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Signal Hill appoints new police chief after more than yearlong search

The small, Long Beach-encircled town has appointed Wayne Byerley, a former Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy, to take over the helm of its Police Department, according to a recent announcement. The hiring put an end to the city’s year-and-half long search for former Chief Christopher Nunely’s permanent replacement.

Nunely retired from the Signal Hill Police Department in September 2021 following a 24-year career with the law enforcement agency. The City Council, shortly after, appointed
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Long Beach youth-led neighborhood tours to return this summer

Youth from some of Long Beach’s storied areas, for the second year, will host tours of their neighborhoods this summer to provide insight about the culture and history of the places they grew up, the city announced recently.

The program — called “My Hood, My City” — is open to young folks aged 14 to 24 from North Long Beach, the Westside, and the Washington Neighborhood, this week’s announcement said. Those three neighborhoods were specifically selected because they’ve all experienced dispropor
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Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce receives state award for 15th year in a row

The California Chamber of Commerce recent recognized 10 local organizations for their efforts in business advocacy and member compliance with state employment laws — including Long Beach’s local chamber.

The 2023 Presidents’ Circle Awards were presented during CalChambers’ Capitol Summit in Sacramento on earlier this month, according to a recent announcement. The award has been presented since 2009.

“Our top local chamber partners play leading roles as community problem solvers and the voice o
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Up to $20,000 roof improvement grants available for some Long Beach homeowners

Long Beach is offering up to $20,000 to some homeowners to cover the costs of necessary roof improvements or replacements thanks to a federally funded program, the city announced recently.

“We are happy to offer this very practical program to help local families stay safe and warm in their houses,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in this week’s announcement. “The city is dedicated to investing in initiatives like this — which directly support the needs of our community.”

The grants, provided by the
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Long Beach issues first payments for guaranteed-income pilot program

Some Long Beach families have begun receiving their portion of a year’s worth of free money from the city through its guaranteed-income pilot program, dubbed the Long Beach Pledge, according to a Friday, May 26, announcement.

The program initially opened to applications in Novemberr. Work on the pilot program began two years earlier, after then-Mayor Robert Garcia’s universal basic income program proposal won unanimous City Council approval in September 2020.

The program, for its test run, was
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Thousands of kids help with clean-up at Dockweiler State Beach

About 4,000 school-aged kids gathered at Dockweiler State Beach on Thursday, May 25, to participate in Kids Ocean Day — an annual event to help clean up beaches and spread a message about environmental protection.

The theme of the 28th annual Kids Ocean Day — which was organized by a consortium of groups, including the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education — was “kids causing a wave of change for the ocean,” a press release said.
• None Mayberry Elementary, pick up trash along with 4,00
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Long Beach begins process to update zoning in downtown, waterfront areas

Long Beach has formally launched a process to update land use and zoning regulations in the city’s downtown and along the waterfront — with a focus on encouraging affordable housing development and preventing tenant displacement in the area.

The city’s Downtown Plan, which includes the area north of Ocean Boulevard, received City Council approval in 2012. Since then, the document and its guiding regulations have led to the creation of 5,000 housing units, the new Civic Center, and myriad pedest
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Marking 25 years in Long Beach, new Aquarium of Pacific gallery highlights local wildlife

Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year — and to mark the occasion, the facility will open a new gallery featuring native wildlife this July.

The Southern California Gallery will give aquarium visitors an opportunity to get up close and personal with more than three dozen local species including the California two-spot octopus, leopard and horn sharks, Catalina goby and the Garibaldi — alongside vital plant life including bull kelp and purple sea urchi
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Long Beach approves $25,000 reward for information in 12-year-old’s killing

The Long Beach City Council, on Tuesday, May 23, approved a $25,000 reward for information about a recent shooting that killed a 12-year-old boy and injured a 14-year-old girl.

Eric Gregory Brown III, the 12-year-old Long Beach resident, was shot in the 2200 block of Lewis Ave. at around 11:32 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9, according to the Long Beach Police Department. He died

“(Brown) was a lively, outgoing child who was described by family and friends as smart and ambitious,” Sixth District Repres
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Long Beach to study impact of weaning city off oil money

The Long Beach City Auditor’s office will conduct a comprehensive review of the city’s economic reliance on oil and natural gas production revenues to help the city better understand how much it will cost to transition away from reliance on revenues from those sources, the City Council decided on Tuesday, May 23.

“Oil is a part of Long Beach’s past,” Mayor Rex Richardson said Tuesday evening, “but it’s going to be this council that figures out what the next steps are (to chart) a healthy future
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Long Beach’s Wrigley Greenbelt officially opens

Long Beach residents, after decades of waiting, are now free to enjoy the Wrigley Green Belt — a newly restored, 8-acre stretch of greenspace along the 710 Freeway.

