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Volume 35 Number 46

Serving Los Angeles County for Over 35 Years

Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California

As 2020 Debate Schedule Released It’s Clear

Harris Improved Enthusiasm Gap for Biden Campaign

By Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Contributor Democrats are enthusiastic about getting rid of Donald Trump. But a nagging issue regarding the Biden campaign keeps finding its way on to panel discussions and into think pieces about the 2020 campaign: Whether Joe Biden can cause the type of excitement around his campaign that will get voters inspired enough for him to win.

Over the last few months, Biden has received impressive polling results. More importantly, Biden has done well in polls in states he must win on the electoral map. By September 1, Biden’s polling was solid. Five polls released on September 2, demonstrated the following: Quinnipiac: Biden 52%, Trump 42% (+10), USAT/Suffolk: Biden 50%, Trump 43% (+7), Reuters/Ipsos: Biden 47%, Trump 40% (+7), Grinnell/Selzer: Biden 49%, Trump 41% (+8), Economist/YouGov: Biden 51%, Trump 40% (+11).

The question of enthusiasm has been a popular one since Barack Obama took the 2008 campaign by storm as an insurgent candidate who motivated young voters and took on the party establishment. As Biden and Trump move closer to Election Day, the topic of whether Trump will come up with another shocking win has worried some Democrats as outlier polls showing the race tightening occasionally pop up. But the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) certainly drove excitement for base Democrats.

Democrats raised $26 million, including from 150,000 first time contributors in the 24 hours after Harris was announced as Biden’s running mate. Black women are the most reliable voting block for the Democratic Party.

Biden himself could make a difference in the excitement differential during the three presidential debates. One will be held in late September and the last two will be held in October.

On Sepember 29, the first presidential debate will take place at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace will be the moderator. October 7, the one and only vice presidential debate will be held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. USA Today’s Washington bureau chief Susan Page will moderate.

On October 15, the second presidential debate will be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. Steve Scully, senior executive producer and political

Thursday, October 1, 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 As Biden and Trump move closer to Election Day, the topic of whether Trump will come up with another shocking win has worried some Democrats as outlier polls showing the race tightening occasionally pop up.

(Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

editor of C-SPAN Networks, will moderate. On October 22, the last presidential debate will be held at Belmont University in Nashville. Kristen Welker, co-anchor of “Weekend Today” and NBC News’ White House correspondent, will be the moderator.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for

NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @ LVBurke

Doc Rivers and Clippers Part Ways

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer It was a long up and down road for the Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers. He came to Los Angeles after eight years with the Boston Celtics and winning a world title in 2008. Clipper Chairman Steve Ballmer and Rivers have reached a mutual decision that Rivers will step down as head coach of the L.A. Clippers.

Rivers had become a fixture here in Los Angeles in the community and around the League. “Doc has been a terrific coach for the Clippers, an incredible ambassador, and a pillar of strength during tumultuous times,” Ballmer said. “He won a heck of a lot of games and laid a foundation for this franchise.” Rivers, 58, was the most successful head coach in Clippers history, compiling a record of 356-208 over seven seasons. Under his direction, the Clippers made the playoffs six Doc Rivers (Courtesy Photo)

times and reached the Western Conference semifinals in 2020, 2015, and 2014 before arriving in Los Angeles in 2013. “I am immeasurably grateful to Doc for his commitment and contributions to the Clippers and the city of Los Angeles,” Ballmer added. “I am also extremely confident in our front office and our players. We will find the right coach to lead us forward and help us reach our ultimate goals. We will begin the search and interview process immediately.”

Rivers was a big part of getting players and the community to vote. He created a players awareness on voting throughout his tenure.

He drew praise from L. A. Rams head coach Sean McVay saying, “Doc was a great man for the City and a great man for the sport. We have had several conversations about coaching and many things. He will be great for the next team he coaches if he chooses to do that.”

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.

Free!

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.

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.

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.

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Local

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Thursday, October 1, 2020

World & Nation

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER A3

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

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.

