Valley's News Observer 1.27.22

‘Sanford and Son’ at 50, ‘Double-Edged’ Black Sitcom Pioneer

Howard University Professor Says Americans are Quitting ‘Bad Jobs’

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The Valley’s

Volume 37 Number 11

Serving the San Fernando Valley for Over 37 Years

Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California

Rams Survive a Thriller, Host NFC Championship Sunday at SoFi

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer The NFC divisional playoff game began as a one sided blowout matches as the Rams jumped out to a 27-3 lead. Matthew Stafford had to show why the team trusted him so much. With under 40 seconds left in the game the 13-year veteran connected with Cooper Kupp setting up a 30 yard field goal by Matt Gay giving the visitors a 30-27 win over Tampa Bay. That set up setting up a match-up for the third time this season against the San Francisco 49ers. The team from the Bay went to Lambeau Field and beat the PACKERS on a field goal with no time on the clock.

“I live for those moments,” said Stafford. “I would to have loved taking a knee when we were up by three scores. But it’s a whole lot more fun when you have that led to 3 scores and allow to be creative and get the job done.”

The Rams (14-5) lost four fumbles that allowed the Bucs to get right back into the game and nearly come away with a win.

They are the first team in NFL history to loose a 20 point lead, while having 4 fumbles and win.

Cooper Kupp led the team with 9 catches for a team playoff record 183 yards. He also tied Michael Irwin (1995) with his 12th 100 yard receiving game this season with 18 TD catches.

Stafford completed 28 of 38 for 366 yards.

They currently have the Bucs number after beating them at Raymond James in 2020 the at SoFi in week three this season. Before Sunday’s game the only lost one home game.

Different players stepped up in clutch moments, Odell Beckham Jr converted a big third down play in the first-, half(he finished the day with 6 catches for 69 yards in his second ever post season game.

Nick Scott picked off the 44 year-old Brady on a third and

long. He also had two pass break-ups. The Lancaster native was a 7th round selection in the 2019 draft out of Penn State. Though he’s played mostly on special teams he’s had two big interceptions.

The Rams will take on the 49ers with the winner heading to SUPER BOWL LVI to be played right here at So-FI on February 13th.

San Francisco and head coach Kyle Shanahan have won the last 6th meetings. In the season finale the Rams had a 17-0 lead but fell short in overtime 27-24. “You wouldn’t want it no other way,” said Rams defensive line man Aaron Donald. “Playing your divisional rival with the right to go to the Super Bowl.”

At that game you could see the red jersey stood out more in the stands than that Ram Blue. Coach McVay is looking for

something different this time around.

“I can’t wait for fans to show up in Mr. Kroenke’s house,” said McVay. “To be able to do this in the first year that fans our here. It’s going to be a special opportunity to go put together a good performance, a great week of preparation and then watch our guys shine against a great opponent next week.”

ADD RAMS: It was Sean McVay’s fifth play-off victory. …

(5-3 overall) The most in RAM history… with 14:33 left in the game Von Miller stripe-sacked Brady who is 0-3 vs RAMS since joining the BUCS. It was the 6th consecutive game with a sack…

The RAMS are 12-1 when Kupp scores a TD. This week there will be a representative from all final four teams that play this week. They were here to see the practice facilities and potential team hotels.

COVID Winter Surge Brings New Challenges for Elder and Youth Health Care Aldon Thomas Stiles California Black Media The COVID-19 winter surge has impacted different age groups in different ways, as caretakers struggle to take care of the elderly during this pandemic and parents remain wary of their children returning to in-person classes.

“It’s been here but it’s been everywhere for like the last 14 days,” said Los Angeles County resident Clarence Johnson whose wife, Tanesha Johnson, decided to shut down their daycare last year.

Across the United States, 1,099 children under 18 have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In California, the state Department of Public Health reports that 47 (Shutterstock Photo) children have died of the disease.

This past December saw a four-fold increase of children admitted to hospital over the past year, according to the African American Wellness Project.

Tanesha Johnson, owner and director of the Sunshine Academy Childcare Center in Inglewood, made the choice to close her daycare after reflecting on her own concerns as a parent.

“When I started seeing how fast the COVID-19 virus began to spread, I had to now think as a mother and not just as a business owner,” said Johnson. “I said, ‘okay, if I did not own a daycare, would I feel comfortable sending my children to school at this time,’ and the answer was no.”

Johnson said she is still cautious about her children returning to school and hopes that kids will be required to test before returning.

Both the federal and state governments have been pushing for more tests in schools, with Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing each student in public school will get two at-home COVID-19 tests.

The Biden administration announced that they will be Continued on page A2

FIGHTING HOMELESSNESS Gov. Newsom Sets Sights on Mental Health, Addiction

Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media Gov. Gavin Newsom says his administration is emphasizing combating drug addiction and mental illness as part of the state’s multi-year plan to solve California’s homelessness crisis – the worst in the country.

Newsom says focusing on those health needs of unhoused people is a component of his ongoing “Comeback Plan,” an effort launched last year to help the state recover from the economic and social impacts of the pandemic.

“This past year, California has been able to move 58,000 individuals off our streets and into the housing and treatment they desperately needed,” said Newsom, adding that it will require a multi-pronged approach to end homelessness because the housing, medical and social needs of unhoused people vary.

When Newsom presented his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2022-23 on Jan. 10, he asked the Legislature to approve $12 billion to support his housing strategy. About $3 billion of that amount would be spent on behavioral health housing, creating 44,0000 new housing units and treatment opportunities for people who are mentally ill. Another $2 billion would go to local governments in the form of flexible aid for housing programs, he said.

“The California Blueprint will double down on those efforts, focusing on clearing encampments, while also setting

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Pharrell Williams Calls for Economic Equity During MLK Event

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – Singer and music producer Pharrell Williams is challenging corporate America to “do more” by supporting entrepreneurs of color and adopting economic equity measures.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that in remarks Monday during the Urban League of Hampton Roads’ annual Martin Luther King Jr. awards program, Williams said big businesses need to invest in people of color and noted that some of them already are.

“Not all businesses,’’ Williams added. “The smart ones - the ones that will be here in 50 years.’’

Williams singled out the Japanese financial and venture capital group SoftBank. He said the group was investing in founders of color, who could then create generational wealth and change their cities for the better.

Williams, who was born in Virginia Beach, also urged businesses and philanthropists to support the Urban League and thanked the local chapter for their work in financial wellness, health and housing.

The event, which could not be held in person because of COVID-19, was livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube. Several local leaders were honored for representing King’s legacy of social justice.

Senators Aim to Remove Racist’s Name from Traffic Circle

Los Angeles Rams players, including wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (3), long snapper Matthew Orzech (42) and wide receiver Van Jefferson (12) celebrate after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a NFL divisional round playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) celebrates his touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (3) during the first half of an NFL divisional round playoff football game Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark LoMoglio)

Take One!

(Shutterstock Photo)

the groundwork for long-term systemic change with significant investments in mental health and substance abuse treatment to get vulnerable people off the streets.”

Black Californians are disproportionately homeless. Of the estimated 160,000 unhoused people in the state, more than 40 %

are African American.

Newsom said, in addition to several other measures like securing housing for students and veterans, his administration is currently considering a plan to move the state toward conservatorship for people who are mentally ill. He did not give details about the program, but he said there is a possibility the state will begin entrusting the care of mentally ill people to individuals or institutions in the near future.

In 1967, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California, the State deinstitutionalized mentally ill patients after the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPSA) was passed and signed into law. California was one of the first states to deinstitutionalize mentally ill patients.

The number of mental patients occupying mental hospitals in California reached its highest point at 37,500 in 1959 when former Gov. Jerry Brown’s father, Edmund G. Brown, was governor. It dropped to 22,000 patients eight years later, according to a report by Chauvet Public Relations titled, “The History of Homelessness and Why We Can Do Better.”

Supporters of LPSA believed the law would provide protections for mental health patients and eliminate “the inappropriate, indefinite, and involuntary commitment of persons (to mental institutions) with mental health disorders,” the language of the bill reads.

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WASHINGTON (AP) – Maryland’s U.S. senators have introduced legislation to remove the name of a segregationist former lawmaker from a prominent Washington-area traffic circle.

Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin said in a statement Tuesday that they are seeking to take Francis G. Newlands’ name off of a fountain and plaque at Chevy Chase Circle, which is on the border of Washington’s Chevy Chase neighborhood and Chevy Chase, Maryland.

“We should not be memorializing him and the deeply harmful policies he stood for _ the legacies of which are still impacting marginalized communities to this day,’’ Van Hollen said.

The former U.S. senator from Nevada, who died in 1917, aimed to keep working-class, Black and Jewish families out of the Chevy Chase community that he helped develop, according to the statement. Newlands also called for the repeal of the 15th Amendment, which granted African American men the right to vote, and advocated for anti-immigrant policies.