​​The Wrigley Greenbelt Master Plan — meant to rehabilitate a plot of land that stretches along DeForest Avenue to east of the 710 Freeway and the Los Angeles River — dates back to 1993.

But it wasn’t until 2019 that the city, along with the Long Beach Conservation Corps, secured enough funding to realize the full vision for the Wr
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Rocket Lab, Vast Space offer bid to take over now-defunct Virgin Orbit’s assets

Three aerospace companies — two of which are based in Long Beach — are set to take over the remainder of the now-defunct Virgin Orbit’s physical assets, according to a court filing released on Tuesday, May 23.

Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in early April, listing $243 million in assets and $153.5 million for its total debt in a Chapter 11 petition filed in Delaware.

The news culminated a rapid fall for Virgin Orbit after its high-profile launch failure in January and a collapse in its stoc
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Bicyclists, pedestrians revel in car-free downtown during Beach Streets

Thousands of walkers, bicyclists and everyone in between enjoyed the right of way in downtown Long Beach on Saturday, May 20, during a city-hosted event meant to get residents out of their cars and on the streets.

Long Beach shut down several major traffic corridors in downtown to vehicle traffic on Saturday for the city’s annual Beach Streets event, which frees up space for non-automobile activities, such as walking, skating and cycling.

The city has hosted several iterations of Beach Streets
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Mark Bixby bike path on Long Beach International Gateway Bridge opens

A long-awaited bike-and-pedestrian path that travels across Long Beach’s newest bridge finally opened on Saturday, May 20 — marking a day of both jubilation and solemnity for the family members of its namesake.

Hundreds of bicyclists and scores of pedestrians crossed a new path along the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge for the first time Saturday morning. The crossing, which christened the path, followed a ceremony at the Long Beach Civic Center to celebrate the formal opening of the Ma
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Queen Mary’s Observation Bar, 1930s lounge, officially reopens Friday

Two beloved Queen Mary features — the Observation Bar and the Chelsea Chowder House & Bar — have officially opened for business, marking the latest phase in the iconic vessel’s broader reintroduction to the public after its three-year closure.

The Observation Bar, aptly named for its panoramic views of Long Beach’s coastline, opened on Friday, May 19. The chowder restaurant opened last week.

The Observation Bar epitomizes the Art Deco décor of the 1930s, boasting original artwork, period-speci
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Long Beach to end pandemic-era utility relief, shutoffs to resume in August

The Long Beach Utilities Department is planning to reinstate utility shutoffs in August for residents who are behind on their payments, according to a recent memo, citing the city’s financial inability to continue the coronavirus-era relief policy.

Long Beach terminated its own local state of emergency relating to COVID-19 in February. Los Angeles County and the state of California followed shortly after, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declaring the nationwide emergency o
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Delta drops 2 flight slots at Long Beach Airport; Southwest picks up another 3

Delta Airlines has given up two of its flight slots at the Long Beach Airport, according to a recent city memo, while Southwest Airlines has picked up another three — further solidifying its status as LGB’s most dominant carrier.

Before the decision to relinquish two pf its slots, Delta held a total of seven, according to a city memo from earlier this week. Delta will keep the remaining five for now, and LGB officials will begin the process for reallocating the other two.

It’s unclear why Delt
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Long Beach frees up land for future LBCC student housing, classroom development

Long Beach is one step closer to formally transferring three parcels of land over to the city’s community college, which plans to develop the property into student housing and satellite classrooms.

The City Council this week formally declared the property — which sits directly north of the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, along Atlantic Avenue, 59th Street and Lime Avenue — as surplus land Long Beach no longer needs.

That was the first step to eventually allowing the city to transfer contr
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Long Beach begins process to formally update sidewalk vending regulations

The Long Beach City Council took its first steps toward formally updating its existing sidewalk vending ordinance — a policy that guides the city’s regulation of food and merchandise sellers who often operate out of carts on pedestrian pathways — after a yearlong community outreach process.

The city’s new look at its existing regulations was prompted by the introduction of two new state laws — state Senate Bills 972 and 946 — which simplify the permitting process for street vendors and decrimin
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Long Beach Mayor Richardson to deliver keynote speech at Cal State Dominguez Hills commencement

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson is set to return to his alma matter, Cal State Dominguez Hills, to deliver the one of the unversity’s 2023 commencement keynote speeches.

More than 3,000 graduates will receive their diplomas this year at the Dignity Sports Health Park Tennis Stadium in a series of six ceremonies slated for Friday and Saturday, May 19-20.

Richardson will deliver his address during the first set of graduations on Friday morning to the College or Arts and Humanities and the Colleg
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