Incarcerated

Mar 29 2012

Participants can chose from 20 trades

LANCASTER, Calif.—Education and probation officials in Lancaster cut the ribbon Wednesday on what’s billed as the county’s biggest vocational training program for youths in the juvenile court system.

Located at the Challenger Memorial Youth Center in Lancaster, “BuildingSkills: Construction Careers for the 21st Century” prepares students for 20 construction-related trades, Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) officials said.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Sep 15 2011

Practical Politics

In yet another slap of facts to the face of those quick to whine and complain, but too laid-back to do much research, the latest reports from the Federal Courts Register have articulated a rarely known but easily found bit of information: President Barack Obama, in two years, has nominated and gotten approved a higher percentage of non-White federal judges than any previous president of the United States.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 4 2010

For the past few weeks, mothers in the Antelope Valley have been sharing their stories, conspiring to change the local educational system that has historically plagued African American boys

Overrepresentation of African American males in special education is an old, yet unchanging issue. Year in and year out, a disproportionate number of Black male students are enrolled in special education courses for various reason, but mostly behavioral issues and learning disabilities.

Within the Antelope Valley Union High School District, African Americans make up 21 percent of the total student population, yet is the second largest group enrolled in special education, according to the California Department of Education.

Oct 7 2010

10 Heroes of 2010

Los Angeles resident Susan Burton has been nominated as one of CNN’s top 10 heroes of 2010, and is now in the running to become the network’s hero of the year. Burton, founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project, which provides sober living accommodations and helps formerly incarcerated women get their lives on track, now needs the public to go online (CNNHeroes.com and vote for her through Nov. 18 at 6 a.m. (ET). Individuals are allowed to vote more than once.

Jan 17 2009

Allegedly violated terms of bail

Former NFL star O. J. Simpson was taken into custody Friday in Florida after allegedly violating terms of his bail in an armed robbery that occurred in Las Vegas on Sept. 28.

Simpson, 60, who is facing multiple felonies in the case, is scheduled to spend several days in the Clark County jail in Las Vegas.

The bail bond company, You Ring We Spring in North Las Vegas, declined to comment on Simpson’s most recent legal woes.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.