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Will Bill Barr — and Donald Trump — Ever Be Brought to Justice?

Thom Hartmann
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Will Bill Barr — and Donald Trump — Ever Be Brought to Justice?

 

It’s not Bill Barr‘s first time playing cover-up for a Republican president who committed crimes that rise to the level of treason against America…

https://tinyurl.com/Brought-To-Justice

The Washington Post reported last week that there’s very good reason to believe that Egypt’s dictator, Gen. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, organized a $10 million cash bribe to Donald Trump when he was most desperate for the same amount of money during the 2016 election.

American intelligence reported that el-Sisi ordered $10 million in $100 bills be taken from a bank in Egypt — representing a large chunk of that country’s entire US dollar foreign reserves — and have them transported, possibly, to Donald Trump.

As The Washington Post reported:

“Five days before Donald Trump became president in January 2017, a manager at a bank branch in Cairo received an unusual letter from an organization linked to the Egyptian intelligence service. It asked the bank to “kindly withdraw” nearly $10 million from the organization’s account — all in cash. …

“Federal investigators learned of the withdrawal, which has not been previously reported, early in 2019. The discovery intensified a secret criminal investigation that had begun two years earlier with classified U.S. intelligence indicating that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi sought to give Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 presidential campaign, a Washington Post investigation has found.”

If proven, it’d be the worst presidential corruption scandal in American history. And it might have been proven (or disproven) years ago, were it not for the intervention of Trump’s then-Attorney General Bill Barr.

The Washington Post reports that Barr fired two US attorneys in a row — Timothy Shea and Michael Sherwin — in an apparent attempt to make the investigation into the possible Trump bribe go away. His final choice made the investigation go away.

This sort of Republican criminal coverup by Bill Barr shouldn’t surprise us.

There was also a time when George HW Bush and Ronald Reagan were facing the possibility of treason charges, much like Trump is facing with regard to January 6th — both even worse than accepting a bribe like Agnew did.

Who did they call? Bill Barr.

That was in the ’80s and early ’90s, but now we discover that Bill Barr really, truly, definitely also lied to America about presidential treason this decade. And, based on The Washington Post’s reporting, appears to have covered up the possibility that Trump took a $10 million bribe.

In March of 2019, Robert Mueller and the FBI laid out 10 prosecutable incidents of Donald Trump committing felony obstruction of justice, all to cover up the assistance he was seeking and receiving from Russian oligarchs and the Russian government that ultimately helped him win the 2016 election.

Looking back five years ago, seeing the actual documents from the time, Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson noted that Barr’s lies to the American people, to Congress, and to federal judges were “so inconsistent with evidence in the record, they are not worthy of credence.”

In other words, Barr lied or covered up repeatedly to protect Trump.

And he did it to avoid prosecuting Trump, who we can now see had clearly committed crimes — particularly reaching out to a foreign power for a bribe — that would’ve landed any other American in prison for decades.

Geoffrey Berman’s 2022 book details Barr’s attempts to stop prosecutions of Trump’s friends and co-conspirators, to fire prosecutors with integrity and replace them with toadies who corrupted the Justice Department, and even to focus the police power of government against people Trump considered enemies.

For example, when Trump got pissed at John Kerry, he tweeted that he should be investigated and prosecuted. Immediately Barr jumped into action, as former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman told Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe:

“[T]he statute they wanted us to use was enacted in 1799 and had never been successfully prosecuted. So for about 220 years, this criminal statute had been on the books, and not a single conviction, so we investigated it and John Kerry was entirely innocent, and yet the Justice Department pushed us and pushed us and pushed us and when I declined, Bill Barr did not take no for an answer.”

Meanwhile, Barr succeeded in getting Trump’s role in a variety of the felony crimes ignored, including the crime of campaign fraud for paying off Stormy Daniels to keep her mouth shut about Trump having sex with her. The list in Berman’s book is mind-boggling.

And now, as of this week, we can add the possibility of accepting a $10 million bribe from a foreign dictator.

The corruption of law enforcement and the courts is a cardinal characteristic of fascism, which is what Trump and — it turns out, Barr — apparently did to America.

But this shouldn’t surprise us: it’s not Bill Barr‘s first time playing cover-up for a Republican president who had committed crimes that could rise to treason against The United States.

