Happily Divorced And After

By Edward Henderson | California Black Media

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Rob DeSantis seem to be on a political and philosophical collision course. Each one takes a shot at the other when the opportunity presents itself — which is often, as both men stand diametrically opposed, Left and Right respectively, on most issues.

Recently, some conservative media voices have joined the crossfire, taking aim at how Newsom responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the global health crisis began in 2020, California responded with strict policies and shutdowns while Florida’s less urgent approach was a clear contrast. A new study from the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative think tank founded by former Trump administration economic advisor Brian Blase and other health experts– is critical of California’s handling of the pandemic.

Now, the Paragon study is adding fuel to the frequent back-and-forth between Newsom and DeSantis, who are both rumored to be Presidential hopefuls.

“Not a week goes by when Newsom is not boasting about how effective his policies were in addressing the COVID-19 crisis,” said Craig DeLuz to California Black Media. DeLuz is the Director of Communications for the California Republican Assembly, President of 2A News Corp and a director at the Frederick Douglass Foundation of California.

“He loves to compare California’s response to that of Republican-run states, claiming that he had greater success fighting the virus, while protecting his constituents,” DeLuz contnued his critique of Newsom. “His favorite target appears to be the state of Florida, which is run by likely 2024 presidential opponent, Ron DeSantis. There is one small problem with his grandstanding, though. It is all based on lies.”

Study Findings 

The study compares a quantitative measure of government interventions from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker — a systematic collection of information on policy measures that governments have taken to combat COVID-19. It uses health, economic, and educational indicators to measure the impact of government actions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The study uses a metric called the Government Response Index, which is the Oxford researchers’ most comprehensive index. Low index scores are favorable over high scores.

According to the study, Florida achieved a low index score even though the state relaxed general lockdowns after a short time. On the contrary, despite California’s strict and prolonged lockdowns, the study gives the Golden State one of the highest Oxford index scores in the nation.

The study also looked into migration patterns in and out of Florida and California during the pandemic. The purpose was to see if there was a correlation between stricter and looser restrictions and the decisions of where people wanted to live.

“California’s severe lockdowns seemed to elicit a jump in its already high out-migration, while Florida experienced a significant in-migration increase during the pandemic as compared with pre-pandemic trends,” the Paragon Health stated in the study. “Florida’s commitment to keeping schools open was likely a significant factor in attracting people from around the country.”

In the conclusion of the study, Paragon Health offered the following recommendation: “In future pandemics, policymakers should avoid severe, prolonged, and generalized restrictions and instead carefully tailor government responses to specific disease threats, encouraging state and local governments to balance the health benefits against the economic, educational, health, and social costs of specific response measures.”

California’s Response  

When asked for a response to the study, the California Center of Disease Control did not have a statement. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office draws a comparison to Florida, relying on statistics in a Feb. 28  press release that declared an end to California’s COVID-19-related state of emergency

The release highlighted the fact that California’s COVID-19 death rate was among the lowest in the nation. Nationally, the COVID-19 death rate was 339 per 100,000, far above California’s rate.

“If California had Florida’s rate, 56,000 more people would have died here,” the press release stated.

Newsom’s office also addressed economics and education during the pandemic. California’s GDP grew, the press release points out, and unemployment rates fell twice as fast as other large population states.

The statement from Newsom office goes on to highlight that the state is on track to become the 4^th largest economy in the world, and it illuminates how, on average, California students experienced less learning loss than the rest of the nation. Eighth graders had no declines in reading scores in California. Nationally, however, 8th grader reading scores declined 3 points on the National Assessment of Educational Progress scale.

Regarding vaccinations, California has administered a total of 88,208,666. About 72.7% of the population has been vaccinated with a primary series and 9,308 people a day are receiving COVID-19 vaccinations (average daily dose count over 7 days).

Addressing Comparisons in Media  

Both Newsom and DeSantis have publicly shared their thoughts on the COVID-19 responses in their respective states. Newsom made appearances on ‘The View’ and ‘The Late Late Show with James Corden,’ and addressed the subject directly.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, Florida has had a 53% higher death rate than the state of California, a 33% case rate and their economy has done worse. California’s example vs. Florida, its not even close in terms of the outcome if you care about life and you care about the economy,” Newsom said.

DeSantis was critical of California’s response during his inaugural address in January, saying Newsom and the state “imposed medical authoritarianism in the guise of pandemic mandates.”

Like two prize fighters taking turns exchanging quips at the press conference before their main event, time will only tell if DeSantis and Newsom will have the opportunity to square off on politics’ largest stage. What we can assume with some certainty, however, is the way they handled the pandemic will be a point of contention raised again and again if that day ever comes.

