Lancaster

Oct 10 2011

Santa Clarita Valley noted significant change

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Violent crimes in areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department declined by more than 12.5 percent in the first nine months of 2011 compared with the same period last year, according to the department.

Serious property crimes declined by 3.5 percent in sheriff’s patrol areas countywide during that period, compared to the first nine months of 2010, according to the sheriff’s department.

Sep 23 2011

Handguns, rifles and shotguns confiscated

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Twenty-two people were in custody today after hundreds of investigators raided 32 locations in seven Southland cities in a multi-agency operation targeting rival Compton gang members, authorities said.

The raids, involving more than 300 members of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, were carried out early Thursday by investigators assigned to the department’s Operations Safe Streets Bureau, said sheriff’s Lt. Richard Westin.

Sep 22 2011

Antelope Valley College student

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A state appellate court panel is set next month to hear arguments in the case of an ex-security guard convicted of murdering an 18-year-old woman in a Palmdale park-and-ride lot, where he worked more than a decade ago.

On Oct. 27, the three-justice panel from the 2nd District Court of Appeal is set to consider an appeal filed on behalf of Raymond Lee Jennings, who was convicted in December 2009 of second-degree murder for the Feb. 22, 2000, slaying of Antelope Valley College student Michelle O’Keefe.

Sep 20 2011

Intimidating and harassing minority residents

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors went behind closed doors today to discuss funding for investigations into Section 8 housing fraud in Lancaster and Palmdale amid allegations of racial discrimination.

The county stopped funding for the probes in June, instituting a 90-day moratorium when allegations of racism were raised.

Sep 19 2011

2141 E. Avenue J-8

LANCASTER - Firefighters have doused a blaze in a two-story apartment building at 2141 E. Avenue J-8 in Lancaster and transported one person to a hospital. 
 
County fire Inspector Quvondo Johnson says the fire was reported at 1:46 p.m. and was out by 2:02 p.m. The patient's injuries aren't life-threatening, Johnson says.

Across Black America

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

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.