Compton
COURTHOUSE, NOT DOGHOUSE, FOR 12 LA COUNTY DOG FIGHTING RING SUSPECTS
A Bellflower man and a Compton man, along with 10 others, are in Antelope Valley Court today for arraignment on felony dogfighting and felony aiding and abetting dog fighting charges. A tip led Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies on Saturday to a Littlerock home where a dog fight was believed to take place. Surveillance of [...]
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THAT FIRE AT THE COMPTON FIRE DEPT: IS IT GOING FROM WEIRD TO WORSE?
Compton City officials aren't saying anything about the mysterious fire that ignited at the City's fire department and destroyed $1.1 million in police radios---except that it's still under investigation.
LINAREZ’ LBUSD BOARD RUN ENDORSED BY THREE MEMBERS OF OTHER BOARDS
Board of Education members from three Greater Long Beach-area districts—Sergio Contreras of Westminster, Jose Luis Solache of Lynwood and Skyy Fisher of Compton—have endorsed Ricardo Linarez in his campaign to unseat Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) school board president Felton Williams. “I am honored to receive the endorsement of school board members in our [...]
WE’RE COOL WITH 12,000 GALLONS OF SEWAGE, BUT NOT 1/10-INCH OF RAIN
Beachgoers, have no fear! Not about the 12,000 gallons of sewage that gushed into the Los Angeles River last Saturday, anyway. Interim Long Beach Health Department chief Dr. Mauro Torno lifted a precautionary four-day closure of the city’s shoreline Wednesday evening, announcing that that tests of the local ocean waters show no sign they were [...]
YES, COMPTON SCHOOLKIDS LOOKED AT SASHA GREY—BUT ONLY FOR THE STORIES
Officials at Emerson Elementary School in Compton are being asked to do some explaining as mortally offended parents demand to know why former porn star Sasha Grey was allowed to commit the sin of reading to a classroom of first-graders. Grey visited Emerson on November 2 as part of the Read Across America program. At [...]
COMPTON BUDGET MEANS LAYOFFS, LAWSUITS, MAYBE INSOLVENCY, ANYWAY
[EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was written by Abby Sewell of the Los Angeles Times] COMPTON (via Los Angeles Times)—After a chaotic meeting full of reversals, the Compton City Council late Tuesday apparently moved to approve dozens of layoffs to avert a potential government shutdown. The council, acting as the redevelopment commission, voted 3 to 2 [...]
NATE DOGG, WHOSE SOULFUL HOOKS SIGNIFIED LB’S G-FUNK SOUND, DIES AT 41
Nate Dogg's unmistakeable voice was deep and soothing, but it was also sonic camouflage for personal torments that were buried even deeper within him. Although he was a warm, honest and insightful conversationalist, Nate Dogg seemed to be constantly distracted and undermined by personal issues, even as he rose to personal fame.
IS COMPTON’S ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER QUALIFIED? WELL, SHE TEACHES SUNDAY SCHOOL AT THE MAYOR’S CHURCH
Compton’s new assistant city manager is Verna D. Porter, a 59-year-old woman of limited and checkered experience in city government and unknown education who lives next door to Mayor Eric J. Perrodin’s mother and teaches Sunday school at his church. City Manager Willie Norfleet appointed Porter on Oct. 19, despite the fact that the city [...]
BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY GIVES COMPTON ECONOMIC KICK IN THE PANTS
The opening of a Burlington Coat Factory and a seasonal Toys R Us store in downtown Compton were promoted Monday by the city’s redevelopment agency (RDA), which is predicting a breath of new life into the local economy—just in time for the holiday shopping season. After roughly three years of various delays, Burlington Coat Factory [...]
TOY LOAN CENTER—LIKE A LIBRARY, BUT WITH TOYS—OPENS IN COMPTON
The program allows registered children to borrow toys much like they would a library book. Lending centers are housed at parks, schools, recreational facilities, libraries, housing projects and even a homeless shelter.
