Long Beach City College quarterback Wyatt McCauley threw for 4 touchdowns in the Vikings blowout 52-21 victory against Santa Ana at Long Beach City College.
Part of the standout performance of McCualey included a fifty nine yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Owen Tomich.
“We threw a team together real fast, and now we’re starting to gel because we’ve been practicing during the bye week and have just done a lot of team bonding and getting to know each other,” Viking head coach Marques Cooper said.
The Vikings gain extra yards to get a first down in the homecoming matchup against Santa Ana. LBCC won 52-21 on Saturday at Long Beach City. (Dezaray Jimenez)
The Vikings were able to expose the Santa Ana defense throughout the game, throwing 6 passing touchdowns, 4 of which were over 40 yards.
“We have great players, we played hard and just stuck to the game plan,” LBCC tight end Kyle Brown said.
As the entire LBCC squad starts playing with more energy and precision, it pays off in all aspects as six different players are able to score touchdowns in the match.
They created an early lead as a result of their incredibly strong defense that stopped both the running and passing game of Santa Ana.
“I love our defense. Our defense always puts us in good positions, it’s just up to the offense to go out and score,” Viking wide receiver Ike White said.
Vikings wide receiver Ike White, left, celebrates his touchdown with running back Imari Conway during a game against Santa Ana College. LBCC won 52-21 on Saturday at LBCC’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach. (Bella Schultz)
This is the Vikings first victory at home since the season started, but the change in performance for the squad is due to a different approach by coach Cooper.
“We had a few sessions in which we didn’t even do football. We played ultimate frisbee, just a unity and team building type of thing,” Coach Cooper said.
The team-first approach to coaching has completely shifted the momentum for this Viking team.
“I think we got more of a team over the course of the weeks, we’ve been getting close and have more chemistry throughout the games,” Tight end Kyle Brown said.
Every part of the Viking team was functioning properly even LBCC’s kicker Ethan Smithlin was able to put in some numbers scoring seven extra points and a field goal.
The Vikings will face Ventura at home for their final home game of the season on Nov. 1 at 3:00 p.m.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story provided an incorrect time and incorrectly stated Rosa Martinez’s job title.
Formerly incarcerated students will speak about their struggles in the justice system and experiences of transitioning from community college to university at a transfer event panel on Thursday, hosted by LBCC’s Justice Scholars Program.
“Through the experiences of our graduates and other formerly incarcerated students, we hope they’re inspired. Each panelist has their own unique story, and we want students to see they are not alone as they walk this journey through higher education,” said Rosa Martinez, Justice Scholars program specialist.
The panel will be open for anyone to attend and will be held from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Liberal Arts Campus in Building W, Room 201, with attendees able to RSVP.
After the student panel, the event will have a transfer fair until 2 p.m., where reentry organizations will be present to support formerly incarcerated students as they transition back into society after prison.
A program that will be present is Project Rebound, which aims to help formerly incarcerated students to apply to and transfer to Cal States, assisting with applications, questions about the campuses and to point students to resources at their prospective campus.
Other reentry programs will be there to help with employment, housing, addiction, guilt and shame, and coping with family separation.
The Justice Scholars Program serves formerly incarcerated, system-involved, and system-impacted students, supporting them from application to graduation.
“Everyone’s different, but with (JSP), I’m not different. I can do this, I can succeed. Whatever resources they can provide, whether it’s a cup of coffee in the morning to put some pep in your step, a snack, or a safe place to sit down and study, do homework, or just someone to talk to, they’re there ,” said Jason Hagan, a first-semester student.
Hagan spent half of his life in prison. Being in and out of trouble and still on parole, coming back to school was “one of the most positive things” he’s done in his life.
Many rising scholars who have made that first step to return to school have had similar experiences, feeling scared and unsure if they belong. One student even expressed that it was more intimidating walking on campus than walking in a prison yard.
“I was an addict for 30 years, from juvenile to adulthood. I got sober, but I was still struggling. I was having negative thoughts, and I said, ‘Let me go back to school,’ and that’s what I did. But it was hard at first. I came with a completely different vocabulary, oftentimes people would report me, saying, ‘This guy’s conversations are not conducive to a college campus.’ But then I met people like Rosa Martinez, who showed me a different way, how to better conduct myself in an environment I was never exposed to,” said Brian Keith Burten, an LBCC student who works for JSP.