By Lou K Coleman-Yeboah

They wouldn’t listen, they wouldn’t see, they wouldn’t believe, and now they can’t!

Like the Old Testament Israelites and the Jews of Jesus’ day, He said, “It’s too late! Judgment is already in motion, because you wouldn’t listen, you wouldn’t see, you wouldn’t believe, and now you can’t.

Understand, God allows all nations to “go their own way. [Acts 14:16]. Both Isaiah’s generation and Jesus’ generation “had their opportunities, but for both it became too late. The whole system ended because they wouldn’t listen, they wouldn’t see, they wouldn’t believe. Don’t let that be said about you. Pay attention! Give the more earnest heed to the things you have heard, lest you drift away.” For this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts; “Beware, I am against you.” I will make your chariots go up in smoke and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the sound of your messengers will never be heard again” [Nahum 2:13].

Many people, having heard all their lives about the grace and mercy of God, take His grace for granted. They decide on courses and actions which they know are contrary to God’s will, but figure that “God will forgive me anyway” and plunge foolishly into their rebellious way. They assume there will be no lasting damage once they are forgiven. Oh, how wrong you are. For you know that even afterwards, when he [Esau] desired to inherit the blessings, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” [Hebrews 12:17]. Let this verse be a sobering reminder that there are times when it is too late to reverse the damage done by your decisions. Do not take God’s grace for granted. The Lord will utter his voice and the impact will be terrific in this generation, so said Amos.

Just look around, the events happening around the world, these events are not random. They are not “natural disasters.” They are acts of God. “These trails are a wake-up call, and they are a foretaste of the greater and final judgment still to come. “Do not be deceived! Judgment is already in motion. Wake up!

They would not accept my counsel; they spurned all my reproof. So, they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” [Proverbs 1:30-33].

Business owners in San Francisco say they remain vulnerable to fraudulent ADA lawsuits which have targeted more than 35,000 businesses statewide.

By Selen Ozturk

Last April, the San Francisco and Los Angeles District Attorneys sued San Diego law firm Potter Handy, LLC for filing allegedly fraudulent disability lawsuits with over 300 businessowners in SF and over 36,397 businessowners statewide since 2010.

Since San Francisco Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow dismissed the DA suit last August, however, nothing has changed to protect these businessowners from being fraudulently sued for millions more.

At least 20 businesses in the Inner Richmond neighborhood and over 100 in Chinatown were sued by Potter Handy around mid-2021 to mid-2022. Many of these businesses were not even certified as ADA compliant, or were sued over violations they could not possibly have committed.

For example, Amanda Yan — owner of Hon’s Wun-Tun House on Kearny Street in Chinatown — was sued in April 2021 for serving food at outdoor tables too low for wheelchairs, at a time when she only served takeout.

Targeting immigrant and minority owned businesses.

To gain quick settlements of $10,000-$20,000, the law firm particularly pressured businesses owned by immigrants and minorities unable to afford legal defense. Under the joint DA lawsuit, the firm would have had to pay over $30 million to refund settlements made in the Northern District of California alone, by conservative estimates.

Filed by former SF District Attorney Chesa Boudin and George Gascón of LA, the 58-page document stated that over 800 federal cases statewide were filed by Potter Handy plaintiff Orlando Garcia; over 1,700 by Brian Whitaker; and thousands more by other “Serial Filers” — chiefly Scott Johnson, who filed over 4,000 since 2010.

Given that this averages to a case daily for 11 years, the DAs alleged that “it is literally impossible for the Serial Filers to have personally encountered each listed barrier, let alone to intend to return to hundreds of businesses located hundreds of miles away from their homes .”

A Potter Handy attorney accused the DAs of exploiting the situation while they both faced recall threats. In his dismissal, Judge Karnow said that California’s “litigation privilege” covered the firm, “irrespective of the maliciousness or untruthfulness.”

Morgan Mapes — president of the Clement Street Merchants Association; secretary of the citywide Council of District Merchants Associations; and owner of Clement Street vintage shop Golden Hour — had her shop sued by Garcia for $40,000 in November 2021.

Mapes said Garcia “was quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. All pictures and information were scrubbed from the internet. About seven months later we settled for $20,000, maybe $25,000 with lawyer’s fees … We were holding on by a thread already, coming out of the pandemic.”

ADA compliance

The Potter Handy suits were filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects disabled people from discrimination, including prevention of access to publicly open facilities. Passed under George H.W. Bush in 1990, no agency (and no new tax) was created for the act; per Congress, ADA enforcement remained with individuals “acting as private attorneys general” and imposed no financial penalty for violations, only injunctive relief.

