Category: News

Annual Club Rush transitions to Zoom

Story by Sofia Alva Staff Writer Photo by Oscar Walsh Staff Photographer Clubs have adapted from their typical in-person meetings to a virtual setting as distance learning continues, and ASB held the annual student-led Club Rush through Zoom for the first time since its creation. Each club presented in its own breakout room instead of […]

Finance Director Karen Aceves resigns from City post

Story by Sofia Alva Staff Writer Photo by Katelyn Hernandez  Staff Photographer South Pasadena Finance Director Karen Aceves announced her resignation effective immediately on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The reasoning for Aceves’ resignation is still unclear, though it comes after City Manager Stephanie DeWolfe left the City a few weeks earlier. In 2017, the City hired Aceves, who […]

Man drives truck onto sidewalk near BLM protestors

Story by Lilian ZhuStaff Writer Photo courtesy of Black Lives Matter South Pasadena Contributor A white middle-aged man drove onto the sidewalk at the corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and Mission Street where Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors were demonstrating shortly after 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3. SPPD arrived at the scene and talked to the […]

Residents question SPPD’s ties to anti-LGBTQ+ hate group

Story by Sofia Alva Staff Writer Photo by Tony Chen  Contributor Community members are calling for an investigation into the SPPD for its planned public prayer event with an anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ+ hate group that was set to be held at City Hall on Saturday, Sept. 26.  Police Chief Joe Ortiz sent an email (attached below) […]

School Board opposes wellness day in spite of widespread community support

Story by Eddie Zhou Staff Writer Photo by SPUSD Contributor The South Pasadena School Board declined to implement a wellness day despite strong support from teachers, parents, and students at a special Board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Board members voted to submit the current Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan (LCAP) to the Los Angeles […]

Four SPHS students become National Merit Scholar semifinalists

Story by Lilian Zhu Staff Writer Photo by Katelyn Hernandez Staff Photographer Four SPHS students were announced as National Merit Scholar semifinalists last week, with dozens more earning the rank of a commended scholar. Seniors Frances Chiu, Matthew Haines, Jessica Li, and Luyang Zhang join 1,900 other California seniors who achieved the qualifying score on […]

SPHS campus resource officer position draws criticism

Story by Katie HohmanStaff Writer Photo by Helena FuContributor Having police officers on campus has become a largely unquestioned part of a student’s life, but with recent calls to defund police across the nation, more students are pushing to eliminate their School Resource Officer (SRO) and to reallocate funds towards mental health resources. In South […]

Students and teachers rally together in support of wellness day

Story by Sam Grotenstein Staff Writer Photo by Ella Jayasekera Photo Editor Teachers, parents, and students voiced their support for a wellness day to be incorporated into the distance learning schedule at a School Board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 23.  The purpose of the meeting was for School Board members to discuss, but not vote on, whether […]

Students demand anti-racist reforms at SPHS

Story by Lilian Zhu Staff Writer Illustration by David Sohn Staff Illustrator SPHS students spoke out against police brutality in local Black Lives Matter protests this summer and are now calling for similar anti-racist reforms at school. While SPHS has implemented several programs to encourage inclusivity in the past few years, it has not enacted  any new […]

SPUSD lays off librarians over budget cuts

Story by Quinn Manzo Staff Writer Photo courtesy of Selena Baydaline Contributor SPUSD cut the elementary school library programs and laid off the librarians in July after the coronavirus pandemic caused significant state budget cuts. Before their termination, the librarians expected that they would continue connecting with students and parents as they did during fourth quarter […]

DeWolfe retires as City Manager, Fire Chief Riddle assumes interim position

Story by Eddie ZhouStaff Writer Photo by Katelyn HernandezStaff Photographer City Manager Stephanie DeWolfe retired from South Pasadena effective Saturday, Sept. 12. Fire Chief Paul Riddle has assumed the position of acting City Manager until the City Council appoints a permanent one.  DeWolfe has been at the center of intense scrutiny over the management of the […]

Care First group calls for defunding SPPD

Story by Sofia Alva  Staff Writer Photo by Ella Jayasekera Photography Editor Graphic by Charlotte Cohen Staff Graphic Designer The global movement for police accountability has inspired local protests and initiatives to defund the police, including resident-led group Care First South Pasadena. Partnered with activist organization South Pasadena Youth for Police Reform (SPY4PR), the group has worked […]

Speech and Debate team host “Know Your Rights” voting workshop

Story by Kahlen Miao  Staff Writer Graphic courtesy of Nicole Lu Contributor The SPHS Speech and Debate team held its first “Know Your Rights” session on Saturday, Sept. 12 to inform participants about their voting rights. The program covered voter suppression, the electoral college, how to vote, and also featured guest speaker Samuel Liu, Chief of […]

SPHS hosts virtual Back to School Night for parents

Story by Quinn Manzo   Staff Writer Photo by Ella Jayasekera Photography Editor SPHS transitioned its annual Back to School Night online on Thursday, Sept. 10, where teachers introduced themselves to parents in ten minute Zoom sessions.  Teachers emailed out introductory presentations and class syllabi prior to the event and then distributed Zoom links to parents on […]

ASB releases annual SAC Assembly video

Story by Georgia Parsons  Staff Writer Photo by Eliot Correll Contributor ASB kicked off its first assembly of the year with the annual SAC Assembly via a YouTube video this Friday, Sept. 11. The 15 minute video featured skits by the commissioners promoting the sales of the student activites card and other school club and program […]

CREATIONS promotes mental wellbeing among SPHS students

Story by Georgia Parsons  Staff Writer Photo by Ella Jayasekera Photography Editor Seniors Kimberly Hsueh and Andrew Cheung hosted CREATIONS, a mental health and wellbeing student program, via Zoom the week of Monday, Aug. 31 to Thursday, Sept. 3. Each day consisted of stress-relieving icebreakers, informative presentations, and discussion opportunities all aimed at helping students learn […]

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