La ognsc 11 09 17

A Father Allegedly Shot Dead His Gay Teenage Son Over His Sexual Orientation.

Prince’s Teal Blue Cloud Guitar Auctioned for 700K

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News Observer Los Angeles

Volume 33 Number 2

Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California

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Thursday, November 9, 2017

NAACP Set to Change Tax Status

The NAACP announced plans to change their tax status, shortly after announcing that Derrick Johnson would become the group’s new president. (NAACP)

By Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Contributor After being eclipsed in recent years by Color of Change, Black Lives Matter and other younger, more tech savvy and politically-pointed groups, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization will change its tax status.

The group’s leaders said that the new tax status would allow them to be more aggressive politically.

During a call with reporters, NAACP officials announced that the civil rights group will transition from a 501(c)(3) to a 501(c)(4) designation. The change will allow the organization to be more partisan and politically focused. However, the tax designation does not allow political work to be the “primary activity” of the organization.

Even though the NAACP is 108 years-old, the organization is struggling to modernize and stay relevant in a rapidly-evolving, social media-driven landscape that requires speed and strategic communications skills.

In October, the NAACP named Derrick Johnson as its president; Johnson was elected by the NAACP’s board to serve for three years.

In a statement announcing Johnson as the new president, Leon Russell, the board chairman of the NAACP said, “As both a longtime member of the NAACP, and a veteran activist in his own right—having worked on the ground to advocate for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, along with championing countless

other issues—Derrick also intimately understands the strengths of the Association, our challenges and the many obstacles facing Black Americans of all generations, today. I look forward to continuing to work with him in this new role.”

Russell continued: “In his time serving as our interim president and CEO, Derrick has proven himself as the strong, decisive leader we need to guide us through both our internal transition, as well as a crucial moment in our nation’s history. With new threats to communities of color emerging daily and attacks on our democracy, the NAACP must be more steadfast than ever before.”

Johnson is a native of Detroit, Michigan who lives in Jackson, Mississippi. He is a long-time member of the NAACP, who was elected Vice Chair earlier this year and served as the interim president after Cornell Brooks was forced out. Johnson attended Tougaloo College before earning a juris doctor degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston.

The NAACP ousted Brooks in the spring of this year, a few months before the group’s annual convention in Baltimore.

Lauren Victoria Burke is the White House Correspondent for the NNPA Newswire, author and political analyst. Lauren is a frequent guest of “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin. Connect with Lauren by email at LBurke007@gmail.com and on Twitter at @LVBurke.

Black Students in the Nation’s Capital Deserve Better

By Lynette Monroe Program Assistant, NNPA ESSA Media Campaign In my role as the program assistant for the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA) Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Public Awareness Campaign, I closely followed the proposal process for the District of Columbia’s ESSA plan. I have to admit, I was disappointed by t h e final version of the plan submitted to the U.S. Department of Education. Overall, D.C.’s ESSA plan is, at best, an incomplete assignment. The ‘to be continued’ tone of the plan could be partly due to the discontent expressed by many community members during the final stakeholder meetings. Parents and educators alike expressed concern about the lack of resources and implementation strategies to support the Office of the State

Superintendent of Education’s (OSSE) aggressive goals for academic proficiency and high school graduation.

The participants at the meetings noted the glaring socioeconomic disparities throughout the district and the unique resources required to increase achievement in each ward. One could conclude that OSSE’s aggressive academic goals are mirroring the affects o f a rapidly gentrifying city that continues to marginalize the needs of its majority Black residents.

According to District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), 71 percent of their student population is Black and 70 percent of the entire student population qualifies for free or reduced lunch. In August, DCPS released the latest scores for tests under the Partnership for As-

sessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). Black students showed the smallest improvements with a 4.8 percent increase in English Language Arts proficiency and a 2.1 percent increase in math proficiency. In both categories, less than 20 percent of Black students achieved proficiency in reading and math.

This increase is compared to a 6.2 percent increase in English Language Arts proficiency for Hispanic students in the district and a 9.6 percent increase by their White counterparts. Similarly, Hispanic students showed a 5 percent increase in math proficiency while White students increased their proficiency by 4.8 percent. According to the PARCC assessment, less than 30 percent of Hispanic students are proficient in reading and math. While more than 80 percent of White students, according to PARRC, exhibit proficiency. White students make up just 10 percent of the DCPS student population.

DCPS needs to try harder to raise the test scores of its Black students. DCPS should also quickly work to reaffirm their commitment to expanding college and career support for students, especially Black students.

At a recent town hall meeting hosted by the National Newspaper Publishers Association in Atlanta, Ga., Vickie B. Turner, a school board member for District 5 in the DeKalb County School District, encouraged participants to reach out to parents, who were not present at the town hall and who are not engaged, declaring “we are preaching to the choir.”

Nevertheless, we all share a responsibility to educate our children. Some parents may not be able to dedicate as much time to participate in their child’s education as others. You can help out by dedicating an hour, as often as you can, to make sure Black parents are present, represented, and fighting in the best interest of our children. “It takes a village” is not just a cliché or an excuse to discipline a stranger’s child. It is a vow to develop the whole child, irrespective of his or her parent’s shortcomings.

Fight for Healthcare Access

By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Newswire Columnist First of all, despite the Trump Administration’s efforts to kill (“repeal and replace”) the Affordable Care Act, it is still the law of the land, and because of the federal mandate everyone is required to have some form of health insurance. However, since “45” and his team have declared it all but dead, they have shortened the enrollment period from three months to a mere six weeks, from November 1-December 15, 2017. Additionally, the United States Department of Health and Human Services has drastically cut the budget for outreach. This time last year, there were television and radio announcements, billboards on buses, and other reminders that people should enroll for healthcare, if they didn’t already have healthcare through their jobs.

The Trump Administration hopes that, without outreach, people will not enroll for healthcare, so that they can then crow that people “don’t want” healthcare. Some faith leaders, however, have pledged to use their pulpits to remind their congregations to get enrolled for healthcare. Rev. Dr. Barbara Williams Skinner, the first Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus and an activist who melds faith with public policy, who is also a spiritual advisor to many Black leaders, has developed a toolkit for communities of faith to help them do the work that our government won’t: encouraging people to sign-up for affordable healthcare.

You can follow the faith leaders’ conversations about open enrollment and healthcare on social media using the hashtags #SOULSTOENROLL or #SOULS2ENROLL, and by liking the Facebook page, Facebook.com/FaithinPublicLife, where you can find the toolkit adopted from the government page, GetAmericaCovered.org; instructions for the weekend campaign that will begin November 12, suggestions for faith leaders; a sample bulletin announcement; a PSA; and social media tips. In other words, the faith community is being encouraged to treat healthcare enrollment like any other grassroots organizing campaign and get involved in it.

Back in the day, before social media, we used to talk about “the drum,” how we shared information in the Black community; many of our radio stations, or public broadcast programs, and newspapers were our drums. Now, faith leaders are taking the drum viral to ensure that people who don’t get the word, because

of lack of government outreach, will get it through churches and through the Internet.

We will rely on these methods of communicating more and more, as this administration attempts to contract, not expand, the information people need to get essential healthcare (and other services). The toolkit and other resources are proof that our community has the ability to out organize the evil that is seeping out of Washington. “Woke” members of Congress are working with Rev. Skinner and others to get the word out. Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) had his PSA up before the enrollment period opened on November 1, and some members of Congress have PSAs posted on their webpages; but everyone won’t log on to a congressional website to get access to the PSA. That’s where the churches and community organizations come into play.

