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News Observer Bakersfield

Volume 47 Number 4

Serving Kern County for Over 47 Years

Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California

MLK CommUNITY Initiative Celebrates One-Year Of Service

Free!

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Black Federal Agent Alleges Smear Campaign After Lawsuit SEATTLE (AP) – A supervisor for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Seattle says in a lawsuit she was the target of a smear campaign after she sued over racial harassment by a co-worker with a Nazi tattoo.

Cheryl Bishop, a senior supervisory special agent who is Black, said court papers that after her discrimination lawsuit settled for $450,000, the accused supervisor sent an email to 150 people defending himself and reiterating many of the same racist tropes and allegations against Bishop, the Seattle Times reported.

The agency repeatedly failed to discipline Bradley Devlin or rein in his racist behavior, allowing him to feel he could lash out again, the lawsuit claims.

Devlin has a “German Eagle SS Lightning bolt” tattoo he says he got infiltrating a white supremacist biker gang in Ohio. He has said in court documents he is not racist and described their conflict as based on personality.

Devlin was the bureau’s resident agent in charge in Eugene, Oregon. He has since retired and declined comment to the newspaper on the new lawsuit. An ATF spokeswoman also declined comment.

VA School District Apologizes for History of Racism

By Darlene L. Williams Contributing Writer BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—Since it’s launching in 2019, the MLK CommUNITY Initiative (MLK CI) continues to honor it’s commitment to serve the southeast Bakersfield community, marking its one-year anniversary.

The non-profit organization celebrated this pivotal milestone by serving the southeast community and also celebrating the volunteers who committed to one-year of community service— with live music, cake, and gifts.

ShePower CEO; Global Ambassador, Arleana Waller’s passion to serve the southeast community and to help close the economic gap is the driving force that keeps her showing up in the community every third Monday of the month where some 300-500 boxes of food is given away to those in need.

“In our one year food give-away, Waller said, “We’ve had a strong leadership team that has been boots on the ground from day one.”

She credits the success of the MLK CommUNITY to team members: Isaiah Crompton, Ora Frink, Mr. Roosevelt, Ms. Pat and Ms. Jeanette and the volunteers who devote their time each month.

“I really want everybody to understand how important the volunteers are for this first year, they really are the bread and butter to everything we do,” Waller said.” It’s hard work”.

MLK CI is an economic non-profit development collaborative organization that works in partnership with organizations that want to support the work that we are

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) – A public school system in Virginia has apologized for its history of racial segregation and a more recent pattern of discriminating against Black students.

The Washington Post reports that the Loudoun County Public Schools addressed its apology on Friday to the county’s Black community in a letter and video.

The county fought a school desegregation order for more than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it illegal.

“The additional effort required and resources provided by the Black community to obtain an equal education created hardships to which other community members were not subjected,” the letter read. “Black people were denied rights and equal treatment.”

Michelle Thomas, president of the local NAACP, questioned whether the apology is genuine.

“We feel it is more word than action,” Thomas said.

Rob Doolittle, a spokesman for the schools system, said the apology is only one step in the county’s plan to fight systemic racism.

The school district, one of the country’s wealthiest, is 7 percent African American, 18 percent Hispanic, 25 percent Asian and 44 percent White.

doing, Waller said; specifically in the southeast area.

The southeast area community is under economic development in twenty-five categories with food and security being one of the categories. MLK CI is building

a presence and a trust in the area so that it can continue to strategize on the other issues, Waller explained.

Mrs. Waller explained that the MLK CI organization was organically launched through ShePower. And after Continued on page A7

Officers in Breonna Taylor Case Escape Indictment “They didn’t want to charge anyone with the murder of Breonna Taylor,” said Steve Romines, the attorney for Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. Officer Brett Hankinson was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment for his actions on the night of Taylor’s death. Hankinson was charged with shooting blindly inside an apartment and a warrant was immediately placed for his arrest. Judge Annie O’Connell set bail for Hankinson at just $15,000.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, a Grand Jury failed to indict the officers for killing Breonna Taylor, while one officer was charged with shooting into an apartment – not Taylor’s.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent After 194 days, months of protests, and a $12 million civil settlement, the family of Breonna Taylor did not receive the justice they have desperately sought.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, a Grand Jury failed to indict the officers for killing Taylor, while one officer was charged with shooting into an apartment – not Taylor’s.

“They didn’t want to charge anyone with the murder of Breonna Taylor,” said Steve Romines, the attorney for Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker.

Officer Brett Hankinson was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment for his actions on the night of Taylor’s death.

Hankinson was charged with shooting blindly inside an apartment and a warrant was immediately placed for his arrest. Judge Annie O’Connell set bail for Hankinson at just $15,000.

None of the six officers involved were charged with a crime.

On March 13, Taylor, 26, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police officers after a late-night no-knock warrant

led to gunfire inside of her apartment.

Taylor and Walker had watched a movie in bed and, not long after she drifted off to sleep, cops pounded on her door. Walker, according to police reports, yelled, “who is it?”

Licensed to carry a firearm and armed with Kentucky legislation that allowed him to stand his ground and fire his weapon in self-defense, Walker responded to the late-night break-in by shooting at the officers. He called 9-11 because he didn’t know that the men were law enforcement officers, only that they appeared as intruders who knocked the door off of its hinges.

Officers unleashed a flurry of bullets from several angles – one officer fired blindly from a window outside of the house – ultimatly striking Taylor five times and killing her.

Walker’s shot struck Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh. Initially, Walker was charged with attempted murder, but those allegations were later dropped in part because he didn’t know the invaders were police officers and Kentucky’s statute essentially allows for a shoot-firstask-questions-later when there’s an imminent threat.

Judge Mary Shaw had signed off on five warrants based on flimsy statements provided by cops who claimed Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was a drug dealer and that they somehow suspected she was involved.

The Grand Jury decision came as little surprise giving the response this week by Louisville officials, who declared a state of emergency ahead of the reading of the decision.

Also, all off-duty police personnel was called to work while workers boarded up stores and buildings in downtown Louisville in preparation for the reading of the Grand Jury decision.

“We live in a racist society, to the extinct that we don’t even acknowledge that we fail in our ability to correct that,” said Sadiqa Reynolds, the president of the Louisville Urban League.

“To believe that there would be charges against white police officers against this Black woman in this city, this country, is wrong. We don’t have justice in America. We don’t have justice in Louisville,” a tearful Reynolds stated.

Courses on Racism; University Considering Making it a Requirement

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginia Commonwealth University is considering whether to make courses on racism a requirement for its students.

Constance Relihan, dean of VCU’s University College, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that many other colleges are having the same discussion as protests over racial injustice sweep across the U.S. “We’re at a good moment to see that this is something we really need to address,” Relihan said.

VCU offers a major in African American studies and has classes in other departments that address the history and implications of racism. But they aren’t part of the university’s required curriculum.

VCU has been revising its general education requirements over the past two years. Relihan said she hopes a decision on whether to require racism classes will be made by the end of the current semester.

“If we’re going to address this issue, we want to do it well, and we want to do it deeply,” Relihan said.

Kansas City Settles with Black Driver Shot by Rookie Officer LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – The city of Lawrence has agreed to pay $80,000 to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by a Black man who was shot by a rookie police officer in 2018 during a traffic stop.

Akira Lewis sued the city, two officers, the police department and the police chief after he was shot. He alleged the officers used excessive force and that the traffic stop was racially motivated.

The city contended Lewis caused the confrontation by unreasonably refusing to get out of his car.

Under the settlement approved Friday, neither the city or Lewis accepted liability for the shooting, The Lawrence Journal-World reported.

Lewis was shot when he was pulled over by officers Ian McCann and Brindley Blood. Lewis refused to get out of his car or give the officers his identification. A police video shows McCann trying to pull Lewis from the car.

When Lewis began hitting McCann, Blood shot him. She said later she meant to use her Taser but drew her gun instead. An aggravated battery charge against her was dropped and she later left the force.

Lewis was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading no contest to battery of a law enforcement officer.

A2

World & Nation

Report Reveals Alarming Amount of

Systemic Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent On Jan. 21, 2011, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge was sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison for perjury and obstruction of justice because he lied under oath about his use of torture to extract confessions from numerous criminal suspects, overwhelmingly Black men.

Burge was fired in 1993 and was prosecuted only for lying in a civil case. He served more than four years in prison and died in 2018 In 1987, when Ken Anderson was District Attorney of Williamson County, Texas, he successfully prosecuted Michael Morton for murdering his wife, Christine.

To do so, according to a report from the National Registry of Exonerations, Anderson concealed that neighbors had seen a suspicious stranger hanging around the Mortons’ house.

After the murder, while Morton was in custody, someone else attempted to use a credit card belonging to his wife and cashed a $20 check that was in her missing purse.

Further, the Mortons’ three-year-old son, who witnessed the killing, told his grandmother that “a monster” killed his mother when “Daddy was not there.”

What followed was a parade of horribles, researchers said.

In 2011, DNA testing of a bandana found near the crime scene identified the actual killer.

The District Attorney’s Office had successfully resisted testing that bandana for many years. Morton spent 24 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit – a crime that was itself an unspeakable tragedy for him and his family.

The real killer went on to bludgeon another woman to death in 1988. Anderson himself was disgraced. He pled guilty to contempt of court, spent four days in jail, was disbarred, and was forced to resign from the position he later held as a judge.

While researchers of a new report released on Tuesday, Sept. 15, said it’s hard to summarize the enormity of the harm Burge and his underlings inflicted their victims, and what Anderson did, they did piece together a critical and comprehensive study on tainted cases that have only underscored why Americans – particularly Black people – have lost trust in the police and prosecutors.

