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Muhammad,tha at black whose defense he was the bsaid if eman oattacks se bcat ononFgri it agofaishooting mentally ill, was accusedhof a es series n, he’ll issu e a ticket foday. white men in April 2017 in Fresno.

In a recorded confession to investigators that was r ja played at his trial, Muhammad said he shot Motel 6 security guard Carl Williams III and tried to kill another guard on April 13 because he felt he had been disrespected when he went to visit a friend.

Antonio Ray Harvey A security camera recording showed Muhammad California Black Media coming up behind Williams, 25, and shooting him.

Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced “It starts taking its toll on you and you get fed up that California was the first state in the nation to secure with the racism,” Muhammad said. “You get tired of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding Sacramento area unhoused man working on his bike April 6, 2020. (Photo by: Antonio Ray Harvey) letting things slide.” to place unsheltered people in hotel rooms at no cost to While on the run after the shooting, Muhammad them. The state’s action is providing safe isolation for tens As of April 3, the state reports that local Not when the disaster funding runs out.” learned that he was wanted for Williams’ killing. On the of thousands of homeless Californians during the global governments had secured 6,867 emergency hotel rooms LA County’s Chief Executive Office Homeless recording, Muhammad said that if he was “going down for murder” the best thing was to “kill as many white COVID-19 pandemic. for shelter. Some homeless advocates say that number Initiative is working hand-in-hand with the state, the Los men” as he could.

Almost 129,000 Californians experienced is a commendable achievement that begins to move the Angeles Homeless Services Authority, and several public On April 18, 2017, Muhammad drove through homelessness in 2019. Nearly 40% of them were African Newsom administration closer to its goal of mitigating and private partners to facilitate Project Roomkey. downtown shooting at white men, he said. He Americans.

As of April 13, over 1,946 beds at 23 sites in the what was perhaps the state’s most pressing problem before surrendered to police after, at one point, firing nearly 20 The state’s effort, dubbed Project Roomkey, set an the COVID-19 crisis. county had been secured; of which 515 are already in use shots in less than a minute, authorities said. initial goal of securing up to 15,000 rooms to fast track In Los Angeles County, the state’s homelessness crisis in an effort to protect unsheltered individuals and seniors Zachary Randalls, 34, was shot in a Pacific Gas & getting people off the street since Gov. Newsom instituted is most acute. It is also where the COVID-19 pandemic with underlying medical conditions from contracting Electric truck. a stay-at-home order on March 19. After about a week, has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths. Officials COVID-19.

“When I walked up to the truck, I saw a Mexican driver and a white guy,” Muhammad said. “I didn’t want county partners had moved 869 homeless individuals off there want to take the work of Project Roomkey further.

Ridley-Thomas said that LA County has also put to target the driver because he was Mexican so I shot the the street, or out of shelters, and into isolation.

LA County Board of Supervisors’ Mark Ridley procedures in place to prioritize existing resources such as white dude.”

“Homeless Californians are incredibly vulnerable Thomas and Janice Hahn have developed a plan to housing vouchers and resources for veterans.

He also was convicted of killing Mark Gassett, 37, to COVID-19 and often have no option to self-isolate house the homeless after the coronavirus crisis has been Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, state and David Jackson, 58, and trying to shoot three other or social distance,” Gov. Newsom said. “By helping the contained. government attempts to speed up housing the homeless men. most vulnerable homeless individuals get off the street, “We need to be thinking two steps ahead in order – including incentives provided to local governments to Muhammad was convicted of first-degree murder California can slow the spread of COVID-19 through to mount a crisis response that is not only comprehensive increase their housing inventory and efforts to penalize for Jackson’s slaying; second-degree murder for Williams, homeless populations, lower the number of people infected but sustained,” Ridley-Thomas said in a statement on his those that didn’t — met stiff resistance from lobbying Randalls and Gassett; four counts of attempted murder; one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle and one and protect critical health care resources.” website. “Now is the time to be having these conversations. Continued on page A3 count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

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Housing the Homeless: COVID-19 Has Forced California’s Hand

“Making Black Count” During a Global Pandemic

Census 2020:

Charlene Muhammad California Black Media Census Day 2020 came April 1. The global coronavirus pandemic was worsening. It had already forced social and economic shutdowns across America.

Since then, all the major African-American community-based organizations, political leaders and other advocates in California — concerned that there may be an undercount of Black Californians during the 2020 census count — have found themselves grappling.

Under a statewide shelter in place order, those groups have been working overtime, rejiggering outreach strategies from a boots-on-the-ground game to expanding online get-the-word-out campaigns — most of their social media content identifiable by the hashtag #MakeBlackCount.

Their goal, leaders say, is to ensure every Black household in California accurately completes its 2020 Census form.

Their hard work is paying off.

So far, California has a 53.8% response rate, which is higher than the national response rate of 52.4%. The state is on good footing at this point, considering that this is still the first phase of the national count, and census workers have not yet even begun to conduct in-person, door-to-door data collection campaigns. About 47.8% of participants in the state have responded online, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Up and down the state, most of the groups we’ve reached out to told us that they have had to step back and reimagine how they can best get their message to those African-American families and individuals who live in our hardest-to-count communities,” said Regina Wilson, Executive Director of California Black Media and a

(Photo from Los Angeles Community Action Network Twitter April 12, 2020)

member of the California Complete Count committee.

“It is not business as usual,” Wilson continued. “To be successful during this crisis, they have had to switch up their plans in real time. Its remarkable, but to achieve a full count of Blacks in the state, we have to keep that momentum up.”

During Census Week, responses jumped 9.1 percentage points — an estimated 1.36 million households self-responded to the Census form, the California Census 2020 Campaign announced April 9.

“We understand there is still more work to be done to make sure all Californians, especially those who are hard to count, fill out their questionnaire. We are proud of the work our partners are doing to push these self-response rates,” said Ditas Katague, Director of the

California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office. “We’d like to remind everyone that filling out the Census form will help bring needed representation and resources to California’s diverse communities.”

The state’s success to date stems from the California Census Campaign’s work with more than 120 partners including local governments, tribal governments, K-12 schools, county offices of education, community-based organizations, state agencies and departments, faith-based organizations, labor unions, small businesses, ethnic and mainstream media outlets, and others.

COVID-19 prompted the Census Bureau to prioritize an online count; and caused the California governor to issue a statewide stay-at-home order for everyone except essential workers — or people going out to pick up medicines, shop for groceries or fill up their cars with gas. Having to adhere to a 6-foot physical distancing mandate between people, per Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, has also influenced how census informational campaigns are being executed.

But advocates say they are now more determined than ever to work for a complete count.

Many rely on social media and web-conferencing events and they emphasize that the confidential, simple 9-question Census questionnaire can be completed quickly online at my2020census.gov, and by phone in English and other languages at 844-330-2020.

The U.S. Census Bureau has been sending paper forms to households that haven’t responded to the Census.

“Just think about Head Start and Meals on Wheels, and after-school programs. That’s all dependent on getting everybody counted,” said Cassandra Jennings, president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Urban League. She held a Celebrate Census Day Facebook live stream with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg on April 1.

Continued on page A3

Black-Owned Newspapers are Small Businesses Too!

The Black Press continues to tackle domestic and global issues, including the novel coronavirus pandemic and its effects on all citizens – particularly African Americans. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent Publishers of Black-owned community newspapers, including Janis Ware of the Atlanta Voice, Cheryl Smith of Texas Metro News, Chris Bennett of the Seattle Medium, Denise Rolark Barnes of the Washington Informer, and Brenda Andrews of the New Journal & Guide in Virginia, are desperately trying to avoid shuttering operations.