Once upon a time, we were great at mobilizing. Without any Internet, 250,000 people managed to get to Washington, D.C. for the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Mimicking that effort, and using both word of mouth and the Internet, more than a million women made it to Washington D.C. for the post-inaugural Women’s March. Now we have the opportunity to rally millions to participate in the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. There are consequences to not enrolling. If you don’t enroll by December 15, you may have to wait a whole year before getting access to affordable healthcare and the subsidies available under the ACA, and you may have to pay a fine for not enrolling. Some states (California, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.) will allow enrollment until January, but most will close enrollment on December 15. Even with a longer enrollment period, the best thing to do to ensure that the people who need health insurance get it is to encourage them to enroll early.

Helping people enroll for ACA benefits is not only a public service, it is also an act of resistance to “45’s” pernicious attempts to undermine President Obama’s signature piece of legislation. To be sure, the ACA is not perfect, but it is responsible for expanding the base of people who can get affordable health insurance.

This example of “Faith in Action” may be a template for other ways to use the church to organize resistance. The novelist Dr. Daniel Black (author of “Perfect Peace: A Novel”) recently gave a talk in which he described our churches as the backbone of the

Black community. Disagree with your pastor, or with the sermon if you will, he said, but still get to church for the sense of community that can only be found there. While the Black church is less impactful than it was in 1963, when most of us could be reached through church announcements, it is still a place where we gather and share information. If you don’t usually go to church on November 12, when the #SOULS2ENROLL weekend campaign kicks off, consider making your way there to check this campaign out. If you do go to church, encourage your pastor to participate.

Julianne Malveaux says that helping people gain healthcare is not only a public service, it is also an act of resistance to “45.”

Your Car Might Have Killer Air Bags (NAPSI)—A few simple steps protect your family and loved ones. You may be driving a vehicle with a defective driver’s side air bag, passenger’s side air bag or both. If you have one of the following vehicles, please call your local Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge or Ram dealership to schedule a FREE repair: The Problem Here’s why: According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 34 million vehicles have defective air bags, which can cause serious injury or death in the event of a crash. Even a minor fender bender can cause these air bags to explode, spraying metal fragments into drivers and passengers.

A Solution Fortunately, there is a solution, repairs are FREE and Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram dealerships have plenty of new air bags available to replace them. You don’t even have to take the vehicle back to the same dealership from which you bought it; any authorized dealer can make the free repairs.

Learn More For further facts, or if you are not sure whether your vehicle is part of this, you can: 1. Go to recalls.mopar.com and enter your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), found on the driver’s side dashboard near the windshield or the inside driver’s side door.

2. Get in touch with your Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge or Ram dealership.

3. Call the dedicated toll-free number: (866) 220-6765. Se habla espanol.

Michigan’s First Black Female Federal Judge Dies at Age 84

DETROIT (AP) _ Michigan’s first black female federal judge, Anna Diggs Taylor, has died at age 84.

Taylor’s death was announced Monday at the Detroit federal courthouse. She died Saturday at an assisted living center in Grosse Pointe Woods following a brief illness.

Taylor was appointed to the federal bench in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. She was chief judge in Michigan’s Eastern District in 1997 and 1998. She retired in 2011.

In 2006, Taylor made headlines when she said an eavesdropping program without court oversight by the Bush administration was unconstitutional. An appeals court overturned the decision, saying the American Civil Liberties Union didn’t have standing to sue.

Taylor is survived by her husband, former utility executive S. Martin Taylor. In 2005, Crain’s Detroit Business listed them as a Detroit power couple.

Suspect in Stolen Sheriff’s SUV Surrenders after LA Chase

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A man causing a disturbance at a Los Angeles-area hospital stole a sheriff’s department SUV and led deputies on a wild rush-hour pursuit Tuesday morning before he was shot by a deputy and surrendered.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies first encountered the man after responding to a disturbance call at the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar just before 7 a.m., said sheriff’s department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida. The man had been running around outside the medical center when he jumped into the patrol vehicle and drove off, she said.

The unidentified man, who was wearing only black shorts, led deputies on a half-hour pursuit through several neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley, at times driving on the sidewalk and barreling through intersections with the SUV’s emergency lights flashing.

At one point the suspect stopped the SUV in the middle of a street and backed it into another sheriff’s vehicle before speeding off again. Television news footage showed a deputy exiting his vehicle and pointing a gun at the suspect’s SUV. He drove off but later surrendered to deputies.

Nishida said the suspect had been struck by gunfire and was being treated for his wounds.

Lois Ramirez, a spokeswoman for Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, said hospital officials were ``still investigating the situation’’ and declined to provide information about the reported disturbance.

Associated Press writer Christopher Weber contributed to this report.

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World & Nation Los Angeles News Observer

Man Shot his Teenage Son: Henderson Police Department

Wendell Melton shot his teenage son: Henderson Police Department

A father allegedly shot dead his gay teenage son over his sexual orientation.

Giovanni Melton, 14, had reportedly argued with Wendell Melton, about having a boyfriend.

Sonja Jones, the victim’s foster mother, told the KSNV news channel that he “hated the fact that his son was gay.”

“I'm sure that inside of his mind, he would rather have a dead son than a gay son,” she said after the 2 November shooting at their home in Henderson, Nevada.

Police were called to the teenager’s apartment over a domestic disturbance and found the boy in critical condition.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.Police said the teenager lived in the apartment alone.

Ms Jones said 54-year-old Mr Melton had previously “pulled out a gun” on the teenager after finding him with his boyfriend.

“Giovanni was abused physically and mentally and spiritually for many, many years,” she said.

14-year old Giovanni Melton Mr Melton was charged with open murder, child abuse is the teen police say was and prohibited person possessing a firearm. shot by his father.

Mississippi Civil Rights Project Online History

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) _ A newly revamped website focuses on efforts to change a Southern state that has grappled with a long history of racial injustice.

The Mississippi Civil Rights Project is sponsored by the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi.

The site has an interactive map with information about local people important to the movement and local events such as school desegregation efforts.

It offers suggestions on articles, books, and online documents about the state’s history.

It includes links to oral histories, including a 2010 interview with Lawrence Guyot (GHEE-ott), posted to the Library of Congress website.

“There was no state more oppressive than Mississippi,’’ Guyot tells interviewer Julian Bond, a fellow civil rights activist.

Guyot, born in 1939 in coastal Pass Christian, Mississippi, became active in the civil rights movement as a student at Tougaloo College in Jackson. As a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, he pushed voter-registration efforts in the 1960s for African-Americans in Mississippi who were largely barred from political participation.

Guyot was also involved in Freedom Summer in 1964, when black and white students from other states faced violence and intimidation from local whites as they worked in Mississippi to register black voters and provide education in poor African-American communities.

“We can’t bring Mississippi to America, but we can bring America to Mississippi,’’’ Guyot said of what activists simply called the 1964 summer project. “We found out we could not protect ourselves. We were going to be picked off one-by-one. We were organizing against the entire state apparatus of Mississippi.’’

Guyot earned a law degree and worked in District of Columbia government. He was 73 when he died in 2012 at his home in Mount Rainier, Maryland. Bond, who was elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1965 and later became chairman of the NAACP, was 75 when he died in 2015.

