Belmont Beacon
MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2015 - JANUARY 11, 2015
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Improved Conditions for Hens Increase Egg Prices By JENNIFER SCHLUETER As of January 1st, eggs sold in California must come from hens that live in a space of at least 116 square inches in which they are able to stretch their limbs and turn around, which means about 70 percent more space compared to the previous minimum. This new law, Proposition 2, resulted from a voter initiative and was passed in 2008 with a majority of over 60 percent. Because of the changes farmers were forced to make, consumers now see an increase in egg prices. The president and CEO of the California Grocers Association Ronald Fong told NPR: “We can confirm that egg prices have gone up at least 35 percent. Some have reported going up 70 percent.” With California being the largest consumer of eggs nationwide, according to the Los Angeles Times, farmers all over the US have adjusted to the new regulation because challenging it in court failed. California’s state veterinarian, Dr. Annette Jones reported to NPR that egg producers have switched to newly constructed free-range henhouses, built larger cages, or cut down the number of hens in already
Governor Brown Appoints Three to Los Angeles County Superior Court Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. recently announced the appointment of Keith H. Borjón, John A. Slawson and Anthony A. Trendacosta to judgeships in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
-Courtesy Photo by Matt MacGillivray
existing ones. “In general, poultry farmers are trying to move in that direction, to provide more space and the ability for their hens to exhibit more natural behaviors,” NPR quoted her. However, the website also notes that even
though “[f]ree-range houses allow chickens to move around freely, … critics say the birds are more frequently injured than those in cages.” On the other hand, the Please see page 4
improving the way we deliver services throughout the entire community,” noted Mayor Robert Garcia. The City’s accomplishments and accolades are featured in the 2014 Year in Review, an easy to read 28-page color brochure, which can be found on the city’s website. “Across the board, 2014 was an extremely productive year for the City of Long Beach,” said City Manager
Anthony A. Trendacosta -Courtesy Photo
Pat West. “Our talented and dedicated workforce has done an outstanding job providing services and implementing the Mayor and City Council’s policy direction.” Here’s a snapshot of some of the City’s accomplishments and awards in 2014: Accolades: -Top 10 “Digital City” in America, for the fourth consec-
Borjón, 55, of Whittier, has served as a supervising deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General since 1990, where he has served as a deputy attorney general since 1985. He was a clerk and attorney at Westside Legal Services from 1984 to 1985. Borjón earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Charles W. McCoy. Bor-
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Long Beach Celebrates Successes from 2014 From filling 35,000 potholes and restoring 55 lane miles of streets, to fulfilling 19,000 “Go Long Beach” smartphone application requests and being named a Top 10 “Digital City” in America, for the fourth consecutive year, the City of Long Beach had an extremely productive year in 2014. “Our world-class city continues to get better and better, and these accomplishments illustrate how we’re constantly
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LA Count Superior Court Judges Continued from page 1
Keith H. Borjón and John A. Slawson
jón is a Democrat. Slawson, 64, of Rolling Hills Estates, has served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 1993. Slawson has served as adjunct faculty at El Camino College since 1994 and served as adjunct faculty at California State University, Dominguez Hills from 1999 to 2000. He served as the Redondo Beach City Prosecutor from 1978 to 1993 and was an attorney in private practice from 1977 to 1989. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Western State University College of Law and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from California State University, Long Beach. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Louise M. Meisinger. Slawson is registered without party preference. Trendacosta, 64, of Los Angeles, has served as a commissioner
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at the Los Angeles Superior Court since 2006, where he was a court referee from 1998 to 2006. He was of counsel at the Law Offices of Donald Gindy from 2000 to 2005, general counsel at the Santa Monica Rent Control Board from 1989 to 1998 and was an associate at the Law Offices of Barry Rothman in 1989. Trendacosta served as supervising attorney at the Los Angeles Office of County Counsel from 1987 to 1989 and was a partner at Rose, Klein and Marias from 1983 to 1986, where he was an associate from 1975 to 1982. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the San Fernando Valley College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Northridge. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Janice C. Croft. Trendacosta is a Democrat. The compensation for each of these positions is $184,610.
