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Hahn Votes “No” on Cutting Educational Funding

Reporters Desk
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Washington, DC— On July 19, Rep. Janice Hahn, District 44, voted “no” on the Student Success Act of 2013, which would drastically cut educational funding for vital programs that help disadvantaged students, English learner students and students with special needs.

The bill, written by Republican John Kline, of Minnesota, passed the House of Representatives with a 221-207 vote.

The bill reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education act, known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

While the Student Success Act requires states to adopt standards in reading and math, the bill does nothing to ensure that state standards are rigorous enough to make sure students graduate from high school. What’s more, the bill does not require states to set targets and goals to evaluate whether schools are improving student achievement and graduation rates.

Similar to the No Child Left Behind Act, the Student Success Act requires states and districts to annually assess students in reading and math and publicly report those results to parents. Beyond that, however, states and districts have a great deal of discretion over what needs to happen to underperforming schools. Chronically underperforming schools can continue to conduct business as usual.

The Student Success Act neglects to close a federal loophole that allows districts to allocate fewer total dollars to high-poverty schools compared to more affluent schools.

The Student Success Act also removes federal requirements that ensure states and districts maintain their share of education funding from year to year.

False Bomb Threat Gets Pedro Man in Jail

Reporters Desk
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LONG BEACH — A San Pedro man was arrested for making a bomb threat to a Walmart in Long Beach on July 21.

Thirty-year-old Patrick Quintana, allegedly phoned in a bomb threat, at about 8:30 p.m. July 21, to the Walmart at the CityPlaceShopping Center in Long Beach, officials said.

Police say the store was evacuated and a search was conducted but no device was found. Through their investigation, the suspect was tracked to San Pedro and taken into custody. He was booked for making a false bomb threat, along with other warrants that included annoying phone calls, stalking, burglary and driving under the influence. His total bail amounted to $410,500.

Investigators presented the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The office filed count of criminal threat and one count reporting a false bomb charge.

Young Mother Killed in Long Beach

Reporters Desk
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LONG BEACH — A 23-year-old woman was killed on the morning of July 25, near 5th Street on Walnut Avenue in Long Beach.

At about 6:20 a.m., Long Beach Police Department officers found Jazzmine Wash dead at the scene, laying on the courtyard of an apartment complex on Walnut Avenue, officials said.

Wash had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene by Long Beach Fire Department paramedics.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the victim had arrived at the home of a relative to drop off her 3-year-old child. She walked back out of the residence to go get a diaper bag. Residents in the area then heard several shots fired.

A motive for the shooting is unknown, no suspect information is available, and investigators are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Long Beach Police Homicide at (562) 570-7244. Anonymous tips may be submitted at (800) 222-8477 or www.lacrimestoppers.org.

Stuck On Stupid

RLn
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“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will.”

—Fredrick Douglas, address on West India Emancipation, 1857

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

I find it enlightening that the above quote is most often recognized among my friends of color. That quote was the starting point in the preface of civil rights lawyer Connie Rice’s book, Power Concedes Nothing—One Woman’s Quest for Social Justice in America. To say the least, I was quite moved by her story, the tragedies and challenges, and then the amazing resolution. I doubt that I can do justice to this book here in so few words, except that I highly recommend it to anyone trying to make sense out of the recent verdict and the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida.

What I can tell you is that Ms. Rice, the cousin of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Bush administration, has spent many years in Los Angeles courtrooms, suing the Los Angeles Police Department and others over discrimination, police misconduct and violations of civil rights laws.

You might surmise that such a person would be persona non grata inside the fortress of Parker Center or that her perspectives would be routinely dismissed by those leading the “thin blue line” of Los Angeles policing. What we have seen instead, however, is an amazing about face in the racist Los Angeles Police Department culture that once guarded the “safe neighborhoods” of the city while suppressing the “dangerous ones” following the Los Angeles riots following the not guilty verdicts of the officers involved in the Rodney King videoed beating in 1992.

If you’ve lived in this country for any time over the past 40 years, you’d recognize “safe neighborhoods” as a euphemism for white middle class areas and the“dangerous ones” as black and brown ghettos, to speak plainly about it.