Back in 1992, the first time Bill Barr was U.S. Attorney General, iconic New York Times writer William Safire referred to him as “Coverup-General Barr” because of his role in burying evidence of then-President George H.W. Bush’s involvement in “Iraqgate” and the “Iran-Contra” scheme with Iran to steal the election from Jimmy Carter.

Christmas day of 1992, the New York Times featured a screaming all-caps headline across the top of its front page: Attorney General Bill Barr had covered up evidence of crimes by Reagan and Bush in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Earlier that week of Christmas, 1992, George H.W. Bush was on his way out of office. Bill Clinton had won the White House the month before, and in a few weeks would be sworn in as president.

But Bush’s biggest concern wasn’t that he’d have to leave the White House to retire back to Connecticut, Maine, or Texas (where he had mansions) but, rather, that he may end up embroiled even deeper in the Iran-Contra treason.

In other words, George HW Bush’s concern was that he and his colleagues may face time in a federal prison after he left office.

Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh was closing in fast on him and Reagan, and Bush’s private records, subpoenaed by the independent counsel’s office, were the key to it all.

Walsh had been appointed independent counsel in 1986 to investigate the Iran-Contra activities of the Reagan administration and determine if crimes had been committed.

Was the Iran-Contra criminal conspiracy limited, as Reagan and Bush insisted (and Reagan said on TV), to later years in the Reagan presidency, in response to a hostage-taking in Lebanon?

Or had it started in the 1980 presidential campaign against Jimmy Carter with treasonous collusion with the Iranians, as the then-president of Iran asserted? Who knew what, and when? And what was George H.W. Bush’s role in it all?

In the years since then, the President of Iran in 1980, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, has gone on the record saying that the Reagan campaign reached out to Iran to hold the hostages in exchange for weapons.

“Ayatollah Khomeini and Ronald Reagan,” President Bani-Sadr told the Christian Science Monitor, “had organized a clandestine negotiation, later known as the ‘October Surprise,’ which prevented the attempts by myself and then-US President Jimmy Carter to free the hostages before the 1980 US presidential election took place. The fact that they were not released tipped the results of the election in favor of Reagan.”

That wouldn’t have been just an impeachable crime: it was treason.

Walsh had zeroed in on documents that were in the possession of Reagan’s former defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, who all the evidence showed was definitely in on the deal, and President Bush’s diary that could corroborate it.

Elliott Abrams had already been convicted of withholding evidence about it from Congress, and he may have even more information, too, if it could be pried out of him before he went to prison. But Abrams was keeping mum, apparently anticipating a corrupt pardon from Bush.

Weinberger, trying to avoid jail himself, was preparing to testify that Bush knew about it and even participated in the 1980 election theft, and Walsh had already, based on information he’d obtained from the investigation into Weinberger, demanded that Bush turn over his diary from the campaign. He was also again hot on the trail of Abrams.

So Bush called in his attorney general, Bill Barr, and asked his advice.

Barr, along with Bush, was already up to his eyeballs in cover-ups of shady behavior by the Reagan administration.

Safire ultimately came to refer to Barr as “Coverup-General” in the midst of another scandal — one having to do with Bush illegally selling weapons of mass destruction to Saddam Hussein — because the Attorney General was already covering up for Bush, Weinberger, and others from the Reagan administration in “Iraqgate.”

On Oct.19, 1992, Safire wrote in The New York Times of Barr’s unwillingness to appoint an independent counsel to look into Iraqgate:

“Why does the Coverup-General resist independent investigation? Because he knows where it may lead: to Dick Thornburgh, James Baker, Clayton Yeutter, Brent Scowcroft and himself [the people who organized the sale of WMD to Saddam]. He vainly hopes to be able to head it off, or at least be able to use the threat of firing to negotiate a deal.”

Now, just short of two months later, Bush was asking Barr for advice on how to avoid criminal charges in the Iran-Contra crimes. How, he wanted to know, could they shut down Walsh’s investigation before Walsh’s lawyers got their hands on Bush’s diary?

In April of 2001, safely distant from the swirl of D.C. politics, the University of Virginia’s Miller Center was compiling oral presidential histories, and interviewed Barr about his time as AG in the Bush White House. They brought up the issue of the Weinberger pardon, which put an end to the Iran-Contra investigation, and Barr’s involvement in it.

Turns out, Barr was right in the middle of it.

