Making national news matter locally

The Independent mostly covers Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley news, but sometimes national stories trickle down to us as well. Here’s how the Independent localized some of the biggest American events of the past 10 years:

SEPT. 11 ATTACKS

The images, the death, the destruction, the evil are almost too horrific to comprehend.

Landmark skyscrapers that once graced the New York City horizon toppled and demolished by an unthinkable terrorist act. The nation’s military headquarters attacked in similar fashion.

But through it all, America’s people stand proud, and here in Huntington Beach it’s no different.

Our patriotism stirred like never before, we are flying flags, donating blood, money and time, and promising that no matter how many shameful acts of cowardice, we will never crumble.

We’ve seen a lot of horrible images in our collective lifetimes here in Huntington Beach:

World wars; nuclear bombs; assassination of our president and other national and world leaders; cities ablaze from rioting; one of our own countrymen demolishing an Oklahoma City building filled with hundreds of people, including innocent children; high school kids turning guns and ammunition on their classmates; and closer to home the years of riots during the city’s Fourth of July celebrations from 1994 to 1996.

Through it all, though, we go on. And we’ll go on again now.

— Editorial, Sept. 27, 2001

IRAQ WAR

Huntington Beach schools have made special wartime provisions, and officials have stepped up security and prepared teachers for the onslaught of inevitable questions since the outbreak of the war in Iraq.

“We can’t just say, ‘Oh, don’t worry, don’t worry your pretty little heads.’ These are smart kids, they can’t be fooled by a comment like that,” said Caroline Thomas, who teaches middle school English at the Pegasus School.

While questions from curious students are natural, school officials said they want to avoid making the classroom a platform for political issues. The availability of information should be decided by parents, and teachers are urged to be listeners more than anything else.

In Thomas’ classroom, students often bring up recent news items. Recently, they have taken a special interest in the number of war protesters and the boys want to talk about weaponry, aircraft and war. Overall, there have been a lot of concerns and confusion, she said.

“Sometimes they feel guilty that they don’t know more,” she said. “They ask, ‘Should I feel that way?’ They just don’t know.”

— Reporter Coral Wilson, March 27, 2003

HURRICANE KATRINA

With just 15 minutes to evacuate, Loyola University student Iain Dover said he had to leave everything behind.

The college senior’s computer, clothes, books and personal items were all likely destroyed after Hurricane Katrina grazed the small New Orleans campus where the Huntington Beach resident studies philosophy and pre-law.

“I would have done a lot differently if I knew it was going to be this bad,” he said.

Few people predicted the extent of the damage inflicted by last week’s hurricane. Many in the city believed they had dodged a bullet when the hurricane changed course at the last minute, moving eastward. Then the city’s levee system failed, deluging the low-lying city with floodwaters up to 20 feet high, possibly killing thousands and causing one of the worst natural disasters ever in the United States.

Dover was one of the lucky ones — he got out of the city hours before the hurricane hit and was already at the Baton Rouge airport when the rest of the world began to realize how much damage the Big Easy had sustained.

— Reporter Dave Brooks, Sept. 8, 2005

OBAMA TAKES OFFICE

An entire nation spent much of Tuesday glued to television screens and radios. President Barack Obama’s inauguration was seen as a symbol of change, regardless of political inclinations, and the overall mood was that of cautious optimism.

Although most of Huntington Beach caught the morning inaugural ceremonies in the car, at work or in school, some opted to celebrate late into the night.

Scott McKown and Louise Stewardson, chapter leaders of the local Drinking Liberally group, are also elected delegates for the state central committee for the Democratic Party. So holding an inauguration bash was a natural idea for them.

“We’ve been waiting a really long time,” McKown said. “But the reality is that getting elected isn’t enough. Barack’s not going to be able to accomplish anything without political will. The next challenge is to figure out how to create political will, and to get that message to Washington.”

He advertised the party on moveon.org, along with more than 3,000 party organizers across the country.

McKown said he hopes Obama’s priorities will include extricating the country from Iraq, developing single-payer health care, working on trade agreements and getting rid of trickle-down economics.

“Stick it in a can, bury it and put up a sign that says ‘Toxic Waste: Do Not Open,’” McKown said.

— Reporter Candice Baker, Jan. 22, 2009

MICHAEL JACKSON’S DEATH

Still in shock over the death of the world-renowned icon, a number of people in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley expressed their sorrow over his death and admiration for his accomplishments.

Zack Wesley, a employee at the Guitar Center, was incredulous upon hearing of Jackson’s death, which was pronounced June 25 at 2:26 p.m. at the UCLA Medical Center. Jackson died at the age of 50.

[Guitar Center employee Riahna] Bjornsen said she’s probably never received so many text messages in one day. Even a teacher from high school she hadn’t spoken to in years remembered the fascination Bjornsen — now 22 — had with the star and called her.

William Dagsher, an employee at the Gear Trader in Huntington Beach, hoped Jackson’s personal problems didn’t prevent him from relishing his accomplishments.

— Reporter Kathryn Watson, July 2, 2009