Thank you so much for your article; it has proven to be invaluable to our show [“International art show to highlight problem of human trafficking, other humanitarian issues,” Nov. 6, 2015].
Here [are] some photos of the reception. It was a success.
We also had three organizations that came to the show: Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force, Congo Justice (Nevada) and Yuli’s Paradise (Whittier, Calif.). They brought literature and all sorts of info. They each gave a brief speech to raise awareness about what’s going on in their own back yard, and lastly we showed a video about trafficking.
Thank you again!
Alejandra Menduina Schneider
AMS Dealings in Art
Curator
‘Bike-friendly’ vs. ‘bike-safe’
When will Long Beach stop its misguided effort to make Long Beach the “The Most Bicycle Friendly City in America” ? Bikes sharing the road with multi-ton vehicles may be a currently popular idea, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. If you look around, clearly it isn’t working. Most of our current bike paths, at least those on public streets, are rarely used. And thankfully so.
Boston went down this same path, and in the last five years at least 13 cyclists have been killed in collisions with motor vehicles. As popular columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote this past September: “Busy thoroughfares aren’t meant for cyclists. They are meant for the cars, trucks and buses that transport the vast majority of people moving through the nation’s cities.” He calls adding bicycles to the mix “irresponsible and dangerous.”
It’s especially irresponsible and dangerous to add yet another traffic signal on Wardlow Road at Pacific Avenue as part of a new bike path, but that didn’t stop the [Long Beach] City Council from voting to do it this past Nov. 3.
That will make four traffic signals and the Blue Line crossing gates in less than one-half mile between Long Beach Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue. Already eastbound traffic backs up to the top of the bridge over the LA River, and westbound traffic to the San Diego Freeway overpass during peak traffic periods when Blue Line trains are also running at peak frequency and gates lower every few minutes.
This leads to emergency vehicles having to wait for crossing gates to rise and traffic to clear when trying to reach the numerous health-care and senior residential facilities within a two-block stretch of Wardlow.
At this week’s Council meeting, our 7th District Councilmember Roberto Uranga made it very clear that he wants residential development on the nearby Oil Operators’ property. That would likely mean yet another traffic signal on Wardlow. Long Beach is making it impossible to get out of our homes in Wrigley Heights which has only one entrance/exit. Worse yet, it is endangering people’s lives with its effort to be so bike friendly.
Richard Gutmann
Long Beach
Save money, live better?
Yes, “Fresh and Easy begins closing stores” and Sears, J.C., Penny’s and many more of our old and trusted friends are struggling to survive in this world of Walmart and others like them. [“As Fresh & Easy begins closing stores, employees and customers rethink future plans,” Oct. 30, 2015.]We could ask why, but then we could ask how a loaf of bread that cost five cents when you were a kid now costs over a dollar, as well.
Money is power, and Walmart has the money and the power that goes with it. Why? Well, you can thank the ingenuity of the Walmart family who realized that if you give the people a taste of honey— meaning a cost break for some items people want and need— they will come back and buy the other things that they are making more money on. Pay the staff minimum wages, to offset the few cents they are losing for the items they discount, and now you have the picture of how to get rich without even trying.
I remember, many moons ago, when some genius decided that if you drop the price of an item to $1.98 instead of $2 “they will come” and, sure enough, they came and the trend was started.
It’s going to take a lot of doing to undo the Walmart fiasco, but I believe that the day will come when someone will think of a way to beat the “$1.98″ come-on and maybe give back to the American people the old American way of fairness to the people who buy and those who work to earn a living wage. (Just don’t hold your breath.)
Vivian C. Nelson
Long Beach
