Author: Emilie St. John

COMPTON (SBE) – The Compton city council unanimously approved a donation from BODYARMOR to refurbish an outdoor basketball court during the regular city council meeting held May 16. BODYARMOR is on a mission to refurbish ten basketball courts and renovate youth clinic facilities across the nation. The initiative is in the memory of late NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. The company has partnered with the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation to refurbish basketball courts around the country. In May 2022, founder Mike Repole announced the company would donate $24 million to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation — the single…

LOS ANGELES (SBE) – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has appointed famed attorney Carl Douglas to the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors, according to journalist Daniel Guss. Douglas’ appointment comes month’s after he withdrew from consideration of being appointed to the LA City Employees Retirement System. If confirmed, Douglas’ appointment would run through June 30, 2026. Metropolitan Water District is  governed by a 38-member board of directors, representing each of the district’s 26 member agencies. Each member agency is represented by one or more directors based on the assessed property valuation of its jurisdiction. The board is responsible for…

COMPTON (SBE) – Compton City Attorney Eric Perrodin has threatened to go to court to get a writ of mandate against the City Council for failure to perform duties under the Compton City Charter during a budget hearing held June 6. “I’ve been very patient but now I’m not patient anymore,” said Perrodin. “I came back to the City for one reason. I left a job with the District Attorney’s office where I was a supervisor and I took about a $45,000 pay cut because I love my city and want it to be better.” “I’ve been patient for a…

INGLEWOOD (SBE) – Inglewood youth participated in Flight Camp at Inglewood’s Darby Park on June 3rd which was sponsored by the Jordan Brand and Shoe Palace. Photo: Shoe Palace/Instagram We kicked off the first of many Shoe Palace x @jumpman23 ‘Flight Camp’ summer basketball clinics at our Darby Park Courts in The City of Champions, Inglewood, CA. Our partnership with @jumpman23 and the City of Inglewood brought boys and girls from the community to participate in a free, interactive, and exciting set of basketball clinics.⁠⁠For our first session, we welcomed a group of local girls as we provided footwear (Luka 1), branded shirts, shorts,…

INGLEWOOD (SBE) – A fired Black employee from SoFi Stadium will use a formal apology after a video went viral showing an overturned food cart after a concert held June 3. Marvin Carroll, who worked with the “guest experience” team was fired today after knocking over a hot dog stand and injuring a young Latino girl in the process. SoFi Stadium is managed by Hollywood Park Management Company who confirmed the employee who tipped over the food cart was fired. “We are aware that an incident occurred Saturday night outside of the stadium and are working with law enforcement to look…

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (2UG) – A black employee with Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium has been fired after a video went viral showing an overturned food cart on the ground with three shocked children standing behind it. The video doesn’t show the employee turning over the cart. SoFi Stadium is managed by Hollywood Park Management Company who confirmed the employee who tipped over the food cart was fired. “We are aware that an incident occurred Saturday night outside of the stadium and are working with law enforcement to look into the matter,” according to a statement released by SoFi Stadium on Tuesday. “The…

MARION COUNTY, Florida (2UG) – A Black woman was shot to death in front of her children by her White neighbor on Friday, June 2. The victim has been identified as 35-year-old Ajike “AJ” Owens who leaves behind four children. According to published reports, Owens and her neighbor, who has only been identified as a 58-year-old White woman. It is being reported the two have been involved in a long-standing feud over Owen’s children. It is alleged that the neighbor hurled racial insults and the children’s toys at them which prompted Owens to knock on her neighbor’s door. Related: NAACP issues…

INGLEWOOD (SBE) – The Inglewood Planning Commission will hold a special meeting Wednesday, May 31, to make changes to the Sign Overlay Zone at the Kia Forum. The applicant is requesting an amendment to the Sign Overlay Zone under a Master Sign Plan (MSP) which was established in 2013 under a development agreement when the property was under the ownership of Madison Square Garden (MSG). The plan created the three-way digital billboards at the intersection of Manchester and Prairie. The MSP “were permitted to display static images only with a refresh rate of no less than 8 seconds”. The applicant…

The Inglewood City Council unanimously approved pledging nearly $7.6 million annually towards the ongoing maintenance and operation costs of the Inglewood Transit Connector during the May 23 regular city council meeting. The construction costs of the 1.6 mile automated transit connector is scheduled to cost nearly $1.8 billion with the City already accumulating $800 million towards those costs. City consultants are expecting to receive the remaining $1 billion from the federal government by years end. Consultants peg the annual maintenance and operation costs at $30 million and expects to generate revenue from a combination of fares, advertising, concessions, and grants. …

Walmart made good on its promise to invest in vertical farming technology with the opening of the Plenty Compton Farm May 18. Plenty specializes in vertical farming, which produces pesticide-free fruits and vegetables. “Plenty is an indoor growing company so we grow plants inside without the sun in controlled environments,” said Plenty CEO Arama Kukutai. “We are producing leafy greens and we also produce tomatoes, and in the future, we’ll be producing strawberries and other fruit and produce.” Kukutai said after investing nearly a decade into research and development, Plenty has cracked the code on a scalable platform for farming.…