Neighborhood Expansion: Watching Over Wrigley

Neighborhood Expansion is when this site/ MacArthur Park will be doing three things to look out for neighboring communities including: mapping crime trends, aiding in clean ups and doing Go Long Beach Runs for that neighborhood. As of today it moves from being a response This week MacArthur Park is keeping an eye on Wrigley in support of Josephine A Villaseñor and her Wrigley Community Watch Page.

This map shows some crime trends in the Wrigley area last week. We are focusing on South Wrigley, Central Wrigley and Wrigley Heights. We also included the other side of Pacific all the way to Atlantic, because that's where some of the trends begin.

Clearly there are a lot of thefts and robberies trending towards Veteran's Memorial Park. They seem to converge around 27th Street and Pine. Please keep an eye around the Park, Pine and on 27th Street. There were several incidents where the arrow converges on Sunday, so be extra vigilant over the weekend.

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#SupportJosephine

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It appears a trend of breaking and enterings is moving up Oregon Avenue towards Wrigley Heights. There is also a trend of thefts from cars and burglaries along Hill Street and Magnolia that moves East. A similar trend starts at Oregon and PCH and moves North East. So far, this week the map [from Sunday to Wednesday] looks good. But based on what I am seeing here the four places to keep your eyes on are Oregon Avenue, just south of Veteran's Memorial Park, Hill Street and PCH. 

There will be two more phases for this week's Neighborhood Expansion. Tomorrow, Josie and I will do a Go Long Beach Run and a Patrol through Wrigley. We will be cataloging all the tagging and dumped items for future reference. The tagging is a good clue of where things are about to go bad. This coming Sunday we will host a small clean up from 23rd Street and Chestnut, which will move up towards PCH. That clean up will begin at 8am. Everyone is welcome to join in. 

Next week, on Wednesday we start the same three steps that we did this week for Wrigley for another neighborhood, within District Six. #SupportJosephine

14th Street Clean Up: Cherry to Walnut Done

There was an announced clean up of 14th Street today in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. We started at Cherry and 14th and got as far as 14th and Walnut. Because, the original intent was to get 14th all the way to Orange, we will be continuing the clean up tomorrow. Some things I notched: #1, the neighbors seem a lot friendlier. #2, the street is much cleaner than last time.

Also, due to the recent wind storm, most of this trash is leaves and palms the city has not picked up yet. So minus that, this is the cleanest I have ever seen 14th. Thank you to Josephine A Villaseñor for plugging the clean up in the Wrigley Community Watch Facebook Group. And thanks to the neighbor on 14th who was kind enough to bring bottled water to me as this clean up was wrapping up.

Update: 14th is now finished from Walnut to Orange. Thanks to the neighbors who showed an interest in getting involved, the ones that brought me bottled water and thanks to the LBPD for dealing with an undressed/ incoherent homeless lady at MacArthur Park who was just out of the hospital and still in hospital attire for showing a level of kindness and dignity that should be a model for all police departments nation wide.

District One: Brings Graffiti Clean Ups to Weekend & Expands Alley Lighting Initiatives

Yesterday I went with District Six Candidate Josephine A Villaseñor at the District One Willmore Community Watch Meeting. Some great news from the meeting. Graffiti reports will now be handled on weekends too. In other words, if tagging happens, you no longer have to wait until Monday for it to get painted over. Also, Rep Lena Gonzalez initiative to light up the alleys in District One, may spread to all of Long Beach, with an initiative coming up before City Council in December. Thank you to Lena Gonzalez and District One from the MacArthur Park Community Association.

The next Community Watch Meeting:

Linden-Roosevelt Neighborhood
Monday, December 7th
7 – 9 pm
Roosevelt Elementary Room A101
1574 Linden Ave   

Josie & I will also be hosting one at Fox Coffee House this December with everything we've picked up including starter packets early in December. 

Gardenia Street Is Clean from PCH to 14th Street

There was an announced cleaning of Gardenia Street starting at 1611 Gardenia. The clean up headed north and south down Gardnia. All dumped items, with the exception electronic devices such as TVs and an water heaters, were removed. In the end, the dumpster was filled in about one hour.

I have personally signed up for a large clean up on the 12th of December 2015. This will be a joint clean up with friends from the Wrigley Neighborhood. I intend to make this a slightly bigger clean up than we've don in the past. There will likely be food, prizes and other reasons for our neighbors to get involved. Stay tuned for details. #SupportJosephine

Walnut Street Clean Up: 09/12/2015 10am

This cleanup will be starting from the south side of the intersection, moving south towards Anaheim this time. Volunteers are always welcome. All clean up materials will be provided. The clean up schedule is here: 

http://macarthurparklbc.blogspot.com/p/events.html

St. Louis/ Dawson Clean: 14th to Anaheim St

There was an announced clean up of St. Louis Street that followed 14th Street to Anaheim. While originally we intended to get St. Louis, Dawson and Raymond, in the end it was just a little too hot to get all three. We were able to get Dawson from 14th to Anaheim and 14th Street again from St. Louis to Dawson.