Agatha Christie's Murder on the Nile Opens the New Year on the LBP Mainstage Christie's thrilling whodunit will be getting a fresh staging on the Mainstage to start 2015 off right. Murder on the Nile promises a host of colorful characters and all the twists and turns of a classic Christie to keep you guessing to the final shattering climax. "This is the first show of the year for the Mainstage and what a way to come out of the starting gate," said Andrew Vonderschmitt, producing artistic director, "Who doesn't love a good mystery?" Is there any better way to celebrate a marriage than a romantic honeymoon aboard a paddle steamer cruising down the Nile? There must be, especially if the bride ends up dead and the groom grievously wounded! In this classic by the modern mistress of mystery, we travel through the Dark Continent along with master sleuth, Canon Pennefather, as he uncovers an audacious conspiracy and brings the criminals to justice. Passion, jealousy, infidelity, and murder, make this a honeymoon cruise you will not soon forget. Play along and see if you can solve the crime before they are revealed. The show features some new faces as well as some veterans to the Playhouse stage: Robert Agiu (STEWARD), Ahmed Baagil (BEADSELLER), Jerome Loeb (BEADSELLER/MCNAUGHT), Jane Nunn (MISS FFOLIOT-FFOULKES), Kellee Elizabeth (CHRISTINA GRANT), Lee Samuel Tanng (SMITH), Laura Clagett (LOUISE), Wilhelm Peters (DR BESSNER), Lexington Vanderberg (KAY MOSTYN), David Tracq (SIMON MOSTYN), Gregory
Cohen (CANON PENNEFATHER), Jamie Sowers (JACQUELINE DE SEVERAC). Directing the production is Sharyn Case, actor/director with many shows to her credit. This is not Case's first time in the director's chair. Last year she directed A Christmas Carol and the year previous another of Christie's works, And Then There Were None which was one of the season's most popular productions. Special events for this play: •Pay what you can Thursday January 15 - community can see this production for whatever they can afford •Two for One Preview Friday January 16 - Tickets are $12.00 •Opening Night Champagne Reception with cast on January 17- Tickets are $27.00 Adults are $24.00, seniors $21.00, and Students $14.00. Tickets are available at www.lbplayhouse.org, or by calling 562-494-1014, option 1. To request an interview with the director, cast members or reserve your media tickets to this performance, please send an email to: pr@ lbplayhouse.org. Long Beach Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA, 90804, right across from the Long Beach Recreation golf course. The Playhouse is communitysupported theatre with programs and events that cut across age, gender, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. Performances are 8 p.m. Friday, and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. The box office is open Wednesday-Saturday from 3:00-8:00 pm and Sundays from 1:00-2:00 pm on scheduled matinees.
JANUARY 4, 2015 - JANUARY 11, 2015 | 3
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Animal Care Services Increases Live Release Rates; All-Time Lows for Intakes and Euthanized Animals Aggressive spay and neutering programs and new partnerships helped Long Beach Animal Care Services (ACS) significantly increase live release rates, and also realize all-time lows for the number of intakes and euthanized animals in 2014. "Long Beach Animal Care Services made terrific progress this year, thanks to increased community engagement, proactive enforcement, and the commitment of staff and volunteers" said Mayor Robert Garcia. "All their hard work is making Long Beach an even better city for animals." The public is invited to learn more about these accomplishments and future plans by attending the annual ACS Open House on January 24, 2015 at 10 am, at the P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village, 7700 East Spring Street. In 2014, 1,100 fewer dogs and cats were euthanized compared to 2013, a decrease of more than 21 percent. The live release rate for dogs climbed to over 75 percent in 2014, compared to 72 percent in 2013, and the live release rate for cats increased to over 46 percent in 2014 from only 26 percent in 2013. Live release rates include the number of animals from a shelter that are adopted, returned to an owner, or transferred to another non-profit agency that guarantees homes for all of the animals it receives. LBACS worked hard to strengthen existing relationships with groups such as spcaLA, Friends of Long Beach Animals and Fix Long Beach. Additionally, in 2014 ACS added new strategic partners such as Found Animals, Stray Cat Alliance, Bark Avenue Foundation, Wings of Rescue, Shelter Me, ASPCA, Jason Heigl Foundation, Zazzy Cats, Helen Sanders Cat Paws and West Coast Animal Rescue, which all helped increase live re-
lease rates. These groups along with many other rescue groups that have worked with LBACS on behalf of the shelter animals. Looking ahead to 2015, LBACS will make organizational changes, including hiring a fulltime adoption coordinator. Efforts will be made to continue to reach out to the community to grow the volunteer program and other new programs to support the vision of LBACS to be California's safest large city for people and animals. LBACS provides Animal Care services in the City of Long Beach and the Cities of
-Photo by Terry Miller
Cerritos, Seal Beach, Signal Hill and Los Alamitos. Visit www. longbeach.gov/acs and "Like" us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LongBeachAnimalCare) to learn more about ACS.