Efrain Lopez, an LBCC alumni who transferred to Cal State Long Beach will be speaking at the event, and he shared his struggles entering education after incarceration.
Coming out of prison, he knew nothing about college or the process of signing up for classes and financial aid and felt uncomfortable talking to people who didn’t understand his struggles.
“Being able to talk to people like Sara and Rosa, who understood me, that was a significant part of my educational journey,” said Lopez. “There were so many times I felt like I bothered people. Other programs I asked for help would direct me to their website. I’d think, ‘Wait a minute, I’m asking these questions because I don’t know how to navigate these websites.’ They just didn’t understand that I wasn’t as tech-savvy as others.”
A mundane task like logging into a computer may be simple for the average student, but for those who just served a 10-year sentence, it’s a whole new world.
Terms like “student portals” and “online courses” are unfamiliar to students returning to school after incarceration.
“College is way different than it was about 13 years ago. … When I was in school 10 years ago, I was struggling, and they didn’t have places to take showers or safe places to sleep in my car. Now there are programs and counselors who will sit with you one-on-one and assist you as you transition from life on the streets,” said Annette Hernandez, a returning student and friend of Burten.
Participants will be able to hear more in-depth about the experiences and struggles of formerly incarcerated transfer students at the panel.
The Viking News reported Tuesday after a sailplane made an emergency landing at a Heartwell Park youth soccer training area, scattering debris and striking a female pedestrian in her 40s who was walking her dog.
Nearby residents, parents of youth soccer and baseball players and kids in jerseys gathered around the downed plane, and shared their thoughts on the crash.
Players from a girls youth soccer team and two parents look at the crashed sailplane at Heartwell Park in Long Beach on Tuesday. (Diosa Hippolyta)
“We were at Lakewood High School watching my son’s freshman game, we were playing Poly High School. All of the parents, all of a sudden, we saw this plane was super low,” Jillian Bates, a resident near the park, said.
“They thought maybe it crashed into a house because it disappeared, then all of a sudden there were lights and sirens. After the 44 years I have lived here, I have never seen anything like this,” Bates said.
Most bystanders at the scene were unaware of what exactly happened and did not witness the crash, but were surprised to see a downed plane among fields of children practicing youth sports and expressed concerns about safety.
“It’s scary… I think we have to start being aware of our surroundings and look up,” said Elizabeth Lopez-Dean, who was watching her two daughters, ages 8 and 10, practice near the wreckage site.
Speculation from bystanders included pilot error and weather issues having been the cause of the crash.
“He hit hard because he broke the gear off of (the aircraft). It’s pretty hard to break the gear off of one of those things,” Don Thomson, resident and Long Beach City College Flight Program alumni said.
Brittney Spyrs, a mother of two, expressed concern regarding the reasons for the crash and was initially fearful that helicopters were overhead searching for someone, and didn’t go outside to investigate.
“It’s scary, we are out here on Thursdays playing baseball right on that field,” Spyrs said.
The “Voices of Rock” concert featured a combination of choral vocals, modern contemporary music and a rock n’ roll sound by the Viking Chorale, Viking Singers and the official rock band on Oct. 12 in the Bob and Barbara Ellis Auditorium on LAC.
The concert opted for a contemporary pop and rock-themed performance dominated by electric guitars, screamo, and headbanging, which marked a departure from the usual orchestral sound these concerts typically feature.
“I’ve been trying to mix things up a bit for students and myself,” director Skye Angulo said.
The idea of a rock concert came to Angullo after the mid-semester musical theater concert last semester.
“I’ve seen more contemporary pieces growing in popularity,” Angulo said.
Though the Viking Chorale and Viking Singers started with a par for the course orchestral opening song, once the LBCC Rock Band came in, the show shifted to a fully pop and rock experience.
“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay and “Creep” by Radiohead were just a few amongst the recognizable hits popular amongst more contemporary audiences performed at the concert.
Many singers also had the chance to perform solo on some songs, including LBCC adjunct professor Kellie Krueger, a former professional opera singer and professional rock vocalist.
Krueger sang “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)” by Concrete Blonde with the members of the LBCC rock band for an all-out performance of her rock-singing roots.
“It was a great experience seeing my students perform, and it was awesome performing with other students,” Krueger said.