In the report titled, “Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent: The Role of Prosecutors, Police and other Law Enforcement,” the National Registry of Exonerations examined more than 2,400 cases nationally which measured the role of government misconduct

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

in wrongful convictions and how African Americans specifically suffer from those actions.

The study found that 54 percent of official misconduct involved corruption or negligence by police, prosecutors, lab workers, or other government employees.

The authors – which included researchers from the Newkirk Center for Science at the University of California, Irving, the University of Michigan Law School, and the Michigan State University College of Law – cautioned that “the tally is very likely a vast undercount of the actual number of instances in which misconduct has led to the convictions of innocent people.”

They outlined that many who’ve been wrongly convicted –including those who pleaded guilty to lowlevel crimes – did not have the necessary resources or legal counsel.

Why did Ken Anderson conceal all that evidence of Michael Morton’s innocence?

“We don’t know. We could ask, but we wouldn’t trust the answer – if any was given – and Anderson himself may no longer know if he ever did,” the authors wrote.

They concluded that the most important causes of official misconduct in criminal cases are systemic, “pervasive practices that permit if not encourage bad behavior; lack of the resources needed to train, supervise and conduct highquality investigations and prosecutions; and ineffective leadership by police commanders, crime lab directors and chief prosecutors,” the authors stated.

“If these systemic problems are corrected, misconduct is less likely to occur – and when it does happen, more likely to be counteracted before innocent people are condemned.”

Overall, Black defendants’ exonerations have a slightly higher rate of misconduct than those of white defendants, 57 percent to 52 percent.

But the differences are more significant for murder cases (78 percent to 64 percent) – especially those with death sentences (87 percent to 68 percent) – and drug crime exonerations (47 percent to 22 percent).

The study concluded that official misconduct falls into five general categories: • Witness tampering occurred in about 17 percent of exonerations.

• Misconduct in interrogations occurred in 57 percent of all exonerations with false confessions or about 7 percent of all cases.

• Fabricating evidence happened in about 10 percent of cases, in three forms: Forensic fraud – in 3 percent of exonerations, police officers or forensic analysts lied about forensic evidence.

“We know that prosecutors lied in court in 4 percent of exonerations. The real rate may be higher since we only count cases with clear evidence that prosecutors made statements they knew were false,” the researchers noted further. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

• Fake crimes – in 4 percent of exonerations, police planted drugs or guns on innocent suspects, or lied and said the suspects had assaulted them.

• Fictitious confessions – in about 2 percent of exonerations, officers fabricated confessions from defendants who did not confess.

At trial, misconduct occurred in about 23 percent of exonerations, about evenly divided between perjury by law enforcement officers, 13 percent, and trial misconduct by prosecutors, 14 percent (with some overlap).

Misconduct in interrogations occurred overwhelmingly in murder cases the led to exoneration Concealing exculpatory evidence and misconduct at trial were most common in murder cases, followed by white-collar crimes. Witness tampering was slightly more common among exonerations for child sex abuse exonerations than for murder, and fabricating evidence was several times more common among exonerations for drug crimes than for any other crime.

Concealing exculpatory evidence contributed to 44 percent of exonerees’ convictions, more than any other type of official misconduct.

The rate of concealing exculpatory evidence varies by crime, from 61 percent for murder to 27 percent in child sex abuse cases.

“It is so common and widespread that it happened in 82 percent of all exonerations with any official misconduct,” the researchers noted.

Prosecutors concealed exculpatory evidence in 73 percent of cases in which [exonerations] occurred.

Police concealed exculpatory evidence in 33 percent of cases where it occurred (including cases with concealing by more than one type of official), and forensic analysts did so in 6 percent.

In some portion of those exonerations, prosecutors did know about the concealed evidence. Still, the researchers stated that they knew of about 13 percent that included concealed physical objects like clothing and weapons.

The authors conceded that “this gap may in part reflect how effectively objects can be destroyed or hidden, but information may linger in electronic or physical files or the memories of people.”

In 63 percent of cases with concealed exculpatory evidence, substantive evidence of the exonerees’ innocence was hidden – evidence that in itself helps prove the defendant’s innocence, such as an eyewitness who named another person as the criminal, the report noted.

In 80 percent of such cases, impeachment evidence that undermined testimony by prosecution witnesses was concealed – for example, evidence that a witness who identified the exoneree as a murderer told his brother he never saw the killing.

In half the exonerations with concealed exculpatory evidence, both substantive and impeachment evidence were hidden. Often, a single item of evidence serves both functions.

“Substantive evidence may sound more important, but concealing impeachment evidence that eviscerates the credibility of a critical prosecution witness can be devastating to an innocent defendant,” the authors stated.

“Predictably, law enforcement officials usually conceal their own misconduct. That’s misconduct in itself, derivative concealment,” they wrote.

For example, it’s misconduct for an officer to plant drugs on a suspect, and it’s a separate act of misconduct to conceal the officer’s knowledge that the suspect is innocent.

Other notable findings in the report include: Evidence of other official misconduct was concealed in 26 percent of all exonerations.

Guilty pleas rather than trial verdicts obtain at least 95 percent of criminal convictions in the United States, but 80 percent of exonerations followed conviction at trial.

About 28 percent of those trials (23 percent of all exonerations) included official misconduct in court.

Perjury by all law enforcement officials occurred in 14 percent of the trials at which exonerees were convicted, or 13 percent of all exonerations (including those after guilty pleas).

In about a quarter of those cases, officials lied about forensic testing, or about things the officials themselves claimed to have witnessed the exonerees do or say.

Perjury by police officers occurred in 11 percent of trials of exonerees. In 9 percent of those trials (7 percent of all exonerations), officers lied about others’ information.

Most often, police lied about the investigations’ conduct, including what a witness said or how a lineup

News Observer Bakersfield

Adjudicated a Newspaper of General Circulation August 11, 1980, Kern County Superior Court Decree, Case No. 16964, Government Code 6023.

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Published By Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California, Inc. Corporate Office 1219 20th St. Bakersfield, CA 93301 (661) 324-9466.

Member of The National Newspapers Publishers Association, Associated Press, and The Better Business Bureau

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 was conducted.

The most common subject of police perjury was the conduct of interrogations at which innocent defendants confessed.

“We miss a great deal of police perjury,” the authors wrote.

“We rarely have access to transcripts or other detailed information about trial testimony, so we only learn about perjury at trial if it becomes a conspicuous issue.”

In 1959, the Supreme Court held that a prosecutor has a constitutional obligation to correct perjury by a state witness even if she did not herself offer the false testimony.

However, researchers discovered that prosecutors permitted perjury to go uncorrected in 8 percent of exonerations. In most cases, the perjury was by civilian witnesses.

The most common lies were about the favorable treatment the witnesses receive in pending criminal cases of their own.

“We know that prosecutors lied in court in 4 percent of exonerations. The real rate may be higher since we only count cases with clear evidence that prosecutors made statements they knew were false,” the researchers noted further.

They said about half of lies by prosecutors were made in a closing argument with a common pattern of repeating and affirming perjury by a witness that the prosecutor knew about but failed to correct – for example, a lie by a witness who claimed to have no deal with the prosecutor.

Federal prosecutors committed misconduct in exonerations more than twice as often as police (52 percent to 20 percent), while state prosecutors committed misconduct less often than police (29 percent to 36 percent).

US Bank Donates $5M to Local Communities “Today we are proud to share the details of our philanthropic giving to 10 additional markets across the country that historically experience low economic mobility. We are investing in organizations led by people of color and providing general operating funds because we trust community leaders to know how, when and where to use these funds for the greatest impact,” said Reba Dominski, Chief Social Responsibility Officer for U.S. Bank.

The U.S. Bank Foundation fund addresses systemic economic and racial inequities in small business, housing and workforce advancement Minneapolis, MN, September 23, 2020 – U.S. Bank announces $5 million in donations to local communities

as part of its $15 million U.S. Bank Foundation Rebuild and Transform Fund, addressing rebuilding in corridors impacted by social unrest and systemic racial inequities in small business, housing and workforce advancement.

The Fund is part of the bank’s previously announced

$116 million commitment to address social and economic inequities.

“Our focus is on listening to and learning from community leaders and responding to critical needs,“ said Reba Dominski, Chief Social Responsibility Officer for U.S. Bank “Today we are proud to share the details of our philanthropic giving to 10 additional markets across the country that historically experience low economic mobility. We are investing in organizations led by people of color and providing general operating funds because we trust community leaders to know how, when and where to use these funds for the greatest impact.”

The local markets receiving grants are: Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Little Rock, AR; Louisville, KY; Milwaukee, WI; Nashville, TN; Ohio - Akron, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton; Phoenix, AZ; Portland, OR and St. Louis, MO. In total, 48 organizations will receive funding across these markets. A full list is included below. For more information, visit usbank.com/community.

