My colleague Hannah Fry<\/a> documented the the debate over how, or whether, the city should honor Kirk.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s jump into some of that reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n Our reporters guide you through the most important news, features and recommendations of the day.<\/p>\n By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a> and our Privacy Policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n How Kirk is being lauded<\/p>\n City Council members voted 4-1 Wednesday to partially rename All American Way after Kirk. His name will appear in 3-inch font below the official street name.<\/p>\n Replacing the street signs to add Kirk\u2019s name is expected to cost $3,000, according to a city staff report.<\/p>\n The small street runs parallel to the Vietnam War Memorial at Sid Goldstein Freedom Park, named after a World War II soldier who lived in Westminster<\/a>. The monument includes the names of soldiers \u2014 Americans and Vietnamese \u2014 who died in the conflict.<\/p>\n In the 2024 election, the precinct surrounding the street voted in favor of President Trump over former Vice President Kamala Harris by a 57% to 40% margin<\/a>.<\/p>\n What those in favor of the honors are saying<\/p>\n Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen, a Republican who is running for Congress next year, brought forth the change because he said Kirk \u201creflects the values that make Westminster truly special: pride in our country, belief in our freedom and the spirit of civic engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilmember Amy Phan West called Kirk a champion for free speech and an \u201cAmerican patriot,\u201d and criticized the small font on the street sign as an inadequate way to honor his memory.<\/p>\n A separate proposal she introduced to designate Oct.14 \u2014 Kirk\u2019s birthday \u2014 as Charlie Kirk Day in the city also passed.<\/p>\n \u201cHis commitment to protecting the principle of open dialogue and opposing tyranny has been a significant impact on our nation\u2019s conversation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The councilmember who opposed<\/p>\n Westminster Vice Mayor Carlos Manzo, the lone Democrat on the dais, was the sole vote against designating the street.<\/p>\n He said it was inappropriate given that Kirk didn\u2019t live in Westminster and had no ties to the community. He accused his colleagues of exploiting Kirk\u2019s death to score political points.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what you\u2019re doing \u2014 exploiting a tragedy for political gain,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to go out there and campaign with it and say, \u2018Look, I got this done in my city.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Manzo chastised his colleagues for forcing Westminster into a national political debate rather than focusing on the city\u2019s fiscal challenges and making life better for residents, a complaint echoed by many residents who spoke at the meeting.<\/p>\n At one point, Manzo said West and Nguyen were trying to \u201cout Republican each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Controversies elsewhere<\/p>\n In Villa Park, a high school teacher allegedly removed a memorial to Kirk<\/a> that was set up by students.<\/p>\n In Huntington Beach, another Orange County city frequently at the center of national culture war debates, a September memorial for Kirk<\/a> at the pier took a dark turn when a group of men joined the crowd chanting, \u201cWhite men fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n For more, check out the full article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The week\u2019s biggest stories (David McNew \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Los Angeles city and council policiesTrump administration policies and reactionsCrime, courts and policingRain, flooding and firesMore big storiesThis week\u2019s must-readsMore great readsFor your weekend (Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Evan Agostini \/ Invision \/ AP)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inL.A. Affairs<\/p>\n Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.<\/p>\n Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jim Rainey, staff reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s unclear if slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk ever hosted a rally or event in Westminster. The founder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,1091,1088,7,1094,890,1085,891,287,642,1087,63,180,1086,1089,1090,1093,1092,646,688],"class_list":["post-56043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-autopilot","tag-black-bears","tag-california","tag-convictions","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-driver","tag-drought","tag-essential-california-week","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-newsletter","tag-pandemic","tag-search","tag-tesla","tag-thousands","tag-ucla","tag-water","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/a> <\/p>\n
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Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n