Long Beach names 2025 Youth Poet Laureate

Ezequiel Correa, 17, will serve as this year’s Youth Poet Laureate, the city announced earlier this week.
Correa, alongside other finalists for this year’s competition, performed their work during a ceremony at Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library on Saturday, May 17.
As Youth Poet Laureate, Correa will serve a one-year term and receive a $1,500 scholarship. The YPL, throughout the year, will represent Long Beach’s youth at public events, lead creative workshops, and promote literary engagement,...

Long Beach’s Jordan, Millikan High Schools celebrate class of 2025

Graduation ceremonies for Long Beach Unified School District seniors are officially underway, with both Jordan and Millikan high schools sending off their classes of 2025 this week.
The Jordan High Panthers kicked off the festivities on Tuesday, June 10, with 496 seniors celebrating their achievements at Long Beach City College’s Veterans Stadium.
Jordan principal Keisha Irving-Holder kicked off the Tuesday ceremony by acknowledging the impacts recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement rai...

5th annual Juneteenth celebration returns to Long Beach this weekend

Long Beach’s popular Juneteenth celebration will return to Rainbow Lagoon Park, in downtown, this weekend.
The free event — featuring music and dance performances, food and drink, cultural installations, and more — will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 14.
Juneteenth commemorates the date — June 19, 1865 — when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Blac...

Faith leaders decry ICE operation in Downey Memorial Christian Church parking lot

Faith leaders gathered at Downey Memorial Christian Church on Wednesday, June 11, to decry the detention of an unidentified man on their property earlier that day.
The man, described as a dark-skinned man with dark hair who only spoke Spanish, was taken into custody by law enforcement dressed in plainclothes who refused to identify themselves or produce a warrant for the man’s arrest on Wednesday, according to church leaders.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration a...

Hundreds gather at Long Beach Civic Center to protest ICE, urge more money for Justice Fund

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Long Beach Civic Center on Tuesday, June 10, to protest recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the Los Angeles area and to ask the City Council to allocate additional money to a local fund supporting legal services for immigrants.
The gathering began with about 100 people at Harvey Milk Park in downtown Long Beach, where demonstrators gathered before marching to the Civic Center, just a few blocks down the road.
Robert Marquez, with...

California’s political leaders call for end to federal immigration action in LA

Political leaders representing Los Angeles County and other jurisdictions across California asked President Donald Trump on Monday, June 9, to put an end to federal immigration action in and around the L.A. area.
Representatives from the California State Assembly, including Speaker Robert Rivas and Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, D-Inglewood, said the administration’s federalizing of the National Guard in L.A., among other recent actions, are unconstitutional.
“What we are seeing — raids without c...

Torrance Elementary fourth grader detained by ICE, set to be deported

A Torrance Elementary School fourth grader, alongside his 50-year-old father, have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — and will soon be deported.
The 9-year-old Martir Garcia Lara and his father, Martir Garcia-Banegas, were taken into custody at the Enforcement and Removal Operations Los Angeles field office on Thursday, May 29, according to an ICE spokesperson.
Garcia Lara and his father, ICE said, entered the U.S. illegally in 2021.
“An immigration judge ordered the fam...

Athletes compete for top honors at 2025 Special Olympics in Long Beach

More than 1,300 athletes and coaches took to Long Beach over the weekend to participate in the 2025 iteration of the Southern California Special Olympics.
The festivities kicked off on Friday, June 6, with the Special Olympics opening ceremony at Cal State Long Beach’s Walter Pyramid. After that, the games took place on Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8.
Athletes competed for medals and ribbons in five different sports, including track and field, basketball, bocce, flag football and swimming. This y...

More than 1,300 athletes will compete in Southern California Special Olympics this weekend

The Southern California Special Olympics will return to Long Beach this weekend — with more than 1,300 athletes and coaches set to compete in this year’s games.
The festivities will kick off on Friday, June 6, with the Special Olympics opening ceremony at Cal State Long Beach’s Walter Pyramid at 6:30 p.m.
Besides celebrating this year’s athletes, the opening ceremony will also feature the traditional cauldron lighting, which serves as the official start of the competition and marks the end of th...
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