On Wednesday, April 29, Rolark Barnes, Andrews, Bennett, and Ware will participate in a special livestream broadcast to discuss how their publications are enduring as the pandemic rages on.

In a heartfelt and straight-to-the-point op-ed published recently, Ware explained to her tens of thousands of readers that The Atlanta Voice has boldly covered the issues that affect the African American community.

“Our founders, Mr. J. Lowell Ware and Mr. Ed Clayton, were committed to the mission of being a voice to the voiceless with the motto of, ‘honesty, integrity and truth,’” Ware wrote in an article that underscores

the urgency and importance of African American-owned newspapers during the coronavirus pandemic. Ware has established a COVID-19 news fund and aggregated the Atlanta Voice’s novel coronavirus coverage into a special landing page within its website.

To remain afloat, Ware and her fellow publishers know that financial backing and support will be necessary.

Following the spread of the pandemic, many advertisers have either paused their ad spending or halted it altogether.

And other streams of revenue have also dried up, forcing Black-owned publications to find ways to reduce spending and restructure what were already historically tight budgets.

With major companies like Ruth Chris Steakhouse and Pot Belly Sandwiches swooping in and hijacking stimulus money aimed at small businesses, the Black Press — and community-based publishing in general — has been largely left out of the $350 billion stimulus and Paycheck Protection Program packages.

To make matters worse, there are no guarantees that a Continued on page A3

Coronavirus Racial Disparities

By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – The city of Hartford is moving to increase testing for the coronavirus, offer free transportation to testing appointments and launch a community education campaign to lessen the impact on black, Hispanic and low-income residents, who have been hit disproportionately hard in communities of color across the country.

About 820 city residents have tested positive for the virus and about 72 have died as of Friday, but Mayor Luke Bronin said the true scope of the local outbreak is unknown because of the lack of widespread testing.

“One devastating reality of the coronavirus is that communities of color have been hardest hit, both in terms of health outcomes and economic impact,” Bronin said. “Right now, we need to do everything we can to slow the spread of coronavirus in our community.”

Across the U.S., African Americans are far more vulnerable to the virus because of a history of systemic racism and inequity in access to health care and economic opportunity. An Associated Press analysis has shown that about 42% of Americans who have died from COVID-19 were black, while African Americans account for roughly 21% of the total population in the areas covered by the analysis.

Hartford historically has had higher rates of asthma, diabetes and other chronic illnesses compared with other cities and towns in the state, putting residents at higher risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19. More than 80% of residents are black or Hispanic.

State officials and leaders in other cities also have taken action to blunt the virus’s impact on minority communities. The state also is focused on increasing testing in urban areas, has expanded health services and has put a temporary moratorium on evictions of renters for not being able to pay their rent.

New Haven has set up walk-in coronavirus testing centers in two hard-hit neighborhoods in addition to two drive-through sites. Bridgeport has focused on social distancing mandates that have been stricter than in other cities, including an early requirement for people to wear masks in essential businesses and a recommended 8 p.m. curfew that the city has pushed aggressively.

Hartford area community leaders and activists say city residents are facing a variety of problems because of the pandemic. Many have lost their jobs and don’t have money for rent or food. Many haven’t been able to get basic supplies because of a lack of grocery stores in the city. And many work in essential jobs such as health care, public transportation and grocery stores, putting them at higher risk.

“Those who are on the margins, black and brown communities in Hartford, they are really struggling,” said the Rev. Dr. John Selders, pastor of Amistad United Church of Christ.

There has also been talk within the black community that people of color are being treated differently, left out and even ignored during the outbreak, said Cornell Lewis, a longtime community activist.

“The main thing is people don’t have access to resources ... and as a result it’s hitting segments of the community hard,” he said.

In Hartford, for example, about 40% of residents don’t have access to a car. That’s why city officials say free transportation will be offered to any resident with an appointment to get tested for the coronavirus.

Bronin also said Hartford HealthCare plans to launch its first mobile test site in the city next week.

The city will also be conducting outreach to families who have confirmed cases of the virus, as well as those with suspected cases. Medical students from the University of Connecticut will be helping with that effort.

Hartford also is putting together a public education campaign in English and Spanish that will promote social distancing, wearing masks and hand washing, as well as provide information on health services and other resources.

A2

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

World & Nation 13-Yr-Old Paris Brown Recalls Her Coronavirus Awakening

13-year old Paris Brown (at left, pictured with her mother, Shenay) is the daughter of NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent, Stacy and Shenay Brown.

She’s also a member of the National Junior Honor Society.

By Paris Brown Special to the NNPA Newswire My name is Paris Brown. My parents are NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent, Stacy Brown, and the awesome Shenay Brown.

I am 13-years old and am privileged to be a member of the National Junior Honor Society. But more importantly, I am privileged to have such a beautiful family.

My oldest sister, Rikki, lives in Las Vegas with her husband Marc, and my niece, Nina. I have a brother, Jordan, who lives in Maryland, and my two sisters who live at home with me, Talia and Olivia.

The glue that holds everything together is my parents.

But the coronavirus nearly ruptured us in a way that would have been indescribably devastating.

Four months ago, I barely knew what the coronavirus was, and I had no clue it would change everything so drastically.

At the end of December and the beginning of January, all I heard about the virus was memes and people joking around about washing your hands. I didn’t realize just how serious it was.

And even when more and more reports of deaths from the virus came piling up, I still didn’t take it seriously enough. Then one day, mom said she wasn’t feeling good, and that was the start of it all.

In my head, I thought that’s just mom being mom.

She sometimes doesn’t feel well.

Then when dad got sick, mom stayed in her room, and dad stayed in the basement. I, of course, thought this was unnecessary.

But then they had to rush mom to the hospital because she couldn’t breathe.

Then a switch flipped in my head: “This is real, and I need to be taking it seriously.”

At first, I didn’t know what to do, so I tried to stay away, but that just made me feel guilty.

So, I did the best I could to help them get better. I was okay and getting used to our “system,” but I knew deep down, I was terrified.

I didn’t have time to be scared because I had a ton of schoolwork to do (and I still do now), and I had to help take care of them.

You never realize how hard it is to live without the people you love until they’re gone. So, when people ask me if I’m bored, I tell them I’m not. All of the schoolwork and cleaning and cooking have kept me distracted in a good way, so I don’t freak out and get overwhelmed.

This was definitely an experience I’ll never forget because I haven’t been able to hug my parents or speak more than a couple of words to them face-to-face.

But it’s almost over — they get to come out of quarantine next week. And hopefully, with all of me and my sisters’ excitement, they’ll feel better than ever.

Food Assistance Programs Critical for Low-Income Families U.S. Census Bureau, www.ceusus.gov According to the Census Bureau, of the 13.8 million households that receive SNAP, 6.7 million have children under the age of 18 and 6.4 million have someone living with a disability.

Of all the homes with children under 18, some 18% receive assistance from SNAP, according to the Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey.

Students who qualify for SNAP also get free or reduced-cost school lunches.

Federal nutrition programs are among the many reasons it is so important to respond (and report all children, including newborns, living in your home) to the 2020 Census.

Knowing how many children are in an area helps federal, state and local officials evaluate funding for nutrition programs.

SNAP and the National School Lunch Program are

just two nutrition programs that use census results to inform planning. Other programs include the National School Breakfast Program (NSBP), lunch programs for people age 65 years and older and meal delivery to disabled and homebound individuals.

The Census Bureau works with state and tribal governments to ensure recipients of SNAP don’t lose their benefits if they come to work for the 2020 Census.

They are working to get census income excluded so recipients who receive benefits can work as census takers (enumerators) without losing their benefits or eligibility status.

