LBReport.com

Doug Krikorian's Viewpoint

Krikorian Notes: From Majority Of LB Teachers Skipping Classrooms For The Comforts Of Home To Dr. Jill Baker Becoming Another Maria Montessori To Terry Antonelli Discussing Resurrection of L'Opera To Mayor Robert Garcia Touted By MSNBC's Brian Williams As A Future U.S. Senator To Kershaw's Magical Transformation

by Doug Krikorian
Special to LBREPORT.com

Mr. Krikorian, an award winning journalist and author of two books, earned multiple awards in his 22 years of writing for the Long Beach Press-Telegram and 22 years for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. He is happily retired.



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(August 25, 2020, 6:25 p.m.) -- I'm walking the Chocolate Lab the other day in front of the Naples elementary school when I come across a couple of exuberant teachers emerging from a car.

"Why aren't you and the kids going to be here on Sept. 1," I ask in a friendly matter, referring to the scheduled opening of the Long Beach public schools.

"Oh, we'd love to be," they both say in unison with smiles.

And then one says something that shocks me.

"But we're seemingly in the minority on this issue," she said. "It seems a majority of our colleagues would rather work out of their residences."

Ridiculous!

The Naples Academy is a K-6 school (kindergarten to 6th grade), meaning the age of the pupils are between 5 and 11, meaning the likelihood of any of these children being infected with the Coronavirus would be roughly tantamount to, oh, the state governor, Gavin Newsom, winning a popularity contest among voters at a California Restaurant Association convention.

The Long Beach Unified School District had wanted its teachers to return and instruct on-line from their classrooms in preparation for the scheduled return of students to the schools on Oct. 5.

But, natch, the local teachers' union, TALB, balked at such an outrageous demand, and the LBUSD was forced into a compromise, which allowed the teachers to decide for themselves whether to remain comfortably at home in their slippers and sweat pants or instead having to actually dress up and schelp their briefcases to work in their cars on the way to their classrooms.

Shockingly, a majority of the teachers have decided to remain in the comfort of their private lodgings, which a former respected school administrator friend of mine told me isn't surprising one bit.

"Of course, a majority of the teachers will choose to stay home," he said. "Why not? They're getting paid not to work. Socialism at its best."

Of course, a majority of those Long Beach teachers who prefer to skip the classroom for the time being will recite to you the horrifying litany of Coronavirus dangers that will be lurking in their schools among their colleagues, the kiddies, the janitors, the volunteers, the cooks, the principals, etc., etc, etc. ad nauseam.

What's going to happen on Oct. 5 when the LBUSD expects these truant teachers -- yes, I know I've coined a neologism since the traditional usage of truant is for AWOL students -- to actually show up at their classrooms in person?

"I can't wait for us to start being real teachers instead of sitting at a computer addressing our young students on zoom," says one of the Naples teachers as she heads for the school's entrance. "At least I'll be doing it here at Naples. The kids should be here now. They're missing so much at their young ages -- socialization, camaraderie, playground activities and, most importantly, educational enhancement. Teaching these kids with their short attention spans in person is difficult enough as it is and doing it on-line is downright impractical..."

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  • I have total confidence in the LBUSD administration, headed by its brand new exceedingly wealthy superintendent, Dr. Jill Baker, who I'm certain will seamlessly guide her sprawling school district through this Great Pandemic because anyone given a four-year, $1.380 million contract at a time when her budget had been cut 10 percent and wallowed in a $72 million shortfall has to be a modern-day reincarnation of Maria Montessori.

    And, remember that most august, if not shameful body, the LBUSD Board of Education, thought so highly of Doc Baker that they enriched her with a staggering $58,000 annual raise over her predecessor, Chris Steinhauser. I find such a flouting of taxpayer money so astounding that I feel obligated to reiterate that the names of the four half-wits who voted her such largesse never will appear in this column to spare them lasting public ignominy. . .

  • Terry Antonelli is on the phone, and the renowned restaurateur who suffered the most during the Great Memorial Day Plunder & Pillage Festival in downtown Long Beach -- his iconic Italian dining palace, L'Opera, was destroyed -- says he plans to re-open either in late October or early November.

    "L'Opera is going to look fabulous again when we come back," he says. "Things are coming along, but they've gone slowly in recent weeks because of insurance payments and the like."

