MTA

Jul 5 2011

Bridge demolition

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Los Angeles County’s transportation authority today expanded its effort to avoid complete gridlock on the Westside during the upcoming weekend closure of a section of the San Diego (405) Freeway.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that it will offer free fares on a total of 26 bus lines along major Westside and San Fernando arteries.

Jun 28 2011

Seeks community benefits package

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas introduced a Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board motion Thursday calling for Metro to create a fund for business losses caused by construction of the Crenshaw/LAX light rail line, and for the agency to devise plans for safety, local worker hiring and streetscape improvements along the route.

“The Crenshaw/LAX line project is moving fast ahead. As it is being built, we must also make sure the community doesn’t pay too high a price for its long-overdue rail service,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jun 2 2011

Between the Lines

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority did its usual “rope-a-dope” with the Black community last week on the most important infrastructure investment of the next 100 years.
 

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Jun 2 2011

Whether it will come to fruition still concerns community

Before a standing-room-only audience of an estimated 600 community residents, business, civic and religious leaders, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board voted to locate a train station in Leimert Park Village, but only if it can be built within the existing $1.7 billion budget allocated for the Crenshaw/LAX line.

May 26 2011

Supervisor Ridley-Thomas remains determined

According to its own analysis, by realigning existing funds, Metro could cover the costs for two key features of the upcoming Crenshaw/LAX Light Rail Line—construction of a Leimert Park Village light rail station and a tunnel through Park Mesa Heights.

The funding study, requested by Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, examines ways to pay for a rail station at Leimert Park Village (estimated cost $131 million) and moving an 11-block section of the rail line along Crenshaw Boulevard below ground (estimated cost $269 million).

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.