The Census Bureau has partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which administers SNAP) to exclude income from temporary employment for 2020 Census. While it is ultimately a state decision whether to exempt 2020 Census income earned, a great majority of states have already agreed to this waiver.

The Census Bureau works with state and tribal governments to ensure recipients of SNAP don’t lose their benefits if they come to work for the 2020 Census. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

Journalism Industry Needs Coronavirus Relief Funding Antitrust Settlements with Google and Facebook Could Recover Journalism Rescue Funds WASHINGTON – In a small win for the journalism industry, the Seattle Times and Tampa Bay Times were each

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granted a loan that would ensure the publications could avoid layoffs and pay cuts for its staff. The collapse in advertising revenue during the pandemic exacerbated the already perilous financial position of news outlets, who have been decimated by Google and Facebook’s monopolistic actions. The Tampa Bay Times was even forced to cut back to two days a week of printed copies. The forgivable loans will allow these newsrooms to obtain some sense of normalcy but won’t nearly restore the damage done during this crisis.

Seattle Times Co. President Alan Fisco noted that “at least for now, we are putting on the back burner any plans for broad scale layoffs, or cuts to hours worked. There still may be some targeted reductions, but nothing to the extent of cuts we would have had to make without this support.”

And while this is an essential step to help news media survive this crisis, thousands of local outlets have been unable to get these specific loans. Despite being deemed

an essential service, newsrooms again have been left out of the recent round of federal relief that doesn’t provide direct assistance for news outlets.

Unlike other industry rescue packages, there is real potential that the government could recoup all or most of the support it provides to news outlets. Australian regulators recently forced Google to pay licensing fees to news outlets.

U.S. federal and state antitrust regulators are pursuing both Google and Facebook in a major investigation. Google and Facebook have siphoned off tens of billions in ad revenue from news publishers through their exploitation of the digital advertising market. That revenue used to sustain the journalism industry and part of any antitrust settlement can be used to repay the relief package.

John Stanton, laid-off former D.C. Bureau Chief at BuzzFeed and co-founder of the Save Journalism Project, Access to these loans is helpful to keep these outlets afloat, but a drop in the bucket for an industry that has

already been crushed by Google and Facebook, and now the coronavirus. More than 33,000 reporters and staff at news outlets have been forced out of their jobs or subjected to pay cuts during this crisis. What we need is a specific funding pool for news outlets to ensure that the money goes directly to the local outlets that need it, rather than the private equity vultures who are preying on the industry.

News publishers have already been bled dry by big tech.

What they need now is the government to help them survive this crisis or else the local news business may be completely wiped out.

Journalism in America is facing an existential threat from the monopolistic control of tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Apple. Big tech’s dominance over the digital advertising market and their unrivaled capacity to monetize its platforms are having drastic effects on journalism as a whole.

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President: Ellen Coley Operations Manager: Jon Coley Editor: James Luckey

Credo-The Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from racial and national antagonisms when it accounts to every person, regardless of race, color, or creed full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person, the Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all are hurt as long as any one is held back.

The Observer Group Newspapers reserves the right to publish views an opinions that may not necessarily reflect those of the staff and management and are solely the product of the responsible individuals who submit commentaries published in these newspapers. Letters, articles and comments appearing in the Observer Newspapers reflect the opinions of the contributor and do not constitute the opinion or endorsement by The Observer Newspapers or its staff. The Observer Group Newspapers assumes no responsibility for photographs, articles, letters, press releases and unsolicited materials. Decisions as to the editing and publishing of materials are at the discretion of the Publisher and Editors. All rights are reserved on materials accepted for publication unless otherwise specified.

Los Angeles News Observer Bakersfield News Observer Valley s News Observer 1219 20th St. Bakersfield, Ca 93301 Mailing Address P.O. Box 2341 Bakersfield, CA 93303 Phone (661) 324-9466 FAX. (661) 324-9472 Emails and general info: observernews@gmail.com, Advertising: observeradvertising@gmail.com Available online: www.ognsc.com

Despite being deemed an essential service, newsrooms again have been left out of the recent round of federal relief that doesn’t provide direct assistance for news outlets.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): BCL-19-016745 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): CHARLES W LUNG, an individual; and DOES 1 to 5, inclusive YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF OMAHA, a National Banking Association NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.

You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons and legal papers are served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you.

Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online SelfHelp Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form.

If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.

There are other legal requirements.

You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online SelfHelp Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/ selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association.

NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case. ¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 días, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su versión. Lea la información a continuación.

Tiene 30 DÍAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una respuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entregue una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefónica no lo protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar en formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulario que usted pueda usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y más información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www. sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede más cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida al secretario de la corte que le dé un formulario de exención de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corte le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin más advertencia.

Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conoce a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de remisión a abogados. Si no puede pagar a un abogado, es posible que cumpla con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratuitos de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro.

Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www. lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov) o poniéndose en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos por imponer un gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación de $10,000 ó más de valor recibida mediante un acuerdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil.

Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corte antes de que la corte pueda desechar el caso.

The name and address of the court is (El nombre y dirección de la corte es): SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF KERN 1415 Truxtun, Bakersfield, CA 93301 The name, address, and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney, or plaintiff without an attorney, is (El nombre, la dirección y el número de teléfono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante que no tiene abogado, es): THE DUNNING LAW FIRM APC Donald T. Dunning (144665) James MacLeod (249145) 4545 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 200 San Diego, Ca. 92123 Telephone: (858) 974-7600 Fax: DATE (Fecha): September 9, 2019 TAMARAH HARBER-PICKENS, Clerk (Secretario), by Layton Johnson, Deputy (Adjunto) (SEAL) NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served.

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (DLF) PUB: Apr 8, 15, 22, 29, 2020

4. A HEARING on the matter will be held as follows: Date: July 13, 2020 Time: 8:30 am Dept: P Address of Court Same as noted above BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Apr 15, 22, 29, May 6, 2020

������������������������������� NOTICE OF HEARING GUARDIANSHIP CASE NO: BPB-17-002666 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF KERN 1215 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield, Ca. 93301 GUARDIANSHIP of: MADISON FLORETTA GRISSUM, Minor This notice is required by law. This notice does not require you to appear in court, but you may attend the hearing if you wish.

1.NOTICE is given that STELLA ESQUER and JOSEPH MENDEZ (representative capacity, if any): PETITONER has filed (specify): PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN OF THE PERSON 2. You may refer to documents on file in this proceeding for more information (Some documents filed with the court are confidential Under some circumstances you or your attorney may be able to see or receive copies of confidential documents if you file papers in the proceeding or apply to the court.)

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER A3

News

Housing the Homeless: COVID-19 Has Forced California’s Hand Continued from page A1

�������������������������������

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF LONNIE WATTS, JR. CASE NUMBER: BPB-19-002400 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of LONNIE WATTS, JR. A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by YVETTE REGINA WATTS-LYKES in the Superior Court of California, County of KERN 1215 Truxtun Ave Bakersfield, Ca. 93301 Branch Name: JUSTICE BUILDING THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that YVETTE REGINA WATTS-LYKES be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval.

Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: JUL 5, 2020 Time: 8:30 a.m. Dept: P Room: P located at 1215 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield, Ca. 93301 IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the deceased, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within four months from the date of first issuance of letters as provided on Probate Code section 9100.

The time for filing claims will not expire before four months from the hearing date noticed above.

YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. IF you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (for DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate code section 1250. A request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Petitioner: YVETTE REGINA WATTS-LYKES 14300 CHESTNUT STREET #220 WESTMINSTER, CA. 92683 Telephone: (310) 505-2685 Email: yvette.lykes@yahoo.com IN PRO PER BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Apr 29, May 6, 13, 2020

������������������������������� ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER BCV-20-100786 Superior Court of the State of California, for the county of Kern, 1415 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield, CA 93301 PETITION OF: BRUCE DONALD CHAMBERS FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner: BRUCE DONALD CHAMBERS for a decree changing names as follows: Present name BRUCE DONALD CHAMBERS Filed a petition with this court Proposed name BRUCE RONALD CHAMBERS THE COURT ORDERS: that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted if no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING Date: Aug 5, 2020 Time: 8:30 a.m.

Dept: 12 The address of the court is: Same as noted above.

A copy of this Order to Show Cause shall be published at least once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing on the petition in the following newspaper of general circulation, printed in this county BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER Date: March 19, 2020 Linda S Etienne COURT COMMISSIONER Rebecca Saldivar DEPUTY BRUCE DONALD CHAMBERS 4313 Cambridge Dr. Bakersfield, Ca. 93306 Phone: (661) 871-5360 IN PRO PER BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Apr 29, May 6, 13, 20, 2020 �������������������������������

Stuart Malcolm, a doctor with the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, speaks with a person living on the street about the coronavirus in San Francisco, California, on March 17, 2020. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

groups, the state legislature, county boards, and city councils. Most recently, state senators killed SB 50, a bill that would have lifted local zoning restrictions statewide to allow denser and more multi-unit housing construction.

Now, across California, both the state and local governments are teaming up to solve the state’s homelessness problem like they never have before, sharing up to 75% of FEMA reimbursements for hotel rooms and wraparound support services like meals, security, and custodial maintenance. Local governments and community partners cover behavioral health and medical care costs.

California’s effort to provide emergency shelter for homeless families and individuals takes an innovative approach, homeless advocates say. It brings hotel units online at a rapid pace while providing business to the hospitality industry, a sector among those hardest hit by the Coronavirus crisis.

Kevin Carter, a homeless advocate and member of Northern California’s branch of the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC), has been canvassing parts of Sacramento aiding unsheltered individuals. He said PPC members have identified at least 30 homeless people in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood.

“They are mostly Black people living and gathering in various homeless encampments,” Carter told California Black Media. “We supply them with water, food, hand sanitizers. And we see if anyone is sick or needs to be hospitalized for COVID-19.”

The National Poor People’s Campaign, started by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, confronts systemic racism, poverty, and social injustices, according to the organization’s website. Under the PPC banner, Carter and his colleagues put together a program called “Sacramento Housing Services, Not Suites Coalition.”

“One of the things we are focused on right now is getting hotel or motel rooms for the homeless through the city and county,” Carter said. “As far as what the governor is doing — he’s moving in the right direction.”

In 2019, an estimated 128,777 individuals in California experienced homelessness, based on the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. Over 108,000 people were tabulated as unsheltered and more than 41,000 suffered chronic homelessness, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

HUD’s annual report shows that 56,257 individuals were unsheltered in Los Angeles County in 2019, accounting for almost half of all unsheltered persons across the state of California.

Across the country, HUD reports that there were 568, 000 homeless people in 2019. African Americans, who only make up about 14% of the United States’ population accounted for 39.8% (225,735 people) of that total. That included Black individuals both sleeping on the streets and living in shelters.

California accounted for one-third, 33%, of all people experiencing homelessness in the United States and more than half, about 53%, of all unsheltered individuals.

The state has also deployed 1,305 housing trailers to local governments that will complement the efforts of Project Roomkey.

“California has taken the lead in protecting homeless residents from COVID-19,” said Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “This initiative sets a strong national example of how state leaders can leverage their dollars with FEMA, HUD and other federal funds to address the needs of the most vulnerable homeless populations.”

Black-Owned Newspapers Continued from page A1

second package, specifically focused on small business, will benefit Black publishers or other businesses owned by people of color.

Publications like the New Journal and Guide, Washington Informer (which recently celebrated its 55th anniversary) and the Atlanta Voice have been essential to the communities they serve — and the world at large for 193 years.

Unfortunately for some publishers, the impact of COVID-19 has brought business operations to a near halt.

While none are thriving, some publishers have developed ingenious and innovative ways to continue operations.

“Dear World, the entire planet is feeling the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic,” Cheryl Smith of Texas Metro News wrote to her readers. “We must be concerned about ourselves, as well as others. You may be aware that the media is considered ‘essential.’ So, guess what? We have a responsibility, a moral obligation to use this status to be a source of information, support, and inspiration, just as we are at all other times,” Smith wrote.

Smith’s statements echo the more than 200 African American-owned newspapers in the NNPA family. The majority of the publications are owned and operated by women, and virtually all are family dynasties so rarely seen in the black community.

The contributions of the Black Press remain indelibly associated with the fearlessness, determination, and success of Black America.

Those contributions include the works of Frederick Douglass, WEB DuBois, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, and former NNPA Chairman Dr. Carlton

Goodlett.

Douglas, who helped slaves escape to the North while working with the Underground Railroad, established the abolitionist paper, “The North Star,” in Rochester, New York.

He developed it into the most influential black antislavery newspaper published during the Antebellum era.

The North Star denounced slavery and fought for the emancipation of women and other oppressed groups with a motto of “Right is of no Sex – Truth is of no Color; God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.”

DuBois, known as the father of modern Pan Africanism, demanded civil rights for Blacks but freedom for Africa and an end to capitalism, which he called the cause of racism and all human misery.

Many large news organizations have begun targeting African Americans and other audiences of color by either acquiring Black-owned news startups or adding the moniker “Black” to the end of their brand. However, it was Blackowned and operated news organizations that were on the front lines for voting rights, civil rights, ending apartheid, fair pay for all, unionization, education equity, healthcare disparities and many other issues that disproportionately negatively impact African Americans.

Today, the Black Press continues to reach across the ocean where possible to forge coalitions with the growing number of websites and special publications that cover Africa daily from on the continent, Tennessee Tribune Publisher Rosetta Perry noted.

The evolution of the Black Press, the oldest Black business in America, had proprietors take on issues of chattel slavery in the 19th century, Jim Crow segregation

and lynching, the great northern migration, the Civil Rights Movement, the transformation from the printing press to the digital age and computerized communication.

With the Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court ruling that said no black man has any rights that a white man must honor, there came a flood of Black publications to advocate for Black rights and to protest the wrongs done to Blacks.

An expose in Ebony Magazine in 1965 alerted the world to a Black female engineer, Bonnie Bianchi, who was the first woman to graduate from Howard University in Electrical Engineering.

It was through the pages of the Black Press that the world learned the horrors of what happened to Emmett Till.

The Black Press continues to tackle domestic and global issues, including the novel coronavirus pandemic and its effects on all citizens – particularly African Americans.

It was through the pages of the Black Press that the world learned that COVID-19 was indeed airborne and that earlier estimates by health experts were wrong when they said the virus could last only up to 20 to 30 minutes on a surface.

Now, it’s universally recognized that the virus can last for hours on a surface and in the air.

“A few short weeks ago, life as we know it, was pretty different,” Ware told her readers. “These are unprecedented times, and we are working around the clock to provide the best possible coverage, sometimes taking risks to keep Metro Atlanta informed.”

Tune in to the livestream at www.Facebook.com/ BlackPressUSA.

Census 2020: “Making Black Count” During a Global Pandemic Continued from page A1

The Census Day celebration in Sacramento is just one example of many others that happened in regions of the state with the highest African-American populations, including the Los Angeles area, the Inland Empire, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast and greater San Diego.

Jennings’ virtual event featured an interactive social media challenge. Participants tweeted about completing census forms on Instagram or Facebook, then tagged 10 of their friends. “Let’s challenge each other to complete the census, not tomorrow, not the next day, but on Census day April 1,” Jennings invited people online to participate.