April Grayson, who works as a community building coordinator for the Winter Institute, said the Mississippi Civil Rights project site is designed to be used by Mississippi teachers and students, but organizers hope it will also have a wider reach beyond state lines.

“We’d love scholars from all walks of life and areas of the world to use it,’’ Grayson said Friday.

The Winter Institute started the civil rights website with the same name about a decade ago but it was “in a very different for-

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 2010 file photo recalls his work in Hattiesburg in Hattiesburg, Miss. A newly revamped website, the Mississippi Civil Rights Project, focuses on efforts to change a Southern state that has grappled with a long history of racial injustice. The site includes links to oral histories, including a 2010 interview with Guyot. He led voter-registration efforts in the 1960s for African-Americans in Mississippi who were largely barred from political participation. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Slaying that Haunted Family for Decades Linked to Racism

By DON SCHANCHE JR. Associated Press GRIFFIN, Ga. (AP) _ When 23-year-old Timothy Coggins was found dead and disfigured beside a Georgia highway in 1983, the young black man’s family and neighbors whispered that his killing may be linked to racism.

“It was always mentioned, and it was always suspected,’’ said his niece, Heather Coggins, who still lives not far from where he was killed.

Now, more than three decades later, authorities say, it’s been confirmed.

A Georgia district attorney says Timothy Coggins was killed for “socializing with a white female.’’ Prosecutor Ben Coker told a judge Wednesday that Coggins was dragged behind a truck through the woods, news outlets reported. Arrest warrants say he was stabbed and sliced to death and suffered “severely disfiguring’’ wounds.

A break in the cold case came in mid-October, when local and state law enforcement officials announced the arrests of five longtime local residents on charges stemming from the slaying.

All five are white; two worked in law enforcement.

Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix was emphatic about the motive during an Oct. 13 news conference in Griffin, about 40 miles south of Atlanta.

“Based on the original evidence recovered in 1983 and new evidence and interviews, there is no doubt in the minds of all investigators involved that the crime was racially motivated, and that if the crime happened today it would be prosecuted as a hate crime,’’ he said.

Two men are charged with murder: Frankie Gebhardt, 59, and Bill Moore Sr., 58. Arrest warrants accuse them of stabbing and slicing Coggins to death and giving him “seriously disfiguring’’ wounds.

Moore and Gebhardt were just a year or two older than the victim, and Heather Coggins says she believes her uncle was acquainted with them. But she said the rest of the family didn’t know them.

“This is the first time we’ve heard their names and seen their faces,’’ she said in a recent interview.

Three other suspects _ Sandra Bunn, 58; her son Lamar Bunn; and 47-year-old Gregory Huffman _ are charged with obstructing the investigation. Sandra Bunn worked as a Spalding County detention officer until her arrest, when the sheriff fired her. Huffman was also a detention officer and later a police officer in nearby Milner. He’s charged with revealing the identity of a confidential informant who was being used against Gebhardt.

Officials haven’t detailed the suspects’ connections with each other, but court records show Sandra Bunn sued Gebhardt in 2003 to have him evicted from a property she owned. Gebhardt has been convicted in the past of aggravated assault and criminal damage, both felonies, along with multiple misdemeanors, records show.

Coker said he will seek indictments in December but hasn’t decided whether to seek the death penalty against Gebhardt and Moore.

Heather Coggins was just 6 years old when her uncle was killed, but she still tears up at how his slaying wracked her large extended family, longtime residents of the community, with “uncertainty, heartbreak, fear.’’

She remembers her uncle as “just a fun person. If anything, I remember just the joy, the playfulness of him.’’ He didn’t finish high school and had no regular job but worked for his stepfather, a plumber and carpenter in Griffin.

He loved the R&B music of Frankie Beverly and loved to dance.

But his life ended in horrific violence.

A 1983 article in the Griffin Daily News said his body was found by hunters in a field not far from a highway in the Sunny

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Side community a few miles north of Griffin. He wasn’t immediately identified.

“He had been worked over with a knife pretty well,’’ an investigator told the newspaper _ stab wounds in the back, punctured lungs and defensive wounds on his arm.

Heather Coggins said that when investigators passed around the unknown victim’s photo to the local community, Timothy Coggins’ own mother didn’t recognize her dead son, but Heather’s mother, the victim’s oldest sister, said: “No, that’s Tim.’’ His mother was burdened by his slaying until she died in February 2016. She called out his name on her death bed, Heather Coggins said.

“I really don’t think my grandmother ever recovered from losing her son ... not because of his death, but because of the uncertainty of who did it,’’ she said. “She felt like justice wasn’t done.’’

In July, authorities announced that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had new information.

Seeking to bolster that new lead, the sheriff issued a July 24 news release, imploring witnesses to step up.

“We understand that over the years those suspected of being involved in the murder of Timothy Coggins have threatened and intimidated potential witnesses,’’ he said. “We believe that there are people with pertinent information regarding this case that are still out there and we are asking them to come forward.’’

As witnesses did so, he said, they told investigators “they had been living with this information since Coggins’ death but had been afraid to come forward or had not spoken of it until now.’’

Heather Coggins said the family won’t rest easy until those responsible for killing him are convicted. But she said they are deeply grateful to the sheriff, the GBI and other officials who didn’t give up on solving her uncle’s killing.

“We’re totally thankful that someone has been arrested,’’ she said. “We’re grateful because that didn’t happen for 34 years.’’

News Observer

mat that was not very user friendly,’’ Grayson said. She said more information has been added, and the site was updated to look better and to be easier to navigate. Grayson the Winter Institute is seeking readers’ contributions that could be fact-checked and added to the site.

Online: https://mscivilrightsproject.org/

bis-laced foods, ointments, concentrates and candies.

Growers sell a trash bag stuffed with clippings to manufacturers for about $50. But come January, the state will tax those leaves at $44 a pound.

That means the tax payment on a bag holding 7 or 8 pounds would exceed the current market price by five or six times, forcing a huge price hike or, more likely, rendering it essentially valueless.

“All it would become is compost,” predicted Ryan Jennemann of THC Design in Los Angeles, whose company has used the leaves to manufacture concentrated oils.

Governments struggling to keep up with the cost of everything from worker pensions to paving streets are eager for the cascade of new tax money from commercial pot sales that could eventually top $1 billion statewide.

But higher taxes for businesses and consumers give the state's thriving illicit market a built-in advantage. Operators in the legal market have been urging regulators to be aggressive about shutting down rogue operators.

Donnie Anderson, a Los Angeles medical cultivator and retailer, predicted the higher level of state taxation next year is “just going to help the illicit market thrive.” He said more needs to be done to cut the cost, especially for medical users, many of whom won't be able to absorb a price jump.

The increased tax rates are just one part of California's sprawling plan to transform its long-standing medical and illegal markets into a multibillion-dollar regulated economy, the nation's largest legal pot shop. The reshaping of such an expansive illegal economy into a legal one hasn't been witnessed since the end of Prohibition in 1933.

The change has come haltingly. Many cities are unlikely to be ready by Jan. 1 to issue business licenses, which are needed to operate in the new market, while big gaps remain in the system intended to move cannabis from the field to distribution centers, then to testing labs and eventually retail shops.

The path to legalization began last year when voters approved Proposition 64, which opened the way for recreational pot sales to adults. Medical marijuana has been legal in California for about two decades.

Come January, state taxes will include a 15 percent levy on purchases of all cannabis and cannabis products, including medical pot.