FEDERAL AUDIT SHOWS HOW SHODDY ACCOUNTING COST COMPTON $2.8 MILLION
The federal government released an audit report of the city’s Section 8 program last week that reveals improper accounting and a lack of proper procedures, which resulted in a multimillion-dollar shortfall that was absorbed by the city’s general fund. According to a copy of the official Department of Housing and Urban Development audit report dated [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS / CRITICISMS / LOVE NOTES / WITTICISMS
APPRECIATING RICH ARCHBOLD WHERE IT COUNTS MOST—AS A HUMAN BEING [ By Louise Cunningham ] Love the article on Rich; he is a very special person and so happy that you did this. I, too, many times use the “Once when I was at the PT … ” / KATHY BERRY At least Archbold was [...]
COMPTON COUNCIL VOTES TO CENSOR TV COVERAGE OF ITS MEETINGS
The Compton City Council has voted, 3-1, to censor the public-access television broadcasts of its meetings, editing out public comments. Councilman Dr. Willie O. Jones was the lone dissenter. Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux was absent. The Sept. 7 agenda item was identified as a “minute motion” on the agenda, and there was no staff report or supporting documentation in the [...]
DON JERGLER: ANYBODY GOT A SPARE PAIR OF ROSE-COLORED GLASSES?
When you’re in the Long Beach area and the title of the latest UCLA Anderson Forecast Is "The Uncertain Economy" and you're already depressed about your economic future, well, maybe you ought to not bother even reading it. Then again, uncertainty is better than doomsday.
THE COMPTON BULLETIN LAUNCHES ITS FIRST-EVER SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE
The Compton Bulletin has become one of Southern California’s most dynamic community newspapers under the leadership of editor Allison Jean Eaton, but it isn’t immune to economic conditions that are threatening print journalism everywhere. So for the first time in its history The Bulletin is launching a subscription drive. Throughout the months of September and [...]
COMPTON FALLS FOUR DAYS SHORT OF A MONTH WITHOUT A MURDER
Compton was only four days away from an entire calendar month without a murder—something that hadn’t happened since November 2009, and before that, January 2006—when two people were killed in separate incidents on Aug. 27. Just one day before, on Aug. 26, Compton Sheriff’s Station Operations Lt. Brian Meeder had told The Bulletin that the [...]
MANY COMPTON RESIDENTS SAY THEY FEEL SAFER UNDER SHERIFF’S DEPT
Carolyn Blake said she and her adult children ride their bikes down her street at ease, free of fear. Ten years ago when the Compton Police Department policed the streets, she said, that simply wasn’t possible. “Before, we could go nowhere,” said Blake, who’s called Compton home since 1958. “We’ve come too far to turn back.
RESTORATION OF COMPTON CREEK PARCEL BEGINS
Plans are finally underway to restore the soft-bottomed section of Compton Creek, the local tributary adjacent to the casino and the new shopping center. The Environmental Protection Agency and Los Angeles County has announced acquisition of the four-acre parcel of land surrounding the creek. The roughly 8.5-mile creek is part of the 42.1-square-mile Compton Creek [...]
MORE QUESTIONS SURROUND PROBE OF MISSING DRUGS AT COMPTON PD
Former Compton detective Arnold Villaruel, who remained under investigation after an internal probe in 1999 revealed that drugs were missing from the former police department’s vault, was never charged with a crime. While much of the evidence, though circumstantial, detailed within the 95-page internal investigation points to Villarruel’s involvement, The Compton Bulletin has been unable to determine what, [...]
AT SALVATION ARMY, IT’S ON ‘N’ ON, BEAT DON’T STOP TILLA BREAKA DAWN
It’s not that the Salvation Army doesn’t have a long musical history, but the brass bands and tambourines it's famous for are nowhere to be seen at the Salvation Army Compton Corps Community Center, where a brand-new, state-of-the-art recording studio just opened.
VECTOR CONTROL: STEVE LOWERY BITTEN BY SURFING BUG AND LIVES TO TELL
Those of you who haven’t tried it may not be aware there is a lot of vomiting in surfing. This is because surfing, despite all the videos and cool lingo and innovative footwear, is actually quite hard. Like really hard, like, “Oh God, I think I’m gonna vomit, will that attract sharks?” hard.
EX-COMPTON MAYOR BRADLEY RETURNS—TO OPPOSE RETURN OF POLICE DEPT
Former Compton Mayor Omar Bradley made his first public appearance in years last Saturday during a town hall meeting at the Compton Center hosted by opponents of a plan to re-establish the Compton Police Department. Bradley cast one of the deciding votes in 1999, when the city council shut down the department, which was mired [...]
