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The Last Stop of Garcetti’s Listening Tour

Terelle Jerricks
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The Last Stop of Garcetti’s Listening Tour

The mayor-elect attempts to lower expectations while show that he’s listening

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

On the evening of June 20 Los Angeles Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti held the last of seven town hall meetings to garner support and input from his city-wide constituents. Although the house of the Warner Grand Theater was never more than a quarter filled with citizens from many parts of both the 15th District and the city at large there were many notables in attendance and many neighborhood council representatives–they seemed to at least be engaged in the premise of the meeting. This was Garcetti’s nod towards a more progressive, populist and open municipal government, that is all too often criticized for “not listening.”

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Forever Gifted and Black

Terelle Jerricks
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Grand Performances Pays Tribute to Nina Simone on July 5th

By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor

I really didn’t expect Jonathan Ruddnick to come back with an equally important show this year after he put on the phenomenonal “Go With Gil” tribute to the iconic Gil Scott Heron. But he’s doing it in tribute to the legendary Nina Simone in partnership with the incredible Dexter Story. Nina would have been 90 years old this year. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of her death.

Like last year, Jonathan will be using this tribute to show off Los Angeles musical talent pool. But to do it, he enlisted the help of Dexter, who has managed a lot of artists from coast to coast, served as marketing director and for record labels ranging from Bad Boy Records to a producer at Sony Music. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist artist in his own right who has released a CD recently called Seasons. It seems that this year, Jonathan bought on a real heavy hitter with vision to pull off the Nina Simone Tribute.

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Fear of a Black (& Brown & Yellow) Electorate

Terelle Jerricks
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Fear of a Black (& Brown & Yellow) Electorate

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

“Throwing out pre-clearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shelby County v. Holder, dissent.

“I believe that when politicians feel the heat, they see the light.” – Congressman Keith Elison (D-MN), on the possibility of getting a new Voting Rights Act law passed by this Congress.

“Make no mistake, the 2014 election started today.” – MSNBC’s Chris Hayes

On June 25, the Supreme Court struck the biggest blow against civil rights since Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, striking down a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional.

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Fringe Festival

Reporters Desk
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By John Farrell, Curtain Call Writer

If you love theater, there is no better place to be through the end of the week than Hollywood.

That’s where the annual Hollywood Fringe Festival is taking place, and there is something for every taste, from serious plays to one-man (or -woman) shows, from magic to musicals, and from Shakespearean parodies to small theatrical productions that are experimental and that you’ll want to see when they find a bigger home.

They are cheap, too. You can see several plays on June 28, 29 and 30, and still have change left for a cocktail at Fringe Central. Fringe Central is one of more than 20 venues in Hollywood — or nearby —that are presenting these productions. This is the fourth annual Hollywood Fringe Festival, modeled after the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which has spawned copycats in New York, San Francisco, Minnesota and cities worldwide.

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Hungry Women

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Hungry Women

By John Farrell, Curtain Call Writer

Hungry Womanis Josefina Lopez’s latest play.

The play is a look at a Latina from Los Angeles who flees to when her life, her love, the very meaning of her life, is in jeopardy.

Hungry Women, based on her novel of the same name, opened this week at Casa 0101, the theater she founded in Boyle Heights. The play is often charming and the central character, Canela (Rachel Gonzalez), is a compelling actress.

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Power Analysis Workshop

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Power Analysis Workshop

Join the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs & a Healthy Community as they take a take a closer look at the Long Beach City College Board of Trustees, starting at 5 p.m. July 10, at the MHA Village.

The group will learn how the board operate, what powers they have and the community can make their voices are heard.

The goal of this workshop series is to take the discussion from the People’s State of the City to the next step by using popular education to deepen our understanding of how local government works. Participants will build collective knowledge of where branches of government get their power, how it impacts the community and how residents can ensure local government works for all Long Beach residents.

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Visioning the Future for the Main Library

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Visioning the Future for the Main Library

Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske is hosting a community meeting on “Visioning the Future of the Main Library,” starting at 12:30 p.m. June 29, at the El Dorado Library Community Room in Long Beach.

Request for Qualifications Hints Someone Wants to Move Main Library.

Click hereto read the Request for Qualifications sent to developers and others about possibly tearing down City Hall and the Main Library and building new structures. Did you know that the RFQ also raises the possibility that the Main Library could be moved out of being near City Hall?

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Theft of the Courthouse

Terelle Jerricks
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Where there’s no justice, democracy fails

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

… as through this

world I’ve wandered
I’ve seen lots of funny men; Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen. –Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd by Woody Guthrie

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The U.S. Supreme Court continues to send down split decisions on our civil rights. On the one hand, it overturned a portion of the 1960s Voting Rights Act, while on the other, they struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, commonly referred to as DOMA (For details, read Senior Editor Paul Rosenberg’s Fear of a Black (& Brown & Yellow) Electorate).

Yet, closer to home, the Los Angeles Superior Court, by administrative action not challenged by any constituency or attorney bringing a civil rights lawsuit, has closed access to thousands–if not millions of citizens– to their local courthouses. The San Pedro Courthouse stands as a prime example of this miscarriage of justice.

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Bill Close Loophole in California Shield Law

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Bill Close Loophole in California Shield Law

SACRAMENTO – California reporters and their news organizations would have five days notice of any subpoenas of their records, such as phone calls, or other invasions of their news gathering communications under a Sen. Ted W. Lieu measure that, June 25, passed its first policy review on a bipartisan vote.

The wiretaps of Associated Press phone records included calls from several East Coast bureaus and more than 20 lines, including personal phones and AP phone numbers in New York; Hartford, Connecticut; and Washington D.C. The records potentially reveal communications with confidential sources across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP during a two-month period.

Lieu said his measure would specifically apply to so-called ‘third-party vendors’. In the case of AP, this would have required the Justice Department to notify AP at least five days ahead of time that the communications firm handling AP phone records would be subpoenaed.

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Brown Issues Statement on Prop. 8 Ruling

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Brown Issues Statement on Prop. 8 Ruling

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown issued a statement, June 26, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8.

The Supreme Court ruled that the 2010 federal district court’s decision that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced.

“After years of struggle, the U.S. Supreme Court today has made same-sex marriage a reality in California,” Brown said.

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