🌱 Romeo Chocolates Robbed + 10% Of LBCC Students Non-Compliant

Get on up, Long Beach, and happy National Groundhog Day! Let's get you all caught up to start this day off on an informed note. Here's everything worth knowing in Long Beach today.

A favorite local chocolate store was robbed, and the owner’s response says it all. Also, staff and students at LBCC fail to meet the campus’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Finally, you can find out how your child’s school is doing with the LBUSD’s school accountability report cards.

First, today's weather:

Sunny. High: 67 Low: 44.

Here are the top five stories today in Long Beach:

1. Romeo Chocolates was robbed! The micro-batch chocolatier at 460 Pine Avenue posted Monday that the shop was broken into before dawn. Photos show the empty cash register and busted glass panes. There is camera footage. In a genuinely gracious message, the owner said, “Whoever broke in, I understand these are challenging times. Whatever compelled you to break into our shop, I wish you peace and I hope our community provides you with the support and resources you need.” However, the owner goes on to explain that “Our small shop, like many of the small businesses in Long Beach and nationwide, didn’t receive a corporate bailout. Small business owners are scraping by with razor-thin margins. We are doing our best to stay in operations with this global crisis. We are genuinely exhausted.” (Romeo Chocolates)
2. As of Thursday, 10% of LB City College students “remain non-compliant with the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.” This translates into “1,045 of the 10,131 on-campus students.” That said, the employees also aren’t in full compliance. Only a total of 83% of employees are vaccinated. (LB Business Journal)
3. On Tuesday, the LBUSD has released its school accountability report cards. Parents have the opportunity to review these report cards for elementary, middle, and high schools in the district. For example, you might learn that Henry has interior surfaces rated “poor,” which is a rating it shares with Millikan HS. (LBUSD)
4. The Long Beach-Qingdao Association will host a Chinese New Year celebration. The party is scheduled for February 12. Around 30 people will meet at the Island Village Club House at 7108 Island Village Drive for a lesson on calligraphy. However, everyone may participate via Zoom. Register for the link! (Press-Telegram)
5. The LB Airport announced Monday that it “launched a commercial food scrap recycling program to divert organic materials from the landfill and create renewable energy.” Food waste is sorted and stored in 95-gallon bins “behind the north and south concourses.” Next, it goes to the Puente Hills Materials Recovery Facility, where it is turned into a slurry. Finally, it goes to the L.A. County Sanitation District wastewater treatment plant where it is “converted into biogas, which is a renewable energy source, through anaerobic digestion, and the bio solids from that process can be used as fertilizer.” (City of LB)

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Today in Long Beach:

• Reading Development 2 to 6 at Mae Boyer Park (4:20 PM to Feb 28, 5:05 PM)
• Boomer's Cocktail Lounge hosts Karaoke Wednesdays (9 PM)
• Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché at the Art Theatre of Long Beach (9 PM)
• Alex’s Bar presents Death Disco DJs FELIX & NIGHTCREATURE (9 PM)
• Venice Underground Comedy at the Killer Yacht Club Speakeasy (9:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• A kind Grant neighbor is looking for 2 large doggie beds. They're going to be fostering soon. Does anyone have any? (Nextdoor)
• An Imperial Estates neighbor is looking for a business to do a garden consultation. They're looking for a gardener to analyze garden, flowers & grass, recommend watering, analyze the trees, etc. They're not looking for regular lawn cutting. (Nextdoor)
• A Freeway Circle neighbor is missing a Cockatiel. He flew west. Did you see it? (Nextdoor)
• Our Historic Zaferia Village-NE neighbor needs a handyman. Do you have recommendations? (Nextdoor)
• A Belmont Shore-Belmont Park neighbor is looking for a place to store a boat trailer. (Nextdoor)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today! See you tomorrow for your next 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.