Thousands of Californians are missing out on federal student aid. Here’s why... Continued from page 2.

AB 1000 Approved by Assembly Natural Resources Committee

By an 8-3 margin, bill putting distance between new logistics centers and sensitive receptors like homes, schools and daycares moves forward.

(SACRAMENTO) — Today for Ability to Benefit by taking six credits worth of classes. At for-profit colleges, nearly every student qualifies for it through an exam.

“It’s sort of a scam how they are getting bucket loads of people to hit a cut score on an exam who somehow couldn’t pass the GED test,” said Mortrude. The department created many of the new regulations to clamp down on such “predatory behavior,” she said. A third way While students generally qualify for Ability to Benefit through the two national pathways, federal law also allows states to develop their own processes.

In 2019, Mortrude, Castro, and other college leaders sent a proposal to the Community College Chancellor’s Office on how California could set its own such process. Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi, Washington and Wisconsin have already done it.

In Wisconsin, for example, adult students at some technical colleges can qualify for aid by participating in an orientation and by working with a tutor or academic counselor, among other criteria.

The individual community colleges are responsible for implementing the Ability to Benefit provision for students, said Paul Feist, a vice chancellor for the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, in a statement. He said the office will explore creating a “state defined process” akin to what other states have done. The office did not provide a timeline for a new state process.

This month, a committee of Saddleback administrators came together to figure out the federal regulations with the goal of offering the Ability to Benefit aid this fall.

If they succeed, Villa has a list of expenses he hopes his aid can cover. First, he’s late on child support payments. He wants a new apartment and after putting on some weight during the COVID pandemic, he needs new clothes that fit. Adam Echelman covers California’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.

Black Voices are Speaking Out, but Are they Being Heard?

Cedric Richmond is the Latest National Black Voice to Appeal to the FCC in Support of Standard General’s Acquisition of

TEGNA and Diversity in Media Ownership the Assembly Natural Resources Committee approved AB 1000, the Good Neighbor Policy, which addresses the planning and construction of new logistics centers across California. The bill would permit local governments to approve construction of large warehouses and logistics centers of over 100,000 square feet when they are 1,000 feet from sensitive receptors such as schools, homes and daycares. Local governments would also be able to approve construction of these facilities as close as 750 feet from a sensitive receptor when specific mitigation measures are followed to reduce negative community impacts.

“Today was an important initial step in moving AB 1000 through the legislative process” said Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes. “I am encourage by the diverse group of stakeholder including healthcare professionals, environmentalists, and organized labor who joined us in calling for balance between warehouse construction and community quality of life. I look forward to continuing to engaging with stakeholders on all sides of this issue as this legislation moves forward.” AB 1000 will next be scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Local Government Committee. To sign up for email updates on this legislation, download a factsheet, and to view articles and videos relevant to AB 1000 you can visit https://a50.asmdc. org/GoodNeighbor.

Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes is the Majority Leader of the California State Assembly, representing Assembly District 50, which includes the cities of Colton, Fontana, Loma Linda, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands and San Bernardino, as well as unincorporated Bloomington.

Subscribe online to The San Bernardino AMERICAN News Receive your newspaper Weekly! ($59 a year) Visit our website: sb-american.com or Mail check or money order to: PO Box 837 Victorville, CA 92393

Action Required: Medi-Cal Renewal Process Is Underway Across California...continued

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By Hazel Trice Edney (TriceEdneyWire.com) -

Cedric Richmond, former Congressman (LA-2), former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, former senior advisor to President Joe Biden, and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, has become the latest voice of Black America to appeal to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for racial diversity in media ownership.

In an opinion-editorial published in the Baltimore Sun, Richmond exhorted the FCC not to “cave to special interests who have sought to pit minority groups against each other in an effort to block one of the biggest opportunities in history to advance media ownership diversity in our country.”

Richmond was referring to the Standard General’s acquisition of media company TEGNA, a deal widely viewed as a major opportunity to instantly enhance minority media ownership and transform local newsrooms by bringing a level of new and racially diverse media faces and voices into them like never before seen or heard across America.

“It’s an exciting opportunity. But rather than celebrating this thrilling moment, deal critics have resorted to the ugliest of rhetoric,” Richmond points out.

The FCC has given Standard General no feedback or provided any reasons for not taking a vote, and it appears to be running out the clock on the deal, for which Richmond exhorts the commission to clarify any “substantive grounds for rejecting” the acquisition or “act and change its course.”

