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The Local Publication You Actually Read January 8 - 21, 2015

ILWU and Employers Trade Blame for Port Congestion---Mediator to Keep Talks SecretBy Terelle JerricksManaging Editor

n Jan. 5, the ILWU and Pacific Maritime Association agreed

to enter mediation with a federal arbitrator to break the impasse that’s stalled contract negotiations for the past month.

The news elicited optimism from the ports and elected officials, prompting joint statements from the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti released a statement said they were please that both sides agreed to mediation and noted that it was in everyone’s best interest to keep goods flowing and people working at our ports.

15th District Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino in a released statement noted that it was critical that “we avoid a deterioration in talks and arrive at an agreement as quickly as possible.”

Tensions between the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association ratcheted higher on New Year’s Eve when Pacific Maritime Association announced they were going to reduce the number work crews per ship, despite the existing bottleneck of ships waiting outside the ports to be

unloaded.The presidents of Local 13, 63 and 94 released

a joint statement blasting the body representing the terminal operators and carriers.

The PMA called for an intervention by the federal government with a mediator to resolve the dispute.

The locals and the PMA met on Jan. 2 to discuss the PMA’s actions. The meeting drew state Sen.-elect Isadore Hall and Rep. Janice Hahn, to call for an end to the PMA’s unilateral actions, contributing to port congestion.

The PMA accused the union of being the cause of problem, at least in part, with work

slowdowns since October, saying that the ILWU assertion about the lack of trailer chassis was “a smokescreen for their slowdown activities.”

Regardless of whether the congestion is caused by the lack of trailer chassis to move the cargo containers or work slowdown by the ILWU, the port statistics are showing that fewer containers, inbound or outbound, were loaded in November 2014 compared to November 2013.

At the Port of Los Angeles, the number of loaded inbound-containers decreased by 2.66 percent, while the number of loaded outbound containers decreased by almost 16 percent.

At the Port of Long Beach, the number

of loaded inbound-containers decreased by .9 percent, while the number of loaded outbound containers decreased by almost 14.5 percent.

The Chassis Problem

One of the most significant changes to have taken place in the past two years was the shipping lines divesting their own chassis, creating a market for third party leasing companies to pick the work.

Repairing and maintaining trailer chassis—essentially the wheels that are hooked on to cargo containers when they come off the ships. These

Feds Step in to Break Impasse

Impasse at Port/ to p. 6

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SPHS Teacher Karin Bruhnke— Outstanding Teacher of America p. 2 Port Truckers: A Year of Epic Labor Struggle p. 3 Recapping Carson’s 2014 Reality Show p. 5 National, Statewide Year In Review p. 7

Rep. Janice Hahn, State Senator Isadore Hall, far right, Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, and 7th District Long Beach City Councilman Roberto Uranga, left, displayed solidarity with the the union at the Jan. 2 ILWU press conference following the PMA’s announcement of cuts to the night shift. Photo courtesy of Rep. Janice Hahn’s office.

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Community Announcements:

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

Holiday Tree-CyclingRecycle your holiday tree, from 9 to 5 p.m. Jan. 9, at 12 locations

throughout Long Beach.The city offers free pick up Jan. 10. If you have city refuse service

put your tree out where your trash normally is collected by 7 a.m. and it will be recycled.Details: (562) 570-2876; www.longbeach-recycles.org

Meet and Greet Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna

Meet and greet Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Jan. 10, at Calvary Chapel of North Long Beach.

Learn about his priorities for the community and ask questions.Details: (562) 570-6685; district8@longbeach.gov Venue: Calvary Chapel of North Long BeachLocation: 5722 Lime Ave., Long Beach

LB Board of Harbor Commissioners

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners is scheduled to meet, at 6 p.m. Jan. 12, at the Harbor Department Interim Administrative Offices.

Among other items, the board will consider on-call contracts for environmental consulting services in an amount not to exceed $1.5 million,Details: www.polb.com/commissionVenue: Harbor Department Interim Administrative OfficesLocation: 4801 Airport Plaza Drive, Long Beach

State of Long Beach

Join Mayor Robert Garcia for a State of the City address, at 6 p.m. Jan. 13, at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach.Details: www.stateofthecitylb.comVenue: Terrace TheaterLocation: 300 Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

Central SPNC Board MeetingThe Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council will host its monthly

meeting, at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 13, at the Port of Los Angeles High School in San Pedro.Venue: POLAHSLocation: 250 W. 5th St., San Pedro

Public Input on Police Body CamerasThe members of the Los Angeles Police Commission will be hosting

two public hearings, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 14 and 15, in Los Angeles and Canoga Park.

The public hearings will provide an opportunity for the community to provide input relative to the development of the policy that will govern the use of the cameras by officers.

This will be an opportunity for the public to provide direct input to the police commission for their consideration as the policy is developed by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The dates and locations of the meetings are: Jan. 14, Green Meadows Recreation Center, 431 E. 89th St., Los Angeles and Jan. 15, A.G.B.U. Manoogian-Demirdjian School, 6844 Oakdale Ave., Canoga Park.Details: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LAPDBodyWornVideo

Gaffey Street Conceptual Plan WorkshopThe Gaffey Street Conceptual Plan team is hosting a public

workshop, at 6 p.m. Jan. 15, at the Grand Annex in San Pedro. The purpose of the workshop is to get input from the community

on design elements of the Gaffey Street Conceptual Plan.Venue: Grand AnnexLocation: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Munch & Learn On Jan. 15, the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Marketing

and Events Committee is hosting a Munch and Learn workshop on the latest and best business practices. This month’s topic is marketing. The workshop will take place in the chamber’s Boardroom Gallery.Details: (310) 832-7272; www.sanpedrochamber.com, Venue: San Pedro Chamber of CommerceLocation: 390 W. 7th St., San Pedro

Build Resilience LA Countyi Prepare Wilmington is hosting a training series called Build

Resilience LA County, beginning Jan. 20 and continuing once a week for 12 weeks. For students (age 15-plus) in 1-hour sessions after school for 12 weeks (3:30 to 4:30 p.m.). For adults in 2-hour sessions in the evening for 7 weeks (6 to 8 p.m.).

Upon completion participants will receive:• Training Certificate• Family Emergency Pack• “i Prepare Wilmington” T-shirt• Community Service Hours

Details: (310) 684-4466; ipreparewilmington@gmail.comVenue: Tzu Chi Community ClinicLocation: 1355 Broad Ave., Wilmington

Isabela Mejia decided to take her mother’s advice and follow her sister’s footsteps when it was time to take advanced placement classes at San Pedro High School: Take Mrs. Bruhnke’s AP Psychology class so she can do well in school.

“I enjoyed the way she taught,” said Isabel Mejia,16. “She bases it on how a real college class functions…. She is one of the teachers who really cares about her students and wants to make a difference in their [lives].”

It’s no surprise that her reputation follows her. Mrs. Karin Bruhnke has worked at the high school for almost 20 years, teaching advanced placement psychology, advanced placement world history, government, economics and honors world history courses.

“What keeps me going is the relationships with the kids,” Bruhnke said. “They trust you and they talk to you about things. They give back as much as I give in. It’s a mutual admiration society.”

Bruhnke’s efforts were recently recognized by the Carlston Family Foundation with the 2014 Outstanding Teachers of America Award. She is one of only five teachers who earned such honors this year and the only one in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Each winning teacher receives a $20,000 prize, including $15,000 for personal use, and a $5,000 grant for their school.

The foundation received more than 75 nominations statewide this year, selecting 10 finalists. A minimum of five former students, the school principal and at least two colleagues were asked to explain about the teacher’s use of best practices and educational philosophy.

“So, part of what made really happy about it was that it was that it was the kids who took this upon themselves to do,” Bruhnke said.

Apparently, one of her former students got the idea and put it on their Facebook accounts and it got around amongst bunch of her other former students, who, in turn, wrote letters and applied online. The foundation interviewed the nominators and later interviewed and observed Bruhnke’s classroom.

Deshawn Sambrano was one of Bruhnke’s former students who nominated her for the award. For him, the road to college wasn’t easy. He constantly moved, was exposed to drug use and domestic violence. Sambrano was encouraged to get an education, but lacked the role models to help guide him. Moreover, his fear of failing often kept him from reaching his full potential.

“I had this fear that if I tried and I

didn’t get straight ‘A’s I would fail and that would mean I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was,” said Sambrano, about his sophomore year in high school. “Entering San Pedro High School…I had no clue about what to expect. The school was large. I was frightened and it looked as though it would be another year of wasted time.”

That is, until he met Mrs. Karin Bruhnke.

“The way she looked at me was as if she knew I was lost,” he remembered in a phone interview with a representative from the Carlston Family Foundation. “Her classroom was warm, welcoming and had a homey vibe.”

Gradually, Sambrano’s interest in school intensified.

“Entering her Honors World History class became the most important part of my day,” said Sambrano to the interviewer. “She got me to come to school, encouraged my involvement in the classroom discussion and was truly interested in what I had to say.”

Principal Jeanette Stevens said that it is that type of rapport Bruhnke shares with her students that have helped them become successful.

“When students aren’t successful she gets to the heart of what the students needs are and figures out a way to support them,” Stevens said.

This year, she was selected to be a mentor teacher, a teacher assigned and paid to coach and nurture new teachers.

Bruhnke offers lectures and discussion in her classroom, but she also tries to use more interactive methods where students partner up and do assignments together. There is a lot of pre-reading and graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams to

narrow big ideas.“They know that I care, they know that

I am there for them, that we are on the same team, that I’m not the enemy,” she said. “

However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have very high standards for her students.

“I’m not going to settle for them doing just low-level efforts in my class,” she said. “I get tired of people treating kids in this community like they must be not capable of college…. I don’t have that in my classroom. There is going to be high expectations. You are going to work hard.”

Giving them a bunch of worksheets is not enough. The students must read and be able to express themselves on paper, she said. She tries to use real-world examples, tell a lot of stories and personal examples to try to engage and relate them to the material.

“This class is about its content, but it’s also about the skills that you are going to need to be successful when you go off to college,” she said.

Bruhnke takes pride in preparing for her classes.

“For me, if I’m going to commit to a class like AP and I’m going to require my students to do all that work, because it’s going to be a lot of work on them, I better have done it too,” she said.

As for Sambrano, these days, he is working on a double major in psychology and philosophy at Cal State Fullerton with a 4.0 GPA in both majors.

“Mrs. Bruhnke changed the direction of my life,” he told the Carlston Family Foundation interviewer. “She inspired me to study harder and make learning important….There is no way possible I could ever repay her for how she changed my life.”

Students Unite to Recognize SPHS TeacherBy Zamná Ávila, Assistant Editor

San Pedro High School teacher, Karin Bruhnke, was honored by the Carlston Family Foundation with the 2014 Outstanding Teacher of America award recently. Her former student, Deshawn Sambrano, right, was one of five students who nominated her for the award. Photo Courtesy of Karin Bruhnke

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The Local Publication You Actually Read January 8 - 21, 2015

he analogy is not exact, but at least it’s in the ballpark: What 1934 was for West Coast longshore workers, 2014

was for port truckers. It was turning point of historic

proportions, on one hand, but part of a much longer, never-ending struggle for justice, on the other.

We already noted in our January labor year in review how much progress port truckers had made. After discussing the explosive growth of the national fast food workers one-day strike movement, we noted:

Closer to home, a strikingly similar struggle has been taking place among port truckers, particularly after drivers at Australian-owned Toll Group won union representation in 2012, and their first contract in January 2013. We did a front-page story when drivers at Green Fleet Systems went out on a one-day unfair labor practices strike just three days before the Aug. 29 fast-food workers’ strike.

That captured something of baseline that port truckers started 2013 with and the progress made as that year unfolded. But their struggle in the year that followed was a multifaceted, multilevel one, and they fought for their rights on more fronts than ever, gaining significant ground in arenas that had never been contested before.