LBCC adjunct professor Kellie Krueger strikes a pose after her performance of “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)” by Concrete Blonde at the “Voices of Rock” concert at the auditorium at LBCC. (Dom Maddan)
Other highlights of the event include the performance of rock classic “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, sung by the Viking Singing group, along with a group performance of “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire sung by the Viking Chorale.
Dancing ensued all around the auditorium for multiple portions of the concert by both the audience and performers.
“Dancing in the aisles was an experience”, said bass Viking Singer Noah Church. “It was more chill than I thought it would be.”
The concert was also seen as a great way to help the singers with their performing styles.
“It gives us a balance, it’s good for music majors to know that you have to know to sing all of it,” Angulo said.
The next LBCC music department concert will be Dec. 6, with a more traditional classical sound and a collaboration with the Korean American Music Children’s Chorus.
LBCC’s parenting hub is experiencing a shortage of Halloween costume donations, which would benefit kids of parents who can’t afford a new costume for them. Donations are now being accepted until Oct. 27.
Donation boxes for the costume swap drive are located in the EOPS offices at LAC in A-1134 and GG-217 at the TTC campus.
The original plan for the costume drive was to collect costumes through October to eventually have an event where parents can bring their children, to swap their old, outgrown costumes for new costumes.
However, the event wasn’t possible because at LAC, the donation box received only eight donations and TTC received none.
“We haven’t received any donations whatsoever and we’ve reached out to everyone,” Linda Esqueda, who is in charge of the LBCC Parenting Hub and helped organize the event, said.
Costumes that have been received will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis and available costumes will be posted on the Parenting Hub Canvas page.
Pickup for costumes will be at the Parenting Hub in BB-208 located at TTC.
Students interested in getting a costume for their kid can email Esqueda to join the LBCC Parenting Hub Canvas page and let her know they are interested.
“We’ve received really adorable costumes. We got a ladybug, some cute dresses and people have even donated baby caps for newborns,” Joanna Hernandez, another organizer of the event, said.
Esqueda mentioned that the Parenting Hub also reached out to thrift stores to ask for donations, but they have not heard back from them.
“The idea was to reduce costs for parents during the holiday season because the holidays are really busy and can get expensive,” Hernandez said.
The drive was originally planned to have a full donation swap event on Thursday at TTC, but ended up getting canceled.
“I didn’t want to have a big event and have a bunch of parents come and we don’t have enough costumes for them,” Hernandez said.
Although the swap will no longer have a full event, the donated costumes are still available for pickup.
“It’s a tough space to be in and it’s a tell of the times. It’s definitely hard to meet everybody’s needs, but we’re all doing the best we can,” Hernandez said.
Donated costumes can bring Halloween joy to kids, even if the costumes are considered “new-to-you.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had an incorrect headline, byline and caption.
Food, drinks and a place to paint and relax were provided for students and staff who attended Sip N’ Paint, celebrating Filipino American History month and Latinx Heritage month.
People were invited to come for a place to celebrate culture and cultivate community spirit for a few hours in M-114 at LAC.
Bri Pinkerton, the main event coordinator, has hosted this event for around three years, initially starting the program as a way to celebrate black history month, branched out to help represent more communities.
“This event is for us, it’s for the community. We just always want to create a safe space where people can just relax,” Pinkerton said.
The event had a spread of Filipino food for those who came to enjoy the event which included a classic staple eggroll lumpia and a beef stew called bistek.
Every person at the event was given an easel, canvas and pencil to sketch before painting, along with a stencil of a traditionally clad Filipino woman for everyone to follow.
“As a staff member, this is my third one, and it’s just a nice moment to rest and unwind. I find myself actually looking forward to it,” staff member Johnathan Tejada.
There were no strict rules to the event, those who participated could opt in to following the stencil, but were not pressured to do so, with many participants who chose to express themselves in whatever way they pleased.
“Me and my cousin always used to do the arts and crafts stuff, and painting is like an easy escape,” student Ariel Hodges said.
Pinkerton intends to continue the trend of hosting these three to five times a semester, saying “even if it’s only three to four people sometimes, it’s always fun to just relax and celebrate culture for a couple hours.”
The event was filled with students and staff of all backgrounds, and welcomed anyone, with the room filled with laughter and playful bickering.
There will be two more Sip N’ Paint events hosted in this semester to be announced at a later date, promoting the appreciation of a culturally diverse campus.
