Malibu

May 3 2013

4,000 homes threatened

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A Los Angeles-area wildfire exploded from 10 acres to 10,000 acres in about 25 hours and threatened 4,000 homes Friday afternoon, fire authorities said.

The fire, which began Thursday morning, damaged 15 homes,15 outbuildings and five commercial properties, but none were destroyed and no one had been injured, authorities said.

Authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation Friday afternoon for the affluent Ventura County community of Hidden Valley, northwest of Los Angeles, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Dec 29 2011

Parents awarded $900,000

After two years of fighting for justice and searching for answers, the parents of Mitrice Richardson, the 24-year-old woman found dead almost a year after being released from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Malibu station, may be able to breathe a little easier.

A tentative agreement was reached to settle their lawsuits against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for $900,000.

Jul 13 2011

Family’s request

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The remains of a 24-year-old woman, whose decomposing body was found in Malibu’s backcountry nearly a year after she was released from the local sheriff’s station, were exhumed today at her family’s request in an attempt to determine how she died.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jul 7 2011

Changes are a ‘mistake’

According to a new visualization pre-map published last weekend by the California Redistricting Commission, (CRC), South Los Angeles and Malibu have enough in common that they should be lumped together into one voting district.

That bombshell was released last weekend on the web site www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov, and has the African American community reeling and fuming.

Jerriel Xavier Biggles  |   OW High School Intern
Jun 23 2011

Stores give away recyclable bags

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a ban on the use of plastic bags in the unincorporated areas, and it begins July 1.

The ban affects all local supermarkets like Food 4 Less, Ralph’s, Albertsons, Sam’s Club as well as large retail stores with a pharmacy including CVS and Walgreens.

Across Black America

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

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”