Author Archives: Merdies Hayes

Diabetes is one of the most serious and life-changing diseases among Americans today. With November serving as National Diabetes Month, physicians nationwide urge the public to take action against the disease which, according to a 2012 report from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, affects 8.3 percent of the U.S. population (or 25.8 million people).

Diabetes is one of the most serious and life-changing diseases among Americans today. With November serving as National Diabetes Month, physicians nationwide urge the public to take action against the disease which, according to a 2012 report from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, affects 8.3 percent of the U.S. population (or 25.8 million people).

Fred Thompson, a former dean and member of the board of directors at Antelope Valley College, last week became the first African American to win a seat on the Palmdale city council. The retired college administrator won one of two contested council seats on the ballot, but when he will take the oath office is unclear. An appellate court will decide no later than mid-January 2014, if the election was legitimate.

In these days of “Three Strikes,” “lock ‘em up . . . throw away the key” or the growing awareness of the so-called “school-to-prison pipeline,” a unique program underway in the Antelope Valley has for three years tried to keep youthful offenders off the prison rolls and onto a viable path to self respect and accomplishment.

The on-again, off-again Palmdale election will take place on Nov. 5 after the California Court of Appeals granted the go-ahead two weeks ago. The court’s ruling stated: “As phrased, the injunction written in the disjunctive, permits the defendant (Palmdale) to hold an at-large election and even count the votes but not to certify the results.”

Domestic violence is a silent scourge prevalent within all California communities, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status or the sex and age of the victim.

Between 600,000 and 6 million American women will be a victim of domestic violence this year. The median of that 2010 figure from the Domestic Violence Resource Center might exceed the total population of the City of Los Angeles (which is home to a little more than 3.7 million).

While Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill remain fiercely divided regarding the nation’s fiscal and social path, Palmdale and Lancaster continue to wallow in their own political “sandbox.” Instead of “reaching across the aisle” for camaraderie, solutions and goodwill, the respective city halls are firmly entrenched on each side of the so-called “Cactus Curtain.”