section 8

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Apr 28 2011

Section 8, arrests, expungements, other issues

LANCASTER, Calif.—The Community Action League (TCAL) will host the Community Justice Forum on Saturday, May 14, at the Palmdale Moose Lodge from 12-4 p.m.

The forum and civil rights seminar will educate citizens about their Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights, as well as address police harassment and criminal records.

V. Jesse Smith, co-founder of the organization, says the AV is in need of this workshop, especially due to the high volume of complaints and issues individuals have shared with TCAL.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Apr 28 2011

The process faces challenges

LANCASTER, Calif.—For months, the Lancaster Neighborhood Vitalization Commission (LNVC) has been investigating the plausibility of taking over the management of Section 8, the complex federal public housing program.

At the beginning of April, the “Feasibility Assessment for Development of a Local Public Housing Authority for the City of Lancaster” was presented to the LNVC to properly inform the group of the pros and cons of becoming the managers of the local Section 8 program.

Nov 5 2010

Saving taxpayers $1 million a year

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A $25 million apartment complex opened on Skid Row to provide housing and social services for many of the city's homeless population, and it was touted as a way to save taxpayers $1 million a year by getting homeless people timely help.

Renato Apartments, at 531 S. San Julian St., has 96 units—60 of which are reserved for the chronically homeless and those who suffer from mental illness. The rest are allotted for tenants earning no more than 45 percent of the area's median income.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 4 2010

Defend yourself in public housing

LANCASTER, Calif.—At last week’s Lancaster City Council meeting, Mayor R. Rex Parris asked Dorian Jenkins, deputy executive director of housing programs with the Community Development Commission of the County of Los Angeles, if there was a way to confiscate Section 8 vouchers from tenants who did not enroll their children in school. He asked Jenkins if he would look into federal enforcement of state laws requiring children to attend school. Parris said that it would be beneficial for the whole community. 
 

Jul 22 2010

Lancaster recipients versus the city

LANCASTER, Calif.—Criticism from Lancaster residents and Section 8 recipients continues to be directed toward the city government and the “Parris administration” about efforts to “clean up” the Section 8 program.

At the last Neighborhood Vitalization Commission meeting, several ideas were suggested to crack down on the alleged influx of crime and housing fraud within the public housing system, including incentives to tell on your neighbor.

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.