Local governments are free to slap on taxes on sales and growing too, and that has created a confusing patchwork of rates that vary city to city, county to county.

In the agricultural hub of Salinas, southeast of San Francisco, voters approved a tax that will eventually rise to $25 a square foot for space used to cultivate the leafy plants, a rate that's equivalent to about $1 million an acre.

This undated photo provided by Heather Coggins shows her uncle Timothy Coggins. During a court hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, a Georgia prosecutor said Timothy Coggins was killed because he had been “socializing with a white female.” (Courtesy of Heather Coggins via AP)

Los Angeles

California’s New Pot Sticker Shock

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) _ California's legal marijuana marketplace is coming with a kaleidoscope of new taxes and fees that could influence where it's grown, how pot cookies and other munchies are produced and the price tag on just about everything.

Be ready for sticker shock.

On a retail level, it costs about $35 to buy a small bag of good quality medical marijuana in Los Angeles, enough to roll five or six joints.

But in 2018, when legal sales take hold and additional taxes kick in, the cost of that same purchase in the new recreational market is expected to increase at the retail counter to $50 or $60.

At the high end, that's about a 70 percent jump.

Medical pot purchases are expected to rise in cost too, but not as steeply, industry experts say.

Or consider cannabis leaves, a sort of bottom-shelf product that comes from trimming prized plant buds. The loose, snipped leaves are typically gathered up and processed for use in canna-

Thursday November 9, 2017

But farther north, in the pot-growing mecca of Humboldt County, rates will be a comparative bargain, ranging from $1 to $3 for a square foot for cultivation space.

By some estimates Humboldt County has up to 15,000 unregulated pot grows, and Supervisor Ryan Sundberg said he was eager to fashion a tax scheme that would encourage cultivators to come into the legal system and adhere to environmental regulations.

“A high tax rate, that would be one more barrier to getting people regulated,” he said.

Lower-tax areas could also be a lure to businesses looking to save on costs.

Here's a snapshot of how new taxes will roll out for an average consumer in Los Angeles: Currently, for legal medical pot, there is no specific state tax on cannabis and the city tax is 6 percent, which is usually incorporated into the sale price at the counter.

When the recreational market opens in January, an eighthounce bag that sells for $35 will be subject to a 15 percent state tax. A city business tax that typically gets passed on to consumers will add another 10 percent, and then the buyer will be hit with the usual sales tax, about 10 percent in L.A. Businesses are being saddled with new taxes and costs on cultivation, distribution and testing, which will be rolled into the consumer price.

Together, operators say, that will push retail prices to $50 or $60 for that eighth-ounce purchase.

As for medical, the city tax would be lower, 5 percent, but retailers say that's sometimes not passed on to the consumer.

Consumers with a valid medical marijuana identification card would not pay sales taxes.

A report last week from financial analysts Fitch Ratings concluded that state and local taxes could balloon to 45 percent for recreational marijuana in some communities.

“The existing black market for cannabis may prove formidable competitor to legal markets if new taxes lead to higher prices than available from illicit sources,” the report warned.

Some predict that prices will eventually come down as the legal market matures.

Other states with legal recreational pot have restructured taxes over time.

Washington state, for example, initially imposed separate 25 percent taxes up to three times: when the grower sold it to the processor, when the processor sold it to the retailer and at the point of public sale. In 2015 that was pushed down to a 37 percent tax at the point of retail sale, plus sales tax. In Seattle, that combined rate is about 47 percent for recreational sales.

“While our members, like any other business sector, would like to see a lower tax rate, we have not seen any evidence that current tax rate is diverting people into the black market,” Aaron Pickus, a spokesman for the Washington CannaBusiness Association, an industry group, said in an email.

There are other barriers to unregulated businesses entering the new system.

Nicole Howell Neubert, a marijuana industry lawyer, said a retail business could easily ring up $200,000 in permitting and other costs associated with compliance in the new legal market.

“When you add to that high tax rates, you increase the number of reasons why someone might not be able to become regulated,” she said.

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Claims Cost California Legislature $580K

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ The California Legislature paid at least $580,000 in the last five years to settle harassment, racism and other claims, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

In one case, a payout included a stipulation forbidding the claimant from making “derogatory statements'' about lawmakers or Senate business.

The previously unreported roughly $44,500 settlement in 2015 with former Senate human resources department employee Anita Belmontes and her lawyers was included in settlement documents obtained by the AP through a public records request.

They provide the fullest picture yet of the level of taxpayer dollars spent since 2012 to settle claims.

The details of what led to Belmontes' settlement and transfer to another Senate office were not disclosed in the documents and the Legislature shields its own investigative records from public view.

Her settlement is one of two reviewed by AP that included non-disparagement clauses. The language in Belmontes' settlement was the broadest.

Jessica Levinson, an ethics expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the provision is a clear restriction of a citizen's right to free expression.

“If we can contract away criticizing our government, we're contracting away the basis of our First Amendment rights,'' she said.

How the Legislature handles complaints, and what it discloses, has become a subject of intense scrutiny in the two weeks since nearly 150 women who work at the state Capitol signed a letter claiming there is a culture of sexual harassment there.

Because the Legislature bars many of its records from disclosure, the settlement documents given to AP may not represent the full universe of payouts. The documents reveal five Senate settlements since 2012 totaling about $372,000 and two in the Assembly totaling $210,000.

The Assembly settlements both involved then-Democratic Assemblyman Steve Fox and were first reported two weeks ago by the Sacramento Bee. A former Fox employee, Nancy Finnigan, was paid $100,000 after she claimed she was fired for reporting that Fox once exposed himself to her, among other misconduct.

Another former Fox employee settled for $110,000 after claiming he asked her to perform work for his law firm. That settlement with Kristina Zahn included a clause that the parties would not disparage each other. Fox declined to comment.

Douglas Miller, a former staff member for Republican Sen. Tom Berryhill, received $89,500 this year to settle claims he was fired for complaining about a racist and sexist culture in Berryhill's district office in Modesto.

Miller was fired after a Senate human resources investigation into a “heated'' office discussion about Colin Kaepernick and whether he was a good role model, the Sacramento Bee reported.

Kaepernick is the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who gained notoriety for sitting and kneeling during the national anthem. Berryhill was not named as a defendant in the Miller case.

In Belmontes' case, the Senate transferred her to the office of the Senate Republican Caucus and reinstated more than half a year of vacation and sick time she used between March and November 2014.

She also was paid $25,000 in compensation, $12,500 in attorney's fees, $465 to cover a medical bill and more than $6,500 to account for the wage difference between the two jobs.

The non-disparagement clause bars Belmontes from making “any false, disparaging or derogatory statements . . . regarding the Senate or any of its members, directors, officers, agents or representatives or about the Senate's business affairs, human resources matters, or financial condition.''

In the seven settlements reviewed by AP, Belmontes is the only person who maintained employment with the Legislature.

She did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Belmontes was one of two Senate human resources department employees who settled claims in the last five years. The other was Dina Hidalgo, who ran the department.

Her case was chronicled by the Sacramento Bee when it was settled in 2014 for nearly $100,000. In return for leaving her job amid an investigation into nepotism in her department the Senate agreed to pay her $85,400, mostly to account for unused sick time to pay the law firm that represented her.

Hidalgo's settlement included a clause that she cannot criticize the Senate in matters related to her claim.

