Category: Local & Community
Agricultural Engineer Effie Gant Plans Bay Area Farmers Market Initiative
By BlackPressUSA Newswire In her 80s and still actively working as an agricultural engineer, Effie Gant continues to break barriers in urban farming and community leadership. The certified USDA grower and respected urban farmer, based in South Sacramento, was recently spotted vending at the Freedom Farmers’ Market by the Temescal Street Fair on Saturday, July…
What the insurance industry sees when it looks at your home
By BlackPressUSA Newswire Find out what criteria the insurance industry uses when looking at your home. Learn insider tips and how to ensure your home is fully covered. What the insurance industry sees when it looks at your home is why its replacement cost matters more than its market value, and that home upgrades can…
Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Law Streamlining Affordable Housing Rules
By BlackPress USA Newswire The legislation builds on the governor’s efforts that have reversed decades of inaction on housing and homelessness — creating more homes and the largest reduction in unsheltered homelessness in more than 15 years. In Oakland on July 13, Gov. Newsom signed AB 179 — the state’s new housing budget trailer bill…
California bill could push schools to use unspent Prop. 28 arts education funds
California bill could push schools to use unspent Prop. 28 arts education funds By Vani Sanganeria, EdSource California lawmakers are advancing legislation to revise how school districts implement Proposition 28, the voter-approved initiative that promised roughly $1 billion annually in new arts and music education in schools. Assembly Bill 2440, authored by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi,…
Political Playback: California Capitol News You Might Have Missed
Bo Tefu | California Black Media Beyond Politics: California Legislators Across Party Lines Celebrate Lori Wilson at 50 In a Capitol more often defined by policy debates and partisan differences, California lawmakers recently offered a reminder that respect, friendship and collegiality can still rise above politics. On July 17, legislators from both sides of…
City of Victorville to Host Free Educational Concert for Kids: July 30
Free event teaches children about organics recycling and composting through music & entertainment with the EcoHero Show Team VICTORVILLE, Calif. —The City of Victorville is partnering with the EcoHero Show team to host a free Kids’ Organics Recycling Concert on Thursday, July 30 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Center of…
Assemblymember Mike Gipson: Tragic Compton Shootings Drive Home Need for Stronger Gun Control Legislation
Solomon O. Smith | California Black Media Assemblymember Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) says a deadly Fourth of July weekend shooting in Compton that claimed the life of one of his former staff members underscores the urgent need for stronger gun safety laws at both the state and federal levels. The shooting was one of…
LAUSD, California school districts seek money, changes to social media apps in lawsuits
L.A. Unified and other school districts are suing companies like Meta, Google and TikTok for platforms they say are ‘addictive’ for children. By Vani Sanganeria, EdSource Meta, Google, TikTok and other social media companies could soon be compelled to fund student mental health services and redesign features alleged to encourage compulsive use if school districts…
Inland Empire Legislative Caucus secures state funding for new judgeships to expand access to justice
The Inland Empire Caucus recognized the inclusion of funding in the 2026-27 State Budget to begin expanding judicial capacity in California’s most under-resourced courts, including the Inland Empire. The budget provides $44 million annually, to support the phased implementation of 13 new superior court judgeships and $100 million for related court facilities authorized by Chapter…
California’s Unhoused Seniors: A Crisis Within the State’s Homelessness Crisis
Edward Henderson | California Black Media California’s homelessness crisis is increasingly becoming an aging crisis, as a growing number of older adults experience housing instability at a stage of life when health challenges, fixed incomes and mobility limitations can make finding stability far more difficult. Nearly half — about 48% — of single adults…
Advocacy Groups Call for LAUSD Investigation Over Alleged Racism, Retaliation Against Black Educators
Edward Henderson | California Black Media The Black Educator Advocates Network (BEAN) and the NAACP San Fernando Valley Branch are calling for an independent investigation into what they say is a longstanding pattern of racial harassment and retaliation against Black educators in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). During a July 9 virtual press…
City of Rancho Cucamonga Opens Candidate Filing Period for the November 3, 2026, General Municipal Election
Rancho Cucamonga, California – The City of Rancho Cucamonga has opened the candidate filing period for the November 3, 2026, General Municipal Election. The election includes two Council Member seats voted by district: Districts 2 and 3, as well as the office of Mayor, which is elected at large. Prospective candidates may obtain nomination…
Protecting your health during a wildfire: What Southern California residents should know
By: Dr. Dinelli Monson, Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual Plans of California A wildfire can change daily life quickly in Southern California when residents face smoky skies, reduced air quality, and the possibility of evacuation during periods of elevated wildfire activity. While conditions may look different from one community to the next, smoke,…
