The YMCA of Greater Long Beach has locations in East Long Beach, North Long Beach, Lakewood, and Bellflower along with a camp in Big Bear, an Early Childhood Education Center, and a Community Development Center downtown. The YMCA serves more than 50,000 people annually and, as it’s involved in both fitness and education, it’s difficult […]
Author: Mike Guardabascio
Obituary: Bruce Flanders, Longtime Grand Prix Voice
Bruce Flanders, the longtime voice of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, passed away last Friday at the age of 75. Flanders had been the official race announcer for the race since 1978, with an energetic and enthusiastic voice that became synonymous with the sunshine and excitement of Long Beach’s signature event. “The ‘Voice of […]
Obituary: The Impossible Loss of Semaj Miller
Semaj Miller 3/21/2006-7/29/2020 Semaj Miller was shot to death two weeks ago in South Los Angeles. The 14 year-old Miller had enrolled at his hometown high school, Compton High, and was going to start his freshman year in a few weeks, preparing for a four-year tour of Compton and Long Beach as a star basketball […]
LBUSD Fall Plan Takes Shape As Labor Negotiations Continue
With just a few weeks left until the Sept. 1 start of classes for the Long Beach Unified School District, plans for the Fall are starting to take shape. At a Board of Education meeting last week, the district presented its plan for virtual learning, which is how all students will be attending class until […]
Feature: Behind the Scenes of Peyton Watson’s UCLA Commitment
Long Beach Poly senior-to-be Peyton Watson announced his commitment to play his NCAA basketball at UCLA last week, live on a national platform with Fox Sports. It was a thrilling couple of days for Watson and his family, who’ve been working towards this point since he was a toddler. “It was by far the most […]
Lakewood Baseball Star Ricky Tiedemann Will Play For LBCC
Ricky Tiedemann should be on a bus somewhere. In a normal year, he would be–toiling away somewhere in the minor leagues, in some rookie program. This, of course, is not a normal year. Tiedemann was ranked in the top 90 on MLB.com’s prospects ahead of this year’s draft, but was not selected in the abbreviated […]
COLUMN: Back on the Couch Again
The last four months have been a long, strange odyssey for our family, and for so many others in America. Whenever anyone asks how my wife and I are doing, we always say something along the lines of, “Can’t complain.” We’re both still employed and our family is healthy–that puts us ahead of millions of […]
LBCC Football Coach Brett Peabody Recovering From COVID-19
Longtime Long Beach City College football coach Brett Peabody confirmed Thursday afternoon that he’s recovering from COVID-19, alongside his wife, Celeste. “I’ve been in bed for five days, I’ve lost 15 pounds, I’m getting skinny—I’m pretty pissed, honestly,” said Peabody, whose plan is to continue recovering at home as long as he’s able. “My doctor […]
Feature: Long Beach’s Alexander Family Healing Post COVID-19 Nightmare
This is a happy story about Lawrence and Stacie Alexander, and a family that needed a happy ending. A few months ago, Lawrence was in the hospital fighting for his life as he experienced organ failure caused by COVID-19. Stacie, the Vice Principal at Cabrillo High, was home with their children Sydney (9 years old) […]
Long Beach Poly’s Peyton Watson Picks UCLA
The top-ranked basketball player in California and recent the562.org All-City Athlete of the Year awardee Peyton Watson announced his college decision Monday night on a nationally-televised broadcast on Fox Sports. The senior-to-be had his pick of the litter in terms of colleges but the five-star recruit stuck with his personal philosophy in picking hometown UCLA […]