The Senate also paid $150,000 to cover legal fees for news organizations that sued in 2015 for access to the calendars of former Democratic Sens. Leland Yee and Ron Calderon after they were indicted for felonies.

Another $3,500 was paid to settle claims with Morgan Hunter, who was described only as a Senate employee. No details on that case have been revealed.

Levinson said taxpayers should be concerned about behavior that requires their money to be spent on settlements.

But she said keeping confidential some details of claims is an important provision meant to encourage people to expose wrongdoing.

“Maybe there’s a perfect world in which you can have a little bit more information given to the public, but not so much that it prevents people from wanting to come forward,'' she said.

Josh Jackson (15) celebrates with teamates after one of three int’s. (Courtesy photo)

Mayfield and Jackson Earn Camp Honors

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer Oklahoma Senior QB Baker Mayfield lit up the skies in Stillwater by passing for a school record 598 yards helping the Sooners out gun Oklahoma State 62-52. Mayfield completed 24 of 36 passes for five touchdowns helping the Sooners 8-1 (5-1 Big12) stay in the College Football Play-off hunt.

The big day also helped him earn the Walter Camp National

Player of the Week Award. Mayfield is the Sixth Oklahoma Player since 2004 to earn the award, the first since Simaje Perine (Nov 23,2014) The Defensive honor went to Josh Jackson of Iowa. The junior defensive back tied a school record with three interceptions helping the Hawkeyes upset third ranked Ohio State 55-

24. He Also chipped in with three solo tackles while help lead the Hawkeyes to a 6-3 (3-3 Big 10) record.

Jackson is the fourth Iowa player to win the award the second this season joining teammate Josey Jewell (Sept 3).

The Iowa defense ranks fourth in the Big 10 in scoring defense giving up just 18 points a game.

4 Foot Long Lizard Found in SoCal Backyard RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) _ A lizard that can grow to be 8 feet long has been found in Southern California, thousands of miles from its native land, and authorities think it's a pet gone astray.

The 4-foot-long crocodile monitor was spotted sunning itself on top of a hedge Wednesday afternoon in the backyard of a Riverside home.

The crocodile monitor is a relative of the famous Komodo dragon. It's native to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia = not California - but it is legal to own them in the state.

It's green and yellow with big claws, a long tail and a forked tongue.

The big lizard is now being held by Riverside County's animal services division. If the owner doesn't claim it, the monitor will be sent to a sanctuary for exotic animals.

Homeless-Crisis on the Coast

By The Associated Press Homelessness is not a new issue to America’s West Coast. But it's getting worse - much worse.

On any given night, more than 105,000 people are sleeping unsheltered in some of the country’s biggest and trendiest metropolises, driven there by soaring housing costs, rental vacancy rates that rival those in Manhattan and a booming tech economy that's leaving thousands behind. Another 63,000 are sleeping in shelters or transitional housing with no safety net.

The rising numbers have pushed abject poverty into the open like never before.

San Diego now scrubs its sidewalks with bleach to counter a deadly hepatitis A outbreak that has spread to other cities and forced California to declare a state of emergency. In Anaheim, home to Disneyland, 400 people sleep along a bike path in the shadow of Angel Stadium. Organizers in Portland, Oregon, lit incense

at a recent outdoor food festival to mask the stench of urine in a parking lot where vendors set up shop.

All along the coast, elected officials are scrambling for solutions .

“It’s a sea of humanity crashing against services,

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and services at this point are overwhelmed, literally overwhelmed,” said Jeremy Lemoine, who works for a Seattle nonprofit that provides various forms of assistance to the homeless. “It's catastrophic.”

Page A4

Texans Owner Bob McNair “Inmates”

Features

Los Angeles News Observer

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Comment Sparks Outrage NFL Players

By Jeffrey Boney Houston Forward Times/NNPA Member Black players in the National Football League have been described as ungrateful, thugs, sons of b***hes and inmates by talking heads on sports radio, the commanderin-chief and most recently at least one NFL owner.

Some current and former NFL players, including the exiled Colin Kaepernick, have decided to use their high-profile platforms Jeffrey Boney wonders if Bob to protest racism, McNair, the owner of the Texans, systematic oppression really wants to help solve the and police brutality in problems that led to so many this country and some protests across the country and in people, including the NFL. the President of the United States, just can’t handle it.

Following Houston Texans owner Bob McNair’s controversial analogy, describing NFL players as ‘inmates,’ a number of Houston Texans football players completely rejected, both his written and face-to-face apologies.

McNair, who is now being described by many in the community as ‘Warden McNair,’ created a major controversy within the league, as well as across the country, after it was revealed in a story released by ESPN the Magazine’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr., that McNair had made the shocking ‘inmate’ reference several weeks ago in a meeting with 10 other NFL owners and 13 current players. It was during that same meeting, where other NFL owners had expressed their view and thoughts about the business concerns surrounding the anthem protests, that McNair boldly said: “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.”

It was only after the owners finished sharing their thoughts on the issue that former NFL player and current NFL executive Troy Vincent stood up and adamantly expressed how offended he was by McNair’s character assassination of and reference to NFL players as ‘inmates.’

According to Wickersham and Van Natta, Vincent told McNair and the other owners that in all his years of playing football in the NFL, he had “been called every name in the book, including the n-word, but never felt like an ‘inmate.’” It was also reported that McNair later pulled Vincent aside to apologize and tried to explain to him that he didn’t mean what he said in a literal sense, but the damage had already been done.

The Texans, who were only a few days away from playing a road game against the Seattle Seahawks at the time the ‘inmate’ reference was reported, found themselves in crisis mode as an organization, as many Texans players planned to walk out of practice that Friday. Texans head Coach Bill O’Brien and general manager Rick Smith quickly convened a team meeting to talk the players out of leaving practice. The meeting was somewhat effective, as nearly everyone chose to stay, with the exception of a few Texans players, such as franchise wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and rookie running back D’Onta Freeman, who still refused to practice and chose to leave in protest.

To drive the point home even further, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman expressed his views about McNair’s comments prior to his matchup with the Texans, saying via Twitter: “I can appreciate ppl being candid. Don’t apologize! You meant what you said. Showing true colors allows ppl to see you for who you are…I wish more ppl would do that. So the world could ostracize those who don’t want to see EQUALITY. Otherwise they will continue to hide.”

In an attempt to protect his brand, and try and quiet the issue, McNair quickly issued what many have considered a watered-down apology via a written statement from the Texans’ PR department on Friday, saying: “I regret that I used that expression. I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players. I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally. I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it.”

Many NFL players weren’t buying McNair’s initial apology, so he issued a second, more explanatory apology via written statement through the Texans’ PR department, stating: “As I said yesterday, I was not referring to our players when

I made a very regretful comment during the owners meetings last week. I was referring to the relationship between the league office and team owners and how they have been making significant strategic decisions affecting our league without adequate input from ownership over the past few years. I am truly sorry to the players for how this has impacted them and the perception that it has created of me which could not be further from the truth. Our focus going forward, personally and as an organization, will be towards making meaningful progress regarding the social issues that mean so much to our players and our community.”

McNair’s apology, whether genuine or not, is not the issue that should be focused on during these challenging times in this country, and neither should his disparaging word choice to describe the many NFL players and athletes who have chosen to exercise their First Amendment right to protest and use their high-profile platform to do so. McNair and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are front and center using their ‘warden-like’ approach to treat NFL players like inmates in prison.