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4th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90066 Mailing Address: 309 Phone (661) 324-9466 FAX (661) 324-9472 General Info: observernews@gmail.com Advertising: observeradvertising@gmail.com Online: www.ognsc.com Most often, police lied about the investigations’ conduct, including what a witness said or how a lineup 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

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Entertainment LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, October 1, 2020

‘Fargo’ Turns Chris Rock Into Fall U O Y TV’s Biggest Dramatic Actor TCHA BE

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.

Sports

Thursday, October 1, 2020

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER A5

McPhearson, Costello Walter Camp Honorees

Jahron McPhearson (31) had 11 tackles and a game saving INT in a win over OU. (Photo Credit: KState Athletics)

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer After a wild weekend of college football JK Costello of Mississippi State and Jahron McPhearson of Kansas State both played on teams that were underdogs and both came away winners and each earned the National Walter Camp Player of The Week honors.

Costello was the offensive winner as he connected on 36 of 60 passes for an SEC record of 623 yards and five touchdowns in leading the Bulldogs to a 44-34 upset win over defending National Champions LSU on the road in Baton Rouge.

His 623 yards passing are the 11th highest total in FBS history. “He wasn’t perfect,” said MSU head coach Mike Leach.

“But he kept swinging. I thought his composure in the game was outstanding.

The Senior from Santa Margarita played in his first game since transferring from Stanford joining Leach who is in his first year after coaching at Washington State. He is the third Bulldog to win the award and the first since LB Richie Brown in October 2014.

McPhearson was brilliant in the win against favored 3rd ranked Oklahoma. He had 11 tackles, one for a loss, a forced fumble in the Wildcats 38-35 come from behind win. His forced fumble helped lead the Wildcats to a score on their fifth straight possession.

If that wasn’t enough the senior from Basehor, Kansas had a game saving interception with 33 seconds remaining.

“I think preparation is the biggest key to success,” said McPhearson. “Coach Kleiman keeps preaching that to us everyday. Preparation leads to success. I feel like we prepared all week really hard. We were all locked in, we just prepared really well as you can see it leads to success.”

This is the 17th year the Walter Camp Foundation will honor a one offensive and one defensive player weekly during the season. Recipients are selected by a panel of national media members and administrated by the Foundation.

JK Costello (3) set an SEC record with 623 yards vs.

LSU. (Photo Credit: Austin Perryman)

The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) announced today an award to support Liberty Hill’s California Funders

Candace Parker going up for a block shot during this season. (Photo: allfortennessee.com)

$300K to Boys And Men Of Color Initiative In Support Of Social Justice

Los Angeles’ Candace Parker Named 2020 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) announced today a $304,400 award to support Liberty Hill’s California Funders for Boys and Men of Color: Our Kids, Our Future Fund (CFBMoC). The funds include a generous match from Ellen and Clayton Kershaw, proceeds from the Dodgers Opening Day Black Lives Matter auction and sales of special-edition shirts. LADF Gives, LADF’s grantmaking program, will award the funds to CFBMoC to support thirteen Southern California community partners working with the NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2020 – Los Angeles Sparks forward/ RESULTS County of Los Angeles to develop the most comprehensive center Candace Parker has been named the 2020 WNBA Player Team Votes approach to youth development in the nation. LADF and Dodger Defensive Player of the Year, the WNBA announced today. This Candace Parker Los Angeles Sparks 16 players will continue their “In This Together” commitment with is the first WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for Parker, Alysha Clark Seattle Storm 11 who is in her 13th WNBA season.

Alyssa Thomas Connecticut Sun 10 #AmplifyingVoices and future listening sessions.

Parker received 16 votes from a national panel of 47 Brianna Turner Phoenix Mercury 4 “Ellen and I are proud to partner on the “In This Together” sportswriters and broadcasters. Seattle Storm forward Alysha Breanna Stewart Seattle Storm 3 campaign. Along with my teammates, I remain committed to Clark finished in second place with 11 votes and Connecticut Napheesa Collier Minnesota Lynx 2 Sun forward Alyssa Thomas finished in third place with 10 votes. Natasha Howard Seattle Storm 1 continuing to amplify the voices of Black leaders and organizations The other players to receive votes were Phoenix Mercury forward WNBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS fighting for change. Change starts with tough conversations, and Brianna Turner (four votes), Storm forward Breanna Stewart Year Player Team we as a team want to continue to listen, learn and take action to (three votes), Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (two) 2020 Candace Parker Los Angeles Sparks and 2019 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard 2019 Natasha Howard Seattle Storm help build a more equitable society,” said Kershaw. of the Storm (one).