Earlier this month, California Black Media (CBM) released “Counting Black California - Counting the Hard to Count.” The Sacramento-based organization updated its comprehensive report identifying areas in the state where African Americans are least likely to be counted by the 2020 Census. The study includes an easy-to-use, online interactive map scalable down to the street level with those hard-to-count tracts highlighted.

Although the coronavirus crisis has forced community-based organizations doing census outreach

work to adjust, they are coping, said California community leaders and advocates across the state like Janette Robinson Flint, founder and executive director of Black Women for Wellness (BWW) in Los Angeles.

Its civic engagement program hired workers before the March 3 general primary elections. They went door-todoor and set up tables at grocery stores and public spaces to educate canvassers about including census awareness in their get-out-the-vote campaigns.

“My fear is that it’s going to be a serious undercount as a result of the coronavirus. At a community level, we just simply can’t afford to be undercounted,” she said.

Robinson Flint said the key is for organizations to be nimble enough to switch up their ground games in communities to reach people online and by other means.

Her organization is now relying on texting and social media and, in the process, studying the technological capacity of their community.

Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), a statewide social and political action organization — comprised of African-American elected and appointed officials; community leaders; activists;

Track response rates of every state by using your “Observer Interactive” App with this photo.

artists; scholars, and more — also pivoted its outreach strategy. The group recently released a video online featuring Black women across the state encouraging the community to respond and sharing how the Census directly benefits them.

Robinson-Flint says adjusting to a digital strategy has its challenges too, like unpredicted costs.

“A lot of people have smartphones, but if you ask them to text a thousand people, then that’s difficult for them in terms of how much it would cost,” Robinson Flint said.

Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. Census Bureau has adjusted its enumeration timeline. Field activities, which were scheduled to begin March 1, will not start until June 1. The bureau also warned that those dates and the processes associated with them might change, too.

“In-person activities, including enumeration, office work, and processing activities, will incorporate the most current guidance from authorities to ensure the health and safety of staff and the public” the bureau announced on its website.

Track response rates of every state by using your “Observer Interactive” App with photos on this story.

A4 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

Entertainment

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Michelle Obama Documentary ‘Becoming’ to Premiere on Netflix

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) – A documentary portrait of Michelle Obama titled”Becoming” will premiere on Netflix next week, the streaming company announced Monday.

The film, described as”an intimate look into the life of former First Lady Michelle Obama” chronicles her 34-city book tour in 2018-2019 for her best-selling memoir”Becoming.” Obama's promotional tour, managed by the concert promoter Live Nation, had the scale of a rock tour, with a string of dates at sold-out arenas.

The film will debut May 6 on Netflix. In a statement, Obama said the experience of the tour”drove home the idea that what we share in common is deep and real and can't be messed with.”

“We processed the past and imagined a better future.

In talking about the idea of `becoming,' many of us dared to say our hopes out loud,” said Obama.”I treasure the memories and that sense of connection now more than ever, as we struggle together to weather this pandemic, as we care for our loved ones, tend to our communities, and try to keep up with work and school while coping with huge amounts of loss, confusion, and uncertainty.”

“Becoming” has sold more than 11 million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages. The former First Lady's popularity has made her a potentially pivotal figure in the 2020 presidential campaign. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, recently said that he'd pick her as a running mate”in a heartbeat,” before adding that he didn't think she”has any desire to live in the White

House again.”

Nadia Hallgren, a veteran documentary cinematographer making her feature directorial debut in”Becoming,” trailed Obama on the book tour from city to city.”She moves quickly and I had to learn to move with her,” said Hallgren.

“Becoming” is the latest release from Higher Ground Productions, the production company created by Barack and Michelle Obama. Their exclusive multi-film deal with Netflix has already proven fruitful. Their first film,”American Factory,” by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, earlier this year won the Academy Award for best documentary. (The Obamas did not attend the Oscars, nor received a statuette.) Higher Ground was also behind the acclaimed recently released documentary”Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” by James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham.

The former First Lady acknowledged the timing is difficult for a film about community, and that social distancing doesn't come naturally to her:”I'm a hugger,” she said. During the pandemic, Obama has read children's books to kids stuck at home in an online series titled”Mondays with Michelle Obama.””I'm here for you,” she said in her statement.”And I know you are here for one another.”

“Empathy is our lifeline here. It's what will get us to the other side,” said Obama.”Let's use it to redirect our attention toward what matters most, reconsider our priorities, and find ways to better remake the world in the image of our hopes.”

Michelle Obama Documentary ‘Becoming’ to Premiere on Netflix

NFL Draft Averages Record 8.4M Viewers Across 3 Days

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Seth Markman was just as nervous as NFL coaches and general managers about the unknown factors involved with a virtual draft. But the ESPN executive producer said he was overwhelmed with how everything came together over the three days.

It also ended up being must-see TV as the first significant live sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic ground everything to a halt. The draft averaged a record 8.4 million viewers over all three days, according to the NFL and Nielsen. The previous high was 6.2 million last year.

“I thought a coach or general manager might put a towel on the camera or point it another direction, but there were zero issues,” Markman said. “There were a couple times that we lost a feed or two, but it quickly came back.”

After early concerns about how the NFL could conduct a virtual draft, everyone appeared to end up having fun with it. Coaches and general managers embraced their children or spouses being on camera and draft picks got to watch from home comfortably instead of waiting in a green room.

Even normally stodgy New England coach Bill Belichick got into the spirit of things by giving his dog, an Alaskan Klee Kai named Nike, some television time.

“I thought coaches and general managers were going to lock themselves in a room and it was the opposite. Every time I looked up there was more family around,” Markman said. “I think it speaks to the coaches that when this is done, they can remember it is OK not to be in the office at all times.”

Miami coach Brian Flores, who was shown celebrating picks with sons Miles and Maxwell in his office, said it was important for fans to see another side of him.

“When I think about being a coach, you want to help players become good players but good people, good husbands, good fathers, good sons; and I think we, as coaches, need to be good examples of that,” said Flores, whose young daughter, Liliana, at times sat on his lap.

“I think that was evident. It was nice to see everyone's

families.”

Each day attracted record audiences. Thursday's first round averaged 15.6 million, Friday's second and third rounds 8.2 million and Saturday's final four rounds 4.2 million. ESPN and NFL Network had a combined production all three days while ABC had separate telecasts Thursday and Friday before simulcasting the ESPN/NFL Network feed Saturday. ESPN Deportes also had a separate broadcast.

Here are some other takeaways:

TOO UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL? The biggest criticism of ESPN/NFL Network's coverage was that discussions too often were focused on the personal tragedies in each prospect's life, which ended up dominating the telecast at times. The storytelling and off-the-field stories are a huge part of ABC's coverage the first two nights while many expected ESPN to stick more to the X's and O's.

Markman said they have seen feedback on social media and that it is something they will evaluate in the

future in order to strike the right balance.

“Our intention is in some cases talk about and celebrate the obstacles these kids overcame in an amazing moment.

If that's not coming across as well that is something we need to look at,” he said. “Our company puts a huge emphasis on storytelling. We don't go as in-depth on the human stories on the ESPN coverage, but we do need to self-scout a little more. If three straight kids are picked who have overcome huge obstacles, we have to be disciplined in our approach so that it doesn't take too much of a turn.”

When Tee Higgins was selected in the second round by the Cincinnati Bengals, the ABC broadcast discussed his mother's battle with drug addiction and how she was an inspiration to the Clemson wide receiver. Her addiction was listed on an ESPN graphic without any additional context on that broadcast. Markman said that shouldn't have happened and that ESPN apologized to Higgins.

