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PHELAN >> Dozens of exotic animals weathered Tuesday night’s rampaging Blue Cut fire at a family-run High Desert sanctuary. Joel and Chemaine Almquist, owners of the Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary, spent part of Tuesday afteoon putting birds and other smaller animals in crates to get them out of the smoke. But moving the dozens of animals, including more than two dozen big cats, wasn’t necessary. • Photos: The Blue Cut fire bus 30,000 acres and is still out of control “The firemen did an excellent job of detouring the fire around us,” Chemaine Almquist said Wednesday. “All of the animals are safe, all the humans safe.” Forever Wild will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday, at le...

North Neighborhood Library in Long Beach is scheduled to close at the end of the month so workers can move the branch’s books and other collections to the plaed Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. Long Beach city officials aounced the plans on Tuesday. North Neighborhood Library is at 5571 Orange Avenue and it’s set to close at 4 p.m. July 31. Anyone who has checked out materials from North Neighborhood Library may retu them to that branch’s book drops, or take the materials to another Long Beach city library. Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library is scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Sept. 10 at 5870 Atlantic Ave. The new library is plaed to open on the former site of Atlantic Theater, and the ol...

A caper 50 years in the making came to a close this week in the Palos Verdes Peninsula High School library. The culprit was Carol Kronberg, a member of the first graduating class at Rolling Hills High School in 1966. The heist began during her senior year, when she nabbed a library book she needed for a term paper without checking it out. She finally retued the book during Sunday’s 50-year reunion for her high school class, as she and a group of former classmates took a tour of their former school — which is now Peninsula High — in Rolling Hills Estates. At three cents a day, the fines for a book five decades overdue came out to $547.50, said Dana Graham, one of Kronberg’s former classmates...

The Long Beach Public Library on June 25 will launch its aual citywide Summer Reading Program with fun and games at the Ruth Bach Neighborhood Library, 4055 Bellflower Blvd. Readers of all ages are invited to register and participate in the Summer Reading Program. The public may register online at www.lbpl.org or www.longbeachreads.org. Registration also is available at any of the 12 library locations from June 25 to Aug. 20. The Long Beach Public Library will also host special programs at all library locations, ranging from musical acts such as the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra and Musical Theatre West, to magic acts like Animal Magic and David Skale, dance artists, wild animals and more. ...

Nathen Blackwell sits in front of President Ronald Reagan’s headstone with a chisel and hammer, and he begins to gently tap out the last chapter of one of America’s greatest love stories. Nancy Reagan has died, and in less than 18 hours the eyes of the world will be on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library where the former first lady will be laid to rest beside her beloved Roie. It has been 12 years since the master stone carver last sat here chiseling the name, date of birth and death of the 40th president of the United States on the Juparana Royale granite headstone Mrs. Reagan had picked out, and now he is back to finish the job. When they met at the opening of Air Force One Pavilion in...