Compton High School

The Compton High softball players huddle at the front of graffiti-scarred bleachers, jeering fans over their shoulders, two hours of dusty humiliation in their face. They can't win; in 10 games they have been outscored, 175-2. They can't bat; their one official hit this season was a three-foot bunt. They can't catch; during home games, players chase fly balls amid cars that occasionally barrel through the outfield weeds.

A group of parents and students have filed a federal lawsuit against the Compton school district alleging a pattern of abuse and racial profiling of Latinos by school police. One family alleged that school police targeted a student's father for arrest and deliberately got him deported to Mexico after he filed a complaint against an officer. In another incident, school officers allegedly beat, pepper sprayed and used a chokehold on a bystander who was taking video of an arrest on his iPod, and erased cellphone videos taken by students.

High school students in Compton were upset in February when they heard that a group of UC San Diego students had mocked their hometown by holding a "Compton Cookout" party and inviting guests to come as "ghetto chicks" and gangsters. "We weren't going to let them have the power to use our name. We weren't going to let it slide," recalled Compton High School senior Ernesto Villasenor, who will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York in the fall. Villasenor and other Compton High students sent an impassioned letter expressing their anger about the incident to UC San Diego, where it was read aloud by a Compton graduate at a campus protest.

Compton High School has two tennis courts, a coach and now, all the gear it can use, including rackets, balls and even shoes. What's lacking is a team. But that's beginning to change. The school started signing up prospective tennis players last week as a donation of equipment and regulation nets was being unloaded. Curious students approached the tennis court to ask what the commotion was about and left as team members with racket bags filled with gear. "Guess we play tennis now," Tatiarria Hayes, 16, joked with her best friend, Robin Butler, 15, both holding black and green bags.

A group of parents and students have filed a federal lawsuit against the Compton school district alleging a pattern of abuse and racial profiling of Latinos by school police. One family alleged that school police targeted a student's father for arrest and deliberately got him deported to Mexico after he filed a complaint against an officer. In another incident, school officers allegedly beat, pepper sprayed and used a chokehold on a bystander who was taking video of an arrest on his iPod, and erased cellphone videos taken by students.

The mother of a teenager who accused former Compton High School basketball Coach Russell Otis of sexual molestation has filed a lawsuit against Otis and the school district. Otis was acquitted of criminal charges stemming from the boy's allegations in April. The civil suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in Compton.

Coaches Resign--Tom McCutcheon has resigned as football coach at Compton High School and Rod Sandquist has resigned as football coach at Mayfair High. McCutcheon had a 30-30-2 record in six years and Sandquist was 3-17 in two seasons.

A Compton High School student was shot in the face Tuesday afternoon as he stood inside the school fence. The gunman fired from a vehicle parked on the street after exchanging words with another student who stood near the victim. Police declined to name the victim, who was taken to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where he was in stable condition.

Compton High School has two tennis courts, a coach and now, all the gear it can use, including rackets, balls and even shoes. What's lacking is a team. But that's beginning to change. The school started signing up prospective tennis players last week as a donation of equipment and regulation nets was being unloaded. Curious students approached the tennis court to ask what the commotion was about and left as team members with racket bags filled with gear. "Guess we play tennis now," Tatiarria Hayes, 16, joked with her best friend, Robin Butler, 15, both holding black and green bags.

The life of Martin Luther King Jr. will be commemorated Monday with a community program at Compton High School and a march to the Martin Luther King Memorial at the Civic Center. The program was originally scheduled for Sunday but was changed because of a conflict with the Super Bowl, said Vanessa Little of the city Parks and Recreation Department. The events are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at the high school auditorium at 601 S. Acacia Ave.

High school students in Compton were upset in February when they heard that a group of UC San Diego students had mocked their hometown by holding a "Compton Cookout" party and inviting guests to come as "ghetto chicks" and gangsters. "We weren't going to let them have the power to use our name. We weren't going to let it slide," recalled Compton High School senior Ernesto Villasenor, who will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York in the fall. Villasenor and other Compton High students sent an impassioned letter expressing their anger about the incident to UC San Diego, where it was read aloud by a Compton graduate at a campus protest.

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced in court Wednesday that it will not seek a retrial of former Compton Dominguez High School boys' basketball coach Russell Otis on a felony charge of meeting a minor for a lewd purpose. A Compton jury last month deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of convicting Otis on the charge, which would have left the ex-coach facing up to a three-year prison sentence. Prosecutors alleged that Otis had met a former member of his 2008 CIF Southern Section-championship team at the player's home and offered the then-16-year-old boy $1,500 in cash if he'd let the coach sexually arouse him. The two holdout jurors said there wasn't enough evidence presented to prove Otis actually visited the boy's home.

The first article in a series looking at unheralded individuals helping others in the world of sports: -- Chad Sauter never wants to see his players again. At least not while on duty. Sauter is a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department deputy who deals with his share of unsavory characters. At 6 feet 4 and 240 pounds, Sauter is also plenty intimidating. He was an All-Pacific 10 Conference offensive lineman at UCLA who longed to become a fifth-generation law enforcement officer upon graduating in 1998.

An 18-year-old football player from Harbor City's Narbonne High School was shot dead Sunday night while eating at a Compton restaurant. Dannie Farber Jr., an All-City receiver who helped Narbonne earn a co-City Section championship last fall, was at the Louisiana Fried Chicken in the 1900 block of Rosecrans Avenue when he was killed. Farber was set to graduate June 19. Friends held at vigil for him Monday evening near the restaurant. "He was sitting there eating dinner with some girl," said coach Manuel Douglas.

The rumors started on the Internet and spread to the gyms around Southern California. DeMar DeRozan of Compton was transferring to Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill to join Brandon Jennings. Then he was going to New York Lincoln, where Lance Stephenson holds court. "I laughed at it," DeRozan said. "I figured something like that was going to come up eventually."

Even if Doris Tennant Westcott had not become a pioneering educator in Compton or served with distinction in the WAVES during World War II or helped students in financial need after her retirement, she would have still had a historic place at USC. For Doris Tennant Westcott, class of 1930, was the school's first Helen of Troy. Westcott, who died May 16 at age 98, will be honored Wednesday at a memorial service at the university, where she made national headlines in 1928.

A 16-year-old Compton High School student shot an 18-year-old man on campus Wednesday, police said. Rene Rosales was rushed to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for a wound to his left shoulder, officials said. The 2:45 p.m. shooting occurred in front of the gymnasium, said Fausto Capobianco, a school district spokesman. Earlier in the day, two students became embroiled in an argument on campus, police said.

A judge has dismissed charges against a former Compton High School teacher who was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student. The charges against Kenneth F. Banks, 30, were dropped last Friday after the key witness in the case, the girl's stepfather, failed to appear in Compton Superior Court. The stepfather has alleged that Banks and the girl, whose name is being withheld because of her age, confessed to him that they had sex on two occasions in the summer of 1992.

As Compton softball Coach Sean Corrigan spoke to a couple of representatives from Mt. San Antonio College on Monday -- they were on campus to give the struggling softball program some used bats -- a baseball coach drove his pickup truck into the infield and yelled to a couple of girls. Corrigan heard part of the comment: "Your coach is making our school look bad!"

The Compton High softball players huddle at the front of graffiti-scarred bleachers, jeering fans over their shoulders, two hours of dusty humiliation in their face. They can't win; in 10 games they have been outscored, 175-2. They can't bat; their one official hit this season was a three-foot bunt. They can't catch; during home games, players chase fly balls amid cars that occasionally barrel through the outfield weeds.