Since the bygone days of California red-lining and racial covenants in certain areas, we have this belief here in the Golden State that we are well on the path to racial equality and the end of discrimination, but that there is much that you just can’t legislate. Furthermore, the path out of poverty in this country is fraught with domestic landmines, like the 60 percent incarceration rate of young black males compared to their corresponding graduation rates from inner city schools. As Rice writes so movingly in her book, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream has still not been fulfilled, nor will it be until every child has the right to safety in their schools and neighborhoods. And this safety is from both the gangs and the cops.

She writes, “We must rekindle the hope of the hopeless—dismantle the new Jim Crow and remove the threat posed to us all by the deadly conditions festering in the hot zones. We must invest the cost of achieving our greatest credo, E Pluribus Unum, or pay the price of losing the greatest democracy ever created.”

Rice was eventually invited inside of the LAPD police union to investigate and report on the Rampart division scandal, where afterward she surmised that the system was just “stuck on stupid.” Here investigation resulted in a report entitled: “Rampart Reconsidered: The Search for Real Reform Seven Years Later.” In the report, she noted that the entrenched police department’s culture was resistant against change to a better policing model. She took special note, however, of then-Capt. Charlie Beck who made a 180 degree turn-around that changed (and saved) the Rampart division.

Beck (now Chief of the LAPD) realized mid-career that the traditional “suppression” or hammer model of their CRASH units was not winning the fight against gang wars that were raging in Los Angeles at the time.

There is a greater cautionary tale to be understood from her story of the LAPD’s changing trajectory. And that is, we are plagued by the “bollix of bureaucracy” on many levels and that the stuck on stupid mind set is often at the core of the resistance to change. Better the devil you know than the one you don’t, is the cliché that comes to mind. It’s true, institutions don’t like to change. They resist change. And on the rare occasion they do change, it is only when it is faced with an institutional crisis, a court order or a political uprising demanding that power concedes. However, real change only comes when those on the inside, like LAPD Chief Beck, come to the epiphany and embrace change.

It is said that you can’t legislate morality. But as current events show, “power concedes nothing, without a demand.” And as a citizen of this country and this city, we must learn to effectively demand concessions and not to be complacent with stupid.

www.powerconcedesnothing.com

Quinoa: The Ancient Grain Superfood

RLn
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Quinoa: The Ancient Grain Superfood

by: Lori Lynn Hirsch Stokoe, Contributing Writer

Popularity of this nutrient-rich “pseudo cereal” has exploded in recent years.

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is called the ancient grain super food, having been cultivated in the Andes mountain regions of South America for five millennia. Along with maize, quinoa was the main food source of the Incas.

Gluten-free, high in protein, with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities and a good source of fiber alas, it is not a grain at all, but a seed. It is called a pseudo cereal because it is a broadleaf plant that is grown for grain, unlike most cereals, which come from grassy plants. Its scientific name is Chenopodium quinoa. Chenopods are herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which also include spinach and beets. There are more than 200 hundred varieties of quinoa that have adapted to diverse growing conditions -high altitudes, thin air, cool nights, dry weather. Peru and Bolivia are the largest commercial producers.

Now that the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has declared the year 2013, “The International Year of Quinoa.” It’s time to give this versatile, easy-to-prepare super food a try.

Seeds can be black, red, pink, orange, yellow, or white in color. Quinoa is prepared in a method similar to rice. Simply bring one part rinsed quinoa and two parts water to a boil, then simmer, covered, until cooked, about 15 minutes. When the quinoa is ready, the germ, appearing as a translucent white spiral will be evident in each seed. Cooked quinoa is fluffy like couscous, creamy like rice, slightly crunchy with a nutty taste reminiscent of sesame seeds. Enjoy it for breakfast, tossed in a salad, stirred into soup. Serve it as a substitute for noodles or rice. Add cooked quinoa to ground beef to increase fiber and nutrients in burgers or let quinoa shine on its own, as a bright side dish or a vegetarian main course.

My “Sweet Sour Spicy Quinoa” makes a terrific side dish for grilled meat, chicken and fish.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked white quinoa

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoon lime juice

zest from 1 lime

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 Serrano peppers, finely sliced

1/2 cup scallion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup pineapple, small dice

1/4 cup papaya, small dice

1/3 cup pomegranate arils

10 basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons

1/4 cup slivered almonds

 

Recipe:

Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Meanwhile combine olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, garlic, ginger, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add Serrano, scallion, pineapple, papaya, and pomegranate arils. Let fruit mixture sit to meld flavors while quinoa comes to room temperature. Combine quinoa with the fruit mixture. Taste and adjust salt, olive oil, or lime juice as needed. Just before serving, toss in the basil and almonds. Super food!