The Big Rig OverhaulIn April, we reported on the filing of

two, new class action lawsuits against two Southern California port trucking companies—Pacific 9 Transportation Inc. of Carson, and Coast Bridge Logistics Inc. of Compton—alleging misclassification of drivers as independent contractors, along with a variety of related wage, hour and work-rule violations that followed as a result. The actions in the Los Angeles County Superior Court include plaintiff Victor Castro, who drove for both companies. The actions sought to include current and former drivers of both companies, going back four years—a number estimated at about 200 for each company.

At the time, we noted that the filings came on the heels of a new report, “The Big Rig Overhaul: Restoring Middle-Class Jobs At America’s Ports Through Labor Law Enforcement,” which documented a widespread pattern of similar successful legal actions in California, Washington and New Jersey, as well as by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. The report was a follow-up to the 2010 report, “The Big Rig: Poverty, Pollution and the Misrepresentation of Truck Drivers at America’s Ports,” which Random Lengths reported on. That report played a key role in establishing the foundation for the lawsuits surveyed in the follow-up report—a clear-cut indication of how doggedly, patiently truckers and their allies had already been fighting to lay the foundations for turning the tide against their ongoing exploitation.

The majority of cases in the follow-up report were government enforcement actions, but they’ve been upheld when appealed. The overall pattern of rulings indicated a strong probability of success for the civil action, which in turn could bring an avalanche of such cases in its wake.

As Drew Ferrandini, a lawyer assigned to the case, explained to Random Lengths, the ports’ Clean Trucks Program played a prominent role in laying the foundation for the misclassification claim. Previously, drivers had typically owned their truck, and arguably were independent contractors—although informed labor advocates would dispute this.

“But now no one can afford these clean trucks or at least the poor port workers can’t,” Ferrandini said.

The company’s deceptive practices in implementing the Clean Trucks Program would come back to bite them through another avenue much later in the year, but it was already showing

up in cases documented in the Big Rig Overhaul. Report co-author Rebecca Smith, of the

National Employment Law Project, told Random Lengths that one set of cases against Seacon Logix was significant, “because the Los Angeles Superior Court judge reaffirmed the California agency’s analysis and decision.... He very clearly understood that the contracts are a scam to get workers to finance their jobs.

“This theme of scam contracts—that rarely result in actual ownership of a truck, but tie the worker to finance the operations of a company—was illustrated in the TTSI case, involving Jose Montero,” Smith added. “The cases overall show that the con game is over—or should be…. Nearly every relevant federal agency you can name has found port drivers to be ‘employees,’ and state agencies from Washington to New Jersey to California have done the same.”

But translating these bellwether court victories into tangible change on the ground remained a formidable struggle, which would require a repeated convergence of further court struggles.

The Need to StrikeOn June 19, the National Labor Relations

Board Region 21 issued a consolidated complaint encompassing more than 50 serious labor law violations against Green Fleet Systems, one of the larger local port trucking companies. The complaint consolidated charges from four outstanding cases filed from March 2013, through January 2014, while also revoking a settlement agreement for the first case, due to subsequent violations by Green Fleet. Thus, this action was highly significant in moving to close the gap between legal rulings and lived reality. But the need for militant action was greater than ever, if actual change was to be achieved.

While the previous year had been characterized by one-day strikes, similar to those by fastfood workers, this pattern of limited strikes, which continued in early 2014, was broken decisively on July 7, when truckers at TTSI, Pac 9 and Green Fleet went out on indefinite strike, charging a

Port Truckers:

A Year of Epic Labor StruggleBy Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

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Is sugar toxic? It is when you consider the levels the average American swallows each year—a whopping 130 pounds of added sugars ingested annually. That’s about 22 teaspoons a day, way over the max set by the American Heart Association in 2009. New science shows that this overload of sugar—often stemming from hard-to-detect hidden added sugars—is affecting your body in all sorts of strange ways.

Check out these five weird things that sugar is doing to your body from The Sugar Smart Diet, a breakthrough plan brimming with reasons to rein in your sugar habit.

1. Sugar makes your organs fat.Sugar Stat: The fructose—a component of

table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup—in added sugars triggers your liver to store fat more efficiently and in weird places. Over time, a diet high in fructose could lead to globules of fat building up around your liver, a precursor to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, something rarely seen before 1980.

Sugar Smart Tip: Avoid drinks with lots of added sugars, including healthy-sounding smoothies. You’re better off if the fructose in your diet comes from natural sources like

fruit—the fiber helps blunt a sugar shock to your system. Plus, a piece of fruit likely has way less sugar than a commercial smoothie full of added sugars (some of them contain 54 grams, or about 13½ teaspoons worth of sugar!)2. Sugar primes your body for diabetes.

Sugar Stat: A PLoS One study found that for every extra 150 calories from

2 diabetes, accounting for 65 percent of those deaths.

Sugar Smart Tip: Don’t exceed the American Heart Association’s recommended sugar levels, which are 5 teaspoons for women (20 grams); 9 teaspoons for men (36 grams); and 3 teaspoons (12 grams) for children. For reference, a can of soda generally contains up to 12 grams of sugar; a single slice of whole wheat bread contains up to 2 teaspoons of added sugars.4. Sugar creates tense blood vessels.

Sugar Stat: Excess added sugars cause excess insulin in the bloodstream, which takes its toll on your body’s circulatory highway system, your arteries. Chronic high insulin levels cause the smooth muscle cells around each blood vessel to grow faster than normal, according to The

sugar available per person each day, diabetes prevalence rises by 1.1 percent.

Sugar Smart Tip: It’s easy to recommend giving up sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, but the truth is that accounts for just one-third of your added sugar intake. You have to go further, really honing in on labels. Much of the hidden sugars hide out under your own roof, in unassuming places like ketchup, frozen dinners, beef jerky and bread.3. Sugar hammers your heart.

Sugar Stat: You might expect sugar-curbing recommendations from the American Diabetes Association, thanks to sugar’s clear impact on type 2 diabetes.

But the truth is heart disease and diabetes are intricately related: Heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 causes of death among people with type

Five Weird Things Sugar is Doing to Your BodySugar is wrecking your face, and other strange new findings By Leah Zerbe, Columnist for Rodalenews.com

continued on following page

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The Local Publication You Actually Read January 8 - 21, 2015

Sugar Smart Diet. This causes tense artery walls, something that puts you on the path to high blood pressure and ultimately, makes a stroke or heart attack more likely.

Sugar Smart Tip: Don’t be tricked by processed “whole grain” products. To create whole grain flour, wheat kernels are basically pulverized to dust, which when eaten causes glucose spikes in our bodies similar to eating table sugar, white flour, or high-fructose corn syrup. “For instance, the kind of whole wheat bread typically used for

and the lowest good (HDL) cholesterol levels. One theory? Sugar overload could spark your liver to churn out more bad cholesterol while also inhibiting your body’s ability to clear it out.

Sugar Smart Tip: Eat a protein-rich breakfast. Skipping breakfast makes you 4.5 times more likely to become obese. Eating breakfast also helps keep your blood sugar levels more favorable. An added perk? When overweight women choose protein-rich eggs over a bagel, they naturally eat about 160 fewer calories during the subsequent lunch. (Rodale News recommends eggs from pastured hens that also eat organic grain.)

sandwiches and white bread are digested at about the same rate and cause about the same rise in blood glucose levels, and therefore, require the same amount of insulin to clear the bloodstream of glucose,” Sugar Smart Diet author Anne Alexander writes.5. Sugar promotes cholesterol chaos.

Sugar Stat: There is an unsettling connection between sugar and cholesterol, as well. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that, after excluding people with high cholesterol and/or diabetes and people who were excessively overweight, those who ate the highest levels of added sugars experienced the biggest spike in bad cholesterol levels and dangerous triglyceride blood fats,

When it comes to news, Carson is its own reality show with backstories and plot lines that extend from season to season. Almost all major Carson stories this year were continuations of threads from previous seasons and almost all will continue into 2015 and beyond. There were political scandals, changes in community leadership and outrage about fracking and toxic contamination. Below, find some of Carson’s most epic moments of 2014: Wright’s Conviction

Carson’s representation at the state level changed sooner than normal. On Jan. 28, a Los Angeles jury found Ron Wright, who represented Senate District 35, guilty of eight felony charges related to residency requirements for his office, including voter fraud. Isadore Hall III, who was termed out in Assembly District 64, had already announced plans to run for the SD 35 in 2016. He was elected to replace Wright in a special election that took place on Dec. 9, 2014.Gipson to Assembly

Beginning in the spring, four candidates sought to succeed Hall in the assembly: Carson Council Member Mike Gipson, Compton School Board Member Micah Ali, Long Beach Council Member Steve Neal, and Prophet Walker, who had no experience in elected office. When the June primary came, Gipson and Walker were advanced to a run-off in November. Gipson won

and resigned his council seat, moving up to the assembly. Opposition to Fracking

In March, Councilman Albert Robles asked the city to consider a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking). It was partly in response to the passage of Senate Bill 4, which directs the state to establish new oil industry regulations related to fracking. On March 18, the city council, reacting to concerns about effects of fracking on public health and safety, voted unanimously to establish a 45-day moratorium on not only fracking but “the drilling, redrilling, or deepening of any new or existing well” within city jurisdiction.

“We need to evaluate legal options,” said Mayor Jim Dear, at the time.

The action was also related to a proposal from Oxy to reopen oil wells under the Dominguez Technology Center. Oxy has often assured Carson that fracking would not be appropriate for the proposed development. In a March 10 letter to the city, Oxy committed to not use any “well stimulation methods” covered by the state’s new regulations under Senate Bill 4.

On April 29, the council declined to extend its moratorium on “drilling, redrilling, or deepening” of wells. The Carson Chamber of Commerce, Watson Land and other business representatives spoke against continuing it. Gipson abstained from the controversial vote. His abstention was

used (unsuccessfully) against him by his opponents in the assembly race. The city then moved to update its oil code and include a ban on fracking, which is due this January 2015.

In the aftermath of the vote, the district attorney investigated whether Robles had a conflict of interest, sitting on Carson’s city council, while also having office with the Water Replenishment District of Southern California. The investigation may have perhaps been triggered when the council looked into fracking’s possible effect on local water quality. The DA has not taken any further action.

Sugarfrom previous page

Recapping Carson’s 2014 Reality ShowBy Lyn Jensen, Carson Reporter

Carson Realty Show/ to p. 6

Anti-drilling activists in Carson have remained staunch opponents to fracking in the oils wells under the Dominguez Technology Center. File photo

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wide range of unfair labor practices.“Until May, I was a misclassified ‘independent

contractor’ driver for Total Transportation Services Inc., TTSI,” explained striking trucker Alex Paz, illustrating the issues at stake. “I am one of the hundreds of drivers who has filed claims for wage theft with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and when I testified before the government, my boss was in the room and he fired me hours later.

“That’s illegal, but I’m not the only one,” he said. “The bosses at Green Fleet, at Pac 9, and at dozens of other company are also retaliating harshly and repeatedly when we as port truck drivers are standing up for our rights.”

The strike was suspended at the end of the week, as Mayor Eric Garcetti brokered a ‘cooling off period’ between the companies and the truckers, which was intended to promote a coming to terms. But from the very beginning there were signs of bad faith by companies. Port truckers and a broad coalition of supporters forcefully presented their case to a receptive Harbor Commission on July 10, recounting a long history of labor law violations, which continued throughout the ‘cooling off period’ and would eventually bring it to an end. The mayor tasked the port with facilitating the search for solutions, so it became an ongoing matter of official business—though with relatively little public visibility.

“We’re going to ask you straight up to ban companies who violate the law,” said Randy Cammack, president of Teamsters Joint Council 42, at the July 10 meeting. “Part of the Clean Truck Act [sic] was that companies had to comply with federal, state laws. They’re not doing that.”

