The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 24 - June 11, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment......................5
Legals....................................9
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................11
Police Reports.....................2
Real Estate.......................6-9
Celebrating Our Graduates
It is the final week of classes for the 2019-2020 school year in ESUSD. Although we have transitioned to distance learning, our schools are still celebrating graduation and promotion ceremonies
virtually. CSS will have its 5th Grade Virtual Promotion on Thursday, June 11 at 9 a.m. / RSS will have a 5th Grade Virtual Promotion on Thursday, June 11, at 11 a.m. / ESMS will have its 8th Grade Virtual
Graduation Ceremony on Friday, June 12 at 1 p.m. via El Segundo TV. / ESHS and Arena High will have a Virtual Graduation Ceremony on Friday, June 12, at 7 p.m. via El Segundo TV and streamed on
the "Gundo ASB" YouTube channel. / Individual event links will be emailed to families for the schools they attend, so be sure to check for email from ESUSD. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
School Spotlight..................3 Postponed Hearing Caps Wild Week
Weekend
Forecast
By Rob McCarthy
El Segundo just went through one of the
most eventful weeks ever. Peaceful demonstrations
took place on its streets and corners.
A new emergency briefly overshadowed the
COVID-19 situation. Local restaurant dining
rooms reopened. Within days, they were
shutting down early because of a countywide
curfew to curb rioting.
And because of George Floyd’s tragic death
caught on videotape, El Segundo residents
told their own stories about being singled
out by police because of their race.
A 6 p.m. curfew went into effect for El
Segundo on Tuesday, June 2 - the same day
the City Council was supposed to meet and
hold a public hearing about 5G wireless
technology. The hearing couldn’t be held
without violating the curfew, so city officials
decided to reconvene the council the following
afternoon, June 3.
The 5G presentation had special significance.
It became the first public hearing ever
in El Segundo to be conducted virtually - in
an empty council chamber with the members
watching and listening from a safe distance
in the era of COVID-19.
Before the council heard about plans to
build the sprawling wifi network across the
city, officials first addressed the Black Lives
Matter protests in El Segundo. When the
council meeting began, approximately 85
demonstrators stood on the City Hall plaza.
The sign-carrying crowd walked across the
city, calling for justice and an end to racism,
before ending back at City Hall for the rare
afternoon council session.
At the urging of City Manager Scott Mitnick,
a half-dozen people went inside the council
chambers and talked about racially tinged
experiences with El Segundo police and
residents. A father told a story about his
17-year-old African-American son being
pulled out of a group of teammates by police
officers and questioned for going door-to-door,
asking for contributions for the El Segundo
High School basketball program.
Cecil Brown, a five-year resident who is
African-American, said the incident involving
his son and five patrol officers happened three
years ago. Five teammates were knocking on
doors at twilight, asking for contributions
for the basketball program, according to
Brown. Five police cars arrived, and officers
immediately pulled Brown’s 6-foot, 3-inch
tall son out of the group and asked what he
was doing, the father said.
“That was his first interaction with the
police department,” Cecil Brown said, adding
his son is afraid to do anything like that
now. The young man’s mother fears for her
son’s life when he leaves the house, Brown
said. “You may not understand that fear,
but it’s real.”
Brown spoke up, so the City Council
members understood “what we go through,
as people of color, in this town,” he said.
While he complimented the quality of the
schools and said security is strong within the
city limits, Brown said some police behavior
See City Council, page 5
A Special Graduation Issue
This week’s El Segundo Herald contains
our special pullout section for El Segundo
High School’s senior graduates. The Class
of 2020. We are honored the School
District reached out and suggested this
collaboration.
A special thank you to El Segundo
High School’s administration and our partners
in collaboration: Dr. Melissa Gooden,
Principal; Dr. Logan Fox, Assistant
Principal; and Robin Esponzia, Activities
Director, all who worked tirelessly, during
a hectic and challenging time for them,
to provide us with all the senior photos,
their names, and additional content.
Thank you to the businesses that supported
this project: Burkley, Brandlin,
Swatik & Keesey, Chevron El Segundo,
Davis and DeRosa Physical Therapy, El
Segundo Rotary Club, and the El Segundo
Unified School District.
Thank you to my staff: Mike Gonzales,
Clara Nilles, and Debbie Waite, who took
on the additional workload and went the
extra mile to make this all happen. Thank
you Gregg McMullin for helping to find
a variety of photos.
We hope you enjoy what we all created,
and we wish the very best and brightest
futures to the outgoing seniors. If anyone
would like a digital copy of the graduation
pullout, you can email us at web@
heraldpublications.com.
– Thank you. H.M.
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
70˚/60˚
Saturday
Sunny/
Wind
71˚/59˚
Sunday
Sunny
72˚/61˚