The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 33 - August 13, 2020
Inside
This Issue
ABC Doc...............................3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Film Review..........................5
Legals.................................4,9
Letters...................................3
Pets......................................10
Police Reports.....................2
ESUSD Moves Forward on
School Construction Projects
From right, ESUSD Board of Education Members Jeanie Nishime and Tracey Miller-Zarneke tour Richmond Street School, which is receiving all new windows, and listen to a Measure ES construction update
from Bond Program Manager Preeti D’Souza (left), who represents ESUSD construction partner TELACU. For story see Measure ES below. Photo courtesy ESUSD.
Real Estate............ 6-9-11,12 El Segundo’s Linda Johnson
Weekend
Forecast
Gives Back to her Community
By Duane Plank
stay business and socially connected. “Zoom
Connecting with El Segundo resident Linda
is the best,” she said, alluding to a recent El
Johnson for a phone interview had proven to be
Segundo Education Foundation (Ed!) meeting
a challenging task for this Herald scribe. She
that was held as people bunkered at home.
has been busy working from home, fulfilling her
“Great way to engage.”
duties as the Member Services representative
Johnson, who has been a Woman’s Club
for the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce, and
volunteer for the past four years, said she was
mastering the magic of Zoom teleconferencing
just “a tiny cog in a big wheel,” of volunteers
with local business leaders. She had also been
trying to help in these trying times. She noted
busy volunteering, with other members of the
that the mask-making idea was germinated by
El Segundo Woman’s Club, to make the now
the Woman’s Club, but had mushroomed, as
ubiquitous protective facemasks for essential
others got wind of the project, and were eager to
personnel, and now, all of us, in the area as
the COVID-19 pandemic rages-on, including
supporting hospitals, pharmacies, and markets.
When this story was initially filed, Johnson and
her cohorts had artfully stitched and delivered
more than 700 facemasks. The mask building
has now reached about 1,500.
And then three days before this story was to
run back in April, Johnson notified the Herald
that she had been furloughed from her job with
the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce (COC),
another victim of the COVID-19 scourge.
Because the Chamber is classified as a 501c
(6) organization, they were not eligible for
the government’s PPP money, so the budget
was squeezed.
Chamber CEO and President Marsha Hansen
is eager to get Johnson back on the payroll as
soon as possible. “We hope with the next round of
the relief package, Chambers will be included,”
Hansen emailed. “so that we can get Linda
back in the office soon. We are a true team.”
When we were able to speak initially,
Johnson had shared her recent attempts to
volunteer their time. She said part of her duties
is not only to sew the masks but deliver them.
She called her work as a delivery driver for the
mask distribution, a “life-changing experience.”
She had gleefully said she made a mask for
an autistic child who makes frequent trips to
the hospital. She said that the Woman’s Club
efforts were a “grassroots program,” seeking
to fly under the radar, with all needed supplies
being corralled by donations. “I have the best
part of it,” she said, alluding to her delivery
See Linda Johnson, page 3
Measure ES: Your Bond Dollars
Building a Better Education
El Segundo Unified schools are receiving
improvements in the form of modernization,
repairs and new construction as
the district works on the first phase of
projects under its Measure ES $92 million
school bond, thanks to El Segundo
voters. Although ESUSD is unable to
reopen school at this time, we continue
to move forward on construction projects
while not disrupting student learning and
will be fully ready with upgraded facilities
at all school sites when students return
to the classroom.
The bond measure, which passed in
November 2018 with the approval of
63.32 percent of El Segundo voters, includes
the upgrade to classrooms, science
labs, libraries, career training facilities
and instructional technology to support
student achievement in science, technology,
engineering, arts and math. It also
provides student safety improvements and
much needed repairs to aging facilities,
roofs, and plumbing/electrical systems.
ESUSD successfully issued its first
series of bonds on June 5, 2019. The
Series A bonds generated $27 million
in project proceeds, which will be used
for Phase 1 of school facility upgrades.
Facilities bond projects will be completed
in phases according to ESUSD’s Long-
Range Facilities Master Plan, which also
accommodates a process for rephasing
See Measure ES, page 2
Friday
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