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Grand Prix of Long Beach returns for 49th year this weekend

Thrill seekers from around the world will once again descend on Long Beach’s downtown this weekend to get a taste of the high-speed world of racing.

The 49th annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, a three-day spectacle with tons of offerings for both hardcore race lovers and casual fans, will run from Friday to Sunday, April 19-21. The Grand Prix is one of Long Beach’s biggest annual events, and one of its grandest — which is why organizers have dubbed it the region’s “200-mph beach party.”

La
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Thunder Thursday to give a taste of what Grand Prix of Long Beach has to offer

Southern California’s high-speed weekend is about to kick off — but before the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach gets officially underway, Thunder Thursday will rev up the party.

The community event, as its name suggests, will take place on the eve of the Grand Prix, offering a free taste of what the city’s “200-mph beach party” has to offer.

Thunder Thursday — organized by Visit Long Beach, otherwise known as the city’s Convention & Visitors Bureau — will take place at the Pike Outlets. The four
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Aquarium of the Pacific gives orphaned otter pups the chance to return to the wild

Another sea otter pup has moved into the Aquarium of the Pacific — but with help from her new surrogate mother, it may eventually be released back into the wild.

This is the first time a sea otter pup has come to the Long Beach aquarium with the goal of returning to the wild. The effort is thanks to a partnership with the Aquarium of the Pacific — which has cared for sea otters deemed unfit to live in the wild since it’s opening in 1998 — and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

“We’re thrilled to be ab
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Long Beach will look at possibly letting electric scooters on popular beachside bikepath

Long Beach will study the pros and cons of allowing electric scooters on a popular beachside bike path, the City Council decided this week.

The Shoreline Pedestrian Bikepath, a 3.1-mile paved route offering walkers, runners and bicyclists a path from Alamitos Bay to Shoreline Village, is currently off limits to electronic scooters.

But Vice Mayor Cindy Allen, who represents the Second District, submitted a motion during this week’s City Council meeting to study whether its feasible for Long Be
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Photos: Thousands celebrate at 16th annual Cambodia Town Parade and Culture Festival


• None Participants put on a colorful spectacle as they walk along Anaheim Street on Sunday, Apr. 7, 2024, at the 16th annual Cambodia Town Parade & Culture Festival in Long Beach (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
• None Participants walk along Anaheim Street on Sunday, Apr. 7, 2024, at the 16th annual Cambodia Town Parade & Culture Festival in Long Beach (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
• None Kase Somsak, 9, waves a Cambodian flag as he watches the 16t
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Musical Theatre West puts on pop-up performances on Second Street

Musical Theatre West, a beloved performing arts company in Long Beach, put on a series of pop-up performances in Belmont Shore on Saturday, April 6.

The 10-minute mini concerts, featuring hits from iconic performers including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, took place all up and down Second Street all day Saturday.

The little sets were performed by a select few members of the cast and crew of Musical Theatre West’s newest production, “Million Dollar Quartet,” which is set to h
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As kitten season arrives, ‘Bottle Baby Brigade,’ scores of fosters are keeping baby felines fed

As the weather around Southern California starts to dry out and warm up, animal-care agencies and rescues from across Southern California are bracing for an onslaught of newborn kittens to come through their doors.

Kitten season, as its known by those who work in animal care, is a months-long timetable that usually kicks off in the spring when endless new litters of infant felines are born and, inevitably, brought to local shelters.

And though most animal lovers may rejoice at the thought of t
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Cambodia Town Parade, Culture Festival returns for 16th year this weekend

The 16th annual Cambodia Town Parade and Cultural, a celebration of the country’s new year, will return to Long Beach this weekend.

The free event will kick off with the parade at the intersection of Anaheim Street and Cherry Avenue on Sunday, April 7 at 10:30 a.m. after an interfaith program, including a traditional blessing.

The parade will travel about a half mile to MacArthur Park, 1321 Anaheim St., where a cultural festival — featuring traditional Cambodian dance, ancient martial arts dem
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LGBTQ Center Long Beach gets more than $2 million — largest single grant in nonprofit’s history

The LGBTQ Center Long Beach has been awarded a $2.3 million grant to support its services, programs, and advocacy for the city’s LGBTQ community, the nonprofit announced recently.

The center is just one of 340 other organizations across the country to receive grant funding from billionaire philanthropist Mackenzie Scott.

Scott became a billionaire after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2019. She has donated more than $17 billion to more than 2,300 nonprofit organizations through Yield Gi
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Downtown Long Beach’s Union Bank building sold; 3 other waterfront parcels on the market

An iconic building in the Downtown Long Beach skyline has been sold — and another three parcels of land, all part of a larger plan to redevelop the area — are up for sale.

The Union Bank building at 400 Oceangate, which sold in July 2023, is just one of three other properties on 6.2 acres of land dubbed “Golden Shore,” a mixed-use site that could be developed for housing, hospitality, and retail uses.

All of the Golden Shore land parcels are owned and being sold by Keesal, Young, & Logan, a la
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Long Beach OK’s changes to short-term rental rules, enforcement

Long Beach is set to make some changes to its laws that govern how short-term rentals, such as Airbnb properties, operate in the city.

The City Council, on Tuesday, OK’d an item to add new language to clarify the city’s existing short-term rental rules — and how they can be enforced — following concern from the public about a recent shooting at an Airbnb in Long Beach.