A sailplane made an emergency landing today at a Heartwell Park youth soccer training area, scattering debris and striking a female pedestrian in her 40s who was walking her dog.
According to the Long Beach Fire Department (LBFD), both the elderly pilot and pedestrian “were transported in moderate, but stable conditions” to a local hospital.
Lara Boswell, a resident next to the park, didn’t witness the crash, but saw both the pilot and pedestrian being transported.
“We saw the fire department transport two people, one was awake and the other was unconscious… I’m surprised it was able to land here with all the trees and wires,” Boswell said.
Sailplane N8183K after making an emergency landing around 4 p.m. at Heartwell Park in Long Beach, Calif. today. Nearby youth soccer and baseball teams continued training despite the crash. (Jacyn King)
Donovan Joubert, a Long Beach Police Department officer at the scene, shared that the aircraft was going east and explained how the pedestrian was hit.
“(The aircraft) clipped the pedestrian as she was walking her dog. I’m unaware if the dog is okay,” Joubert said.
The body of the aircraft was mostly intact, but the damaged landing gear and other parts of the aircraft were scattered at the crash site.
Debris from sailplane N8183K after making an emergency landing around 4 p.m. at Heartwell Park in Long Beach, Calif. today. The debris scattered across one of the soccer practice field, resulting in a large area at the park being taped off. (Diosa Hippolyta)
The plane was returning to Compton/Woodley Airport from French Valley Airport according to an update sent out by the LBFD.
An investigation as to why the aircraft made an emergency landing is still ongoing.
A police officer opens the door of his vehicle at the sailplane crash site at Heartwell Park in Long Beach, Calif. today. (Isaiah Ryan)
Center midfielder Jorge Gomez scored the only goal of the match on a penalty kick, leading Los Angeles City College to a 1-0 win over Long Beach City College on Friday.
This loss for the Vikings ended a three game win streak, proving that there is still room for improvement for the team.
“We have specific tactics that we change up for every specific team, whether they park the bus, or are a more direct team, and during the win streak, we were executing perfectly. Today, obviously, we were just a little more unfortunate,” forward Cesar Garcia Solorzano said.
Offensive miscues held the Vikings back in the final third of the field and prevented multiple good chances from developing
“I don’t think we created more than two scoring opportunities and that’s not enough to score goals,” director of soccer operations Jorge Reyes said.
Despite maintaining possession for a majority of the match, they were unable to break through the solid defense that Los Angeles City College presented.
“They were dropping back a lot. I feel like we were able to get into the attacking thirds a majority of the time, but we just couldn’t finish when we got there,” Viking midfielder Aaron Hernandez said.
The difference in size between the teams lead to difficulties in creating chances throughout the game.
“There were a lot of tall players. I would say their whole back line was over six feet tall, so we were a little unlucky on the crosses,” Solorzano said.
Beginning in their defensive third, the Vikings were successful throughout the game in communicating and passing the ball up the field.
“We need to be more aggressive, believe in each other and just let the process happen for itself, ” Hernandez said.
The Vikings will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 1:30 against Compton College.
Screens lit up with Call of Duty, League of Legends, Splatoon, Minecraft, and Roblox at LBCC’s Esports Lab, with members of the team practicing for upcoming tournaments in their favorite games.
“The actual esports players and students in the program move things forward and take initiative on their own rather than waiting to be told to do something,” said League of Legends player Correy Rodwell.
Esports is an environment for students to express themselves and show off their skills, with new teams being formed as new games release.
“Our Call of Duty team was the result of a student instead of teachers and staff, so the staff accommodated them,” Rodwell said.
The lab is Southern California’s largest esports lab, which cost $2.3 million with over 40 Alienware gaming stations, including chairs and headsets.
“As long as you want to be here, they’ll want you here too. Showing up is a big thing in the esports world,” Call of Duty player Daniel Ouk said.
The lab is open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. to all students, whether they’re on the esports team or not.
“I tried out after seeing a flyer, and so I tried out, and they picked me up and we’ve gotten this far now,” said Call of Duty player Victor Meja.
The esports team has players for more family-friendly games like Super Smash Bros and Rocket League team.
“When playing Super Smash Bros, pick a character that resonates with you, “ said Logan Martin, Super Smash Bros enthusiast.
The LBCC esports team also hosts tournaments with local high schools and other college esports programs.