“There were some people arguing just for [a pardon for] Weinberger, and I said, ‘No, in for a penny, in for a pound,’” Barr told the interviewer. “I went over and told the President I thought he should not only pardon Caspar Weinberger, but while he was at it, he should pardon about five others.”

Which is exactly what Bush did, on Christmas Eve when most Americans were with family instead of watching the news. The holiday notwithstanding, the result was explosive.

America knew that both Reagan and Bush were up to their necks in Iran-Contra, and Democrats had been talking about treason, impeachment, or worse. The independent counsel had already obtained one conviction, three guilty pleas, and two other individuals were lined up for prosecution. And Walsh was closing in fast on Bush himself.

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The second paragraph of the Times story by David Johnston laid it out:

“Mr. Weinberger was scheduled to stand trial on Jan. 5 on charges that he lied to Congress about his knowledge of the arms sales to Iran and efforts by other countries to help underwrite the Nicaraguan rebels, a case that was expected to focus on Mr. Weinberger’s private notes that contain references to Mr. Bush’s endorsement of the secret shipments to Iran.” (emphasis added)

History shows that when a Republican president is in serious legal trouble, Bill Barr is the go-to guy.

For William Safire, it was déjà vu all over again. Four months earlier, referring to Iraqgate (Bush’s selling WMDs to Iraq), Safire opened his article, titled “Justice [Department] Corrupts Justice,” by writing:

“U.S. Attorney General William Barr, in rejecting the House Judiciary Committee’s call for a prosecutor not beholden to the Bush Administration to investigate the crimes of Iraqgate, has taken personal charge of the cover-up.”

Safire accused Barr of not only rigging the cover-up, but of being one of the criminals who could be prosecuted.

Barr, in other words, was apparently trying to keep himself out of jail every bit as much as he was trying to keep Bush out of jail.

“Mr. Barr,” wrote Safire in The New York Times in August of 1992, “… could face prosecution if it turns out that high Bush officials knew about Saddam Hussein’s perversion of our Agriculture export guarantees to finance his war machine.”

He added:

“They [Barr and colleagues] have a keen personal and political interest in seeing to it that the Department of Justice stays in safe, controllable Republican hands.”

Earlier in Bush’s administration, Barr had succeeded in blocking the appointment of an investigator or independent counsel to look into Iraqgate, as Safire repeatedly documented in the Times.

In December, Barr helped Bush block indictments from another independent counsel, Lawrence Walsh, and eliminated any risk that Reagan or George H.W. Bush would be held to account for Iran-Contra.

Walsh, wrote Johnston for the Times on Christmas Eve, “plans to review a 1986 campaign diary kept by Mr. Bush.” The diary would be the smoking gun that would nail Bush to the scandal.

“But,” noted the Times, “in a single stroke, Mr. Bush [at Barr’s suggestion] swept away one conviction, three guilty pleas and two pending cases, virtually decapitating what was left of Mr. Walsh’s effort, which began in 1986.”

And Walsh didn’t take it lying down.

The Times report noted that:

“Mr. Walsh bitterly condemned the President’s action, charging that ‘the Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed.’”

Independent Counsel Walsh added that the diary and notes he wanted to enter into a public trial of Weinberger represented:

“{E]vidence of a conspiracy among the highest ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to Congress and the American public.”

The phrase “highest ranking” officials was apparently meant to included Reagan, Bush, and Barr himself.

Walsh had been fighting to get those documents ever since 1986, when he was first appointed and Reagan still had two years left in office. Bush’s and Weinberger’s refusal to turn them over, Johnston noted in the Times, could have, in Walsh’s words:

“[F]orestalled impeachment proceedings against President Reagan” through a pattern of “deception and obstruction.”

Barr successfully covered up the involvement of two Republican presidents — Reagan and Bush — in two separate and impeachable “high crimes,” one of them almost certainly treason involving the government of Iran. And now here was Trump taking bribes from Egypt.

Months after January, 1993, newly sworn-in President Clinton and the new Congress decided to put it all behind them and not pursue the matters any further.

Will Biden do the same, for both Trump and Barr? He’s publicly said that he’s going to let his new attorney general, Merrick Garland, make those kinds of decisions.

Or will the Biden administration direct the FBI to declassify and release the information they’ve gathered so far about Trump receiving a bribe from Turkey?

In the Senate, it’s up to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois to institute an investigation of Barr.