Chevy Chase Circle is managed by the National Park Service and therefore under federal jurisdiction.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s nonvoting member of Congress, previously introduced similar legislation in the House.

The land development company that Newlands founded and the Chevy Chase Village Board of Managers have both expressed support for removing the name.

Hockey Leaguer Suspended 30 Games for Racial Gesture

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – The American Hockey League has suspended San Jose Barracuda forward Krystof Hrabik for 30 games for making a racial gesture toward Tucson Roadrunners forward Boko Imama during a recent game.

Hrabik was suspended Friday for making the gesture during a Jan. 12 game in San Jose. Hrabik is white. Imama is Black.

The Barracuda, the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, immediately removed Hrabik from all team activities pending an investigation.

“The Barracuda and San Jose Sharks organizations were appalled to learn of this incident,’’ the Sharks said in a statement. “We offer our sincerest apologies to Boko, the Roadrunners organization, the AHL, our fans, and the entire hockey community. While we support the ability for individuals to atone and learn from disrespectful incidents in this context, these actions are in direct opposition to the Barracuda and Sharks organizations’ values.’’

Hrabik can apply for reinstatement on March 12, pending an evaluation of his progress in training provided by the NHL Player Inclusion Committee.

Historic Masonic Lodge in Detroit Added to National Registry

DETROIT (AP) – A Masonic lodge in Detroit has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, in part because of its contributions to the civil rights movement.

The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge on Detroit’s east side was added Wednesday to the National Park Service’s list of historic landmarks the federal agency has been compiling since 1966, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The Detroit lodge now joins a vast list of properties across the nation deemed worthy of preservation.

The lodge was noted by the National Park Service for its contributions to the civil rights movement and the general experience for African Americans in Detroit in the 20th century.

The Masonic lodge is one of more than a dozen statewide that are part of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons network.

Prince Hall was an abolitionist and leader in the community in Boston who founded Prince Hall Freemasonry.

Freemasonry is a mostly secular organization with a social network that spans the globe. While some of the group’s practices are kept from the public, many efforts are concentrated on community service and leadership.

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The Valley’s News Observer

Thursday, January 27, 2022

World & Nation

Howard University Professor Says Americans Are Quitting ‘Bad Jobs’

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent It’s official, America has entered the Great Resignation.

In August, 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs, and the quit rate, measured by the government against total employment, rose to 2.9 percent in August.

But that was August.

According to the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, November quits hit close to historic highs.

The number of workers jumped to 4.5 million above the prior record of 4.4 million reached in September. When broken down, 3 percent of workers voluntarily left their positions, a figure that matched September’s record high.

Further, employers posted 10.6 million job openings, down from a near-record 11 million the previous month and just below July’s all-time high. Openings have now topped 10 million for six straight months.

Economists said the decline was fueled by a drop of 261,000 openings in restaurants and hotels, leaving a whopping 1.5 available jobs for each unemployed person, the most on record dating back two decades.

After years in the restaurant industry, Colette Graack told CBS News that she left her duties in the food prep line in June 2021 in exchange for a more profound role as mom.

“I just couldn’t handle keeping on that pressure when my son needed me more,” Graack said.

Her son has autism and needs constant care, a job she will soon take as she trains to be his personal care assistant.

Graack told the network the leap proved difficult.

“Especially financially because I’m a single mom. Thankfully I had savings at the time that we could ride that out,” she said.

Reportedly, many Americans left the workforce recently and shared Graack’s concerns.

Despite millions quitting, millions more found new jobs. So

support and free training available to make that shift.”

William Spriggs, a professor in Howard University’s Economics Department and an economist for AFL-CIO, cautioned that the government’s job numbers shouldn’t frighten anyone.

During an appearance on the NNPA’s Let It Be Known live breaking news program, Professor Spriggs said it’s dubious calling this the “Great Resignation” or the “Great Quit.”

“The problem of job matching was going to be a problem once we, the United States, showed a policy of separation as opposed to retention to make it through the virus,” Professor Spriggs remarked.

“All other industrial countries held employees in place,” he said.

He asserted that “what took place in Europe, Australia, and Canada were schemes where the government paid employers to keep employees connected to their jobs through the pandemic.”

Professor Spriggs said the U.S. took a different route.

He said the federal government placed workers on unemployment, separating them from their jobs with no reconnection plans.

“For instance, in a place like New Jersey where you have perhaps the best unemployment insurance system, you also have better job matches,” Professor Spriggs stated. “You didn’t see the quit rate rise when we had the supplement to unemployment because you could choose jobs. Now, we force people to take a job so you will get a mismatch as you’ve seen in the accommodations sector.”

Professor Spriggs continued: During an appearance on the NNPA’s Let It Be Known live breaking news program, Professor Spriggs said “They’re not letting people go, but they’re still draining it’s dubious calling this the “Great Resignation” or the “Great Quit.” people on hours and still paying lower wages. With the shift in demand taking place and a record number of online shopping not be the case,” said Steve Grove, commissioner of the Minnesota and getting tested at much higher rates, the shift in demand to where are they going? Often, it’s a different industry altogether.

“This notion that if you leave one industry, going to a new Department of Employment and Economic Development, other sectors is happening because workers no longer have to put one requires, you know, a degree or a bunch of training, it might told CBS. “The reality is today; whether it’s the state, whether up with bad jobs. It’s really bad jobs where the quit rate is up.” it’s a college, whether it’s your future employer, there is a ton of

Manchin, Sinema Side with Republicans in Crushing Democrats Filibuster Change for Voting Rights

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Despite a record turnout in the 2020 election, and the desire of the vast majority of Americans and marches and protests led by civil rights groups across the country, all 50 GOP Senators and two Democrats formally thwarted attempts to pass legislation to secure voting rights for all citizens.

Democrats’ attempt to change filibuster rules to pass a voting bill failed amid opposition from moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

The vote was 52-48, with Manchin and Sinema joining all GOP senators.

Republicans in the chamber roundly cheered the final vote, which took place after two African Americans in the Senate – South Carolina Republican Tim Scott and New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker – exchanged hostile words.

Despite voter suppression laws that have passed in many GOP-led states since false claims by Republican Donald Trump that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, Scott accused

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Democrats of exaggerating the extent of legislation that most agree make it difficult for African Americans to vote.

“In the United States today, it is more difficult for the average African American to vote than the average white American. That is not rhetoric. That is fact,” Sen. Booker declared.

“Don’t lie and say there’s not a disparate voting reality for Blacks and whites in this country right now. The facts speak differently.”

Booker listed a host of statistics that proved that African American votes are targeted for disenfranchisement.

“I know this is not 1965. That’s what makes me so outraged,” Sen. Booker demanded. “It’s 2022, and they’re blatantly removing more polling places from the counties where Blacks and Latinos are overrepresented.”

While Manchin and Sinema remain steadfast in opposition to changing filibuster rules to pass voting rights legislation, the GOP has used the outdated and racist rule five times to stop the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote measure.

Democratic leaders proposed a talking filibuster that would have ensured any lawmaker who opposed the legislation would come to the Senate floor and speak in opposition.

Once the speeches would end, a simple majority vote would occur before final passage – effectively eliminating the 60-vote threshold established by the filibuster.

Reaction from civil rights and constituents was swift.

“From marching in the streets to turning out to voting booths in record numbers, working people have sent a clear message that we are ready for change,” Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Mary Kay Henry said.

“Tonight, all 50 Republicans and two Democrats drew a line in the sand to say that they have no interest in standing with their constituents and working with the Biden Administration to move our country forward,” Henry continued.

“The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act — a legislative package addressing voting rights, racial gerrymandering, and ending corporate big money special interest groups — is too critical to our nation’s progress for these Senators to keep using a Jim Crow relic known as the filibuster to play politics.”

Margaret Huang, President and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said the U.S. Senate failed to stand up for the fundamental right to vote of all Americans and “dealt a

seismic blow to our democracy by defending an archaic rule at the expense of American voters, particularly voters of color.”

“Allowing a minority of politicians to block essential voting rights legislation supported by a majority of Americans and a majority of U.S. Senators is unacceptable and indefensible given the history of this country. This same repressive political maneuver was used to delay enactment of the original 1965 Voting Rights Act,” Huang stated.

Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen, called the vote a sad and tragic day for America.

“As a result of lock-step opposition to basic measures to safeguard our democracy and the refusal of Sens. Sinema and Manchin to agree to rules reform to win passage of legislation that they support, America now faces a frightening future,” Weissman remarked.

“Republicans across the country are engaged in a concerted effort to make it harder for people of color to vote,” he asserted.

“Extreme partisan and racial gerrymandering is stripping voters of meaningful influence. And proto-fascist forces motivated by Trump’s Big Lie are actively organizing to subvert elections in 2022 and 2024 – aiming to override actual results with predetermined outcomes.”

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson called the Senate vote shameful.

