5 Things: Free Gas, Free Ice Cream and Talk of a 405 Toll Road

Here are five useful things to know today if you live or work in Long Beach.

1. Several stages of the freeway connectors construction have caused concerns for Long Beach, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor and other Orange County cities. The possibility of a 405 toll road has been driving opposition and will be weighed at a public hearing tonight at Long Beach's Hill Middle School. OC Transit Authority reps will be there from 6-8 p.m. Read more at Los Alamitos Patch. 

2. If you're a Honda driver, free gas is in your future today if you can find the locations where the "Helpful Honda" peeps in bright blue shirts and tanker truck. They'll pump free gas for Hondas! Hint: Off Bellflower Boulevard starting at 10:30am with additional stops in Long Beach til 12pm. For more helpful clues, follow the Guys in Blue on Twitter @HelpfulHonda!"
at Twitter and on Facebook.  (At the World Series of Volleyball Saturday, the players and the spectators will be gifted with free ice cream and other cold stuff at the tournament, where you'll find big name athletes.)
Read more about the tournament here.

3. In case you missed it, Long Beach has another candidate joining the race to become the city's mayor. Long Beach City Council Member Suja Lowenthal on Tuesday declared her candidacy, joining an already-crowded field for the April 2014 election.

4. Check out some of our new features in our story about our refinements to your local Long Beach Patch sites. We have listened to our readers as we fine-tune things to make it an even easier place to stay connected with your community. http://belmontshore.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/new-upgrades-on-patch-more-headlines-better-conve...


5. Produce never looked so good as when presented by award-winning Orange County Register food writer Cathy Thomas, who will appear at the Long Beach Museum of Art, it was announced Tuesday. Next month is when she'll be sharing her new cookbook. Called "The 50 Best Plants on the Planet," which offers ways to prepare the healthiest of veggies and fruits. Find out details here.