Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/6608
6 LIVEMAGS.NET FEBRUARY>>10 A 50-year-old man committed suicide when he leaped off the 18th floor penthouse and fell to his death from the Aqua Condominiums at 488 Ocean Blvd and Elm Avenue. The Long Beach Press-Telegram reported that witnesses saw his body strike a 6th story balcony before landing in the courtyard. On January 2 the man had requested a tour of the 18th floor penthouse and had jumped from that floor at some point during the tour. The Aqua Condominiums are a set of newly built twin towers with 556 condo units, many occupied by residents and some vacant. Long Beach police investigators report the man killed himself intentionally. NATIONAL Writer>>Tova Morrison Mayor Bob Foster spoke to an audience of about 1400 people at the Terrace Theatre on January 12. This State of the City address was free for the second consecutive year. Mayor Foster voiced how proud he was of the city's recent achievement in being named the most business-friendly city in Los Angeles County. He also indicated that the state's leaders in Sacramento were "raiding" the general fund, causing serious financial cuts in funding for city projects. Comparing the atmosphere of last year to this year, Foster said, "Things look much brighter today. We have much to do but we have a better spirit and optimism about the future." Mayor Foster's State of the City Address Suicide Jump from Penthouse Pastrana's Car Flight Watch Out Paparazzi Race to the Top Education Reforms On New Year's Eve, ESPN broadcast live Travis Pastrana's world record rally car jump as he flew his Subaru Impreza WRX STI over nearly 200 feet of water between his launching ramp on Pine Avenue Pier and a barge rigged in Rainbow Harbor. His car's leap was recorded at 269 feet, 98 feet further than the previous record, which was 171 feet. The event was sponsored by Red Bull's New Year, No Limits series of extreme sports events and was attended by roughly 21,000 spectators. Pastrana revved up right after the stroke of midnight Eastern Standard Time. LOCAL A new law against paparazzi photographers went into effect on January 1. Heralded by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the edict in October of 2009 and it was passed quickly by California lawmakers. The anti-paparazzi law enables those affected by paparazzi activity to press charges against photographers who breach an individual's privacy. Illegal video footage and photographs that are bought and sold by paparazzi and mass media channels, such as television, magazines and the internet, can be prosecuted with civil penalties. This law was propelled by testimony to California legislators from Jennifer Aniston and other celebrities on the harassing and intrusive nature of members of the paparazzi. California joined the federal Race to the Top program for schools under President Obama's education reform laws. The laws, which were implemented by governors across the nation, enable individual states to be eligible for hundreds of millions in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Funds will be awarded if student test scores remain high and if principals' and teachers' performance evaluations excel, based on their students' academic achievements. The reform calls for an unlimited amount of high-performance charter schools; closing charters that are failing; allowing parents to pull their children from badly performing schools and register them in a school of their choice; and allowing state intervention for the lowest performing schools. IN REVIEW THEMONTH A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday January 12, the largest for the Caribbean island in 200 years. The quake's epicenter was less than 10 miles from Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, which was totally devastated. In the aftermath over 50 aftershocks, some registering 5.5 magnitudes, rocked the land. Buildings crumbled to the ground which crushed, killed and injured hundreds of thousands of Haitians. Impromptu mass graves were filled with thousands of dead quake victims. the International Red Cross announced that 3 million people were affected; many are left homeless. The United States was given control of Haiti's airport to facilitate search and rescue teams and humanitarian aid flights from countries all over the world. Haiti's Earthquake