However, Potter Handy often paired its federal claims with state claims under California’s 1959 Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits disability-based discrimination and allows plaintiffs to sue for a minimum of $4,000 per violation.

“You can’t have a city with infrastructure built before these civil laws were put into place and expect tenants to bear the weight,” said Mapes. “I think it should be common practice for landlords to take more infrastructural responsibility. If I put in a table that’s too tall or my fitting rooms aren’t up to code, that’s on me, but stairs or an entry ramp on the landlord.”

“The city needs to subsidize some accessibility costs,” she said. “As a queer black woman, it’s a prickly situation rallying against a civil rights issue, but this seems extortive. The vast majority of these businesses are minority-owned.”

‘They’ll keep suing’

Jimmy Hsu, who owns four businesses on Clement Street by Fourth Avenue — The Wishing Well Workshop (with his partner Jake Savas); So Fresh So Clean Laundry; Kinship Salon & Barber (with his wife); and Blue Danube Coffee House — had his salon and cafe sued.

Hsu said “Brian Whitaker complained that the salon’s doorknob was ADA noncompliant. I don’t even have a doorknob, it’s a push door! I split that $10,000 settlement with my landlord since they sued him too. I paid $10,000 myself with the cafe; they said our moveable A-frame sign was blocking the door. I posted handicap inspection signs on my businesses because they tried to sue all four and settle for $4,000 each.”

Another store on his block, Home Hardware True Value, nearly closed when they were sued in 2022 for closely-packed aisles that were impossible to properly widen.

“I had to tell to hire a lawyer,” said Hsu. “It’s the only deterrent you have, otherwise they’ll keep suing. I’m an Asian immigrant too — most of the mom ‘n’ pops here are run by those without the time or resources to defend themselves, so they settle.”

Nor did this pattern begin, for Hsu, with Potter Handy. In 2005, Patrick Connally — a disabled man who was president of San Rafael-based nonprofit DREES (Disability Rights, Enforcement, Education, Services) and, later, a KUSF radio host — threatened to sue Blue Danube for bathroom violations.

“That building was built in 1934,” said Hsu. “I did all I could with my money and space — door adjustments, handlebars — and paid an attorney to use his letterhead for a reply thanking .”

Hsu said “I think the city, state, or federal government should have some oversight body to disbar these firms from making so many fraudulent accusations. If you settle with 100 stores in Chinatown for a low $10,000, you make a clean million. What’s the downside?”

While this wave of fraudulent lawsuits remains unresolved, SF small businessowners already face another.

Between last November and February 23, 179 businesses received Department of Building Inspection complaints — particularly minority-owned shops in Chinatown, the Tenderloin, and the Inner Richmond, including Mapes’ Golden Hour — regarding unpermitted awnings or storefront gates. Over that period the previous year, five complaints were filed.

Mayor Breed has been working with the Board of Supervisors to write a law which would deprioritize non-urgent enforcement and create an amnesty program for awning owners who don’t have a permit, which can cost up to $3,000.

Nevertheless, Hsu remains skeptical: “The fault’s with a judicial system that allows this greed, but it’s just part of running a business in San Francisco now, isn’t it?”

Above: The Blue Danube Cafe in San Francisco was one of hundreds of businesses hit by fraudulent ADA lawsuits last year.

Join Kingdom Culture for a fun-filled day of free food, games, activities, and Easter Egg hunts for children ages 2 -11 including a special needs easter egg hunt!

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— Kingdom Culture Worship Centre San Bernardino is excited to announce the “Easter Eggstravaganza” event, taking place on April 8, 2023, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. This free event is open to the public and promises to be a day of fun for the whole family.

Children aged 2-to-11 are invited to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt, where they can hunt for Easter eggs filled with treats and surprises. Additionally, there will be a special needs Easter egg hunt, ensuring that all children can participate in the fun.

Aside from the egg hunt, there will be plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained. Games, face painting, balloon twisting, and other fun activities will be available throughout the day. There will also be free food available for all attendees.

“We’re thrilled to be hosting this event for our community,” said Executive Pastor Bj Sims. “It’s a great opportunity to come together and build community with our neighbors.”

The “Easter Eggstravaganza” event will take place on the Indian Springs High School campus, located at 650 N Del Rosa in San Bernardino. Parking is available on-site. For more information, call 888-270-0988.

Don’t miss out on the fun! Mark your calendars for April 8 and come join in for a free day of Easter fun at Indian Springs High School.

By Lue Dowdy | LUE Productions

LUE PRODUCTIONS “All Ebony Burlesque Dinner Show”, is coming back with major excitement, thrills, and chills. Come be a part of our upcoming murder mystery dinner show. This will be our 4th show and each one thus far has been sold out. No experience is needed because we’ll give you the tools you need.