Updated Analysis Shows Proposed Stormwater Mandates Will Cost San Bernardino County and Cities $11 Billion
New regulations — failing in Los Angeles despite a $300 million new tax — threatens to increase housing costs, bankrupt cities, and harm disadvantaged communities across the region. An updated Beacon Economics analysis reveals that proposed stormwater requirements will impose an estimated $11 billion in costs on San Bernardino County and 16 of its cities…
Dine LA Restaurant Week Returns To Celebrate Los Angeles’ Global Culinary Scene
LA Tourism News LOS ANGELES, CA [July 14, 2026] – Following a landmark summer that brought the world to Los Angeles and another banner year of recognition from the James Beard Foundation and the MICHELIN Guide, today, Los Angeles Tourism announces the return of Summer Dine LA Restaurant Week, taking place Friday, August 14 through…
San Bernardino native serves aboard one of the world’s largest warships
By Ashley Craig, Navy Office of Community Outreach NORFOLK, Va. – Petty Officer 3rd Class Franklin Dendeng, a native of San Bernardino, California, serves the U.S. Navy assigned to USS Harry S. Truman, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier operating out of Norfolk, Virginia. Dendeng graduated from San Bernardino High School in 2023. The skills and…
Political Playback: California Capitol News You Might Have Missed
Bo Tefu | California Black Media California Education Chief Tony Thurmond Appoints Atty. Mark Harris to Workgroup on Healthcare Costs California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has appointed attorney and economist Mark T. Harris to a new statewide workgroup that will develop policy recommendations to address rising healthcare costs affecting TK-12 school districts…
Ballot Set for California November Election After Deal Kills Disputed Tax Measure
Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media California voters will decide 14 statewide ballot measures on Nov. 3 after state leaders struck a last-minute compromise that removed one of the election’s most contentious proposals — a measure that would have made it significantly harder for cities and counties to raise money for local services. The…
Canada’s Impact On The Global Black Power Movement Revealed In “True North: Canadian Myths And Black Power” Premiering On PBS’S Independent Lens And Streaming July 6
How 1960s Montreal Helped Shape the Global Movement for Black Liberation (San Francisco, CA) — Revealing the largely untold history of anti-Black racism in Canada, “True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power” premieres Monday on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS. Through historic archives and the voices of those who lived through 1960s Montreal, “True North” explores pivotal…
Political Playback: California Capitol News You Might Have Missed
Gov. Newsom Swears in Tomiquia Moss as Head of California Housing and Homelessness Agency Bo Tefu and Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media Gov. Gavin Newsom has sworn in Tomiquia Moss as secretary of the newly established California Housing and Homelessness Agency, placing a longtime housing official at the helm of California’s efforts to…
Kamala Harris Says State and Local Leadership Matters as Much as Washington
Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media Former Vice President Kamala Harris said traveling the country since the 2024 Presidential election during her book tour gave her an opportunity to hear directly from Americans about the challenges they face every day, reinforcing her belief that many people feel unheard by Washington and increasingly look to state elected officials for…
Black Caucus Bill Requiring Major Corporations in California to Disclose Links to Slavery Moves Forward
Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media In August 2000, the California Legislature confronted a little-known chapter of American history after records uncovered in the state archives revealed that, before the Civil War, some insurance companies issued policies to slaveholders that insured enslaved people against injury, death or escape, treating human beings as property. That…
Political Playback: California Capitol News You Might Have Missed
Bo Tefu | California Black Media Newsom, Legislature Reach Deal on $355.9 Billion Budget That Protects Health Care; Averts Deficits for Two Years Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders announced a final agreement June 26 on California’s $355.9 billion 2026–27 state budget, saying the spending plan preserves health care and other essential services while…
24th Annual Backpack Giveaway and Resource Fair Set for Saturday, July 11 at Bordwell Park
Free School Supplies and Local Resources Available to Transitional Kindergarten Through 12th Grade Families at Bordwell Park RIVERSIDE, CA – The City of Riverside Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Department, in collaboration with The Adrian Dell and Carmen Roberts Foundation, the Black Arts Museum, and Feed Them Kids, hosts its 24th Annual Backpack Giveaway and…
California Publishers: Don’t Miss the 2026 California Civic Media Program
By ACoM The launch of the $18.75 million California Civic Media Program (CMP) marks a historic investment in California’s local journalism. For decades, community media outlets have provided essential reporting for millions of Californians facing language barriers, geographic isolation and information gaps; yet, these platforms have been historically excluded from large-scale public and private institutional…
