C e l e b r a t i n g 2 6 Ye a r s o f Service in Inglewood, Airport area Communities
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January 28 - February 3, 2021 VOL. 36, No. 04
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“Mayor Offers $25,000 Reward” See Page 3
Inglewood Seniors to Get COVID Shots in February
By Kenneth Miller, Publisher
As Los Angeles County officials lifted regional coronavirus stay-athome orders this week, Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts announced that Inglewood senior citizens will be offered COVID vaccine shots beginning February 6. The Forum, the local testing site, saw brisk activity last weekend with scores of residents from the city and area community lining up in their vehicles to receive COVID testing. All of this is welcoming news as a new administration in The White House
begins implementing federal guidelines to combat the worse pandemic in the history of our nation. Local businesses that have suffered throughout the pandemic along with restaurants and businesses have been allowed to reopen and offer outdoor dining. Gov. Gavin Newsom said at his weekly press conference there is light at the end of the tunnel. “We can lay claim to starting to see some real light at the end of the tunnel as it relates to case numbers,” Newsom said at a Monday news conference. “Each region’s a little bit different,
General Lloyd Austin Is First Black U.S. Secretary of Defense By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
Retired African American General Lloyd Austin is now in charge of the U.S. Department of Defense. On Friday, Jan. 22, the Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s Secretary of Defense pick, making Gen. Austin the first African American to serve in that key strategic federal government leadership role. “I pledge to fight hard to rid our ranks of racists and extremists,” Gen. Austin pronounced during his confirmation hearings. He also pledged to overturn several discriminatory bans on military
service put in place by the previous administration. The confirmation vote cleared by a 93-2 margin – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) were the lone no-votes. One day prior, the U.S. House approved a waiver to allow for Gen. Austin’s confirmation. The decorated veteran required a congressional waiver to confirm the civilian post because he retired from active-duty service only four years ago. Federal law requires seven years of retirement from active duty before taking on the role. Continued on page 2
but we are in a position projecting four weeks forward with a significant decline in the case rates, positivity rates. We are anticipating ... still more decline in hospitalizations and more declines in ICU, and that’s why we’re lifting that stay at home effective immediately today.” On the heels of a brutal winter surge, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are beginning to decline across the state. Although total confirmed cases have more than doubled, daily confirmed cases have increased, the seven- and 14-day positivity rates are higher and
ICU capacity is lower in each region of the state except Northern California, according to the most recent state data available. The change could lessen restrictions in the Southern California unless local officials adopt stronger restrictions. Throughout the pandemic, local leaders have been allowed to go beyond the state’s rules, approve their own stayat-home orders or shut down additional activities they deem too risky for their areas.
Come on Home Willie Brown, Says Some California Black Newspapers Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
Former California State Assembly Speaker and San Francisco mayor Willie Brown’s 12-year run with the San Francisco Chronicle has come at an abrupt end. Earlier this month, Northern California’s largest daily newspaper announced that Brown’s column “Willie’s World” would be discontinued as of Jan. 24. Brown’s weekly commentary, which expressed controversial opinions as it provided insider political gossip and other updates of goings-on in the city’s leadership circles, had become a fixture on the local San Francisco media landscape.
“They are going digital,” Brown explained, offering an obviously clipped and misleading explanation of the newspaper’s decision. The Chronicle has for decades now been a digital publication. Responding to the news of Brown’s ouster, some members of the Black press in California say they would love to migrate “Willie’s World” to one of the state’s African American-owned newspapers. “Come on home, Willie,” laughed Regina Wilson, who is the executive director of California Black Media, a news and advocacy organization that Continued on page 2
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