Proposition A

Mar 6 2013

Revenue would have funded police and fire departments

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The city’s police, fire and other departments are all in danger of being subjected to hefty budget cuts in response to voters’ rejection of a proposed half-cent sales tax, the president of the City Council said today.

Councilman Herb Wesson said that without the tax, things are “going to get ugly” for the police and other city departments.

“There will be some very hard choices,” he said. “Every department will be on the table. Nothing is sacred.”

Mar 5 2013

10 percent cap imposed by state law

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The fate of a proposed half-cent sales tax to fund public safety and other city services will rest in the hands of Los Angeles voters today, with some city leaders calling it essential to residents’ safety and opponents slamming it as a money grab by a city unable to control its own spending.

Feb 11 2013

Proposition A, half-cent sales tax

LOS ANGELE, Calif.—After withholding his support on the issue for weeks, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is set today to officially endorse Proposition A, the half-cent sales tax increase on the March 5 ballot.

Villaraigosa will announce his support for the measure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he is expected to be joined by City Council President Herb Wesson, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck and Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Brian Cummings.

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.