Teamsters International Vice President Fred Potter, head of the Teamsters Port Division, also spoke at that meeting, and in August Random Lengths interviewed him about the state of the ongoing struggle for truckers’ rights.

“We thought that the strike was highly successful,” Potter said, citing the impact the striking drivers had. “But more importantly, the drivers felt the power…. At ports across the country, we were getting a response from port drivers who want us to assist them. They feel they’re misclassified, that they’re not getting their rights. They want to know how they can fight back and even go on strike against their employers and bring around change.”

If skeptics saw that as an empty boast at the

time, they would be proven wrong by the end of the year, when drivers at previously unorganized companies joined the renewed strike and even got their companies to enter into negotiations. But other battles were joined in the meantime, which helped build toward that result.

Labor Gets Its Day in CourtIn early September, we reported on a pre-

Labor Day press conference by port drivers detailing ongoing violations of the cooling off period, as well as highlighting enforcement actions from the National Labor Relations Board and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Then, later that month, we discussed efforts to bring shareholder pressure to bear on TTSI. A private equity venture of Los Angeles-based Saybrook Capital, which has poured millions into TTSI—including money from public sector pension funds—were beginning to raise questions. Their overseers had been approached by truckers and their allies in a period of months. We also discussed the “green growth” side that TTSI promotes, “downplaying the fact that it’s ‘leadership’ is entirely dependent on more than $7 million in public subsidies to purchase its current fleet of trucks.”

That money was originally provided in the expectation that it would enable individual truckers to buy their new trucks, at least continuing the fiction of their ‘owner-operator’

status. But the drivers’ experiences shared over the previous few years clearly showed that this was not happening. In mid-October we followed up with a story focused on TTSI’s contract violations with the Port of Los Angeles.

“Not only does TTSI owe most of its “green” image to massive government subsidies—a different kind of green—but it may have perpetrated fraud by signing the initial subsidy agreements in bad faith,” we reported. “Most notably, POLA’s agreement with TTSI and the other nine companies that received the first round of port funding states that companies will not ‘sell, lease, encumber, or dispose of’ the trucks. Yet, this is precisely what TTSI has done, and—as will be seen below—as it intended all along…. More broadly, the agreement also requires companies to comply with ‘all applicable laws, statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations, and with the reasonable request and directions of executive director.’”

The next month, truckers at the three companies went back out on strike, due to the trucking company’s repeated violations of the cooling off period agreement, which were also additional violations of state and federal labor law. Their move was reinforced by a couple of significant government actions.

First, on Oct. 10, 2014 a federal district court found that two Green Fleet Drivers—Amicar

containers are then hitched onto trucks before they are transported along the Harbor and Long Beach freeways to their final destinations.

Traditionally, the repair and maintenance of trailer chassis on the waterfront was the province of the ILWU. Since the four chassis leasing companies aren’t actually members of the PMA, they don’t have contractual obligation to use union labor to maintain these chassis, let alone ILWU labor.

Port Action

The ports have chosen to take proactive steps to address the bottleneck. On Dec. 22, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved measures to relieve congestion, which included petitioning the Federal Maritime Commission for permission to work in concert with the Port of Los Angeles.

The Harbor Commission put out a Request for Proposals to create a “peak chassis pool,” which increase the total supply of chassis at the ports when they are most needed. This would address the shortage of chassis at the ports, a major factor in the congestion issues this year.

The commission approved, on a preliminary basis, to cap “dockage” fees charged by the port to ships at berth to four days of parking. Due to delays, ships have been sitting at berth for longer periods of time and paying higher fees as a result. With the dockage relief, the Port Long Beach would forgo an estimated $150,000 in fees through March, 31, 2015.

Before the Long Beach Harbor Commission announcement, both ports approved measures to petition the federal government for permission to collaborate on congestion. The San Pedro Bay ports want to collaborate with industry partners on matters including rail operations, chassis supply and

storage, vessel calls, truck turn times and marine terminal operations. The Federal Maritime Commission could grant the ports immunity from antitrust laws that would otherwise prohibit the two ports from collaborating.

“Separately, we’re all working on solutions,” said Jon Slangerup, the Port of Long Beach’s chief executive, in a released statement. “But these are systemic problems that can only be solved by bringing all the parties together and agreeing on long-term, integrated solutions throughout the supply chain.”

The ILWU Local 13 president, Bobby Olvera, displayed and eagerness to show that the union is ready to work.

“The last few months, we have kept working, day and night, day and night,” said Olvera following the meeting with the PMA at the Port of Los Angeles building.

“We want to move this cargo. Order the gangs. We told the employers, order the labor and we’ll fill it. Bring us the work. Let us unload the ships.”

Olvera went on to call the PMA’s actions punitive.

“You can’t shut down the port down at night time and expect congestion to go away,” he said. “The ships will continue to pile up.

In the meanwhile, negotiations continue.

Impasse at Portfrom p. 1

Toxic Carousel Keeps Spinning During Thanksgiving week Carson and

Shell signed off on a personal injury settlement affecting 1,491 current and former residents of the Carousel housing tract north of Lomita Boulevard. The settlement was negotiated after the neighborhood was found to be sitting on toxic soil in 2008. Reportedly, Shell has since asked the court to negate the settlement on grounds that confidentiality was violated when some details were leaked to media (not this outlet). Body Cams and New Leadership for LASD

Changes in leadership happened at the top and community level in the Los Angeles County

Sheriff’s Department, which has jurisdiction in Carson. At the top a new sheriff was elected—Jim McDonnell, the former chief of the Long Beach Police Department. Given the issues that plagued McDonnell’s former department and the sheriff’s department, it remains to be seen how effective a leader McDonnell will be.

The Carson station got a new captain twice. In June Reginald Gautt assumed command. One of his first duties was to oversee a six-month pilot program on body-worn cameras, a possible tool to curb issues of police brutality and charges of excessive force. Seventeen deputies and two supervisors are participating at the Carson station, where such complaints are fortunately rare. In December, Capt. Chris Marcs took command.

Water Board Shake-up Ron Smith, who formerly represented

District 1 (including Carson) for the West Basin Municipal Water District, was convicted of a conflict-of-interest charge in September. Leading up to the November election to replace him, one candidate, former Carson Mayor Mike Mitoma, questioned the board members’ salaries. Former Carson Council Member Harold Williams won the seat, while concerns about board members’ salaries remain unsettled.Dear Seeks Job Change

As 2014 concluded, candidates emerged for the next General Municipal Election. Four offices—two on the council, plus clerk and treasurer—will be on the ballot in March. Jim Dear announced he’s challenging Donesia Gause for city clerk.

from p. 5

Carson’s Realty Show

from p. 3

Truckers Strife

continued on following page

The year 2014 was a banner of activism and gains for port truckers. File photo

7

The Local Publication You Actually Read January 8 - 21, 2015

Cardona and Mateo Mares—were employees under the law. It ordered Green Fleet to reinstate them. Green Fleet appealed, seeking to have the reinstatement blocked, but on Oct. 31, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Green Fleets’ request, and on Nov. 7, Cardona and Mares triumphantly returned to work.

“Very soon we may go on strike,” Cardona told POLA’s commissioners later that same day. “I’m just asking you please do something because the court has already decided that I am an employee.”

Board members expressed sympathy, but said legally they were powerless to act. And so, the strike resumed.

But the Port and City of Los Angeles were not completely powerless, as shown by the second government action in advance of the renewed strike.

On Oct. 31, the Los Angeles City Attorney sent letters to seven port trucking companies giving them 30 days to answer questions concerning missing documentation in violation of the agreement under which they had received LNG clean truck subsidies, in line with the story Random Lengths had run a few weeks earlier. A related letter to TTSI from Christopher Cannon, POLA’s director of Environmental Management,

went dramatically farther, citing numerous violations and demanding that TTSI “repay the entire amount of the granted funds totaling $1,472,000 within thirty (30) days of receipt of this letter.”

With all these forces converging, Green Fleet returned the bargaining table just before the threatened strike, while TTSI and Pac 9 held out just a few days. But drivers at other companies soon joined in as well, vindicating what Potter had said about widespread growing interest in becoming organized.

“On Nov. 17, the strike spread to three new drayage companies: QTS Inc., LACA Express and WinWin Logistics Inc., ” we reported. “The next morning the strike spread further, to intermodal rail yards that are serviced by Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport. On Nov. 20, QTS, LACA and WinWin agreed to enter into talks. The three companies ‘each respect drivers’ right to choice with regard to unionization,’ Garcetti said in a statement.”

Eventually all the striking workers and companies agreed to talks.

It’s not over, of course. It never is. But there can be no doubt that 2014 was a watershed year for port truckers. Unfair, illegal practices are being beaten back at every turn, and workers’ right to organizing is finally beginning to be respect in fact as well as law. Much more remains to be done, but the tide has definitely begun to turn.

The main national story we covered this past year was climate change. In part, we covered this issue because it’s such an overwhelming threat which the corporate media still downplays and, in part, we covered the issue because of its specific impacts on us here in California became increasingly clear, with the continuation of our record drought and the added new threats of rising sea levels.

Closely related, we also looked at how the social cost of coal vastly outweighs the value it provides—even apart from its global warming impacts. But we also covered two major topics dealing with profound, far-reaching abuses of power and violations of human right. We wrote about the role of colorblind racism in and around the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo, and about the massive deceit and failure of law revealed by the Senate torture report. And, we wrote about how the so-called ‘takers’ at the bottom of the pay scale are taxed more heavily in California than the so-called ‘makers’ in the top 1 percent. Here’s a summary of the stories we ran, in chronological order.

The DroughtWe first wrote about the California drought

in February 2014, after California Gov. Jerry Brown declared the state officially in drought on Jan. 17, 2015. The declaration placed the extreme drought conditions of recent years into a larger perspective, represented, for example, by the 2010 paper, “Drought under global warming” by Dr. Aiguo Dai, who projected an increasingly drier climate for virtually the entire continental United States in the coming decade and megadroughts for the past decades, rather than year. California already appears to be in one.

Within the past 13 years, half the state—57 percent—has been under some degree of drought conditions. Within the previous two years, the figures have been 87 percent and 94 percent rising to 98 percent at the time of our story, and 100 today, despite recent rains.

“What we are seeing now is fundamentally different from previous megadroughts, which were driven largely by precipitation,” Dr. Valerie Trouet explained. “Now, thanks to higher temperatures driven by climate change, droughts are increasingly temperature-driven, which makes even normal levels of precipitation less effective in relieving drought conditions.”

For Earth Day, we reported on a new report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “If we want to keep planet earth largely habitable for our grandchildren, we must drastically change the global energy sector, but the overall economic costs will be surprisingly small,” we reported. Greenhouse gas emissions must be slashed 40 to 70 percent by mid-century to keep temperatures in a reasonable range, where extensive adaptation measures will still be required, and they’ll have to be almost entirely eliminated by 2100, but the overall cost will only be a modest 0.06 percent annual reduction in economic growth “relative to annualized consumption growth in the baseline that is between 1.6 percent and 3 percent per year,” according to the report.

Who Pays Taxes?In May, we covered a report from the

California Budget Project, “Who Pays Taxes in California?”, which showed that the state’s lowest-income households—those who can least afford it—pay a disproportionately large share of their incomes in state and local taxes, particularly compared to the wealthiest households. It’s a

pattern that holds true throughout the United States, though some states are much more regressive than others. California has gotten less regressive recently, largely thanks to Proposition 30, passed in November, 2012. But it’s still heavily tilted against those who can afford it least.

On May 12, scientists announced the publication of two independent studies showing that the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has already begun and cannot be stopped or reversed. The vulnerability of the sheet was first foreseen in a paper published in 1968, and its role in a potential climate catastrophe was first written about in 1978. We complemented our news of the new studies with an interview with Ben Strauss, a climate scientist who directs the program on sea level rise at Climate Central, which has a detailed online mapping program allowing people to see the geographical impacts of future sea level rise.

