🌱 Queen Mary Lifeboats Off + Vistas Del Puerto Apartments Opened

Happy Sunday, people of Long Beach; today is Anosmia Awareness Day! Here's everything you need to know around Long Beach today.

Would you like to preserve a Queen Mary lifeboat? Also, the Vistas Del Puerto hosted the grand opening for the apartment complex. Finally, a pastor was stabbed in his driveway.

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny and pleasant. High: 75 Low: 48.

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Here are the top five stories today in Long Beach:

1. They’re from the 1930s, 36 feet in length, weigh about six tons, and are painted with coats and coats of lead paint. These are the 20 Queen Mary lifeboats that are being taken off as part of the ship’s restoration Friday. The City is currently accepting bids from “qualified museums, preservation groups, and developers” who can commit to preserving them. We know that 15 of the boats are authentic to the Queen Mary, while the other ones likely came from other ocean liners. (LB Post)
2. Mayor Robert Garcia was on hand Thursday for the grand opening of the Vistas Del Puerto apartment complex. He explained that “this project created 47 new affordable homes for families, residents with chronic health conditions, and neighbors who have experienced homelessness.” (@LongBeachMayor)
3. The pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana was stabbed in front of his LB home on Thursday. The congregation’s executive director of operations said that a man approached the pastor in his driveway, and “stabbed him seven times. Twice in the eye, four times in the back and once in the neck, shoulder area.” The pastor is recovering in the hospital while the suspect was arrested. (ABC)
4. How is L.A. County doing with COVID-19 numbers? As of Saturday, “Los Angeles County reported 64 additional deaths associated with COVID-19 and 2,275 new positive tests.” Hospitalizations declined from 1,105 to 1,071. Intensive care cases went down by ten. (Patch)
5. Mabel's Gourmet Pralines does business at 625 Pine Avenue. She sells praline bars, sugar-free pralines, and banana puddin. The owner explains that she learned how to make pralines from her mother in Louisiana. When the pralines became a hit locally, she opened a store. We learned Friday that she celebrates 16 years in business. Find out for yourself just how yummy pralines can be! (ABC)

Today in Long Beach:

• FREE Steel Pan Band Concert with The Pantasticks for Mardi Gras Sunday at First Church (11 AM)
• Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier hosts Jimpster (2 PM)
• Soul Times DJs at Alex’s Bar (2 PM)
• The Equal Rights Amendment Struggle Yesterday And Today with author Zoe Nicholson (online) (3 PM)
• Soul on the Shore at Junipero Beach (3 PM)

From my notebook:

A Wrigley-Memorial Park neighbor warns that bees are swarming....everywhere! (Nextdoor)

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That's it for today. See you all tomorrow morning 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.