Just this past Monday, one of the best left tackles (or ‘inmates’) in the game, Recently, Duane Brown was traded from the Texans to the Seahawks, after he reported that McNair had made several racially-insensitive comments prior to his ‘inmates’ reference.

Brown, who had just ended his six-game holdout, said that after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, McNair told Texans players that he wasn’t excited about it and expressed that since he started protesting during the national anthem since last season, McNair had not had anything to say to him. It is no surprise he was traded away (or transferred to a different prison unit).

Based on the explosive comments made by McNair at the NFL meetings several weeks ago, coupled with his failure to address the key issues surrounding the true nature and purpose of the original protests led by Kaepernick, it is strongly believed by many in the community that McNair may be completely disinterested in actually addressing the issues of racism, systematic oppression and police brutality in this country.

During a community forum held at The Community of Faith Church, the Houston chapter of the NAACP, along with many other community leaders, pastors and elected officials, convened a meeting to condemn the ‘inmate’ statement made

by McNair, as well as discuss the oppression taking place across America and a path forward.

A group of community leaders that included NAACP President Dr. James Douglas; NAACP National Board Member

Howard Jefferson; NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (who both called in by telephone); Congressman Al Green; Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis; State Rep. Ron Reynolds; and Pastor E.A. Deckard demanded that the Houston Sports Authority rescind a vote to erect a statue at NRG Stadium in honor of McNair.

One of the oddest appearances at the forum took place when City Councilman Jack Christie was asked if he wished to deliver any remarks, and after accepting the invitation to speak, announced to the audience that he wanted to deliver some prepared remarks from a statement that he had written prior to the event. Christie began his remarks by emphasizing that he did not personally know McNair and that McNair did not personally know him, but that he felt he could speak to McNair’s character, because he had done his research on McNair and found him to be a man of character and goodwill. After invoking Dr. King’s quote to describe how the community should look at McNair’s character versus his uttered words, Christie also attempted to justify McNair’s ‘inmate’ statement by alleging that McNair may have ‘misspoke’ as a result of chemotherapy treatments and mindaltering drugs. Christie also offered to serve as an intermediary between the community and McNair—the person he claims to not know at all—by having the community provide McNair with the list of things the community leaders are requesting from him to make this go away.

Christie’s odd appearance only raised more questions.

If Christie doesn’t know McNair, then how can eh propose to speak about his character and the intent of his heart? Does Christie’s appearance at a predominately African American community forum on oppression mean he is prepared to actually talk about and address racism, systematic oppression and police brutality in this country? Some residents even wondered if McNair sent Christie to the event to deliver those prepared remarks.

Listen. It is completely understandable that many people have gotten bruised egos and hurt feelings, because of the raciallyinsensitive remarks by McNair, but his comments should not be the focus. The original reason that Colin Kaepernick took a knee in the first place, should be the primary focus for everyone.

McNair, the Texans’ organization and the entire NFL, must deal with the issues that have been brought up by Kaepernick, as well as the issues brought up at the community forum, such as bail reform. And don’t stop with the NFL. These conversations should be had with all of the other professional sports team owners across the country and corporate CEOs.

It’s Time To Get Smart About College Savings

(NAPSI)—Fall: It’s a time of bright leaves, crisp apples, family feasts and a chill in the air. But for many American families, there’s a chill in the pocketbook, too, as parents around the country consider the daunting challenge of saving for their children’s college education.

The cost of college is rising and Americans are wrestling with ever-increasing amounts of student debt. It has been estimated that by 2033, based on inflation rates, it could cost $262,000 to cover four years of tuition, room and board at a private college.

The situation isn’t much better if you go the public route. Sending your child to a four-year state university could set you back up to $134,000.

While saving for college may seem like an overwhelming task, there are tools available to make the impossible seem possible. One essential tool that all parents (and students) should consider is the 529 college savings plan, a tax-advantaged savings plan that is specifically designed to encourage saving for future college costs.

“A 529 college savings plan is an incredibly helpful investment tool to consider when it comes time to buckle down and save for college,” said Rachel Ramos, Product Manager of Investment Services Wealth Management at Capital Group, home of the American Funds® and one of the world’s leading investment management firms. “They are designed to benefit families and come with attractive and compelling benefits.”

Why 529s Are so Valuable A 529 plan should be a part of your college savings plan for many reasons: • Investments within the plan grow tax-free, and in many states, the account owner is eligible for full or partial state income tax deductions for contributions to a 529 plan.

• When money is withdrawn from the account, it is tax-free if the funds are used for qualified education expenses, including tuition, books, room and board, computers or other supplies.

• If your student is awarded a scholarship or doesn’t use the entirety of the funds, the owner of the 529 account can change beneficiaries at his or her own discretion and without limitation.

• These accounts never expire, so those assets can be used for graduate school, or can even be passed down to younger siblings or future grandchildren.

“It’s a common misperception that 529s are only for college savings,” continued Ramos. “But 529s are surprisingly flexible.

For example, if you’re interested in pursuing higher education for a new hobby or skill, those expenses could be covered with money saved in a 529 plan.”

Millennials—the generation seemingly most impacted by student loan debt—are very focused on saving for their children’s education. According to a recent survey issued by Capital Group, 31 percent of millennials report that not having enough money to pay for their children’s education keeps them up at night. A similar number, about one in three, said that 529 college savings plans are a very important benefit an employer could offer.

How 529s Work Think a 529 isn’t for you? Consider this: Anyone, regardless of income, can contribute to a 529 account, making it a nice onesize-fits-all gift that never goes out of style. Plus, 529s are not just for saving for a child’s education—529s can be used to explore intellectual passions and expand horizons well into retirement.

In a 529, investors are able to front-load up to five years in contributions, or contribute up to $14,000 ($28,000 for married couples) annually, without gift-tax consequences. These benefits make contributing into a 529 plan, or opening up a new one, an attractive gift choice for grandparents and family members.

How to Choose the Right 529 There are a number of choices that savers can make when choosing a 529 plan. Most importantly: Do your homework and select the right one for your family that will pay off in the long run. Determine investment goals and then find a plan with

Increasing the Talent Pipeline

By Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. President and CEO, Thurgood Marshall College Fund The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) recently held its 17th Annual Leadership Institute (LI) in Washington D.C., welcoming over 400 future leaders from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and over 40 presidents, chancellors and government relations officials. This year, LI was bittersweet, because it was my last time presiding in my capacity as TMCF President and CEO. Seeing these bright young minds make giants steps toward their career goals with professional training and networking opportunities is part of this organization’s mission.

These young professionals are realizing a dream that sadly remains out of reach for far too many Americans: access to affordable higher education and a good paying job. While all of the data suggests that communities of color are making gains in college attendance and graduation, the pace is still not an equalizer for the harrowing statistics on disparities in socio-political and economic growth in fragile communities.

That’s why our Leadership Institute is critical, not just for the students and the HBCUs from which they travel, but also for the communities they represent. Their presence here in Washington D.C. is a signal that regardless of your background, talent can be refined and prepared for limitless success in government and corporate America.

Events like LI are possible, because of the commitment of organizations that heed the call of social responsibility very seriously. For TMCF, this includes corporate partners like Wells Fargo (our 2017 Presenting Partner), Walmart, and Altria, as well as government agency partners like the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

They, and so many others, find TMCF an ideal partner in their own visions for workforce development and diversity because we deliver on our promises of access and opportunity.

