🌱 DTLB Bridge Named + Ambassadors To Replace El Dorado Park Rangers

Happy National Dog Day, LB! If you made the news into a piece of furniture, what would it look like? We've got a bridge name, a controversial program, and some money news, for starters.

• 🌉 You can now call it the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge
• 🌳 A Park Safety Ambassador Program replaces park rangers
• 🛢️ Bill could boost state dollars spent on oil well cleanup in LB

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🌤️ First, today's weather:

Areas of fog, then sun. High: 83 Low: 68.

🌡️ FYI: Long Beach Cooling Centers are open daily from noon to 6 p.m. You find them at the Houghton, McBride, and Admiral Kidd community centers as well as the Senior Center and El Dorado Park West.

📢 I’m looking for business owners and marketers in Long Beach who want to build awareness, connect with customers and increase sales.

I have a limited number of sponsorships available to introduce our Long Beach Daily readers to local businesses they need to know about. If that’s you, then I invite you to learn more and secure your spot now.

⛽ Three Of The Cheapest Gas Stations In Long Beach

• Sinclair at 5588 Long Beach Blvd., $4.59
• G&M at 805 E Ocean Blvd., $4.79
• Arco at 2601 Santa Fe Ave., $4.89

🤔 Homelessness Poll!
CNN reports that Los Angeles County has a homeless population of “more than 66,400 people.” The numbers are increasing. Do you think that city governments are doing enough? Are there better solutions? Please let me know your thoughts! So far, 27.9% favor more infrastructure investment, 16.3% want federal involvement, 1.9% say faith-based groups need to step up, 4.8% want the military to open its bases, and 47.6% ask for justice system involvement.

📰 Here are the top five stories today in Long Beach:

1) On Wednesday, the bridge connecting DTLB to Terminal Island was named the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge. Open since October 2020 and constructed at a cost of $1.5 billion to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge, “the six-lane bridge was designed to last 100 years as a critical piece of infrastructure to sustain the Port’s long-term growth.” (LB Local News)

2) One line item in next year’s city budget is a “transfer (of) hundreds of thousands of dollars from the LBPD general fund to the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department for a Park Safety Ambassador Program.” We learned on Tuesday that the reasoning is “the more that you program an area, the safer and cleaner it will be.” However, a business owner plagued by crime and theft in El Dorado Park considers these ambassadors “glorified bathroom monitors” when compared to park rangers. (Long Beach Post)

3) What’ll happen when “Long Beach’s more than 2,400 active and idle oil production and injection wells are tapped out” and they need to be capped? The cost will eclipse a billion dollars, and the state’s responsibility is capped at a third of that. Assembly member Patrick
O’Donnell is attempting to get rid of the cap, and on Tuesday a proposed piece of legislation went to Governor Gavin Newsom. “Long Beach and its residents should not be left holding the bag to pay for the cleanup costs when that inevitable time comes,” O’Donnell said. (LB Business Journal)

4) Back in May, Long Beach hinted that it would like to be the landing place for the Los Angeles Angels if they were to leave Anaheim. On Tuesday, we learned that the team’s owner is looking to sell the franchise, and the scuttlebutt is that the city will double down on its efforts to lure the team and its new owner to come here. “The Long Beach waterfront downtown has always been the perfect location for a major league sports stadium,” the mayor said in May. (Press-Telegram)

5) Mark your calendars! The incoming Ikea planning studio will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 29 at 10 a.m. Festivities will take place at 7611 Carson Boulevard and include “games, workshops, giveaways, and the opportunity to become IKEA Family Members for more exclusive perks throughout the day.” You may remember that, back in October, we talked about an Ikea studio coming to the Towne Center where the Red Ball Fun Zone used to be. (Patch, Furniture Today)

📆 Today in Long Beach:

• National Dog Day Celebration with Doggie Doughnuts at Krispy Kreme (all day)
• Volunteers Sign Up for the USA Teqball Tour at the LB Convention Center (10:30 a.m.)
• Anime Club For Teens at the Harte Neighborhood Library (3:30 p.m.)
• Celebrate the End of Summer with The Under Cover Band at Marine Stadium (5 p.m.)
• CHASMFEST 22 at Supply & Demand (8 p.m.)
  

📓 From my notebook:

• While the school year is just getting started for many here in Long Beach, it is graduation time for LBPD Lieutenant Hughes! Please join us in congratulating Hughes on his graduation from the Supervisory Leadership Institute. (Long Beach Police Department (CA) via Facebook)
• Have an unwanted firearm? Join the LBPD on September 10 at a Gun Buy Back event to anonymously turn in the firearm and receive a gift card! ✅LBPD Gun Buy Back 📅Saturday, September 10 ⏰8 a.m. - 4 p.m. 📍Ramona Park, 3301 East 65th Street (Long Beach Police Department (CA) via Facebook)
• 🗣Check out these current job openings with the City of Long Beach! (Long Beach City via Facebook)
• The California Department of Housing & Community Development has awarded the Long Beach Department of Health & Human Services (LBDHHS) a $30.5 million grant to create more interim housing for people experiencing homelessness. (Long Beach City via Facebook)
• 🎷 We are only a few days away from the 11th Annual Uptown Jazz Festival featuring Stephanie Mills! This year’s festival will feature an incredible lineup of artists, headlined by Stephanie Mills, the Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter. (Long Beach City via Facebook)

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Events:

• Torrance Antique Street Faire (August 28)
• Add your event

Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Friday! See you all tomorrow for another update.

— Sylvia Cochran

About me: Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing full-time since 2005. She loves dogs, cats, books, plays Best Fiends (don't judge), embraces social justice, and tries to live out Micah 6:8.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Long Beach Daily? Contact me at LongBeach-CA@Patch.com