The history of Long Beach according to 94-year-old ex-Municipal Band soloist Arthur Claar

PHOTO by JOHN GILHOOLEY
It’s hard to comprehend as I’m squirming on a painfully hard bench inside his Naples Island home and the thermostat is wilting my shirt, but there was a day when Arthur Claar was a rock star. And I can tell [...]

Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin say the Obama tax plan would redistribute wealth and is therefore–what’s the word?–oh, yes: “socialist.”
So can someone please explain why Palin isn’t a socialist, too? A few months ago, with world oil prices rising dramatically, the Alaska governor raised taxes on oil companies operating in her state–and then handed [...]

‘There Will Be Blood’ is a near masterpiece

For the first 15 or so minutes of There Will Be Blood, the only dialogue heard is a whispered “there she is . . . there she is.” The “she” in question is a hint of silver discovered at the bottom of a dubiously constructed well; the speaker [...]

The camera turns on Russ Roca
Many of the fine, fine fotos in The District Weekly are the work of Russ Roca, the only photographer we know who bicycles to work. He’s something of a curiosity around Long Beach, and increasingly the subject of reporters inspired by his commitment to human-powered transit. “I have [...]

Across the country, we are running out of water. Water. Today in California, we find that we are running out of firefighters. And around the world, to differing degrees, we are running out of oil. According to The Guardian we hit peak oil in 2006 and output will continue to fall [...]

Our weekly microscopic look at Long Beach

PHOTO by SUSAN SABO
It’s a well-known fact that photographers are drawn to things that could give them tetanus. This wall has enough rust to keep me in the hospital for weeks.

PHOTO by SUSAN SABO
ANSWER: This fabulous tetanus wall can be found at Oil Patch Liquor on the corner of [...]