I arrived about a half-hour late to lobbyist Mike Murchison’s appearance at Beer & Politics at Gallagher’s Pub Tuesday night—believe it or not, I had to retrieve my laptop, which I’d forgotten at the Puka Bar Monday night after the Long Beach Press Club debate among 7th District city council candidates. But Paul Eakins’ report [...]

Mike Murchison didn’t like reading The District Weekly’s reports today about the haz-mat crews that have spent the past few days cleaning up another mess on the Los Cerritos Wetlands that Tom Dean is trying to trade to the City of Long Beach … in this case, the standing water—habitat for coastal plants, creatures and [...]

*UPDATED WITH RESPONSE FROM DEAN’S LOBBYIST, MIKE MURCHISON
A hazardous-materials cleanup team in protective pajamas departed the site of an oil spill on Los Cerritos Wetlands property owned by developer/oilman Tom Dean at mid-morning today, but a sickly-shiny layer of petroleum remained on the surface of rain-filled ponds used by migrating waterfowl. So did bright yellow floating booms used [...]

An apparent oil spill on the Los Cerritos Wetlands owned by developer/oil driller Tom Dean—including the 33-acre parcel south of Second Street that he is trying to trade to the City of Long Beach—has drawn cleanup crews for the fifth consecutive day, The District Weekly has learned. The California Coastal Commission, which must approve any [...]

Los Angeles Times reporter Tony Barboza essays the upcoming Colorado Lagoon restoration effort, officially set to begin March 1, in this morning’s paper.
“On March 1, the city will begin the first phase of a $15-million restoration project that will catch trash before it reaches the lagoon, remove contaminated sediment and revegetate its banks, and it [...]

Eric Zahn—salt-marsh ecologist, botanist, leading activist for wetlands preservation, fresh-faced superhero—speaks tonight on the natural history of the Los Cerritos Wetlands, why we need it, and what you can do to help conserve and restore our valuable wetlands property. Zahn’s talk will be more than just facts and figures about some land that likely looks [...]

TUES NOV 17 Customs officials at the LA/Long Beach port complex seize 316,000 glass bongs shipped from China. Agents found the elaborately decorated pipes in 860 boxes marked as “Christmas ornaments.” They became suspicious when they noticed the “ornaments” included Rudolph the Red-Eyed Reindeer and a nativity scene that clearly showed Joseph bogarting a very [...]

On the day that the Long Beach City Council is scheduled to hear—in closed session, unfortunately—details about the pollution that has held up the public-for-private land swap with Tom Dean it approved to acquire acreage in the Los Cerritos Wetlands, Los Angeles Times reporter Louis Sahagun reveals that an anonymous tipster told the Environmental Protection Agency about [...]

Thomas Marchese, whose candidacy for the 3rd district’s seat on the Long Beach City Council was reported Friday by LBreport.com, confirmed today that he will oppose incumbent Gary DeLong in next April’s election. But the typically talkative activist rather uncharacteristically declined to say much more.
“I haven’t officially announced, but I will issue a press release soon,” [...]

Never again will somebody like Sean Hitchcock be able to illegally ravage Long Beach’s delicate wetlands areas without facing punitive remedies from the city. Thanks to regulations recently approved by the City Council, the next time somebody like Hitchcock disregards law, animal and plant habitat and human life, he could face a fine of $1,000 [...]