In his appeal, Richmond joins a distinguished line up of civil rights leaders, activists and media professionals supporting the acquisition. They include household names such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, media personality Roland Martin, civil rights lawyer Barbara Arnwine, Benjamin Chavis of the NNPA, among many others. Richmond recently appeared on Sharpton’s radio show, “Keepin’ It Real”.

In response to Rev. Sharpton’s questions about the state of media diversity, Richmond gave a dismal report on the state of Black media in America.

“It’s not diverse at all,” he said. “And especially when you talk about the ownership of media in the United States.

And so you know it far better than I do because you have been there and been a voice… one that has always pushed for diversity. And it’s just something that we've never been able to accomplish or never been able to hold the powers that be to make them diversify it. And so now you're talking about a day and age where you have so much misinformation, so much fake news, so much alternative facts, people really need to know the truth and we always say that, you know, facts and truth empower people to know what's going on in their community. So that’s why your TV Show is so important, your radio show is so important among other voices that are out there. But if we don’t own it and you don’t have diversity in ownership then you are at the whim of what others say.”

Rev. Sharpton later asked Richmond why Standard General’s deal with TEGNA matters. Mr. Richmond explained: “Well the proposed acquisition by Standard General of TEGNA would create the country’s, it would create the biggest TV broadcasting company owned by a minority, led by a female, and you have history. And for an administration that focuses on diversity, and I know for a fact that the President when he says it he means it, and the FCC is in the process of letting this golden opportunity to empower minority voices…You're talking about a deal that would infuse almost two billion dollars into TEGNA to allow them to expand local news funding. The leadership of Standard General, Soo Kim, has a great track record in terms of labor, in terms of investing in companies. So immediately off the bat they’re saying they won't lay anyone off in the newsroom for three years, and they're going to continue to create local grant funds for local journalism.”

Even with top civil rights and Black media voices pushing for the TEGNA acquisition, it appears they are not being heard. Unless the FCC does an abrupt turnaround, it is still on course to allow the proposal to die, despite promises from Kim to maximize newsroom investment and diversity. “No one in the history of this country has had to deal with what the FCC Is doing to Standard General,” Richmond concluded.

“We (Standard General) want to partner with community journalism groups to amplify the work they’re doing and the communities they represent,” Kim said in an interview last June.

“We’re open to exploring new partnership models to get diverse viewpoints and perspectives on the air and to make sure people have the resources to do it. We’re calling it enhanced community access or creative community access and we’re excited about the possibilities it will open up.”

Together, Standard General and TEGNA, would be led by television industry veteran Deb McDermott, the first woman from broadcast management to be inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame.

TEGNA has a national audience with stations in over 50 markets. “I’ve long believed the people producing the news should be as diverse as those who tune in to watch it every day — and this deal is an opportunity to achieve exactly that,” Kim said last year.

Yet, a year later, the FCC mysteriously appears poised to allow the venture to fail.

Children’s Partnership Executive Director Mayra Alvarez said during the online call that it is important for MediCal eligible families to keep coverage.

“As we come out of this public health emergency, health insurance coverage and access to care is essential for everyone to be healthy and thrive,” she explained. “Particularly during this pandemic, which has also exacerbated mental health issues for children and youth across the state.”

Alvarez said most of Medi-Cal enrollees are people of color, and nearly 70% of the 5.7 million children that use the service are minorities.

“It is a lifeline for so many in our communities, and it’s a program that continues to be available for the millions enrolled,” she stated. “Even before the pandemic, long standing, structurally racist policies and practices have created an environment wherein families of color experience significantly greater degrees of instability. Instability in employment; instability in income; instability in housing. These economic and housing conditions actually heighten the risk of disruptions in health coverage and in doing so, eliminates the security that comes with having health insurance coverage.”

The packets inside the yellow envelopes Medi-Cal members will receive ask for personal information, including their current phone number, email address, and street address. Recipients must reply by the deadline, which is typically between 45 to 60 days after getting the packet in the mail.

For example, packets mailed this month have a June 30 due date and packets sent in May must be returned by July 31. The MediCal account holders can provide that info by mail, online, or by calling their county’s Medi-Cal office.

“The easiest way to actually do this is online,” Huang remarked. Medi-Cal members all have different medical renewal months. Around 30% will be automatically renewed. Those people will get a letter in the mail acknowledging that.