Will Bill Barr — and Donald Trump — ever be brought to justice?

That might depend on how often we raise the issue with our elected officials…

Life After Mother, Five to Ten Years

Lyn Jensen
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Life After Mother, Five to Ten Years

 

“For the next five to ten years,” my cousin said to me over lunch in Wenatchee, Washington, while I was paying my mother’s relatives a visit. We were discussing how the family has spent much of the last decade managing several deaths, while several more family members — including me, I must reluctantly admit — are into what are euphemistically called the sunset years.

Pondering my cousin’s timeframe, I understood the ramifications. After spending more than a decade attending to my father, my mother, and my own affairs, I’m finally becoming reacquainted with my mother’s side of the family, who are collectively coping with their own long-term health and property issues. As for me, my father died in 2015 and, as his only close relative, I spent two years managing the end of his life and settling his affairs.

About the time I closed that life chapter, my mother had a stroke, which started a chain of events that led to her death two years later and, once again, I was the only close relative to shoulder the burdens that accompanied the end of her life. Her relatives’ only involvement was to mouth empty platitudes like, “I’m sure you and your mother will have many, many more years together.” None even visited to pay their respects, let alone offer assistance.

While I was attending to my mother, an aunt died of Alzheimer’s, and less than six months later, an uncle — my mother’s brother, the woman’s husband — died of cancer. That meant the couple left overlapping wills, and while the family navigated that legal maze, they personally organized four huge estate sales to dispose of the couple’s household. Another aunt gained possession of the house and her son — the one I had lunch with — and his family moved in, through an arrangement I’ve never been privy to the exact details of.

Next came my mother’s death, and my five years of living “life after mother” continues with still more work to come. Besides me, her survivors include her sister, brother-in-law, a niece, and the nephew I had lunch with. The sister has Parkinson’s and how much longer she can remain at home, under the care of her husband and daughter, is a subject the family is understandably reluctant to address.

This aunt, my uncle, another aunt, my two cousins and I are all over fifty. Between us we have five houses filled with the impedimenta of our lives’ journeys. The family being in the apple business, there’s also an apple orchard, and what will happen to it is one more decision someone is going to have to make.

This is what my cousin meant when he spoke of, “the next five to ten years.” He’s now experiencing, with his parents, similar issues to what I went through with mine, and our extended family is looking at a future that covers much of the same terrain that I’ve spent the last decade traveling.

LA City Attorney Sues Janitorial Contractors, Supermarkets for Alleged Wage Theft

Reporters Desk
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LA City Attorney Sues Janitorial Contractors, Supermarkets for Alleged Wage Theft

 

LOS ANGELES — City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto Aug. 1 announced that she has filed a civil enforcement action on behalf of the People of the State of California against two janitorial contracting companies, their owners and operators, and two of their supermarket clients to stop alleged systemic wage theft and other labor violations against janitors. The alleged violations include failing to pay the required minimum wage and overtime, failing to provide meal breaks and paid sick leave, committing record-keeping violations, and numerous other alleged illegal labor practices. Feldstein Soto’s lawsuit seeks to stop the defendants’ unlawful and unfair labor practices, impose statutory penalties, and provide damages and restitution for at least 65 victimized workers.

The Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund or MCTF, a statewide organization that works to eliminate illegal and unfair business practices in California’s janitorial industry, worked with Feldstein Soto’s team in this matter.

According to the complaint, wage theft is rampant in janitorial contracting, an arrangement in which a contractor hires and employs janitorial workers and enters into agreements with property owners or tenants to provide janitorial services. In this matter, Modern Floor Specialists, Inc. and Clean Solution Experts, Inc. (“Janitorial Defendants”); and principals Martha Arciniega, Joseph Branch, Alicio Mendoza Galeno, and Erica Perez (“Individual Defendants”) entered into agreements with two supermarket clients – Chedraui USA, Inc., which operates El Super, and Super Center Concepts, Inc., which operates Superior Grocers (“Supermarket Defendants”).

The Janitorial Defendants provided services to approximately 75 El Super and Superior stores, primarily in Los Angeles County.