Thanks to the neighbors who gave me the bottled water.  Thanks to the volunteers that helped make this cleaning go a little quicker. Because both streets were reasonably clean we were able to get some nasty weeds out of the Anaheim Corridor.

We may finish and get Raymond tomorrow; that kind of depends how hot it gets. We originally planned to get 15th Street, that will probably have to wait until a later weekend.

Update 08/31/2015: Raymond has been cleaned. It helped that the temperature was only 74 degrees today and the humidity was only 63%. That sounds terrible but last night the humidity was 83% and the temperature was 78.

Next Clean Up:08/29/2015: St Louis & 14th 10am

11th Street Clean Up: Walnut to Mahanna

There was an unannounced clean up of 11th Street from Walnut to Mahanna to support our partners in the AOC7. While this clean up was originally intended to go to Alamitos, we ran out of room in the trash bag, and it was getting a little hot. The rest of 11th, from Mahanna to Alamitos will be tackled tomorrow.

The clean up also touched some areas of Hoffman relatively close to 11th Street.

This is part of this week's Neighborhood Expansion which so far has resulted in 19 additional Go Long Beach Requests and several Community Walks through the areas that have seen an increase in reported crime  The MacArthur Park Neighborhood will be doing this often when something serious happens in a neighborhood outside its boundaries.

Update 08/27/2015: So our goal was to get to Alamitos today. Unfortunately, by the time we got to Cerritos we had another 32 gallons of trash, so we didn't quite make it there today. However, being the stubborn people that we are we will try again tomorrow at 9am to get that last little stretch of the neighborhood bordering AOC7 a little cleaner by noon. This was our 41st clean up this year.

By the way,whoever issued the heat warning for today, understated how hot it would be. At least Arizona was a dry heat.

16th Street Clean: Gaviota to Orange

There was an announced cleaning of 16th Street today from Gaviota to Orange Street. Because 16th is actually one of the cleanest streets in the neighborhood. there are no before and after pictures this time. I am including a picture of the 64 gallons of trash, that was removed from the street. Whenever a street is that clean, it gives me a chance to get things I normally miss like fallen leaves.

I'd also like to take the time to thank the neighbors I met along 16th street like Teodoro. Every time I have seen him, he has been helping keep the neighborhood clean. Additionally, there is some very beautiful architecture along 16th Street. Hopefully soon, the rest of the neighborhood follows suit. 

Sunday cleanings are not normally announced, but tomorrow we'll be cleaning Rosa Park's Park at 8am. This is mostly because there have been no clean ups over the last two weeks and we're making up for lost time.

Update: 08/23/2015: Rosa Park's Park has been cleaned as well. Orange was cleaned this morning up to 17th Street, actually a little past it. Barcelona was cleaned as well.

This Makes Six Months of Cleaning up MacArthur Park

Today makes six months that we have been working to make the MacArthur Park Neighborhood a better place; the very first clean up was six months ago from this Saturday om 15th Street. We intend to spend it where this began, helping our neighbors in the AOC7.

Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up Done

There was an announced joint cleaning that covered the area immediately around MacArthur Park this morning. Thanks to the AOC7/ The OC Credit Union, Edgar Rangel Real Estate Consultant, Brian Ben from the City of Long Beach for the dumpster and to the volunteers from both neighborhoods.

While we wanted to get more trash out of the MacArthur Park Neighborhood but the dumpster was completely filled within two hours with waste from the alleyway between Warren and Orange alone.

Next Saturday there will be a smaller clean up of Orange Street just south of Rosa Park's Park. I am going to try to schedule another larger clean up for the fourth Saturday in August. Please keep in touch for future clean ups by joining the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Facebook Group. And continue to support the AOC7 for the great things they are bringing to all of our neighborhoods.

Safety Update: 24 Year Old Arrested In July 4th Stabbing

A 24-year-old Long Beach man was behind bars Tuesday on suspicion of fatally stabbing his former roommate during an argument. Norman Mathew Perdon was jailed Friday on suspicion of stabbing 38-year- old Allen Estes of Long Beach on July 4, according to Long Beach police. Estes was found around 5:30 a.m. by police near the intersection of East Anaheim Street and Dawson Avenue. He died at the scene.

Help bring the families of the victims closure/ and keep everyone safe.