Also, addressed during the briefing were the steps involved in redetermining a person’s eligibility and how to get information in 19 different languages.

Between two million to three million Californians will lose the health service, while others will become eligible for the first time.

Workers hired to jobs that provide health benefits and people who earn enough income to be shifted from the health coverage to Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, are among those predicted to lose Medi-Cal.

Huang said the switch from Medi-Cal to Covered California can be automatic.

“It all goes back to the member must have the most updated information with the county Medi-Cal office for that process to happen,” she said.

The Medi-Cal packets are sent to the last known address of beneficiaries. Recipients whose name, phone number, email address or mailing address have changed in the last three years need to update that information at Covered California, BenefitsCal, or My Benefits CalWIN. Medi-Cal coverage, Alvarez said, can continue for everyone who is eligible.

“Now is the time to make sure we are taking the necessary steps to keep our coverage,” she noted. “This is especially important for people of color, who are more likely to rely on Medi-Cal for coverage and who are more likely to be at risk of losing that coverage.”

Riverside County Library System Celebrates National Library Week April 23-29

Thursday, April 20, 2023

NATIONAL/POLITICAL ADVERTISING

Black Voices are Speaking Out, but Are they Being Heard?

continued from page 3

Black Voice News’ publisher wins ATHENA of Riverside Award

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA

– The Riverside County Library System (RCLS), a leading resource for education, connection, and life enrichment, will celebrate all things library during National Library Week, April 23-29, 2023. National Library Week, an annual observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the United States, promotes library use and support.

Riverside County Library branches serve as a welcoming and accommodating environment that promote a feeling of belonging and encourage the growth of a community among individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and interests. Riverside County residents can benefit from free access to an array of technology, internet access, educational programs, and diverse collections that cater to the needs and interests of the entire community, ensuring that everyone has equal opportunities to avail themselves of these resources.

As part of National Library Week, RCLS extends an invitation to take part in the launch of the new county-wide reading campaign centered around the theme of "READ TODAY, LEAD TOMORROW," which aims to unite and cultivate future leaders. In addition to providing programs and activities at all 36 libraries, the initiative will also recognize the contributions of local leaders who work tirelessly to make Riverside County a great place to live.

"Through the power of reading, we can unlock our full potential and become the leaders of tomorrow," said Third District Supervisor, Chuck Washington.

"That's why I am proud to support the 'Read Today, Lead Tomorrow' reading campaign that will launch during National Library Week, which promotes the library as a valuable resource for personal and professional growth for all members of our community."

By participating in National Library Week with RCLS, county residents can establish a connection with their local library and make a beneficial impact on the community. “We want our patrons to know that reading leads to great outcomes,” says Joan Tyler, Interim RCLS Library Director. “So, we are giving everyone the opportunity to share more about their favorite leader who inspires them at every Library location.”

To find out more about upcoming events and other National Library Week programs happening within the Riverside County Library System, please visit https://rivlib.libcal.com/ calendar.

The Riverside County Library System is a division of the Office of Economic Development. For more information, please contact the Riverside County Library System at (951) 369-3003 or visit rivlib.net.

Oklahoma sheriff says recording of killing talk was illegal

The threatening comments by the officials that were recorded have sparked outrage and protests, with Oklahoma's governor calling for them to resign.

Author: KEN MILLER (Associated Press)

Updated: 7:12 PM EDT April 18, 2023

Richmond explains in his op-ed: “The review process is meant to be completed within 180-days based on an informal 'shot clock.' Yet it took the FCC nearly a full year to make any announcement about it all; and when the commission finally did last week, the message was that it was going to delay a ruling even further by referring the deal to an administrative law judge for more hearings. Keen industry observers were quick to point out that this further delay was likely a death sentence for the transaction — since this drawn out legal process will likely continue well past the May 22nd closing deadline for the acquisition. Indeed, Standard General acknowledged as much in its public statements.”

Among the deal’s earliest supporters, Ben Chavis, President/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association with more than 22 million readers per week, said this week that the FCC should immediately revive Kim’s proposal.

“The National Newspaper Publishers Association takes the position that the FCC should reconsider this issue of Soo Kim and the issue of the potential benefit to communities of color because he suspected the group was continuing to conduct county business after the meeting had ended in violation of the state’s Open Meeting Act.

Willingham said he twice spoke with his attorneys to be sure he was doing nothing illegal.

