🌱 Guaranteed $500 Income Launch + USS Kitty Hawk In LB Harbor

Happy Wednesday, neighbors, and happy National Green Juice Day! Let's get you all caught up on what's happening locally to start today off on an informed note.

The launch of a guaranteed income for some is only weeks away. Also, an aircraft carrier was an unusual sight off the coastline. Finally, the Ramirez Strawberry Ranch is now Santa Fe Strawberries under the leadership of Leonides Castellanos.

First, today's weather:

Mostly sunny and pleasant. High: 70 Low: 43.

Here are the top five stories today in Long Beach:

1. Mayor Robert Garcia, posting from his personal account on Tuesday, said that “we launch our $500 a month guaranteed income program and applications for single moms and parents in a few weeks in Long Beach.” He attached a New York Times article citing a study that found “cash payments for low-income mothers increased brain function in babies.” The Mayor continues to follow this research. (@RobertGarcia)
2. If you did a double-take when driving past the harbor on Tuesday, you aren’t alone. Yes, there was an aircraft carrier in the water. It was the decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk that's heading to its “fate of scrapping at a ship-breaking yard in Brownsville, Texas.” The aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1961 and decommissioned in 2009. (LB Post)
3. We learned Tuesday that Leonides Castellanos is taking over the Ramirez Strawberry Ranch. He “will continue the decades-long legacy of selling juicy and sweet strawberries on Santa Fe Avenue.” The business closed in May after the death of 85-year-old Rigoberto Ramirez Sr. Castellanos had worked in the strawberry fields for seven years. He’s renamed the business to Santa Fe Strawberries and is adding passion fruit to the crops growing there. (LB Post)
4. We learned Monday that Dr. Loucine Huckabay will be a Wang Family Excellence Awards recipient. She has spent 43 years working with the School of Nursing at Cal State Long Beach. Supporters know her as a fundraiser with a vision and a commitment to hands-on mentoring. Congratulations! (CSULB)
5. On January 13, we alerted you to fake water department vendors. On Monday, we learned that the “pair of impersonators do work for a legitimate water filtration company.” The individuals in question denied that they told “residents that they were sent by the city.” “Remember to never let someone in your home you do not know, and always ask for identification. If still unsure, you may call the presiding entity and confirm that they sent out an employee for a legitimate reason.” (Patch, LB Local News)

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Today in Long Beach:

• Study Of Romans at Cornerstone Church (9:30 AM)
• Judy Baca: Memorias de Nuestra Tierra at the MOLAA (11 AM to 5 PM)
• Happy Hour at The 908 (3 PM to 6 PM)
• LBYP Networking Mixer at Ballast Point Brewing Company (5:30 PM to 7:30 PM)
• Brain Party Trivia at Alex’s Bar (7 PM)

From my notebook:

• Our North Long Beach neighbor will be selling Girl Scout cookies starting on 1/30. They do free delivery locally. (Nextdoor)
• A HOPA neighbor is looking for the kind of authentic Chinese food you get from a little hole in the wall insider-only eatery. Do you have recommendations? (Nextdoor)
• A Freeway Circle neighbor lost their cat. He has his collar with ID and is microchipped. They're offering $200 for his return. (Nextdoor)
• Our Historic Zaferia Village-Cir neighbor is looking for a place that teaches adults how to swim. (Nextdoor)
• A DeForest Park neighbor is looking for someone to build a 6-foot wood fence (redwood) about 65-foot long. Please make some recommendations. (Nextdoor)

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Alrighty, you're all caught up for today. 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.