Charlotte, NC • Aspire Community Capital • Charlotte LISC • Urban League of Central Carolinas Chicago, IL • Cara • Chicago CRED • Far South CDC • Spanish Coalition for Housing • Oak Park Regional Housing Center • Chicago Urban League Little Rock, AR • P.A.R.K. - Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids • University District Development Corporation Louisville, KY • Metro UW - Black L.O.V.E Philanthropic Partnership • OneWest • Rebound Russell Tech Business Incubator Milwaukee, WI

• ACTS Housing • Housing Resources, Inc. U.S. Bancorp, with more than 70,000 employees and $547 billion in assets as of June 30, 2020, is the • Milwaukee Urban League parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. • Riverworks (Courtesy Photo) • Running Rebels

• Silver Spring Neighborhood Center • United Community Center Nashville, TN • Boys and Girls Club of Middle Tennessee • The Housing Fund • Urban League of Middle Tennessee • YMCA of Middle Tennessee Ohio • Cleveland NID Housing Counseling Agency (Cleveland/Akron) • East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation (Cleveland, Akron) • Godman Guild (Columbus) • Housing Opportunities Made Equal (Cincinnati/Dayton) • MORTAR (Cincinnati/Dayton) • Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center of Economic Development – Hispanic Business Center (Cleveland/ Akron) • Urban League of Southwestern Ohio (Cincinnati/ Dayton) • YWCA (Columbus) Phoenix, AZ • Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce • Trellis Portland, OR • African American Alliance for Homeownership • Black United Fund of Oregon • Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon (MESO) • Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs (OAME) • Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives • Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center and Rosemary Anderson High School Self Enhancement, Inc. • United Negro College Fund (UNCF) St. Louis, MO • Employment Connection • Rung for Women • St. Louis Builds Credit • Urban League of St. Louis

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

PUBLIC NOTICE STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE NO: 2017-B0758 Business Name you wish to abandon: DREAM HOMES COME TRUE Street address of business: 10410 Blchester Ct., Bakersfield, Ca. 93311 County: Kern Mailing address of business: PO Box 22644, Bakersfield, Ca. 93390 Registrant(s) whose wish to abandon the business name: JAMES MICHAEL TSAI, 10410 Blchester Ct., Bakersfield, Ca. 93311 Registrant(s) whose wish to abandon the business name: HULLING JUAN, 10410 Blchester Ct., Bakersfield, Ca. 93311 I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.)

Business was conducted by: Married Couple SIGNED: JAMES MICHAEL TSAI, Manager This statement of abandonment filed on: August 14, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO Deputy BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Aug 26, Sept 2, 9, 16, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3832 Doing business as: RD REAL ESTATE CO at 41470 Haggin Road, Caliente, Ca. 93518 Mailing Address: 428 S. Atlantic Blvd. #205, Monterey Park, Ca. 91754 County: Kern Full name of registrant: WILLIAM TSANG, 41470 Haggin Road, Caliente, Ca. 93518 Full name of registrant: ALAN ALFORD, 2110 Simplicity, Irvine, Ca. 92620 The business is conducted by: General Partnership SIGNED: WILLIAM TSANG The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: August 27, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: R EDMIASTON, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on August 27, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 9, 16, 23, 30, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3695 Doing business as: HERRERA RENTAL PROPERTIES at 4408 Tierra Verde St., Bakersfield, Ca. 93301 Mailing Address: 163 W 41 Pl., Los Angeles, Ca. 90037 County: Kern Full name of registrant: CESAR HERRERA, 163 W 41 Pl., Los Angeles, Ca. 90037 SIGNED: CESAR HERRERA The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: 08/11/2020 This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: August 19, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on August 19, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 9, 16, 23, 30, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3791 Doing business as: KAUSHAL TRUCKING at 9121 Kellyann St., Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: SANDEEP KUMAR, 9121 Kellyann St., Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 SIGNED: SANDEEP KUMAR The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: August 25, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: M HERNANDEZ, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on August 25, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 9, 16, 23, 30, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3722 Doing business as: BAJWA TRANSPORT at 4600 Beachwood St. Apt 97, Bakersfield, Ca. 93309 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: GURPREET SINGH, 4600 Beachwood St. Apt 97,

PUBLIC NOTICE Bakersfield, Ca. 9330 SIGNED: GURPREET SINGH The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: August 20, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: R EDMIASTON, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on August 20, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 9, 16, 23, 30, 2020 �������������������������������

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE NUMBER BCV-20-101915 Superior Court of the State of California, for the county of Kern, 1415 Truxtun Ave., Bakersfield, CA 93301 PETITION OF: MIGUEL ANGEL OSEGUERA SANDOVAL FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner: MIGUEL ANGEL OSEGUERA SANDOVAL for a decree changing names as follows: Present name MIGUEL ANGEL OSEGUERA SANDOVAL Filed a petition with this court Proposed name MIGUEL ANGEL SANDOVAL OSEGUERA 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: Oct 27, 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: August 27, 2020 Linda S Etienne COURT COMMISSIONER Andrea Sanders DEPUTY Miguel Angel Oseguera Sandoval 1413 Shelia St. Bakersfield, Ca. 93306 Phone: (661) 599-3524 E-Mail Address: miguelsandoval610@yahoo.com BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 9, 16, 23, 30, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3766 Doing business as: RURKA TRANSPORT at 4519 Chinta Dr., Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: GURINDER SINGH, 4519 Chinta Dr., Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 The business is conducted by: Individual SIGNED: GURINDER SINGH The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: August 24, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: R EDMIASTON, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on August 24, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 16, 23, 30, Oct 7, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3792 Doing business as: GALAXY TRUCKING at 9727 Biscayne Dr., Bakersfield, Ca. 93311 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: AMARDIP SINGH, 9727 Biscayne Dr., Bakersfield, Ca. 93311 SIGNED: AMARDIP SINGH The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: August 25, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: M HERNANDEZ, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER A3

PUBLIC NOTICE in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on August 25, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 16, 23, 30, Oct 7, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3803 Doing business as: EMPIRE SMOKE SHOP at 1529 White Ln., Bakersfield, Ca. 93307 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: MARES GHALEB, 4714 La Posta St Apt C, Bakersfield, Ca. 93307 SIGNED: MARES GHALEB The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: August 26, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: M HERNANDEZ, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on August 26, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 16, 23, 30, Oct 7, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B4000 Doing business as: THE LITTLE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE at 2501 San Emidio St., Bakersfield, Ca. 93304 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: GRACIELA DIAZ, 2501 San Emidio St., Bakersfield, Ca. 93304 Full name of registrant: SALVADOR DIAZ FALCON, 2501 Sam Emidio St., Bakersfield, Ca. 93304 SIGNED: GRACIELA DIAZ The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: September 9, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: M HERNANDEZ, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on September 9, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 16, 23, 30, Oct 7, 2020 �������������������������������

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF DEBRA J. YUROSEK CASE NUMBER: BPB-20-002717 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of DEBRA J. YUROSEK A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by JEFFREY A. YUROSEK in the Superior Court of California, County of KERN 1215 Truxtun Ave Bakersfield, Ca. 93301 Branch Name: Metro Justice Building THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that JEFFREY A. YUROSEK be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

THE PETITION requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate.

The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

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: Oct 15, 2020 Time: 10:30 a.m. Dept: P Room: 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

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE

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.

Attorney for Petitioner: Matthew W. Bixler Ruddell, Stanton, Bixler, Mauritson & Evans, LLP 1102 N. Chinowth St. Visalia, Ca. 93291 Telephone: (559) 733-5770 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 16, 23, 30, 2020

������������������������������� NOTICE OF PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE CASE # 2020 D 50 IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF: KEITH RAY, PETITIONER, vs.

JILL RAY, RESPONDENT STATE OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF WINNEBAGO NOW COMES, the Petitioner, KEITH RAY, by his Attorney, Crosby Law Firm, and for his Motion for Leave of Publication pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/2-206(a), hereby states as follows: 1. On or about January 21, 2020, the Petitioner filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage that is still pending.

2. On or about March 5, 2020, the Petitioner filed a lost summons.

3. On or about April 13, 2020, the Petition filed an Alias Summons with Affidavit of Non-Service attached.

4. That on or about August 31, 2020, the Petition filed an Affidavit of Diligent search.

5. Several attempts have been made to serve the Respondent, JILL RAY, including a skip trace.

6. The Petitioner, KEITH RAY, wish to publish notice of server in Kern County, California.

WHEREFORE, the Petitioner, KEITH RAY, respectfully prays the Honorable Court grant him the following relief: A. Order notice be served via publication; B. Order the notice be published in or around Bakersfield, Kern County, California; C. For such further and additional relief as this Court deems fit and appropriate.

Date: August 31st, 2020 KEITH RAY, Petitioner R. OWEN AINSWORTH, Attorney at Law BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 16, 23, 30, Oct 7, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B3904 Doing business as: BELLA REGINA at 3817 Abbott Dr., Bakersfield, Ca. 93312 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: KRISTINA WENZEL FUNDERBURK, 3817 Abbott Dr., Bakersfield, Ca. 93312 SIGNED: KRISTINA WENZEL FUNDERBURK The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: 08/16/2020 This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: September 3, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on September 3, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 23, 30, Oct 7, 14, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B4059 Doing business as: S & L ENTERPRISES at 5303 Via Venezia, Bakersfield, Ca. 93306 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: SAUL GONZALEZ, 5303 Via Venezia, Bakersfield, Ca. 93306 Full name of registrant: ERLINDA GONZALEZ, 5303 Via Venezia, Bakersfield, Ca. 93306 SIGNED: SAUL GONZALEZ The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: September 10, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on September 10, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 23, 30, Oct 7, 14, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B4045 Doing business as: CALIFORNIA HOME OUTLET at 4808 Stine Road, Suite D, Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: SEVEN OCEANS LLC, CA, 4808 Stine Road, Suite D, Bakersfield, Ca. 93313

PUBLIC NOTICE

COUNTY OF KERN CARES ACT AND SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENT TO COUNTY’S CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN The County of Kern Planning and Natural Resources Department (PLNR) is proposing to update the County’s Citizen Participation Plan (CPP). On October 6, 2020, the County of Kern Board of Supervisors will conduct a Public Hearing to consider approval of certain substantial amendments to the County’s CPP pursuant to 24 CFR 91.105 – Citizen Participation Plan; Local Governments in accordance with applicable provisions in the CARES act.

The Citizen Participation Plan will be amended to include the following provisions: the CARES Act provides that CDBG grantees may amend their citizen participation plans to establish expedited procedures to draft, propose, or amend Consolidated Plans (ConPlans), Annual Action Plans, and Substantial Amendments to those plans. The streamlined procedures must provide at least five days for public notice and a reasonable opportunity to comment.

