Author: Paul Eakins

Deborah White of Fontana fishes on a recent Saturday afternoon at the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in Long Beach. Outreach programs have helped White and other anglers learn about the dangers of contaminated fish.

Long Beach water quality a bummer

Gail Hookailo often takes her two young daughters to the playground next to Colorado Lagoon, which is nestled among a golf course and upscale homes on Long Beach’s eastern edge. But with the lagoon consistently ranking among the beaches with the worst water quality in California, the family draws the line at actually getting in its cool, calm waters.

Summer lights get locals outside

Since she was a child, 17-year-old Sundance Medina has lived across the street from Drake Park in a low-income neighborhood north of Downtown Long Beach. However, after two shootings at the park when she was younger and frequent gang activity there through the years, Sundance hasn’t been able to enjoy the park much, staying cooped up in her home.

Deborah White of Fontana fishes on a recent Saturday afternoon at the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in Long Beach. Outreach programs have helped White and other anglers learn about the dangers of contaminated fish.

Anglers still flock to piers, despite contaminated fish

Fontana resident Deborah White has spent most of her life fishing along the Los Angeles County coast. “I’ve been fishing down here since I was knee-high to a duck,” she said this month while fishing at the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in Long Beach. And for most of her life, White and her husband Ray – along with other anglers – have had to be careful about which fish they eat.

smael Morales, director of health services at the Center Long Beach, which serves the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. For now, the Center has survived state cuts to HIV and AIDS prevention and testing funding after receiving a three-year, $300,000 grant in 2009.

HIV prevention efforts a struggle after budget cuts

Under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state funding for HIV and AIDS programs was cut by more than half, $85 million, in the 2009-10 fiscal year. That included the entire budget for HIV prevention and testing, though about $12 million in federal funds was still available. That trend has continued since then, and no state funding for prevention and testing is proposed in the next fiscal year either under Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget as California continues to face a financial meltdown.

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