The U.S. Department of Justice

Jun 25 2012

Other Southland cities also acquire new officers

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced a $6.4 million grant for the city of Los Angeles to hire 25 recent military veterans as police officers.
  
The grant money is a portion of $111.2 million awarded nationwide by the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, to hire 800 veterans. To be eligible, applicants must have served in a branch of the military for at least 180 days since Sept. 11, 2001.
  

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Dec 29 2011

The high cost of being late for school

LANCASTER, Calif.—Our Weekly took an up-close-and-personal look at the quarterly truancy sweeps Antelope Valley High conducts in conjunction with the Sheriff’s department. 

As soon as the bell rang at 7:15, Sheriff’s deputies closed the school gates and students lined up to be filtered into either the attendance office, if they had notes from a parent, or the cafeteria, where they might receive truancy citations.

Brittney M. Walker  |   OW Staff Writer
Mar 24 2011

The high cost of being late for school

LANCASTER, Calif.—On Thursday, March 17, Antelope Valley High School conducted one of its quarterly truancy sweeps. As soon as the bell rang at 7:15, Sheriff’s deputies closed the school gates and students lined up to be filtered into either the attendance office, if they had notes from a parent, or the cafeteria, where they might receive truancy citations.

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.”