March 2011 Archives

LONG BEACH, CALIF. USA -- Tom Mullins, husband of the late California state senator Jenny Oropeza, pauses for a moment during the dedication of a community center named for her at Cesar Chavez Park in Long Beach, Calif. on March 31, 2011. Oropeza, a Democratic state senator whose battle with cancer five years ago drove her to sponsor laws protecting public health and the environment, died in October 2010 in her hometown of Long Beach. She was 53. Oropeza had been declared cancer-free in 2005 but had been under treatment since May 2010 for a blood clot in her abdomen that kept her from traveling to Sacramento to attend legislative sessions. See more photos>>

Fellow staff photographer Steven Georges and I photographed rapper Nate Dogg's funeral today, well, we didn't actually photograph his funeral, we took pictures of people entering and exiting the event. The service was closed to ALL MEDIA. That means everybody, unless you were hired by Snoop Dogg, then it was ok to take pictures and video and stream it live on the web.
The picture above is Warren G as he is comforted after the funeral service for Nathaniel (Nate Dogg) Hale at the Queen Mary Dome in Long Beach, Calif. on March 26, 2011. Nate Dogg, who rose to prominence in the early 1990 s singing on multi-million selling albums with childhood friends Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Daz, suffered strokes in 2007 and 2009 and had been ailing in recent months. He was 41. See more pictures>>

Jalen Thayer, right, with his parent, Lance Thayer, center, and Jennifer Thayer at Patrick Henry School in Long Beach, Calif. on March 19, 2011. Friends and family of Jalen Tahyer gathered at the school to honor him. Jalen Thayer is a straight-A student and exceptional all-around athlete at Newcomb Academy, was diagnosed with brain cancer last year called glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most aggressive kinds of brain tumor found in humans. His sister was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2004 and died a year later. See more pictures>>

LONG BEACH, CALIF. USA -- Lakewood's J.P. Crawford (2) throws a ball he fielded to first base against Poly during their game at Blair Field on March 22, 2011, in Long Beach, Calif. See More Pictures / Buy Reprints>>

Cerritos High School's Alwin Firmansyah competes in the Boys 200 Yard 4 x 50 Breast Relay during the 40th. Annual Millikan Relays at the Belmont Plaaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif. on March 19, 2011.

LONG BEACH, CALIF. USA -- Rick Merrill, left, and Jason Beebe, both friends of plane crash victim Mark Bixby, place floating candles in Alamitos Bay during a vigil on March 18, 2011, in Long Beach, Calif. The vigil was for victims of a plane crash Wednesday at Long Beach Airport. Mike Jensen survived the crash that killed Tom Dean, Bruce Krall, Jeff Berger, Mark Bixby, and Ken Cruz.

Bixby is a well-known bicycle advocate, real estate broker and member of one of Long Beach's founding families, for whom the Bixby Knolls neighborhood is named. Dean and Berger are developers who own most of Los Cerritos Wetlands and were involved in a historic deal last year exchanging part of the property for city land in order to preserve the wetlands. Krall was their financial adviser, and Cruz was the pilot of the small, twin-engine plane that crashed shortly after take-off. See more Photos>>

Lisa Woodruff pauses at the at the shore before tossing a flower in to the Pacific Ocean during a vigil for the Japanese earthquake victims in the Belmont Shore neighborhood of Long Beach, Calif. on March 16, 2011. See more pictures>>

Miller, the 400-pound, 30-year-old mammal, was the oldest sea lion at the Aquarium of the Pacific. He died Wednesday at the aquarium from natural causes related to old age. Before moving in to his 205,000-gallon aquarium residence, Miller performed for eight years at Knott's Berry Farm, where he was a show animal.

Coroner officials, left, drag a body from the wreckage of a Beechcraft 200 that crashed on takeoff from Long Beach (Calif.) Airport on March 16, 2011. Five people were killed, including land developers Mark Bixby and Tom Dean. One person was taken to a local hospital. See more pictures>>

Extra daylight in the evening after the switch to Daylight Savings Time brings out dog walkers and soccer players at Bluff Park in Long Beach, Calif. on March 15, 2011.

