Palmdale

Feb 15 2013

From Boy Scouts of America

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford was presented with the prestigious North Star Award from the Boy Scouts of America for distinguished service to youth at the Feb. 6 City Council meeting.
 
Ledford was presented with a certificate and the medal by Bill Norris, advancement chairman of the Antelope Valley District of the Boy Scouts of America and Troop 444, and George “Bud” Reams.
 

Feb 1 2013

Born in Philippines

Maria Pedrialva Fabile, 93, passed away Jan. 18, 2013, in Lancaster. She was born May 26, 1920, in Santa Cruz, Marinduque, Philippines, and had lived in the Antelope Valley for 25 years. Maria is survived by two daughters, Fortunata Carias and Zaida O’Connor (husband, Charles); two sons, Bayani Fabile (wife, Merly) and Elpidio Fabile Jr. (wife, Josie); 21 grandchildren, 47 great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren.

Below is a list for recent Antelope Valley deaths.

Feb 1 2013

The two ran away after tiring of continued abuse

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Palmdale woman accused of abusing her two adopted children. Ingrid Brewer, 50, was booked Jan. 16 in the Sheriff’s Palmdale Station on two counts each of child abuse, torture, assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury. She remains in custody in lieu of $2 million bail, according to the city of Palmdale Open Public Records. 

Feb 1 2013

A battle of neighboring cities

Lancaster mayor R. Rex Parris, an attorney, and the Malibu law firm Shenkman & Hughes have joined together in a suit against the city of Palmdale under the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA). The case, filed on behalf of plaintiff Juan Jauregui, seeks to end Palmdale’s at-large system of electing city council members in favor of geographic council districts.

Jan 28 2013

$8,000 per return

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A former state Department of Public Social Services employee pleaded guilty today in Los Angeles to using stolen identities to file phony tax returns that each claimed thousands of dollars in tax refunds.

Veronica Niko, 36, of Lancaster, entered her plea to a federal identity theft charge before U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who set sentencing for June 10, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

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.”