California is not in the top tier of greatest vulnerability, lead by New Orleans, Miami and New York City, although Stockton did make the top 10. But the state as a whole faces an unprecedented future.

“A portion [of the environmental costs] is coming from sea level rise in each flood, already today, and the continuing rise that we can expect to see over the next few decades,” he said. “And, through the end of the century is going to multiply risk of extreme flooding dramatically, in many places, including California.” As for tide-levels themselves, “The permanent water level later in this century could be higher than the all-time record water level in the whole state of California.”

In June, after President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency had released its plan for reducing reliance on coal to fight global warming. Republicans predictably attacked with a paucity of facts. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called it, “the single worst blow to Kentucky’s economy in modern times.” We published a realistic look at coal’s war on people, the extraordinary scientifically documented unpaid costs that coal production imposes on the communities where it occurs.

A 2009 paper, “Mortality in Appalachian Coal Mining Regions: The Value of Statistical Life Lost” concluded, “The human cost of the Appalachian coal mining economy outweighs its economic benefits,” with a best estimate cost of $50 billion, compared to just $8 billion in economic benefits from the industry. It’s essentially a study of the unpaid externalized costs of coal mining, directly analogous to the unpaid externalized costs of port shipping—concentrated in premature deaths—which have been reduced significantly in recent years, as a result of lawsuits and other environmental justice activism.

A larger study that the author of that paper, Michael Hendryx, took part in, “Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal,” was published two years later, and generated

three costs estimates: high, low and best. The externalized costs of coal amounted to 17.84 cents per kilowatt-hour (best estimate), ranging from a low of 9.42 cents per kilowatt-hour to a high of 26.89 cents per kilowatt-hour. At the same time, current long-term wind contracts are already being signed for just 6 cents per kilowatt-

Labor in Reviewfrom previous page

National, Statewide Year In ReviewBy Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

hour—far cheaper than the low-end estimate of coal’s externalized costs.

Michael BrownIn early September, we looked at the

police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., not as an individual rash act, but as part of a much larger system of attitudes: color-blind racism, and institutions, which function to keep blacks ‘in their place.’ As described by sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, colorblind racism is a racial ideology reformulated in the post-Civil Rights era around four key frames: (1) Abstract Liberalism, using ideas such as “equal opportunity,” choice, individualism in an abstract manner to explain racial matters. (2) Naturalization (“That’s just how things are.”) (3) Cultural Racism (arguments like “Mexicans don’t put much emphasis on education” or “Blacks have too many babies” to explain the condition of minorities.) (4) Minimization of Racism, which simultaneously acknowledges and dismisses persistent racism (“It’s better now than in the past” or “There is discrimination, but there are plenty of jobs out there). All four of these narrative frames were visible in the white establishment response to the killing of Michael Brown and the protests

Year in Review/ to p. 17

Police officer using military-issue weapons on “hands-up-don’t-shoot” demonstrators became a common sight across the country following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. this past August. File photo.

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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-

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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 $36 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 2015 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.

continued on following page

News stories that will unfortunately carry into 2015 will be the ill treatment of African-Americans by our justice system.

While everyone is outraged at the injustice, particularly deafening is the silence of Latinos at rallies demanding justice.

While every racial, ethnic and demographic group is guilty of screaming louder for their injustices than the injustices suffered by others, it seems Latinos are more hypocritical. For example, (1) Latinos were silent when the fundamental right to marry was denied to gays, (2) Latinos were silent when the right to freedom of religion was denied to Muslims, and now (3) Latinos are silent as Justice is denied to African-Americans. Yet, Latinos are outraged when others are silent at their injustices? In 2015 Latinos should make a New Year’s resolution to stop being hypocritical.

Latinos, as a group, are the most diverse in terms skin color, religion, sexual orientation, or any other categorization, but inexplicably Latinos fail to see how our fate is tied to the justice of others—so Latinos do not protest when others suffer injustice. However, when the right to citizenship under the 14th Amendment is denied to Latinos or Latinos are victims of anti-immigrant bashing, the very same Latinos who are silent at the injustices suffered by others are hypocritically outraged at the silence of others.

Published shortly after the Holocaust during

World War II, the following poem eloquently describes what happens when one group of people remains silent during attacks on another group:

First, they came for the homosexuals,and I didn’t speak-up because I wasn’t gay.Then they came for the blacks,and I didn’t speak-up because I wasn’t black.Then they came for the Jews,and I didn’t speak-up because I wasn’t Jewish.Then they came for me,and no one spoke-up because no one was left to speak for me.

The original wording, i.e., the groups and the order, is not known because the poem is derived from numerous speeches given in 1946 by a prominent anti-Nazi theologian. What is clear, however, is the poem’s message of the consequences of remaining silent as others suffer injustice, a lesson that seems to be forgotten, especially by Latinos. Consider that (1) when gays were being attacked and people voted to deprive them of the fundamental right to marry, poll after poll showed that Latinos overwhelmingly supported the ban in greater percentages than the general population; (2) when Muslims were attacked for their religion, Latinos stood quietly by or, even worse, joined the attacks on Islam because they were “good”

On Sept. 11, 2001, America reacted to the at-tacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. with swift action and arguably justified vengeance for the loss of life on our home turf––the first such attack since Pearl Harbor.

Then-president, George W. Bush called for a "War on Terrorism" and the country righteously sent our troops off to fight in Afghani-stan, the nation harboring the terrorist group, al Qaeda, responsible for the attacks.

Shortly afterward, based on flawed intelligence, the Bush administration also invaded Iraq. Ever since, our government has been dispatching our troops, special forces and drones to a string of countries, nearly too many to list in a kind of global whack-a-mole war, that has lead us to a far less righ-teous conclusion.

Now, 13 years and some $4 to $5 trillion lat-er, President Barack Obama is now declaring the first chapter of this war “over”—a picture far dif-ferent than the “mission accomplished” President George W. Bush tried to claim. The conclusion of this war is a precarious stalemate—not even an uneasy truce or peace.

The Eisenhower Research Institute at Bos-ton’s Brown University estimated the human cost of this war at year 10 to be 31,000 deaths of persons in uniform and military contractors, 137,000 civilians and 7.8 million refugees.

Because the majority of the budget for this war was borrowed, nearly $185 billion is attrib-uted to interest with a projected $1 trillion to ac-crue by 2020, the report says. The cost of medi-cal care for our veterans could be as high as $950

billion in the years to come. Although all of these statistics are stun-

ning in their extremes, they do not compare to the personal suffering experienced by our veterans who have returned home wounded, maimed, broken from PTSD, or otherwise disabled for life.

We have no way of even accessing the ris-ing suicide rate of current or former military personnel and the residual effects on our na-tion as a whole. What we have inherited from all of this is far less noble. There is still no jus-tice for the victims of 9/11 and there still is no lasting peace either here or abroad.

The War on Terror has left its own lasting imprint on American streets with heightened security checks at every airport, government offices and police departments. The milita-rization of our domestic police forces is its

own kind of conclusion to this misadventure that brings this war home in predictable, if not shock-ing contrasts.

The rise in the incidents of police shootings of minority citizens from Ferguson, Mo. to New York to Los Angeles to nearly everywhere, and the rise of mass murders by crazed individuals at schools and theaters, only makes me wonder

about the psychology of war and vio-lence as it comes home. Something to the effect of “violence begets vio-lence” comes to mind and justice in the end becomes the victim of it all.

The U.S. Senate report on torture that was released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein just before Congress went to recess for the holidays, revealed some of the worst parts of this war and about ourselves as a nation.

This report itself stands as an in-dictment of the Bush years and the people who executed this misguided plan to circumvent in-ternational law on torture. The threat to our re-public is that the use of torture, rendition, secret prisons and the continued holding of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay without legal charge is a cor-ruption of our very system of justice.

And, to the extent that these violations of our legal system can be proved, those at the top who made the decisions to violate these laws should be indicted and prosecuted. The names of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Bush all come to mind, as well as that lawyer, John Woo, who wrote the opinion on torture. All should be brought up on war crimes charges.

To my ears, it rings very hollow when Presi-dent Obama asks citizens to obey the laws of Missouri or New York, while his attorney gen-eral can’t even enforce the laws on the high and mighty in Washington, D.C.

Without some legal consequences at the very top, those at the very bottom of our society will never have any hope for justice. In the end, jus-tice and the rule of law is the very basis of our from of governance.

Without these, the very trust that is needed be-tween the police, the courts and the people they serve will erode. Trust is more valuable than all the treasures and lives that have been lost to date.

As we have seen in recent months with the "Black Lives Matter" demonstrations spreading at police stations across the nation, and even at the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting this week, this trust has been broken.

Sadly, this and much more awaits us as the War on Terror comes home and the consequences have yet to be fully realized.

American Justice on TrialWhen the War Comes HomeJames Preston Allen, Publisher

Latinos Should Make A New Year’s Resolution Not To Remain SilentBy Carson Councilman Albert Robles

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The Local Publication You Actually Read January 8 - 21, 2015

RANDOMLetters

Christians; and (3) when the anti-affirmative action fervor was at its highest a few years ago, the majority of Latinos thought such programs should be abolished because it only benefitted African-Americans or more recently when African-Americans were victims of the criminal injustice system, Latinos quietly believe that these African-Americans must have done something to deserve it. In other words, because Latinos did not oppose the anti-gay laws, did not speak-up to stop the anti-Islamic rhetoric, did not speak-up against anti-affirmative action or the injustices suffered by African-Americans, it should come as no surprise to Latinos that there is not greater opposition to the anti-immigrant rhetoric because there is no one left to speak out for Latinos.

Whether the impetus for turning a blind eye to injustice was the dire economic conditions after the Great Depression then, or after the Great Recession now and/or the lack of a good public school system then, or the

broken public school system now, whatever gives rise to the phenomena of people remaining silent as another group suffers injustice is not clear; but, what is clear is that we must stop turning a blind eye and come together to fight injustices everywhere, especially Latinos.

All peoples of diverse backgrounds must come together to make our country a more perfect union. In the 1960s, as another group of people was attacked in Germany, people from all around the world who valued freedom stood united against the USSR because remaining silent was a mistake that was not to be repeated. This sentiment was best captured by President John F. Kennedy’s famous declaration as the communist encircled Berlin and he stood with them to say, “I, too, am a Berliner.”

As we approach the 70th year since the end of the greatest injustice caused by remaining silent, today Latinos should follow Kennedy’s example, and re-phrase the Holocaust

poem as follows:Next time an anti-gay statement is made, or someone gay is the victim of a hate crime, all groups, but especially Latinos, should speak up and say, “I, too, am gay.”Next time a Muslim is attacked for their appearance or cultural beliefs, or their religious freedom is threatened, all groups, but especially Latinos, should speak up and say, “I, too, am Muslim.”Next time an African-American is the victim of police abuse, or racism, all groups, but especially Latinos, should speak up and say, “I, too, am African-American.”

Latinos should make a New Year’s resolution not to remain silent at the injustices suffered by others, so maybe next time someone attacks Latinos there will be others to speak up too.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Do Not Remain Silentfrom previous page

Pay Up Apology—For taking so long

to ‘Pay Up’. I am writing this to address

an irritation I have with the transition to only computerized communication. Hundreds of times I’ve wanted to participate in dialogue with/to the items in your letters to the editor column. I don’t have a computer or smartphone and wonder how many voices are shut out of this process. This fact clearly alters the discussion by limiting the range of input and potential viewpoints.

Dandeen D. O’GradySan Pedro

Termed out CSAC Commissioners—California doesn’t obey the laws

California does not enforce the term limits. Some have been Commissioners for over 15 years. Obey the law and term out the corruption.

• John Frierson (Chairman— appointed on August 18, 2008 and expires on Jan. 1, 2015. His appointment is via Assembly Speaker.

• Van Buren Ross Lemons —appointed on October 15, 2009 and expires on Jan. 1, 2015. His appointment is via the Senate Rules Committee.