There is a huge homeless encampment at Walnut and Anaheim nightly. I think the city should probably be on the look out for the safety of everyone there. Also Walnut from 14th down, much like 17th and Orange, has issues with juvenile loitering, competing tagging, trespassing, fireworks and higher than par assaults on the Crime Reports Website. When, passing close to Walnut and Anaheim, be extra cautious.

This arrest came on tips from the public. Please go here for the full story. Thank you to LBPD and to those tipsters that helped bring about the arrest.  Remember, we are still looking for information in the slayings of the following people, so if you know something, tell someone. I know in at least one case, someone does.

The following information reflects the fatal shootings in or near our neighborhood. Officer involved shootings are not included, neither are shootings were a suspect is in custody. This is simply so everyone in the neighborhood knows who was a victim and where it happened.

The arrest for the July 4th stabbing came on a tip. Let's jog some memories in the hopes of bringing on a few more.The tip links you can click on after reading any of these stories allow you to submit anonymously if needed. You can also use the http://www.crimestoppersusa.com/ website to the same effect.

17th an Alamitos Area:

Anthony Holston III, a 20-year-old black man, was shot and killed Friday, June 5, near the intersection of East 17th Street and Alamitos Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records. East side of the Alamitos and 17th intersection.

Tomas Palmas, a 42-year-old Latino, was shot and killed July 10 in the 1700 block of Cerritos Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records. West side of the Alamitos and 17th intersection.

There is usually a tremendous amount of loitering at the area of 17th and Orange, so someone very likely knows something. Also, considering, what elements of our city government live very close to this intersection, it should be the safest intersection in Long Beach.

North of MacArthur Park/ Just South of Signal Hill

Alicia Faith Todd, a 21-year-old black woman, was shot and killed Wednesday, June 24, in the 1100 block of East 21st Street in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Close To Downtown

Iran Francisco Maese, a 35-year-old Latino, was shot and killed Sunday, June 28, in the 700 block of Linden Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Douglas Jerome Wilson, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed Monday, June 22, in the 800 block of Chestnut Avenue in Long Beach, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

Unannounced Clean Up: Warner Anahiem to 15th Done

No pictures, but as of today, every street around the park has been cleaned before our joint clean up effort this Saturday. Thanks in advance to the AOC7 for giving our neighbors the opportunity to get rid of some of the things that don't normally fit in the regular trash containers.

Update: Rose is clean from 14th to PCH too. Meant to get 14th to Anaheim, but am a little tired.

14th Street Clean Up: Orange to Cherry Done

About 96 Gallons of trash was removed from 14th Street this morning

About 96 gallons of trash was removed from 14th Street in preparation for our joint clean up around MacArthur Park this Saturday. We're getting the smaller things around the park as much as possible before Saturday, so there will be more room for the big ticket items like mattresses and furniture in the dumpster. Again, we will have a dumpster in case any MacArthur Park needs to get rid of larger furniture too large for the average trash can. See the flyer below for details. 

By the way, so far the follow streets have been cleared of litter at least once: Peterson, Gundry, 14th, 17th, Sherman and Stanton. Volunteers are welcome and would be greatly appreciated for the joint clean up this Saturday.

Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up This Sat. 07/18/2015: 8:30am

Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up 07/18/15 8:30am - Noon

A list of Positive Changes in Central Long Beach

Sometimes, admin things we can't control we lose focus on some on the positive changes that time has brought to us. So I just wanted to create a list of things your neighborhood groups, district representatives, citizens groups, businesses and volunteers have brought to Central Long Beach.

1. AOC7's annual Literacy Fair
2. The West Division Leadership Program
3. Building Healthy Community Meetings
4. The Cambodian New Year Festival 
5. The Citizen's State of the Union
6. Neighborhood Leadership 
7. MacArthur Park's Weekly Clean Up
8. The Joint AOC7/ MacArthur Park Clean Up
9. Almost 200 Central Long Beach Residents on Next Door
10. Community Nights Out
11. Free movies in the park
12. Drought Resistant Planting Rebates
13. The Go Long Beach App
14. The Newly Created Jenny Rivera Park
15. I DIG Tree Plantings 
16. Friend's Fest - Drake Park  
17. Free classes at the the Gamboa Theatre
18. The Home Improvement Rebate Program
19. The Business Improvement Rebate Program
20. The LB/LBUD Free Summer Lunch Program 
21. Pacific Gateway Job Fair
22. 100+ New Neighborhood Watches
23. WESCA alley wide clean ups with the crusher
24. Wrigley's monthly barbeque
25. The ROCK Renewable Hope Thanksgiving Feeding Project 
26. District Six Youth Job/ Intern Fair
27. The Anaheim Re-Visioning
28. The AOC7's 10 Street Beautification
29. The Gundry Resurfacing/ Sidewalk Replacement
30. The forthcoming Night Market/ Community Garden

We will be adding to this list as time passes. If I left any positive change you have seen come to Central Long Beach off this list, just email it to shaynem@hotmail.com.  