Higgins said on Twitter he had “no problem with them showing the world that my mom is a true fighter.”

McSHAY'S ABSENCE Analyst Todd McShay was to participate on television before he announced Thursday that he wouldn't take part because he was recovering from the new coronavirus.

McShay was supposed to be part of ABC's telecast the first two days before moving to ESPN for the final four rounds.

“He has been focusing on his recovery. His mind should be on that and not on last-minute draft preparations,” Markman said. “Our top priority is the health and safety of all of our employees.”

PRETTY SMOOTH SAILING Despite being spread out throughout the country, there were very few instances of analysts talking over one another, which Markman credited to his directors keeping everyone informed of what was happening.

Due to the quick-moving nature of Thursday's first round, there weren't many interviews with players.

Markman said by the time players were done celebrating with their families and got into position to be interviewed, they already had the next selection. Interviews still took place but were distributed on ESPN and NFL digital channels, as well as some airing on ABC.

Asian Celebs Work to Combat Racist Attacks Amid Pandemic

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) – Actress Olivia Cheng was recently volunteering in Vancouver when she says she witnessed a man drive up to an elderly Chinese woman, roll down his window and yell, “This is your fault!” before throwing trash at her.

The incident enraged Cheng, and also served as another reason why she feels it's so important for celebrities of Asian descent to use their voices and speak up against anti-Asian attacks, which authorities say are increasing during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I don't think we can pretend that this isn't happening,” Cheng, who stars in “The Stand” on CBS All Access, said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

“For now, it would not be unwise to be a little more careful, to maybe have buddy systems when possible to go get your groceries if you're not feeling safe.”

The FBI reports there has been an uptick in hate crimes and harassment against Asian Americans since the outbreak of COVID-19, which first appeared in Wuhan, China, late last year.

Some people have blamed China and Asians in general for the spread of coronavirus; President Donald Trump at times has called it the “Chinese virus.”

In New York, state Attorney General Letitia James has set up a hotline to report harassment or other targeted crime. Some of those incidents have been filmed and posted online.

“Tigertail” star Tzi Ma says he's been a victim of such harassment. He was entering a grocery store in Pasadena, California, recently when he was confronted by a man in a car.

“He looked at me straight in the eye and said, `You should be quarantined' and took off,” said the veteran actor, who was born in Hong Kong but moved to the United States as a child.

“I got very angry obviously, flush with this kind of cold in your body. And I started screaming at him, but he was way too far away for him to hear me.”

Actor Alain Uy, a star of the upcoming Hulu series “Marvel's Helstrom,” worried early on that such incidents would occur after the virus' spread.

“Once this outbreak happened in Wuhan, we all kind of went, `OK, we know what this is gonna mean,”` said the actor, who was born in the Philippines.

“Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu said he's been feeling more cautious than usual.

“It's very sad when I feel a little bit weird when I'm going to go for a walk around the block,” he said, “The Real” co-host, Jeannie Mai, who is halfVietnamese and half-Chinese, revealed recently that for the first time, she needed someone to monitor her social media posts to delete racist comments.

“The Good Doctor” actor Will Yun Lee is even nervous about taking his baby son to the grocery store: “My wife is Caucasian, but my son is half Korean and half white. But he looks very Asian.”

But Ma and other stars are speaking up and working to combat the ignorance and harassment. Ma joined actress Celia Au and other celebrities and influencers in the recent campaign called “ Wash the Hate, “ created by IW Group, an Asian American-focused marketing agency. The PSA features Ma, Au and others washing their hands and reminding people that hygiene, not xenophobia, is the way to help combat the virus.

“If I can start the conversation, why not?' said Au, who was also born in Hong Kong. “If we don't talk about it, then it's not going to be talked about at all.”

For Cheng, the recent wave of anti-Asian sentiment brought back painful memories of her childhood growing up in Edmonton, Canada, where she was the victim of a bias attack as a teen.

She went down an internet rabbit hole of attacks posted online. “I had to stop watching,” she said. “It brought up all those feelings again from being a kid and not being able to do anything.”

Mai says that it's not only important for Asian stars to speak out against these attacks, but people of other races as well.

“These are the conversations you need to be having with your kids in your house. You need to, even if you're not Chinese. You should be explaining that this is terrible, that racism is coming out of this pandemic,” she said. “So, have that talk with your kid. Have that talk with your friends. If one of your friends says, “Yo, this ‘Chinese Virus’ is crazy.” Say, “No. Actually, man it's called COVID-19.

It's not the ‘Chinese Virus’.” Just check them.”

Earlier this month, “The Real” host Bill Maher defended calling coronavirus the “Chinese Virus,” comparing it to the Spanish flu.

“While people say it's innocuous and that it came from China, it's the undertones,” Lee said. “Certain people will grab those undertones and attach to it.”

There's also a worry that anti-Asian American sentiment could translate to a regression in Hollywood after recent success of telling Asian stories.

This year, the South Korean film “Parasite” won the best picture Oscar, and Chinese-American director Lulu Wang took home the Independent Spirit Award for her film, “The Farewell.” “Crazy Rich Asians” was a hit at the box office in 2018 and last year, Sandra Oh became the first Asian woman in 39 years to win the best leading TV actress Golden Globe for “Killing Eve.” “I worry, is this going to impact our chances so soon after it feels like we finally made inroads?” Cheng said. “Is this going to regress us and put us however many steps back?”

Ma says the only way to proceed is to keep putting out diverse stories.

“There's no relenting. We'll keep moving forward.

And hopefully one day, people are going to say, `You know what? I not only accept the differences, but I also accept the fact that we're very much alike.”

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER A5

Features

Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh and some of her littlest constituents prepare to plant a tree in Yokuts Park. Behind them, in the hat, is Tree Foundation of Kern Executive Director Melissa Iger. (Photo courtesy of Tree Foundation of Kern)

Tree Foundation of Kern: You Are Never Alone in the Company of a Tree!

By Melissa Iger Executive Director Since 1994, the Tree Foundation of Kern and our many amazing volunteers have planted over 20,000 trees in Kern County.

Now Is The Time To GIVE BIG KERN! In Part 3 of a 3 week series in the Bakersfield News Observer, readers will have an opportunity to learn about hard-working Kern County nonprofits that are fundraising through the website GiveBigKern. org, a crowdfunding effort hosted by Kern Community Foundation.

Give Big Kern is celebrated as Kern’s own official Day of Giving on May 5, but the website is already open for donations and will remain open till May 6.

As you read these agencies’ brief profiles and learn about their needs, please consider donating to them especially now, during the COVID-19 crisis, which has negatively impacted charities in a big way. Just go to GiveBigKern.org, search for an agency by name or cause, find your passion and give. You can also fundraise for a nonprofit you love, and invite your friends, peers and loved ones to donate, too.

If you don’t have money to give but would like to pledge volunteer hours—because nonprofits are going to need a lot of help when the statewide shelter-in-place order is lifted—find the Volunteering page on the drop-down menu of GiveBigKern.org. Use the button at the bottom of the page to submit your volunteer pledge.

Thank you and we hope you will enjoy reading about local charities and how you can support them through Give Big Kern!

Junior League of Bakersfield: Women Dedicated to Volunteerism and Community Change

By Katie McDaris President The women of Junior League have been serving Kern County for more than 50 years.

Junior League is a go-to organization when businesses and nonprofits need assistance and expertise with fundraisers, events or projects. Our membership includes

well-trained volunteers who are the perfect fit to serve on a Board of Directors.

You’ll see our impact everywhere! Have you noticed the Junior League sign outside the Lori Brock Children’s Museum? Did you know we launched the Women’s Business Conference? Were you aware we helped CALM with large grants and other donations? Junior League evolves with the needs of our community and has a wonderful history of creating lasting change.

Our current focus is researching and analyzing how to best support literacy in our community. Working with other nonprofits is our first step in battling illiteracy locally.

The Junior League also has an amazing Community Center downtown, which the public can rent for private events! Income earned from these rentals allows us to offer our facility as a meeting space free to nonprofits.

We work not only to beautify the parks, schools and streets in the place we call home, but to clean our air and provide nice, fresh oxygen for all of us.

We are proud to say we have planted trees at Golden Valley High School, Mira Monte High School, South High School, Lowell Park, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, Central Park at Mill Creek, Planz Park, Wilson Park, Beale Park, Jefferson Park and more!

Unfortunately, we have had to close our doors temporarily due to current public health crisis, and plan to reopen again in the fall.

We have an exciting project coming up then to do a garden makeover for the Bakersfield Senior Center! The project will include trees, flowering plants, new benches and tables. We will be working with the employees of one of our great community partners, IKEA. It’s going to be a peaceful and beautiful place for all the visitors to enjoy!

Keep your fingers crossed on our behalf so that we can do this without any possible COVID-19 delays.

Although we are closed, we still have many expenses to pay until we can plant again. Please consider donating to us during Give Big Kern. What we do is unique and critical to the environment in Kern County. Just go to givebigkern.org and search for “tree” to find our page.

Then give using the “Donate” button.

During these stay-at-home times, we can always rest assured that we are never alone in the company of a tree.

They make us feel cool and lift our spirits whenever we’re feeling a little down.

No one is ever too young to learn about the importance of tree planting. (Photo courtesy of Tree Foundation of Kern)

Catholic Charities of Bakersfield

By Ashley Vorhees Site Director Catholic Charities is a Community Benefit Organization serving the needs of families and individuals in crisis regardless of race, age or religious beliefs.

We aid clients with food relief: a family is eligible to receive a food box every 30 days without needing a referral.

The contents generally consist of staples such as beans, rice, pasta, canned vegetables and fruits, and other health conscious foods.

For those who do not have cooking facilities readily available to them, Catholic Charities offers a weekly travel bag that provides clients on-the-go foods such as canned soups, granola bars, peanut butter and water. Currently, Catholic Charities serves approximately 3,600 individuals a month with food resources.

Our food pantry also assists clients with their CalFresh and PG&E Care applications, DMV reduced-fee and no-fee vouchers, and offers a rental and utility assistance program for those who are eligible.

Considered an essential business, Catholic Charities has remained open since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and has seen a dramatic increase in the need for services. With many families being out of work or experiencing a shortage in the food available to them at the market, clients are lining up at the door to take advantage of the programs and services Catholic Charities offers.

As a nonprofit, Catholic Charities relies both on monetary and in-kind donations to continue to serve Kern But we are facing a hard uphill battle in the current pandemic. Private rentals have had to cancel or postpone, causing lost revenue to Junior League. Our Spring Fundraiser was understandably cancelled for safety. Truly, the financial strain COVID-19 has put on our nonprofit will be felt for years to come.

If you would like to support Junior League so can we continue to train local female leaders for success, please consider donating to us through Give Big Kern. Just visit givebigkern.org, and search for “junior league.”

And look into renting our beautiful Community Center in the future!

To make the biggest impact, become a volunteer with the Junior League of Bakersfield! Use the “Volunteering” page on the drop-down menu of givebigkern.org to make a pledge of volunteer hours.

Catholic Charities helps some of the most vulnerable members of our community. (Photo Courtesy of Ashley Vorhees)

County residents in need. We hold highly coveted ratings on Charity Navigator and GuideStar USA for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency, and $0.90 of every dollar donated goes directly to programs and services.

To learn more about our services or to donate to us, please call (661) 281-2130 or visit ccdof.org. Please consider giving to us through givebigkern.org. Just search for “Catholic,” and click on the “Donate” button on our page.

Cindy Uetz, Elaina Rusk and Asha Chandy, Junior League Volunteers, donating more than 200 books to the Jamison Center Library in February 2020.

(Photo Courtesy of Junior League of Bakersfield)

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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

Local Kern County Leaders Need to Consider the Re-Entry Needs of Residents Being Released During the Covid-19 Pandemic

To date, there are no emergency funds available for people reintegrating into our community. Kern County decision makers, the people who have direct access to funding, have the potential to do better at providing emergency housing for every resident. It is my hope that this is mere oversight and can be easily fixed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Kern County needs to address the needs of our residents who are returning to our cities and towns. Basic human needs should be met. If people cannot be housed with family members, temporary housing should be offered so that they can stay safe during the pandemic. Since only essential businesses are operating, many places that the formerly incarcerated might seek work are simply shut down. Our returning residents are mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who have completed their sentences and deserve the same access to resources so that they can be in a position to contribute to their families and to the broader community once this COVID-19 crisis is over.

Kern County does not have a history of adequately meeting the re-entry needs of our returning residents.

It’s my hope that our local leaders listen to advocates for restorative justice and anti-recidivism so that they can change course and help mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus for this vulnerable population and for the broader public health of our county. All of Us or None members are experts in re-entry needs and are available for further discussion.

Ucedrah Osby is president of the Bakersfield chapter of All of Us or None, a grassroots civil and human rights organization fighting for the rights of formerly and currently incarcerated people and their families.

By Ucedrah Osby Kern Sol News The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting everyone in Kern County, and our leaders need to do everything they can to mitigate the spread of this virus, including protecting the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated population in our region.

The virus cannot be contained within the confines of our county jails and state prisons. Every day more than 1,000 correction officers, sheriff’s deputies and support staff interact with the incarcerated population. These people travel back and forth from the jails and prisons to their homes and interact in our community.

Earlier this month the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced that it would release 185 county inmates who were expected to be released soon to state parole or county probation. This is part of an amplified effort to protect staff and incarcerated people in correctional facilities to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Governor Newsom announced 3,500 people who are in CDCR prisons that were scheduled to complete their sentences in the next 60 days could be released. This is a good start. Re-entry services during the COVID-19 pandemic must be made available to further the efforts to prevent the spread.

Adequate housing and access to COVID-19 testing are imperative resources to stopping the spread. Those who are released with a need for emergency housing have a right to receive emergency housing vouchers that Governor Newsom has made available.

Sizing Up Trump’s Green-Card Halt:

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) – Pamela Thompson, a recruiter at Adventist Health Bakersfield in California, made seven job offers to foreign nurses in February and just finished a first round of interviews with 12 more candidates. They are from all over the world, including the United Kingdom, Philippines, Australia and Malaysia.

The international candidates fill the private hospital’s critical need for experienced nurses who can work in emergency rooms and intensive care units, Thompson said _ jobs that can’t be met only with U.S. nurses, many of whom are recent graduates.

That need could go unfilled, however, if President Donald Trump extends a 60-day hold on green cards he ordered in the name of protecting American jobs amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“It would be a huge setback,” Thompson said. “Those are holes I don’t have people to fill.”

Trump says the measure is necessary at a time when unemployment has climbed to levels last seen during the Great Depression.

Critics have dismissed the move as the president’s veiled attempt to achieve cuts to legal immigration that he previously suggested but couldn’t persuade Congress or the courts to accept _ and to distract voters from his handling of the pandemic.

But immigrant advocates and political opponents are not the only ones who oppose the measure: Hardliners from Trump’s base say it doesn’t go far enough to limit immigration.

The order “is designed to satisfy powerful business interests that value a steady flow of cheap foreign labor,”

Is it Just Temporary?

Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, wrote in a letter to the president Thursday.