• Martha Shen-Urquidez—appointed on March 28, 2013 and expires on Jan. 1, 2017. Her

appointment is via the Governor.• Mary Lehman—appointed

on March 28, 2013 and expires on Jan. 1, 2017. Her appointment is via the Governor.

• Christopher Giza—appointed on April 13, 2007 and expires on Jan. 1, 2015. His appointment is via the Governor.

• James Carvelli—appointed on May 1, 2013 and term expired on Jan. 1, 2014. His appointment is via the Governor.

• Dean Grafilo—appointed on June 25, 2012 and term expired on Jan. 1, 2014. His appointment is via the Governor.

Greg PatschullSan Pedro

Torture and AmericaBelow is a letter composed by

San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice regarding torture. Thank you for your consideration in publishing it.

Leonardo PoareoSan Pedro

A few weeks ago, the Senate came out with a report that detailed the horrors of the CIA’s interrogation program that consisted of widespread torture of detainees. While it was common knowledge that the CIA tortured people, the extent of this program’s depravity and uselessness has been laid bare in the report. The report highlighted how the CIA lied about the program’s effectiveness, all

while utilizing torture techniques such as rectal feeding, threatening detainees and their families, depriving detainees of their sleep, and even causing at least one detainee to die of hypothermia. Not only did the CIA obstruct White House regulation and even that of their inspector general, but they also illegally held people who had not done anything to warrant detention. If justice means anything, this report must necessarily lead to the prosecution of everyone involved, as torture violates both international and federal law.

Torture is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, of which the U.S. is a signatory. The U.N. Convention Against Torture, of which the U.S. is also a signatory, also bans torture. The Convention also obligates signatories to prosecute torturers and to make torture illegal within their own governments. In addition to these international laws, the U.S. Constitution also implicitly prohibits torture, and a federal law, 18 U.S.C. 242, makes it illegal for any government official to take part in torture. Thus, the U.S. government, as well as the international community, is obligated to hold those involved in torture programs accountable.

Various members of the CIA and the Bush administration (including Bush himself) were involved in this program at some level, and should be held accountable. Yet nobody has been

prosecuted for his or her crimes. The Obama administration and the Justice Department have not brought charges against any of those involved in this inhumane program, probably for political reasons. But we as a country should not accept this. We should not be a nation that neglects the less fortunate and spends millions upon millions of dollars to torture people. If we want a society in which law, justice, and humanity reign, we must demand that those involved in any torture activities be prosecuted.

San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice

The LPG Tanks and the Future

As this New Year approaches, I continue to hope that the extremely hazardous risk potential posed by a massive 25 million gallon butane and propane gas storage facility located in the LA harbor area is resolved. This highly explosive situation offers an opportunity for disaster that has the capability to impact surrounding populations and communities located within several miles. Professor Bob Bea (UC Berkeley), the USA’s recognized expert in forensic

risk analysis, has grave concerns regarding this facility and its high potential for a “cascading failure event”.

The 40+ year old tanks storing this voluminous amount of dangerous gas were built to a seismic sub-standard of 5.5-6.0 and rest in the only “earthquake rupture zone” in the entire LA Harbor area with a quake potential of 7.3 magnitude. This represents only one of many obvious opportunities for disaster. The deadly consequences from an event at this site are overwhelming in scope. While government officials have

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RANDOMLettersbeen aware of this high risk potential for decades, they (not unlike Fukushima’s leaders) have chosen to ignore the hazard due to the powerful political influence of the energy industry. Meanwhile, the extraordinary gamble of human lives and devastation to our US ports remains ever present. I pray that 2015 will be the year that this reckless insanity stops. Otherwise, we will be forced to endure the inevitable catastrophe that looms so large before us.

Janet GunterSan Pedro

Cigar Lounge San Pedro—Thanks for Nothing, City of Los Angeles!

Well, thank you City of Los Angeles for ruining two Christmas seasons in a row. We had to breathe toxic second-hand cigar smell last Christmas season and all year long and here we are, doing it again this year.

I can breathe fully with no problem when I am at work, as with all the tenants, but when I am home the air stinks with the smell of toxic second-hand cigars.

Tonight there are people smoking in the cigar lounge, and now I cannot breathe through my nose once again. But the City approved the permits to allow this business to be here, expelling toxic second-hand cigar smell, over and over. This is a health hazard and a public nuisance. The City should have considered the permit for this business—just where will the concentrated second hand cigar odor go? Are there any people living or working nearby that will be impacted by this known carcinogen? How will this impact their health? How will this impact their quality of life? What about the unknowing pedestrian? Who will protect them from the repeated exposure to this known carcinogen? I believe this is the responsibility of the City.

How would you like it if your family was subjected to at least over 250 evenings a year of second-hand cigar toxic emissions? Would you care then?

Please do something to fix this problem. This business does not belong where the toxic second-hand emissions are impacting people. Fix the problem that was created by the City of Los Angeles by allowing this business to be here in the first place.

So far, no one from the mayor’s office has contacted me.

J. OlsenSan Pedro

Design is intelligence made visible.

from p. 9

Mayor Eric Garcetti stopped by Philie B's on 6th Street for a pizza before the New Year. The mayor is pictured above with Phili B's proprietor, Phil Buscemi. Photo by James Allen.

Polar Bears Ring in the New Year at Cabrillo Beach

On New Years Day, par-ticipants jumped into the ocean at Cabrillo Beach in 49 degree weather. At least the water was warmer, according to National Weather Ser-vice. Photos by Jessie Drezner.

The Mayor Visits 6th Street

January 8 – 21, 2015ACE: Arts •

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By Melina Paris, Music Columnist

San Pedro’s own Freda Rente’ (also known as Sista Sin) is celebrating the presence of the African American female presence in the punk-rock scene with a film-in-making called, Under the Underground, A Chocolate Girl’s Phobic Adventures within the Realm of Rock-N-Roll.

Under the Underground will be narrated by Freda with story segments, art and music with about 20 interviews with other artists including, Kyra Rossler of Black Flag and DOS and Dave Travis, producer and director of The Year Punk Broke.

Black women in music often are invisible, specifically in the punk scene. The documentary has been in the works for almost five years and chronicles her adventures in music and performance. The California punk scene of the late 70s to early 80s was very eclectic. It included bands whose sound crossed over to art or experimental punk.

In 1978, in Southern California, the first hardcore punk bands became popular. Fans tended to be younger than the art punks of the older Los Angeles scene and came mostly from the suburban parts of the Los Angeles area.

By 1979, the younger hardcore punks had replaced the older artistic Hollywood scene and become the leading expression in both Northern and Southern California. At this time, punk also began to diversify with sounds from hardcore party surf rock to 1960s garage rock. This was the scene that Freda and her contemporaries came from. She is a member of the punk band The Zarkons, who were formerly The Alleycats and was in the Los Angeles underground punk scene of the mid-80s.

Freda noted that the experimental and artistic nature of the punk rock scene is what drew her to it. Freda is also into rhythm and blues, rock and poetry. She sings, plays guitar, bass, drums and sitar, among other instruments.

“We die a billion deaths and we get to create ourselves again as many times as we are available to and strong enough to,” said Freda, describing what her documentary conveys.

In her words, Freda is the “designer of her own.” She has gone through tremendously hard times but she keeps getting back up and creating.

In addition to her documentary Freda’s mission these days is to bring all kinds of artists together in well-produced and well-presented live events. She does this as the host and producer of Noise Fest, a monthly event at Harold’s Place in San Pedro.

Noise Fest is a global live event that just happens to take place locally Freda says. She explained she uses the word “Noise” in the sense of sound. It is global because her vision is to present a multi-genre of artists from around the world to perform and show their art. Noise Fest

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Bravo’s Best New RestaurantsFight for SoCal’s Bragging Rights

This past month, before the start of the New Year, Random Lengths News reported that Chef Dustin Trani’s DOMA would be featured on Bravo’s new series, Best New Restaurant.

The show will follow host, judge and executive producer Tom Colicchio as he dines at 16 restaurants across four cities to decide which one is, well, the best new restaurant in the country. Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, Miami and New York are the four competing cities.

Dustin’s DOMA Beverly Hills heads the Southern California contestants that includes, Little Sparrow in Santa Ana, The Church Key in Hollywood and the Union Restaurant in Old-Town Pasadena

A c c o r d i n g t o a p r e s s r e l e a s e , BlackboardEats.com CEO Maggie Nemser and ‘Wichcraft co-founder Jeffrey Zurofsky will help Colicchio decide which restaurant

will be crowned the winner.Together the trio will evaluate each

restaurant on not only the dishes that are served, but also everything from décor to hospitality to overall concept.

The winning restaurant will receive $100,000, a feature in Bon Appetit (the show’s partner) and a spot at the Vegas Uncork’d food festival.

Chef Gordon Ramsay also produced the show.

It will include a series of competitions: In the first round of the show, each restaurant will be subjected to a “pressure test,” where 30 hungry diners will “descend on the restaurants without notice” to see how the restaurant can handle the stress. The show will also feature undercover diners and a pop-up restaurant competition.

The chefs at each of the competing Southern California restaurants have been touted as top chef’s to watch with particularly unique and outstanding offerings at their respective establishments.

DOMA at Beverly Hills

For the past two years, publicity for DOMA at Beverly Hills has been continually growing—growth for which Dustin has largely been credited.

DOMA is the brainchild of Sonja Perencevic and her daughter Nikka. The pair’s previous project was the takeover of the West Hollywood Dan Tana’s Restaurant.

At DOMA, the Perencevics acquired the former Prego Ristorante space and converted it into a sleek modern room with warm, smoky gray wall tones and pops of white and celadon floral arrangements. Comfortable high-backed banquets overlook the inviting open kitchen. Dustin, brought his extensive experience, ranging from a Michelin-rated restaurant in Italy to the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok to the table. He described the cuisine at DOMA as a modern Mediterranean concept with a touch of Asian, saying to food blogger Jay Weston,

“I want to bring an unexpected punch to these classic dishes, balancing pairings of sweet and savory flavors throughout the menu.”

Indeed he has. Dustin was named one of the top rising chefs in Gayot (guy-oh) Magazine’s Restaurant Issue for 2013.Details: (310) 277-7346; http://domabh.comLocation: 62 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills

Little Sparrow

Described as a “charming, modern American cafe with the soul of a vintage French bistro,” Little Sparrow’s turned a lot of heads this past year with their simple lunch menu. The O.C. Register’s Brad Johnson couldn’t get the pastrami at Little Sparrow off his mind, calling the restaurant’s opening one of the more important openings of the past couple of years in downtown Santa Ana.

Chef Eric Samaniego heads the downtown Santa Ana restaurant, Little Sparrow. Samaniego previously worked in Los Angeles at Comme Ça with the reputable Chef David Myers. The restaurant’s dinner menu can really only be described as an incredible night time experience. The dinner menu features seasonal bistro cuisine accentuated by Samaniego’s passion.

Samaniego goes full decadent with the Merguez-style lamb sausages, chicken-liver mousse, pork rillettes, and pork and duck terrine. He makes foodies drool with veal sweetbreads, caramelized with bacon and served with a purée of spring peas. Beef marrow bones get sawed down the middle and roasted, with their gelatinous insides meant to be spread across thick slices of toast.Details: (714) 265-7640; www.littlesparrowcafe.comLocation: 300 N. Main St., Santa Ana

The Church Key

The Church Key bills itself as an “American dim sum” restaurant, with Steven Fretz, who most recently worked in the kitchen of XIV in West Hollywood.

Named for a metal bottle opener that’s pointed on one end to pierce cans and flat on the other to anchor bottle caps, the Church Key is noted for complex flavor palate with its fusion Asian cuisine.

LA Weekly’s Besha Rodell defined American dim sum as a construct that’s arising around the country in places like the State Bird Provisions in San Francisco, in which the printed menu is augmented with roving dishes that come from the kitchen as they’re made.

