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Long Beach closes fiscal year with $40M deficit; larger structural shortfall looms

Long Beach city leaders are grappling with how to handle its worsening financial position as external economic forces, including federal and state funding cuts and declining tax revenue, put pressure on the city’s fiscal future.
The city ended fiscal year 2025 with a gaping $40 million deficit in its general fund, representing a major increase in Long Beach’s original projection of a $20.3 million structural shortfall when the budget was adopted in September 2024.
Since May, officials had been w...
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Couples tie the knot with $14 ceremonies on Valentine’s Day at Long Beach chapel

Some couples had an extra special Valentine’s Day this year.
Dozens of duos arrived at The Cute Little Wedding Chapel, 3740 Atlantic Ave., in Long Beach on Saturday to get married.
Each year, the chapel offers $14 wedding ceremonies (marriage license fees not included) to couples hoping to tie the knot. The back-to-back ceremonies took place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, officiated by Alan Katz donning a Cupid costume.
Katz is known for his appearances on TLC’s “90-Day Fiancé” and “T...
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Long Beach to partner with LA Galaxy for 2026 World Cup fan experiences

Long Beach will partner with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Metro and the Downtown Long Beach Alliance to host multiple fan experiences and more to celebrate the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The city announced the new partnership on Friday with various events planned to take place throughout the entire tournament, from the first group stage matches starting on June 11 all the way through the World Cup final on July 19.
“From major downtown programming to youth soccer clinics and park activations across our nei...
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New bill would establish program to give associate degrees to some former CSULB students

Some Cal State Long Beach students who attended college but weren’t able to finish their bachelor’s degrees may be getting some help from the state with the introduction of a new bill.
The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, hopes to address certain gaps in the higher education system impacting millions of students across California, according to a Thursday, Feb. 12, news release from the assemblymember’s office.
Lowenthal represents California’s 69th Assembly Distri...
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CSULB to host 2026 commencement on campus for 1st time in 5 years

Cal State Long Beach graduates will celebrate commencement on campus in 2026, marking the ceremonies’ first return to the school in five years.
This year’s commencement festivities will take place at George Allen Field from May 17 to 21, according to an announcement from the university. Since 2021, graduates have celebrated their achievements at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
The change in venue to Angel Stadium was originally made in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outdoor stadium’s large cap...
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OC Coastkeeper sues U.S. Coast Guard for information about 2025 Port of Long Beach container spill

Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit focused on maintaining the health of regional watersheds, has sued the federal government in hopes of getting more information about the environmental impacts of a recent container spill at the Port of Long Beach.
Around 75 shipping containers fell from a vessel berthed at the port’s Pier G in September. In the wake of the incident, a unified command consisting of various federal, state and local agencies was also established to recover the fallen cargo con...
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Rep. Waters reintroduces bill to ban toxic chemical used at Torrance, Wilmington refineries

Rep. Maxine Waters, alongside other California federal representatives, is restarting her effort to ban a toxic chemical used to refine high-octane gasoline at two Southern California refineries, an effort local activists have been working toward for more than a decade.
Waters, D-Hawthorne, announced the reintroduction of her bill, the Preventing Mass Casualties From Release of Hydrofluoric Acid at Refineries Act, during a Saturday event at North High School in Torrance marking the 11th annivers...
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Arts Council of Long Beach names Lisa DeSmidt interim executive director

The Arts Council of Long Beach has a new executive director — on an interim basis.
Lisa DeSmidt, who has worked with the nonprofit for a decade, most recently as its director of programs, took over the role on Monday. She takes the helm from Griselda Suarez, who announced her departure from the Arts Council last week.
DeSmidt is both a local artist and business owner, according to the Arts Council’s Monday announcement. She has helped shape the Arts Council’s programs, people and approach to ser...
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LBCC celebrates record enrollment and more during 2026 State of the College event

Long Beach City College leaders, faculty and staffers recently gathered to celebrate some of the school’s key achievements — including record-high enrollment in the most recent academic year — during its 2026 State of the College event.
The State of the College event took place on Thursday at LBCC’s Ellis Auditorium, featuring remarks from Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz and Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk. The event also included a performance by students in LBCC’s new mariachi p...
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Protests and closures are planned around Southern California in opposition to ICE, the Trump administration

Protests, boycotts, walkouts, social media posts.
These various demonstrations, and more, are planned for Friday, as part of a nationwide day of action to show opposition to the Trump administration‘s ongoing immigration enforcement efforts and in solidarity with Minneapolis, where two people were fatally shot by immigration officers over the course of two weeks.
Friday, activists said, is a day of “no work, no school and no shopping” with calls to stop funding the U.S. Immigration and Customs E...
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CSULB announces Loren Blanchard as new president

Cal State Long Beach will soon have a new leader.
The California State University system has tapped Loren Blanchard, the current leader of University of Houston-Downtown, to be the next CSULB president — succeeding Jane Close Conoley, who announced her retirement in November 2024 after a decade at the Long Beach school’s helm.
Cal State Long Beach announced the appointment on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
As of the fall 2023 semester, Cal State Long Beach was the second largest of the 23 California State...
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Griselda Suarez departing Arts Council to join Long Beach as 1st cultural affairs officer

Griselda Suarez, the longtime executive director of the Arts Council for Long Beach, will soon depart the nonprofit to take on a new role with the local government.
Suarez has served at the helm of the Arts Council since 2015, according to an announcement from the organization. Under her leadership, the nonprofit, which administers various programs and services aimed at supporting the arts in Long Beach, has continued thriving throughout years of growth and challenges.
Besides helping expand the...
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Defense company Anduril Industries announces plans for major new campus in Long Beach