In addition, the CARES act provides that in-person public hearings are not required. The public hearing requirement may be satisfied with virtual public hearings if health authorities recommend social distancing and limited public gatherings and if virtual public hearings provide reasonable notification and access for the public, provide timely responses from local officials to public concerns, suggestions, and questions, and the public has access to the local officials’ responses.

PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN MODIFICATIONS ONLY: on October 6, 2020 at 2:00 p.m., or hearing date thereafter. The hearing will take place in the County Administrative Building, Board of Supervisors Chamber located at 1115 Truxtun Ave.,Bakersfield. Upon request, the citizen participation plan will be made available in a format accessible to persons with disabilities.

If you are unable to attend the public hearing, you may direct written comments to Dennis McNamara, Division Chief, 2700 “M” Street, Suite 250,Bakersfield, CA 93301; or you may telephone (661) 862-8624, send via facsimile to (661) 862-5052, or access TTY Relay 1 (800) 735-2929 (English) and1 (800) 855-3000 (Spanish) for persons with hearing impairment.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (Government Code Section 54953.2) The Board of Supervisors Chamber is accessible to persons with disabilities. Disabled individuals who need special assistance to attend or participate in a meeting of the Board of Supervisors may request assistance at the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, Fifth Floor, 1115 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield,California or by calling (661) 868-3585 or via TTY Relay: (800) 735-2929. Every effort will be made to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities by making meeting material available in alternative formats.

Requests for assistance should be made five (5) working days in advance of a meeting whenever possible.

Published Bakersfield News Observer September 30, 2020

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

SIGNED: IBRAHIM LUNAWADAWALA, MANAGER The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: 08/01/2020 This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: September 9, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on September 9, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 23, 30, Oct 7, 14, 2020

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 Ave. 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 Phone: (858) 974-7600 DATE (Fecha): February 27, 2020 TAMARAH HARBER-PICKENS, Clerk (Secretario), by Cindy Rodriguez, Deputy (Adjunto) (SEAL) NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served.

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 23, 30, Oct 7, 14, 2020 �������������������������������

Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on September 9, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 30, Oct 7, 14, 21, 2020

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 Ave. 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): MORANI STELMACH, ESQ. (SBN 296670) 11630 Chayote St., Suite 3 Los Angeles, Ca. 90049 Phone: (213) 226-6922 DATE (Fecha): February 11, 2020 TAMARAH HARBER-PICKENS, Clerk (Secretario), by REBECCA SALDIVAR, Deputy (Adjunto) (SEAL) NOTICE TO THE PERSON SERVED: You are served.

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 30, Oct 7, 14, 21, 2020 �������������������������������

������������������������������� SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): BCL-20-011499 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): RAYMOND L RUSSELL, 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.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B4107 Doing business as: LIZ’S NUTRITION KITCHEN at 4525 New Horizon Blvd. Ste 10, Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 Mailing Address: Same County: Kern Full name of registrant: LISSANDRA GOMEZ, 5409 Kinnett Ave., Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 SIGNED: LISSANDRA GOMEZ The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: 09/01/2020 This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: September 14, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on September 14, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 30, Oct 7, 14, 21, 2020 ������������������������������� FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B4027 Doing business as: P & P DESIGNS at 9812 Packwood Drive, Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 Mailing Address: PO Box 43002, Bakersfield, Ca. 93384 County: Kern Full name of registrant: PATRICK MICHAEL DURBIN, 9812 Packwood Drive, Bakersfield, Ca. 93313 SIGNED: PATRICK MICHAEL DURBI The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: 06/01/2020 This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: September 9, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO,

������������������������������� SUMMONS (CITACION JUDICIAL) CASE NUMBER (Número del Caso): BCV-20-100383 NOTICE TO DEFENDANT (AVISO AL DEMANDADO): WEALTH PORTAL LLC; DWAYNE M. GLADNEY YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF (LO ESTÁ DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE): NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION 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.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020-B4245 Doing business as: LUCKEY VENDING at 2030 Wheelan Ct. #D, Bakersfield, Ca. 93309 Mailing Address: PO Box 2051, Bakersfield, Ca. 93303 County: Kern Full name of registrant: LUCKEY VENDING INC, CA, 12655 W Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca. 90066 SIGNED: JAMES LUCKEY JR, President The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: 09/03/2020 This statement filed with the County Clerk of Kern County on: September 25, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO, Deputy This fictitious Business Name Statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the County Clerk’s Office. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another to a trademark or trade name under federal, state, or common law (see section 14411 ET SEQ., business and professions code).

I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A) Registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of a crime This statement expires on September 25, 2025 BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 30, Oct 7, 14, 21, 2020 ������������������������������� STATEMENT OF ABANDONMENT OF USE OF FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME FILE NO: 2018-B3246 Business Name you wish to abandon: LUCKEY VENDING Street address of business: 2030 Wheelan Ct. #D, Bakersfield, Ca. 93309 County: Kern Mailing address of business: PO Box 2051, Bakersfield, Ca. 93303 Registrant(s) whose wish to abandon the business name: JAMES CALVIN LUCKEY JR., 2030 Wheelan Ct. #D, Bakersfield, Ca. 93309 I declare that all information in this Statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information, which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.)

Business was conducted by: Individual SIGNED: JAMES CALVIN LUCKEY JR., Owner This statement of abandonment filed on: September 25, 2020 MARY B BEDARD County Clerk By: N FRANCO Deputy BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Sept 30, Oct 7, 14, 21, 2020 �������������������������������

Let the Bakersfield News Observer publish your legal advertising.

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BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

Entertainment

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

‘Fargo’ Turns Chris Rock Into Fall OU Y TV’s Biggest Dramatic Actor BETCHA

The new “Fargo” casts Rock against type as a gangster in 1950s Kansas City. It shouldn’t work as well as it does.

Have we been sleeping on his dramatic chops this whole time?

There’s his stand-up comedy, and the many times he’s played himself, or versions of himself, Woody Allen-style, on TV and in movies: Louie, Top Five, I Think I Love My Wife... Don’t be fooled. Those are great performances, deftly allowing the indelible, too-large-to-stifle “Chris Rock-ness” to breathe through the characters. But they’re also a testament to how hard it is to forget that you’re watching Chris Rock, no matter how great an acting turn he’s giving.

It’s not just the “Comedy Actor Does Drama!” fascination that should be passé at this point, yet still dominates any conversation surrounding Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems, Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, or Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls. It’s the fact that he’s taking the leap into one of TV’s most specific and peculiar aesthetics—Noah Hawley’s translation of the Coen Brothers headspace in the FX anthology series—an aesthetic that Rock’s own specific and peculiar voice would seem to clash with.

In that respect, Rock’s turn on Fargo is one of the most interesting headlines when it comes to fall TV dramas this season. That he rises to the occasion so assuredly and somewhat unexpectedly makes it one of the season’s highlights, too.

Critics are compelled to grade seasons of Fargo on somewhat of a curve, comparing the four seasons against each other, specifically how they measure up to the benchmark-setting, ’70s-set second season featuring Patrick Wilson, Kirsten Dunst, Ted Danson, and Jean Smart. And if the consensus seems to be that this fourth go-round doesn’t meet that bar, it still ranks among the finest limited series on TV this year.

That Rock is doing such solid work playing against type is a massive part of that. (We should temper the enthusiasm a bit. It’s hardly the biggest or best dramatic performance of the year. But it is a surprising triumph worth praising.)

Of course, maybe there shouldn’t have been any skepticism surrounding Rock’s entrée into Fargo. The series’ shrewd, adventurous casting is among its greatest thrills.

It’s created showcases for veteran performers that reveal them in new lights: Billy Bob Thornton, Ewan McGregor, Dunst, or Smart, for example. It’s given character actors the opportunity to make meals out of strange, great roles: Martin Freeman, David Thewlis, Jesse Plemons. And it’s made some of the most exciting discoveries in the last decade of TV with the likes of Alison Tolman and Bokeem Woodbine.

The fourth season of Fargo is set in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1950. For decades, the city has hosted turf wars between crime families. First a Jewish gang faced off with the Irish, who then dealt with the Italians, who, with the arrival of Rock’s Loy Cannon, are challenged by his Black crew.

Each gang represents another culture and ethnicity migrating west across America. As explained by a Black teenage student named Ethelrida (E'Myri Crutchfield), who is the moral center of this season like a younger, more precocious Marge Gunderson from the 1996 film, “If America is a nation of immigrants then how does one become American?” She points out the fallacy of assimilation: “Similar to what?”

To keep the peace over the years, each crime family has offered a son to the other in a trade. The thinking goes that raising the offspring of the enemy will help create a stasis of understanding. That, of course, doesn’t happen, but also doesn’t keep the tradition from staying alive when Rock’s Cannon arrives and trades his son to the Italians.

It’s the catalyst for the Fargo-ian tensions between Cannon’s family and the Italians, counting Jason Schwartzman’s Josto Fadda as his main adversary among a sprawling web of characters. (With at least 25 main characters, things become more unwieldy than usual for even a Fargo season.)

We’re conditioned to root for Cannon. He’s played by Chris Rock. When are you not rooting for Chris Rock?

But playing sterner and also slightly older than usual, the

limbered youthfulness Rock usually radiates transforms into a believable toughness. Blessedly, he’s not doing gangster drag here, or disguising his voice into some theatrical Godfather-esque accent.

In his previous dramatic roles, especially when playing a romantic lead, Rock’s strength has been in portraying frustration and annoyance, a translation of his kinetic comedy persona into a character who’s at his wit’s end.

That musicality of his voice isn’t dampened here, and sometimes when acting against Schwartzman, especially, the characteristic modern sensibility can make their exchanges seem anachronistic.