Rodell noted that unlike State Bird Provisions and others, it is the waiters rather than the chefs at Church Key, who push the carts, which takes away the awkwardness of personally turning down someone’s creation.

The Church Key is also noted for their female

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

The talents of Chef Dustin Trani, the face of Doma at Beverly Hills and J.Tranis in San Pedro, will be on display on Bravo’s new series, Best New Restaurant, Jan 21. File photo

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The Five Best Performances of 2014

staff dressed as flight attendants pushing old Pan Am carts offering popsicles made of liquor.

Rodell described her experience at the Church Key as uneven, but suggested that there’s exciting potential once a few operational issues are worked out.Details: (424) 249-3700; www.thechurchkeyla.comLocation: 8730 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

The Union

The Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold describes The Union as incredibly exciting in a restaurant in a very dull vicinity, despite the bounty of excellent craft ale breweries and sushi spots in Old Town Pasadena.

The restaurant itself doesn’t look much different from its neighbors located in stripped-

By B. Noel Barr, The Music Writer Dude

In 2014 we had many great performances that have been covered here in Random Lengths News. This is my top 5 list of live music performances in 2014.

The top of the list has to go Sean Lane, who has proved he is a force to be reckoned in the world of blues music.

At the 2014 New Blues Festival, Lane closed the Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ Stage with an epic 15-minute solo set. I had the pleasure of introducing him that night and what ensued after was amazing. Only a handful of people were present at the start of his set, but by the end the crowd grew to more than a hundred. Lane poured every fiber of his body into his music. The question everyone asked, “Why wasn’t he on the main stage?” To be honest in all the shows I have ever been to (a lot in 40-plus years) this young man and his guitar defined greatness.

Sean Lane and the Hellhounds at the 2014 Music By The Sea also set a high standard that only a few can follow. On this date there was mix of styles of blues and old rock ’n’ roll to bring folks to their feet to dance.

One his songs “Been On 61 All Day” is tale of tour he made to play in the South. The song has references to places along the blues trail through the region. One line he sings, “I made my way to Dockery’s, Laid my hands upon the ground, Feel like I’m trying’ to find what can’t be found” He sings as if he is conjuring those great old blues men out of their graves. I get chills every time I hear this song.

Sean is playing at Godmothers Saloon with his band on Jan. 9. This year he will be on the main stage of The New Blues Festival on Labor Day weekend.

In October, Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band played The Grand Annex in San Pedro in what I believe is their best show to date. Susie and the band opened with an acapella number that transitioned into an evening of beautiful compositions by their main songwriter and lead guitarist Rob Carlson. In addition to Carlson’s work, the music of great folk historian and performer Jean Ritchie was offered up to the audience’s delight.

The group performed songs from their catalog, including “The River Road,” “Blue Eyed Darlin,” “The White Swan” and The Harland County Boys, to name a few of songs. There was one song that was performed that night “Evangeline” written by Ernest Troost. It is a murder ballad with three defined characters, that haunts you with a delicious melody. “There was blood on his fingers, there was blood caked on his shoes, when they caught

him near up near Bakersfield…” Each song, each instrumental break, and the beautiful and exquisite vocals of Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band bathed the audience in rich harmonies.

In September, The Grand Annex presented The Undercover Lounge featuring Andy Hill and Renee Safier’s Tribute to Neil Young. They gave a passionate performances of the iconic rock stars catalog.

Renee Safier walked out onto a stage bending to pluck the string of a guitar sitting on a stand. Turning, she began to sing in acapella “Tonight’s the Night.” The drama built as the ensemble slowly stepped on to the stage, one by one, joining in on the chorus till everyone was on singing and playing.

Later Andy Hill took the lead vocal in “Cowgirl In The Sand.” This interpretation brought me to tears. One of the members of the ensemble Brax Cutchin came on stage two songs later with a barn burning version of “Southern Man” that touched everyone. Daniel Leanse keep the fire stoked with his interpretation of “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” and later in the second set Patti Orbeck hit the heart strings with “Helpless.” This, for someone like myself, was an evening reflecting on the soundtrack of our lives.

On the political front one song has stuck out from the days of rage at the apex of the Vietnam War, “Ohio.” This one was lead by Dave Crossland, whose father taught political science at Kent State when the shooting of college students occurred.

The whole event at The Grand Annex ended warm and fuzzy with a sing-along on “Heart Of Gold.”

Alvas has amazing shows going all the time, One was a show I produced this year was with Dave Fox from Greensboro North Carolina, featuring San Pedro’s own Mike Guerrera Trio. The show opened with Dave Fox and his musical vision of the planet Meldavia. Playing two sets of neo-classical piano music lush with beautiful melodies and two sets of standards with Mike Guerrera’s Trio.

Dave Widow and The Line up showed us what real rockin’ rhythm and blues driven blues sounds like. His shows with his band the Lineup or his Dave Widow and Friends shows have garnered raves from everyone who attends performances at Alvas Showroom and Godmothers Saloon both in San Pedro and Kobe’s Steak House in Seal Beach.

Recently, Widow and The Line Up opened for Ambrosia at The House of Blues in Anaheim. By the end of his set he had the main room groovin to his music at The House of Blues. Later that

down storefront on a block lined with restaurants and bars, but its menu could challenge the palate of your seasoned foodie.

Chef Bruce Kalman specializes in Northern Italian and Mediterranean flavors and is known for perfecting the art of the hand crafted foods. Kalman is known locally in West Hollywood for the craft pickles he sells at the local farmer’s market.

Gold describes a wait staff that highly knowledgeable and sharp, noting The Union staff didn’t “need much prompting to tell you the provenance of the walnuts or where the asparagus may have been grown.”

He also notes that you can be sure that the duck prosciutto is house-cured, the pasta is house-made and the duck egg is free-range.Details: (626) 795-5841; www.unionpasadena.comLocation: 37 E. Union St., Pasadena

The series premier is Jan. 21.

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By John Farrell, Theater Writer

They’ve been everywhere.One opera was performed in the water (and

we mean in the water) at the Belmont Shore Olympic Pool, which has seen both international competition and day-time exercise swimmers. It was repeated. (That was Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Eurydice.)

Another was given in two different parking garages, to great success (Grigori Frid’s The Diary of Anne Frank was that subterranean work.)

They have performed in San Pedro, too, most recently The Fall of the House of Usher in 2013 at the Warner Grand.

But for their 2015 season, which begins Jan. 21 with the first of two performances of Tobias Picker’s searing Thérèse Raquin at the Warner Grand, they have transformed themselves, at least unofficially, into San Pedro Opera. All three of their season performances this year take place not in Long Beach, but in San Pedro, with Marilyn Forever by Gavin Bryars set for the Warner Grand March 21 and 29, and Hydrogen Jukebox by Phillip Glass set for May 30, June 6 and 7 at Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles.

“We have always performed everywhere,” said the Long Beach Opera’s Artistic and

Long Beach Opera BecomesSan Pedro Opera (Unofficially)

General Director Andreas Mitisek in a recent phone conversation. “We recently performed at the Ford Theatre (in Los Angeles) and this season we just announced that our final opera is going to be in the Crafted warehouse in San Pedro.”

Not to worry, though, Mitisek said. “It is still typical Long Beach Opera.”That means something. Long Beach Opera

likes to call itself “the oldest and the youngest opera company in Los Angeles.” The first half is technically true: Long Beach Opera was founded in 1979 to celebrate the opening of the Terrace Theater in Long Beach. It was then called the Long Beach Grand Opera. Within four years the company had decided to explore opera of a different sort: works that were musically profound but also challenged opera-goers with new and original visions.

After 25 years at the job, General Artistic Director and Long Beach Opera founder Michael Milenski retired and Mitisek took over in 2003, continuing the tradition established by Milenski and covering not just new works but old works as well. Those productions include not only works like Vivaldi’s Motezuma, Glass’ Ahknaten and John Adams’ Nixon in China but the still-controversial The Death of Klinghoffer, also by Adams, and the first performance of Wagner’s Ring cycle, all four operas, in Los Angeles.

Mitisek has long had a tradition of using unusual and distinctive venues for his productions. This time the first two operas: Thérèse Raquin and Marilyn Forever are both being staged in the historic Warner Grand, where Long Beach Opera has often been performed.

“I like the Warner Grand,” Mitisek said. “It is one of the last great movie palaces around. Our audience certainly enjoys seeing the opera there and it is in a great neighborhood that is up and coming.”

The Warner is not without its difficulties, a shallow stage being just one.

“Yes, it does have its problems, but we have learned to use it effectively,” Mitisek said.

Three operas, Duke Ellington’s Queenie Pie, Astor Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires and Phillip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher, have already been done there by the Long Beach Opera. The company has already begun rehearsals for the next opera but won’t move to the Warner for two weeks.

Thérèse Raquin has music by Tobias Picker, one of the most successful of contemporary opera composers and a book by Gene Scheer. It is based on Emile Zola’s 1867 novel, which scandalized Paris. It tells the story of a young woman who is forced into a marriage but falls in love with an old friend. Their relationship turns from the ethereal to madness after they kill her husband. The work has been lauded for its music.

After playing at the Warner that production will travel, with sets, artists and all, to Chicago, where Mitisek was recently appointed artistic director of the Chicago Opera Theater. Mitisek doesn’t mind weather. He’s originally from Vienna.

“I like the cold,” he said. “I look forward to a little snow.”

Each of the three production Long Beach Opera is doing this year will also be seen in the windy city. He’s also a star in Chicago, where this past year he was named Chicago Classical Musician of the Year by The Chicago Tribune.

“It’s a great endorsement of what we do here in Long Beach and a great endorsement of what we do on a national stage,” he said.

In March, Long Beach Opera returns to the Warner for their production of Marilyn Forever, a very different opera from Thérèse Raquin, with music by Gavin Bryars and a libretto by Marilyn Bowering. This production is a United States premier of the work that tells Marilyn Monroe’s story in a series of flashbacks, told by the men in her life who never understood her.

The final Long Beach Opera production this year is in a very different space, Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles.

“It’s a fabulous space for us to use,” Mitisek said. “It’s going to be a happening set-up with performers all around rather than as a proscenium staged opera. It takes us from the 50s to the 70s, from flower power to the Vietnam War.”

The music is by Philip Glass, and text is taken from the poetry of Alan Ginsburg.

Tickets for Thérèse Raquin are $29 to $160, with subscribers to the season getting a discount. Performances are Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 1 at 2:30 p.m.Details: (562) 432-5934; www.longbeachopera.orgVenue: Warner Grand TheatreLocation: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Tickets for Forever Marilyn are $29 to $160. Performances are March 21 at 8 p.m. and March 29 at 2:30 p.m.Details: (562) 432-5934; www.longbeachopera.orgVenue: Warner Grand TheatreLocation: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

Tickets for Hydrogen Jukebox are $49 to $160. Performances are May 30 at 8 p.m., June 6 at 2:30 and 8 p.m., and June 7 at 7 p.m.Details: (562) 432-5934; www.longbeachopera.orgVenue: Crafted at the Port of Los AngelesLocation: 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro

Jochen Kowalski (center) and the Long Beach Opera Chorus in Akhnaten by Philip Glass

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When is WarMurder?

By Lyn Jensen, Contributing Writer

DVD ReView: The Prosecution of an American President, Based on Vincent Bugliosi’s Book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

With the recent release of the senate torture report, the discussion of atrocities the George W. Bush administration committed has been reopened.

An earlier account of their wrongdoing was undertaken by eminent prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi who, in his 2008 book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, charged that America’s invasion of Iraq wasn’t war, it was mass murder.

Now, a DVD-only documentary, The Prosecution of an American President, based on the book, is available at multiple online retail sites. It primarily documents a lecture Bugliosi gave at UCLA in 2008.

Like his book, Bugliosi’s lecture applies conventions of international criminal law—finding evidence of murder—to the president’s words and actions prior to the United States invading Iraq. Bugliosi starts with the legal principle called the Effects Doctrine, in an attempt to demonstrate, “Invading Iraq made absolutely no sense.”

