Public memorial ceremony for Mayor Brand is Sunday
The city will hold a memorial for the late Mayor Bill Brand on March 3, at 2 p.m. at the Redondo Union High School auditorium.
Brand died Feb. 9 after nearly two terms as mayor, and two terms on city council. He had been a local activist before that, working for open space in the city as a co-founder of South Bay Parkland Conservancy, and an opponent of development projects on the waterfront and the AES power plant site. His efforts to shut down the plant culminated in a ceremony to do so on New Year’s Eve of last year.
Brand first arrived in Redondo Beach as an eight-year-old in 1966.
Up to 1,000 layoffs at Northrop Grumman after Space Force project canceled
Northrop Grumman announced Feb. 27 a pending cut of as many as 1,000 jobs in Redondo Beach. The news followed the cancellation of a classified U.S. Space Force satellite communications project.
The company filed a WARN notice with the state Employment Development Department, regarding employees at its 110-acre Space Park campus in north Redondo. Northrop Grumman spokesman Jacob Palenske said in a Feb. 27 statement that executives are looking to place affected employees into existing job openings within the company.
“A higher number of employees (received) WARN notices than may ultimately be impacted,” Palenske said.
Northrop Grumman has not revealed what categories of jobs may be cut.
The Space Force satellite program was canceled amidst preparation for the military branch’s fiscal 2025 budget. Redondo Beach is a main part of Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems group.
Report: RBUSD attendance approaches pre-pandemic numbers
Student attendance at Redondo Unified School District continues to increase in the latest report from Jens Brandt, RBUSD director of educational support, who addressed the school board Tuesday night, Feb. 27.
Attendance year-to-date for 2023-2024 is 95.1%, up from 94.3% last year at this time.
Attendance numbers are tied directly to state funding – down to per student per day – so school districts pay close attention to these figures.
Following the pandemic shutdowns, attendance has built back over time. In Redondo Beach, in 2019, attendance stood at 96.4% before falling to 93.8% in 2022.
“Students really struggled with coming back to school, but we’re on the rebound,” Brandt said. ER
