Category: Government & Politics

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California endorses Yes on Propositions 15, 16, 17, 18, and 21 and No on Propositions 19, 20, 22, 24, and 25 for the election on November 3, 2020. The ACLU SoCal also endorses Yes on Measure J on the ballot in Los Angles County.  Here’s a summary of…

San Bernardino –The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has initiated a $3.5 million Director’s Order to begin an emergency project to repair damages to State Route 38 (SR 38) as the result of the El Dorado wildfire. The project limits are from Thurman Flats to Glass Road. The project has been awarded to Riverside Construction…

Grand Terrace, CA – Rep. Pete Aguilar announced that AmPac Business Capital of Grand Terrace has received $375,000 from the US Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund for the AmPac Business Loan program. The program provides loans of up to $100,000 for Inland Empire small businesses to be used for hiring employees,…

LOS ANGELES, September 20, 2020 — The American Red Cross Los Angeles Region’s evacuation point at Palmdale High School (2137 E. Ave. R, Palmdale, 93550) is ready to assist those seeking refuge from the Bobcat Fire and the new evacuation orders released by Unified Incident Command Teams. Residents impacted by the Bobcat Fire in need…

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California issued a new report on Tuesday that detailed how it set a record for enrollment by meeting the needs of Californians and promoting enrollment in the face of pandemic and recession. The report, “Coverage When You Need It: Lessons From Insurance Coverage Transitions in California’s Individual Marketplace Pre- and Post-…

Upland, CA – Today, Rep. Pete Aguilar announced that Reach Out, an Upland-based nonprofit organization, received $200,000 in federal funding from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) for their Morongo Basin Opioid Project. The project supports community engagement, treatment and recovery assistance to help combat the opioid crisis in eastern San Bernardino County. “Even in…

ATLANTA, GA – Today, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the state of Florida can condition voting rights on an individual’s ability to pay, reversing a lower court decision and prohibiting otherwise eligible citizens who owe fines and fees associated with a past felony conviction from voting this fall….

Mechanics claim they endured racial discrimination and harassment from white supervisors who boast about firing “undesirables.” OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Four elevator mechanics filed a lawsuit against Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. and Mitsubishi Electric US Holdings, Inc. In their Complaint, they describe supervisors at Mitsubishi referring to Black workers as “undesirables,” “lazy,”…

The letters were sent to Counties with especially large limited-English-proficient minority language populations and ask that the jurisdictions provide election materials in the relevant languages.  The UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP) released a dozen letters today addressed to leadership in counties in several states, urging them to provide election materials to accommodate large minority Asian…

SACRAMENTO – The State of California’s Employment Training Panel (ETP) announced that it approved 24 contracts worth over $6 million in job training funds for 6,000 workers. Panel members awarded two contracts to Edwards Lifesciences, and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles under its COVID Rapid Reemployment & Retraining Pilot program. Together,…

Action Stems from ACLU Lawsuit Challenging the Witness Requirement During the COVID-19 Pandemic LYNCHBURG, Va. — A federal court today approved an agreement allowing mail ballots without a witness signature for the Nov. 3  general election for all Virginia voters who feel they cannot safely comply due to the pandemic.  The action follows a lawsuit…

SACRAMENTO, CA – Secretary of State Alex Padilla is launching the 2020 Census Challenge. To date, California ranks 22nd in the nation with a 65.1% response rate. The California Census Challenge aims to target and fill the gaps in Census outreach, especially in hard-to-count communities, by having cities and counties with similar population sizes compete…

Moreno Valley, CA – As overt and deadly racism continues to rise all over the world, local civil rights leaders, community leaders, and social workers launch the Center Against Racism & Trauma (CART) in the Inland Empire. The mission of CART is to eliminate racism in all of its forms and provide healing for all…

Oakland, CA, August 18, 2020 . . . $20 million in funding will be awarded to two-thirds (212) of the hospitals in California to treat people with opioid and other substance use disorders, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced.  The Behavioral Health Pilot Project (BHPP) is based on the successful CA Bridge…

Last-minute Upending of the Census Bureau’s Pandemic Contingency Plan Imperils the Accuracy of the Count (WASHINGTON) – The Trump administration’s last-minute rushed census timeline cuts nearly a month from the actual count and cuts four months from the time for processing and reporting the data, a lawsuit filed against Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross and…

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges against Dwayne Charles Hammer (Age 25 of Hesperia) CASE SYNOPSIS On Thursday, July 23, 2020, deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department responded to a motel in the 15700 block of Mojave Drive in Victorville, regarding a disturbance. During their investigation, Dwayne Charles Hammer…

Roberto Ponciano Charged With Colton Murder August 6, 2020 CASE SYNOPSIS On Saturday, July 25, 2020, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, and Colton Police Department responded to a traffic collision in the area of Grand and Valley in the city of Colton. An investigation was completed by the sheriff’s department. On…

The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) is eager to enroll the Class of 2033. Online registration for kindergarten and transitional kindergarten in SBCUSD is underway. Classes started August 3, but space is still available and students can begin distance learning as soon as the enrollment process is complete. Children who will be 5…

Research features concerns of low-propensity voters LOS ANGELES – August 4, 2020. California Common Cause and the Center for Social Innovation at University of California Riverside released a report today on how to reach first-time and limited-English speaking voters when conveying COVID-related changes in the upcoming November 2020 general election.  The report, “Reaching Low-Propensity Voters…

WASHINGTON – Today, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) filed a petition for rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on behalf of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross seeking to clarify regulations related to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The petition was filed in response to the May 2020 Executive Order…