“Today’s shameful outcome revealed who stands for and who stands against democracy,” Johnson insisted.

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 took three attempts to pass into law, so we will continue to fight. Anything short of protecting the right to vote is a death sentence for democracy.

The fight is far from over.”

Democrats’ attempt to change filibuster rules to pass a voting bill failed amid opposition from moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

FIGHTING HOMELESSNESS Gov. Newsom Sets Sights on Mental Health, Addiction

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LSPA critics say it inappropriately empowered mentally ill people to make important health care decisions for themselves when many of them had neither the will nor ability to do so.

When Reagan became president in 1980, he used the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) to repeal President Jimmy Carter’s Mental Health Systems Act, which funded federal mental health programs.

The OBRA gave mental patients the authority to make decisions about their treatment, including the options to seek care outside of a mental institution, get treatment at state-run clinics or the freedom to administer their own medication.

Last fall, the Newsom administration publicly let it be known that it is was leading the charge to provide solutions in the areas of low-income housing, mental health, and the state’s enduring homelessness problem.

In October, Gov. Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 36, authored by Sen. Sydney Kamlager’s (D-Los Angeles) when she was an Assemblymember. The bill would have provided people experiencing homelessness access to health and social services outside the walls of a traditional medical clinic, including mobile

clinics and shelter-based and other transitional housing-based health care.

According to Kamlager, AB 36 would have been the first law of its kind in the nation offering unhoused people Medi-Cal benefits without them having to share the cost.

Newsom’s letter explaining the veto says that the unhoused can already receive similar service through California’s Presumptive Eligibility program, which offers Medi-Cal and timely health care.

The bill was endorsed by 70 organizations and leaders across the state, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. In L.A. County, where over 66,000 people are homeless, African Americans make up 34% of that number although the total Black population is nearly 8%.

People of color in California experience some of the highest rates of homelessness in the nation. For example, nationally, 55 Black people experience homelessness out of every 10,000. In California, that number is 194 out of every 10,000.

Pacific Research Institute (PRI) a San-Francisco-based research think tank released a report in April 2021 that specified decreases of

homelessness in major metropolitan areas such as New York City and Seattle.

The report, “No Way to End California’s Homelessness Crisis,” says that “Clearly, California is doing something wrong” in terms of finding solutions. Although the state makes up 12% (nearly 40 million residents) of the U.S. population, 27% of all homeless persons live in California, stated Kerry Jackson and Wayne Winegarden, the report’s authors.

According to Jackson and Winegarden, mental illness is one of the driving forces behind the California’s chronic homelessness problem.

But all hope is not lost, the researchers say.

“A new approach is needed. To cut through the state bureaucracy, California should rely on private efforts to minimize homelessness. Private organizations are typically better equipped than the government to make real differences in the lives of the homeless because they tailor programs to meet the specific needs of individual homeless and can adapt where the government cannot.”

Commission on Aging, hosted a news briefing with journalists featuring caregivers discussing the difficulties of taking care of aging adults in the state. The virtual conversation was organized

by St. Paul AME Church in San Bernardino, Black Voice News in Riverside and Ethnic Media Services.

According to Donna Benton, Research Professor of Gerontology at USC, caretakers of aging Californians, including family members, have also been impacted.

“The majority of care, elder care in our state, is done by family members,” she said. “We are an essential part of the healthcare system.”

Benton, who is also director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center and the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center, said there are nearly 4.5 million family caregivers in California.

One caretaker, Ruth Rembert, who lives in the Inland Empire, talked about tending to her ill husband and how the pandemic puts him at greater risk.

“His immune system was compromised,” she said. “He

has two strikes against him, number one is his age and also his medical issues.”

She also emphasized her support for more people being immunized.

“This pandemic has definitely been a challenge for me and for my husband,” she said. “We all wish this would be over, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be anytime soon unless we take seriously the importance of vaccinations.”

The Rev. Noella Buchanan, Caregiver Coordinator for the Southern California Conference of the African Methodist Church Ministerial Alliance, said most elderly African Americans are people of faith and that plays a role in the way they approach their health care.

“We need to share with them that if God has opened up a way for someone to come up with a vaccine, we need to trust.

And part of our trust comes from what we are seeing. We are seeing loved one die. And the loved ones that are dying are the one that have not taken the shot,” she said.

COVID Winter Surge Challenges Continued from page A1

implementing initiatives that will increase the number of tests in schools by 10 million per month.

“These additional tests will help schools safely remain open and implement screening testing and test to stay programs. With the additional ten million tests per month, we will make available to schools more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November 2021,” read the press release from the White House.

In the US, only 27% of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds are in favor of vaccinating their children, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a number of challenges for the country’s aging population as well, particularly for African Americans and other minorities.

Only 7% of people ages 65 and older who received a booster shot are Black.

Earlier this month, retired Assemblymember Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino), who is a member of the California

Entertainment

Thursday, January 27, 2022

The Valley’s News Observer A3

Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson starred in Sanford and Sons from 1972 - 1977.

‘Sanford and Son’ at 50 ‘Double-Edged’ Black Sitcom Pioneer

By LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) – When Demond Wilson heard that Redd Foxx was going to star in a TV sitcom, the actor brushed it off as a joke.

Foxx was a killer stand-up comic, with a trademark

raunchiness that Wilson figured to be a nonstarter for the timid broadcast networks that were television in 1972. It was the eve of cable, and the rise of streaming was decades away.

“It would be like bringing a dog to a cat party,” is how Wilson described the notion of Foxx invading TV in a recent Associated Press interview.

But the comedian cleaned up his act for the small screen, and “Sanford and Son,” with Wilson co-starring as Foxx’s beleaguered adult son, debuted 50 years ago this month on NBC. An instant ratings smash, it opened the door for other Black family shows to move into the virtually all-white TV neighborhood.

Norman Lear, who had roiled network waters the year before with the topically driven CBS sitcom “All in the Family,” said serendipity led to “Sanford and Son.” Lear and Bud Yorkin, his producing partner, were in Las Vegas when they caught a lounge act featuring Foxx.

“We met with him and came back to L.A. sky high” about creating a Foxx-centered sitcom, Lear said in an email exchange.

“Miraculously, several days later a British agent, Beryl (Vertue) came to us with the idea of making an American version of a big hit in Great Britain entitled ‘Steptoe and Son.”’ “It was an instant marriage,” Lear said, and one he says Foxx didn’t resist.

“Not that he wasn’t difficult to deal with, but he was funny as hell and that made everything possible,” Lear said. Foxx, who died in 1991 at age 68, skipped part of one season amid a contract dispute with the producers.

“Sanford and Son,” which aired from 1972-77, revolved around widower Fred Sanford, an irascible junk dealer in the Watts area of L.A. who foisted work and insults on his longsuffering son, Lamont. Among them: “You big dummy!” which became a show catchphrase.

All episodes are on Amazon Prime Video, which licensed the series for streaming from Sony Pictures Television.

Wilson, a Vietnam veteran who had appeared on stage in New York, in films and on TV, was approached about the series

LaWanda Page as Aunt Esther Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford.

after an “All in the Family” guest role. Wilson also learned that the producers had another possibility in mind to play Lamont. “‘We were considering Richard Pryor,’” Wilson recalled being told. “I said, ‘C’mon, you can’t put a comedian with a comedian. You’ve got to have a straight man.’ Dick Martin was the nut, Dan Rowan was the straight guy” on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” he said.

Wilson recounted joining TV veteran Aaron Ruben, who served as a producer on “Sanford and Son,” in Las Vegas to meet Foxx and watch his act: “I thought he was the funniest person, the most irreverently funny guy that I’d ever met in my life,” Wilson said.

“Sanford and Son” introduced viewers to other talented actors and comics generally sidelined by Hollywood because of their race, including cast members LaWanda Page as Aunt Esther; Whitman Mayo as Grady Wilson; Don Bexley as Bubba, and Lynn Hamilton as Foxx’s good-natured girlfriend, Donna.

Slappy White, who’d worked the comedy circuit with Foxx,

appeared occasionally on the series, as did Pat Morita, of future “The Karate Kid” movie fame, whose character’s name, Ah Chew, and his ethnicity were punchlines for Fred.

While “Sanford and Son” regularly delivered such racial barbs, it rarely delved into racism or other third-rail issues _ politics and abortion among them - that were central to “All in the Family” and its spin-off “Maude.”

Was that deliberate?

“Yes. We didn’t compare (‘All in the Family’ and ‘Sanford and Son’), but the characters called it like they saw it in their own neighborhoods,” Lear said in an email.

The show begat other sitcoms about working-class Black families, including “Good Times,” also involving Lear and starring Esther Rolle and John Amos, and the less successful “What’s Happening!!” from Yorkin, who died in 2015. (Lear’s “The Jeffersons” was rare in featuring an affluent Black couple.)

