By Dianne Anderson Getting the kids ready to receive their Christmas gifts is a delicate procedure for Alisha Wade and volunteers as they make their list of children and check it twice, but without any names to go with the cherubim faces. Through her sorority, Beta Pi Sigma, she heads up the Angel Tree Prison ...

By Dianne Anderson Not everybody is fit to sit on all city commissions or boards, but almost anybody can do a little something to change their community, like showing up to voice concerns and keeping a closer watch on what the movers and shakes are up to lately. Some could attend city council meetings, or ...

By Dianne Anderson Coming out of the Thanksgiving feast, the Long Beach Black Infant Health Program and partners are teaming up to make sure local moms can make it through the holidays with a little less stress. For Gwendolyn Manning, there is no time to rest from now until Christmas. BIH moms receive food staples, ...

By Dianne Anderson In her four years working with foster youth, CASA volunteer Julie Spacht reflects on one of the main things for people to know about the foster system is that the kids usually are in the system for a reason – and that reason is traumatic. In the best of circumstances, she said ...

By Dianne Anderson Deadlines loom in the recruitment and selection of a new police chief in Long Beach, which is expected to happen by the end of the year. As part of the push for community participation, a city community input survey is now circulating via social media. Local business owner Senay Kenfe saw and ...

By Dianne Anderson Every little bit of money up to $25,000 here or there adds up for mom and pop nonprofits waiting to tap whatever new stimulus dollars they may have missed out on the first time around. New grants are coming, but first, the community needs prepare to respond to the RFPs that will ...

By Dianne Anderson It’s that time of year again when Love in the Mirror ramps up efforts for more volunteers, calling for the very young to the seniors, to come out and give in the form of socks, socks, and more socks. Socks are the most in-demand item for the homeless. “Our goal every year ...

By Dianne Anderson Black men can run and hide from the needle, but they are still over twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than white men, even though a simple PSA blood antigen test starting at age 35 could save their lives. It’s a problem that Eric Burroughs has been chipping away at, ...

By Dianne Anderson Old boxes of wet stuck together paper from a long-defunct teen basketball program were headed for the trash, but something wouldn’t let Jesse Johnson throw out what was destined for better days. That was seven years ago. He is glad he didn’t quit when his basement flooded during a home renovation and ...

By Dianne Anderson No word yet on the status of the investigation on the hate crime against the Martin Luther King Jr. statue has Long Beach residents questioning the city’s commitment to finding out who is behind the Nazi symbols sprayed across the statue last month. Anitra Joiner, a lifelong Sixth District resident, lives nearby ...