05.08.08
Posted in General News at 10:44 am by Eric Pierce
Photo courtesy Arc of Southeast Los Angeles County, with permission from the Hamilton Family
It’s been a busy week here at the Patriot, what with Brooke gone on jury duty and me trying to compose a dignified recap of the life of Christopher Hamilton (above), who was murdered in a drive-by shooting last week.
Thankfully, I don’t have to write too many of these sob stories; certainly not every week. I don’t ever want to grow cold to the callousness of these types of homicides.
Anyway, in addition to Hamilton’s story, I also recap Tuesday’s Gangs Out of Downey meeting. I’m grateful that the organization allows me to sit in on their monthly meeting - and to write about it - because the wealth of information released during the meeting is significant. GOOD is a special group of people, I’m telling you, and their work is probably underappreciated.
As I mentioned earlier, Brooke was on jury duty for a portion of the week, so you won’t read much of her stuff tomorrow. Unfortunately, that means her cool indie band features or concert reviews will have to wait until next week.
Henry Veneracion attended the Rancho Los Amigos Volunteer Recognition Luncheon last Friday (Henry will cover most anything if a free lunch is involved!) and wrote about the award recipients. I’m sorry to say we don’t have pictures of the award winners, which would have been a nice touch.
Henry also interviewed city of Downey Building Director Linda Haines for an in-depth profile. If you read the story you’ll learn things you may not have known about her, like she was a fierce athlete growing up and was once the No. 1 badminton player among her high school competition area. Who knew?
Henry couldn’t resist the temptation and also has a follow-up column on being “green” in today’s modern world.
Also in this issue: a full page of letters to the editor (we eat crow for our Wiley-Burke story last week), Paging Dr. Frischer, and a Kids Day preview.
I hope you enjoy the issue.
Permalink
05.07.08
Posted in General News at 10:55 am by Eric Pierce
Today will be a light day for posting as I’m busy writing my story on Christopher Hamilton, the 33-year-old Downey resident gunned down Friday night in an apparent gang-related shooting.
I also took down my previous post on the shooting until more information becomes available.
As always, you can e-mail me at downeypatriot@yahoo.com with comments, suggestions, and/or feedback.
Permalink
05.05.08
Posted in General News at 10:31 am by Eric Pierce
In honor of Mother’s Day, women are invited to Stonewood Center this Thursday to enjoy free fragrance samples from Elizabeth Arden, make-up consultations by Shishedo, and Henna tattoos by Ziba Beauty. The fun will be had in the Macy’s Court between 4 and 6 p.m.
Volunteers are also needed to help put together “wellness bags” for female cancer patients. To help, call Whitney Wigle at (562) 861-9233.
Permalink
Posted in General News at 8:12 am by Eric Pierce
Photos by Eric Pierce
Here are a couple photos I took from Saturday’s street fair. Unfortunately, I arrived between acts so I couldn’t catch any of the concerts, but I did have fun at the car show.
I thought there were too many business booths at the fair (particularly real estate), and not enough crafts and knick-knacks. But I did pick up a really nice Lakers playoff T-shirt though.
Coincidentally, I also visited the farmers market Saturday morning and it didn’t seem to be suffering at all.
Permalink
05.01.08
Posted in General News at 10:08 am by Eric Pierce
Photo by George Redfox
Here’s whats left of the historic Ball Mansion at 8572 Cherokee Drive, currently undergoing extensive “remodeling” efforts that include the removal of a backyard pool, garage and garden area.
The house, which was entered into the state’s Historic Resources Inventory in 1977 on behalf of the National History Museum, is supposed to retain the same outwards appearance that it maintained before construction began, according city building officials.
I wrote a story on the construction going on there a couple months ago.
Thank you to George Redfox of the Downey Historical Society for sending the update. More pictures are available here.
Permalink
04.30.08
Posted in General News at 9:47 am by Eric Pierce
Last week this newspaper comitted the mother of all errors, publishing a story that was 100 percent, top to bottom, false.
Turns out our Page 12 story, “Wiley-Burke: a Brief History of the War Hero and British Patriot,” was an April Fools joke by John Vincent of the Downey Historical Society.
You read that right: the Downey Historical Society played an April Fools joke on us.
The 70-column-inch story detailed the supposed history of this city’s Wiley-Burke Avenue. It was submitted to the Patriot in late March, but it didn’t publish until last week because it was so long, nearly 1,700 words. The article was a piece of fiction by Vincent, president of the Downey Historical Society and a regular contributor to this newspaper.
According to Vincent, who has since apologized for the “gag,” the article was for entertainment only and never meant for publication. It was intended for my eyes only.
