Bilingual Weekly
Archive for March 2012
Nutrition for Healthier Businesses: Chef LaLa visits Stockton
Stockton, CA — “You can choose to throw in the towel or clean the sweat off your head and work harder,” said Chef LaLa as she encouraged the attendees of the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 11th annual Latina Business Conference on March 22nd at the Stockton Hilton Hotel. Continue reading
Stockton Symphony closes classics series with power Pianist
STOCKTON, CA – Maestro Peter Jaffe conducts the Stockton Symphony’s season-closing Classics concerts featuring Italian pianist Antonio Pompa-Baldi on Thursday, April 12, and Saturday, April 14. The concerts will be held at the Warren Atherton Auditorium on the San Joaquin Delta College campus. Continue reading
Minority students across America face Harsher Discipline
Minority students across America face harsher discipline, have less access to rigorous high school curricula, and are more often taught by lower-paid and less experienced teachers, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Continue reading
tonight: Meeting for Benjamin Holt Drive Resurfacing Project
(Stockton, CA)—Members of the public are invited to a public meeting on Thursday, March 29, 2012, to learn about the upcoming Benjamin Holt Drive Resurfacing Project. The meeting will be held from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School Multi-Use Room, 818 West Lincoln Road, Stockton.
Engineers from the San Joaquin County Public Works Department will make a brief presentation and also provide exhibits explaining how the street will look and function after it is resurfaced and restriped.
Benjamin Holt Drive will be resurfaced from Plymouth Road to Gettysburg Place. New pavement striping will be included to create two traveling lanes and one center lane to allow left-turns into driveways within the existing roadway. The center turn lane is expected to decrease the likelihood of collisions and increase safety for motorists and bicyclists.
Residents will still have parking in front of their homes.
For more information: Send e-mail to Hotline or call the Project Hotline at (209) 464-4350
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information provided by buethecommunications
IRS Encourages Small Employers to Check Out Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
IR-2012-33, March 13, 2012
WASHINGTON — With business tax-filing deadlines fast approaching, the Internal Revenue Service today encouraged small employers that provide health insurance coverage to their employees to check out the small business health care tax credit and then claim it if they qualify.
A delegation from the LXI Legislature of Mexico`s Senate visits Sacramento
Sacramento, CA — The Consulate General of Mexico in Sacramento participated in a visit from a delegation of the LXI Legislature of the Senate of Mexico to the California State Assembly. The visit was in response to an invitation from the California State Assembly Speaker, John A. Perez, in response to his visit to Mexico City in September 2011.
With Cónsul Carlos González Gutiérrez, Sen. Silvano Aureoles, Sen. Amira Gómez, Sen. Claudia Corichi and Sen. Adriana González at the Mexican Consulate in Sacramento.
(Photo Courtesy of the Mexican Consulate)
The Mexican delegation seeks to promote and keep open communication channels with the California State Legislature, as well as acknowledge the leadership of the legislature in promoting a constructive approach to address the phenomenon of immigration and to the several issues on the bilateral agenda with Mexico.
The delegation will be headed by Senator Silvano Aureoles Conejo, vice president of the Senate, and includes Senator Adriana González Carrillo, president of the Committee on Foreign Relations, North America, Senator Claudia Sofia Corichi Garcia, secretary of the Committee on Foreign Relations, North America, and Senator Amira Gómez Tueme, secretary of the Committee on Foreign Relations, North America.
“Masked Warriors Live” at the Stockton Arena
Stockton, CA- Luchastars such as Lizmark Jr., Super Nova, Pequeño Halloween, Marco Corleone, RJ Brewer, Shane “Hurricane” Helms and Chavo Guerrero Jr., Latin Lover, Melina and Mexican legends, La Parka, Tinieblas and Blue Demon Jr.-all gathered at the “Masked Warriors Live” held at the Stockton Arena on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Continue reading
Opinion: Los San Patricios
By Pablo Rodriguez
Rodríguez is the Executive Director of Communities for a New California (CNC),
Had you ever heard of the St. Patrick’s Battalion? Did you know that thanks to Los San Patricios, you could wear a “Kiss Me I’m an Immigrant” and a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” button with your best green garb on St. Patrick’s Day?
