Compton Ca

LaShawnda Henderson graduated from college last spring, and this winter she's right back where she started -- sleeping in her childhood home in Compton, eating her mother's cooking every night and returning every day to her elementary school, three blocks away. Henderson is a new teacher at her old school, Dickison Elementary, one of 13 Teach For America members in Compton, the first new contingent in the city since the district stopped hiring them five years ago.

It is a Sunday morning and there is still dew on the grass outside Faith Inspirational Missionary Baptist Church. Already, God has received a standing ovation. The thermometer on the wall claims it's only 75 degrees in here, but congregants are dancing in the aisles, some with their shoes kicked off and stashed under the pews. Their sweat mixes with their tears, and for once in Compton, they are tears of joy. "People of faith!" thunders the Rev.

Seeking to further curb criminal activities, Compton has asked a judge to ban individuals identified as members of the Mob Piru street gang -- including rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight -- from congregating in a northeast neighborhood. Using a strategy employed by other crime-ridden communities, the court order would be the first gang injunction in a city with a long history of battling street gangs.

Winston Hayes knows it was probably the "biggest mistake" of his life when he led Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on a low-speed chase through a Compton neighborhood three years ago: He was driving under the influence, evading arrest and was shot at 120 times by deputies during a wild incident captured by a freelance cameraman and televised on newscasts nationwide. "Mr.

For years Compton has struggled against a lousy reputation. Its name has been invoked by rappers as a euphemism for violence, rebellion and poverty. "It's the home of the jackers and the crack. (Compton!) Yeah, that's the name of my hometown," sang the rapper The Game. But these days, Compton is starting to look almost suburban. Since last year, Staples, Target, Best Buy and Starbucks, among other national retail chains, have opened stores in the city.

The boys from Compton practiced all year for this field trip to Beverly Hills. They walked off their charter buses Friday and down the red carpet rolled out for them at Lawry's The Prime Rib. Through the double doors they marveled at the murals and tapestries in the massive dining room. Seven of the George Washington Carver Elementary School students instinctively headed for table 46, once reserved for no less a celebrity than Denzel Washington.

The Ferraras had filled their motor home chest-deep with boxes of zip-up hoodies, underwear and eagle-emblazoned blankets -- a rolling trove of gifts intended for U.S. troops abroad. But when Linda Ferrara checked on the RV, parked outside the family's bakery in Compton this weekend, she found a lot of empty boxes. A heartfelt note thanking the troops for their service was ripped into confetti. Ferrara, whose son Matthew Ferrara was killed in Afghanistan, burst into tears.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department took in a record haul of firearms this year through its Gifts for Guns program, an annual event in Compton that allows people to anonymously turn in firearms in exchange for $100 gift cards at Target, Best Buy or Ralphs supermarkets. Over the last two weekends, deputies collected 965 weapons and distributed more than $95,000 in gift cards, deputies said. That far surpassed last year's total of 387 guns.

On Saturday morning, Ollis Morris rushed to move out of his Compton apartment, saying he could no longer sleep in his home of three years. "I'm petrified," said Morris, 58, a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "A few months ago, the garage was set on fire. Three months ago, I got burglarized. And then, this." Four nights earlier, the vacant apartment downstairs was set on fire about 8 o'clock after suspected gang members sprayed graffiti throughout the unit.

To crack down on gangs and stem soaring violence in Compton, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca asked his deputies and detectives not just to investigate crime but to also probe where gang members were getting their guns. So sheriff's officials embarked on an unprecedented census to track down the origins of nearly 900 weapons confiscated there last year. The results, released Monday, offer a glimpse into the complex and unexpected ways guns get into the hands of gang members.