Kim McGill's Camayak portfolio

Trial in murder of El Camino student Juan Hernandez continued until 2024

Jailen Commissiong (center) speaks with his attorney outside Department 117 on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown L.A. Commissiong has been subpoenaed to testify as a witness for the prosecution, but told The Union he knows nothing about what caused the disappearance and death ...

One of three defendants accused in the murder of El Camino engineering student Juan Carlos Hernandez and a witness were in court Sept. 13, for the trial's jury selection scheduling, slated now for next year. Juan Hernandez, who would have turned 25 next month, first disappeared on Sept. 22, 2020, never returning home from his job as a budtender at...

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Top 5 haunted places close to ECC: From downtown L.A. to the South Bay, here’s where you are most likely to encounter a ghost

The Pico House located at 424 N. Main St. in Los Angeles, pictured here on Nov. 13, 2022, is the site where several vicious attacks occurred just outside the hotel’s entrance during the 1871 Chinese Massacre. (Kim McGill | Warrior Life)

1. The Pico House, location of the 1871 Chinese Massacre, one of the deadliest mass lynchings in U. S. historyThe Pico House at 424 N. Main St. in Los Angeles, 90012 is the site where several vicious attacks occurred just outside the hotel’s entrance during the 1871 Chinese Massacre. Guests and staff have reported angry encounters with the ghosts of...

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My life as an oyster: Searching for gender identity

As a little kid, I wanted to be a boy. I mean, I was fully committed. The first time I got suspended from school was in preschool, because for a week I refused to sit down when I went to the bathroom. We all had to line up to pee at the same times every day. So, everyone saw this...

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By Kim McGill + 1 other for ECC Union - 29 min read

The Naked Truth: Art models at El Camino inspire students to portray humanity in all its forms

J.J. Cole (center) models in a life drawing class at El Camino College on April 4, as students Hyekyung Kim (left) and Fumie Coello (lower right) paint his portrait. Cole has worked as an art model for 25 years after retiring from a career as a professional dancer in Houston, ...

*This article contains nude photos and illustrations. Jonathan Beck slides quietly into the large, concrete classroom that smells of paint and dust and maneuvers his way through a jungle of heavy iron drafting easels and metal chairs. Dodging discarded charcoal and pencil lead scattered across the floor and avoiding eye contact with the strangers gathered there, he steps carefully onto...

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Sniffing butts has never been better: Bob the Dog reports on the five best dog parks near ECC - dog tested, dog approved

Sniffing butts has never been better than at Redondo Beach Dog Park, seen here on November 11, 2022, and four other dog parks close to ECC according to Bob the Dog who visited and compared ten dog parks from South L.A. to the South Bay. (Kim McGill | Warrior Life)

Humans across SoCal love dogs. I know this because I’m a dog named Bob living in Watts, and the city of L. A. spends more to protect stray dogs than it does to protect young people. (Really. Save the humans.)Still, it can be hard to find a safe and fun place to play – free of leashes, traffic and those...

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How I messed up my mom’s memorial

My mom died 11 years ago. I miss her all day, every day. When she died, I had only one important job at the memorial her friends organized. I needed to speak about what my mom meant to me and so many others. I had written down what I wanted to say. But someone unexpected showed up, and in my...

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Sunken City, San Pedro, serves as a warning for coastal communities

On the inside of the barrier wall that people jump to enter Sunken City — between communities still intact and the desolation of a neighborhood that slid into the sea — a graffiti writer created a chubby-blue water drop with hollow, mournful eyes, seen here on April 22, 2023. The ...

Editor's Note: This project was supported by California Humanities Emerging Journalist Fellowship Program. For more information, visit www.calhum.org. Any views or findings expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities. On the morning of April 11, the fog clung to the coast of San Pedro like thick oatmeal that...

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Tiny aquarium leads charge to heal California’s coasts

The aquatic nursery at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, Calif. on April 11, where scientists are raising critically endangered species that can be reintroduced to the wild, including the white abalone. Native to Southern and Baja California, the marine snail was the first invertebrate to be included on the ...

Editor's Note: This project was supported by California Humanities Emerging Journalist Fellowship Program. For more information, visit www.calhum.org. Any views or findings expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities. On the southern end of Los Angeles County in the heart of San Pedro is a little aquarium doing...

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El Camino out of compliance with state law to prevent opioid overdose deaths

Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and is often added to other drugs to cause a more potent high, including heroin and methamphetamine. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) “were the main ...

El Camino College is currently out of compliance with a new state law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, mandating the distribution of the life-saving overdose drug, Naloxone. California’s Campus Opioid Safety Act — Senate Bill 367 — authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado, “requires the governing board of each community college district and the trustees of the California...

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Justice for Cookie

On Sept. 22, 2020, 21-year-old El Camino College engineering student Juan Hernandez left the apartment where he lived nearly his whole life with his mom, stepfather and brothers on Adams Boulevard in South Central Los Angeles to drive to his job at VIP Collective Marijuana Dispensary at 8113 S. Western Ave. He never came home. This is not just another...

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