If you’re looking for exposure or a group of likeminded individuals, look no further. Our auditions are simple and fun. Below is a list of what we’re looking for in order to put on this amazing production.

We are casting for singers, dancers, comedians, actors, actresses, and stage and production crew members. Our goal is to provide platforms for the talented and entertaining shows for the City of San Bernardino. For more information, please text (909) 567-1000 or (909) 495-0848. You can also email us at lue.info@yahoo.com. For other upcoming events, please visit www.lueproductions.org.

Auditions will be held on Saturday, March 18 at 10:30 a.m. at 555 N. Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino.

LOS ANGELES, CA— Essential Health Access welcomes Roger B. Sweis to their Executive Leadership Team as a Chief Financial Officer. Roger will lead the Essential Health finance team in fulfilling the commitment to equity in expanding and protecting sexual and reproductive health care for all.

Roger is an award-winning Chief Financial Officer with 20 years of leadership experience. In his career, he has helped mission-driven organizations take their operations to the next level. He is a Founder/Co-Founder of 13 social enterprise organizations and special assistant to founders of over 100 organizations, nonprofits, and real estate investment groups with a proven track record of successful government grant and contract management.

As Essential Access Health’s CFO, Roger will lead and oversee the organization’s financial, accounting, tax compliance, employee benefits, contracts, and facilities. He will be responsible for the strategic leadership of the finance, accounting, and administrative functions, and provide financial strategy, budget management and forecasting needs to the organization. This drives the Essential Access mission to advance health equity through a wide range of programs and services including clinic support initiatives, provider training, advanced clinical research, advocacy and public awareness campaigns.

Most recently, Roger served as the CFO of Community Health Councils in Los Angeles. In this role, he successfully managed a multidisciplinary team and the organization’s first large-scale federal audit. In addition, he led business process improvements in the HR, IT and Legal & Compliance divisions to help navigate 300% growth in revenue. Roger has also held CFO positions for organizations like Startup For America, SmarterHealth.io and The Wheelhouse Project, in addition to serving as Executive Vice President or Co-Founder.

Team awards Roger has been recognized with include American Health Data Conference’s Top 5 AHIMA Startup of the Year, Robinhood Foundation’s Social Impact Award and PepsiCo Challenge’s Innovation Grant Award.

Roger received his bachelor’s degree in finance and psychology from the University of Illinois. He received his master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in Finance & Entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago, where he was a Capstone Award Recipient. Roger is a founding team member of Impact Hub Nashville and a member of the Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance and Disruptive Innovation.

For more information on Essential Access Health, please visit www.essentialaccess.org.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- The City of San Bernardino celebrated the reopening of Second Street between Arrowhead Avenue and Mountain View Avenue on Tuesday, March 14, restoring vehicle and pedestrian traffic to a key downtown corridor. The road had been closed for three years for the demolition and reconstruction of the Second Street Bridge, which passes over Warm Creek and was found to have structural issues in 2020.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the completion of the bridge, Mayor Helen Tran stated, “I share in the excitement of our residents and businesses in the reopening of Second Street. It is a small bridge, but a big connection point.”

When Caltrans found structural issues with the bridge in March of 2020 and ordered it closed to vehicles and pedestrians, plans were already underway to replace it. In February of 2021, the City awarded a contract to Ortiz Construction to construct a new bridge. Construction began in June of 2021.
“I would often get asked by constituents when Second Street would re-open,” said Council Member Damon Alexander. “We are pleased that today is that day.”

Completion of the project was delayed by over a year due to supply chain issues experienced by both the contractor and Southern California Edison, who needed to construct new electricity connections through the new bridge to downtown San Bernardino.

“This project was the poster child for the supply chain issues experienced at the height of the pandemic,” said San Bernardino Public Works Director Daniel Hernandez. “I’d like to thank our contractors and utility partners for their flexibility and patience with each other.”

The project was further delayed last summer to ensure the existing electricity connection remained in place to meet peak load demand downtown.

The cost to replace the four-lane bridge was just over $3.2 million. Approximately $2.6 million was funded by the City, and $600,000 was funded for project design, inspections, and contingencies by Caltrans.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA— The time has come to the last few weeks of the Knights training and completing of their six-month culminating program. Together they have learned, volunteered, persevered and staying the course. Through this process they have maturing and are ready for the next journey in their lives. The Social Lites’ Inc goal since 1968 has been to prepare these young men to understand the struggles and opportunities involved in the journey to succeed in college and in life.

