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A woman waits to board a bus along Long Beach Boulevard . Photo: Michael Lozano Story by Stephanie Perez. Speaking with the riders of the Long Beach Transit system , you will find common stories . John Muller, 23-year-old bus rider, saw a rider across from him masturbating on the bus. Tyler Joscelyn, 22, confronted two men who were harassing a girl “because she was pretty” to only end up in a physical fight. And then there’s the downright weird. Rebecca Macareno, for instance, felt unsafe during a recent afternoon bus ride from her apartment to Cerritos Mall when a man chose to sit directly next to her. “He stared at me the entire bus ride even when I looked away,” she said. “He never spoke to me or touched me, but his eyes were red, and it felt like he never blinked. He could have sat anywhere on the bus, but he sat by me.” City locals, including high school and college students, rely heavily on public transportation to get around each year but many also feel uneasy and unsafe, es...

click to enlarge Rob Donnelly Sporting a bandanna over a graying ponytail, Arthur Madeiros sat bare -chested on the northwest corner of Church and Main streets on August 16, holding a cardboard sign that read: "Homeless Anything helps." The 50-year-old Rutland man had arrived in Burlington a week earlier, just hours before a fight among three itinerant men turned violent in City Hall Park . Police said Conner Lucas was intoxicated when he stabbed two fellow homeless men — one in the hand, the other in the neck — on August 9. Within 24 hours, Madeiros had gotten a knife of his own, for protection. He has no plans to use it, he said, but, "Of course, I'm nervous." He's not alone. The stabbing incident was the second in the last five months involving homeless men in downtown Burlington . In March, Louis Fortier allegedly used a knife to kill 43-year-old Richard Medina on the corner of Church and Cherry streets — in broad daylight. In additi...