The newspaper released portions of the recording in which Clardy, sheriff’s Capt. Alicia Manning and District 2 County Commissioner Mark Jennings appear to discuss Bruce and Chris Willingham, a reporter for the newspaper who is Bruce Willingham’s son. Jennings tells Clardy and Manning “I know where two deep holes are dug if you ever need them,” and the sheriff responded, “I’ve got an excavator.”

Jennings also reportedly says he’s known “two or three hit men” in Louisiana, adding “they’re very quiet guys.”

In the recording, Jennings also appears to complain about not being able to hang Black people, saying: “They got more rights than we got.” as a result of this proposal. We believe that upon a rereview by the FCC, it should be reconsidered because it would bring great economic benefit and strongly deal with the issue of equity. The FCC not approving this merger contributes to inequity.”

Jail Administrator Larry Hendrix was also present during the conversation.

The Associated Press could not immediately verify the authenticity of the recording. None of the four have returned telephone calls or emails from The Associated Press.

Despite what appears to be deaf ears at the FCC, the civil rights community shows no sign of giving up.

“The FCC’s failure to seize this opportunity to advance minority media ownership is beyond disappointing,” wrote Richmond.

“From Day 1, the Biden-Harris administration has taken bold action to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout government. Undermining the attempt by a minority business leader to acquire a major media property, and doing so in a way that is totally unprecedented, is, on its face, at odds with the administration’s approach and core values. It is difficult to understand how we have come to this place.” the death of Bobby Barrick, a Broken Bow, Oklahoma, man who died at a hospital in March 2022 after McCurtain County deputies shot him with a stun gun. The newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office seeking body camera footage and other records connected to Barrick’s death.

The FCC is running out of time to do the right thing, Richmond says. But it’s not too late. He and others are clear: Our voices won’t be silenced even if they aren’t being heard.

Separately, Chris Willingham has filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff’s office, Clardy, Manning and the Board of County Commissioners alleging Manning slandered him after he wrote an eight-part series of articles detailing problems inside the sheriff’s office. The lawsuit claims after the first few articles were published, Clardy and Manning began investigating which office employees were speaking to the newspaper and were attempting to get a search warrant for Willingham’s phone.

The lawsuit, which was filed on the same day the recording was made, alleges that after the series was published, Manning told a third party during a teleconference that Chris Willingham exchanged marijuana for pornographic images of children from a man who had been arrested on child pornography charges.

Paulette Brown-Hinds will be honored at May 25 luncheon commerce news release states.

Paulette Brown-Hinds, publisher of the Black Voice News, will be honored as the 2023 ATHENA of Riverside Award recipient on Thursday, May 25, 2023, during an event at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in downtown Riverside. (Courtesy of JSK Journalism Fellows)

Paulette Brown-Hinds, publisher of the Black Voice News, will be honored during a May luncheon at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in downtown Riverside.

Brown-Hinds has won the 38th annual ATHENA of Riverside Award in recognition of her work in the news media and journalism.

The award is given by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and its ATHENA Committee. She will be saluted at noon Thursday, May 25, at The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa. Event proceeds will fund scholarships for young women at Riverside colleges and universities.

Brown-Hinds is “a practitioner and strategist, utilizing Black Media as a trusted source for community news and information,” a chamber of

Brown-Hinds has worked more than 30 years in media, communications and community engagement, the release states. She has served as the lead Black media strategist for several campaigns. Also, she is turning the Black Voice News from a print publication into a digital platform with solutions-based data journalism, the release states. She led the Mapping Black California geospatial community mapping initiative, which won $300,000 from the Google News Initiative Innovation Fund. Brown-Hinds is co-founder of Media In Color, which works with media professionals to “ensure California’s news media organizations in communities of color are self-sufficient civic actors informing, empowering, and advancing the interests of their communities,” the release states.

Brown-Hinds also conducts Underground Railroad Study Tours and has served on several boards, including the American Press Institute, CalMatters and the California Press Foundation. In 2019, she became president of the California News Publishers Association and was the first African American elected to lead the group. She is also the first African American to chair the Inland Empire Community Foundation board.

Event information: Quirina Arana, 951-683-7100, ext. 211, or qarana@riverside-chamber. com

Louisiana Republican Officials Want To Ban America’s Racist Ass History From Being Taught in Universities

They claim the "inglorious aspects" of US history are too divisive for college curriculum.