2018 Alana Beard Los Angeles Sparks Together with LADF, the players will continue to participate In the 2020 regular season, Parker averaged a WNBA-high 2017 Alana Beard Los Angeles Sparks in listening sessions with the community leaders of local grassroots 8.0 defensive rebounds, 1.23 blocked shots (eighth in the WNBA) 2016 Sylvia Fowles Minnesota Lynx and 1.18 steals in 22 games. She was one of five players to average 2015 Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury social justice organizations to learn more about their work and at least one block and one steal per game, joining Collier, Stewart, 2014 Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury impact. Players will also use their social media platforms as part of Turner and 2020 WNBA Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson of the 2013 Sylvia Fowles Chicago Sky LADF’s #AmplifyingVoices campaign to showcase nonprofits and Las Vegas Aces. Parker grabbed at least 10 defensive rebounds in 2012 Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever a game nine times.

2011 Sylvia Fowles Chicago Sky elevate their efforts.

Behind Parker, the Sparks ranked third in the WNBA in 2010 Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever “This work is critical in helping Los Angeles County become defensive rating, allowing 98.8 points allowed per 100 possessions. 2009 Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever the nation’s leader in youth development,” said Liberty Hill The 6-4 Parker helped Los Angeles hold opponents to 31.3 points 2008 Lisa Leslie Los Angeles Sparks per game in the paint, the second fewest in the WNBA. 2007 Lauren Jackson Seattle Storm President/CEO Shane Murphy Goldsmith. “This investment is Parker’s defensive prowess was part of a season in which 2006 Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever a huge boost to the on-the-ground social justice organizations she averaged 14.7 points, a WNBA-leading 9.7 rebounds and 2005 Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever we support, and it will ensure youth in Los Angeles have the 4.6 assists while shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 39.6 2004 Lisa Leslie Los Angeles Sparks percent from three-point range. A two-time WNBA Most 2003 Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets resources and programs they need to thrive. We are so grateful for Valuable Player, Parker finished in third place for the 2020 2002 Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets the support of the Dodgers Foundation.”

WNBA MVP Award. With Parker excelling at both ends of the 2001 Debbie Black Miami Sol Organizations will focus on the strengths of Black, Brown court, the Sparks posted the WNBA’s third-best record at 15-7.

2000 Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets In honor of being named the WNBA Defensive Player 1999 Yolanda Griffith Sacramento Monarchs and Native American families and communities so that youth of of the Year, Parker will receive $5,150 and a specially designed 1998 Teresa Weatherspoon New York Liberty color thrive and establish a strong foundation for life and grow trophy from Tiffany & Co. 1997 Teresa Weatherspoon New York Liberty into healthy adults. Specific programs include expanding school Below are the voting results for the 2020 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and a list of past recipients. based interventions intended to address trauma and increase the 2020 WNBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR VOTING

academic achievement of 500 Black, Brown, and Native American youth in Los Angeles County. Community groups will also partner with local businesses and community groups across Los Angeles to develop and test pilot programs designed to improve hiring practices for justice involved young adults.

“Historic injustices threaten youth, families, and communities making it difficult for them to succeed,” said Nichol Whiteman, LADF’s Chief Executive Officer. “This grant is crucial as we invest in people and organizations on the front lines advocating for Black and Brown communities, who often lack resources and support.”

Organizations supported by CFBMoC include: Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network, Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Brotherhood Crusade, Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition, Children’s Defense Fund-CA, Community Coalition, InnerCity Struggle, Khmer Girls in Action, LA Youth Uprising Coalition, LeadersUp, Social Justice Learning Institute, Urban Peace Institute, and Youth Justice Coalition.

About Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation: ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation is bigger than baseball with ambitions to be the city’s premier charity. We envision a city where everyone regardless of zip code has the opportunity to thrive. We are tackling the most pressing problems facing Los Angeles with a mission to improve education, health care, homelessness and social justice for all Angelenos. Since 1995, we have invested more than $30 million in programs and grants to nonprofits, and fundraising has increased by 1,000% since 2012. That growth has enabled us to do more.

Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodgers Foundations are members of The ALLIANCE, a collaborative of the 11 professional sports organizations in greater Los Angeles who have joined to advocate for social justice, address disparities and take actions to help end racial inequality through sport. Visit LADF online at www.dodgers.com/ladf, follow them on Twitter, @DodgersFdn, Instagram, @dodgersfoundation, and like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LosAngelesDodgersFoundation.

Rams Comeback Shows Fight in Team

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer Former Rams great Eric Dickerson once played a game in New York that had a 12:00 kick-off time. During the pre-game

Jared Goff (16) led the Rams from 25-points down nearly pulling up the come from behind victory.

(Photo: LA RAMS)

warm-up he found himself doing something very unusual. “I was stretching and I caught myself yawning not just once but a few times.” This was due to playing on Eastern Standard Time.

That’s about what the L.A. Rams appeared to do for two and a half quarters this past week as they traveled to Buffalo for their second of back to back East Coast games. The team was confident they could make adjustments with the two-time zone change as the did against the Eagles the previous week.

After trailing by 21-3 at the half and as much as 28-3 in the third period. The Rams (2-1) showed the grit and toughness of a championship team before falling by a 35-32 score. They got it together as Jared Goff led a comeback of 25-points, it’s largest come back the clubs history.

“I did a terrible job of putting us in some terrible situations earlier in the game,“ said head coach Sean McVay. “I make no excuses about it, our guys ended up responding when we made some adjustments.

During the first half Bills QB Josh Allen was eluding Ram defenders with ease. “He’s a big strong kid,” said head coach Sean McVay. “His ability to extend plays is one of his elite traits and he keeps his eyes downfield.”

Allen ran for rushed for 8 yards while connecting on 24 of 33 passes for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns including the game winner with 15 seconds left.

In the third with the score 28-10 it was a John Johnson III interception that got it going for L.A. Bills tight end Tyler Kroft leaped in the air and caught an Allen pass. On the way to the ground both players tussled for the ball it was taken away by Johnson something that replay later confirmed.

“All we need was a jump-start,” said Robert Woods who had

his first receiving touchdown of the year.

After the interception the Rams then went 59 yards on three plays capped off with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Geoff to Robert Woods that made it 28-17.

Early in the fourth Goff completed a 10 play 97-yard drive by hitting Cooper Kupp on a 16 yards pass. Goff was clutch on the drive completing third down passes to Kupp for 17 yards on third and eleven and to Woods for 31 yards on a third and eight.

Goff then hit Higbee on the 2-point conversion to make it 28-25.

Woods also had a 31-yard rush on the drive.

Darrell Henderson led a ground game with 114 yards on 20 carries Kupp led all receivers with nine catches for 107 yards.

Woods finished with 5 for 74 yards.

With the score 28-10 the defense slowed the Bills (3-0) on the next three possessions with the Johnson interception a three and out and a sack-fumble recovery by Aaron Donald.

The defense gave up 375 yards of offense. That’s the lowest it’s had all year. Troy Hill had a team high 8 tackles followed by Taylor Rapp and Johnson with 7 each Donald had six including five solo with two sacks.

RAM NOTES: Darrell Henderson got his first career starthis 114 yards was his first career 100-yard game. Goff 321 yards passing was his 20th tying Jim Everett for third in franchise history for 300-yard games… Robert Woods TD catch was his 26th of the career. He had 74 receiving yards and 3 carries a for 30 yards giving him 104 yards of total offense for the game. Aaron Donald had 2 sacks and a forced fumble which was career 16th. The Rams only had 3 penalties for 30 yards it’s the 3rd straight game with 5 or less.

Darrell Henderson (27) had his first 100-yard rushing game. (Photo: LA RAMS)

Features

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LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, October 1, 2020

House Passes Waters’ Amendments to the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement following the House passage of H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, which included four amendments offered

by Congresswoman Waters.

“The passage of this bill and the adoption of my four amendments are an incredible step forward in our efforts to secure a clean energy future that will help clean up communities, protect our environment, and create new jobs for generations to come.