Lori Lynn Hirsch Stokoe blogs about food, wine, and entertaining at Taste With The Eyes http://www.tastewiththeeyes.com and tweets as Tasteblog at https://twitter.com/tasteblog.

Living It Up in the Hotel Paradiso

Reporters Desk
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Living It Up in the Hotel Paradiso

By John Farrell, Curtain Call Writer

Things haven’t changed all that much sinceHotel Paradisoopened in Paris in 1894.

People are still people and a nice little fling at a local hotel still happens. Mind you, in Paris in the 1890s things were a lot more elegant, or at least more complicated. You could have an assignation, but it had to be disguised and lied about.

It’s just those lies, comic and frantic, that makeHotel Paradiso, the farce by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desalavallieres so delicious. That, and the set design of Jazmin Lopez, which manages to fit a living room with an important fire escape and a hotel with two bedrooms and plenty of doors, into the small confines of the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood. Just watching the crew change the scenes for each of the three acts is an education in itself, and the Group Rep which presents this play must have had plenty of courage to produce it at all. It is terrifically funny, but also scenically difficult.

The story is simple: Benedict Boniface (Van Boudreaux) wants to have a fling with his neighbor’s wife, Marcelle Cot (the lovely Gina Yates,) whose husband Henri Cot (Mark Atha) has been very neglectful of his wife. The two book a room in the Hotel Paradiso for the evening, but there are ghosts, a nephew and his paramour, and a visiting man with three young daughters. Every door is slammed, every secret is misunderstood and hilarity results.

Continue

Garcia Announces Mayoral Candidacy

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Garcia Announces Mayoral Candidacy

By Zamna Avila, Assistant Editor – June 17, 2013

On June 17, Vice Mayor Robert Garcia announced his candidacy for mayor of Long Beach.

The news came days after Mayor Bob Foster announced he was not running for re-election. Garcia represents the District 1, which includes large areas of downtown and parts of thePort of Long Beach.

When elected on April 13, 2009, to fill the seat vacated byBonnie Lowenthal, Garcia, 35, became the youngest person and the first openly-gayLatino elected to the Long Beach City Council.

Garcia is known for his support of using digital technology, as well as for his outspoken support of LGBTrights.

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Vying for the mayoral seat is Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, also openly-gay. Schipske announced her candidacy March 21.
In 2006, Gerrie was elected to the Long Beach City Council and in 2010 was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term.

Schipske is known for her support of government transparency, as well as her outspoken city policy opinions within her blog, where she often presents constituents with government documents.

View the RLn Long Beach 2014 Election Blog Here.

A History of Improper Attribution at the Long Beach Post

Greggory Moore
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By Greggory Moore

In February 2011, LBReport.com ran a laconic news item entitled “Echo Chamber?” consisting of little more than a side-by-side comparison of a Long Beach Post news story with a press release from Sen. Alan Lowenthal’s office. Save for the shuffling around of a half-dozen words in the opening paragraph, the story was a verbatim transcription of the press release, though the story had a Post byline and failed to mention Lowenthal’s office as the source of the story.

Six months later, LBReport.com published a similar side-by-side comparison, this time between a City of Long Beach press release and a Post story that, save for the reshuffling of about 10 words, was a verbatim transcription of the release, again with a Post byline and no mention of the original source.

Since that time, on numerous occasions—including within the last week—the Post published press releases as Post-generated stories, typically with the byline “Staff Reports” and with no mention of the source of the information. For example, on April 30, 2012, the Post published a story entitled “LBCC Knocks Compton Out of the Park,” which, aside from the title, was a verbatim transcription of a Long Beach City College press release.

By far the most frequent source of such stories has been MemorialCare Health System, a Post advertiser whose facilities include Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. For years the Post published MemorialCare press releases under the byline “Staff Reports” at the rate of one to two per week. In June, for example, the Post ran eight improperly attributed MemorialCare press releases, in most cases verbatim.

Thus far in July the Post has run four such stories, the most recent example being a July 12 story, “Local Non-Profit Donates 2,000 Children’s Books, Brings Best-Selling Author to Miller Children’s Hospital,” which is a verbatim reprint of a MemorialCare press release published by EverythingLongBeach.com on June 14.