While Black viewers finally got to see a version of themselves on screen, it was mostly one limited to those in struggling neighborhoods and created by almost uniformly white producers, writers and directors at the behest of white executives.

That’s in sharp contrast to the 21st-century comedies created and steered by Black writers, producers and actors, including ABC’s “black-ish,” HBO’s “Insecure” and FX’s “Atlanta,” and their wide-ranging and nuanced views of Black life.

Eric Deggans, TV critic for National Public Radio, sees a “double-edged quality” to the older-generation sitcoms. They showcased performers beloved by Black audiences, and, starting with “Sanford and Son,” proved that a series about a family of color could be widely successful.

The comedies also were honest about depicting some reallife Black challenges, Deggans said. But they ultimately relied on racial stereotypes and settled for laughs.

The shows made poor areas “look livable and even fun, as opposed to the issues that they really faced,” Deggans said.

‘Harder They Fall,’ ‘Insecure,’ H.E.R. Nab NAACP Awards Nominations Idris Elba, Regina King and Jonathan Majors elevate this fistful of cliches into a flashy, splashy, styleheavy African-American western.

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) – Netflix could be a dominant force at next month's NAACP Image Awards.

The streaming giant on Tuesday emerged with a leading 52 nominations including the film “The Harder They Fall.''

The movie _ featuring a large starry cast including Regina King, Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba and LaKeith Stanfield _ pulled in 12 nominations, including for best picture. Netflix landed 23 nominations in the television/streaming categories.

“The Harder They Fall,'' produced by Jay-Z, is based on real Black characters from the Old West who have generally been overlooked in the genre. The story follows Nat Love, a cowboy whose gun-slinging crew face off with Rufus Black, an outlaw who killed Love's parents years ago.

Issa Rae's “Insecure'' earned 13 nominations including best comedy television series. “Harlem,'' “black-ish,'' “Run the World'' and “The Upshaws” are also competing for best comedy series. “The Upshaws and ''Colin in Black & White” are among the Netflix series recognized by the Image Awards.

H.E.R. received the most nominations in the music recording categories with six, including best female artist and album for her project “Back of My Mind.'' She will compete in the outstanding album category against Silk Sonic's “An Evening with Silk Sonic,'' Drake's “Certified Lover Boy,'' Jazmine Sullivan's “Heaux Tales'' and “When It's All Said and Done.

Take Time'' by Giveon.''

Regina King will compete for entertainer of the year

against Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, Jennifer Hudson and Tiffany Haddish.

The nominees were announced by “black-ish'' actor Marcus Scribner, singer Tinashe and actor/musician Kyla Pratt.

In addition to “The Harder They Fall,'' the nominees for best picture are “King Richard,'' “Respect,'' “The United States vs. Billie Holiday'' and “Judas and the Black Messiah'' Stanfield could come away with best leading and supporting actor trophies. He's nominated for best actor in a film for his role in “Judas and the Black Messiah'' and his supporting efforts in “The Harder They Fall.''

For best actor, Stanfield will compete against Denzel Washington, Majors, Mahershala Ali and Will Smith.

The nominees for best actress in a film are Andra Day, Halle Berry, Jennifer Hudson, Tessa Thompson and Zendaya.

WarnerMedia gathered 55 nominations through its multiple entities. The entertainment conglomerate garnered nominations mostly from Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and OWN. RCA Records might make its presence felt with the most nominations across record labels. The label received 15 nominations with the musical success of H.E.R, Sullivan, Doja Cat and Kirk Franklin.

With the rise in COVID-19 cases, the awards honoring entertainers and writers of color will move forward without an in-person audience. The two-hour awards show, hosted by Anthony Anderson, will be broadcast on Feb. 26 on BET at 8 p.m. EST.

Features

A4

The Valley’s News Observer

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Supreme Court May End Affirmative Action at Universities

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent The Supreme Court said it will reconsider race-based affirmative action in college admissions.

The Monday, January 24, announcement could eliminate campus practices that have widely benefitted African American and Hispanic students.

Policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina are at the heart of the issue that the court has agreed to consider.

At those schools, a student’s race counts among the criteria used to decide who enters class at those institutions.

The Department of Justice late had urged the justices to reject the case against Harvard.

“The filing from the office of US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar emphasized that lower US courts had extensively reviewed Harvard’s racial admissions practices and found them sufficiently limited to meet Supreme Court precedent as they furthered the school’s interest in campus diversity,” CNN reported.

Admissions practices that take account of students’ race, first upheld in a 1978 Supreme Court decision, and reaffirmed in 2003, reportedly have boosted the admission of Black and Latino students for decades.

Policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina are at the heart of the issue that the court has agreed to consider.

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2021 279416 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: GARCIA HVAC at 7638 Oak Park Ave, Lake Balboa, Ca. 91406 Mailing Same REGISTERED OWNERS(S): HECTOR ISAAC GARCIA MARTINEZ, 7638 Oak Park Ave, Lake Balboa, Ca. 91406 The business is conducted by: an Individual SIGNED: HECTOR ISAAC GARCIA MARTINEZ The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A This statement filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles County on: Dec 28, 2021 DEAN C. LOGAN, Los Angeles County Clerk By: VICTOR ZAVALA, Deputy NOTICE: IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBDIVISION (a) OF SECTION 17920, A FICTITIOUS NAME STATEMENT GENERALLY EXPIRES AT THE END OF FIVE YEARS FROM THE DATE ON 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 STATE-

MENT 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 Dec 28, 2026 LOS ANGELES BAY NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Jan 6, 13, 20, 27, 2022

THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that RICHARD SHARY be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

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

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

A HEARING on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: Feb 17, 2022 Time: 8:30 a.m. Dept: Room: Address of court: same as noted above IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state

your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the deceased, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within four months from the date of first issuance of letters as provided on Probate Code section 9052. The time for filing claims will not expire before four months from the hearing date noticed above.

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

A request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Petitioner: Richard Shary 57492 29 Palms Hwy Yucca Valley, CA 92284 (760) 820-2236

�������������������������������

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF BRYAN SHARY CASE NUMBER: 22STPB00387 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of BRYAN SHARY A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by RICHARD SHARY in the Superior Court of California, County of LOS ANGELES 111 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, Ca. 90012 Branch Name: Stanley Mosk Courthouse

The Valley’s News Observer (E) PUB: Jan 20, 27, Feb 3, 2022

Features

Thursday, January 27, 2022

The Valley’s News Observer A5

Race and Health Care: New Report Shares Insights on Black Californians Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media In keeping with its commitment to ending health inequities, the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) released the first phase of a three-part study documenting how race and racism shape the health care experiences of Black Californians.

The report, “In Their Own Words: Black Californians on Racism and Health Care,” was written by health services researcher Dr. Linda Cummings. The study synthesizes hour-long interviews with 100 Black Californians conducted from June to August 2021.

According to Katherine Haynes, a senior program officer serving on CHCF’s People-Centered Care team, “The project is to understand the interactions between racism, health and healthcare.

(The first phase) is in-depth interviews that are really designed to gain a deep understanding of Black Californians’ perception of racism in this state’s healthcare system and its impact on them.”

CHCF’s main objective is to advance meaningful, measurable improvements in the way the health care delivery system provides care to the people of California, specifically individuals who are financially challenged and whose needs are not well served in the healthcare system.

EVITARUS, a Black-owned Los Angeles-based public opinion research firm, is conducting the three-phase Study for CHCF. The firm has extensive experience polling California’s diverse constituencies and maintains long-standing relationships with Black-led community organizations and media.

“Dr. Linda Cummings wrote the report and we did the research. We designed the study, performed the data collection as well as the data analysis that supported Dr. Cummings and her findings,” according to Shakari Byerly, EVITARUS Managing Partner. “It was a thorough recruitment process and screening and screening of those that indicated an interest in participation.

The participants also received an honorarium (of $125) for their participation.”

(Shutterstock Photo)

Findings from the first phase cautioned that just having a Black physician did not automatically result in better care.

Negative experiences with Black physicians and other health providers of color can be an obstacle to health care, too.

“It is the subtle, the microaggressions that happen within the health care field. So, I am resistant to get help unless I feel comfortable with the person who may or may not look like me,” a 33-year-old Black woman from the San Francisco Bay Area

stated. “But I also have been discriminated against a lot from Black physicians as well.”

Cummings wrote that more than half of the respondents said that, at some time in their lives, they had been unhoused, without a stable place to live, or stayed with a family member or friend because they did not have a place of their own.

Notably, the study highlighted that the participants took their health care seriously.

“The respondents really spoke about how they were taking action to pursue health, advocating for themselves, in the health care system and taking steps to protect themselves from harm in the health care system,” said Haynes.

Nearly all the respondents (93%) had some form of health insurance. The majority were covered through employersponsored plans at 40% or Medi-Cal at 26%, the study reports.