In early January, Fourth District Councilmember Daryl Supernaw gathered with more than 100 residents to discuss how short-term
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Forest Lawn celebrates Easter sunrise services’ centennial at Long Beach, other sites


• None Steady early-morning rain and wet grounds forced Forest Lawn’s centennial Easter Sunrise service to take place inside the chapel on Sunday, Mar. 31, 2024, in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
• None Members of the Southern California Latter-day Saint Choir sing during Forest Lawn’s centennial Easter Sunrise service on Sunday, Mar. 31, 2024, in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
• None The Reverend Yvonne Tyler of New Mt. Calv
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Long Beach’s 2nd District Easter egg hunts get underway — despite the raindrops


• None Twin 7-year-olds Elijah and Maliyah Denton display their drawings at the second annual District 2 Easter Egg hunt on Saturday, Mar. 30, 2024, at Orizaba Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
• None Youngsters draw pictures in the crafts area at the second annual District 2 Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, Mar. 30, 2024, at Orizaba Park in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
• None Brayden Bradbury, 4, checks out the toy he fou
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Historical Society opens new exhibit celebrating Long Beach’s Chicano history


• None Harbor commissioner Bonnie Lowenthal, left, District 1 Councilmember Mary Zendejas and Herlinda Chico, of the Long Beach Community College District, are among the local dignitaries at the opening of “Centro de la Raza: John A. Taboada Legacy Photo Collection,1970-1985,” on Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024, at the Historical Society in Long Beach. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
• None District 1 Councilmember Mary Zendejas, left, and original Centro de la Raza member Phyllis
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Election 2024: Long Beach voters pass Measure RW; City Council incumbents dominate

The grand total of results from the Tuesday, March 5 local elections are in — and Long Beach voters have approved a new ballot measure and selected several City Council representatives.

The Los Angeles County registrar’s office released its final election results at around 12:20 p.m. on Friday, March 29. Across LA County, more than 1.6 million ballots have been tallied, for a total voter turnout of nearly 29%.

Here are the certified election results for Long Beach’s local races.

Long Beach’s
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Long Beach YMCA hosts 56th annual Good Friday Breakfast

The YMCA of Greater Long Beach kicked off this weekend’s Easter celebrations with the 56th iteration of its annual Good Friday Breakfast event.

This year’s event kicked off early Friday, March 29, at 7:15 a.m. and featured retired U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Gaddi Vasquez as keynote speaker.

Vasquez, most recently, worked as Southern California Edison’s vice president of government affairs, according to the YMCA’s website.

Before taking that position, Vasquez served as U.S. Ambassad
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EPA’s strict new rules for heavy-duty trucks spark strong Southern California responses

New Environmental Protection Agency rules and deadlines for heavy-duty trucks and buses were announced Friday, March 29, and quickly drew mixed reviews in Southern Californian, where trucks stream around the clock from bustling ports to burgeoning waves of inland warehouses.

The EPA rolled out the new strict standards in what is an ongoing, unprecedented push to rid the environment of pollutants. Officials said the rules will help clean some of the nation’s largest sources of greenhouse gases.
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Long Beach to consider changes to short-term rental rules

Long Beach may soon make some changes to its laws that govern how short-term rentals, such as Airbnb properties, operate in the city.

The City Council will weigh whether to add new language to clarify the city’s existing short-term rental rules — and how they can be enforced — following concern from the public about a recent shooting at an Airbnb in Long Beach.

At the council’s Tuesday, Jan. 16 meeting, more than 100 residents gathered to express concern about how short-term rentals impact nei
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Here’s what Long Beach can, can’t do to address noise, other issues at city’s airport

Long Beach is working to address residential concerns about a major uptick in noise from general aviation operators at its municipal airport, among other issues, according to two recent reports released by the city manger’s office.

Concerns about noise came to head at a City Council meeting in September, when nearly 100 residents showed up asking the body to figure out how general aviation flight noise at Long Beach Airport could be reduced.

Though residents have long lived in relative harmony
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Long Beach breaks ground on Luxury Inn motel conversion for people who are homeless

Long Beach has officially begun work to convert a motel into a new interim housing facility for people who are homeless.

Various city officials, including Mayor Rex Richardson, recently gathered at the housing site to celebrate the start of construction. The site, formerly a Luxury Inn, 5950 Long Beach Blvd., will be converted into a 78-unit interim housing shelter as part of the state’s Project Homekey program.

Long Beach received a $30.5 million grant from Project Homekey last year — about h
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Monday service added at Long Beach’s Burnett, El Dorado Libraries

Long Beach residents will soon have access to a couple of local libraries for an additional day per week.

The El Dorado and Burnett neighborhood libraries will now operate on Mondays, a departure from the schedule most Long Beach Public Library branches operate on, the city announced recently.

The additional day per week continues the city’s efforts to expand library service over the past year. Those efforts, the first major expansion of LBPL operations since 2007, have been funded by about $1
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Long Beach OKs additional consequences for public library code of conduct violations

There will soon be additional consequences for some people who seriously violate the Long Beach Public Library’s code of conduct.

The City Council this week gave the initial OK to update a pre-existing ordinance that outlines rules for library patrons.

The changes to the ordinance will need an additional vote, which is scheduled for the council’s next session, before it goes into effect.

The Long Beach Public Library system’s current code of conduct prohibits patrons from sleeping on the floo
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