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Politics
SJ Country Supervisor, Carlos Villapudua appointed to the SJ Council of Governments
San Joaquin County Supervisor, Carlos Villapudua, has been appointed to the San Joaquin County Council of Governments.
March along US-Mexico border reaches Stockton
Border Angels started its VII Migrant March in San Diego, along US-Mexico Border, stopping at The Council for the Spanish Speaking of the Stockton Dioscese (El Concilio) in Stockton on February 8th on their way to Sacramento to advocate for migrants rights.
Mexican legends of romantic music to support Jose Hernandez’s U.S. Congressional candidacy
Modesto, CA — Mexican romantic group Los Dandys, along with La Sonora Santanera, will rally support for Jose Hernandez’s congressional race the evening of April 14th at the Modesto Banquet Hall.
Stockton’s Marshall Plan unveils committee
Stockton, CA- Stockton’s City Council met on Tuesday, January 31st in a study session of the Marshall Plan — a plan to combat the city`s escalating crime.
State of the Union: President Pleads for Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON- On January, 25 2012 the president the of the United States of America, Barak Obama, gave his State of the Union Address to Congress in Washington.
His State of the Union Address covered past, present and future issues such as Taxes, Business, Education, Jobs, Trade, Labor, Immigration, Investment, Energy, Infrastructure, Homeownership, Financial Sectors, the Deficit, Seniors, Washington, International Relations, the Military and other topics.
Obama made many requests, among them he asked for a bill with a pathway to citizenship.
“I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. That’s why my administration has put more boots on the border than ever before. That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office. The opponents of action are out of excuses. We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now,” firmly stated President Obama
“But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.” The President made it clear.
Obama was referring to the DREAM Act, without mentioning it while Congressman David Rivera (R-Miami) proposed a new bill, HR-3823, in the last week of January to limit the DREAM Act to Military-Only, excluding students.
New Process for Naturalization
SACRAMENTO, CA — January 24, 2012 marked the last US naturalization ceremony held as a group, with nearly 1,717 who came to swear their oath to the United States of America.
Opinion: Fear or Rights?
By Pablo Rodriguez
On Monday April 4, 2011, dozens of Tea Party members and anti-immigrant supporters met in Sacramento, California to listen to Assembly Member Tim Donnelly and Arizona’s Senator/author of [Senate Bill] SB 1070, Russell Pearce, as they introduced a new bill, known as Assembly Bill (AB) 26. Donnelly and Pearce said they would work arduously to pass immigration laws in California similar to those passed in Arizona. Leaders of immigrant rights movements decided not to give any media attention to Donnelly or Pearce. AB 26 died quietly the following day at the Judicial Assembly Committee of California.
The prompt defeat of AB 26 was one of the many defeats coming for both Donnelly and Pearce. Tired of the divided politics, and Pearce’s corruption, a volunteer army under the leadership of organizer Randy Parraz, and operating under the name “Citizens for a Better Arizona”, led a successful and historic campaign against Senator Pearce who was removed from office. This was the first time in the United States where a President of the Senate was removed from his duties during session.
In California, Assembly Member Tim Donnelly found another opportunity for right wing radio. Immediately following Governor Jerry Brown signing the second part of the California Dream Act (AB 131) in October, Donnelly and his right wing supporters started a campaign to overturn the California Dream Act. Donnelly said to the media, “All we need is 504,000 valid signatures, and I believe we will probably have a million.” Target gift cards and professional signature gatherers were able to reach 447,514 signatures by the deadline January 5, 2012.
The first week of 2012 turned out to be a bad week for Assembly Member Donnelly. At the beginning of the week, he was detained and ticketed for having a loaded 45 caliber gun and a secondary bullet charger with five bullets in a Southwest Airlines flight at Ontario’s Airport. Days after being cited, Donnelly affirmed that he was armed following recent death threats as a result of his campaign to defeat the California Dream Act. He insists that he erroneously left the weapon on his suitcase and he forgot to take it out before boarding the flight to Sacramento.
There is an evident contradiction in Donnelly’s story. He did not notify the office of the California State Assembly Speaker or the Sergeant at Arms about the presumed death threats. If he really felt threatened, he could have asked for—and he would have received— additional security by the California Highway Patrol.
Donnelly has frequently noted that he is a patriot who would like to impose the “right to bear arms.” It would be interesting to see if he will continue leading the “right to bear arms”, when he is before a judge that may condemn him to a year behind bars. Will he be as vocal about the “rights to bear arms” with the Security and Transportation Administration that could also impose a $10,000 fine? I predict that Donnelly “the Patriot” will coward.
Pablo Rodriguez is Executive Director of Communities for a New California, formally the Director of the Community Organization Institute of Dolores Huerta
If you missed it: The State of the Union Address
Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address
United States Capitol Washington, D.C. 9:10 P.M. ET
COMMUNITY OPINION: WHEN IS IT ENOUGH?
The house has sat empty for almost seven months. First the owner and his college buddies left, then his dad moved in with his wife (?), then they left and then someone moved in, and mysterious people began coming by and picking up little white boxes.