The mix of participants also reflected the ethnic diversity of Black Californians. The majority of respondents identified as Black or African American (83%), Black and multiracial (6%), African (5%), Afro-Caribbean (4%), Afro-Latino (1%), and Black-Native American (1%), Byerly said.

“Everyone identified as Black, but we recognize that people come from different backgrounds,” Byerly said. “It supports our research design to make sure that we show a full range of our community in California.”

Byerly also shared that 62% of the participants said they have experienced “some type of discrimination” based on their background while getting healthcare for themselves. About 59% said they were treated unfairly while getting healthcare for a family member, she added.

Phase II of the Listening to Black Californians study examines “structural issues” in the health care system gleaned from focus group discussions with Black Californians and key health care stakeholders,” Haynes said.

The third and final phase of the study will be a statewide survey of Black California residents. It will be crafted to evaluate the extent to which the Phase I and Phase II findings are represented in the general Black Californian population.

“The second phase with 18 focus groups, was completed right before the winter holidays. The third phase, we hope, will have over 3,000 Black-Californian participants,” Hayes said. “The final report is expected in the summer of 2022.”

Read the full report.

New Report Shares Insights on Black Californians Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media In keeping with its commitment to ending health inequities, the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) released the first phase of a three-part study documenting how race and racism shape the health care experiences of Black Californians.

The report, “In Their Own Words: Black Californians on Racism and Health Care,” was written by health services researcher Dr. Linda Cummings. The study synthesizes hour-long interviews with 100 Black Californians conducted from June to August 2021.

According to Katherine Haynes, a senior program officer serving on CHCF’s People-Centered Care team, “The project is to understand the interactions between racism, health and healthcare. (The first phase) is in-depth interviews that are really designed to gain a deep understanding of Black Californians’ perception of racism in this state’s healthcare system and its impact on them.”

CHCF’s main objective is to advance meaningful, measurable improvements in the way the health care delivery system provides care to the people of California, specifically individuals who are financially challenged and whose needs are not well served in the

healthcare system.

EVITARUS, a Black-owned Los Angeles-based public opinion research firm, is conducting the three-phase Study for CHCF. The firm has extensive experience polling California’s diverse constituencies and maintains long-standing relationships with Black-led community organizations and media.

“Dr. Linda Cummings wrote the report and we did the research. We designed the study, performed the data collection as well as the data analysis that supported Dr. Cummings and her findings,” according to Shakari Byerly, EVITARUS Managing Partner. “It was a thorough recruitment process and screening and screening of those that indicated an interest in participation.

The participants also received an honorarium (of $125) for their participation.”

Findings from the first phase cautioned that just having a Black physician did not automatically result in better care.

Negative experiences with Black physicians and other health providers of color can be an obstacle to health care, too.

“It is the subtle, the microaggressions that happen within the health care field. So, I am resistant to get help unless I feel comfortable with the person who may or may not look like me,” a 33-year-old Black woman from the San Francisco Bay Area

stated. “But I also have been discriminated against a lot from Black physicians as well.”

Cummings wrote that more than half of the respondents said that, at some time in their lives, they had been unhoused, without a stable place to live, or stayed with a family member or friend because they did not have a place of their own.

Notably, the study highlighted that the participants took their health care seriously.

“The respondents really spoke about how they were taking action to pursue health, advocating for themselves, in the health care system and taking steps to protect themselves from harm in the health care system,” said Haynes.

Nearly all the respondents (93%) had some form of health insurance. The majority were covered through employersponsored plans at 40% or Medi-Cal at 26%, the study reports.

The mix of participants also reflected the ethnic diversity of Black Californians. The majority of respondents identified as Black or African American (83%), Black and multiracial (6%), African (5%), Afro-Caribbean (4%), Afro-Latino (1%), and Black-Native American (1%), Byerly said.

“Everyone identified as Black, but we recognize that people come from different backgrounds,” Byerly said. “It supports our

research design to make sure that we show a full range of our community in California.”

Byerly also shared that 62% of the participants said they have experienced “some type of discrimination” based on their background while getting healthcare for themselves. About 59% said they were treated unfairly while getting healthcare for a family member, she added.

Phase II of the Listening to Black Californians study examines “structural issues” in the health care system gleaned from focus group discussions with Black Californians and key health care stakeholders,” Haynes said.

The third and final phase of the study will be a statewide survey of Black California residents. It will be crafted to evaluate the extent to which the Phase I and Phase II findings are represented in the general Black Californian population.

“The second phase with 18 focus groups, was completed right before the winter holidays. The third phase, we hope, will have over 3,000 Black-Californian participants,” Hayes said. “The final report is expected in the summer of 2022.”

Read the full report.

Features

A6

The Valley’s News Observer

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Reparations Task Force: January Mtg Will Discuss Public “Listening Sessions” Antonio Ray Harvey California Black Media To ensure Black communities across the state voice their thoughts and concerns and provide input, the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans is partnering with six “anchor organizations” to host public listening sessions.

Each organization will help the task force hear various perspectives of Black Californians as it assesses the state’s involvement in slavery and Jim Crow discrimination. The committee expects that process to inform the work they do when developing recommendations for compensating African Americans for past and ongoing race-based injustices.

The Coalition For A Just and Equitable California (CJEC) is one of the host organizations. A state-wide network of organizations, associations, and individuals united to push reparations for the descendants of enslaved men and women, the CJEC will participate in 12 sessions involving Black Californians from different social and economic backgrounds.

“We’ve been at this since 2019. We worked hard for this assignment and it’s really a testament of waking up, networking, and organizing Black folks around the state,” Chris Lodgson, a founding member of CJEC, told California Black Media.

“What we are expected to do as part of that process is produce at least two listening sessions and the task force will support them. These sessions will allow Black Californians to think about what reparations should look like and how it should be implemented,” Lodgson continued.

Along with CJEC, the Black Equity Collective, Afrikan Black Coalition, Black Power Network, Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), and Othering and Belonging Institute are the anchor organizations helping to plan the sessions.

Lodgson said CJEC will “coordinate” with the other five anchor organizations to prevent “doubling efforts” and provide a cross-section of opportunities and ideas from the sessions.

“At least two Task Force members are expected to attend each listening session,” Lodgson said.

“We really want to talk to people in our community

(Shutterstock Photo)

that get overlooked the most,” Lodgson said. “People who are unhoused, formerly incarcerated, from the foster care system, street organizations, et cetera, are the people we want to hear from. Their thoughts matter, too.”

At its first two-day meeting of 2022 on Thursday, Jan. 27, and Friday, Jan. 28, task force members will explain in more detail the rationale and process of the listening sessions. The virtual meetings will begin at 9:00 a.m. both days.

During the upcoming meetings, task force member Dr. Cheryl Grills will highlight the task force’s “Community Engagement Plan, providing more information about the listening sessions.

The meeting will also feature testimony from experts during the “Discrimination in Technology,” “Community Eligibility,” and “Public Health” segments on Jan. 27.

During the task force’s second meeting last July, Grills introduced the idea of the listening sessions.

Black communities in the southern, northern, and central parts of the state (where many Black farmers reside) are expected to be involved in the process.

“Black folks exist in an ecosystem and the system includes a diverse, cultural base of people, social class, education levels, etc.,” Grills said. “So how do we make sure that those people, who are a part of the ecosystem, are impacted? They need to be at the table.”

Grills was appointed to the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) earlier this month. She is a professor of Psychology at Loyola Marymount University, former national President of the Association of Black Psychologists, and founder/director of a non-profit program evaluation organization

called Imoyase Community Support Services.

NAARC is comprised of a distinguished assembly of activists, scholars, civil rights, human rights, labor, and faith leaders. The organization devised a 10-Point Reparations Program to serve as a guide and frame of reference for the growing reparations movement in the country.

“Dr. Grills has been amazing. She’s has done a great job in leading our community engagement effort,” Lodgson said. “She’s been largely responsible for looking for groups to be anchor organizations, bringing together resources, and facilitating the conversations.”

On Friday, Jan. 28, the California Task Force will hear testimonies from experts discussing mental health and physical health.

California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 3121, titled “The Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans,” created a nine-member commission to investigate race-based inequity in education, labor, wealth, housing, taxation and more. The commission is also charged with analyzing the state’s involvement in slavery, segregation, and the historic denial of Black citizens’ constitutional rights.

Current California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber authored the bill when she was a member of the State Assembly and chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus.

AB 3121 requires the task force to submit its recommendations to the legislature no later than 2023.

The January 2022 meeting will be the first of six meeting this year. The public is encouraged to join the meeting at https:// primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/ccajafkq

Baltimore State’s Attorney Mosby Attorney, Supporters Proclaim Her Innocence

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby doubled down on her proclamation that she is innocent.

Attorney A. Scott Bolden and supporters of the embattled Mosby held a press conference Monday afternoon to announce that they’re prepared to fight criminal charges leveled by the federal government against Mosby.

