The Long Beach Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying a robbery suspect wanted in connection with three armed robberies to businesses occurring in the southeast area of Long Beach since Thursday night.

In each of the incidents the suspect enters the business and demands cash, while showing a handgun.  Once he gets the cash, he exits the business and flees on a bicycle. It appears that the suspect is acting alone, and so far no one has been injured.

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Currently serving in the State Assembly, Ricardo Lara announced his run for the State Senate in October.

Saying he will continue to work aggressively to mount a successful campaign, Ricardo Lara reported a total of $280,329 cash-on-handaccording to reports filed today with the Secretary of State’s office.

“We’re very pleased our fundraising is right on track and our campaign continues to gain momentum,” said Lara. “Our campaign has received continuing support from a broad range of donors and I have the backing of several leading elected officials, community leaders, LGBT groups and organized labor. We will continue to work aggressively to raise the necessary funding and develop the grassroots support needed to mount a successful campaign.” 

Read the rest of Ricardo Lara Reports $280,329 Available for State Senate Campaign

Councilmember Robert Garcia

Councilmember Robert Garcia has introduced two new pieces of legislation for the February 7 City Council meeting agenda, both aimed at improving the health of Long Beach residents by encouraging participation in physical fitness, extending healthful food choices into underserved neighborhoods, and creating policies that support nutrition, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle.  Both items are cosponsored by Vice-Mayor Suja Lowenthal, Councilmember James Johnson and Councilmember Steve Neal.

“Childhood obesity is a major challenge for our kids and for our country,” said Garcia. “We need to come together as a city to promote physical fitness and healthy food choices.” 

Read the rest of Garcia Introduces “Move Long Beach” to Improve Physical Fitness and Health

More than two million California homeowners owed more on their homes than they were worth last year according to Santa Ana-based research firm, Core Logic. According to CreditSesame.com, over 30% of California homes are underwater. A quick foreclosure search on Foreclosure.com will yield almost 2000 foreclosures in Long Beach alone.

Occupy Long Beach believes it “is time for us to stand together as a community and proclaim ‘Enough is enough,’ much in the way that was done during the Great Depression.” 

Read the rest of Occupy Activists Organize Home Defense Empowerment Workshop

According to Fox, everything can be negotiated, but you have to ask.

Negotiation Fox today announced the launch of its negotiation training business.  The Long Beach based company will focus on bringing its training to the small business and not-for-profit sectors, which have been severely impacted by the global recession and traditionally can’t afford the training available to large corporations.

Company founder, Nancy James Fox, maintains that most people don’t need that level of training to start making better deals right away.  By offering affordable, half- and full-day workshops, Negotiation Fox is committed to delivering these critical survival skills to smaller organizations.  The company also provides private negotiation coaching services.

Because the benefit of training can be difficult to measure, organizations often cut training budgets during hard times. But Fox asserts that negotiation training is more important than ever, because “it brings a quantifiable result and pays for itself almost immediately. Negotiation is an essential life skill. It includes everything from closing a business deal to deciding who’s going to walk the dog,” she explains. 

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Read the rest of LBPD Crime Stats Show Drop in Murders to Record Low

Long Beach City College President Eloy Ortiz Oakley

Long Beach City College President Eloy Ortiz Oakley has joined the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum, a group of Community College Presidents committed to increasing the focus of entrepreneurship at community colleges. The Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum is a new major program of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE).

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Read the rest of Health Department Receives $1 Million Kaiser Permanente Grant to Improve Health in North Long Beach

“Long Beach Airport is known for exceeding expectations – very low fares, easy access, great destinations and excellent customer service all help make Long Beach Airport one of the very best in the country,” Mayor Bob Foster said.

Read the rest of Long Beach Airport Tops List With Lowest Airfares in California

Read the rest of DA Files Charges Related to Recent Homicide

USPS releases the Year of the Dragon Forever Stamp.

Commemorating the Lunar New Year, the United States Postal Service today issued a new Forever Stamp featuring a dragon, the fifth of 12 animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar.

“The Postal Service is proud to celebrate the Lunar New Year with the issuance of this magnificent Forever Stamp,” said USPS Vice President of Sales Cliff Rucker, who dedicated the stamp. “Dragons are regarded as magical or divine, welcome symbols of renewed hope for the future. With this new stamp, we hope that the year will bring the best to all of us, no matter what sign we were born under.” 

Read the rest of Year of the Dragon Forever Stamp Continues USPS Lunar New Year Series

Apple has released iBooks Author software for creating ebooks for iPad tablets.

Design Science, a Long Beach-based software development company, has announced that Apple chose MathType as the equation editor for its new iBooks Author application for Mac. Authors are now able to create ebooks that include mathematical notation which can be read on iPad tablets.

“Obviously ebooks are the future for education and the future is now. We’re happy to have the opportunity to work with Apple, and that iBooks Author handles mathematics so well,” said Paul Topping, Design Science’s President & CEO. 

Read the rest of Apple Picks Long Beach-based MathType for iBooks Author Software

Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal is recognized for her support of small businesses.

California Small Business Association puts the Democrat from Long Beach on their list of legislators who have been helpful to small business.

The California Small Business Association and the California Small Business Roundtable have honored Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal for her work on their behalf.

“We are thrilled that so many members of the California Legislature are working with CSBA and CSBR on our most important issues,” said Betty Jo Toccoli, president of the California Small Business Association. 

