Possibly our friendliest city manager ever, Pat West’s reign is clouded by managerial choices

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
I never met longtime Cerritos City Manager Art Gallucci—back in the late ’90s, when I covered his part of the world—but I always wondered how he’d fare against then-Paramount City Manager Pat West in a no-holds-barred, fight-to-the-death, tango-’til-they’re-sore Friendly-Off. [...]

Downtown Showdown creator Arthur Wong’s plan to keep this subculture from self-imploding

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA
In a perfect world, the announcement of this weekend’s fixed-gear-themed event on a local fixed-gear message board would have sparked productive conversation. After all, the daylong social at Bixby Park—which will include a BBQ, alley cat race, trick competitions and a [...]

Industry professionals gather to hear how 4th+Linden has survived the recession

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA
Everyone likes a good success story—especially if the ink on it is still drying—and so the newly-renovated former SST Records complex at Fourth St. and Linden Ave. played host Thursday night to more than a score of architects, developers and real-estate industry [...]

Try as you might to clear your name, a felony conviction never entirely disappears

PHOTO by JEFFREY R. GOULD
Even with the air on, the conference room is still heating up. The Union Bank building faces west, and 4 p.m. is approaching; and, the audience, still growing, comprises more than 40 ex-convicts. But that’s not exactly why [...]

Give ‘em up!

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
Four candidates for the 7th District seat on the Long Beach City Council—incumbent Tonia Reyes Uranga and challengers Jill Hill, James Johnson and Jack C. Smith—will debate under press conference-style questioning amid the South Pacific-style kitsch of the Puka Bar on Monday (Feb. 22) at 7 p.m. in the first [...]

Strip club king Jerry Westlund gets ready for prime-time

PHOTO by JOHN GILHOOLEY
The sexiest man in America?
Any day now it just may be Long Beach’s very own Jerry Westlund, who just may become the star of the next hit reality-TV show—which just may be based on the small empire of strip clubs that he has stretched [...]

Our elected officials—some of them—talk about whether they’ve toked

A proposition to legalize marijuana will probably be on the November ballot, and—in a sure sign that our attitudes toward the long-illegal devil’s weed may be softening—eight of nine Long Beach City Council members surveyed actually spoke to a reporter about whether or not they’ve toked. (Apologies [...]

One man’s two-month, $2,400 standoff with the city over a towed vehicle

Only a few months after coming to town from Malibu, Michael Deuschel is preparing to move out of his small apartment on Freeman Ave.—and more to the point, away from Long Beach. Sixty-four days (and counting) after his pickup truck was towed away under [...]

Mobis/Bikestation goes from non-profit to a greener future

PHOTO by DANIEL DE BOOM
For 13 years, downtown’s Bikestation has been a commuter cyclist’s oasis—a nonprofit shop where passing riders could hit the bathroom, fix their bikes, grab some snacks; plus, with a membership, they could park their steeds until riding them home from work.
But change has been [...]

Deputy City Manager Reginald Harrison discusses his first two weeks as interim head of Development Services

Is now-former Development Services Department head Craig Beck—repositioned as manager of business operations in the city’s Gas & Oil Department after taking a free trip with lobbyist Mike Murchison—a tough act to follow?
Maybe inside city hall. But from the outside, [...]