By documenting the administration’s false statements—more than 935 altogether—Bugliosi presents provocative evidence the the Bush administration committed pre-meditated mass murder. He posits that those lies were deliberately calculated to kill American service members (and Iraqis) by the thousands.

To be murder, unlawful killing cannot be self-defense. Bugliosi debunks as “preposterous” Bush’s lies that Iraq was an imminent threat. To him, Bush didn’t invade Iraq in self-defense. The intention was to kill, not defend.

Bugliosi argues it isn’t necessary to establish a true motive for the invasion, only to prove that the publicly stated motive—that Iraq was an imminent threat—was a lie. Bugliosi does a masterful job arguing the point.

He primarily documents two very big lies built on hundreds of smaller ones. The first was that Saddam Hussein and his regime were imminent threats. On Oct. 1, 2002, a classified federal intelligence report showed that all 16 federal intelligence agencies agreed Iraq wasn’t an imminent threat. The declassified version (often called “the white paper”) shown to Congress was intentionally altered to appear otherwise.

In the Oct. 7, 2002 “Niger Incident” speech, Bush deliberately spoke of a non-existent threat that was the opposite of what CIA sources told him numerous times. Bugliosi argues, “[The speech] knowingly used discredited bogus info.”

The second big lie Bugliosi debunks concerns

a false link between Saddam Hussein, Iraq, and 9/11. The day after 9/11, only 3 percent of the public believed there was any connection between Iraq and 9/11. At the time Iraq was invaded, that number went up to 70 percent and today, after the lie’s been repeatedly debunked, 50 percent of the public still believes it. What Bush did was run together the words “9/11” and “Iraq” repeatedly, misleading the public with linguistic sleight-of-hand.

Bugliosi differs from other legal experts when he asserts Bush’s crimes are not against the Constitution—although he admits misleading Congress, as Bush did, is a crime against the Constitution. How Bush’s actions constitute “high crimes” is missing here.

As for Democrats, Bugliosi argues Obama’s refusal to prosecute constitutes dereliction of duty and a violation of his presidential oath. After the Democrats took over control of Congress, Bugliosi pleaded with the House Judiciary Committee in 2008 to make a criminal complaint to the Department of Justice. They didn’t.

Elizabeth De La Vega, a former federal prosecutor whose own book charged Bush with fraud, supports Bugliosi.

“If you come to the conclusion the Bush administration has lied to us about the most serious decision a country can make, invading another country—that had done absolutely nothing to us--you have to decide what are we going to do about it.”

JAnUArY 9Sean Lane’s Birthday BashSan Pedro Bluesman, Sean Lane, is celebrating his birthday with friends and musicians, at 9 p.m. Jan. 9, at Godmothers Saloon. Many great guest musicians are scheduled to come down and sit in. There’s no cover.details: www.godmotherssaloon.comVenue: Godmothers SaloonLocation: 302 W. 7th St., San Pedro

richard Sherman trioThe Richard Sherman Trio and the Grammy Award winning Bili Redd will be performing at Alvas at 8 p.m. Jan. 9. Admission is $20.details: (800) 403-3447Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

rob KlopfensteinRob Klopfenstein performs at 7 p.m. Jan. 9, at The Whale & Ale in San Pedro. Rob Klopfenstein is an all-around entertainer on the piano along with special guest artists. No cover charge for bar or dinner guests.details: (310) 832-0363; www.whaleandale.comVenue: The Whale & AleLocation: 327 W. 7th St., San Pedro

JAnUArY 10Cole Marcus trioAfter years of touring, live performances, and TV appearances, Cole is excited to team up with his two buddies (aka “Cole 2 The Max”). This highly gifted and acclaimed 15-year-old drummer and composer sits in the unique position of having an internationally-established, 12-year-long professional career under his belt. Children 12 and younger pay $10. Attendees 13 years old or older pay $20.details: (800) 403-3447Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

Azar Lawrence QuintetIt is one of the occasions that the downtown Long Beach club, typically free, charges a minimal fee to see an exhilarating show. The stellar lineup includes Azar Lawrence on saxophone, Dwight Trible on vocals, Theo Saunders on piano, Jeff Littleton on acoustic bass and Alphonse Mouzon on drums. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Cover is $15.d e t a i l s : ( 5 6 2 ) 4 3 2 - 5 24 0 ; h t t p : / /seabirdjazzloungelbc.comVenue: Roscoe’s Seabird LoungeLocation: 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach

JAnUArY 11Long Beach Jazz JamSpend the evening listening to the jazzy works of Jacob Wendt, Doug Carter, and Chris Hon, starting at 9 p.m. Jan. 11, at Roscoe’s Seabird Lounge in Long Beach.d e t a i l s : ( 5 6 2 ) 4 3 2 - 5 24 0 ; h t t p : / /seabirdjazzloungelbc.comVenue: Roscoe’s Seabird LoungeLocation: 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach

JAnUArY 16Mando and FriendsCome out for some jazz, blues, and Latin music with Mando and friends, starting at 9 p.m. Jan. 16 at Roscoe’s Seabird Lounge in Long Beach. Cover is $5. d e t a i l s : ( 5 6 2 ) 4 3 2 - 5 24 0 ; h t t p : / /seabirdjazzloungelbc.comVenue: Roscoe’s Seabird LoungeLocation: 730 E. Broadway, Long Beach

Los tribesLos Tribes performs, at 8 p.m. Jan. 16, at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro.details: (800) 403-3447Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

JAnUArY 17robert SarzoRobert Sarzo performs a tribute to Santana, starting at 8 pm. Jan. 17. at Alvas Showroom.details: (800) 403-3447Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

JAnUArY 18Frank potenzaFrank Potenza performs, at 4 p.m. Jan. 18, at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro.details: (800) 403-3447Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

JAnUArY 22Jeff Hamilton trioThe Jeff Hamilton Trio performs, at 8 p.m. Jan. 22, at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro.details: (800) 403-3447Venue: Alvas Showroom Location: 1417 W. 8th St., San Pedro

JAnUArY 23Andy and renee at the Grand AnnexAndy Hill and Renee Safier will be performing, Jan. 23, at the Grand Annex in San Pedro. The South Bay-based duo has been performing together for more than 20 years ago. Their folk-driven rock performances draw loyal fans and high-energy sell-out crowds. General admission is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. details: www.grandvision.orgVenue: Grand AnnexLocation: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

JAnUArY 9downtown Farmers MarketEnjoy fruits, vegetables, flowers, crafts and food stalls, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 9, at the Downtown Farmers Market, on 6th Street between Pacific Avenue and Mesa in San Pedro. Venue: Downtown San PedroLocation: Between Pacific Avenue and Mesa in San Pedro

Chill at the Queen MaryA deep freeze will take over the Queen Mary this holiday season as Chill continues through Jan. 11. Enjoy ice skating, ice tubing and the incredible Ice Kingdom as a cold front overtakes Southern California. details: www.queenmary.comVenue: The Queen MaryLocation: 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach

JAnUArY 10Waterfront Farmers MarketCertified farmers market will be available, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 10.Venue: San Pedro Downtown HarborLocation: Near 6th Street at Harbor Boulevard

JAnUArY 11Salt Marsh Open HouseStep out into nature and discover the hidden world of the Salinas de San Pedro Salt Marsh, from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 11, at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. Educators and coastal park naturalists will help uncover the world of mud and water that is the local wetland. d e t a i l s : ( 3 1 0 ) 5 4 8 - 7 5 6 2 ; w w w .cabrillomarineaquarium.orgVenue: Cabrillo Marine AquariumLocation: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro

South Coast Cactus & Succulent SocietyGregg DeChirico, president of the Cactus & Succulent Society of America, is presenting a program on the plants and wildlife of Madagascar, starting at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 11, at the South Coast Botanic Garden, in the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Learn how the most diverse flora and fauna imaginable are caught in a complicated and anxious struggle for survival.details: southcoastcss.orgVenue: South Coast Botanic GardenLocation: 26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula

JAnUArY 17the Bombs that Saved ChinaLearn about how the fight against Japan in the China-Burma-India campaign required rugged machines, at 11 a.m. Jan. 17, at the Western Museum of Flight in Torrance. Lt. David K. Hayward will talk about his experience with the B-25.details: (310) 326-9544Venue: Western Museum of FlightLocation: 3315 Airport Dr., Torrance

What sets RLn apart from the rest?

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night, he performed with Ambrosia in a jam. At the close of the show, he blew everyone away. This past summer he sold out Alvas, packing the room once again. Dave Widows playing is subtle and from the heart. His solos are a passionate conversations with his fellow players. He sings with a soulful delivery though never shy to share the mic with other members of the Line Up.

Dave Widow and The Line Up will be playing The Grand Annex at the end of February with special guest Bernie Pearl. In addition Dave Widow and the Line Up will be playing Labor Day at the New Blues Festival.

Many of the shows I attended were fantastic, like Bernie Pearl at Alvas; Seatbelt at Godmothers Saloon, Toulouse Engelhardt at Alvas Showroom, The Mighty Mojo Prophets and Brophy Dale at Sainte Rocke in Hermosa Beach, and The New Blues Revolution in Long Beach at The New Blues Festival to name only a few the great shows this past year. Two-thousand-fourteen was a stellar year for the local music scene.

JAnUArY 17tidepool WondersExplore one of the lowest tides of the year on the rocky shore with Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Jan. 17, and from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Jan. 18. Bring family and friends to the aquarium’s John M. Olguin Auditorium for an informative slide show, followed by a walk led by Cabrillo Marine Aquarium education staff to the nearby Point Fermin tidepools. d e t a i l s : ( 3 1 0 ) 5 4 8 - 7 5 6 2 ; w w w .cabrillomarineaquarium.orgVenue: Cabrillo Marine AquariumLocation: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro Underwater parks dayJoin Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 17, for Underwater Parks Day. By attending this free event, you can learn about marine protected areas in Southern California that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.d e t a i l s : ( 3 1 0 ) 5 4 8 - 7 5 6 2 ; w w w .cabrillomarineaquarium.orgVenue: Cabrillo Marine AquariumLocation: 3720 Stephen M. White Dr., San Pedro 27th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. peace & Unity parade CelebrationThe 27th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace & Unity Parade Celebration will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 17, in Long Beach. This year’s theme is “From Poverty to Prosperity.” The parade will begin on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue intersecting Anaheim Street, and is followed by a multi-cultural celebration at King Park, 1950 Lemon Avenue.details: (562) 570-6816Venue: King ParkLocation: 1950 Lemon Ave., Long Beach

JAnUArY 18Author’s day at the Grand AnnexThe Friends of the San Pedro Library presents award-winning Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, Jan. 18, at The Grand Annex in San Pedro. His non-fiction work, The Soloist, won the PEN USA award for literary non-fiction. It is the story of Nathaniel Ayers, a former classical bass student at Julliard, and now a denizen of Los Angeles’ skid row where he plays his heart out on a two-string violin.details: www.grandvision.orgVenue: Grand AnnexLocation: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

JAnUArY 9the Wizard of Oz Encore Entertainers brings L. Frank Baum’s beloved tale of Dorothy and Toto to life “somewhere over the rainbow” Jan. 9, at the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro. Tickets are $27 and $22.details: (310) 896-6459; encoreentertainers.org Venue: Warner Grand TheatreLocation: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

pick of the Vine: Season 13Get your tickets to a veritable bounty of short plays offered up by authors from all over the world, Jan. 9, at Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro. .What happens when you don’t throw a pinch of dropped salt over your shoulder? Or to the trash you throw out? Or when a prank phone call turns into a conversation? Come find out the answers to these questions and more as this season’s “picks” serve you a delectable evening of entertainment in 5 to 10 minute bites. details: www.littlefishtheatre.orgVenue: Little Fish TheatreLocation: 777 S. Centre St., San Pedro