Bolden, who also serves as corporation counsel for the National Newspaper Publishers Association, said he wants to go to trial before this year’s election, which Mosby seeks reelection.

A grand jury indicted Mosby on four felony counts on Thursday.

She faces charges of perjury and making false statements.

Federal prosecutors allege she lied about suffering COVID-19 hardships to withdraw money without penalty from her retirement account and falsified information on loan applications

for vacation homes in Florida.

Her defense is simple, Bolden remarked.

“She received financial advice that she was eligible to withdraw money from her retirement account,” he said relating to the case’s primary issue.

“I’m telling you she’s not only innocent, but we have professionals who she consulted with, and she qualifies under the statute,” Bolden declared.

During the news conference, the accomplished attorney quizzed media members.

“If you were not affected by COVID financially, whether you kept your job or not, raise your hand,” Bolden requested.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Mosby’s gross salary increased between 2019 and 2020 from $239,000 to $248,000.

Bolden countered that his client had established two new companies, and “those businesses were running, and they were being pursued and they were legally on the books.”

He said Mosby did not know about a tax lien filed in 2020 against her and husband Nick, Baltimore’s city council president, for $45,000 in unpaid taxes.

Bolden intimated that the case is part of a witch hunt and politically motivated to end the career of Mosby, who took office in 2015.

The attorney pointed out that the Mosby family only learned about the government lien through media reports.

“I’m not going to ask you where you got it from, but we certainly didn’t get it,” Bolden asserted. “My clients didn’t get it, and it wasn’t delivered or to them in the normal way if you will.”

For her part, Mosby stated that “Without equivocation, I am innocent on the charges levied against me. I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be exonerated, and my name will be cleared.”

“Without equivocation, I am innocent on the charges levied against me. I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be exonerated, and my name will be cleared.”

McDonald’s® USA and Media Entrepreneur Roland S. Martin Launch Scholarship More than $100K in scholarship funds available for eligible HBCU upperclassmen—applications now open at TMCF.org CHICAGO — McDonald’s USA and Roland S. Martin, a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., are awarding more than $100,000 in scholarships to rising juniors and seniors attending Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs).

The effort, in honor of the fraternity’s 115 years of scholarship and Black excellence, is to help address the often-insurmountable financial challenges faced by HBCU students attempting to fund a four-year college education.

Data shows that on average, scholarships and grants only cover 25% of the total cost of college per year and often scholarships for HBCU students are centered on transitioning them from high school to college. For upperclassmen, the rising costs of tuition and growing loan debt paired with the limited scholarship funds offered for this group can make it financially difficult to graduate.

“HBCUs and their students are vital to the fabric of our nation and I will always champion for their success,” said Roland S. Martin. “I’ve witnessed first-hand the financial struggle that impacts Black college students, especially those in their final semesters. So, I’m pleased to partner with McDonald’s and TMCF to celebrate my beloved fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, and provide a resource that will help Black students graduate.”

With the help of Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), seven rising juniors and seniors will be awarded $15,000 scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year. In alignment with Alpha Phi Alpha’s century-long commitment to scholarship, McDonald’s continues its longstanding support of community, education and feeding and fostering community with this scholarship, which is additive to its existing Black & Positively Golden Scholarship program that awarded $500,000 to HBCU students last year.

“We know the outstanding work being done at HBCUs, which is why our team is devoted to use our scale and resources to expand educational opportunities for Black students,” said Reginald J. Miller, Vice President and Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at McDonald’s. “Our hope is that this scholarship effort helps build and support the pipeline of diverse talent that will go on to be changemakers in our society for decades to come.”

Applications are now available on the Thurgood Marshall College Fund website at TMCF.org. Award winners will be announced prior to the start of the Fall 2022 semester. Students interested in applying must meet the following eligibility requirements: • Be 18 years or older • Be enrolled as a junior or senior at a TMCF member institution and private HBCUs in Fall 2022 • Have a cumulative grade point average of 2.7 or higher • Submit a brief essay on how they demonstrate Black excellence and leadership within their campus community • Be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident with a valid permanent resident card or passport stamped I-551 In addition to the scholarship funds, recipients will also have the unique opportunity to engage one-on-one with McDonald’s executives currently working in their respective fields of study.

This real-world learning opportunity will provide additional

For more information on the scholarship or to apply, visit www.TMCF.org. For more information on McDonald’s commitment to uplifting the communities it serves, visit www.blackandpositivelygolden.com and @wearegolden.

benefit to students as they plan for the next step into their professional careers.

“For more than two decades, we’ve worked with McDonald’s to provide critical resources to students when they need it most.

Matriculating through college can be tough, and funds to support navigating that journey is a crucial part of ensuring graduation is attainable,” said Dr. Harry L. Williams, President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. “And we’re excited to extend our partnership with this scholarship to offer even more funds to HBCU students next year.”

This scholarship is just one of the many ways that McDonald’s continues to support its commitment to the Black community, building on brand initiatives that provide skills training, mentorship and education resources to support people who are building a path forward and achieving their goals. Since 2020, through strategic initiatives like the partnership with TMCF, the company and its owner/operators have awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to deserving HBCU students who are positioned to be the next generation of transformational leaders across business, STEM, politics, law, the arts, and a multitude of other careers.

For more information on the scholarship or to apply, visit www.TMCF.org. For more information on McDonald’s commitment to uplifting the communities it serves, visit www. blackandpositivelygolden.com and @wearegolden.

About McDonald’s Education Efforts HBCU scholarships are just one of many McDonald’s initiatives created to serve up bright futures and provide opportunity for education and skills in the communities we serve. These efforts also include additional scholarship opportunities through the Black & Positively Golden HBCU Scholarship Fund and the Black & Positively Golden Mentors Program which provides up-and-coming talent with oneon-one coaching from esteemed industry leaders; the HACER® Education Tour, which provides information to help navigate the college application process; support of the Boys & Girls Club of America’s diplomas2Degrees program which familiarizes teens with post-secondary education opportunities; and the Archways to Opportunity program, which provides educational resources to eligible crew at participating U.S. restaurants. Together, with our Owner/Operators, we are committed to feeding and fostering our communities.

About McDonald’s USA McDonald’s serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 25 million customers every day. Ninety-five percent of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Instagram at @ WeAreGolden and Facebook www.facebook.com/mcdonalds. To learn more about the Black & Positively Golden initiative, visit www.blackandpositivelygolden.com.

About Roland S. Martin Roland S. Martin is the host/ managing editor of the daily digital show #RolandMartinUnfiltered, which attracts 20 million views a month across multiple platforms. A 4-time NAACP Image Award winner and a 2021 inductee into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall Of Fame, Martin is the CEO of Black Star Network, a hybrid over-the-top (OTT) media network that produces and delivers streaming content to global consumers engaged by the political, business and cultural insights and perspectives of Black thought leaders, influencers and opinion makers. For more information, go to BlackStarNetwork.com About the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Established in 1987, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (“TMCF”) is the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. TMCF member-schools include the publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions, enrolling nearly 80% of all students attending black colleges and universities. Through scholarships, capacity building and research initiatives, innovative programs, and strategic partnerships, TMCF is a vital resource in the K-12 and higher education space. The organization is also the source of top employers seeking top talent for competitive internships and good jobs. TMCF is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization. For more information about TMCF, visit www.tmcf.org.

Sports

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Los Angeles News Observer A7

Baseball Greatest Player Snubbed for Hall of Fame

by Self-Righteous, Vengeful Writers

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Barry Bonds stands as baseball’s all-time home run king, with 762 bombs over a career that lasted more than two decades.

With his fearsome and sweet lefty swing, Bonds also set the single-season home record with 73 in 2001, a year in which he also drew 177 walks.

What separated Bonds from sluggers like Babe Ruth and others? he probably had the best hand-eye coordination ever.

Bonds drew a mind-boggling 2,558 walks over his career, including 626 intentional free passes.

So feared was Bonds; pitchers intentionally walked him with the bases loaded.

A league MVP seven times and a gold glove winner eight times, there’s little question that Barry Lamar Bonds ranks among the top five players in baseball history.

Some recognize him ahead of Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and others as the greatest.

But Barry Bonds will not receive the crown jewel of his sport – entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

At least not yet.

Fifteen years after leaving the sport and being snubbed each year, Bonds no longer will have eligibility on the Baseball Writers Association of America’s (BBWAA) ballot.

It’s the writers who vote to enshrine players, who must receive 75 percent of the vote for election.

In December 2022, baseball’s so-called “Today’s Game Committee” will consider Bonds’ candidacy. That committee consists of 16 members from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members.

The group forms an electorate that considers players no longer eligible for election by the BBWAA. Many have lumped Bonds in with others in the shameful Steroid era, where writers have repeatedly snubbed players like Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and Mark McGwire.

Unlike Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and Jose Canseco, who have either been caught or admitted to using performanceenhancing drugs, Bonds had always denied usage.