Consider Altria. Their commitment to increasing diversity and desire to improve brand affinity among HBCU students led to the development of an innovative apprenticeship program. TMCF and Altria developed a program focusing on building an early talent pipeline by identifying students in their sophomore year. The program provides students with support that includes professional development, year-round coaching and mentoring, a brand and business immersion experience hosted by Altria, an internship, scholarship, and a full-time job opportunity.

On the government agency side, consider the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Outreach and Advocacy (OAO). They are charged with fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment whereby employees and customers are treated with dignity and respect and are provided opportunities for success through national policy development, education and training

to best serve the USDA mission of protecting the health and value of U.S. agriculture, natural and other resources. In partnership with TMCF, the USDA sought to increase their diversity goals through a hands-on 10-week internship experience for undergraduate, graduate and law students and offer career opportunities to HBCU students across various USDA agencies in the U.S., including Puerto Rico. TMCF places some 150 interns within the USDA through this program every year.

All of our partners know the level of STEM participation and STEM degree completion among African Americans is alarmingly low nationwide. According to a 2010 report from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Blacks received 7 percent of all bachelor’s degrees awarded in the biological sciences, 6 percent in the physical sciences, 5 percent in mathematics and statistics, and only 4 percent of the bachelor degrees awarded in engineering. In June, Forbes revealed that of the 16 Fortune 500 companies that shared demographic data on their executive positions, White men occupied 72 percent of those positions. These are more than indicators that we can all do better to help diversify from the C-suite down with qualified talent to lead. Good ideas, work ethic, and vision are not exclusive to race or gender. In a shrinking global economy, companies that value diversity are partnering with TMCF, specifically in support of the Leadership Institute.

For the last 17 years, TMCF has successfully worked to position its 47 member-schools in front of major corporations and federal agencies looking to enhance the pipeline of diverse talent.

These companies, across a variety of industries, are not looking to sustain the status quo; they are eager to make headlines for finding talent to groom through the managerial and executive phases of their careers, in the hopes that they will one day assume leadership of major brands or perhaps launch their own.

HBCUs have the ability to produce most of the nation’s African American STEM talent, and by partnering with TMCF, agencies like the Department of Defense are able to reach 80 percent of all students attending HBCUs. Diversity and inclusion remain important ideals for innovative industry leaders that intend to compete and redefine business and commerce.

So, much of what I treasure about working with my colleagues at TMCF is the opportunity to be a part of this positive sea of change by American employers, and knowing that HBCUs matter and continue to define their excellence through the top graduates they produce. I am confident that through the continued support of our partners and of strong passionate advocates in the growing Black College Community, TMCF will keep leading the way as the preeminent source of support for HBCU students to not only survive while in school, but thrive when they graduate with a quality education and a promising career.

flexibility, low fees and low minimum investment.

In addition to state-sponsored 529 options, a number of investment firms offer 529s. CollegeAmerica® 529 Savings Plans, the nation’s largest 529 college savings plan, is a strong option that offers low expenses and flexible, easy-to-use investment options, including target date funds. CollegeAmerica® has been consistently recognized by Morningstar®, an investment research and investment management firm, as a highly rated advisor-sold 529 plan.

Paying for college shouldn’t be the most difficult part about college. Relax, take a deep breath and start saving.

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Page A5

Trojans Hold Off Arizona

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer USC jumped out to a comfortable 21-6 halftime lead against Arizona but in the end they had to fend off a Wildcat rally and finally regain the lead for good in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans scored first when a bad snap to Arizona punter Josh Pollack was blocked by Michael Pittman then picked up by the reliable Jalen scooped up the loose ball and ran it into the end zone 11 yards away.

That was an early momentum changer as the crowd of 70,225 erupted on the play and the Trojans built on that, holding off the Wildcats for a 49-35 win.

In an exciting first quarter Ronald Jones II ran off a 90 plus yard score but it was called back due to a holding call. It didn’t matter he got it all back. Jones added runs of 23 and 34 and 52 yards on his way to a 194 yards rushing on 27 carries. The 52 yarder in the fourth quarter put him over 1,000 yard mark helping him become the first back at USC to have back to back 1,000 yard seasons since LenDale White (2004-2005) Even Aca’Cedric Ware got in on the act running for 122 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries as the Trojans rushed for 332 yards on the way to 642 total yards of offense.

Sam Darnold completed 20 of 26 passes for 311 yards, two scores and one interception. He also connected to ten different receivers on the night.

On the defensive side John Houston Jr. led the Trojans

Prince’s Prince’s Teal Teal Blue Blue Cloud Cloud Guitar Guitar Auctioned Auctioned for for $700K $700K

with ten tackles while sophomore linebacker Jordan Iosefa, Chris Hawkins, and Uchenna Nwosu all had eight each.

It was tough trying to control Inglewood’s Khalil Tate for an entire game. “We came in with a great game plan,”said Trojan head coach Clay helton. He (Tate) is a great competitor and a great athlete. When he’s out is space you don’t realize how fast he is.”

Tate who has been brilliant for the three previous weeks was held to 16 yards he broke lose in the second half for runs of 52 and 32 yards on his way to 161 yards on the ground “I wasn’t sharp on my reads,” said Tate. “We didn’t make a lot of adjustments. We just saw some tendencies in their defense that we needed to exploit.”

JJ Taylor (Corona Centenial) had 52 yard rushing on 12 carries for the Wildcats 6-3 (4-2 PAC 12) Freshman Colin Schooler (Mission Viejo High) had 10 tackles six solo.

Tony Fields II (11tackles 10 solo) and Dane Cruikshank (10tackles 6 solo) led the Wildcats defense The Trojans need only one win in the final two games at Colorado this Saturday and home vs. UCLA Nov 18, to clinch the PAC-12 South title Ronald Jones II goes in for the score Saturday night against Arizona. (Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)-A California auction house says a guitar that Prince used in the late 1980s and into the 1990s has been sold for $700,000.

That’s the highest amount paid for one of the late rock star’s guitars.

Julien’s Live auction house, based in Los Angeles, anticipated the teal blue Cloud guitar would be sold for $60,000 to $80,000. Prince donated the guitar in 1994 to benefit Los Angeles earthquake relief. The buyer was not identified.

The Star Tribune reports the guitar has a letter of authenticity from Cloud guitar maker Andy Beech, who made 31 guitars for Prince.

The musician died in April 2016 from an accidental drug overdose at his Paisley Park complex.

PETTIS FAMILY Share Great Week

Gary Pettis in Minnesota on May 28. (Getty Images)

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer It was a tremendous week for the Pettis family. Farther Gary Pettis, a third base coach with the Houston Astros just won a World Series title outdueling the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 3. The following weekend son Dante Pettis a wide receiver and punt returner for the University of Washington Huskies became the NCAA’s new all-time leader in punt returns for touchdowns.

In the Huskies 38-3 win over Oregon last week Pettis zigzagged his way 64 yards for a touchdown for the ninth time in his college career. The score broke a tie with Antonio Perkins (Oklahoma) and Wes Welker (Texas Tech).

The senior from Junipero Serra high in San Juan Capistrano, California tied the record earlier this season against Fresno State.

In was the same game in which he tied the NCAA mark for consecutive games with a punt return touchdown (3).

The big game landed him PAC 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

The senior Pettis spent eleven years in the Major Leagues and five of them with the then known California Angels.