But in the world of Fargo, where everything is curious and extreme, even that somehow fits.

With someone like Adam Sandler, for example, the revelation in Uncut Gems came from dialing everything up, from his speaking cadence to his already hectic energy—essentially sending his range of talents hurtling at us. Rock’s work is the more traditional comedy-greatdoes-drama strategy of subduing and slowing down, a way of harnessing and then controlling the charisma we’re accustomed to seeing him dole out.

It works to great effect here, especially played against the tonal whimsy of a Coen Brothers-inspired outfit and the previous seasons of the show.

You might expect Rock’s character to adopt the oddball quirkiness that dresses the Fargo universe. You have an idea of who Rock is, the persona he exudes, and the elastic volume of his comedy. That instead he’s so centered and meticulous is unsettling. Those preconceived notions of his comic persona haunt each scene to the point that you’re on edge wondering if they’ll ever be uncorked.

It’s the TV-watching version of observing anxiously as someone slowly goes through the mechanics of opening a bottle of champagne, constantly flinching, waiting for the loud pop. It’s impressive how Rock and the show manipulate and manage the intensity of that anticipation.

The feat is an extension of what Fargo has always done best, itself an execution of the Coen Brothers playbook. No series is better at mining tension from impending violence.

Sometimes it does so by disorienting you with comedy, so

that the shocked gasp when the guns fire interrupts the laughter you’d yet to finish from the joke seconds before.

Or sometimes it does so by halting movement to slow motion, drawing out the inevitable longer than should be passable for a TV show.

Fargo is a series that gets away with moving at a purposeful pace, what with its shots so lovingly crafted and dialogue so deliciously dense. While, if possible, paying even more careful attention to artful framing and composition, not to mention a script packed with gorgeous allegories about morality and what it means to be American (though, to its detriment, arguably too much of them), this swath of episodes does start to test patience as things move at a more lethargic clip, verging on glacial.

“Playing sterner and also slightly older than usual, the limbered youthfulness Rock usually radiates transforms into a believable toughness.”

This critique is different when it comes to Fargo than to the torturous bloat of most prestige programming. There is still plenty of stuff going on here. The constant humor plays in harmony with the gore; at one point in the early run of episodes, a flatulence motif becomes operatic. Every kooky character entertains and the lark-like divergences into side plots all captivate. The juxtaposition between the bumbling ineptitude of Fargo-verse criminals and the grave stakes of their violent delights is always entertaining.

But after a while you start to feel unmoored from a central thread, one that seems to progress more lackadaisically than what we’re used to—even when it comes to Fargo.

Where Fargo was once a jolt into the landscape of onenote pedigree TV and bland, uninspired, and often cynical small-screen adaptations of familiar movies, it’s now a soothing one, a return to an established vibe and, more importantly, guarantee of quality. The freshness, then, comes with something as exciting as Rock’s performance, just the right kind of risk that throws all expectations where they belong: in the woodchipper.

Milan Fashion Gives Small Opening to BLM

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) – When asked why there aren't more people of color in the Italian fashion industry, officials have cited a lack of candidates in homogeneous Italy. Five African-born designers in Italy want to put that view to rest with their inclusion on the official Milan Fashion Week calendar Sunday.

Fabiola Manirakiza came to Italy after her parents were killed in her native Burundi in 1972. For her Madein-Italy Kiza label, she incorporates patterns from her Bantu tribe, as taught by an elder sister, into her Western tailored silhouette, the influence of the Italian family who raised her.

“It is not just Italy that needs to see, it is the whole world,” said Manikrazia, whose creations were among those featured in the video presentation titled “We are Made in Italy. Italy is Made of Us.” The official Black Lives Matter in Italian fashion event is a first step in a process that Stella Jean, the only Black designer belonging to Italy's prestigious fashion council, hopes will bring real diversity to the creative and decisionmaking centers of Italian fashion to combat racism in the industry.

Another critical step was the launch of a think tank last week bringing together top fashion houses on the council with Black creatives. But Jean said there remains resistance to the campaign she has launched with U.S. designer Edward Buchanan and Michelle Ngomo, founder of Afro Fashion Week Milano, with pressure on them to abandon it.

Italy's relatively small African-origin population, which government statistics put at around 1.2 million, has rendered it mostly invisible in the country of some 60 million, with no well-known faces in the political class or on television – and few behind the closed doors of Italian fashion.

Jean and her colleagues began pushing the industry to make concrete moves toward diversifying Italian fashion

after major houses showed social media support for the Black Lives Matter protests over racial equality and police brutality during the summer. After many racially charged gaffes in recent years, they also are asking for an accounting of the numbers of people of color working inside the system.

“No one is looking to stand back and blame you for the current situation,” Jean said in introductory remarks to the think tank, made available to The Associated Press.

“Instead we are asking you to be part of the solution starting today. Racism in Italy ... is a very unique case study. It doesn't resemble the type that exists with our European neighbors and it also differs greatly from the American kind. This however doesn't render it less harmful or discriminative, only different.”

Jean told The Associated Press that the few companies whose representatives spoke discussed activities to support Black minorities in the United States and other causes “but completely avoiding the point of our discussion: Black minority in Italy.”

“I must say with all sincerity that the silence of the representatives of the colossal Made-in-Italy brands left a lasting bitter and embarrassing impression,” Jean said. “In total astonishment, it struck me that greatness and global commercial authority does not always correspond to an equally grand sense of responsibility to humanity.”

On a positive note, the fashion council had agreed to implement six reform points by February, she said. The council also agreed to provide scholarships and mentorships to fashion students of color. And she hopes that the time spent listening will lead to greater participation next time.

The head of Italy's fashion council, Carlo Capasa, called the meeting “interesting and instructive,” and that the brand representatives were there to mostly listen.

“There was no reason for friction,” he said.

Calling the meeting, “a beginning,” he told the AP the council will continue to work on diversity points of its nearly year-old diversity manifesto, including the commitment that diversity is an asset. He confirmed that

the think tank would continue to meet periodically.

The brands participating were Armani, Zegna, Bottega Veneta, Etro, Gucci, Prada, Valentino and Ferragamo. The Kering conglomerate, which owns Gucci and Bottega Veneta, and the OTB group, which owns Marni and Diesel also participated.

A planned closing statement was never issued.

But Miuccia Prada, during the video presentation of next spring's collection, emphasized the importance of inclusivity, along with sustainability. She acknowledged the need to “really embrace it,” adding “which is what I decided to do, not only declaring it, but trying, little by little, to be better.”

The participants in the Black Lives Matter event have worked in other trades or professions before following their fashion dreams. Most have submitted resumes to fashion companies, with no response, and some have seen professional doors fail to open after promising meetings, without explanation.

Joy Meribe, born in Nigeria and with an Italian Masters in business, studied fashion in Italy so she could alter garments she was selling through her blog on African fashion designers, and realized she had the knack herself.

Her collection, Modaf Designs, uses African prints on silk and cotton instead of the traditional wax cloth, making them easier to wear and integrate into a Western wardrobe.

Claudia Gisele Ntsama, originally from Cameroon, has supported herself cleaning houses to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer, unveiling in Milan fantastical swirling pieces made mostly of raw hemp.

Ngomo, who discovered the five designers, said she feels a great responsibility also to young people of color in Italy who have been inspired by the initiatives.

“Many kids are writing to thank me, saying they have rediscovered their trust, and they had hope,” Ngomo said.

“I know we are trendy now. I am not sure next year we will have all this light on the project. I want to be positive and believe this is a next step.”

The official Black Lives Matter in Italian fashion event is a first step in a process that Stella Jean, the only Black designer belonging to Italy’s prestigious fashion council, hopes will bring real diversity to the creative and decision-making centres of Italian fashion to combat racism in the industry.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER A5

Features

The United States Postal Service Delivers Much More Than Mail

By Ray Curry, Secretary-Treasurer UAW America’s Postal service has been an essential institution that has connected every one of us as Americans even before we were a nation independent of Great Britain. The most American of traditions Benjamin Franklin was appointed our first Postmaster General in 1775. This democratic treasure, which has proven as reliable as it has self-sufficient, was a model for how government service should work. Its rich history is America’s history of adaptability, ingenuity and grit.

Franklin used the system to get mail from Congress to our armies during the Revolution. In 1823, the service started using waterways to deliver mail, then began using railroads and in 1847 saw the first issued stamps. The famous Pony Express took up the task in 1860. By 1896, the service began delivering to some rural addresses, so people did not have to go to the town post office for their mail anymore.

By 1923, all houses were required to have a mail slot. And in 1963, zip codes were introduced.

Also very American, a 1970 strike by organized labor led to an even more efficient operation and the Postal Reorganization Act that established the United States Postal Service as we know it today.

And true to its roots, the revitalized United States Postal Service (USPS) knew how to make a buck. The reorganization legislation called for the phasing out of the post office’s direct government subsidies by 1983. The post office has been operating without any taxpayer money

since then. In fact, as recent as the start of this century, from 2003-2006, and despite the advent of email and stiff competition from companies like UPS and FedEx, the post office reported a 9.3 billion profit.

I would say that is a pretty decent business model.

But then HR 6407 came along in 2007. The act mandated that the post office calculate its retiree pension and healthcare costs for the next 75 years, including workers to come, and set aside enough over the next 10 years to cover them. An article appearing in Business Insider put the impact of the requirement this way: “To put this in perspective, that’d be like you only working from age 18 to 28 and then expecting to live on that income until you were 103 years old.”

What would Ben Franklin say?

Needless to say, the bill and its contents have proven devastating. The long and the short of it has meant that the USPS has had to contribute about $5.6 billion a year for people who had not yet retired, in addition to the amount for current retirees.

No business is forced to operate like this, and I dare to add that no business could operate like this.