Space Beach will soon get a new resident.
Anduril Industries, a defense company headquartered in Costa Mesa, announced plans on Thursday, Jan. 22, to open a major new campus in Long Beach. The facility will be at Douglas Park, the former home to Boeing’s C-17 production compound, near the Long Beach Airport, according to company spokesperson Shannon Prior.
The company’s new campus, its announcement said, will house six buildings across 1.18 million square feet. About 435,000 square feet of the c...
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ICE detains 2 men, including potential U.S. citizen, in East Long Beach

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained another two people in Long Beach on Tuesday, Jan. 20 — including one who may be an American citizen — sparking concern among residents and local government representatives.
Two workers were doing lawn work on homes in East Long Beach, just a few blocks away from Kettering Elementary School, on Tuesday, when federal immigration agents showed up in the neighborhood.
In videos of the incident posted to social media, a group of five federal ag...
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Long Beach commissions consider ranked-choice voting proposal

Long Beach residents may be able to decide on whether to implement a new way of voting as soon as the November general election, after two city commissions recently heard a proposal about ranked-choice voting.
A local advocacy group, dubbed RCV in the LBC, has spearheaded the effort to bring ranked-choice voting to Long Beach’s local elections — making the argument before the Commission for Women & Girls in December, and more recently, to the Equity and Human Relations Commission on Jan. 7.
As i...
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Jim Michaelian to step down as CEO, president of Grand Prix of Long Beach

Jim Michaelian, the longtime leader of the Grand Prix of Long Beach for the past quarter-century, will step down from that role after this year’s race, the association in charge of the annual three-day event announced on Thursday morning, Jan. 15.
Michaelian’s last day as president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach will be June 30. He will be succeeded by Jim Liaw, the former general manager of  Performance Racing Industry, which hosts the largest annual motorsports trade show...
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LBUSD’s first female superintendent, Jill Baker, to retire at the end of the school year

Jill Baker, the Long Beach Unified School District’s first woman superintendent, will retire from her leadership role at the close of the 2025-26 academic year.
The district announced Baker’s retirement on Thursday, Jan. 15. Baker, who has worked within LBUSD for more than 34 years, has served as the district’s leader since August 2020.
“Dr. Baker has led Long Beach Unified with integrity, vision and deep humanity,” LBUSD Board of Education President Diana Craighead said in the news release. “He...
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20th annual Animé LA Convention returns to Long Beach

Hundreds of fans descended upon the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center for the 20th anniversary of Animé Los Angeles, a weekend-long event aimed at celebrating the Japanese artform.
Anime, a style of animation originally from Japan  influenced by the drawing style from Japanese comics, or manga, is known for its devoted fan base.
This year’s theme was “Isekai” — the anime trope of being transported to another universe.
Fans were out in full force at the Convention Center for Animé Los...
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Long Beach health department cuts another program after federal funding loss

Another Long Beach health department program has ended after additional federal funding cuts, the city recently announced.
Funding for the program, dubbed Healthy Active Long Beach, was historically supported by the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (otherwise known as SNAP-Ed) — which was recently eliminated after Congress approved the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Healthy Active Long Beach operated for more than two decades, the city said, offering...
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Here are some big stories to keep an eye on in Long Beach in 2026

Happy New Year, readers.
With the difficult year that was 2025 nearly behind us, it’s officially time to look ahead at the major stories expected to fill Long Beach’s calendar over the next year.
Things aren’t likely to slow down in 2026, with ongoing concerns about federal immigration action in the city, continuing budgetary challenges, and other difficulties on the road ahead.
But it’s not all bad — this year could also bring changes to local government leadership with elections on the horizon...
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Here’s how to give your input on Long Beach’s next city budget

Long Beach residents will have several opportunities to get involved in the city’s process for building its 2027 fiscal year budget starting in late January.
The community meetings will offer residents a chance to share their service priorities and other feedback about how Long Beach’s funds should be allocated as the city works to put together the next budget book.
Long Beach approved its budget for the 2026 fiscal year in September. While the city is facing several long-term financial challeng...
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Long Beach offers sand bags, other resources as strong storm begins

Long Beach is offering sand bags and other resources to residents as a powerful atmospheric river makes its way through Southern California during Christmas week.
The storm, which swept into the region on Tuesday evening, Dec. 23, is expected to bring significant rain and strong winds to Long Beach through Saturday night, Dec. 27 — alongside elevated surf along the coast.
The National Weather Service has issued several weather warnings for the Los Angeles/Long Beach area, including a flood watch...
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Council votes to move 2026 Armed Forces Day Parade back to Torrance Boulevard after public outcry

The Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade & Celebration will once again take place at its traditional location on Torrance Boulevard in 2026 — after the City Council voted to reverse its decision to move the event’s location during a special meeting on Friday, Dec. 19.
The City Council narrowly approved a relocation of the annual celebration to the Torrance Municipal Airport on Tuesday, Dec. 2, citing concerns about declining attendance rates and rising costs to host the parade and accompanying celeb...
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Long Beach open swimming areas temporarily closed after 18,000 gallon sewage spill

All of Long Beach’s open coastal swimming areas are temporarily closed after 18,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the San Gabriel River.
Long Beach’s Department of Health and Human Services ordered the temporary closure of coastal swimming areas on Wednesday, Dec. 17. The sewage spill took place the day prior.
“State law requires temporary closure and posting at beaches in these situations, out of an abundance of caution, until the water quality meets state requirements,” the health department...
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