THICK HEADS: BEER & POLITICS Dedicated to the philosophy that it’s okay to be drunk with power—as long as you both have designated drivers (and as long as Power will shut up about his kid—God! Little bastard can’t run for president for 33 more years). This monthly event brings supposedly remote Long Beach politicos (state Senator Alan Lowenthal, Mayor Bob Foster and Congresswoman Laura Richardson have made appearances) to their supposedly apathetic constituents (we’ve gone a couple of times) in exactly the kind of place where they’d normally be sitting at separate tables bitching about one another. Gallagher’s Pub & Grill | 2751 E Broadway | Long Beach 90803 | 562.856.8000 | beerandpolitics.org | last Tuesday of the month | 7pm // DAVE WIELENGA

OUR OWN FRANCES BAVIER: TOM HENNESSY Are we the only ones haunted by how much the Press-Telegram columnist looks like Aunt Bee? presstelegram.com // DW

TOURIST ATTRACTION: STEVE GOODLING The guy’s no Queen Mary, but since Goodling became director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau six years ago, occupancy in Long Beach hotels is up 52 percent. Maybe it’s his suits. Dude wears nice suits. Long Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau | One World Trade Center | Third Floor | Long Beach 90831 | 800.452.7829 | visitlongbeach.com // DW

IN YOUR FACE ADVOCATE: RANDY GORDON It’s not just that Chamber of Commerce CEO Randy Gordon says he is unequivocally, unapologetically, uncompromisingly, 100 percent in favor of all things related to business in Long Beach, it’s that he stands so close to you when he says it. Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce | One World Trade Center | # 206 | Long Beach 90831 | 562.436.1251 | lbchamber.com // DW

STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: LINE 1 TO EASY AVENUE Sorry—don’t mistake the bus to Easy Avenue for a trip to Easy Street. It’s not as easy as that. Besides, the oldest bus line in the Long Beach Transit system is about the journey, not the destination. It traverses 6.4 miles between Blue Line stations downtown and Wardlow Road at Pacific Avenue, mostly through old and flavorful neighborhoods—economically and ethnically diverse—on Long Beach’s over-the-river west side. “You got the good, the bad and the in-between,” says a longtime bus driver on the route they call the 1-Easy. “Basically, everybody is pretty down-to-earth.” lbtransit.com // DW

WILE E. SHORTCUT: LOS COYOTES DIAGONAL Four-lane short cuts just kick ass! (Of course there’s also the official Army N3-A and -B parkas, which used to have coyote fur trim on the hoods. We know it’s wrong—but they were so bitchen. Sorry, coyotes! They don’t do it any more. Hey, come back! We’ll give you a rabbit! Mmmm, rabbit.) // DW

NEWSHOUND: BILL PEARL LBreport.com, the city’s most complete and accurate daily news outlet, may have begun as a one-man operation on Pearl’s kitchen table, but seven years later he has relocated operations to . . . well, to a small bedroom. He’s still the only staffer. Okay, so not much has changed. But relentless, no-nonsense coverage of politics, crime, events and even weather isn’t supposed to. Pearl’s reportage is essential to anybody who wants to know what’s really going on in Long Beach. “I started because I knew I could do a better job than the Press-Telegram,” says Pearl. “I started by doing stories that they would not.” That’s a lot of stories. lbreport.com // DW

THE GOOD GIRL: CHRISTINE SHIPPEY According to the City Hall power schematic, Shippey’s steady rise through the ranks of Long Beach city government was scheduled to land her in the city manager’s office—the most-powerful room in town—when Jerry Miller retired last summer. Sure enough, Shippey was appointed acting city manager during the search for Miller’s successor, traditionally the last step before coronation. Surprise! The Council picked relative newcomer Pat West instead. Shippey was even shortchanged on the acting city manager gig. Hoping to make the search process fairer, the Council replaced her with Police Chief Anthony Batts—who had been reporting to Shippey for the past three years. Can you say “uncomfortable”? Yeah, but apparently not for very long. “The discomfort lasted less than a week,” says Batts, who returned to his duties as police chief. “Ms. Shippey is a woman of very strong qualifications and character. Whatever her feelings may have been, she put them aside and gave me all possible support and assistance. As usual, she served the city well.” // DW

FOLLOW THE MONEY: WWW2.LONGBEACH.GOV/EFS/ This website lists every official contribution to every campaign of every elected official in Long Beach—and if you read between the lines, it just might tell you how things really work around this town. You know, unofficially. // DW

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