The City Council’s overzealous approval in 2006 of a backassward environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed Home Depot design center on the edge of the Los Cerritos Wetlands–a document that was ultimately rejected for its many inadequacies by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in February of this year–may have saved Long Beach from [...]

… BUT ALSO THE TRUTHS THE PAPER’S EDITORIAL WRITERS NEVER TOLD
Bill Pearl of LBReport.com breaks down, sentence by sentence, an editorial by the Press-Telegram that — depending on what you think of Long Beach’s once-great daily in these, its clearly diminished days — was either a pack of despicably calculated lies or a pathetic inability [...]

WHO DO YOU THINK WON THE NIGHT?
A row of men in very fine suits — representatives of the Port of Long Beach, including executive director Richard D. Steinke and Harbor Commissioners Mario Cordero, Dr. Mike Walter and Nick Sramek — sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the third row of the Long Beach City Council chambers last night.
They [...]

Lieutenant governor’s office weighs in on 2007 Veterans parade controversy

Remember the 11th Annual Long Beach Veterans Day Parade? So do a lot of people, especially members of the three veterans groups–Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out and Veterans For Peace–who were told they couldn’t march in the Nov. 10 parade. Organizers said [...]

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster’s pursuit of time-saving simplicity at city council meetings is becoming increasingly time consuming and complicated.  His latest suggestion for streamlining the process – proposed at Tuesday night’s meeting in tandem with Ninth District Councilmember Val Lerch — would create two categories of meeting agendas and require the council to vote on which items belong where. At this point, perhaps [...]

Mayor Bob Foster discusses his newest City Council agenda-changing proposal
Announcing new City Council agenda items 12 days before the Council considers them sounds like a good idea–which is how Mayor Bob Foster and Ninth District Councilman Val Lerch, the proposal’s co-signer, both present it.

Long Beach City Council changes its policy on public comment

After much discussion and comments from a dozen members of the public–the largest number of audience members to comment on any item on last night’s city council agenda–Long Beach City Council voted 5-3 last night to change, and very likely restrict, the public’s ability to open [...]

But Long Beach Veterans Day Parade doesn’t love everybody, especially if they’re against the war

PHOTO by DANIEL DE BOOM
There’s no way you’d confuse the Long Beach Veteran’s Day Parade with Mardi Gras—no nudity—or the Tournament of Roses—no adorable 18-foot, mum-covered penguins—but, in its 11th year, the parade proved it still has drawing power. Last week’s [...]

If you missed any portion of the recent struggle between organizers of the 11th Annual Long Beach Veterans Day Parade and members of the three veterans groups they excluded from Saturday’s parade–Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and Iraq Veterans Against the War–tonight’s Long Beach City Council meeting is your chance to catch up.
Members [...]

Homeless vets will watch Vets Day Parade from sidewalk
Like war itself, the skirmish over the Veteran’s Day Parade makes for weird alliances. We find ourselves suddenly warming to flag-waving Tom Hennessy; his P-T column today delicately takes on parade organizers for their decision to ban anti-war veterans groups. On the other hand, while we’ve said [...]