Don’t miss the Press-Telegram’s Karen Robes Meeks’ Saturday profile of Mike Murchison—this type of story doesn’t get written every day any more, for about a million reasons.

“As usual, Mike Murchison was entrenched in controversy,” Robes Meeks begins.

“But this time the bald, gruff-talking lobbyist who often interjects himself in contentious issues and projects for clients, was lobbying for himself.

“In 2008, residents debated a proposed law that would foster transparency by requiring people of influence to register with the city. And like other lobbyists at a Nov. 18, 2008, City Council meeting, Murchison went to bat.

” ‘It’s my last time lobbying tonight, hopefully,’ he cracked, leaning his burly frame against the speaker’s lectern, looking at home in front of the intimidating government body.”

The last time? I don’t think so.

There are people in Long Beach right now who have told me—off-the-record, of course—that Murchison is kaput, out of business with the City of Long Beach, as a result of the whole Craig Beck-free Napa trip situation.

But I bet he’ll be back sooner than later. Call it a hunch, ’cause that’s all it is.

Robes Meeks’ take?

“These words now sound ironic, given that his friendship with a city official has prompted the council on Tuesday to revisit the law he worked so hard to constrain,” she writes, in a piece to which the P-T’s Paul Eakins and John Canalis also contributed.

(Also don’t miss sidebars on Murchison’s key clients, and on some emails the P-T obtained which might be supremely damaging anywhere else but Long Beach.)

“The multifaceted Murchison often blurs the line between business and pleasure, making friends with everyone from politicians to business owners.”

This is true.

Twenty-five dollars spent in observance of Super Bowl 44 gets you up close and personal with Bouchees’ game-time buffet—pork barbecue sandwiches, baked mac and cheese, buffalo wings, their own rendition of a Caesar salad, and the legendary build-your-own burger bar. Why should you watch it there? Because great things come with great food. John Doe and Dave Alvin wrote “Wrecking Ball” in 15 minutes while watching the Super Bowl with the sound off—and that was more than 20 years ago. They must have been eating something really good.

Bouchees Bistro at Smooth’s, 144 Pine Ave, Long Beach 90802. 562.437.7700. Sun. $25. bouchees.com.

The always-eventful MOLAA celebrates shared African and Latin American heritages Sunday afternoon with its Afro-Latino Festival. It’s a day packed with activities: stories from Africa and Latin America with Asha’s Baba, a capoeira workshop and demo, Afro-Peruvian dance with Matalache and live music by the Boogaloo Assassins. Plus, learn a thing or two with Dr. Irene Vazquez’s presentation on African influence in the Americas.

Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave, Long Beach 90802. 562.437.1689. Sun noon-4pm. Free. molaa.org.

Admit it: deep down, everyone—that means you—has a soft spot for the music of Billy Joel, whether it’s for the cut-yourself sentimentality of “New York State of Mind” and “Just the Way You Are” or the hummable history lessons in “Goodnight Saigon” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Plucked by Joel himself to star in Movin’ Out—the musical based upon Joel’s songs—Michael Cavanaugh joins the LB Symphony Pops! tonight to sing these songs and more. Just one piece of advice: “Pressure” is surely fun to play, but it sucks on the ears. Stay away from that one, please. Thank you.

The Terrace Theater, 300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach 90802. 562.436.3203 x1. Sat 8pm. $18. lbso.org.

As our dear friends over at the LB Post point out, the storms are a-comin‘. In the face of such imminent wetness, allow us to remember, via a photo gallery of images submitted by reader Adrian Granda, what can happen to our yards, streets, and cars in a manner of minutes. Keep those mattresses out of the storm drains, people, and stockpile your sand bags. Also, for the love of Pete, start disposing of your trash properly.

 

PHOTOS BY ADRIAN GRANDA

What mystical secrets of the sea do you need to know to be a volunteer for the Long Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation? To find out, you’re going have to spend an hour at the Surfrider Foundation Volunteer Training session. Students might like to know that volunteering with Surfrider qualifies for community-service credits, and others might appreciate knowing that everyone gets a T-shirt and refreshments. And here’s something you definitely don’t need to know: how to ride surf. Any ho-dad can do it.

Ecco’s Pizza, 2123 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach 90815. 562.597.3357. Sat 11am-noon. RSVP and questions to robertepalmer@mindspring.com.

Proud pooch owners can commemorate their pet love and do some good in the process during Linnea Lenkus’ “Rest in Show” dog-portrait day. The Long Beach-based photographer will be shooting all day to benefit the humane education organization Friends of Long Beach Animals. Seatings are a scant $25 plus a 30-plus lb. bag of dog food that will be donated directly to the FOLBA. Included, of course, is a free 5” by 7” print of your furry friend.

Linnea Lenkus Portrait Studio, 2699 E 28th St, Signal Hill 90877. 562.981.8900. Sat 10am-4pm. $25 and one 30-plus lb. bag of pet food. linnealenkus.com and friendsoflongbeachanimals.org.

The Long Beach Airport has allocated six additional flight slots—four of them to two airline companies that will begin service from Daugherty Field and two to a pair of companies that already service the airport—to reach its existing allowable limit of 41 air carrier flights per day.

Frontier Airlines and Allegiant Air will join a list of carriers that already features Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Alaska/Horizon Airlines and US Airways, which currently provide non-stop flights to 14 United States destinations.

Beginning in May, Frontier Airlines will offer two daily non-stop flights to Denver, while  Allegiant Air is expected to begin two flights a day by summer.  Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways were each was awarded one additional flight slot.

According to a release from the City of Long Beach,  the total number of airline passengers at Long Beach Airport declined only 0.2 percent in 2009, with 2,909,307 passengers. In contrast,  LAX, John Wayne and Ontario International showed declines in excess of 5 percent in total passengers for the second straight year.

The two new airlines are expected to exponentially increase the options of local travelers. Frontier’s direct service to Denver will provide connections to over 50 destinations in the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico. Allegiant Air has not yet announced the details of its service to Long Beach.

Photo by Nuno Oliveira. Join our Flickr pool.

The Tank Removal Project proposed for the property near the intersection of Studebaker Road and Loynes Drive is scheduled for the Feb. 18 meeting of the Long Beach Planning Commission, and the comment period on the project’s  revised Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) expires, February 16.

If you have no idea what that means, but have a sneaking suspicion that you ought to—and that you’re going to wish you did—maybe you ought to let Heather Altman explain it to you.

The local environment and development expert, who writes about the intersection of those two things on her blog, Egrets Not Regrets, will be speaking about the Tank Removal Project at the Feb. 11 meeting of the University Park Estates Neighborhood Association meeting. The meeting is at Kettering Elementary School (500 Silvera) and begins at 6:30 p.m.

Altman says her general and brief talk will:

1. Explain the Tank Removal Project

2. Explain what a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) is and how it differs from an Environmental Impact Report (EIR)

3. Outline concerns regarding the Revised MND.

4. Feature a question-and-answer session.

Why don’t you go, then come back and tell me all about it?