Sunday Safety Update 06-28-2015 to 07-04-2015

Most of the illegal fireworks on the 4th of July came from the circled area. The worst area was 15th and Gaviota where residents from three separate buildings with parties of more than twenty each were setting them off in the middle of the street. The same problem, though to a slightly lesser degree, existed on Rose and Gardenia. Mayor Garcia is asking for ideas on how to curb this trend on his Facebook Page.

Right now an informal poll shows most MacArthur Park/ Long Beach residents, 83% are not happy with the response to the illegal fireworks.

There was also another homicide. That was the stabbing of a homeless man at 5:38am at Dawson. Here is the news story about that stabbing:

A man believed to be homeless was found stabbed to death early Saturday morning in Long Beach’s Cambodia Town neighborhood, a police spokeswoman said. Streets near the crime scene in the 1200 block of Dawson, just south of Anaheim Street, were closed for several hours as police collected evidence from an area that spanned more than three blocks.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was taken by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy. Coroner’s personnel will be in charge of identifying the man. The investigation is ongoing. The stabbing comes after a recent spate of shootings and violent crime in Long Beach over the last five weeks. In June, five murders took place, the highest for that month in at least five years.

There will be a meeting to address the increased violence this coming Tuesday. The meeting will be held Tuesday night, July 7, 2015 at 6:00 PM. The location of the meeting is: Temple Baptist Church, 2825 E. 10th Street, Long Beach, California 90804. You can see a full post about that meeting by following this link. While I encourage everyone in all neighborhoods to attend, I will also attend that meeting and pass on whatever is discussed.

You will also notice a string of breaking and entering just north of the Rose Park Neighborhood. This is interesting because last week, there was a similar trend just to the south of that line heading south west. Be aware that may change direction any time and end up in any bordering neighborhood including the Rose Park, the AOC7 or MacArthur Park.

Also notice the car thefts around Rotary Centennial Park. If you pull up a map that goes further back you can see how car thefts have been following a circular pattern around that park at Stanton and PCH. You can also see several clear indications that car theft is heading SW through the Zaferia Neighborhood, towards ours. Again, here is the post on preventing car theft to prevent this from happening to you.

Let me end with a positive note, despite that incident on Dawson, the map of MacArthur Park for this week is nearly crime free. In addition to that, very little property damage, except the fireworks we will all be sweeping up, was done. There was almost no tagging and very little dumped trash. So that huge cloud, comes with a small silver lining, and I know of a lot of people working very hard to ensure all of central Long Beach finds a few more.

All Fireworks Are Illegal In Long Beach

All ‪#‎Fireworks‬ are ILLEGAL in Long Beach City! Starting today you can get FREE yard signs like this one at Fire Headquarters from 7:30am-4:30pm on 3205 Lakewood Blvd. and at the Neighborhood Resource Center from 10:00am-7:00pm on 100 W. Broadway, suite 550. Help us keep our community safe this ‪#‎4ofJuly‬!

July 4th Clean Up: Junipero and 14th: 8am

Sunday Safety Update: 06/21/2015 - 06/28/2015

Crime is clearly down in MacArthur Park. There are three places you should keep your eye on. Right outside out neighborhood, keep you eye on Altimos Blvd, especially where it crosses PCH. Please do this for two reasons, the first being crime is up along that corridor. The second is that's the corridor that leads north to the neighborhood where the homicide of Alicia Faith Todd took place on 06/24.

Also notice there is a string of thefts and assaults on Anaheim just east of our neighborhood. They do not trend any direction, but keep your eye on the east end on Anaheim, just in case they do begin to trend east.

There was not a lot of tagging this week. The tagging shown on the map is minor and does not cluster anywhere. One trend was predictable. On Wednesday I reported that there was increased crime along PCH. While it doesn't trend either direction if you compare the map on Wednesday to the one released today you will notice, that the number of incidents has nearly doubled along PCH.

The top map represents crime through Wednesday along PCH. The bottom is crime through Sunday. Notice how both the number of overall incidents doubles as does the number of specific types. For instance, by Wed along Altimos we have two car thefts. By Sunday, we have another one and someone stealing from a car as well as a theft along Anaheim just outside our neighborhood. In other words if you see crime increase in a specific area, keep your eye on that area. 

Right now, especially keep an eye on Altimos and PCH.