By Candace McDuffie

An Oklahoma sheriff’s office says a newspaper's audio recording in which the sheriff and other county officials are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists and hanging Black people was illegal and predicted felony charges will be filed.

A post on the sheriff's office Facebook page — the agency's first public comment since the comments by Sheriff Kevin Clardy and others were reported by the McCurtain GazetteNews — does not address the recorded discussion, but calls the situation “complex” and one “we regret having to address.”

The threatening comments by the officials that were recorded have sparked outrage and protests. Oklahoma’s GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt and state Rep. Eddy Dempsey, a Republican who represents the area, have called for Clardy and others to resign.

NAACP leaders in Oklahoma also called for the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate. The sheriff’s statement calls the past 72 hours “amongst the most difficult and disruptive in recent memory” and says the recording was altered and involves many victims.

“There is and has been an ongoing investigation into multiple, significant violation(s) of the Oklahoma Security of Communications Act ... which states that it is illegal to secretly record a conversation in which you are not involved and do not have the consent of at least one of the involved parties,” according to the statement.

Joey Senat, a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University, said under Oklahoma law, the recording would be legal if it were obtained in a place where the officials being recorded did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Bruce Willingham, the longtime publisher of the McCurtain Gazette-News, said the recording was made March 6 when he left a voice-activated county commissioner’s

Glenn Cook, the executive editor of the Las Vegas ReviewJournal, where reporter Jeff German was stabbed to death in September allegedly by an elected official the reporter was investigating, said he was “chilled to the bone” after learning about the Oklahoma case.

“What’s almost as troubling as the contents of the recording is the complete absence of shame,” Cook said of the sheriff’s office’s response to the incident. “Sadly, the willingness of government to protect itself at all costs really never surprises me, but in this particular case the kind of digging in that we’re seeing reflects incredibly poorly on the people of Oklahoma.”

A spokesperson for the FBI’s office in Oklahoma City declined to comment on the case. Phil Bacharach, a spokesperson for Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, said the agency had received an audio recording and is investigating the incident, but declined to comment further.

Bruce Willingham said he believes the local officials were upset about “stories we’ve run that cast the sheriff’s office in an unfavorable light,” including

“Manning made these (and other) false statements about Willingham in retaliation for articles he wrote about the (sheriff’s office) as a reporter for the McCurtain Gazette and to destroy his credibility as a reporter and journalist,” the lawsuit states.

More than 100 people gathered outside the McCurtain County Courthouse in Idabel on Monday, with many of them calling for the sheriff and other county officials to resign.

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Sheriff’s Association, a voluntary membership organization and not a regulatory agency, held an emergency meeting of its board. It voted unanimously to suspend Clardy, Manning and Hendrix from the association. The sheriff’s office statement said there have been “a large number of threats of violence including death threats” against unspecified county employees, officials, their families and friends since the conversation was first reported.

The statement said the sheriff’s office will issue news releases until its investigation concludes “and findings are forwarded to the appropriate authorities for felony charges to be filed on those involved.”

As the right continues their attack on education, Louisiana Republican Party officials want lawmakers to stop colleges from teaching racism in its curriculum. According to NOLA.com, the GOP is asserting that the “inglorious aspects” of American history are too divisive to teach.

In addition, Republican leaders also want to get rid of diversity, equity, and inclusion departments “within any institution of higher learning within the state.” The US Census Bureau has reported that a third of Louisiana residents are Black, according to the US Census Bureau.

In a resolution passed Saturday, the GOP asserted— without any proof—that these programs often have generous budgets and caused incendiary political tensions on campuses. It also criticized Louisiana State University and University of Louisiana System programs, run by Claire Norris, for giving resources to DEI initiatives.

University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson told Insider in a statement that the GOP resolution was “so foreign to the reality at our institutions it defies comment. In addition, he stated: “We make no statement on the inner workings and platform development of political parties. That is their business.

“That said, the naming of an invaluable member of my staff is unnecessary and inappropriate. She is an exemplary professional and an asset to Louisiana and higher education.” State party officials encouraged the Legislature to follow the lead of other conservative states with their resolution by ridding classrooms of curriculum and books pertaining to racism and LGBTQ+ themes.

This measure is similar to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ attack on critical race theory from being taught on college campuses. Republicans insist that teaching American history accurately reinforces white guilt when all it does is educate students on the fact this country was built on the backs of Black people. Erasing it from lessons plans will never change the fact that it happened.