Also, he’d never been disciplined for illegal drug use.

However, baseball writers and others point to the year after Bonds’ playing days ended when a federal indictment charged him with perjury obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to a grand jury during the federal government’s investigation of BALCO, a steroid and performance-enhancing drug laboratory in San Francisco.

Leaked testimony revealed he admitted to unknowingly using “the cream” and “the clear,” and a former girlfriend testified that he used steroids for an injury.

But Bonds’ snub appears to run deeper and it cuts with a hint of jealousy and racism.

When Bonds set the all-time home run record, thenCommissioner Bud Selig went out of his way to demean the accomplishment citing alleged but unproven steroid use.

However, a few years earlier, Selig and others cheered McGwire and Sosa’s steroid-fueled assault on the same record.

Baseball writers – the individuals’ task with casting Hall of Fame votes – jeered Bonds at every turn. With typical dog whistles, they often described Bonds as “surly,” “aloof,” and having “a bad attitude.”

Bonds mostly ignored the media and its rhetoric, and during 22 years in two of the most challenging parks for hitters – Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium and San Francisco’s Candlestick Park – he excelled.

That he refused to engage media members only served to anger them, and the dog whistles continued at a relentless pace.

Bonds once explained that the pressure he experienced as a young man on the Pittsburgh Pirates led to his combativeness with the media.

He recognized that he could have done more to better the relationship.

“I’ve created this fire around me, and I’m stuck in it, so I might as well live with the flames,” he stated during a 2016 interview.

Still, with just about a half dozen Black members in the more than 700 member BBWAA, Bonds stands little chance of understanding or recognition for his peerless accomplishments.

“The simple truth is that Barry Bonds is the story of the steroid era. He is a player whose physical gifts knew no limits – and whose desire for something beyond greatness took him to a place he never needed to go,” ESPN Journalist Jeff Passan wrote in favor of Bonds’ election to the Hall of Fame.

“His greed mirrored the league’s: the ceaseless pursuit of bigger, better, more. This is the history that demands to be told, and there is no better place to tell it than in the plaque room at the Hall of Fame.”

Barry Bonds’ Career Statistics: 2,986 games played; 2,227 runs scored; 2,935 hits; 601 doubles; 77 triples; 762 home runs; With his fearsome and sweet lefty swing, Bonds also set the single-season home record with 73 in 2001, a 514 stolen bases; 2,558 walks; 688 intentional walks; .298 batting year in which he also drew 177 walks. average; .444 on base percentage; .607 slugging percentage; 1.051 OPS.

Top Takeaways from Chargers Season-Ending Press Conference

By Cameron Buford whatsgoodinsports.com A week after the Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley conducted his end of the season press conference, their General Manager Tom Telesco would spend time in his afternoon to talk to the media. Tom Telesco opened this zoom meeting by saying, “I appreciate everyone’s patience and flexibility. I know that we meant to do this last week, but this is your time, so I’ll stay here and answer questions for as long as you need me to.”

Understanding that a season in the National Football League isn’t complete until the players and coaches complete their exit interviews. We got to talk to Tom Telesco via Zoom just a week after their heartbreaking loss to their division rival Los Vegas Raiders. During this conference call, Telesco touched on several topics. Though; I have listed the biggest takeaways from his 60 plus minute call addressing the media’s concerns.

“He has brought an identity to this football team. I love the identity that we play with; I do. I support him 100 percent.”

Exclaims Tom Telesco about Head Coach Brandon Staley and the outlook of the football team. “It doesn’t mean that there isn’t context involved in that— I mean, we’re not robots — but we’re trying to put our players in a position of strength, in a position of advantage, as much as we can. I love the identity that we play with. I know, on the outside, that not everyone may agree with how we play, but it’s who we are, and I love it.”

When asked about their lack of playoff wins and appearances during his tenure as the General Manager, Tom Telesco was quick to state that this was “year one” of their new front office team.

“When I talked to the team the day after the Raiders game, the one thing I told them — certainly for guys like [OLB] Joey Bosa, [WR] Keenan Allen, [RB] Austin Ekeler, guys have been here a while — this was Year 1; Year 1 with this football team, Year 1 with Brandon Staley, Year 1 in a stadium full of our fans, not an empty stadium. We’re going to build on this year.” Understandably he’s not concerned with the past years, stating, “I see this more as a beginning than anything else!”

“No matter what cap space you have, you can’t build a team through free agency, but you can certainly supplement it.” Telesco said when asked about being aggressive this off-season and capitalizing on the window he has with their mix of star players.

“There’s certainly a sense of urgency every year with how we put it together.”

“We’ll get into 2022 and that plan soon, but I’ll tell you this about Mike, I didn’t see this as a one-year thing with Mike this year,” Telesco explained. Telesco continued about 5th-year receiver Mike Williams, “His first year with us was a medical redshirt. In his second year in the league, he had ten touchdowns.

In his third year, he had 1,000 yards and led the league in yardsper-catch. Then, this coming year, where we knew he was going

to have more targets and that we were going to expand where we used him on the field, and he produced again — a career year in catches and yards. He’s had a great early career for us.”

For contract negotiating purposes, Tom ended his comments about Mike Williams by stating, “We’ll figure out the future moving forward.” Understanding how valuable Williams was to this squad this past season, it sounds like resigning Mike will be a priority this off-season.

“We’re going to focus on the whole, complete team going into next year. There won’t be one side of the ball, there won’t be one position group, that won’t be one position — it’s a complete look at the football team.” While avoiding the question of what he learned this past season, Telesco explained their focus on this off-season.

About their play-calling during this season, modest or even hard-core fans would agree that their play-calling was maybe too aggressive at times. I was eager, to hear if a conversation was had, by him or anyone else in the front office that asked Staley to tone down the aggressiveness of his in-game play calls. “No, there was no discussion of that during the season,” Telesco asserted.

Telesco went on to add, “I trust our head coach 100 percent, I do. I want to play aggressive football. Being here in Los Angeles, our No. 1 goal is to win — 1A is to entertain on the way to winning. If you watched us play this year, I think it’d be hardpressed to say that we’re not an exciting football team. That’s the template that we play. I love it. I think it’s fun. It’s exciting to watch. I’m with Brandon [Staley] 100 percent, and that’s one of the reasons why we hired him.”

Telesco was asked about what happened down the stretch of their season, in a matter-of-fact fashion, he said, “As I looked at the defense, moving into this year, I certainly knew that it was going to be a different scheme, new system, new coaches, but I felt like at all three levels, we had a playmaker, or playmakers, at all three levels — plus, with high football character, high football intelligence — it should be pretty seamless.”

Understanding the defense didn’t maximize their potential Telesco continued to say, “I can’t argue with the numbers. We were bottom-five in most points allowed, bottom-five on third down, and bottom-five in red-zone — those are pretty key categories.

And, kind of middle of the road in takeaways. I overestimated where we may be with that because I love the scheme, I love the system, and I love the coaching staff.”

About their defensive production, Telesco added, “I’ll take the responsibility that our defense did not play up to the expectations that we had for them. It was frustrating. We just didn’t get the stops that we needed to get. We didn’t get enough stops. We got some, but not enough. A lot of times, it’s some things that take no talent; alignment, assignment, and technique, those are three things that any player can do, and it’s so important

in defense.”

Telesco was then asked about his thoughts on the Alex G Spanos Coaching Fellowship, and he mentioned the importance of this fellowship is, “it gives people opportunities in a couple of different ways. One, education and learning, getting in the building every day, and working with the coaching staff. It’s also great for networking because once you get in the league and you meet more people, inevitably, in this business, a coach you work with today leaves and goes somewhere else, then your tree gets even bigger. But the biggest thing, though, is getting that chance.

That’s why it’s so important, not only on the coaching side but also on the player personnel side.”

In regards to their run defense form this past season, Telesco, in agreement with Brandon Staley said, “The run defense has to improve! We had a lot of stretches this year that the players that are out there did some pretty good things, but we weren’t consistent enough by any means. We have to take a good look at that, and we have to get better. Some of it is alignment, assignment, and technique, some of its personnel, and some of it’s just being in the second year of the defense. Run defense is very important.

We can’t be bottom-five in anything. Pass-rush and coverage are probably a little more important to me, but we have to get to that point, and getting to that point is being able to stop the run when we need to stop the run.”

While the press conference began to touch on all that went wrong for the Chargers this season. I figured; I’d ask Telesco about what went right for them this season. Telesco responded by saying, “how they played, their style of play, the resolve that they showed in games, we were never out of the game — especially with Justin.

We went, essentially, nine deep on the offensive line. We lost our right guard and right tackle early in the season. That group did tremendously. Overall, if you look at that offensive line, we threw for 5,000 yards and ran for 1,800 yards. We ran the ball when we had to run it, which was, in the fourth quarter of games when we had the lead. Our sack numbers were top-five least allowed. Our pressures allowed were top-five least allowed, and that’s from that whole group of five, that’s not just all Rashawn Slater or Corey Linsley, that’s all five of those guys. Proud of that group. That tight end group gave us 90 catches and did it in different ways — a great group, great depth from that position. There’s just a lot to work with here. It’s exciting football. We just have to keep building on that.”

