The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 7 - February 13, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................9
Crossword/Sudoku.............9
Entertainment......................4
Legals.............................. 8,10
Neighborhood Therapist.....3
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................11
Police Reports.....................3
Real Estate.......................5-7
Weekend
Forecast
Congratulations to Our Three
New Police Officers
We are proud to introduce our three new police officers who graduated today from the police academy. Officers Michael Drohan, Brandon Mendoza and Joanna Ramirez proudly graduated from the
Rio Hondo Police Academy Class 209. All three officers are no strangers to the city as all of them are former ESPD police cadets. Officer Ramirez was not only a cadet, she was also an ESPD jailer before
becoming a police officer. The officers will now continue their training as they will start patrolling the streets under the guidance of a Field Training Officer. Front row (pictured left to right): Captain Carlos
Mendoza, Officer Michael Drohan, Officer Joanna Ramirez, Officer Brandon Mendoza, Sergeant Glenn Delmendo. Back row: Lieutenant Ray Garcia, Officer Jeremy Glunt, Officer Joshua Gilberts, Lieutenant
Hugo Perez, Chief Bill Whalen, Sergeant Ryan Danowitz, Officer Brent Beardmore. Photo El Segundo Police Department.
Blue Butterfly Gives Wings
to El Segundo’s Night Life
By Chase Maser
It’s Sunday morning, and across from the
Civic Center on Main St., Blue Butterfly
Coffee Co. has a line out the door.
On the weekends, it’s not an uncommon
sight. Whether it’s churchgoers leaving service
or college kids trying to cram for Monday’s
exam, the venue hosts a true community of
customers giving them a vibrant, cozy place
to visit.
According to BBCC’s operations manager,
Roy Langford, extending that same comfort
and safety to the evening was a huge priority.
“It’s for community reasons, really,” says
Langford. “We used to be open until 7 PM,
but right away, we realized that people still
needed a place to go and get work done.
Especially college and high school students.
A lot of the time, they work on school stuff
and projects long after 7 PM, so staying open
‘till 10 PM means we can welcome more
customers and help them feel like they have
a save place to go.”
Coming from a background of working at
the airport, Langford has been working at the
coffee shop for the past eight months. Aside
from community reasons, he feels that BBCC
“is the perfect environment” not only because
it has the best coffee, but it also gives patrons
a variety in their coffee shop experience.
For instance, BBCC also owns Smokey
Hollow Roasters on 118 Sierra St., which
offers a mellow vibe compared to the bustling
Main St. mania.
Jon Hanks—a barista at the Main. St. location—
Friday See Blue Butterfly, page 8
Mostly
Sunny
60˚/50˚
Herald’s Candidate Q & A
For the 2020 El Segundo Election for
City Council, there were three seats open
and three qualified candidates Incumbent
Drew Boyles, Incumbent Carol Pirsztuk
and Business Executive Lance Giroux.
The El Segundo Herald has collected
questions from local business owners and
prominent members of the community
to post to the candidates. Here are our
questions and their answers:
1. Do you support the city’s commitment
to the Cultural Arts Fund?
How should the money be spent?
Drew Boyles: As an entrepreneur and
CEO with multiple businesses owned in
several states, I have first-hand knowledge
of the challenges doing business
in California. Fees, taxes and onerous
regulations make doing business in
California fraught with excessive risk
and lower returns. Because of this and
other reasons, I was initially opposed
to this 1% development fee. I believed
in allowing building owners to have the
option to adorn their buildings with their
own art and increasing the project value
that triggers this requirement.
I still struggle with our city “taxing”
these developments and then having the
responsibility of judging and allocating
funds towards projects. There are inherent
challenges in spending public funds in the
subjective realm of art. I have supported the
arts in many ways including being an early
and continuous sponsor of the Art walk,
explains that “Blue Butterfly is like a
coffee house/diner whereas Smokey Hollow
is a straight up coffee shop.”
“People can go there and do their work.
The pace is much slower—it’s a lot more
quiet and chill. On the weekends, they close
at 5 PM, and weekdays, they’re open until 6
PM. But here, we stay open much later. We
serve a full menu, there’s more action on the
street and there’s nothing else open in town
that runs late. It’s a good thing for the area.”
And the customers agree. On any given night,
you can find entrepreneurs taking business
calls, writers burning the semi-midnight oil
on a screenplay, and of course, the anxious
student writing an essay under the wire.
“I think the coolest thing about this shop,
specifically, is the vibe,” says Eric Ward, a
consultant from Manhattan Beach. “It’s trendy
and has an upbeat atmosphere that you just
don’t find at other coffee shops in the South
Bay. I come by myself to get work done on
certain nights. I bring my wife here, and we
just had a child, so now I bring my family
See Candidate Q & A, back page
Saturday
Sunny
64˚/51˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
64˚/53˚