the University of Michigan.

He and his wife were partners in their real estate business.

Besides serving eight years as a Los Angeles Unified School District trustee, he narrowly lost a 1981 15th City Council District run-off election to Joan Milke Flores.

City Councilwoman and now Rep. Janice Hahn also called on Greenwood, the founding president of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council, to lead a task force on the controversial Ponte Vista housing project,

which remains under study.Greenwood is also founder of the Gang

Alternatives Program and a longtime member of the San Pedro Rotary Club. In 2002, he was honored as Rotarian of the Year.

Among organizations he found particularly fulfilling, said his daughter Liz, was Habitat for Humanity, for when one has a home, he or she has a foundation for much more.

Mourners may pay their respects on evening of Oct.18 and on the afternoon of Oct. 20.

Visitation for Greenwood will be Oct. 18 from 5 to 8 p.m. at McNerney’s Mortuary, 570 W. 5th St., San Pedro.

A memorial service is scheduled on Oct. 20 at 3 p.m. at the John M. and Muriel Olguin High School Annex, 2310 S. Alma St., San Pedro. Access the new campus via the driveway entrance at 32nd and S. Gaffey streets.

Survivors besides wife Caren and daughter Liz include sisters Marilyn Ungaro (Savin), Kathy Jeffries (Tom), brother Peter Greenwood, mother-in-law Martha Matthews, sister-in-law Darlene Allenthorpe, plus 14 nieces and six nephews.

Civic Leader John Greenwood’s Sudden Death Stuns Harbor AreaJan. 9, 1945 - Oct. 11, 2012By Arthur R. Vinsel, Contributing Writer

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without missing a beat, highlighting that the responsibility for fixing uneven sidewalks had fallen unfairly upon commercial and residential property owners.

“My job is to make sure our government doesn’t decimate our communities as it works through this budget crisis,” he said.

Brazeman said his talent was in getting people talking to people, and departments talking to departments. He briefly talked about how his background in marketing and real estate would come in handy in determining where the city is leaving too much money on the table or assuming too much liability risk.

Then Brazeman expressed his desire to map them citywide, noting that federal funding for sidewalk repairs were being held up because of the lack of a map.

Beyond sidewalks, Brazeman briefly presented other ideas to raise city revenue such as bringing the city’s permitting process into the 21st century, digitizing the city’s system of tracking and renewing permits. That failure to track permits means lost revenue, Brazeman explained.

He also said he would take a look at the transient occupancy tax, or “hotel tax,” to

determine how well the collection of those monies are working.

Presently, the city is giving $700 million away as a financial break to hotels, Brazeman said.

He said the city should not be paying that. “That’s money that could pay for sidewalks,”

he said. “The city is legally bound to take care of tree damaged sidewalks.”

Then he mentioned lost parking occupancy tax and noted that the city still owns parking garages that don’t accept credit cards payment but have signs that say, “we do take checks.” The fundraising audience laughed at that.

Brazeman said the city needs to sell the $150 to 200 million in excess real estate it holds and selling city services to others within the county.

When Vopak sales and marketing manager, Anthony Santich, asked Brazeman about being the “long shot” candidate, Brazeman replied, “The hurdle isn’t quite as large as you suggest. We don’t need as much money as Dennis (Dennis Zine, front runner candidate for the 2013 controller position). While running a lean campaign, we can win with just 200,000 votes.

“We’ve got a phone tree and that’s how we’re going to win. We can get the word out to our friends, neighbors and colleagues.”

Cary Brazeman

October 29, 2004 issue: Former employees in several states have said

they were instructed not to register Democrats, or people planning to vote for Kerry. When screening failed, registration forms were destroyed—a felony in most states. Sproul/VOA also misrepresented itself as non-partisan, even claiming to be another non-partisan organization, America Votes, as part of its strategy to occupy public spaces, such as libraries, where partisan groups are prohibited.

We went on to cite specific violations reported in Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Despite this well-documented history—local news outlets reported on all the above incidents—top Republican officials still

pretended to be “Shocked! Shocked!” in the words of Rick from Casablanca, when it was recently revealed that Nathan Sproul’s latest reincarnation was up to its old tricks, with revelations of selective voter registration and destroying forms for Democrats in numerous counties in Florida, and several other states.

For example, RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer, who was quoted in an NBC video report saying, “We, at this point, have an allegation. That mere allegation has caused us to act — act swiftly and boldly — and sever our ties with this firm because we have a zero tolerance [policy] when it comes to this. The other side clearly engaged for a long time in inappropriate behavior.”

Thus, an apology for widespread illegal activities was transformed into yet another attempt to muddy the waters by equating individual, money-motivated misdeeds actually uncovered by ACORN, with systemic misdeeds practiced by Republican operators for the purpose of suppressing votes. But that wasn’t the end of it. Despite making a big deal out of swiftly firing Sproul’s firm when things got too hot, the Los Angeles Times reported last weekend that Sproul

was actually still working to get out the vote for Republicans in 30 states—though no one will say who’s paying him.

Sproul is a sophisticated operator in the Karl Rove mold. But True the Vote hews more to Glenn Beck’s wild-eyed paranoid style, turning from one overblown false accusation to another. On Oct. 5, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced an investigation into the group’s “horrendous record” of filing inaccurate voter registration challenges across the country, including a letter with a document request for True the Voter’s founder, Catherine Engelbrecht.

“Multiple reviews by state and local government officials have documented voter registration challenges submitted by your volunteers based on insufficient evidence, outdated or inaccurate data, and faulty software and database capabilities,” Cummings wrote. “Across multiple states, government officials of both political parties have criticized your methods and work product for their lack of accuracy and reliability. Your tactics have been so problematic that even Ohio Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted has condemned them as potentially illegal, stating:

“When you cry wolf, and there’s no wolf, you undermine your credibility, and you have unjustly inconvenienced a legally registered voter, and that can border on voter intimidation.”

“Looking past 2012, there will certainly be continued battles over voting rights,” said Norden. “Most importantly, the Voting Rights Act, one of the cornerstones of voting rights in the United States, is likely to be challenged in court.”

But he also held out the hope of genuine reforms that “should make it easier for all Americans to vote in a free, fair and accessible system.”

But if that’s going to happen, a lot more people are going to have to mobilized to once again fight for the right to vote.

Republican Voter Fraudfrom p. 7

represents the northern portion of Long Beach contained in the new 44th district is one of a few local officials backing Richardson’s re-election bid.

“The reason that I endorsed Laura over Janice has nothing to do with personality or personal preference but is really because I have a professional relationship with Laura...we’ve shared the same constituency,” Neal said. “Congresswoman Richardson has done a very good job of bringing resources not only to Long Beach but the entire district...she’s done a good job.”

He credits Richardson with bringing in federal funds to assist in the construction of the Arlington storm drain and for securing dollars for the replacement of the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge which spans a portion of the Port of Long Beach.

Neal says that his endorsement was given before Richardson was reprimanded, although he was familiar with the accusations against her.

“I’d heard the rumors about it, but there was nothing that had been substantiated. It really didn’t play in at the time of the endorsement,” Neal said about the ethics violations. “I’m just sorry to hear that those kind of things are going on.”

Richardsonfrom p. 6

from p. 3

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October 19 - Novem

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