COMPTON RESIDENTS CONSIDERING BOYCOTT, LAWSUIT TO STOP POLICE DEPT COMEBACK
BY ALLISON JEAN EATON / COMPTON BULLETIN Aftershocks continue to ripple through Compton’s 10.5 square miles following the city council’s 3-2 vote last week to re-establish a local police department a plan that no longer has the backing of the consultant on whose study the plan is based. A majority of the community appears staunchly opposed [...]
AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND LATINO WORSHIPPERS FIND NEW LIFE TOGETHER IN A CHANGING NEIGHBHORHOOD
The Black choir clapped and swayed, propelled by the organ’s groove and drums’ beat, as gospel music filled the tiny New Life in Christ Church on Compton Avenue. The rhythm came naturally, but when it was time to sing, the choir had to turn to sheet music to keep from stumbling over the Spanish lyrics. [...]
COMPTON COUNCIL SILENTLY HANDS ANOTHER BIG, NO-BID CONTRACT TO MAYOR PERRODIN’S BROTHER
Without so much as a word of public discussion, the Compton City Council has reversed its vote of a year ago and approved a $95,000 no-bid management and consulting contract with the brother of Mayor Eric J. Perrodin. The extension of the City’s existing contract with Percy Perrodin, Jr.’s, company—called Joseph and Paul, Inc.—was included [...]
COMPTON SUPERINTENDENT CHARGED PERSONAL ITEMS TO DISTRICT CREDIT CARD
Credit card records obtained by The Compton Bulletin reveal that the superintendent of the Compton Unified School District appears to have been using taxpayer money for personal purchases. Records provided by the school district indicate that only some of the purchases made by Superintendent Dr. Kaye Burnside on a district-issued credit card have been repaid. [...]
GATEWAY TOWNE CENTER—COMPTON’S NEWEST—USES TAX-CREDIT MECHANISM TO NARROWLY AVOID FORECLOSURE
Compton’s new shopping center, the Gateway Towne Center, narrowly avoided forclosure after it was able to secure $29 million in permanent financing through a new tax-credit mechanism. Community Development Financial Institutions Clearinghouse officials said this recent loan saved the shopping center, which would have gone into foreclosure had the permanent financing not been secured. City [...]
WHILE LOCAL TEACHERS TWIST IN THE WIND, DOWNEY DISTRICT APPROVES A LAYOFF-LESS CONTRACT
While top officials of public school districts in Long Beach and Compton dangle doomsday letters over the mailbox, the Downey Unified School District has reached a three-year contract with its teachers union that avoids layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions or loss of medical benefits. Instead, class sizes will increase slightly. Meanwhile, Long Beach Unified’s Board of [...]
COUNTY CLERK HAS NO RECORD THAT COMPTON RDA EVER FILED MANDATED STUDY OF $100 MILLION BOND ISSUE
The City of Compton Redevelopment Agency claims to have filed with the Los Angeles County clerk for public review of a study on the agency’s proposed issuance of $100 million in bonds, but The Bulletin has learned that county clerk’s office has no record of it. READ MORE
OWNER OF FORMER COMPTON POT SHOP GETS 6 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
A man who ran half a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in the greater Los Angeles area, including one in Compton, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison. In a March 22 sentencing, U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said that Virgil Edward Grant III used his licensed clinics to earn a profit selling [...]
COMPTON SPENDING $5 MILLION TO BUY BACK PARKS IT SOLD TO RDA
COMPTON—In what some consider a fishy move, the City of Compton is spending more than $5 million to supposedly buy back city parks from the redevelopment agency. The City Council acting as the Urban Community Redevelopment Agency last Tuesday, March 16, approved a $5.2 million payout from the city to the Community Redevelopment Agency to [...]
THE LESS-THAN-MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
COMPTON–Seven local schools have been named to a state list of public school campuses that consistently have the lowest test scores in California. An updated list released Thursday, March 11, features the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools statewide. The local schools on that list are Davis Middle, Dominguez High, Martin Luther King Elementary, Vanguard Learning [...]