OPINION: WHEN IS IT ENOUGH?
The house has sat empty for almost seven months. First the owner and his college buddies left, then his dad moved in with his wife (?), then they left and then someone moved in, and mysterious people began coming by and picking up little white boxes. Who knew: maybe they were selling lunches? Then the traffic picked up a little more. Then the night of the big party, there was loud music and a big fire pit in the backyard, and funny smells. At one o’clock in the morning, the music was interrupting our sleep, so we made a quick call to 911. (This was before all the cuts.) The police came out, and soon the party was over.
Then all was quiet, except for the traffic—day and night. Several months later we found out the tenants had had no water or electricity for about four months. How did they get along? Some neighbors were loaning them water with hoses run behind our houses. They were given 48 hours to vacate, and vacate they did, leaving a huge smelly mess. Remember it takes water to flush toilets. You guessed it: that’s where the smell mess comes into the story. First they were there, and then they were gone in the middle of the night.
Did we sit back and hide behind our curtains? Did we say it was not our problem? Did we close our eyes to this situation? No: this was our neighborhood, this is where we lived, where we had an active Neighborhood Watch. We made the necessary phone calls to our Community Service Officer (also before the cuts), code enforcement came, and soon the house was empty of people—or so we thought. But they did leave a huge mess in the house.
Soon we would see the side gate was open when it had been locked. We noticed every now and again someone would get into the empty house. How did they get in and why? Neighborhood Captains checked the backyard, and the sliding back doors were open; it was a mess. Police were called and came out (before the cuts) and would close up the house.
We boarded-up the gate to protect the house, which seemed unwanted, like no one cared about it. We tried contacting the owners at the last address we had, but the mail was returned as “undeliverable.” The house has not been foreclosed. It was as if time forgot the house, except those looking for a place to do drugs and to hang out where they thought they would not be caught.
The night the two men in the SUV came and began taking furniture was just too much for our neighborhood. We could have sat by and watched the trespassers at work and stealing furniture, but enough was enough. This is our neighborhood, where neighbors watch out for each one another, where if one person loses a family member, it is like we have all lost a relative, where we celebrate good and bad news together: this was our HOOD. We called the police (after the cuts) and they came. They were proud that we cared enough to get involved, and protect our area. Death’s around the corner, but not in our area if we stay alert. We didn’t catch the crooks, but the crooks knew we were there as we tried to get their license plate number. We did follow where they went.
Once again we boarded up the gates, boarded up the door and notified the only company we knew might care. They said they’d be out within 3 to 5 days to board the whole house up. Thanked us for caring and said it was okay for us to board the entrance until they could come out. They also could not believe we lived in Stockton and cared enough to be involved. It was with great pride as we told them we did care and we had a neighborhood who said, “NOT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, BECAUSE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”
We don’t need “Marshall Plans,” we need active Neighborhood Watches where neighbors know neighbors, like in the OLD DAYS. Where neighbors knew the kids on the block and watched out for them. Where when you went on vacations you knew your house was safe, because your neighbors watched out for your house, because next time it was your turn.
It is time to take back our neighborhoods. Care enough, and soon the gangs and crooks will know we have neighborhoods that say, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
2012 New Laws Favor Immigrants
SACRAMENTO CA —As of the 1st of January, hundreds of new laws were enacted. Among the new laws are some that directly affect the daily lives of immigrant workers. Some of the laws favor those persons who are not here legally. “We are human being[s] and most of us believe in God; He gave us a common dignity as He did not provide political or borders laws,” noted Dean McFalls, Saint Mary’s Church Priest, as he believes the updates to the California Law are needed.
Marshall Plan Scheduled
City of Stockton’s Marshall Plan to host first Stakeholder meeting: 7 months post announcement.
“We will be having a council study session on the Marshall Plan on January 31st,” clarified city of Stockton’s Mayor, Ann Johnston, during the first city council meeting of 2012.
California Governor’s Budget could hit most vulnerable
(NAM) CALIFORNIA-Advocates for both ethnic communities and children reacted with alarm to the state budget that Gov. Jerry Brown proposed on Thursday (January 5, 2011).
The proposal aims to reduce the budget deficit from the $26.2 billion budget hole of one year ago to $9.2 billion through budget cuts and revenue generators amounting to $10.3 billion.
Jose Hernandez Endorses Eggman for Assembly
Stockton, CA – Jose Hernandez, candidate for CD 10, has announced his endorsement of Stockton City Councilmember Susan Talamantes Eggman in her bid for Assembly.
The 2011 Top 10 Stories Most Read
As we begin 2012, Bilingual Weekly’s newsroom extracted the top 10 most read stories during the last 352 days. Please note that the top 10 stories were not selected by the Bilingual Weekly’s staff, our team ran the www.bilingualweekly.com English website’s analytics’ report which evaluates the hits received daily and it ranked each story from the highest number of hits to the lowest ranking in local news coverage. The following stories are briefs of the top 10 stories you, our readers clicked on.
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