What Would JUSTIN Do?

A Note from Bob Foster's wife

Hi Friends,
Thanks for helping with the Studebaker & 7Th Street Clean Up! Great Success because of you!
"Justin is a Jewel" for Long Beach!
Sincerely, Nancy

Long Beach's Seal

Clearing the air about smokestacks in Long Beach's seal
Press Telegram

Long Beach has done the right thing by reviving a charming and historic version of the 1933 city seal, but the stated reasons for removing the original logo's smoke stink. We are all for striking the offending plumes, since the seal, a marketing tool, should reflect an ideal: blue skies. But officials quoted in Saturday's edition said the smoke and a series of stars that were also removed made the logo busy and hard to reproduce on the city Web site and in other electronic uses.
In an era when digital reproduction is nearly perfect, that explanation isn't. Historic preservationists accused the city of blowing a little smoke of its own, and this certainly smacks of spin. In our estimation, City Hall, conscious of environmental criticism, didn't want to call attention to the byproducts of polluting industry and, as it were, cleared the air. If that is indeed the reason, fine. The only problem here is a lack of candor. Long Beach's passionate history buffs, who favored using the unaltered seal, were owed a more comprehensive explanation.

That said, City Hall was right to snuff the smoke. Who would fault administrators for cleaning up an offending image that was fine 73 years ago but doesn't work any longer? No one wants to advertise the city's air pollution.

What everyone agrees on, including us, is that the seal used since 1988, which was designed in a contest by the Cal State Long Beach art department, looked like a stack of poker chips in a losing hand. Mayor Beverly O'Neill didn't like it. Belmont Shore activist Justin Rudd called for a contest that would allow residents to redesign it.

The old '33 seal, also a contest winner, works better than the '80s version, and we're glad the city chose to return to the past with revisions that reflect modern thinking. Those who decry this as a way to cover up the city's pollution problem should note that some of the most visible stacks in town blow steam, and the worst pollution comes from the smokestacks of ships and trucks, not the fixed sources in the seal.

DOGGONE

To The Editor,

Imagine my surprise and disappointment when I opened up last week’s issue of your newspaper, expecting to see a couple of photos and at least an article on the Haute Dog Easter Parade. All I saw was a black and white photo with a caption. That’s it.

For a rare positive event that is known nationally that takes place in your own backyard, I can’t believe you didn’t take more time to write something. This event brings many people from near and far to your city, to discover all it has to offer & to spend their money here. I think an event like this should warrant a little more attention than it got from you.

How many events such as this, bringing together thousands of people of different ages, race, gender, economic background, religion, from all over the place, just to smile, laugh, forget their problems, and share in their love of dogs without conflict do you have? Not many. Thank you Long Beach for allowing events like this to take place. But shame on you for not giving it the attention it deserves.

Lisa Woodruff
Huntington Beach

MISS USA

Justin's client, Miss California is first runner up at MISS USA

WILL and GRACE, JUSTIN and RALPH

Easter Success

By Shirley Wild
More than 1,100 gift-filled Easter baskets - containing items such as small toys, school supplies, hygiene products, essential clothing items and some Easter candy were organized and created by Justin Rudd.
Justin and his "bunnies" - April Rivas, Lillian Roy, Nancy Buchanan and many others donated, picked up, and delivered the baskets over the Easter week to children in Long Beach. Congratulations!

Operation Easter Basket

By Amy Bentley-Smith
Features Editor

The sight is familiar around the Christmas holiday: organizations collecting stockings filled with goodies and essentials from the community and passing them out to children in need.

Rarely is such a gesture repeated at other times of the year.

But Operation Easter Basket is changing that in Long Beach.

This week, Operation Easter Basket will pass out thousands of baskets to children throughout Long Beach who might not otherwise get a visit from the Easter Bunny.

“We think it’s appropriate to have our deadline on Good Friday,” said organizer Justin Rudd, “because you feel so good doing this.”

Operation Easter Basket is a project of Community Action Team, the nonprofit started by Rudd that organizes community events year-round. He added this drive to CAT’s busy Easter calendar — there also is a beach cleanup/Easter egg hunt on Saturday and the wildly popular Easter dog parade Sunday — last year. The generosity of the community exceeded Rudd’s expectations.

People have parties to assemble the baskets, Rudd said. Girl Scout troops, church groups and many local schools are making baskets, or collecting money for them.

“It’s great to see the community help out,” Rudd said.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

3rd District

Politicians, take note of the Justin Rudd example. Without a day of campaigning, and no money spent, Justin Rudd managed to capture almost 8 percent of the vote! Surely it shows how much people appreciate Justin and the good service he does for our community!

Jenny Gonzalez

WE Hijacked LUCILLES!

JUSTIN RUDD receives 7.5% of the VOTE with no CAMPAIGN and NO MONEY

City Council District 3

Justin Rudd 658 7.5
Norm Ryan 1770 20.1
Charlie Legeman 875 9.9
Audrey Stephanie Loftin 1735 19.7
Gary DeLong 3759 42.7