“From the widespread destruction caused by natural disasters to the crippling effects of polluters releasing harmful emissions into the air our children breathe, we must urgently work toward a more sustainable and inclusive future. All four of my amendments will help to achieve that goal by ensuring that underserved communities – including the minority- and women-owned businesses serving them and the low-income families living in them – are included in this better and brighter future.

“If we are to be successful in our efforts to transition to a clean energy economy, we must make certain that low-income communities and communities of color are not left behind.”

Congresswoman Waters’ first amendment to H.R. 4447 improves the Department of Energy’s State Leadership Grant program, which enables states to develop projects that increase the use of smart technology in manufacturing, including artificial intelligence, robotics, cyber

security, and blockchain technology. This amendment requires the Department of Energy, when considering applications for these grants, to consider how a state’s proposed project will impact underserved communities before approving any proposed projects.

Congresswoman Waters’ second amendment to H.R. 4447 makes changes to the Secretary of Transportation’s report on electric vehicle (EV) charging station infrastructure in underserved communities. Her amendment strengthens the report by requiring the Secretary to identify how small and disadvantaged businesses, including minority- and women-owned businesses, can be contracted to install EV charging stations in these communities.

Congresswoman Waters’ third amendment to H.R. 4447 ensures that diverse contractors and firms are considered for the design and construction of the training and assessment centers at institutions of higher education under the Department of Energy’s Training Center Contract Grants program.

Congresswoman Waters’ fourth amendment to H.R. 4447, offered as Chair of the Financial Services Committee, ensures that manufactured and multifamily housing is included in the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program. Any program that helps subsidize residential energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits must include manufactured homes and multifamily apartment buildings whose residents experience some of the highest energy costs in the nation.

Black Caucus Member Concerned About How Much

Ban of Gas-Powered Cars Will Cost Low Income Families 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.

Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove).

“This is the most impactful step our state can take (Courtesy Photo) 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 Antonio Ray Harvey to worry if our cars are giving our kids asthma. Our cars California Black Media shouldn’t make wildfires worse -- and create more days Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Sacramento), who filled with smoky air. Cars shouldn’t melt glaciers or raise is a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus, sea levels threatening our cherished beaches and coastlines.” says he supports Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order In Feb. 2019, the energy foundation reported that issued last week that phases out gasoline-powered vehicles. the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) quantified The directive requires all new passenger vehicles sold in Californians’ exposure to dangerous air pollution.

California to have zero-emission engines by the year 2035.

UCS’s findings revealed that particulate matter, known But Cooper, who is the chair of the Assembly’s Budget as PM2.5, disproportionately affects people of color and Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration, has some low-income communities in California. PM2.5 is created concerns about how the mandate will affect low- by automobiles, trucks, and buses. income families.

African Americans are, on average, exposed to 18% Newsom says his vision is to replace gasoline-powered higher PM2.5 concentrations than the average Californian, vehicles with electric vehicles (EV) on California’s highways the report stated. White Californians have an average and surface roads. exposure that is 17% percent lower than the average for “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

Legals

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2020147405 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: SHELTER VETERINARY at 11361 Pico Blvd #B, Los Angeles, Ca. 90064 Mailing Address: 2216 Agate Ct. #B, Simi Valley, Ca. 93065 County: LA REGISTERED OWNERS(S): VALUE VET INC., 2216 Agate Ct. #B, Simi Valley, Ca. 93065 The business is conducted by: a Corporation SIGNED: SHAWN McCOBB, Secretary The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 11/2008 This statement filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on: Sept 25, 2020 DEAN C. LOGAN, Los Angeles County Clerk By: (Unreadable Signature), Deputy NOTICE: IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATE-

MENT GENERALLY EXPIRES ST THE END IOF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE OF WHICH IT WAS FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK EXCEPT, AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION (b) OF SECTION 17920, WHERE IT EXPIRES 40 DAYS AFTER ANY CHANGE IN THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 17913 OTHER THAN A CHANGE IN THE RESIDENCE ADDRESS OF A REGISTERED OWNER. A NEW FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE FILED BEFORE THE EXPIRATION. EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2014, THE FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE AFFIDAVIT OF IDENTITY FORM. This statement expires on Sept 25, 2025 LOS ANGELES BAY NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, 2020 �������������������������������

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.

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Local

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER A7

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Local

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, October 1, 2020