T.A. Hendrickson

Goings on in NELA: November 2019

11/02/201912/01/2019 T.A. Hendrickson5823

This Editor’s Notebook contains fun things to do, important things to know, ways to get involved and events to put on your calendar.

Editor’s Notebook: July 2019

06/29/201909/02/2019 T.A. Hendrickson6365

The Editor’s Notebook contains fun things to do, important things to know, ways to get involved and events to put on your calendar.

Editor’s Notebook: June 2019

06/01/201909/02/2019 T.A. Hendrickson6114

The Editor’s Notebook contains fun things to do, important things to know, ways to get involved and events to put on your calendar.

Editor’s Notebook: May 2019

04/28/201909/02/2019 T.A. Hendrickson52961 Comment

The Editor’s Notebook contains fun things to do, important things to know, ways to get involved and events to put on your calendar.

Editor’s Notebook: April 2019

03/31/201904/28/2019 T.A. Hendrickson4793

The Editor’s Notebook contains fun things to do, important things to know, ways to get involved and events to put on your calendar.

Will Abuse Scandal at Shambhala International Affect Local Outpost?

07/29/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2507

The Shambhala Center in Eagle Rock is an outpost of Shambhala International, one of the largest Buddhist meditation organizations in the West. Last month, Shambhala International was rocked when its leader, Mipham Rinpoche, took a leave amid allegations that he had sexually abused some women in the organization. The governing council of the organization, headquartered […]

Summer Trips to Write Home About

06/29/201807/02/2018 T.A. Hendrickson39511 Comment

Summer vacation for some of NELA’s brightest high schoolers includes travel to enrich their intellectual lives. Mia Bella Pardo, 17, of Eagle Rock, just returned from the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Massachusetts, a three-day program of medical lectures, academic advice and networking with physicians, scientists, deans and fellow high school students who aspire […]

The Park After Dark

06/29/201806/29/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2068

The Park After Dark There’s free fun for the entire family at Summer Night Lights, a public/private program that keeps L.A.’s parks and recreation centers open, well-lit, well-patrolled and full of activity from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the summer. In addition to organized sports, there are arts and crafts, games and recreation as […]

Good News for Community College Students

07/28/201807/28/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2072

The University of California has offered admission this fall to 28,750 transfer students, a record number, UC officials said in July. Most of these students are California residents transferring from community colleges. That is an encouraging development for the large share of students who start college at the community level. In NELA, for example, 300 […]

Activists in NELA Continue to Take On the NRA

06/02/2018 T.A. Hendrickson20792 Comments

Drain the NRA, the anti-gun violence group co-founded by Laura Mannino of Highland Park, has notched another success: On May 9, the $225 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) adopted a gun-control policy developed by John Chiang, the California state treasurer, and promoted by Drain the NRA. Under the new policy, CalSTRS will pressure […]

On the College Front

06/30/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2347

Tally of NELA’s College-Bound Seniors Increases The Boulevard Sentinel’s tally in June of high-school graduates found that 654 out of 901 were college bound from four local high schools: Eagle Rock High in Eagle Rock, Franklin High in Highland Park, and Renaissance Arts Academy and Alliance Environmental Science and Technology, both in Glassell Park. Since […]

Shootings Rattle Highland Park

06/02/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2720

NELA Councilmember Gil Cedillo and the Los Angeles Police Department will hold a community meeting on Tuesday, June 5 to discuss concerns and issues in Highland Park. The meeting will be at St. Ignatius Catholic Church at 322 N. Avenue 61 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will be a lot to talk about, […]

Gang Member Is Sentenced for Racist Attacks in Highland Park

06/30/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2987

Merced Cambero, Jr., a member of the Avenues gang, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for hate crimes committed against African Americans in Highland Park from 1997 to 2000. The gang’s crime spree included two murders. The sentencing, on June 4, was a long time coming. Mr. Cambero was charged in 2004, […]

The Ref Rodriguez Chronicles

06/02/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2244

The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council (ERNC) has added its voice to the chorus calling for Ref Rodriguez to resign his position as NELA’s representative on the Los Angeles school board. In a letter sent to Mayor Garcetti on May 14, the ERNC said it had lost confidence in Mr. Rodriguez to fulfill his duties and […]

A Tally of NELA’s College Bound Seniors

06/02/201806/29/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2919

For the first time in its long history, Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park will have two valedictorians in a graduating class. Henry Gomez and Raymond Hernandez have tied for the honor this year, based on their grade point averages and the rigor of their coursework. Mr. Gomez will attend UC, San Diego in […]

Union Blues: A Victory for Local Labor, Then a Setback

07/28/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2168

When unionized service workers at public schools in Los Angeles won a hard-fought new contract in May, their leader, Max Arias, of El Sereno, told the Boulevard Sentinel that the union could not rest on its laurels. Union members had to remain united and active, he said, because anti-union forces were strong and getting stronger. Sure […]

Guilty Plea in Racially Motivated Murders in Highland Park Nearly 20 Years Ago

04/29/2018 T.A. Hendrickson3002

A violent chapter in Highland Park history is coming to a close. Merced Cambero, Jr., 39, who was captured last year after almost 15 years on the run, recently pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes stemming from attacks on African Americans in Highland Park, including two murders, from 1997 to 2000. Mr. Cambero, a member […]