Feldstein Soto’s complaint alleges that the Janitorial Defendants knowingly and willfully failed to: (1) pay their workers required minimum and overtime wages; (2) provide required meal periods or premium wages for missed meal periods; (3) provide paid sick leave; (4) provide legally compliant wage statements; (5) maintain required wage and hour records; and (6) pay all wages earned and unpaid upon employees’ discharge or resignation. The complaint also alleges that they unlawfully required employees to execute releases before they received the payment of wages already owed.

Feldstein Soto’s complaint alleges that the defendants took advantage of these workers and committed these violations because they knew that the janitorial workers, in this case, were vulnerable members of society. They are largely immigrants, economically distressed, and not proficient in English, and thus perceived as less likely to complain about their workplace treatment.

The People seek all damages and penalties available under the Labor Code. Under the Unfair Competition Law, the People seek injunctive relief to stop the Defendants’ unlawful and unfair practices. The People also seek restitution for wages owed to the janitorial employees, and statutory penalties to punish defendants for their harmful conduct and to deter them from engaging in similar conduct in the future.

Feldstein Soto encourages those who believe they are victims of wage theft to contact the city’s Office of Wage Standards. Their email address is wagesla@lacity.org and phone number is 1-844-WAGESLA.

Details: https://shorturl.at/yp58P

Amid Rising COVID-19 Transmission Public Health Urges Residents to Practice Common Sense Precautions

Reporters Desk
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Amid Rising COVID-19 Transmission Public Health Urges Residents to Practice Common Sense Precautions

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is urging residents to take common-sense precautions to avoid becoming ill with COVID-19. As families return from summer travel and children in LA County prepare to go back to school in the coming weeks, protection from COVID-19 infection remains important, especially for those at high risk for severe illness.

Since mid-May, Public Health has seen consistent increases of reported COVID-19 cases in LA County. In the past four weeks, reported COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, virus concentrations in wastewater, and the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests have doubled. Being proactive to prevent illness can significantly reduce the risk of travel disruptions, last-minute cancellations, and inadvertently spreading illness, ensuring a more enjoyable end of summer season for everyone.

This week, Public Health reports 452 average daily COVID-19 cases, an increase from the 229 cases reported four weeks ago. Reported cases are an undercount, due to the large number of at-home COVID test results that are not reported to Public Health.

COVID-19 deaths remain relatively stable. Public Health is reporting 1.9 daily average COVID-19 deaths this week, compared to 0.9 in early July. Changes in the death metric may be seen later than other metrics due to both the time needed to receive death certificates and the natural progression of the disease.

Public Health urges residents to use the tools available to reduce transmission and prevent severe illness with COVID-19. Vaccination remains the most powerful tool to protect against the severe effects of COVID-19. An updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine will be available this fall in LA County. Additional doses of the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine are still available for Los Angeles County residents 65 and older and provide added protection against severe illness and death from COVID-19. Residents 65 and older can get a dose of the updated vaccine four months after their previous dose. For information about where to get vaccinated, visit ph.lacounty.gov/vaccines

COVID-19 testing is still recommended for anyone who suspects they have COVID-19 symptoms or who has had a recent exposure to COVID-19. Free tests are available throughout Los Angeles County and at local pharmacies through most insurance plans. More information is available at ph.lacounty.gov/COVIDtests.

To learn more about medicines to treat COVID-19 visit: ph.lacounty.gov/acd/ncorona2019/medication/.

The Public Health InfoLine is open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The free service connects callers with a person who can answer their questions, coordinate free telehealth care to receive COVID-19 treatment, and help make a vaccination appointment, including for people who are homebound. The number is 1-833-540-0473.

Details: Public Health COVID data webpage.

Information Center to Connect RPV Residents Impacted by Land Movement with Resources and Support

Reporters Desk
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Information Center to Connect RPV Residents Impacted by Land Movement with Resources and Support

 

Officials from the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management will be available for interviews at the opening of an information center established for residents impacted by land movement in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Slow-moving, ancient landslides in the city have significantly accelerated across 680 acres following heavy rainy seasons, causing damage to homes, roads, and utilities. On July 29, SoCalGas shut off natural gas service to approximately 135 homes in the Portuguese Bend community due to land movement. On July 30, Southern California Edison advised customers in the landslide area that electricity service may be discontinued in the future, if conditions warrant.

The Information Center will be open to impacted residents on August 6 and 8 at the Ladera Linda Community Center. The center will feature Los Angeles County services, in partnership with Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s Office, state agencies, nonprofits, and emergency preparedness resources. The City will have a station with information on permitting for gas conversion and solar projects, as well as Public Works requests. Concurrently, the Portuguese Bend Community Association will host a fair with contractors and professionals who provide services for these and other projects that may be needed.

