🌱 Wrigley Greenbelt Update + 1,300 Participate In LBCC Graduation

Good morning, friends; today is National Making Life Beautiful Day, which was first celebrated by Apriori Beauty in 2015! I'm here with your fresh copy of the Long Beach Daily, full of all the community news you need to know right now.

The pedestrian trail is going in at the Wrigley Greenbelt. Also, 1,300 students walked across the stage at LBCC’s largest graduation celebration in the school’s history. Finally, hate crimes in LB are going down!

First, today's weather:

Areas of low clouds, then sun. High: 78 Low: 63.

⭐️ Three Of The Cheapest Gas Stations In Long Beach ⭐️

• Sam’s Club at 7480 Carson St., $5.79
• Del Amo Petroleum at 4990 Long Beach Blvd., $5.79
• Food 4 Less at 6700 Cherry Ave., $5.89

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📢 Fireworks Poll!
Fireworks are illegal in Long Beach. If the police are called, you may have to pay as much as $20,000 in response costs plus citation fines of $1,000. How do you feel about that? Please let me know your thoughts! (As of today, 9.6% don’t want fireworks, 80.3% want “safe and sane fireworks,” and 0.4% don’t care one way or the other while another 9.7% want to buy what they choose.)

Here are the top five stories today in Long Beach:

1. How is the Wrigley Greenbelt Project coming along? As of Thursday, it’s moving along nicely with the “installation of decomposed granite/organic binder in layers for the pedestrian trail.” You may remember that the “pedestrian trail is expected to be completed by early June.” The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. (LB Public Works, Wrigley Greenbelt Project)
2. On Thursday afternoon, the LB City College hosted the largest commencement ceremony it ever had. Taking place at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the school honored graduates from the classes of 2022, 2021, and 2020. The event gave 1,300 successful graduates the opportunity to walk across the stage. “LBCC’s last in-person commencement ceremony took place in 2019, with more than 800 graduates participating.” (Press-Telegram)
3. While incidents of hate crimes have increased all around, reports actually went down in the City. We learned on Thursday that “Long Beach police recorded 12 hate crimes in 2021, mostly targeted at LGBTQ and Black people, according to figures from the department. That’s down from 18 in 2020 and 23 in 2019.” In contrast, Los Angeles, our next door neighbor, saw a 70% surge in reported hate crimes, which is “the highest number recorded in the city since at least 1995.” (LB Post)
4. In addition to COVID-19 vaccinations, Long Beach is now offering “expanded access to COVID-19 antiviral treatment.” In a press release on Thursday, the City announced that “antiviral treatments are FREE, do not require the person to have a primary care physician and are available regardless of immigration status.” You can receive a prescription from a telehealth visit and have them delivered to your home overnight. (City of LB)
5. Mark your calendars! Sacred Roots Holistic Healing will host a summer solstice festival celebration on June 18. Running from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., there will be live music, fire dancing, and vegetarian food. An all night gong experience follows from 9:09 p.m. to 7:07 a.m. Please register! (Sacred Roots Holistic Healing)

Today in Long Beach:

• Art Walk in the East Village Arts District (noon)
• Irish Fair And Music Festival at The Pike Outlets (noon)
• The Art Of Flamenco Dinner Show at Café Sevilla of Long Beach (6:30 p.m.)
• FREE Junatime Album Release Show at Fingerprints Music (7 p.m.)
• The Legend Of Georgia McBride at the Beverly O'Neill Theater (8 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• The Long Beach Airport's new Ticketing Lobby is pretty and sustainable! The facility is on track to receive LEED Silver certification from USGBC. With optimized energy performance, high efficiency LED lighting and reduced water usage, this is how they go green. (Long Beach Airport via Instagram)
• The City is excited to announce the grand reopening of Recreation Park Playground! 📆 Join the Long Beach Parks, Recreation & Marine and Long Beach Public Works departments Tuesday, June 14, at 1 p.m. to celebrate this new dinosaur 🦖-themed playground. (Long Beach City via Facebook)
• Do you have a child 5 years old or younger? Pick up supplies to support their socioemotional development today from 10 to noon at the Mark Twain and Bret Harte Libraries. Kits are distributed on a first come, first served basis. (Long Beach Public Library via Facebook)
• Learn more about the path to naturalization with Centro CHA Inc! This presentation will cover the steps in the naturalization process from beginning to end. Individual questions will be answered at these sessions as well. (Long Beach Public Library via Facebook)
• The Long Beach Department of Health & Human Services (LBDHHS) partnered with the Youth Leadership Institute to launch the program My Hood, My City to engage youth through civics education and leadership development. (Long Beach City via Facebook)

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You're officially in the loop for today! 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