This Saturday, Mexican and Irish artists will gather in Fresno, California to celebrate a strong bond dating back 166 years between Ireland and Mexico. Through traditional song, dance and music, artists will commemorate the Irish immigrant soldiers that formed the St. Patrick’s Battalion and are regarded as heroes, by Mexicans and Irish, of the U.S.-Mexico War of 1846 to 1848.
The concert will benefit the Central Valley Dream Team (CVDT), a Fresno-based organization that fights for equal access to education for undocumented students. The CVDT funds scholarships, provides a network of support, and advocates for a federal DREAM Act, and other pro-immigrant legislation.
About el Batallón de San Patricio:
The battalion’s story begins with Ireland’s potato famine (The Great Hunger: Britain’s genocide by starvation) of the 1840s that took the lives of half of its population. One million Irish set sail to the United States and other countries.
In May 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico and found itself with the need to fill its fighting ranks. In one of the earliest examples of a poverty draft, recently arrived Irish immigrants were enticed to join the army by promises of pay and citizenship: “Be a soldier, earn your pay, and bring your folks to the U.S.A.” Scores of young Catholic Irishmen joined the predominantly Protestant U.S. Army within days of landing in New York.
Not long after crossing the Rio Grande, a group of Irish immigrant conscripts began questioning the virtue of war against Mexico. They started to see war as an arbitrary use of force and an unjust land grab. Facing ethnic and immigrant discrimination by their mostly Anglo-Protestant commanders, hundreds of soldiers defected and formed the St. Patrick’s Battalion under the leadership of John Riley. They fought bravely, with many losing their lives, for the Mexican people they shared a common religion and cultural experience with.
As a result, both Mexico and Ireland issued postage stamps commemorating Los San Patricios. There is a statue of Jon Riley in his hometown of Clifden, Ireland, a gift from Mexico to Ireland. In 1959, the Mexican government dedicated a commemorative plaque to Los San Patricios in San Angel just outside of Mexico City. The plaque lists the names of the battalion of immigrants who lost their lives in battle and execution.
The Spirit of Los San Patricios Today
I’m confident that if the DREAM Act passes in states like California, Illinois, and Maryland, a federal DREAM Act will foster an entire generation of students that positively impact our country. I’m repeatedly taken aback by the ability of undocumented students to overcome obstacles they face in their lives. I marvel at the character it takes to be able to transform those experiences into sources of strength and pride. Their challenging life experiences are only surpassed by their willingness and desire to learn. Their fluency, often in Spanish and English, and sometimes other languages, allow them to move confidently between cultures, articulating our community’s needs and advocating for change.
This Saturday, make your way to Fresno and celebrate Los San Patricios with the Central Valley DREAM Team. If you can’t make it to Fresno, raise a glass as you sing a joyous song with friends. Toast to the spirit galvanized by struggle. Toast to the immigrant aspirations, hopes, and dreams of the St. Patrick’s Battalion. Give a shout out loud: “Que Vivan Los San Patricios!”
Dreamer Students began a Nine- Month Journey from California to Washington D.C.
Sacramento, CA — This week “the walkers” have completed the first two weeks of their nine month journey to the nation’s capital, Washington D.C., in support of the federal DREAM Act. Continue reading
STOCKTON’S AB 506 CONFIDENTIAL MEDIATION PARTICIPANTS
(Stockton, CA) - On February 28, 2012, the Stockton City Council approved moving forward with a confidential neutral evaluation process recently adopted through state legislation, AB 506. The process gives municipalities that are in fiscal distress an opportunity for financial restructuring, not unlike what goes on in the private sector. The City has not declared bankruptcy.
