🌱 Fake Water Dept. Vendors + Shots Near Nieto Herrera Elementary

Good morning, Long Beach, and happy National Dress Up Your Pet Day! Here's everything you need to know to get this Friday started off right.

Someone is impersonating water department vendors. Also, two men got into a shootout behind an elementary school. Finally, getting residents to line up for COVID-19 booster shots is an uphill battle.

First, today's weather:

Mostly cloudy. High: 70 Low: 55.

Here are the top five stories today in Long Beach:

1. The Long Beach Water Department warns residents that it has received reports of “individuals impersonating a vendor contracted by the City.” They appear dressed as technicians, going door to door with official-looking clipboards. They “appear to be selling filtration devices, claiming there is an issue with water quality.” These are impostors, and you should not open your door for them or let them into your home. (@LongBeachWater)
2. There was a shootout behind Nieto Herrera Elementary School on 15th and Orizaba Avenue Wednesday. Two men were having an argument that escalated. One man was shot and taken to the hospital; the other man was arrested. In the meantime, the Zaferia District school had to go on lockdown. (LB Local News)
3. Residents are slow to line up for COVID-19 booster shots. As of Wednesday, only “32% of Long Beach residents 18 and older have received a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.” Nationwide, 40% of adults have received the booster. Officials blame “pandemic fatigue” for the low turnout. The county’s health director warned that “unvaccinated people are . . . 38 times more likely to be hospitalized than people who are fully vaccinated and received a booster shot.” (LB Post)
4. The blood shortage is hitting close to home. The trauma center at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance shut down for a couple of hours on Monday because it ran out of blood. It reopened after it was able to receive blood from other hospitals. “Dangerously low blood supply levels are posing a concerning risk to patient care and forcing doctors to make difficult decisions about who receives blood transfusions and who will need to wait,” the Red Cross warned. (CBS)
5. The Los Angeles Seltzerland 2022 is coming to the Bixby Village Golf Course on February 5. Buying a ticket entitles you to taste 100+ unique hard seltzers. There’ll be food and games, too. (Seltzerland)

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Today in Long Beach:

• Yoga + Beer at SteelCraft’s Smog City Brewery in Long Beach (10 AM)
• Art For Lunch with MOLAA (online) (12 PM)
• The Long Beach Playhouse presents a half-price preview of Murder On The Orient Express (8 PM)
• Curated Neighborhood Hip Hop, Dance RnB Party By R+D at BLACK (9 PM)
• Making Funny at the Laugh Factory (10 PM)

From my notebook:

• The City is recruiting for the 2022-2023 Management Assistant Program! The Management Assistant Program provides talented individuals with the experience to gain the knowledge and skills to be effective local government leaders. (Facebook)
• Leadership Long Beach invites you to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and participate in virtual projects on January 17th! (Facebook)
• A Historic Zaferia Village-Cir neighbor needs a dog walker for a 30-40 minute walk but can't afford more than $20. Recommendations? (Nextdoor)
• Our Alamitos Beach neighbor lost some keys on a Puerto Rico lanyard. Did you find them? (Nextdoor)
• A kind Houghton Park-NLB neighbor found a dog in North Long Beach near Artesia & Myrtle, and took it to Long Beach Animal Care Services. #A669295 No microchip. (Nextdoor)

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Now you're in the loop and ready to head out the door on this Friday! I'll see you around.

— 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.