He did get a chance to get away from the Astro’s enough times to watched four of Washington’s games in person this season, but he missed the game against Colorado in which Dante returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown -- the first for the Huskies since 2003 -- and caught a 28-yard touchdown pass. Gary was glued to the TV, though.

The father talked about what it was like to watch his son play football.

“It’s been unbelievably awesome, more than we could have hoped for,” Gary speaking with MLB.com. “Not that I didn’t think he had the ability to do that, but going into a major university, you always have to kind of feel your way through the school first and feel your way around and blend in with the team. To actually be able to spend some time on the field, what a thrill.”

What’s Good NFL As we’ve reached the mid-point of the NFL season, we have had time for teams to show us their potential for this season. Each year there are teams that come out of nowhere to interrupt the status quo, while other teams continue to prove their insignificance. Based in what we have seen, we at What’s Good are ready to unveil our initial NFL Top 10 Supremacy Rankings.

In reverse order we have listed what we believe to the be the top performing teams in the NFL; #10 Jacksonville Jaguars- Blake Bortles has to be so happy the Giants ran off Tom Coughlin. Coughlin and his team has drafted some outstanding rookies. Paring Bortles with Leonard Fournette has taken this running game to the next level. Most impressive about the Jaguars has been their defense led by Malik Jackson, Calais Campbell, and Superstar Rookie Cornerback Jaylen Ramsey. At 5-3 there are currently tied for the division lead. #9 Minnesota Vikings- The injuries to their QB Sam Bradford, Rookie Dalvin Cook has not impacted the Vikings ability to keep teams out of the endzone. Case Keenum and Jerod McKinnon on deserves credit for keeping their offense competent as their solid defense remains the key to their playoffs possibilities. #8 Kansas Chiefs- A few weeks ago, they may have been in the Top 5 of our Supremacy rankings.

However, their Offense and Defense has fell off in recent weeks. Though still very good, Alex Smith along with their defense has regressed to the mean. They simply aren’t making the big plays that they were making earlier in the season. #7 Seahawks- The acquisition of Duane Brown will give Russell Wilson and their Offensive Line the much-needed help they’ve been needing. The LOB has clearly taking a step back but with Russell behind center they always have a chance to win any football game. #6 CowboysAs the the mid-point Cowboys saga willwe Ezekiel As we’ve reached of thecontinues, NFL season, have Elliott play week or not…

With Elliottforinthis theseason. lineup,Each the had time for this teams to show us their potential Cowboys be that the favorite against most any team in the year there should are teams come out of nowhere to interrupt status quo, while other teams continue to prove their insignificance. Based in what we have seen, we at What’s Good are ready to unveil our initial NFL Top 10 Supremacy Rankings.

league. Though Dak Prescott is still very good, without that solid running game that offense is hard pressed to carry this team. #5 Steelers- As Always, the Pittsburg Steelers are rounding into shape just as we pass Halloween. Outside of Big Ben, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell they have found yet another contributor in Juju Smith. With their young defense is rounding into shape, this makes them comfortably the second-best team in the AFC. #4 Rams- What a difference a season makes! It is very clear to see how impactful the focus and detail of HC Sean McVay has been to their offense. Along with the addition of L T Andrew Whitworth to stabilize their offensive line this has helped to make these guys the highest scoring team in the league at 32.9 per game. All the while still having the benefits of Aaron Donald, who could very well be the defensive player of the year. #3 Saints- The Sean Payton and Drew Brees leads this team near the top of our Supremacy Rankings. However, the growth, development and infusion of their rookies to their defense have proved to be a winning combination. Their now balanced offensive and frisky defense has earned these guys a Top 3 spot in our Supremacy Ranking. #2 Patriots- Bill Belichick and Tom Brady earn this spot based on reputation. Until proven different this team is the class in the AFC by default! #1 Eagles- With Carson Wentz playing like this year’s Most Valuable Player, he has led his team to the best record in the league. Paring Jay Ajayi with LeGarrette Blount solidifies their running and their opportunistic defense continues to give their second ranked offensive more opportunities to score! These guys are on a roll.

This is likely to be a fluid list throughout the season, which we revisit in the coming weeks. Though we wanted to give our readers glimpse Dak of how we seeis this seasonwithout progressing thus league. Though Prescott still NFL very good, that solid far.

I’d begame interested to know howpressed differently any of see our running that offense is hard to carry thisyou team. initial#5NFL Supremacy Rankings.

Reach out and are let me know SteelersAs Always, the Pittsburg Steelers rounding What’s Good into shape justataswww.whatsgoodinsports.com. we pass Halloween. Outside of Big Ben, Antonio Brown, and Le’Veon Bell they have found yet another contributor in Juju Smith. With their young defense is rounding into

What’s good NFL Supremacy Ranking

Washington Huskies wide receiver Dante Pettis (8) returns a punt for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter at Utah. (Johnny Andrews / The Seattle Times)

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DACC Celebrates National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week LONG BEACH, Calif. –The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) celebrates National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week starting on November 6, 2017.

National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week was started in 1996 by the Humane Society of the United States as a way to acknowledge and promote the invaluable roles shelters play in the communities while encouraging the public to become acquainted with their local shelters and to learn how they can assist their lifesaving work.

DACC operates seven animal care centers (ACCs), located in the cities of: Agoura, Baldwin Park, Carson/Gardena, Castaic, Downey, Lancaster, and Palmdale. Our dedicated, compassionate employees and volunteers provide safe and humane care for animals that are lost or no longer wanted by their owners. They work tirelessly to reunite lost pets with their owners or find new homes

for unwanted pets.

National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week is a perfect opportunity for you to become acquainted with your local animal care center and to help homeless pets.

Here are just a few ways to get involved: • Adopt your next pet from one of our animal care centers.

• Become a fan! Follow DACC and your local animal care center on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

You can help us reach our goal of placing animals into new, forever homes by adopting today. Your kindness will be repaid countless times by the love and affection of your new family member. If you cannot adopt a pet now, you can always make life better for a loving animal by volunteering at one of our animal care centers.

For more information, please visit our website at www.animalcare.lacounty.gov

LA Files Brief In Support of DACA Los Angeles County took the lead in filing an amicus brief to oppose the Trump Administration’s repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, arguing the move would harm its economy and public safety programs.

The brief, called a “friend of the court” brief, was in response to a motion by Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas. “Los Angeles County is home to the nation’s largest concentration of DACA recipients,” he said. “We cannot turn our backs on them, as they are part of the fabric of our society, making significant contributions to our culture and economy.”

Nine counties in California and Maryland, as well as the Ramsey County Attorney in Minnesota, signed the brief, which is in support of lawsuits filed by the State of California and the University of California.

According to the brief, “DACA has helped make neighborhoods safer, because recipients are able to cooperate more freely and effectively with law enforcement to report crimes.” It added that rescinding DACA would cost the US economy dearly, citing a Cato Institute study that projected a $280-billion reduction in economic growth over the next decade, and a Center for American Progress study that estimated the US gross domestic product or GDP would be reduced by $433.4 billion over the next decade. Los Angeles County would bear a disproportionate amount of that fiscal hit, given its number of DACA recipients.\ Created by the Obama administration in 2012, DACA allows young immigrants brought into the US illegally as children to get a temporary reprieve from deportation, as well as permission to work, study and obtain driver’s licenses.

Thursday, November 9, 2017