ShadowsPlaywright and San Pedro native, Linda Dunton Delmar presents the 15th anniversary of her off-Broadway play, Shadows, through Jan. 17 at the Grand Annex in San Pedro. Based on her own childhood experience, the play tells the story of Lisa and a mysterious visitor who comes into her life, introducing her to the old world traditions of superstitions, mysticism, and cooking as she questions her Mexican–American roots. Showtimes are at 7 p.m. Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. Jan. 16 and at 2

p.m. Jan. 17. General admission is $20 advance and $25 door; details: www.grandvision.orgVenue: Grand AnnexLocation: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro

transformationsThe Museum of Latin American Art presents Transformations, through May 17. Transformations is an exhibition that visually depicts how everyday people deal with, and are transformed by, life altering challenges. Utilizing art from MOLAA’s collection, participants will select works that reflect their emotional state before and after their transformative experience. Five local community members will share inspiring stories ranging in topics from cancer to gang violence.details: (562) 437-1689Venue: Museum of Latin American ArtLocation: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach

JAnUArY 9Latin American LifestylesJoin scholar Jorge N. Leal in a discussion that highlights the creative methods used by migrants to move across borders, Jan. 9, at the Museum of Latin American Art. He will also present artwork created by artists who address themes of mobility and innovation, ideas central to the work of Esterio Segura. Leal earned a masters of arts in history from Cal State University Northridge and is pursuing a doctorate in history at UC San Diego. Leal researches topics in the history of ethnic Mexicans in the United States from a transnational historical perspective. Admission for members is free; non-members pay $9. Limited to 40 participants. details: (562) 437-1689; www.molaa.org Venue: Museum of Latin American ArtLocation: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach

JAnUArY 11the 94th International Watercolor exhibit

The 94th International Watercolor Exhibit runs through Jan. 11, at the National Watercolor Society Gallery in San Pedro. This event is a juried exhibition of today’s top international and national watercolor artists. This year’s exhibit has more than 80 original paintings, never before shown in a national exhibition.details: www.nationalwatercolorsociety.wildapricot.orgVenue: NWS GalleryLocation: 915 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro

JAnUArY 16Clarissa tossin’s Streamlined: Belterra, Amazônia / Alberta, MichiganCurated by Edward Hayes Jr., this video and sound installation by Clarissa Tossin, compares two Ford Motor Company towns: Belterra, a rubber plantation village in the Amazon Forest, and Alberta, a sawmill town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Built concurrently in 1935, each town provided, respectively, rubber and wood for the manufacturing of the Model T in the United States. The installation establishes a sense of place, showing how specific cultural characteristics invaded and changed these formerly equivalent, pre-planned towns. The exhibit runs from Jan. 16 through April 26. details: (562) 437-1689; www.molaa.org Venue: Museum of Latin American ArtLocation: 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach

Continued from page 15.

Continued from page 13.

Five Best

Freda Rente´is a hub for artists of all kinds including, painters, storytellers, dancers and burlesque.

As a working studio musician Noise Fest was initially designed to provide Freda a live outlet to perform in. She chose to create an intimate personal atmosphere, while booking herself and other artists. She wants to bring in live bands and jam with them. She cooks a big meal for the artists that join her and they get to be in the advertisement for the events. As Freda see’s it she is inviting them into her “home.”

Noise Fest also serves as a live segment for Altered Culture T.V., a Web-based television show that Freda started.

Freda invites other artists to show their creations alongside her. There is a constant way of life and performance with Freda. She has been helping others for a long time, doing fundraisers for 20 years for Toberman House, Harbor Free Clinic and local homeless shelters.

She uses a screaming butterfly logo to promote her charity events, a poignant image, which might represent her or the people who she helps.

“It is a female winged being whose chest is open to reveal her ribcage in ugly shoes,” said Freda, describing the logo. “It is a silent scream.”

Freda has walked a sometimes torturous road in the music business and it has mostly to do with her skin color. She clearly specified that there is a difference from being a black female in the punk scene and being a black female - out front - in the punk scene. With her multiple talents being out front was often her position. It was not a good experience for her.

“Being a drummer or playing bass guitar is non-threatening.” Freda said “Being out front (on stage) is a different dynamic. It’s not simple.”

Freda explains that she is a musician and does not like to put color with music, or even gender but it’s there. Realizing early in life that she was creative, she knew who she was and what she wanted to be. That is why she has always made her own path, even when others would try to box her in a certain genre, label or expectation. She is an artist who allows other artists to shine with her rather than stepping into the light alone. This also might be why it has been a hard road for her. She gives to others first.

The character “Sista Sin” has always been her alter ego Freda said. “Sista Sin” is a brilliant, take no prisoners type of person. She is fearless without hurting people.

“All of my alters are extremely polite,” said Freda laughing. “I am a survivor in the truest sense. I can’t say music has been my release, most of my heartbreak has been by way of… (Music). It’s a one-sided love affair that I’m extremely

passionate about.”You can catch Freda’s live show

monthly at Harold’s Place. Her lineup so far for January will be; Sista Sin (AKA Freda Rente’), Neptune Recovery, The Slow Poisoner, from San Francisco and Joe Chambers Experience featuring Joe Chambers from The Chamber Brothers.Details: concreteanthill.com Venue: Harold’s PlaceLocation: 1908 S. Pacific Ave. San Pedro

17

The Local Publication You Actually Read January 8 - 21, 2015

that followed.On the institutional side, we not only looked

specifically at Ferguson, whose police department had relatively a high number of federal lawsuits against it and a high rate of police misconduct complaints, but also at the broader nature of policing in America and lack of accountability. We cited a study by Joanna C. Schwartz, a UCLA law professor, who found that police officers almost never pay anything for their own misconduct.

“Law enforcement officers employed by the forty-four largest jurisdictions in my study were personally responsible for just .02 percent of the over $730 million paid to plaintiffs in police misconduct suits between 2006 and 2011, ” she wrote. “Officers did not contribute to settlements and judgments even when they were disciplined, terminated or criminally prosecuted for their misconduct.”

We also reported on the detailed investigation by Charlie Grapski of the blog, Photography Is Not A Crime, which revealed a pervasive pattern of violating laws and departmental policies in withholding information and covering up for Michael Brown’s killer.

“What they’re doing is willfully withholding those facts, so that no investigation can begin, really, into what happened,” Grapski told Random Lengths.

Over the next few months, that pattern of obfuscation was amplified in how the district attorney’s office conducted the grand jury, all the way up to suborning perjury, apparently.

Back to the DroughtIn early October, we returned to covering

California’s drought, noting that severe thunderstorms in August had failed to significantly impact the state’s drought conditions. The conditions were more severe than when we wrote about them earlier in the year. We discussed the pros and cons of proposed water policy responses, including ballot measures, which grassroots environmental organizations were highly

critical of, noting, “Funds for recycling, conservation and groundwater cleanup were slashed 36 percent in the final version of the bond in order to provide money for expensive water purchases and speculative new dams that will not be operational for decades.”

“Water wars have long defined the American West and there’s no end in sight for California’s water wars as its worst recorded drought drags on indefinitely, ” we concluded.

TortureFinally, in December, following the long-

delayed release of the Senate torture report executive summary, we emphasized that what the report revealed was not simply ‘mistakes’, but crimes, and that the Central Intelligence Agency’s efforts to mislead both the public and government officials was further evidence that they knew what they were doing was criminal.

Not only did the report find that torture didn’t

from p. 7

A Year In Review

Rings mark the decline of the water level in a marina in central California. Detainees in Guantanamo Bay prison.

work to produce useful intelligence—it reviewed 20 top cases in which this claim had been made and found the claim to be

groundless in every one. It further confirmed that torture produced bad intelligence, which was precisely what

some in charge wanted it to do. As we reported:Indeed, one of the main purposes of the torture program was the generation of false and misleading propaganda. A prime example was the case of Ibn Sheikh al-Libi, who claimed under torture that al Qaeda had ties to Iraq’s WMD programs, a key piece of “evidence” that helped propel us into the Iraq War.

In the end, we argued:The real heroes were the ones who stood up and tried

to stop the torture—and one reason we need to have trials for these crimes is to bring those heroes forward,

so that they can remind us of who we really want to be. The need for heroes is real. Which is all the more reason

for ridding ourselves of false ones.

18

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19

The Local Publication You Actually Read January 8 - 21, 2015

Fictitious Business Name statement

File No. 2014327879The following person is doing busi-ness as: Hair Force 1 staffing, 884 W. 12th Street., San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Jeanna Ynfante, 884 W. 12th Street., 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: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who de-clares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Jeanna Ynfante, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 2014. Notice--In Accordance 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 expires 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 Profes-sions code).Original filing: 11/25/2014, 12/11/2014, 12/23/2014, 01/08/2014

Fictitious Business Name statement

File No. 2014327878The following person is doing busi-ness as: (1) The Mak look, (2) elise Mak, 302 W. 5th Street Suite 303, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Elise Young, 302 W. 5th Street Suite 303, 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: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A regis-trant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Jeanna Ynfante, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 2014. Notice--In Accordance 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 expires 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

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAMES/LEGAL FILINGS

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 Profes-sions code).Original filing: 12/11/2014, 12/23/2014, 01/08/2015, 01/22/2015

Fictitious Business Name statement

File No. 2014326508The following person is doing busi-ness as: Butch’s Auto Repair Inc., 1204 N. Gaffey, San Pedro, CA 90731. Articles of Incorporation #: 2384509. Los Angeles County. Reg-istered owners: Butch’s Auto Repair Inc.,1204 N. Gaffey, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: Jan. 1, 2002. 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.) S/. John Malinofsky Jr, CEO. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Nov. 17, 2014. Notice--In Accordance 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 expires 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 Professions code).Original filing: 12/11/2014, 12/23/2014, 01/08/2015, 01/22/2015

Fictitious Business Name statement

File No. 2014342227The following person is doing busi-ness as: Acuspeed, 1218 W. 14th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Diane Beccerra, 1218 W. 14th Street, 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: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A regis-trant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Diane Beccerra, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 4, 2014. Notice--In Accordance 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 expires 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 Profes-sions code).Original filing: 12/23/2014, 01/08/2015, 01/22/2015, 2/5/2015

Fictitious Business Name statement

File No. 2014347808The following person is doing busi-ness as: Mae Jacquet publishing, 1337 W. 9th Street, San Pedro, CA 90732, Los Angeles County.Mailing Address: P.O. Box 5187, San Pedro, CA 90733. Registered owners: Wilson N. Simmons III, 1337 W. 9th Street, San Pedro, CA 90732. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious busi-ness name or names listed above: N/A. 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.) S/. Wilson N. Simmons III, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 10, 2014. Notice--In Accordance 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 expires 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 Profes-sions code).Original filing: 12/23/2014, 01/08/2015, 01/22/2015, 2/5/2015

Fictitious Business Name statement

File No. 2014347807The following person is doing busi-ness as: ink pad, 14057 Arthur Ave., Paramount, CA 90723, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Raymond M. Hoskins, 14057 Arthur Ave., Para-mount, CA 90723. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. 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.) S/. Raymond M. Hoskins, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 10, 2014. Notice--In Accordance 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 expires 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 Profes-sions code).Original filing: 12/23/2014, 01/08/2015, 01/22/2015, 2/5/2015

Fictitious Business Name statement

File No. 2014355231The following person is doing business as: Harbor Area Farmers Markets, 759 Linden Ave., Long Beach, Ca 90813. Los Angeles County. Article of Incorporation# C033782. Registered owners: South Coast Interfaith Coun-cil , 759 Linden Ave., Long Beach, Ca 90813. This Business is conducted by a corporation. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: July 4, 1980. 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.) S/.Dale Whitney, CEO. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Dec. 18, 2014. Notice--In Accordance 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 expires 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 Profes-sions code).Original filing: 01/08/2015, 01/22/2015, 02/5/2015, 02/19/2015

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