Veteran educator and little-known political newcomer John McGinnis defeated the Long Beach political establishment Tuesday by outpolling heavily endorsed Richard Lewis and three other candidates to win the school board seat vacated by the resignation of Michael Shane Ellis.
Turnout for the oddly timed, single-district election was terrible—only 2,159 out of 35,950 registered voters—and allowed McGinnis [...]

NAACP PRESENTS DEC. 15 FORUM FOR SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES
Lest you forget, this holiday season is also an election season—five people are running toward the Dec. 29 election to choose the District 3 representative on the Long Beach Unified school board—and the NAACP is offering a political alternative to holiday shopping: a debate among the candidates.
The forum [...]

How to build one hell-monster of a city

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
It was a stark and dorky night, and young James C. Hankla was alone (as per usual) in his native Wilmington, the so-called Heart of the Harbor, when a fiendish plan seeped from his feverish brain, a diabolical scheme to transform Long Beach, the well-known [...]

School board candidate makes further statement on carpetbagger allegation
Someone else reads The District Weekly’s website: school board candidate Kate Erin Conrath—one of five hopefuls who aim to replace the recently-resigned Michael Shane Ellis on the Long Beach Unified Board of Education. And after reading my cover story on the District 3 race in Wednesday’s newspaper, [...]

A candidate in the contest to replace Michael Ellis faces the same accusation Ellis did three years ago: carpetbagger
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the voting booth, the contest to replace former Long Beach Unified Board of Education member Michael Shane Ellis looms Dec. 29. And—call this Ellis II: Electric [...]

For the second time in a little over a year, the cops have been called to her office at city hall. Do we need to be concerned, councilwoman?

PHOTO by DANIEL DE BOOM
By Dave Wielenga and Theo Douglas
Long Beach’s budget was out of balance again, and everyone at city hall was pressed to reduce expenses. When [...]

Tuesday may be a big day in Long Beach education history.
The Press-Telegram’s Kevin Butler reports that’s the day the Long Beach Board of Education “may declare vacant the seat of controversial school board member Michael Shane Ellis and order a special election in December to pick a replacement.”
These are all possibilities Long Beach Unified School [...]

Eight days after The District Weekly was first to report news of a $15,000 bench warrant for his arrest, Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education member Michael Shane Ellis has said he will resign effective Sept. 1.
Here’s coverage of Ellis’s Aug. 5 letter of resignation, on LBReport.com and in the Press-Telegram, whose Kevin [...]

The Press-Telegram’s Kevin Butler writes in Thursday’s newspaper about Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education member Michael Shane Ellis’s $15,000 bench warrant.
That’s the warrant Ellis has had out for 11 months now–the warrant which, as Butler points out in his story, which The District Weekly was first to report about online Tuesday night [...]

School board trustee Michael Shane Ellis has had a warrant out for his arrest since last summer.
Since taking office in July 2006, Long Beach Unified School District board of education member Michael Shane Ellis has–like every school board trustee–been paid $18,000 a year by the district just to attend board of education meetings.
Trustees also receive [...]