The City’s total annual budget is $600 million including all funds and operations; the financial restructuring involves only a small portion of the City’s total budget – the General Fund – which represents approximately $165 million of the larger budget.
The AB 506 process allows municipalities to enter into a period of confidential mediation with creditors or “interested parties” with $5 million or more in obligations or debt. The City and interested parties will select a mediator with the goal of reaching an agreement on how to manage these City debt obligations.
AB 506 process requires that the mediation process remain confidential; however, the participants in Stockton’s AB 506 process have all agreed to identify the names of the organizations that will be participating, which is allowable under the legislation. The participating parties include:
- Association of Retired Employees of the City Of Stockton
- Assured Guaranty
- California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS)
- Dexia Credit Local, New York Branch
- Franklin Advisers, Inc.
- Jarvis/MUD case
- Mid-Management/Supervisory Level Unit (Management B&C Employees)
- National Public Finance Guarantee Corp.
- Operating Engineers’ Local 3
- Price case
- Stockton City Employees’ Association (SCEA)
- Stockton Firefighters’ Local 456
- Stockton Fire Management Unit
- Stockton Police Management Association
- Stockton Police Officers’ Association (SPOA)
- Union Bank, NA
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as indenture trustee for the following bonds: Redevelopment Authority of the City of Stockton Revenue Bonds, Series 2004 (Stockton Events Center Arena Project); Stockton Public Financing Authority Lease Revenue Bonds, Series 2004 (Parking and Capital Projects); Stockton Public Financing Authority 2006 Lease Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series A; Stockton Public Financing Authority Variable Rate Demand Lease Revenue Bonds, 2007 Series A and 2007 Series B (Taxable) (Building Acquisition Financing Project); City of Stockton 2007 Taxable Pension Obligations Bonds, Series A and Series B; Stockton Public Financing Authority Lease Revenue Bonds, 2009 Series A (Capital Improvement Projects); Stockton Public Financing Authority Variable Rate Demand Water Revenue Bonds, Series 2010A (Delta Water Supply Project)
In addition, the participants have all agreed to provide the name of the mediator, once the mediator has been selected.
For additional information or questions, please visit www.stocktongov.com or call (209) 937-8827.
The Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project’s (CLYLP) “San Joaquin Valley Institute”
The Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project’s (CLYLP) “San Joaquin Valley Institute”
In an effort to serve more students across the state and building on the leadership development training program developed for the CLYLP’s summer program, the CLYLP Board of Directors launched two regional leadership institutes in the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles area. The institutes are guided by the same mission and vision as the CLYLP and further increase the capacity of the organization to reach deserving students in a local and regional context.
Regional leadership institute participants are housed in a college/university campus in the local region for a three-day intensive leadership training program focusing on the four C’s: Community, Culture, College and Careers. Similar to the Sacramento based summer program, institute participants learn the importance of civic engagement and participate in mock City council session and connect with regional leaders and organizations.
The San Joaquín Valley Institute (SJVI) was established in 1999 by a CLYLP board member to serve high school seniors and juniors in the Central Valley. In 2005, the SJVI became an official program of the CLYLP and was extended from a one-day to a three-day institute. The three day conference is held at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, California
The institute is designed to:
Inspire students’ educational and professional potential through individual and small group interactions with educational, business, political and community leaders.
Encourage their pursuit of post secondary educational opportunities;
Motivate them to better the San Joaquin Valley Chicano/Latino Community through public service;Instill the importance of cultural and family values.
Some activities during the three-day institute are:
Full 2010 Program Details Mock City Council Hearings at Fresno City Hall: Students learn about the local government process through active participation in mock hearings and interactions with elected city and county leaders.
Higher Education Workshops: Students learn about financial aid, college/university options, A-G requirements, college admission essays and timelines.
Career Panel: Students hear from successful political, business and community leaders.
SJVI Dates: June 22-24, 2012
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Your completed application (including all forms) must be postmarked by April 2, 2012.