Poly's Ryan Anderson (34) hangs his head after the Jackrabbits lost to Mater Dei, 72 to 55, in their CIF playoff game at Long Beach (Calif.) City College on March 12, 2011. See more pictures / Buy reprints >>

Long Beach State's Casper Ware (22) takes down UC Riverside's Javon Borum (1) as he takes a shot during their Big West Championship semifinal game at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on March 11, 2011. The 49ers defeated the Highlanders, 74 to 63. See more pictures / Buy reprints >>

Long Beach State's Greg Plater (3) and Casper Ware (22) celebrate their win over UC Irvine during the first round of the Big West Championships at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on March 10, 2011. The 49ers defeated the Anteaters, 79 to 72. See more pictures / buy reprints >>

TOP: The Ebell Club on the corner of 3rd. Street and Cerritos Ave. in Long Beach, Calif. after it was damaged in a 6.3 earthquake that struck on March 10, 1933. The building was built in 1924 as an exclusive social club for women in Long Beach. The building was rebuilt, then rededicated on December 4, 1933. Changes in the building include; a courtyard covered with skylights where it had previously been open air, and the fountain was not replaced.
BOTTOM:The Ebell Club on the corner of 3rd. Street and Cerritos Ave. in Long Beach, Calif. on March 9, 2011. The building was restored in 2004 and now houses 25,858 square feet of event space.

Poly High cheerleader do what they do best - cheer - during their CIF playoff game in Long Beach, Calif. on March 8, 2011. Poly defeated Palisades Charter, 77 to 46. See more pictures / buy reprints >>

Three year-old Bunlak Song is comforted by his sister, Bunkek Song, after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport from Cambodia on March 7, 2011. Bunlak Song was brought to the United States by Hearts Without Boundaries, a Long Beach, Calif.-based non-profit group, to help repair his heart. This is the fourth time the group has brought a child to the United States to repair a heart defect.

Click here to watch 'Davik's Heart' - the story of the first little girl who benefited from Hearts Without Boundaries.

Gahr's Davon Potts (0) celebrates their win over Mayfair during their CIF-SS Division II championship game in Anaheim, Calif. on March 5, 2011. Gahr defeated Mayfair, 63 to 48. See more pictures / buy reprints>>

Despite the fouls from Corona Centennial's Chris Popov (3) and Dominique Nelson (22), Poly's Ryan Anderson (34) manages to hold on to the ball during their CIF-SS Division I championship game in Anaheim, Calif. on March 5, 2011. Poly defeated Centennial, 68 - 52. See more picture / buy reprints>>

The St. Anthony girl's basketball team just won the CIF-SS Division IV Championship, but you wouldn't know it by their reactions. The Saint's Jourdan Coooer (33), Kendall Cooper (12), Chandler Hixon (31) and Raquel Johnson (5) simply walked off the court as the buzzer rang out signaling the end f their 53 to 44 defeat over Oak Christian in Anaheim, Calif. on March 4, 2011. See more pictures / buy reprints>>

Fellow staff photographer Steven Georges and I photographed the Queen Victoria's meetup with the Queen Mary this evening. He was stationed on the Queensway Bay Bridge and I shot pictures from the 15th. floor of the Press-Telegram Building (A.K.A. The Arco Towers). Cunard Line's Queen Victoria, left, met former Cunard Line ship Queen Mary in what was the second meeting between the docked Queen Mary since it came to Long Beach in 1967 and one of its modern Cunard Line sister ships. In 2006 it's name sake, Queen Mary 2, sailed in to the harbor and exchanged whistle blows. The Queen Victoria left Long Beach en route to the Panama Canal then Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. See more pictures / buy reprints>>

Poly's Alexis Moore (3) goes up for a shot against Etiwanda's Tyler Lacour (33) during their CIF-SS semifinal game in Anaheim, Calif. on March 1, 2011. See more pictures / buy reprints>>