🌱 Wilson HS Opens Despite Threat + Shoutout To CSULB's Laura Bush

Hello and happy Friday! Today, we all pretend to work at Dunder Mifflin for National Fun At Work Day. I'm back in your inbox this morning to walk you through the most important things happening in Long Beach. Today we'll cover these stories and more:

• 🥇 Two LB restaurants made the Yelp 100
• 💰 Launch Beach 100 Startups Campaign is a go
• 🌳 Volunteer at Houghton Park

💗 Please help us grow! Send a friend or neighbor this link, so they can be in the know, like you!

🌞 But first, today's weather:

Plenty of sunshine. High: 68 Low: 46.

Business owners and marketers in Long Beach: Do you want to build awareness with local customers? I have a limited number of sponsorships available to introduce our readers to local businesses they need to know. Click here to learn more.

⛽ Three of the Cheapest Gas Stations in the City of Long Beach

• G&M at 805 E Ocean Blvd., $3.99
• ARCO at 1001 Redondo Ave., $3.99
• 76 at 5170 Long Beach Blvd., $3.99

💐 Valentine’s Day Poll! 🥂
Pink hearts, boxes of chocolates, and greeting cards – reminders that Valentine’s Day is coming are everywhere. But responses to the holiday are mixed. What are your feelings about the occasion? Do you celebrate? So far, 47.4% take a bah-humbug approach, while 44.2% plan on a Valentine’s Day with all the trimmings. 2.1% plan on celebrating Galentine’s Day, and 6.3% focus on Singles Awareness Day.

📰 Here are the top stories in Long Beach today:

1. Wilson High School at 4400 East 10th Street opened with additional security in place on Thursday. The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) was made aware of a threat against the school but determined that it did “not seem credible.” Parents were alerted Wednesday evening of the LBUSD’s decision to keep Wilson open. (Long Beach Post)
2. For the 10th year, Yelp tickled its algorithms, and they spat out the Top 100 Places to Eat in the United States. Wednesday’s listing includes two Long Beach eateries! In 12th place is Appu’s Café at 3816 Woodruff Avenue, which is a vegan wonderland inside an — of all places — a medical office building. In 23rd place is the BMORE Protein Pub at 707 East Ocean Boulevard, which you could call a smoothie bar or an Italian eatery, depending on what’s calling your name. (Yelp)
3. During his State of the City address, Mayor Rex Richardson dreamed big and wanted to bring 100 new startups to Long Beach. On Monday, his plans got support from local organizations like Sunstone Management. They all formed the Launch Beach 100 Startups Campaign, will assist with the administration of the $25 million fund for investors, and go after additional grant funding. (Yahoo!Finance)
4. A shoutout to Cal State Long Beach’s Laura Bush! Not only will she graduate in the spring with a degree in business, but she also runs a candle business. We learned on Wednesday that she can add another line to her resume: winning an art contest run by the Kate Somerville cosmetics company. You can now see her vibrant artwork at Sephora. Congratulations! (CSULB)
5. What are you doing on Saturday? If you have no plans, why not head to Houghton Park at 9 a.m. and plant some trees? Neighbors and Long Beach Development Services will be there as well. No experience is needed, “training and tools will be provided.” (Long Beach Development Services)

📆 Today in Long Beach:

• Spanish Book Club meets at the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library (3 PM)
• FREE Outdoor Movie "Mulan" is shown at 2ND & PCH (6 PM)
• The Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre Collaborative presents "Lemur Mom" (8 PM)
• Doomsday w/Upon Stone, Darkness Everywhere, Apparition perform at Supply and Demand (9 PM)
• The Gaslamp presents 80s night with Knyght Ryder (9 PM)

🖊️ From my notebook:

• "Not so Happy Valley as #3 LBsumvb defeats #4 Penn State in Rec Hall breaking the Nittany Lions’ 21-match regular season home win streak 😤 BOOM💥 5-0 and coming back home on Friday, February 3rd🏡 💪" (Long Beach State Athletics via Instagram)
• "Next Event - Sunday Feb 19 Reminder - There is no 5th Sunday Special Sale in January. The next Special sale is Sunday, April 30." (Long Beach Antique Market via Instagram)
• "Today, folks will come together to make a difference. Our teams of volunteers will be scattering across 62 map segments of the city, collecting comprehensive statistics of the city's homeless population." (Long Beach City via Facebook)
• "Do you love Lincoln Park like we love Lincoln Park? Join us this Saturday at 10:30AM on the BJK Main terrace for Coffee, Conversations, & Clean Up." (Long Beach Public Library via Facebook)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Estate Planning-LivingTrust-Medicaid Trust-Stolen Inheritance (January 27)
• South Bay Wind Ensemble presents From Chaos into Life (January 28)
• Gap Year and Summer Enrichment Fair (February 7)
• Add your event

Thanks for following along and staying informed! I'll see you soon.

— 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