CHAMPS!
HEWS MEDIA GROUP
Cerritos HS Takes 605 League Crown.
Winner of Fourteen LA Press Club Awards from 2012-2018.
See page 10
Serving Cerritos and ten other surrounding communities • October 8, 2021 • Vol. 35, No. 50 • loscerritosnews.net
Attended White Supremacist Meeting
ABCUSD Board Member Apodaca Calls on Vice-President Soo Yoo to Resign The Cerritos Republican Club refuses to release video of meeting that shows Yoo saying very controversial statements. BY BRIAN HEWS
OCCC HELPING DURING THE PANDEMIC THE OC CONSERVATION CORPS proved instrumental in the lives of those impacted by COVID-19. One of the actions was delivering more than 6,000 COVID tests per day throughout the county.
OC Conservation Corp Members Overcome Redistricting Diversity While Serving Area Residents Commission Releases BY LAURIE HANSON employment, training and edu- Free Online Mapping cational programs designed to In times of trouble, the Orange County Conservation Corps (OCCC) is one nonprofit successfully serving the community while members simultaneously overcome their own hardships. Located in Anaheim with satellite offices in Fullerton and Irvine, the organization serves the neediest and hardest to reach segment of youth ages 18 to 26 in Orange County through
build self-sufficiency. Recently they’ve proven themselves instrumental in the lives of those impacted by COVID-19. “Our organization is proud of the tremendous work effort our Corps members completed as frontline workers during the height of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Chief Executive Officer Katharyn O. Muñiz, who has
See CCC page 13
Students Can Now Get a Free Metro Pass BY BRIAN HEWS Community college and K-12 students can now ride Metro trains and buses for free. Starting this month, K-12 and community college students in L.A. can now take unlimited Metro bus and train rides for free. Students will receive TAP cards from their schools this month. The program will cost nearly $50 million and run through June 2023. In a joint statement, officials from L.A. area schools wrote, "Getting a free Metro TAP card into the hands of every Los Angeles student will be a big help, it is unlimited not just for school, but access to the city, intern jobs, additional educational opportunities
Townhomes Open in La Mirada
and meaningful experiences.” Metros' Board approved the program, which will be funded by the Biden's ARP. School districts will also pay a fee per student. The Los Angeles Times reported this week that the ABCUSDwill not participate, citing "cost or a lack of students who ride public transportation." When HMG-CN contacted ABC, officials said, "We were surprised that we were noted as not participating in the L.A. Times article that was published yesterday as we have no record of being asked to join the program. District staff is working to find out more about the program and how it may benefit our students."
Local officials and staff and owners from Warmington Home watch as La Mirada Mayor Ed Eng cuts the ribbon. Page 2.
Resident's can submit input directly to the state of California’s official redistricting process. BY TAMMYE MCDUFF This past Saturday, October 2, the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission announced the Statewide Database’s release of two free-to-use tools to help Californians submit their ideas regarding redistricting plans to the Commission. These are the only redistricting applications through which users can submit their input directly to the state of California’s official redistricting process. “The Commission is excited to share these free resources to help people draw their own district maps,” stated Commission Chair Sara Sadhwani. “The success of this decennial [occurring every ten years] process depends on the participation of all Californians. We want to hear from everyone and want to know if our line drawing is heading in the right direction.” The Statewide Database is proud to provide two map cre-
See REDISTRICT page 12
Foundation Offering Free Hearing Aids
Embattled ABCUSD VicePresident Soo Yoo was called on to resign by Board Member Dr. Chris Apodaca at the last board meeting for what many call racist and homophobic comments made by Yoo at a local meeting. The demand by Dr. Apodaca stems from Yoo’s attendance at a highly controversial meeting at the Cerritos Library where the Cerritos Republican Club invited white supremacist and Proud Boy supporter Gracey Van De Merke to speak; the subject of the meeting was Critical Race Theory. Apparently, Yoo felt emboldened by the right-wing attendees and discussions with Van De Merke, and subsequently went on right-leaning racist rant. Sources are telling HMG-CN that the Cerritos Republican Club has a video of the meeting, but will not release it to the public. Yoo started off by alleging that Planned Parenthood “was after our kids. Right now, they can leave campus and get an abortion.” That is untrue, ABCUSD kids cannot leave campus without permission. A discussion about slavery surfaced, and, according to at-
tendees, Yoo stated, “our children shouldn’t feel bad about something that happened 200 years ago, we need to get over that.” Another discussion ensued about board member cooperation, with Yoo’s subsequent statement violating ethics policies of the board. “I will even work with Democrats on the board to get things done.” The board is by statute, bipartisan, any mention of politics violates ethics policies and the member can be censured. But the most controversial
See ABCUSD page 12
Pico Rivera Places Moratorium on Smoke Shops BY BRIAN HEWS At their Tuesday meeting, the Pico Rivera City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved a moratorium on smoke shops in the city for at least 45 days from Tuesday, Sep. 28 and probably longer, while city staff writes policies and procedures to regulate the shops. A smoke shop is a place that allots more than 15% of floor space to the sale of tobacco or tobacco products, smoking devices, electronic cigarettes, or drug paraphernalia, Carmona
See SMOKE page 12
HELP TO FIX POOL: Senator Bob Archuleta was joined by Pico Rivera City Manager Steve Carmona; Mayor Pro Tem Monica Sanchez and others to celebrate the budget win of $1M to repair the Olympicsize swimming pool located at the Smith Park Aquatic Center.
Kim Ortega, Au.D, (r) owner of the Whittier Hearing Center, with a patient who received free hearing aids. Page 6.
Lakewood Car Wash Will Hold Halloween Ghosts and ghouls will pop out throughout the wash, with additional surprises each night. Page 7.