Time: 2:30 p.m., Aug. 6 and 8

Venue: Ladera Linda Community Center, 32201 Forrestal Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes

California Receives $600M in Federal Funds to Improve Power Grid

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California Receives $600M in Federal Funds to Improve Power Grid

 

SACRAMENTO — California has secured a $600 million federal grant to upgrade 100 miles of electric transmission lines with grid enhancing technologies to improve reliability and deliver clean, affordable electricity faster.

The Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership or GRIP grant was awarded to a consortium that includes the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Independent System Operator, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, and Southern California Edison.

The agencies, grid operator and utilities will partner on the California Harnessing Advanced Reliable Grid Enhancing Technologies for Transmission (CHARGE 2T) program, which will expand transmission capacity and provide interconnection improvements to increase and accelerate equitable access to clean energy resources across the state.

The project will:

Support more than 300 direct jobs.

Enhance more than 100 miles of transmission lines with advanced conductor technologies that will help connect more clean energy resources than the existing grid can accommodate at this time.

Deliver an estimated $200 million in energy savings from improved grid efficiency.

Create economic and community benefits for disadvantaged communities.

Invest in workforce training programs for the next generation of energy and utility workers.

Develop a portal to improve transparency and efficiency in the interconnection process.

Tribal collaborations

A Northern California electrical grid project, led by the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Karuk Tribe, and Yurok Tribe, also received $88 million in GRIP funding, which – with matching funds from various sources – will ultimately total about $200 million. The result of years of collaboration between California tribes, the state, and other public-private partnerships, this project will develop an innovative network of community microgrids to ultimately create a reliable, resilient, and decarbonized system.

The communities affected currently rely on the Hoopa 1101 circuit – one of the least reliable circuits in the PG&E service territory, seeing average outages twice the duration of most other circuits. The project’s innovative approach – developed in collaboration with a new grid services laboratory at Cal Poly Humboldt – addresses the difficulties posed by rugged, rural, and wildfire-prone environments, and will allow communities to move away from relying on fossil fuels.

Details: Find clean energy projects in your community at build.ca.gov.

Murder Investigation, 67th Street Long Beach

Reporters Desk
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Murder Investigation, 67th Street Long Beach

 

Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting death of a 16-year-old male which occurred on Aug. 4.

About 2:40 p.m., officers responded to the 3300 block of 67th Street, regarding multiple reports of a person who was shot in the street.

Upon arrival, officers located a male teenage victim with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper and lower body. Officers rendered medical aid and attempted life saving measures until being relieved by Long Beach Fire Department personnel who determined the victim deceased at the scene.

Homicide detectives responded to the scene. Through their preliminary investigation, detectives determined the victim’s adult male relative drove the victim to the area. The victim exited the vehicle and returned a short time later followed by a group of unknown subjects. Moments later, a shooting occurred striking the victim and the relative’s vehicle. The relative then fled the area and immediately called the police. The victim’s relative sustained a minor injury to his upper body and he was treated at the scene. It is not yet known if the relative was struck by gunfire or debris.

The group fled the area on foot prior to officers’ arrival.

The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

The victim has been identified as a 16-year-old resident from the city of Bell. His identity is being withheld due to his age.

Detectives believe there were additional witnesses in the area and are encouraging them to come forward.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact Homicide Detectives Oscar Valenzuela or Leticia Gamboa 562-570-7244 or anonymously at 800-222-8477,www.lacrimestoppers.org.

Join the POLB Community Grants Workshop Aug. 20

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Join the POLB Community Grants Workshop Aug. 20

Is your government agency, 501(c)(3) nonprofit or licensed healthcare provider considering a project or service aimed at reducing the risks associated with asthma and other respiratory and cardiopulmonary ailments? You may qualify for funding from the Port of Long Beach Community Grants Program.

To assist applicants in preparing successful proposals, the port’s community grants team is hosting a virtual workshop Aug. 20. For those who cannot attend, they can find the webinar presentation on the port’s website (https://tinyurl.com/Community-grant)

following the event and may email questions to grants@polb.com. Applications for submitting a concept paper will open in early September.