About their focus in free-agency, unrestricted or restricted, Telesco would say, “we would rather draft and develop our own and sign our own, wherever we can. We know that it can’t be everybody, but that’s our desire. Our philosophy on free agency is that we’re selective, but we have also been relatively successful with those signings. Our priority is to reward our own, where it’s needed. Then, we’ll go from there and look into the outside and

see what players fit what we want to do here. Free agency is verydifficult to find the right players that come in and fit at the right time. It’s very difficult.”

After hearing from the Los Angeles Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco last week, his support of Brandon Staley is clear. I probably shouldn’t be surprised that he also is excited about the future potential of this team and organization.

Though he didn’t share his ten-step plan to playoff supremacy, his comfortability and confidence in the process should give Bolts fans something to be excited about. After all, their rookie head coach did lead them to nine wins this season and should be considerably better next season. Let me know your thoughts on the Chargers front office by reaching out to me on Twitter @whatsgoodnsport or email or voiceofthefans@outlook.com. I’d love to hear any suggestions you may have or what you see as key factors facing these Los Angeles Chargers. Let me know so I can dig into these topics.

Lastly, be sure to subscribe to our weekly “Voice of the Fans Podcast,” which is available for you on most podcasting platforms; Apple and Google Podcasts, including Spotify, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. On our Podcast, we have passionate banter about everything NFL while addressing current NBA topics, in addition to discussing multiple issues in and around the world of sports. Thank you, as always, for spending time with me and Making Our Voice, Your Choice!

Chargers general manager Tom Telesco. (Photo: Chargerswire.com)

PGA TOUR Announces Spaces as Part of Twitter Extension in 2022

As part of the agreement, the PGA TOUR will continue to publish real-time highlights each day of every official PGA TOUR tournament.

NNPA Newswire PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA, AND SAN FRANCISCO – The PGA TOUR and Twitter announced a renewal of their content agreement that supports the TOUR’s creation of exclusive content for Twitter’s new live audio feature, Spaces.

As part of the agreement, the PGA TOUR will continue to publish real-time highlights each day of every official PGA TOUR tournament.

Additionally, the PGA TOUR will make branded and player-specific highlights and weekly Twitter Moments recapping tournament play available for sponsorship with Twitter Amplify.

The PGA TOUR plans to create Spaces throughout the season in 2022 with exclusive coverage featuring current players and industry experts that will discuss all the action on the PGA TOUR and the race for the FedExCup. “The PGA TOUR and Twitter have been committed to creating innovative ways for fans to interact with our sport,” said Chris Wandell, Vice President Media Business Development, PGA TOUR. “Spaces is a great platform for the TOUR to deliver exclusive content to its fans in what promises to be an exciting year in golf.”

TOUR Spaces will debut at The Honda Classic at PGA

National Resort & Spa, February 21-27. The coverage will be available globally on Twitter and can be found via @PGATOUR. “We’re so happy to see our partnership with PGA TOUR expanding to bring even more of golf’s best moments and hottest topics to the Twitter timeline,” said TJ Adeshola, Head of US Sports Partnerships at Twitter.

“The golf community on Twitter has seen tremendous growth over the course of our partnership and this year, weekly Spaces will bring them closer than ever to the tournaments and experts.”

The PGA TOUR has participated in the Twitter Amplify program since 2015 enabling advertisers to sponsor @PGATOUR video content.

The PGA TOUR and Twitter initially teamed up to live stream tournament coverage during the opening rounds of the first two events of the 2016 FedExCup Playoffs.

The two companies formalized their live stream relationship in January 2017 when they agreed to stream PGA TOUR LIVE coverage from select events during the 2016-2017 PGA TOUR Season.

In 2020, Twitter and the TOUR teamed up on “Twitter Multicast,” a global live content execution that was a first-of-its kind for the social media platform.

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The Valley’s News Observer

Thursday, January 27, 2022

The 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Lineup Announced

By Ricky Richardson Contributing Writer New Orleans, LA.- Spring will be here before you know it. This is exciting news for the global community of music aficionados. The highly anticipated lineup for the pandemic delayed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell was announced Thursday, January 20th. Social media platforms were buzzing for this awesome lineup. One can find something on the lineup to satisfy a multitude of musical taste.

Lionel Richie, Norah Jones, Erykah Badu, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Ludacris, Nelly, CeeLo Green’s Tribute to James Brown, Kool & The Gang, Bettye LaVette, and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue are just a few of the hundreds of artists that are scheduled to perform at this year’s Jazz Fest.

There is no denying that the beautiful city of New Orleans is the destination of choice for people seeking a GT, not Gin & Tonic (although this is debatable and negotiable). What I meant

by GT is a GOOD TIME! Locals and tourist alike fatefully and enthusiastically return to New Orleans each year for Jazz Fest, to partake of and celebrate the cuisine, music, and culture of the Crescent City. This year is significant, because we can all sing in harmony and in unison “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell has become an annual Springtime tradition for music lovers for over 50 years. Organizers consistently showcases a stellar lineup of musicians to entertain hundreds of thousands of international

fans, who travel from all over the world to the wonderful city of New Orleans. No need to ‘Fest In Place’ attendees can experience Jazz Fest again, live and in person.

Jazz Fest consists of a variety of stages and tents that feature a smorgasbord of genres of music and performances, fest activities and even live demonstrations. Veterans and novice fest goers have the option of visiting multiple stages or camping out at one or more stages. The two main stages- Acura Stage and Gentilly Stage host the bigger name artists. Entertainment is also presented on the following stages: Congo Square Stage, Blues Tent, Gospel Tent, Jazz Tent, Kids Tent, The Sheraton New Orleans Fais Do Do Stage, Jazz & Heritage Stage, Allison Miner Music Heritage, Food Heritage Stage, Cajun Cabin, Economy Hall tent and Lagniappe Stage.

The additional incredible artists on the lineup are Irma Thomas, Buddy Guy, Terence Blanchard, Third World, The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, PJ Morton, Dottie Peoples, and Walter Wolfman Washington & The Roadmasters.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit www. nojazzfest.com, click on the various links at the top of page to familiarize yourself with everything Jazz Fest has to offer and to find answers on the FAQ page. Better yet, sign up for the Jazz Fest newsletter to be the first to know of updates.

Let the music marathon began, get your groove on at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell.

Covered California’s Jan. 31 Deadline Nears to Sign Up for Quality, Low-cost Health Plans

Marva Neal (Courtesy Photo)

Having health care coverage and getting COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters are critical to protecting your health and the health of your family and community.

Covered California is urging those who do not have health insurance to sign up for affordable, brand-name health plans by its Jan. 31 open-enrollment deadline to have their coverage start Feb. 1.

This open-enrollment deadline comes as the COVID-19 Omicron variant continues to surge across California and is still disproportionately impacting African Americans and other people of color. With the cost of an emergency room visit

averaging $8,000 and COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU care at $127,000 -- if you don’t have health insurance -- it underscores the importance of having health coverage to avoid medical debt.

Covered California estimates that there are more than 1 million Californians who currently don’t have health insurance and are eligible for more financial help than ever before through Covered California or Medi-Cal to enroll in brand-name health plans. Right now, two out of every three Covered California enrollees can get comprehensive health coverage for $10 or less per month.

Marva Neal said she has truly benefitted from having an affordable, quality health plan through Covered California health.

Neal lives in Los Angeles and immigrated from Belize to California more than 40 years ago but didn’t have health insurance until early last year, when she got enrolled into a Covered California plan with Molina Health.

“It’s been nothing but easy going since I’ve gotten a health plan,” said Neal.

Neal works as an aide at a Los Angeles senior day care center and is paying $49 per month for her health coverage. Shortly after getting coverage last year, she spotted a lump on her neck and scheduled an appointment with a physician.

“The doctor said that I had a tumor growing on my neck, and 10 days later I had surgery,” Neil said. “Luckily the tumor was benign, and I didn’t have any problems. Everything went so smooth.”

Signing up for a Covered California or Medi-Cal health plan for 2022 can not only help you avoid high medical bills, but it can also prevent you from having to pay costly penalties at tax time. Consumers who can afford health care coverage but choose to go without could pay a hefty penalty when they file their state taxes next year, which could be as much as $800 for an individual and $2,400 for a family of four. This penalty is administered by California’s Franchise Tax Board Those interested in learning more about their health coverage options through Covered California and Medi-Cal can: · Visit CoveredCA.com. · Get free and confidential assistance, in a variety of languages, from a certified enroller. · Have a certified enroller call them and help them for free. · Call Covered California at (800) 300-1506.