Long Beach Office 3780 Kilroy Airport Way Suite 360 Long Beach, CA 90806 Ph. (562) 472-0071 Fx. (562) 689-0071 Los Angeles Office 5701 South Eastern Avenue Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90040 Ph. (323) 727-1144 Fx. (323) 727-9198 www.heger-industrial.com Lic. #00814086
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Long Beach's 2014 Successes Continued from page 1
utive year; the sixth best large city in the nation at using technology to help deliver service -Achieved a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI) for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) inclusion in municipal law and policy -Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) -Top 10 Airport Terminals of 2104 by Fodor’s -“A” grade on the Historical Preservation Report Card from the Los Angeles Conservancy -Transportation Planning Award for the Mobility Element from the American Planning Association, California Chapter -Global Award for Excellence (1 of 13 in the world) for the Deukmejian Courthouse from the Urban Land Institute -Five programming awards for LBTV, the City’s cable channel. Accomplishments: Public Safety: -41-year low for violent crime -Implemented a new paramedic model, providing a paramedic on every apparatus, improving response times by an
average of 1.5 minutes, while also reducing costs -Achieved international accreditation for the Police Department’s crime laboratory, the highest level attainable -Accepted the deed for Schroeder Hall from the U.S. Army Reserve for the new Police East Division Substation - Ninety-one arrests were made by the Human Trafficking Task Force Operation, and 22 minors were rescued -Nearly 1,300 youth received service through the Long Beach Gang Reduction, Intervention, and Prevention (LBGRIP) Project -152 arrests for gang injunction violations -Response time to Police Priority Calls is 4.7 minutes; one of the fastest for any large city. Economic and Workforce Development: -Created new Department of Business & Property Development to assist with business attraction and the coordination of the City’s various economic development functions -Construction underway for “The Current,” a 17-story, 223-unit luxury apartment project at 707 E. Ocean Blvd. -38 new Long Beach businesses received grant assistance to help defray start-up costs -Placed 800 young adults
in paid work experience opportunities -Construction underway of the Mercedes-Benz facility at the former Boeing 717 site -Molina Healthcare/Meeker-Baker building project completed -Approved entitlements for three new industrial buildings, two medical buildings, and an automotive trade school facility totaling more than 700,000 sq. ft. in Douglas Park Sustainability: -84 percent of the City’s beaches received “A” and “B” grades for water quality from Heal the Bay -Delivered 2,000 tons of mulch from city tree trimming operations to residents -Achieved 141,000 kilowatt hours in energy savings through efficiency projects -Sixty-five percent of City vehicles ordered in 2014 are alternative fuel vehicles -1,000 trees planted in Port adjacent neighborhoods, and 400 drought tolerant or native replacement trees were planted in parks -Waste-to-energy facility (SERRF) burned 459,000 tons of refuse that would have otherwise gone to landfills, while generating $25 million in electricity sales Infrastructure:
-Selected a development partner to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a new Civic Center -36 lane miles of major and secondary streets resurfaced -19 lane miles of residential streets were paved, and 2 miles of residential streets were slurry sealed -22 miles of sidewalk replaced -23,500 trees trimmed -75,500 graffiti sites cleaned -35,000 potholes filled -Completed Chittick Field, Orizaba Park Community Center, plus several other parks projects throughout the City. -Broke ground for the new North Branch Library -Began construction of new seawalls along a portion of the Rivo Alto Canal in Naples Island Community Improvements: -891 tons of debris removed from streets and neighborhoods by 3,000 volunteers participating in 104 cleanup events -738,000 youth and teen participant days, and 465,484 senior participant days, recorded in Parks, Recreation & Marine Department programs -205,853 visits to City swimming pools -1.4 million items checked out from libraries.
Improved Conditions for Hens Increase Egg Prices Continued from page 1
LA Times claims that “animal advocates say [squeezing chickens into cages] causes needless suffering and boosts the likelihood of salmonella contamination.” Representing almost all of the US’ egg farmers, president of the Georgia-based United Egg Producers Chad Gregory, told the LA Times that egg farmers are adapting to consumers’ demands of more farm-animal-friendly con-
ditions in several states. Lon Allan, questions the new law in his piece in the San Luis Obispo Tribune: “Come on, folks, they’re only chickens. […] you can fool them into laying more eggs by turning the lights on in the hen house so the day seems longer to them. “Come [Jan 1], all that is supposed to change. Backers of the law reasoned we’d have healthier chickens if they had more room
to literally spread their wings. “I do not know whether happy chickens lay more eggs. How do you know if a chicken is happy?” The LA Times visited Frank Hilliker’s egg ranch in San Diego County, a third-generation family business established in 1942, which underwent layout changes to conform to the new space regulations. Since these changes, Hilliker’s hens are now
able to move more freely and “exhibit behavior he had never seen before — like a pecking order when it comes to feeding or their playful beak-tapping on old CDs and colorful string he’s hung from the beams,” reported the LA Times. The egg farmer himself feels “reinvigorated” about this “new challenge” and said: “I don’t know if the chickens know any better, but it’s made farming fun again.”