Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger

Jan 3 2011
Victim's family outraged

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to reduce the prison sentence of the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, who had pleaded guilty to participating in the killing of a college student, has been harshly criticized by the victim's family, it was reported today.

"We are totally outraged,'' Fred Santos, father of Luis Santos, told the Los Angeles Times. "For the governor to wait until the last day in hopes it would fly under the radar is an absolute injustice.''

Dec 31 2010

Senate confirmation awaiting

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Former Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke has been appointed to the state Transportation Commission.

Burke, 78, was on the Board of Supervisors for 16 years, stepping down in 2008. She served in Congress from 1972-78 and in the Assembly from 1967 to 1972. She also served on the University of California Board of Regents.

Nov 4 2010

Childcare extension

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has paved the way for families getting off welfare to continue to receive subsidized child care, even as the state has moved to eliminate that support.

“People in this program have worked very hard to get off welfare and back into a job,” Supervisor Don Knabe said. “We have been able to devise a program that can provide support immediately to these at-risk families and without additional administrative costs.”

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jan 17 2009

Local officials stunned by severity of Schwarzenegger’s proposal

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal of cutting 10 percent from the budgets of most departments within the state that receive general fund money has prompted Senator Mark-Ridley Thomas to conclude that if the reductions were enacted, they would further compound California’s deteriorating economy.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jan 10 2009

10 percent rumored to be on the table to tackle $14 billion deficit

California is facing a $14 billion budget shortfall for the 2008-09 fiscal year, and among the ways Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to address the problem is to call for across-the-board-budget cuts.

In his State of the State address Tuesday, the governor placed the blame for the shortfall on overspending by the state.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”