This was not the first time the Post published a press release first appearing on EverythingLongBeach.com. For example, on March 21 the Post published a verbatim transcription of a press release that EverythingLongBeach.com posted three days earlier covering Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez visiting Miller Children’s Hospital.

An example of a news story lacking proper attribution was posted June 12. Entitled “28 Long Beach Marijuana Dispensaries Targeted in Federal Crack Down [sic],” although the story is not a verbatim transcription of the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release on which apparently it is based, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is never mentioned as the source of information, even though the language of the story so closely mirrors the press release that both are identical in omitting any reference to the terms “medical” or “medicinal” and to California law allowing for medpot usage, as well as in applying the term “illegal” to medpot dispensaries exactly five times (not including a quote from LBPD Chief Jim McDonnell that appears in each), despite the story’s being only 430 words in length. (Because the federal government does not recognize the medicinal use of marijuana, it is not surprising that the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release is crafted in such a way.)

On Monday, June 15, Random Lengths News contacted the Post for comment regarding such practices. The Post did not reply, but on Tuesday, June 16, all MemorialCare stories in question were retroactively marked as “Sponsored,” with their bylines changed from “Staff Reports” to “Long Beach Post Partner.”

On June 15, Richele Steele, a MemorialCare spokesperson, confirmed to Random Length News that MemorialCare is an advertiser with the Post, and that part of the organization’s arrangement with the Post has been for the publication to run MemorialCare press releases.

However, Steele noted that nothing in the agreement barred the Post from identifying the material as such.

“That’s just a choice that they make,” she said.

Afterword
In the interest of full disclosure, I note the following:
• I was a writer for the Long Beach Post from June 2009 to June 2013.
• In late May the Post informed me that, for financial reasons, the publication would no longer be able to continue to employ me.
• While with the Post I wrote two to three stories on programs within the MemorialCare system. In each case, however, all sources were properly credited, and the choice to write each was made independently by me based solely on my belief that the programs in question deserved coverage.
• In each instance of improper attribution by the Post of which I was aware, I notified the Post‘s leadership and expressed my belief that such practices were ethically unacceptable. (Because any subsequent conversation I might have had with the Post on the subject would not have been “on the record,” no information that might have been obtained in such conversation would have been used in the creation of this article.)

San Pedro and the Spanish-American War

Reporters Desk
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San Pedro and the Spanish-American War

I am delighted that you published (July 12-25 issue) the views of Rachel Bruhnke and what could be the connection between San Pedro and the people of Cuba. She is entitled to her opinions (which were well expressed), but not to her facts, which were woefully inadequate and came close to insulting the intelligence of the readers of Random Lengths. In particular:

a. Cuban independence was a stated aim of the US government before, during and after the Spanish-American War. It was a war of imperialism elsewhere, but not in Cuba. And the US did not renege on that promise.

b. There had been a war for independence raging in Cuba for many years before the Maine was destroyed (for whatever reason) in the harbor of La Habana, which precipitated the war. US military operations were centered on Western Cuba to be able to support the Cuban insurgents in their war against Spanish domination. Even in 1898 the Sierra Maestra was the center of insurgent activity; Fidel Castro knew his Cuban history well. In the same way as France intervened in the American Revolution to ensure the success of our independence movement, the US intervened in an ongoing (and very bloody and inhumane) war for Cuban independence in order to ensure the success of those Cubans fighting for independence.

Continue

Proposed 2013-2021 Update for the Housing Element of the General Plan

Reporters Desk
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Proposed 2013-2021 Update for the Housing Element of the General Plan
Open House and Public Hearing – July 27

The 2013-2021 update to the City’s Housing Element has been released for public review and comment. The Housing Element is a state-required part of the Los Angeles’ General Plan, which must be completed on a 8-year schedule to be in compliance. Hopefully some of you are aware of the project due to the efforts we made in attending the regional neighborhood council groups over the past couple months.

A Housing Element is meant to provide policy guidance for local decision making regarding housing programs and decisions. It is a comprehensive statement of city need, constraints and strategies to provide housing opportunities to existing and future residents. The City of Los Angeles will conduct an Open House/Public Hearing regarding the proposed 2013-2021 Update to the City’s Housing Element of the General Plan.More Info.

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