    It's estimated that the LBPD's malpractice reaction to the looting frenzy that awful May 31st---it stood down and reacted too late to assist the 214 businesses that were looted---cost Mr. Antonelli more than $1 million.

    "We're coming back better than ever," he promises. . .

  • Keen cultural observer Bernie (The Prince of Tabs) Selmanson wonders why Kelly Colopy's notoriously meddlesome Long Health Department isn't at the forefront of banning those God-awful scooters that pollute so many Long Beach sidewalks these days.

    "Our health department is so obsessive about the cleanliness of our restaurants, but doesn't give a damned about all these dirty scooters lying all over the city spreading germs,'' he says. ``You don't supposed to touch menus, yet how many people are touching these filthy scooters?"

  • The most amazing story in baseball this season has been the resurgent fast ball of Clayton Kershaw. He's once again, implausibly, throwing in the 92-94 mph range whereas the past couple of years it had dipped into the high 80s. Once again he has become one of elite practitioners of his trade.

    Mr. Kershaw attributes his magically sudden transformation to an intensive off-season fitness regimen.

    He had lost speed on his fast ball for the past four seasons, and yet he's throwing it 1.45 mph faster than he did a year ago, an historic leap.

    The only pitcher I can remember who regained lost speed on his fast ball in his 30s was Roger Clemens, who hasn't been voted into the Hall of Fame despite his 7 Cy Young awards and 354 major league victories because of his link to performance enhancing drugs that appeared in the Mitchell Report. . .

  • Our esteemed mayor, Mr. Robert Garcia, blithely skips vital City Council meetings, but he certainly hasn't missed appearing on MSNBC shows where he has become a interview fixture in recent days including one with Brian Williams in which Mr. Williams thought Mr. Garcia would be the perfect candidate to fill the Senatorial seat of Kamala Harris, in case it becomes vacant should she become Vice President of the U.S.

    I'm sure those in Long Beach who plan to hold a recall election on Mr. Garcia are wincing perceptibly at this possible horrifying development. . .


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    Previously by Mr. Krikorian:

  • My Beloved Long Beach: A Victim Of Irrational Government Overreach Beyond Reasoned Response To Virus
  • Speak Up, Mr. Mayor, On Governor's Unwise Edicts. You Can Do That And You Should
  • Hallelujah! LB Mayor Pleads For Sac'to Permission To Lift Closures That Needn't Have Occurred
  • Excuses By Long Beach Police & Poticians Dishearten Damaged LB Businesses
  • Mayor/Council Sounds Of Silence After LB Cops Let Some Pillage Our Village
  • Awaiting Governor's Dictate To Decide Fate Of This Year's (July 3) "Big Bang On the Bay"
  • Will LB's New School Sup't Allocate Untimely Pay Raise To Serve Students?
  • From Krikorian's Notebook: (1) LBUSD Mgm't Mulls Keeping K-5 Kids Indoors Without Normal Access To Playground, Cafeteria, Auditorium Activities; (2) And More...
  • From Krikorian's Notebook: When Will LB Police Chief Luna Come Clean About May 31 Downtown Long Beach Looting Frenzy?
  • Long Time Long Beach Resident Dave Lopez Climaxes Storied 48-Year TV Career
  • Ben Goldberg Exits Long Beach, Now Nearby Refugee In OC
  • I Never Thought I'd Live To See These...
  • Is Long Beach Destined to Become the City That Never Sleeps?
  • Long Beach Politicians Once Again Fail Long Beach
  • A 2 1/2-Hour Commute To Work A Joy To This 86-Year Old Gentleman
  • Memo To LBUSD Sup Jill Baker: Return The Kids To the Classroom!
  • Parklets! Three Cheers For Long Beach Politicians!
  • Sadly, Our National Pastime No Longer A Pastime For Me
  • What Next From Long Beach Health Boss Kelly Colopy, Hazmat Suits For Our Restaurant Servers?
  • LBPD Chief Robert Luna: Stand Up For Your Fifty Ousted Cops!
  • FDR's Grandson, Delano Roosevelt, Talks Democratic Party, JetBlue, Long Beach And His Life
  • Krikorian Notes: From LB's Elected Leadership's Reimagining Delusions To the Gaslamp's Outdoor Wall Video Band Show To The Ghastly USC Coach, Clay Helton
  • Long Beach's Renaissance Man, Chuckie Miller, Reflects On His Entrepreneurial Life And On Racial Inequity
    Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.



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