Needless to say, I was livid when I found out the truth Monday morning — our newspaper’s credibility as a news source comes into question. Vincent, who I truly believe meant no harm by his actions, wrote a letter of apology, which you’ll be able to read in this Friday’s issue. I also did independent research on the origins of Wiley-Burke Avenue and will publish what little information I found.
You know what they say about hindsight. I blogged last Thursday about how wonderful the article was, even gushing that it was my favorite from last week’s paper. Now we know why the story was so fantastic — it wasn’t true.
My deepest apologies go out to our readers, who have a right to feel cheated from this “April Fools joke.” Every edition of our newspaper is proofread and analyzed by several sets of eyes before we go to press on Thursday, and not one person questioned the article, mostly because we have put a high level of trust in the writing and reporting of Vincent and the Downey Historical Society. Still, this newspaper shares part of the blame.
We’ll have more on the issue in Friday’s paper.
Permalink
04.29.08
Posted in General News at 7:30 am by Eric Pierce
Just when everything was going right, my blog just up and crashes. Ayyy…
But everything seems to be working again, so I’ll do some posting a little later. Thanks for reading.
Permalink
04.25.08
Posted in General News at 10:30 am by Eric Pierce
I’m happy to report that our webmaster tweaked a few things and comments are now up and running on the blogs.
To guard against spam, you still have to register a valid e-mail address, but after that you can comment your heart out.
It would be nice to get some Downey-related conversation going!
Permalink
04.24.08
Posted in General News at 1:25 pm by Eric Pierce
Photo by Eric Pierce
We have a brimming and hopefully engrossing issue on tap for tomorrow; in fact, tomorrow’s edition will be the largest we’ve had in a while.
Our top story will be on the $50,000 reward family members are offering for the capture and conviction of the person who brutally murdered Downey resident Maria Rodriguez in 2003. Three of Rodriguez’s sisters held a press conference earlier this week announcing the reward.
As you can see from the photo above, at least half a dozen news agencies covered the press conference, including NBC-4, ABC-7, FOX-11 and other spanish media outlets. Yet I didn’t see any of it make it onto TV. Did I just miss it?
I would hate to think that because Rodriguez’s sisters held their composure and - for the most part - spoke in steady, even tones that the press conference ended up on the cutting room floor. As the saying goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.”
Again, maybe I missed it. And if I did I apologize.
•
This week we also profile real estate developer Fernando Vasquez, who has formally announced plans to seek this city’s District 5 seat in the November elections. One elected official described Vasquez as a “rising star in Downey,” and he certainly seems to have that potential.
•
Brooke Karli tells us about the “Bears of Hope” at Warren High School, a campus club whose mission it is to raise money for the American Cancer Society. It seems like we have a story every week on a group of kids banding together to raise money for charity, doesn’t it? That says a lot about our community.
•
Brooke also interviewed a Downey author who has published a novel detailing her struggles to escape an abusive relationship. “Private Scars” is the true story of Brenda Youngerman.
•
Henry Veneracion wraps up the City Council meeting, minus the public comment nonsense that wasted everybody’s time (I touch on that in my column this week). Henry also writes about Saturday’s library recognition breakfast, and professional pianist Dr. Bob Flynn, an accomplished entertainer who donates his talents to local schools and nursing homes.
•
But my favorite story this week comes from John Vincent of the Downey Historical Society. John submitted to us a story on Sir Alan Grimsby Wiley-Burke, a British patriot and war hero after whom Wiley-Burke Avenue is named after. Being somewhat of a history buff, I found the article fascinating. And I’m not just saying that. It really is interesting.
•
That’s about it I think. Of course we have letters to the editor and all that other good stuff. I hope you enjoy it.
Permalink
Posted in General News at 10:48 am by Eric Pierce
Photo by Art Montoya
Downey’s Rose Float has been saved.
Following our story last week that the Downey Rose Float Association was struggling to construct a float after copper wire thefts left their warehouse without electricity, L.A. County has agreed to restore their power.
Gary DeRemer, president of the Rose Float Association, made the announcement at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The County, which owns the southern property of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center where the float is constructed, will pay more than $100,000 for anti-theft copper wiring, said DeRemer. The Rose Float Association will be responsible for an additional $20,000 in building upgrades.
The County had initially balked at restoring the electricity, said DeRemer.
I would like to say it was our story that prompted Los Angeles County’s change of heart, but the real credit goes to Downey city officials, who put in phone calls to L.A. County supervisors last week to spur the action.
DeRemer, meanwhile, emphasized to the City Council that the Rose Float is still in search of a permanent home.
As you can see above, in a photograph taken last week, lack of electricity has thrown the Rose Float Association way behind schedule. That’s last year’s float you see, not this year’s. And it’s almost May.
Permalink
« Previous entries