WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2024 SERVING OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1973
Compton is represented at the 39th Annual Kingdom Parade
Compton was in the house at the 39th Annual Kingdom Parade on Jan. 15, 2024. The parade, which is done to honor late civil rights leader and minister Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is held every year in South Los Angeles in celebration of Martin Luther King Day. Centennial High School and Compton High School brought out their marching bands to the parade. Also in attendance was Compton Mayor Emma Sharif, U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Sen. Steven Bradford, and Assemblyman Mike Gipson. For more photos, see page 3. Photos by Dennis J. Freeman
Groundbreaking CEREMONY OF ARTESIA BRIDGE SIGNALS PROGRESS AND RELIEF By Dennis J. Freeman The City of Compton received $12 million from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the State of California to fix the Artesia Bridge. There will be a lot of happy folks in Compton this summer when they see one of the main arteries in and out of the city is open again.
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ITY officials and other luminaries held a groundbreaking ceremony on Jan. 17 to celebrate the re-opening of the bridge. “I wanted to make sure we were able to get through this whole
process and to try to make sure that we’re here now,” Compton Mayor Emma Sharif said in a phone interview with The Bulletin. “The community and everyone felt comfortable in knowing that this was going to be something that…was going to be completed, that we’re going to get this done. I think we just had to continue to remind the community that this is something that we’re going to make happen, that it is definitely going to take place.” It just won’t be Compton residents celebrating. The folks who live and do business in surrounding communities like Long Beach, Carson, and Los Angeles figure to be ecstatic when the longtime fixture, which runs along the 91
Freeway, and is often used as a gateway to the Crystal Casino, is finally cleared to handle the hustle and bustle of cars and trucks moving along its structure. The formal gateway to the Port of Long Beach, the Artesia Bridge, which was snuffed out because of a fire that deemed the structure of the bridge unsafe, is expected to be open for business sometime this summer. That’s a big sigh of relief for Sharif. Sharif said the bridge’s reopening is going to benefit everyone. “We were all just trying to get through this process and trying to make sure that it actually did happen,” Sharif said. “It’s not about just me. It’s about what it’s going n Groundbreaking, see page 7
Compton to honor first valor Black Marine in dedication ceremony The City of Compton will hold a dedication ceremony in honor of Pfc. James Anderson Jr. at the Hub City Post Office on Jan. 22. U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Rep. Nanette B arragan, and Compton Mayor Emma Sharif are among the luminaries expected to attend and take part in the ceremony. The public is invited to attend the event. Anderson was the first black Marine to receive the nation’s highest award for valor. President Biden signed into public law, bill H.R. 1095, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 South Willowbrook Avenue in Compton, California, as the “PFC James Anderson, Jr., Post Office Building”. The bill was introduced by Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA-44) on Nov. 6, 2020. Born January 22, 1947, in Compton, n Valor, see page 7