The most recent Grim Cup was celebrated on Saturday, Oct 11, at 9 a.m., and they displayed a League of Legends tournament in which CSUF resulted the winners at Long Beach City College’s Esports Lab.
New and die-hard Swifties got together at Fingerprints Music and experienced a homey vibe, while Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” played in the background, on Oct. 3.
One fan at the event, who has listened to Taylor Swift since her country debut album, shared some personal stories about Taylor Swift when she was just starting her career.
“She came to my hometown in Alabama, I’m from Alabama. We have just like a festival type thing in the spring, and they called it Big Spring Jam, and people at my high school went to it, and she went to that when she was kind of like a no-name,” said Samantha Hurley.
Hurley added, “I remember she ate at our local steakhouse, and it was in our newspaper. It was a big deal, I just can’t imagine that happening now, there’s no way.”
Another fan who had been listening to Swift for 17 years since her second studio album ‘Fearless’ shared what the artist meant for her.
“It’s just crazy because it’s a person I don’t know, you know what I mean, although I feel like I know her, but I actually don’t. But I’ve just loved her music for so long, and it’s spoken so, like she’s talking to everyone, but it always feels like she’s talking directly to you. And she’s had songs for like almost every situation in my life from when I was 15 to 32, so that covers a lot of life, she’s like one of my longest relationships, it feels like. So yeah, I love her.” Sara Moussaoui said.
Moussaoui and her friends dressed up in sparkly, sequined outfits to celebrate Taylor’s new album.
Moussaoui’s friend, who is also a super fan of Taylor, shared why she decided to dress up.
“I love how confident Taylor is and so whenever she releases a new album, I try to channel my inner Taylor and feel that confidence, and so with my girls here, we decided to dress up”, said Brittany Engler.
Both Moussaoui and Engler converted their friend, who is their coworker, into a Taylor fan about two years ago. She spoke about why she gravitated towards Taylor.
“I think like the way she gets a lot of hate and women do, she gets the hate about that she writes a lot of songs about her exes, but nobody talks about how she writes about the people she loves. I think that’s really important because, at least women should see that, then eventually men could start seeing it, because I expect women to be better,” said Nidhi Mendon.
Throughout the event, fans took showgirl-inspired photos with feather fans at Fingerprints’ photobooth.
Many fans took pictures with their dogs, or even used the opportunity to take solo shots of their dogs.
Taylor Swift fan Samantha Hurley poses in a Taylor Swift themed photo area inside of Fingerprints on Oct. 3. (Liam Hollon)
Ginger Spice, a dog who attended Taylor Swift’s listening party at Fingerprints with their owner, poses while having their picture taken at the photobooth on Oct. 3. (Paloma Maciel)
The feather fans, which were the main accessory of the photobooth, were from a local burlesque dancer who is Foster’s friend. He said that she let him borrow them in exchange for Taylor’s new album.
Fans still enjoyed the event, even though it wasn’t the original plan that the store’s owner Rand Foster had in mind for the listening party.
“We got no information about this record, they held everything back and wouldn’t tell us if we were going to get the record,” Foster said.
Foster said Swift’s team informed him less than two weeks before the record came out about his store receiving product, and Target was selling the album for over three weeks before his store was allowed to.
Foster voiced that he believes Taylor’s team had a motive for delaying the product.
“They used this record, I think, to kind of force people to go to Target, in the middle of a boycott, and so even though they didn’t really do anything for us with this record, we felt like having a party was important to give people an alternative to compromising their values and go to Target,” Foster said.
Taylor’s album was released at 9 p.m. in California on Oct. 2, and Foster had originally planned the listening party at midnight on Oct. 3, but because he recieved the album mid-day on Oct. 3, the event happened in the afternoon.
Even though the listening party wasn’t right after the release of the album like Foster envisioned, the event still brought the Long Beach Swiftie community together.
A young lemonade stand vendor, Valentino Canaveral, right, hands a customer the lemonade he’s just prepared at Fingerprint’s Taylor Swift block party on Oct. 3. Canaveral tailored his menu for the event by creating lemonades named after the songs on Taylor’s new album. (Paloma Maciel)
Taylor Swift fans Mandy Horn, left, and Mari Horn, right, show tote bags they made in the store Rooted Long Beach for the Taylor Swift themed block party on Oct. 3. (Liam Hollon)
A Taylor Swift themed flyer for the block party on Bixby & Atlantic inside of Rooted Long Beach. (Liam Hollon)
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