If you need more information, please contact the CLYLP by:
(1) Via e-mail at sjvi@clylp.org
(2) Forwarding letters of inquiry to the following address:
Chicano/Latino Youth Leadership Project, Inc.
P.O. Box 161566
Sacramento, CA 95816 ____________________________________________________________________ Information courtesy of Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project
Boxer Calls on Wireless Industry to Protect Smartphone Users From Theft and Violence
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today called on the CTIA, the wireless industry association, to move promptly to deploy protections for smartphone users as violent thefts of such devices have increased nationwide.
The industry association, on behalf of the major U.S. wireless companies, is in discussions with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about developing the necessary protections for American consumers. Yet in a recent NBC News report, a CTIA spokesperson suggested that such solutions should not be implemented in the U.S. until they are adopted in other parts of the world, including Mexico, Central and South America, China and Africa.
In her letter, Senator Boxer wrote, “The U.S. is a leader in developing mobile phone technology and there is absolutely no reason we should wait for other nations to act when the safety and security of our citizens is threatened.”
The full text of the letter appears below:
March 23, 2012
Steve Largent, President & CEO
CTIA, The Wireless Association
1400 16th St. NW
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036
Dear Mr. Largent:
I write to bring to your attention an alarming NBC News report that highlights the growing epidemic of smartphone thefts nationwide. As the report points out, not only has theft of smartphones become a multimillion-dollar business, but the physical safety of smartphone owners is being threatened.
Recently, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, which includes police chiefs from nearly seventy cities nationwide including several in California, adopted a resolution outlining measures that would help deter crime and protect the public. The association noted that the technology exists in the United Kingdom and Australia to disable handsets remotely, thus reducing the ability of thieves and black-market purchasers to use stolen smartphones. Also, the association called for the development of a stolen phone tracking database to assist law enforcement and providers in recovering and disabling stolen smartphones.
My understanding is that through the CTIA, the major U.S. wireless companies are currently engaged in talks with the FCC about deploying, across platforms, measures to address these thefts. However, I was discouraged to hear a CTIA representative tell NBC News that solutions should not be implemented in the U.S. until such solutions are adopted and implemented in other parts of the world, including Mexico, Central and South America, China and Africa. The U.S. is a leader in developing mobile phone technology and there is absolutely no reason we should wait for other nations to act when the safety and security of our citizens is threatened.
All parties involved should come to a prompt resolution that affords the necessary protection for American consumers. Additionally, I encourage CTIA and the FCC to include input from members of our law enforcement community and device manufacturers in developing these plans.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
CC: Julius Genachowski, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
Community Meeting for Benjamin Holt Drive Resurfacing Project
(Stockton, CA)—Members of the public are invited to a public meeting on Thursday, March 29, 2012, to learn about the upcoming Benjamin Holt Drive Resurfacing Project. The meeting will be held from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School Multi-Use Room, 818 West Lincoln Road, Stockton.
Engineers from the San Joaquin County Public Works Department will make a brief presentation and also provide exhibits explaining how the street will look and function after it is resurfaced and restriped.
Benjamin Holt Drive will be resurfaced from Plymouth Road to Gettysburg Place. New pavement striping will be included to create two traveling lanes and one center lane to allow left-turns into driveways within the existing roadway. The center turn lane is expected to decrease the likelihood of collisions and increase safety for motorists and bicyclists.
Residents will still have parking in front of their homes.
For more information: Send e-mail to Hotline or call the Project Hotline at (209) 464-4350
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information provided to bw
Ricky Gill Runs for Congress
San Joaquin County — “We deserve a seat at the table, and a voice in American politics,” said Congressional Candidate Ricky Gill. Continue reading
Puerto Rican Theresa Velazquez runs for 4th District at City Council
Dance instructor and business woman, Theresa Velazquez, D.M., is running for Stockton City Council District 4. Continue reading
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