The award-winning Community Grants Program is a more than $46 million effort to fund projects that help those in the community who are most vulnerable to port-related environmental impacts. These projects are expanding asthma services, controlling stormwater runoff through the building of permeable parking lots, and creating open space buffers between port operations and communities, to name a few. Combined with a previous program started in 2009, the Port of Long Beach has set aside more than $65 million, making it the largest voluntary port mitigation initiative in the country. To date, $50.6 million has been committed.

The upcoming solicitation will be administered using the community health guidelines, related to lowering the risks of asthma and other respiratory and cardiopulmonary ailments. Guidelines for the three areas of the Community Grants Program – Community Health, Community Infrastructure, and Facility Improvements – can be found on the port website at www.polb.com/grants.

Time: 4 to 5 p.m., Aug. 20

Details: Register, https://tinyurl.com/presolicitation-workshops

LASD Homicide Bureau Responded to a Shooting Death Investigation, on E. Artesia Blvd., Carson

Reporters Desk
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LASD Homicide Bureau Responded to a Shooting Death Investigation, on E. Artesia Blvd., Carson

 

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide investigators responded to a shooting death investigation. The incident was reported, August 3, about 7 p.m., on E. Artesia Blvd., in the City of Carson.

Upon arrival, deputies located a male in a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. Deputies immediately rendered aid to the male. Fire Department personnel responded and pronounced the male deceased.

Homicide Investigators learned the victim was driving on Central Avenue when an occupant from a passing vehicle shot the victim. The suspect(s) fled the location after the shooting. There’s no additional information available at this time.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or anonymously at 800-222– 8477, http://lacrimestoppers.org

EPA Announces New Initiatives to Strengthen HBCU Engagement and Environmental Partnerships

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EPA Announces New Initiatives to Strengthen HBCU Engagement and Environmental Partnerships

WASHINGTON — Attending the United Negro College Fund’s UNITE 2024 Summit, July 31, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan unveiled the latest actions under the agency’s comprehensive engagement plan with Historically Black Colleges and Universities or HBCUs. Later this year, EPA will launch a $2.5 million competitive grant opportunity to support HBCUs and partners. EPA will also appoint a permanent HBCU outreach and engagement liaison within the administrator’s office, as well as the founding members of EPA’s first-ever HBCU-MSI federal advisory council. These actions deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government investment efforts in HBCUs and reflect EPA’s commitment to achieving real results that empower students and support the communities that HBCUs serve.

“HBCUs produce some of the best and brightest minds our country has to offer,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “At every level of this Administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, HBCU graduates are delivering real results, and we’re more committed than ever to partnering and empowering HBCU students and leaders across the country. At EPA, HBCUs have a permanent seat at our table, so that these institutions remain at the forefront of the environmental movement.”

$2.5 Million Competitive Grant Opportunity

EPA is establishing a $2.5 million competitive grant opportunity to support collaboration among students and faculty from HBCUs. This program will focus on funding projects that advance workforce development, environmental education, and capacity building. It will also support community projects addressing environmental justice, climate change, water quality, and land health on campuses and in surrounding communities. A Notice of Funding Opportunity for this grant is expected to be issued in early October.

Permanent HBCU Outreach and Engagement Liaison

EPA’s appointed permanent HBCU outreach and engagement liaison will advise on initiatives related to HBCUs, ensuring these institutions are fully informed about EPA resources, funding opportunities, and engagement activities. The liaison will also facilitate coordination within EPA, maintaining a resource repository for both internal and external stakeholders. This appointment is a result of EPA’s commitment to turning promises into results.

HBCU-MSI Federal Advisory Council

EPA will announce the inaugural members of its first-ever HBCU-MSI federal advisory council. The council will offer strategic advice on leveraging the expertise within HBCU-MSIs to advance EPA’s mission and support these institutions. The council will deliver independent recommendations on enhancing the participation of HBCU-MSIs in federal programs and diversifying EPA’s workforce. Selections for the council will be announced by fall 2024, featuring representatives from academia, industry, community organizations, and local governments nationwide.

HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are pivotal in producing Black and minority graduates, particularly in STEM fields. Despite their significant contributions, these institutions face systemic barriers to accessing federal programs and resources. HBCUs often serve underserved communities, providing essential opportunities for economic mobility and academic advancement.

Details: EPA’s HBCU Engagement webpage.

 

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