Read the rest of Bonnie Lowenthal Honored by Business Leaders

Read the rest of Beach Advisory Issued Following Heavy Rains

Read the rest of Board of Harbor Commissioners Gives Preliminary Approval to 40-year terminal Lease

The article, ‘On the Way to Great,’ notes that Fortune 500 Research Firm McKinsey and Co. last year included LBUSD among the world’s 20 leading school systems.

Read the rest of Success of Long Beach Schools Featured in National Journal Article

On Friday the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is releasing the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report for the Regional Connector Project for a 30-day public review period.

The Regional Connector, a Measure R transportation project, is a proposed fully underground light rail line that will connect the Metro Gold Line to the Metro Blue Line and soon-to-open Expo Line. The Final EIS/EIR contains recommendations for the nearly 2-mile alignment and three station locations. The report also includes recommendations for environmental mitigations for the project.

The Metro Board is expected to consider the report recommendations at its February 23, 2012 board meeting. Pending funding approval, construction could begin in 2013. 

Read the rest of L.A. Metro Announces Open Houses to Examine Final EIS/EIR for Regional Connector Transit Corridor

The Aquarium of the Pacific features daily whale watching cruises, in partnership with Harbor Breeze Cruises, that launch from the dock right in front of the Aquarium. This past December whale watchers spotted a record number of gray whales passing through the waters off of Long Beach and the sightings continue. More than 169 gray whales were seen in December alone.

Gray whales make two passes along the California coast each year as they migrate south to the lagoons of Baja California in Mexico during winter for the mating season, then back up to the nutrient-rich waters of Alaska for the summer.

Read the rest of Gray Whales Arrive in Long Beach in Record Numbers

On Wednesday, two men were charged with the murder of five people at a homeless encampment in 2008.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe released a statement following the arrest of two men involved in the murder of five people, four of whom were homeless, in the City of Long Beach at a homeless encampment on November 2, 2008:

“I am proud of the diligent investigation conducted by the Long Beach Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office that ultimately brought the suspects behind this heinous crime to justice,” said Supervisor Knabe.

“This was a gruesome crime that took the lives of some of the most vulnerable members of our community and the County of Los Angeles will not stand for such a deplorable act. The City of Long Beach is safer with these men behind bars.” 

Read the rest of Two Suspects Arrested For Quintuple Murder at Long Beach Homeless Camp

It is the first-ever LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, designation given to a building at the university.

Read the rest of CSULB Student Recreation and Wellness Center Awarded University’s First-Ever LEED Designation

Port of Long Beach Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle

Port of Long Beach Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle, who assumed the post this year, is set to deliver the annual “State of the Port” address on Thursday, January 19.

Lytle, the Port’s former deputy executive director and chief operations officer, was appointed to the top post by the Board of Harbor Commissioners late last year. The maritime industry veteran takes the helm at the nation’s second busiest seaport as it prepares to invest more than $4 billion over the next decade on capital improvement projects, creating thousands of jobs for the region.

Read the rest of POLB Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle To Deliver State of The Port Address, January 19th

Sen. Ted Lieu

For the second consecutive year, Sen. Ted W. Lieu of Torrance was named by a national government-policy publication as one of the nation’s top ‘legislators to watch.’

“At a time when politicians are about as popular as a sewage treatment plant being built next to your house, it may seem like poor taste to assemble a list of state legislators who are rising stars,” the editors of Governing Magazine wrote in their January 2012 issue, where Lieu was one of 12 state lawmakers, equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, identified out of thousands nationwide. “But there are big decisions ahead of state legislatures this year, so it’s good to know there are talented people making them.”

Read the rest of Sen. Ted W. Lieu Named Among 12 Lawmakers Nationwide Worth Watching

Ricardo Lara is campaigning in the newly drawn 33rd Senate District.

The California Legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender (LGBT) Caucus announced its endorsement of Ricardo Lara for the newly created 33rd Senate District, calling him a thoughtful and pragmatic leader.

“From the minute Ricardo was elected to state office he began working with his colleagues and experts throughout the country to promote diverse coalition-building within the LGBT community. He is a thoughtful and pragmatic leader who champions sound policy recommendations and the California Legislative LGBT Caucus is proud to support him,” said State Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus. “If elected, Ricardo will be the first openly gay person of color in the State Senate and California will once again prove itself a leader in being a true representative governing body.” 

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Customers can pre-order the Danny Thomas Forever Stamp online at usps.com.

The United States Postal Service has unveiled a commemorative Forever Stamp honoring legendary entertainer Danny Thomas, the founder of renowned St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The unveiling took place at a star-studded gala in Los Angeles this past weekend to celebrate Thomas’ 100th birthday and the St. Jude’s 50th anniversary.

“The Danny Thomas stamp, which will go on sale on Feb. 16, will become an ambassador for philanthropy, traveling on letters and packages to households and businesses throughout America and the world,” said Ed Ruiz, USPS Los Angeles district manager. “It also will serve as a lasting tribute to one of America’s most beloved and enduring entertainers who worked tirelessly to help the most helpless of all – children with diseases.” 

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Child sex trafficking is a problem for girls as young as 11 and 12. (Photo by Ira Gelb, Flickr)

At Tuesday’s Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Meeting, Supervisor Don Knabe commemorated National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.  “While we often think of child sex trafficking as a problem in other countries, it’s happening right here in our backyard to girls as young as 11 and 12,” said Knabe.

Data from the County’s Probation Department shows that 84% of the children arrested for prostitution in Los Angeles County in 2010 lived in the Fourth District, mostly in Long Beach and the South Bay area.  The children arrested for prostitution are often released, as it is a misdemeanor charge.  

Read the rest of Knabe Calls for Aggressive Prevention to Stop Child Sex Trafficking in L.A. County