Also, the new bill took away the ability for the post office to set prices. First-class mail, marketing mail, and other post office products have all been tied to the consumer price index, and therefore the post office could not increase rates for those products above the rate of inflation. All told, the post office has incurred a loss of $78 billion from 2007 through 2019 and owes $55 billion related to its future

pension and health benefit obligations. Add in lost revenue related to COVID-19 and politically charged controversies over reductions in equipment and attendant slowdowns, the USPS is now in dire straits.

Shall we really allow this most American of institutions to fail ‒ through no fault of its own? It is unthinkable for it not to survive. It is unthinkable to rely solely on private companies for such critical services. It is truly a dagger in the heart of our American heritage.

Of immediate consequence, consider the impact to mail recipients during this pandemic. The USPS handles 1.2 billion prescription drug deliveries each year. The service also transports millions of lab tests and essential medical supply shipments. It ensures that checks and payments arrive to keep small businesses operating. It helps seniors receive household items, social security and Medicare checks. And communications from family and friends from far away have been delivered on time, through as they say “rain, sleet and snow.”

Since the emergence of COVID-19, USPS workers have been on the front lines, delivering millions of personal protective equipment and vital supplies to hospitals.

They’ve made sure shelters, food banks, and businesses have the supplies they need. In addition, they’ve made deliveries to home-bound, highly susceptible individuals.

Needed now more than ever The notion to privatize the USPS is a truly unAmerican idea and could not come at a worse time. The recession we are experiencing due to the coronavirus is

The Postal Service provides the only service that guarantees delivery to every American, which makes it especially crucial for rural areas and small towns that are too costly for private companies like FedEx or UPS to deliver to. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

hitting Black Americans much harder than white Americans, with Blacks nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized for Covid-19 and their unemployment rate at 14.6% compared with 9.2% for whites.

The Postal Service provides the only service that guarantees delivery to every American, which makes it especially crucial for rural areas and small towns that are too costly for private companies like FedEx or UPS to deliver to. Privatizing the service would add to the expense of crucial deliveries ‒ at a time when we are more and more relying on deliveries to receive our daily needs.

Then think about the importance of the post office in ensuring that the people’s will in our democracy will be accurately and duly noted. In November, the postal service will play a crucial role in allowing Americans across our land and in foreign countries to cast their vote in our upcoming Presidential election. So many of us will be turning to the USPS to deliver our ballots safely and securely.

And please also think of the USPS and those in its employ. The postal service has delivered a solid, secure, middle class lifestyle to a more than 600,000 workers and to an especially high number of Latino and African Americans.

In the case of African Americans, when Congress passed a law ‒ just after the Civil War ‒ that ended the whites only hiring practice for postal jobs, the postal service became a haven of good jobs offering secure wages, benefits, and civil service protections. Today, African Americans make up 27% of the Postal Service ‒ a rate more than double that of the national labor force. Coupled with our government’s anti-discrimination policies, the USPS has made the American Dream possible, even when racial discrimination put up walls in other areas of work.

And privatization, I would argue, is un-American for another reason. It is yet another attempt at union busting. Both the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents primarily non-rural letter carriers employed by USPS as well as the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which represents postal clerks, mail processors and sorters, building and equipment maintenance, custodial workers, truck drivers and others employed by USPS, would be in serious jeopardy.

We must secure this most American of all American institutions.

Demand that we save the USPS Fortunately, there is a way forward. The Delivery for America Act (H.R. 8015) can help make this happen. This legislation will deliver urgently needed funds to the postal service and reverse detrimental policy changes that are currently restricting postal workers’ ability to deliver mail and packages on time.

The Act has passed the House of Representatives.

The Senate must follow suit immediately. Across the nation, delivery of mail has slowed dramatically due to the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s recent decisions.

Eliminating overtime and cutting down on late trips has created massive mail backlogs, leading to late deliveries of critical prescription medications and threatening the integrity of the upcoming November election. This bill would help address the backlog by remedying the impact of these policies and prohibiting “any change that would have the effect of delaying, deferring, or curtailing mail, allowing for the non-delivery of mail to a delivery route, or increasing the volume of undelivered mail.”

The Delivery for America Act appropriates the $25 billion that the USPS requested to sustain the level of service all Americans depend on. Efforts to shrink the postal service would disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities, women and veterans more than others.

In addition, as of 2018, more than 100,000 military veterans are employed by the USPS. We MUST protect postal workers’ jobs.

And we MUST ensure a safe and secure election. In the coming weeks, voters across the country will prepare to exercise their civic duty to elect their government, and Congress must do everything in its power to ensure that voters will be able to do so safely.

For our citizens, for our democracy, for our livelihoods… We must support the USPS in every way we can.

Homespun BLM Products Include Cookie Kits, Garden Gnomes

By TERRY TANG Associated Press A few weeks after nationwide protests erupted over the police killing of George Floyd, Julie Muller looked for something positive she could contribute to the movement from her Houston home.

The 67-year-old white woman, who has been selling homemade cookie-decorating kits online since March, decided to offer one with a Black Lives Matter theme.

The kit comes with cookie cutters imprinted with former President Barack Obama's face, sprinkles and icing in red, black and green _ the colors of the Pan-African or Black Liberation flag.

Other examples of homespun BLM merchandise include wine stoppers and even garden gnomes _ objects more often associated with white suburbia. The white sellers insist they are not trying to make light of racial issues or widen their profit margins. But to many onlookers, the sales through the crafts marketplace Etsy may straddle an uncomfortable line between supporting the movement and exploiting it.

Muller's three children were the first to warn her she might appear to be capitalizing on racial unrest. But that's partly why she wanted to act.

“I've been thinking about what's systemic racism and what is racial profiling,” Muller said. “It's more about doing my part. What can I offer?”

The protest movement ignited by Floyd's death in May under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer compelled businesses large and small to declare publicly that they were “woke” to the pain of Black people. Manufacturers soon began making BLM T-shirts, face masks and signs.

It's not surprising that independent merchants wanted to express solidarity too, said Patti Williams, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

To demonstrate sincerity, sellers should commit to making these items permanently to show their efforts are not just an attempt “to jump on a fad,” she added.

There's also potential for the items themselves to be seen as offensive or tone-deaf.

Ashleigh Boutelle, 45, of Twin Peaks, California, custom paints garden gnomes as a side business. After making gay pride gnomes, he decided in July to try painting a Black Lives Matter gnome. The yellow-and-black-clad gnome _ a nod to the colors used on a Black Lives Matter website _ wears a “BLM” hat. He also painted it with a

darker skin tone.

“I was just trying to be very careful and present something that you might say is neutral,” Boutelle said.

“Hopefully, someone who sees it is not offended.”

He has since gotten a few orders for either Black Lives Matter gnomes or African American gnomes. Boutelle hopes people don't question his sincerity because his support is displayed on a mythical figure with a pointy hat.

“I like the idea of offering it to someone who might want to put it in their yard to make a statement _ a cute statement, of course,” said Boutelle, who has not chosen yet to which organization to donate $10 from every sale of the $60 gnome.

Kate Mayer, 37, of Cincinnati, decided to offer a Black Lives Matter wine bottle stopper among her dozens of handmade wine stoppers. She understands critics may dislike the link between rose and race relations. But her Etsy shop is her biggest platform.

“I can only hope that they would understand that I'm trying to come from a good place,” Mayer said. “I'm just trying to do the little bit that I can do. If everyone does that, it adds up to a lot.”

She gives 25% of each sale to the Black Voters Matter Fund. She has sold 15 of the $17 stoppers.

“I'm really not making a profit on these,” Mayer said.

“It's more of just a show of good faith.”

Both independent creatives and companies should be donating profits to demonstrate solidarity, said Fresco Steez, an activist with Movement for Black Lives and cofounder of Black Youth Project 100. And it can't be just a percentage. Otherwise, businesses are essentially benefiting from the social struggles at the heart of the protests, she said.

“If you keep your production costs and explicitly say all of the profits are going to doing the work _ that feels ethical to me,” Steez said.

Crafters can also do other things, like donate an item for an organization's fundraiser or event, Steez added.

In Chicago, Jasmine Renee, a Black legal assistant in her early 20s, recently launched an Etsy shop _ Shea Butter Apparel _ to sell Black Lives Matter-themed shirts, sweaters and accessories she designed. Advertising support for the movement on items like a gnome or wine stopper doesn't personally appeal to her. She hopes those who find them appealing will also look at Black-owned businesses and that white sellers will promote Black sellers of BLM

merchandise.

“It doesn't really put the focus on you and your store or operation,” Renee said. “It returns some of the focus to the main goal of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is to say Black bodies are important. What we say and do is important.”

Ultimately, the offbeat creations could be a good way to touch a demographic that is sometimes out of activists' reach. A wine stopper, for example, might initiate “upper middle-class conversations” about the marginalization of Black people and other groups, Steez said.

“My hope is when a white woman buys a Black Lives Matter wine stopper and potentially in the middle of the

COVID pandemic has a dinner party and she sets it on a table _ that a Trump-Pence supporter potentially wants to have a conversation and wants to debate,” Steez said.

Muller, a former teacher, would like to see her cookiedecorating kit serve as a vehicle to talk with children of any race about the movement and why it matters.

“I think you could make a little lesson around it,” Muller said. “I can't believe anybody would say that would be unimportant.”\ ___ Tang reported from Phoenix and is a member of The Associated Press' Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ttangAP.

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BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

Features Black Caucus Member Concerned About How Much

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Ban of Gas-Powered Cars Will Cost Low Income Families Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Sacramento), who is a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus, says he supports Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order issued last week that phases out gasoline-powered vehicles.

The directive requires all new passenger vehicles sold in California to have zero-emission engines by the year 2035.

