Los Angeles Times

Oct 25 2012

Hawthorne follows pattern of Inglewood officers

Efforts to assist survivors of a shooting rampage that killed a father and his young son and left three other members of their Inglewood family wounded gained momentum Tuesday with a second police department announcing a fund to benefit the victims.

Filimon Lamas, 30, and his 4-year-old son were killed Saturday when suspect Desmond John Moses, their 55-year-old neighbor, opened fire in their home then set his own house ablaze, police said.

Jun 25 2012

Ramps closed for rebuilding as 405 adds carpool lane

L.A. began its first work week of “Ramp Jam”—the three-month closure of the westbound Wilshire Boulevard onramp to the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway and the northbound 405’s offramp to westbound Wilshire.
  
The ramps were closed Friday night in the first phase of a yearlong effort to demolish and rebuild all eight ramps at the interchange. They are to be replaced with ramps designed to reduce traffic jams and dangerous lane-weaving. The work is part of a project to add a 10-mile carpool lane to the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass.

May 3 2012

Nashville All-American and aspiring NFL player file class-action suit against popular TV series

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Nashville residents Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, an All-American football player and an aspiring National Football League player, respectively, filed a lawsuit against the popular ABC reality television programs “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” for intentional exclusion of persons of color over the course of 23 seasons. The men, both of whom are African American, are requesting class-action status for the case.

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Feb 23 2012

Hollywood by Choice

Hats off to the recently departed 2012 Pan African Film Festival. 

To the community’s delight, the film festival and art show returned to our own backyard at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, and the adjoining theater now known as The Rave Cinemas. 

The festival, often referred to simply as PAFF, continues to showcase great feature-length films, such as Steve Harvey’s “Think Like a Man,” scripted from his best-selling book, which kicked off the festival. 

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Jun 9 2011

African American Male Initiative succeeding

LANCASTER, Calif.—Antelope Valley High School recently underwent major changes, including the reassignment of 50 percent of its teachers. The school has been in hot water before, being declared a Tier II school. According to the California Department of Education, a Tier II institution is one that falls under certain criteria, including the tag as a low-achieving school based on testing or graduation rates.

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.