The Center for Immigration Studies, another hardline group, said the 60-day pause “will provide little relief to Americans” and criticized an exemption for foreigners who agree to invest at least $900,000 in the U.S. The proclamation, signed Wednesday, excludes temporary nonimmigrant visas for hundreds of thousands of workers a year, including farm workers, software engineers and others in fields deemed to have labor shortages. It doesn’t apply to green-card applicants already in the United States.

Many families will be barred from immigrating as long as the freeze lasts _ more than 200,000 people at last year’s levels. Spouses of U.S. citizens and their children under 21 are exempt, but parents, adult children, grandchildren, adult siblings and other relatives aren’t.

Carl Shusterman, a Los Angeles immigration attorney who advises hospitals, said he had hoped Trump’s proclamation would provide a blanket exemption for nurses, who often arrive on green cards. Instead, it only exempts health care workers whose work is deemed

essential to recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Embassies and consulates make the decisions,” he said. “They don’t have any special expertise in COVID-19, like none of us do.”

Houston immigration attorney Raed Gonzalez said he doesn’t expect the suspension to have much of an effect _ at least in the short term _ because embassies and consulates had already halted routine visa processing last month in response to the pandemic.

“This is more of a show from the administration than anything else,” he said.

But other immigrant advocates predict profound changes if the measure becomes permanent.

Doug Rand, co-founder of Boundless, a company that advises families and individuals on green cards, estimates 358,000 applicants a year would be unable to get permanent residency if the order were extended.

He said the casualties would include roughly 50,000 diversity visas each year for countries that send fewer people to the U.S., and that the measure would have a big impact on immigrants from Asia, Central America and eastern Europe.

Rand says Trump is using the pandemic to achieve changes to the immigration system that he couldn’t get past

Congress or the courts. He called the 60-day halt a “double fig leaf ” to make the measure more palatable.

“I don’t think it takes much guesswork that President Donald Trump is going to use his discretion to extend it 60 days from now and again and again and again,” Rand said.

The edict has similarities to legislation Trump tried unsuccessfully to pass in 2017 that would slash legal immigration, largely through family-based visas that the president has referred to derisively as “chain migration.”

Last month, the administration effectively suspended asylum by rapidly expelling anyone who enters the country along borders with Mexico and Canada. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week extended the policy through May 20 on public health grounds.

Trump told reporters that he may extend the most recent order or modify it next week, in two months or “as we go along” to be “made tougher or made less tough.”

“We don’t want to hurt our businesses, and we don’t want to hurt our farmers,” he said Wednesday. “Very important.”

Joe Biden, Trump’s presumed Democratic rival in November’s election, echoed those who called the measure an attempt to divert attention from the president’s handling of the pandemic.

“Rather than execute a swift and aggressive effort to ramp up testing, Donald Trump is tweeting incendiary rhetoric about immigrants in the hopes that he can distract everyone from the core truth: He’s moved too slowly to contain this virus, and we are all paying the price for it,” Biden said Tuesday.

Matt Hill, a campaign spokesman, said Thursday that Biden would not maintain the policy if elected.

Social distancing is the most effective tool we have for slowing the spread of the coronavirus. And that means staying home, if you can.

Work from home. Play at home. Stay at home.

If you must go out, keep your social distance—six feet, or two arm-lengths apart. Young. Elderly. In between.

It’s going to take every one of us. If home really is where the heart is, listen to yours and do the life-saving thing.

Visit coronavirus.gov for the latest tips and information from the CDC.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER A7

Local

Jordan Love Selected by Packers

Jordan Love’s arm strength and flair for extending plays has earned him comparisons to Patrick Mahomes. (Photo: Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press)

By Earl Heath, Los Angeles News Observer Contributing Sports Writer Jordan Love was sitting in his Bakersfield home surrounded by family and friends when his phone rang.

On the other end was a voice from the Green Bay Packers.

He had become the 26th pick in the 2020 NFL draft. It’s something he had earned and part of a dream come true.

The Packers traded the No. 30 selection for the Miami Dolphins’ spot at 26, a move that cost them a fourth-round pick.

Love spoke with ESPN’s Suzy Kolber shortly after wards saying, “I’m already knowing I can learn a lot from Aaron Rodgers. I mean, that’s one of the GOATs right there in the game. I’m excited to be able to come back behind him and learn as much as I can.” But on a conference call after the draft, he admitted he did not know how Rodgers will take to him.

“Yeah, I mean I’m not sure how that’s going to work,” Love said. “I’m going to get back here and learn as much as I can from Aaron. He’s an amazing player and I know I’m going to learn a lot from him. I’m not sure how that situation is going to work but like I said I’m just excited to be behind him and do whatever the team needs when I’m [called] upon.”

Love was for a moment in the midst of a controversy because Rodgers has four more years on his current contract. Rodgers has been known to be “a bit edgy” to some in the sports world, but that didn’t appear to be the case with Love. Shortly after the interview Rodgers reached out to the newest member to the Packers.

“I was able to talk to him earlier “Love said of Rodgers, on ESPN.com. “You know he’s a really good guy. He was just congratulating me, and I was just letting him know that I was excited to be able to work with him.”

Love is just the third Mountain West Conference quarterback taken in the first round in the common draft era (since 1967), joining Alex Smith (Utah) in 2005 and Josh Allen (Wyoming) in 2018.

Love’s career began at a young age in Bakersfield playing youth football and basketball. His father Orbin and mother Anna both worked in Law enforcement.

When Jordan was 14 Orbin who had a medical issue was put on a new medication. The man who never cussed, drank, or smoked and to many around him never lost his temper became a different person. He became quiet at times, he had broken thoughts during conversations with family members.

Only a few days after Orbin began taking his new medication he took his life. “If you knew him he was the

happiest dude you would ever see,” Jordan told a reporter.

“Our family knew it was the medication messing with his head.”

Part of his obituary read: ”Taken suddenly by medical demons.”

Both parents instilled a real sound work ethic in Jordan who attended Liberty High. As a freshman he was only 5-feet 6. By the time he was a senior he was six feet, four inches weighing around 180 pounds.

During his senior season he cut loose with a tremendous campaign completing 114-of-224 (.509) passes for 2,148 yards and 24 touchdowns, while also rushing for 806 yards on 128 carries (6.3 ypc) and eight touchdowns as he led the Lions to their first-ever Central Section Division I Championship. in a 56-21 win against Clovis HS in the championship game.

He was named the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division I Valley League Offensive Player of the Year he also earned all-area co-MVP honors.

His only D-1 scholarship offer came from Utah State.

Love, redshirted at Utah State in the 2016 season.

After that started 32 of the 38 games he played in and became the Aggies second-winningest quarterback in school history with a 21-11 (.656) He holds eight single-season school records, including 293 completions and 473 attempts as a junior in 2019, and 32 touchdown passes, 3,567 passing yards, seven 300-yard passing games, 234 points responsible for and being named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week five times as a sophomore in 2018. He also had 20 touchdown passes as a junior and 64.0 completion percentage both rank fourth all-time at USU, while his 61.9 completion percentage as a junior ranks sixth.

He even drew praise from Hall of fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw speaking with Colon Coward of Fox Sports “I like the kid (Love), he’s mobile and has a really good arm” Love has also graduated in 2019 from Utah State University with a degree in human movement science.

After the draft his mom read a letter that is posted on the twitter page at Utah state University here are parts of it: “Dear Jordan, words can’t possibly express the joy and pride I am feeling towards the young man that you’ve become,” she began.

“Never in my wildest dreams as you were growing up did I imagine such an opportunity as you being drafted in the NFL,” Anna Love read. Even though Dad is not here, know that your sisters and I are, and we are in awe as to what you accomplished.”

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BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

Local

Wednesday, April 29, 2020