But Cooper, who is the chair of the Assembly’s Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration, has some concerns about how the mandate will affect lowincome families.

Newsom says his vision is to replace gasoline-powered vehicles with electric vehicles (EV) on California’s highways and surface roads.

“The EVs pictured in today’s signing of the EO (executive order) cost more than $50k each. How will my constituents afford an EV? They can’t. They currently drive 11-year-old vehicles,” Cooper tweeted on Sept. 23.

To comply with the governor’s executive order, the Air Resources Board is also expected to develop regulations to mandate that all operations of medium and heavy-duty vehicles be 100% zero-emission by 2045, where feasible.

Trucks that tow freight will have to become compliant by 2035.

Recently, Cooper, who represents California’s 9th Assembly District, wrote a two-page letter to leaders of environmental organizations, calling out racism and the lack of diversity.

Cooper said prominent environmental organizations in the state, including the Sierra Club California (SCC), the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Environment California, “from their leaders to their funders, are nearly all White.”

“(And they) attempt to trade on race issues by branding their efforts as: ‘environmental justice’ — for which they do not apologize,” Cooper wrote in the letter dated Aug. 3.

Now, the Assemblymember is directing his concern to the high costs of EVs and how their unaffordability will be a burden to lower income, working class Californians.

“I, too, believe we must cut emissions to combat climate change. That’s why I’ve run bills to increase rebates for low-income residents to buy EV’s. But we know @ AirResources regs benefit the well-off, not my constituents,” Cooper tweeted.

Newsom’s said his action will “aggressively” move the state further away from its dependence on climate changecausing fossil fuels and, at the same time, retain and create jobs, which will spur economic growth.

The transportation industry is responsible for more than half of all of California’s carbon pollution, 80 % of smog-forming pollution, and 95 % of toxic diesel emissions.

Communities in the Los Angeles Basin and Central Valley see some of the dirtiest and most toxic air in the country, the governor pointed out in a written statement.

“This is the most impactful step our state can take to fight climate change,” Newsom said. “For too many decades, we have allowed cars to pollute the air that our children and families breathe. Californians shouldn’t have to worry if our cars are giving our kids asthma. Our cars shouldn’t make wildfires worse -- and create more days filled with smoky air. Cars shouldn’t melt glaciers or raise sea levels threatening our cherished beaches and coastlines.”

In Feb. 2019, the energy foundation reported that the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) quantified Californians’ exposure to dangerous air pollution.

UCS’s findings revealed that particulate matter, known as PM2.5, disproportionately affects people of color and low-income communities in California. PM2.5 is created

by automobiles, trucks, and buses.

African Americans are, on average, exposed to 18% higher PM2.5 concentrations than the average Californian, the report stated. White Californians have an average exposure that is 17% percent lower than the average for the state.

“Exposure to PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) is linked to increased illness and death, primarily from heart and lung diseases,” the Energy Foundation reported. “These particles are small 20 times smaller than the diameter of fine human hair - so they can penetrate deeply in the lungs, and the smallest particles can even enter into the bloodstream.”

The governor’s executive order also sets new health and safety standards that protect workers and communities from the impacts of oil extraction.

However, it does not prevent Californians from owning gasoline-powered cars or selling them on the used car market, Newsom says.

By the time the new rule goes into effect, zero-emission vehicles, the governor’s office stated, will almost certainly be cheaper and better than the fossil fuel-powered cars that dominate roadways now.

The upfront cost of electric vehicles are projected to reach parity with conventional vehicles within a few years, and the cost of owning the car – both in maintenance and how much it costs to power the car mile for a mile – is far less than a fossil fuel burning vehicle, the governor’s office stated.

“I applaud the Governor’s goals, but how will @ AirResources develop regulations that will actually benefit the majority of Californians? Last year, (the California Air Resources Board) said the overall mean purchase price of a CA household’s main vehicle was $14,000, which is over half of their yearly income,” Cooper tweeted.

Assemblymember (Courtesy Photo)

Jim

Cooper

(D-Elk

Grove).

Telemedicine is Transforming Patient Care in California – With Some New Challenges Tanu Henry California Black Media When Dr. Andrea Goings launched her mobile medical service, offering at-home doctor visits and virtual consultation sessions via video in 2016 in the Los Angeles area, she did not know that just four years later her business model would be more the norm than not.

Goings, an African American pediatrician, launched her service in West Lake Village, a city about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles near the Ventura County line. She made house calls to patient homes across the metropolitan area.

“Technology has changed the way we approach and experience so many aspects of our lives, so I thought at the time, why not apply it to the work I do,” said Goings, who has been able to provide care to patients in various parts of the country while she is temporarily in Ohio caring for her mom as she recovers from a surgery.

“Being able to save busy parents from long waits in the emergency room or long drives to doctor appointments or giving them around-the-clock access to medical advice from the comfort of their home are all reasons clients have appreciated BabyDocHouseCalls. com over the years. Now, there is an added safety component that makes the service convenient, even necessary, for so

many.”

Goings said because her businesses gave her a head start. Therefore, pivoting to respond to the constraints COVID-19 safety measures have imposed on clinical care, has been easy for her.

“Telehealth is a really good option for young adults who have returned to college campuses and dorms,” she says.

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) says remote consultations like the kind Goings’s provides should be not be technically regarded as a distinct service, but an “allowable mechanism” through which medical practitioners can provide clinical services.

“The standard of care is the same whether the patient is seen in-person, by telephone, or through telehealth. As a result, DHCS has strongly encouraged all counties to work with providers to maximize the number of services that can be provided by telephone and telehealth, to minimize community spread of COVID-19,” said Ivan Bhardwaj, Section Chief, Community Services Division at the DHCS. The DHCS has requested that all medical care providers adhere to all federal, state, and local guidelines.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights says it will use “enforcement

Dr. Andrea Goings mobile medical service Los Angeles area. (Courtesy Photo)

discretion” and it will not impose penalties for noncompliance with all aspects of the HIPAA rules when healthcare providers use telehealth in “good faith” during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The DCHS has also relaxed some its rules to accommodate telehealth, expanding platforms allowed to include popular video services such as Apple’s FaceTime, Facebook’s Messenger video chat, Google’s Hangouts and Skype.

“So far it’s been great. No problems. We’ve been able to keep all of our doctor appointments and do it safely” said Joe Bowers, a Ladera Heights resident in Los Angeles County who is retired and writes a column on education for California Black Media. Bowers says, “My wife, Margaret and I appreciate the convenience of visiting with our doctors -- from the comfort of our home.”

For some critical mental health services that are vital to some of the most vulnerable Californians during the pandemic, like Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for those struggling with opioid use disorder (OUD), DHCS has increased its support.

“The Department of Health Care Services, in partnership with The Center at Sierra Health Foundation (The Center), is funding 21 sites to provide telehealth substance use disorder and mental health services for individuals in counties that have been impacted

by COVID-19, or in the case of providers, who have experienced trauma as a result of treating individuals with the coronavirus,” said Bhardwaj.

“DHCS and The Center additionally launched the Behavioral Health Telehealth funding opportunity in 2020 for non-profit behavioral health providers to receive up to $50,000 each for telehealth infrastructure beginning September 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021,” he added.

“Providers applied for telehealth equipment, including laptops, desktops, monitors, electronic health record software licenses, internet subscriptions, cell phones for

providers, and telehealth training. Providers that were awarded through this opportunity will receive funding in Fall 2020.”

DHCS is also providing Personal Protective Equipment so that facilities that provide in-person mental health services and MAT sessions can continue to do so without interruption.

California’s public awareness campaign titled “Choose Change California” provides information on opioid use disorder and a list of centers across the state where people misusing opioids or other substances can go for treatment and community-based wraparound services. The campaign is a collaboration operated by Sacramento- and Fresno-based The Center at Sierra Health Foundation and funded through the California Department of Public Health MAT Expansion Project.

DHCS’ efforts have resulted in helping some medical institutions to survive the pandemic and move closer to their pre-COVID levels of clinical care by transitioning to telehealth services, but they have come with some challenges. For example, the DHCS says some providers do not have enough funding to fully invest in telehealth infrastructure. On the flip side, some patients cannot afford or do not have sufficient broadband services and the required equipment to receive services through telehealth. Other patients, depending on their living situations, do not have adequate privacy to engage in telehealth sessions.

Goings pointed out that there are some obvious limitations to telehealth, too. With some conditions involving trauma or physical injury or pain, there is no way around seeing the patient in-person, she said.

“Now, that school has started, it’s difficult because you don’t know if someone has the flu or COVID,” she says. “I can’t give a clearance note, until you’ve been seen, tested and quarantined, if necessary,” she says.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER A7

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MLK CommUNITY Celebrates One-Year

Continued from page A1

attending listening parties on behalf of The Frink Firm to learn what the southeast community needed as it related to affordable housing, the firm realized that so much more work was needed before affordable housing could even be addressed.

“So, really this organization was organically formed out of a need and a void in that community as it relates to engagement and education and really to bring in relationship and resources to that area,” she said.

As with every business and or organization, the pandemic has changed the dynamics of doing business as usual. Prior to the COVID -19, the Initiative usually

distributed the food at Belle Terrace Park.

It has since moved to 1116 E. California Ave. and is safely offering the same level of community service, but “drive- thru” only. At the launching of its first “drive thru” 22 thousand pounds of food was distributed on the first day servicing 550 families in the southeast area.

To date, the organization has distributed to the community 350 thousand pounds of food. And, while the Initiative primarily serves the southeast area, the food is available to anyone in Kern County who has a need, Waller said.

“What we’ve learned about food and security is that it

has a face that looks like yours and mine,” she said. “There is no judgement; we understand that we are all having challenging times.”

In addition to the monthly food give-away, the MLK CI has a weekly protein and fruit box and hot meal program. The food items are given to organizations who reach further out into the community.

