Thesouthbound105

Cover photo: File photo (classroom; not Gompers or Edison) by Mercedes Steph , CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons; cropped, darkened and text added by The Southbound 105. By The Southbound 105 | Oct. 3, 2026 LONG BEACH — Long Beach Unified School District said Thursday that it expects to close Gompers Elementary School in Lakewood and Edison Elementary School in downtown Long Beach at the end of the school year, saying both campuses are under-enrolled, the Long Beach Post reported. The proposal goes to the district's Board of Education as an information item at its Oct. 7 meeting. The board is expected to vote Oct. 21. Falling enrollment, shrinking reserves LBUSD enrollment dipped below 60,000 students this year, the first time it has crossed that threshold since the early 1980s. As enrollment declines, so does school funding. In a recent budget report, the district said it expects to draw nearly $45 million from its reserves this school year, its third straight year of de...

Cover photo: File photo (store checkout) by Nielsoncaetanosalmeron , CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons; cropped, darkened and text added by The Southbound 105. By The Southbound 105 | Oct. 3, 2026 LOS ANGELES — Shoppers across Los Angeles County started paying a higher sales tax Thursday, Oct. 1, when Measure ER raised the countywide base rate by half a cent, from 9.75% to 10.25%. For every $100 in taxable purchases, the increase adds 50 cents in tax, NBC Los Angeles reported. Groceries, prescription medications and medical equipment are exempt. Because California sales taxes stack, cities with their own local add-ons now have combined rates of 11% or more. According to rates published by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and compiled by FOX 11, Lancaster and Palmdale are now the highest in the county at 11.75%. Santa Fe Springs is at 11.5%. Santa Monica, South Gate, Culver City, Compton and several other cities are at 11.25%, and Long Beach, Pasadena, Glenda...

Cover photo: Rennett Stowe , CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons; cropped, darkened and text added by The Southbound 105. File photo of the Antelope Valley; not the scene. By The Southbound 105 | Oct. 2, 2026 LANCASTER — The two people whose remains were found buried on a remote Lancaster property Sept. 29 have been identified as Ricky Phillips, 61, and Edward Perez, 46, both of the Lancaster area. The Los Angeles County medical examiner released their names Thursday, Oct. 1, and the Sheriff's Department confirmed the identifications, the Los Angeles Times reported. Both men had been reported missing in September. The Sheriff's Department said Phillips was reported missing Sept. 10 and Perez on Sept. 19. NBC Los Angeles reported that the department issued a missing-person bulletin for Phillips on Sept. 11, saying he was last seen Aug. 30 in the 44900 block of 10th Street West. Search at the property is over The search at the roughly 15-acre property near East Avenue F and 5...