Get to Know: Julian Bermudez

04/29/201811/30/2018 T.A. Hendrickson46151 Comment

An international achievement is unfolding in connection with Bermudez Projects, an art space on Cypress Avenue in Cypress Park founded in 2017 by Julian Bermudez, a curator and longtime resident of the neighborhood. The mission of Bermudez Projects – which functions partly as a gallery, partly as a museum and partly as a community […]

Tim Tritch, our Publisher

Letter from the Publisher

09/01/201909/01/2019 T.A. Hendrickson27141 Comment

When I first saw this issue of the Boulevard Sentinel all put together, it occurred to me that many of the stories in its pages could have gone on the front page. T.A. Hendrickson, the editor of the Boulevard Sentinel, told me that the fire in Eagle Rock and Glendale bumped a story about the […]

Get to Know: Laura Mannino

04/01/201804/29/2018 T.A. Hendrickson4384

Since the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla. left 17 dead, several major retailers have imposed stricter rules on gun sales and dozens of companies have cut their ties with the member-benefits program of the National Rifle Association. One of the groups in the forefront of making that happen is Drain the NRA, […]

Scholarship Money for Speech Contest Participant

04/01/201804/01/2018 T.A. Hendrickson1964

When the Boulevard Sentinel last reported on Andrew Charroux, of Highland Park, the high schooler had added $900 to his college fund by winning the American Legion Oratorical Contest at the Post and Area level. As a runner up in the state competition in March, he added another $700, for total winnings of $1,600. Students […]

Turning Parking Lots into Housing

04/01/201804/29/2018 T.A. Hendrickson18781 Comment

The difficult politics around housing was on display recently as Councilmember Gil Cedillo was booed and heckled at a public meeting in Lincoln Heights to discuss transforming five of the neighborhood’s city-owned parking lots into housing. The exact type of housing is not yet determined, but the city’s main goal is to provide housing for […]

Still Rocking the Boulevard

04/01/201804/01/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2104

NELA residents continued to Rock the Boulevard last month. At the second meeting in March of Rock the Boulevard, a public private partnership to improve Eagle Rock Blvd., some 60 residents broke into groups of 10. Each group was assigned a two-to-three block long stretch of the boulevard to rethink and redesign in terms of […]

Community Input Is Sought on Improvement Plan for Eagle Rock Blvd.

02/07/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson3291

The future of Eagle Rock Boulevard will be like the present, only more of it, as taller and larger residential construction replaces the corridor’s low slung commercial buildings. To believe otherwise is to not believe your own eyes. But in one way, the future need not be like the present. Eagle Rock Blvd. can be […]

NELA’s River Park: More Ideas, More Challenges

03/12/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson1954

City officials used an online survey last month to ask the public for ideas on how to transform the G2 industrial site in Cypress Park into a riverside park. The Boulevard Sentinel got a sneak preview of NELA’s wishes when it posted a link to the survey on the its Facebook page, prompting a wave […]

Armed Robberies in NELA: New Details Emerge

02/07/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2581

A preliminary hearing in criminal court on Jan. 19 determined that there is enough evidence to proceed in the case against Sean Thomas King, 36, the man accused of several armed robberies in NELA in November, and Sabrina Casillas, 44, who has been charged with driving the getaway car. The pair is due back in […]

Camilo’s Bistro in Eagle Rock Closes

02/02/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson2817

Camilo and Amelia Gonzalez, the owners of Camilo’s Bistro in Eagle Rock, announced in an email on Jan. 19 that they had closed the restaurant. The email said that rising operating costs, personal illness and complications and the decline in business income had forced the closure after 18 years in business.

Fire Updates for NELA

02/01/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson19131 Comment

The cause of the fire on Dec. 14 in the hills near Occidental College is “undetermined,” according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. An “undetermined” label means that no specific cause can be established from two or more possible causes, though none of the possibilities indicate a fire intentionally set by someone. The LAFD has […]

Durazo Blankets NELA with Campaign Billboards

03/02/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson28271 Comment

The primary election for California state senator for the 24th Senate district is not until June and the final vote is in November, but billboards have begun appearing all over town for Maria Elena Durazo, a former, longtime union leader of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, who declared her candidacy nearly a year ago.

Get to Know: Deborah Murphy

03/13/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson41451 Comment

Last January, some 75 Eagle Rock stakeholders met Deborah Murphy when she ran the kickoff meeting for Rock the Boulevard, a public-private initiative to upgrade the roadway and sidewalks of Eagle Rock Blvd. It’s safe to say they were duly impressed, as Ms. Murphy, an urban designer/planner, guided them with expertise and enthusiasm through the […]

Find Help. Find Hope. Coping with Mental Illness in NELA

03/15/201803/31/2018 T.A. Hendrickson3678

If you or someone you love has depression, anxiety or another mental illness, you don’t have to face the challenges and struggles alone. Here are some resources. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, sponsors free, confidential support groups in and near Northeast Los Angeles, where you can […]