Waller stated that the MLK Initiative partners with City Serve, The Missions at Kern County, United Way, CAPK, Jerusalem Mission, Bakersfield News Observer, Adopt A Block Bako, The Frink Firm, ShePower, Caught Up The Game, and Blue Shield which has allowed the organization

to provide the weekly resources every Wednesday.

Such organizations as Co-ops, churches and organizations who serve seniors, the homeless and or those in need can also pick up the resources at 1116 East California Ave and go out and serve those populations as well.

In its one-year mission to serve the people of Kern County and close the economic gap, The MLK CommUNITY Initiative has accomplished innumerable milestones worthy of adulations and celebration.

“Everything we’re doing is about closing the economic gap.” Waller said.

Amid Pandemic Hardship, Two New Laws Expand Mental Health Coverage

By Quinci LeGardye California Black Media Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law that expand mental health coverage in California.

“The bills I am signing today will help Californians access the behavioral health services they need to recover,” Gov. Newsom said. “Earlier this year, I pledged to put these critical services within reach of more Californians, through reforming our Mental Health Services Act and laws that allow loved ones and service providers to ask courts to compel those who need treatment into community-based outpatient care. Today, we do just that.”

SB 855 passed through the state legislature on the last day of the session and was signed into law Sept. 25. The bill requires health insurance companies to provide coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment deemed medically necessary.

“It’s time for every Californian to have access to comprehensive and preventative mental and physical health care. SB 855 is a big step toward ensuring that in California, mental health is taken as seriously as physical health. It’s time for insurance companies to fully cover this essential treatment,” said State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).

SB 855 was co-authored by Wiener, State Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose), chair of the Mental Health Caucus, and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters).

This new law comes at a time when many Californians have faced mental health challenges due to psychological stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study, released Aug. 14, found that 40 % of respondents reported struggling with an adverse mental health condition in late June. Out of about 5,400 respondents, 30 % experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression and 13 % had started or increased substance use to cope with emotions related to the pandemic.

According to the CDC survey, psychological stressors have a disproportionate effect on Black and Brown people, essential workers, unpaid caregivers and young adults. Also, low-wage earners were

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signs a law aimed at requiring private health insurance plans to pay for more mental health and drug addiction treatments.(Associated Press)

experiencing more anxiety and depression than high-wage earners.

“Unfortunately, there are gaps in the law that have allowed insurance companies to deny what is clearly medically necessary coverage for people experiencing mental health and addiction challenges,” said Senator Wiener earlier this month.

There has been a long history of health insurance plans providing better coverage for physical illness than for mental health. According to the American Psychological Association, although federal parity law requires that coverage for mental health and substance-use disorders must be comparable to physical health coverage, the law does not require that all plans include mental health and substance abuse coverage. Also, a health insurance plan is allowed to exclude certain diagnoses.

The same day, the governor signed another bill, AB 1976, into law. That legislation, introduced

by Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), expands the use of court-ordered outpatient treatment at the county level. It also prohibits counties from downsizing those programs.

“The Assisted Outpatient Treatment demonstration project started by Laura’s Law has shown for many years that we have the tools to provide effective, communitybased mental health treatment to those with the greatest need. As a social worker I’ve long fought for the extension of these critical services and expanding this program.

Finally making it permanent will ensure greater care for the people of California,” said Eggman.

Supporters of both bills praised the governor for signing them. Many of them joined Eggman in pointing out that the new policies are long overdue.

“No one should have to suffer from mental illness or substance use disorder without support, resources and medical care. No one should have to forego mental healthcare until they’ve deteriorated to the point where they’re in crisis and in the ER. And no one should have to go into debt to pay for substance use disorder or mental health treatment,” Wiener said in his statement.

Getting the Health Care You Need

By Dr. Jeffrey McManus, Desert Pacific Regional Vice Pres. Health Services, Humana California residents have been turning to medical virtual visits, also known as telemedicine, more than ever during the coronavirus pandemic. While telemedicine companies have been around for years, the pandemic has led to a dramatic increase in virtual visits as primary care doctors, specialists and hospitals began offering the service as a way to help keep patients safe.

Now that most medical offices and hospitals are accepting patients for in-person visits and elective procedures, you may be wondering if you should go to your doctor’s office or stick to a virtual visit. Rest assured, your health care providers can help you decide what’s best as they work to ensure safe care for patients and staff. This includes changing the ways they deliver care like screening patients ahead of time to help determine if it’s best to go to a medical office or stay at home.

In-person Visits If it’s determined that an in-person visit is best for you, you’ll find that to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, many facilities are taking the following steps: · Screening arriving patients for COVID-19 symptoms and providing a mask and hand hygiene supplies before entering the center. · Screening every employee for COVID-19 every shift and requiring them to wear masks at all times and appropriate personal protective equipment. · Treating suspected and symptomatic COVID-19 patients in designated areas only. · Promoting physical distancing with new clinic layouts. · Cleaning and disinfecting exam rooms between each patient visit, and regularly disinfecting high-traffic and high-touch areas.

Virtual Visits If you don’t require in-person attention, a virtual visit

During COVID-19

is still a good option. Many people are choosing virtual visits in non-emergency situations for routine follow-ups and non-life-threatening conditions. This option allows you to consult your doctor or other health care providers in your network via a secure video or phone appointment, all in the comfort of your home. Before your telehealth visits: · Make a list of all the medications – prescription and over-the-counter – that you take and include the name, address and phone number of your pharmacy. · Write down details about your symptoms, concerns, pain and feelings. · Take digital photos of any injury, rash or other visible concern. · Have your insurance ID card available. · Use a phone, tablet or computer that’s connected to the internet. If you’ve never video-chatted before, consider a practice run with a friend or family member to work out the process and check the microphone and speakers.

Headphones or ear buds provide better sound quality and more privacy. · Have your home thermometer, bathroom scale, glucometer or blood-pressure monitor nearby.

Whether you choose a virtual or in-person visit, check with your health insurance provider to see if they’ve taken steps to help ease the burden during the health crisis.

For example, Humana is waiving cost sharing (including copays, coinsurance and deductibles) for in-network primary care, outpatient behavioral health and virtual visits for our Medicare Advantage members for the remainder of the calendar year.

Getting the care you need is always important.

Consider these options to stay safe and healthy. And remember, for life-threatening emergencies, such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, or suicidal thoughts, always call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Bottom line, don’t delay care because you are worried about contracting COVID-19.

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BAKERSFIELD NEWS OBSERVER

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Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Polls in the Pandemic: California Voters

Should Know Before Election Day

Quinci LeGardye California Black Media This November’s general election is set to be historic, not just because of the presidential race at a time when the American electorate is unusually polarized.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous changes have been made to the voting process. Mail-in ballots are available for all California voters for the first time in history, and the state has also pledged to make safe in-person voting available.

In a press conference earlier this month with Ethnic Media Services, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla spoke about the state’s new voting procedures, and how his office is working to ensure that all communities are able to vote safely.

“In my role as Secretary of State, I also serve as California’s Chief Elections Officer. We work in partnership with all 58 counties in California to administer elections.

Usually we want to make sure elections are accessible and secure. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, we also

need to make sure that the voting experience is one that is safe and protects health both the voters and election workers,” Padilla said.

Eligible Californians can register to vote online up until the deadline of Oct. 19. After that date, the only option is same-day voter registration in person, either during early voting or on election day. Voters who use same-day voter registration receive provisional ballots so they can still vote in the election.

Padilla urged voters to verify their voter registration before the Oct. 19 cutoff to ensure that ballots are delivered to the right address.

He also addressed that some previously registered voters may have inactive voter status and need to re-register.

Voters are classified as “inactive” when a county elections official receives information that a voter has moved out of state, or if two general elections have passed and the voter has not voted or confirmed their address, according to the California Elections Code. Inactive voters usually don’t receive voter information guides, and their names won’t show up on the voter rolls when they go to vote in person.

“If an inactive voter goes to vote in person, they’ll still be allowed to vote a provisional ballot, their registration will be re-activated, and their ballot will be counted. So, it doesn’t mean that they’ve been taken off the rolls completely.

It’s one of the reasons we’re asking people who think they’re registered to verify their registration status. The simple act of verifying your registration status will ensure that you are an active registered voter and will receive your ballot this November.”

This year every registered voter will be sent a voteby-mail ballot, and all ballots postmarked by Election Day -- and received within 17 days following Election Day -- will be counted. The ballots will be sent out starting the first week of October. Voters who want to drop off their ballot in-person can do so at any ballot drop box or polling location.

Padilla’s office also has an online ballot tracking tool called “Where’s My Ballot,” where voters in every county can sign up to receive automatic email, text message or voice call notifications about their ballot. For those who sign up, the tracker will send notifications when their county sends them their ballot, when the returned ballot has been received and when their vote has been counted.

For in-person voting, each county received guidance from the Secretary of State’s office to keep polling locations safe from COVID-19. The guidance asks voters to wear a face mask, bring a pen to avoid touching high-contact surfaces, use hand sanitizer after touching doors or voting equipment, and keep a distance of two- arms’ length from other people.

Though the state is encouraging voters to vote by mail, Padilla acknowledged that some voters will prefer to go in person, possibly to receive help voting or to use accessible voting machines. Padilla’s recommendation is to vote as early as possible, in order to avoid any delays.

“We encourage people to go the first day that inperson voting is available. Yes, you have until Tuesday, November 3, but the more people that we can encourage to vote early, whether it’s by mail or in person, we hope helps keep the lines shorter on Election Day, making that a safer experience for voters and poll workers alike,” Padilla said.

The official websites for checking voter status, registering to vote and tracking ballots are VoterStatus.sos. ca.gov and WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov