San Pedro: January 2012 Archives

Nice story in the Des Moines Register about some kids at Cornell Elementary School in Saylor Township, Iowa, pitching in to help with the plans to restore the USS Iowa as it prepares for a permanent move to the Port of Los Angeles.

It all started when the principal, Deb Chiodo, heard about the efforts on one of her regular morning commute radio programs, Van & Bonnie in the Morning on WHO radio in Des Moines.

From the Jan. 24 story by Lisa Lavia Ryan:

"I thought, 'history is happening right before our eyes, and I need to let our kids know about it,'" Chiodo said. "I thought that we could find a way to perhaps donate some money -- do a good deed for a great cause as a way of 'paying it forward.'"

Teachers and the PTO got involved from that point on, helping the students organize doughnut-and-juice sales with all proceeds going to the battleship fund.

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Abby Rusher, 5, of Des Moines drops coins into a bucket at the USS Iowa battleship display at Cornell Elementary. WHO radio's Van and Bonnie will broadcast from the school Wednesday to help the students raise money for the ship's restoration. / Holly McQueen/The Register

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There's also a coin drive, an anchor-themed reading contest and a "star" of honor wall to hang names of student family members who are or were in the military.

"I don't want to put a dollar amount on how much we'd like to raise, as these are little kids we're dealing with and I don't want them to feel bad if we set an amount and don't reach it," (the principal) said. "But I can see us raising $1,000. This is a great school community and a great community overall, and very generous."

On Wednesday -- Jan. 25 -- the radio show will broadcast from from the school from 5-9 a.m. to further raise awareness of the campaign to save and refurbish the USS Iowa. (Looks like you can listen online here -- remember, Iowa would be two hours ahead of us here on the West Coast, though.)

For now, the ship remains in the Port of Richmond in Northern California where it is undergoing external repairs. It is opened for limited tours on weekends.

Robert Kent, president of the Pacific Battleship Center -- the nonprofit that received the ship donation from the U.S. Navy and is overseeing its transformation into a tourist landmark -- said it looks like the ship will be in L.A. perhaps in April.

They are still hoping for a July 4 grand opening.

In other news, the Port of L.A. this week released its draft EIR on the project.

I covered the memorial service last night in San Pedro for Eva Tice, the victim of one of the more disturbing local crimes in recent months.

They're all disturbing, of course. Sitting to my left in the newsroom is Daily Breeze crime & courts reporter Larry Altman. Sitting behind me, Stephanie Walton sometimes shares man's inhumanity to man as she compiles the area's police logs each week. I hear and overhear plenty of horror stories from the streets.

But Eva's stabbing death -- in the 1100 block of Pacific Avenue as she walked home from Christmas Eve services -- was somehow uniquely unsettling even to those of us who had never met her.

The 60-year-old mentally disabled woman was carrying her Bible as she walked home at around 7 p.m. Dec. 24. The apartment she shared with a roommate was just blocks away and it was a walk she regularly made to and from her church, Hope Chapel San Pedro.

She had been baptized at Hope Chapel in 2009 -- just months after her beloved husband, Bill, died -- and was well known among church members as she helped out with the Angel Tree program and weekly garage sales. She was one of the church's greeters and ushers, a role that she especially loved.

"She was always here at Hope," the church's associate pastor said.

She was described as child-like, perhaps still a little "naive."

As I sat through Sunday night's service, I couldn't help but think that Eva was truly among "the least of these" that Jesus spoke so tenderly about in the Scriptures.

She lost her parents early in life, had no brothers or sisters, and spent many years living in rehabilitation homes. She loved coloring books and needlepoint. She was thrilled to collect the autograph of an Elvis impersonator on a group excursion she took recently to Las Vegas. It was on display at the church Sunday night.

So was her favorite new Christmas ornament, a yellow glass duck purchased by her roommate's sister at the Grand Emporium in downtown San Pedro.

A couple who through the Harbor Area YWCA "adopted" Eva and her roommate, Tammy, for Christmas -- Bill and Janet -- delighted the women only a week before Christmas by delivering their first Christmas tree.

At the time of her death, Eva had been working on memorizing John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

She'd made it as far as "whosoever."

As the pastor said last night, Eva's home now. And there's something intensely sweet about that thought for those of us who are believers.

Meanwhile, the police continue to investigate the case. My colleague Larry Altman will be following the  story.

May those who knew, helped and loved Eva in this life be comforted and blessed for the kindness they showed.