They are recognizing these outstanding five Knights who are on their way to prestigious colleges across the country and will return to serve our communities. The community is invited to join them for the 56th Annual Beautillion Scholarship Program on April 1, 2023, at California State University San Bernardino in the beautiful San Manuel Student Union Building. The black-tie formal events’ tickets can be purchased for $50 at the door as you will witness the crowning of Sir Knight 2023.

If you have questions, please contact the Business Manager, Brenda Daniels at (909)856-6341 or the President, Sheri Lewis at (909) 320-0799.

By Jasmyne A. Cannick

I do not get triggered easily. However, the Pepper Tree Elementary students in Upland, Calif. who say they were subjected to racist bullying managed to trigger random memories of my own childhood, as I am sure it did for many Black adults who went to predominately white institutions (PWI) for grade school.

As a young Gen Xer, it’s funny the things I can remember and the things I cannot (IYKYK).
I don’t remember much from my elementary school days during the 80s in Hermosa Beach, but I do remember that my best friend lived up the street from me, was white, and her name was Jeanette. I remember she came from a fairly large family?—?I think they were from Texas. And I remember that her family reminded me of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Let me preface all of this with, I didn’t know anything about racism as a child other than the carefully curated Black History we were taught?—?and that wasn’t much. The first 12 years of my life were very sheltered. Now I am sure my parents have their stories about being one of less than a handful of Black families in Hermosa Beach during the 80s, but whatever they endured, as a kid, I was oblivious to it. And for a time?—?maybe too long of a time?—?I thought I was just like all of the other kids at my school.

However, back to Jeanette and me. I don’t remember why Jeanette and I became such great friends, but we did. Her parents were always nice to me, and I remember that whenever they went out to dinner at Norm’s or Bob’s Big Boy, I was always invited to go along and vice-versa.

Jeanette had big brothers and kids back then and used to like to get into things. I remember one night, for no particular reason, her brothers decided they were going to “break in” to our local elementary school. And for context, breaking in just meant sliding through the gate. This was the 80s in Hermosa Beach, after all. I was spending the night at Jeanette’s, and we wanted to tag along, and they let us. I remember it was dark, and we were running across Prospect Ave., and I heard her brother say something to the effect, “Damn Jasmyne, you’re as Black as the sky.”

We all laughed, me included. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t think he was being racist at the time because I didn’t even have a concept of racism. Maybe he didn’t either, but looking back now, it was definitely a very racist thing to say.

While I can’t remember one minute after I put a pot of water on to boil for tea or where my keys are (IYKYK), I can somehow remember that comment from Jeanette’s brother 35 years ago. Now, of course, today, it doesn’t sit right with me, but I used this example to show how racism?—?even subconsciously?—?has a way of staying with us long after the incident and into adulthood.

That’s why when I heard the story of the Ethiopian 6th grader at Pepper Tree Elementary School in Upland, California, being given a “Golden N-Word Pass,” it enraged me. He didn’t even know what the n-word meant. He just thought it was a means to an end to stop being bullied for being Black.

Believe it or not?—?using the n-word as a term of endearment is an African-American thing?—?not an African or Black thing. So being an Ethiopian, as a child, he didn’t know what the n-word meant exactly. He just thought that if he signed it, he would stop being bullied. He had to go home and ask his mom what the n-word meant. His mother told reporters that she herself didn’t know what the “n-word” was and had to Google it.

“You might think I know that but from the country where I came from n-word means?—?it’s an alphabet for me,” said Kabene Gabremariam. “So I have to go ahead and Google that and I have to learn what the meaning of which really breaks my heart.”

Similarly, listening to 13-year-old Chloe Jenkins recount her experience being the only Black person in her class and assigned to be a slave in an American Revolution reenactment triggered another experience that I still can remember. I was a slave during a reenactment of a slave auction at Will Rogers Middle School in Lawndale. In fact, I can even remember that my friend Mitzie was the auctioneer.

But that was in the 80s, and it’s 2023. And while it wasn’t appropriate back then, I would like to think that we’ve made some progress?—?but it seems that we haven’t made enough.

Why is this still happening to Black children? I am not the world’s leading expert on child welfare or parenting, I don’t even have kids. That said, no one can convince me that the children involved in the racist bullying at Pepper Tree Elementary didn’t learn this behavior from the adults around them. Kids, especially those of the age involved in the bullying, have not been alive long enough to develop the kind of hatred they are displaying. They mimic the language and behavior they see and hear at home. Whether subconsciously or consciously, what we have is a situation where if this goes unchecked, these same children are going to turn into the same type of racist adults found in our schools and police departments today that we continue to work to expose and eradicate.

And it goes both ways.

I can remember driving in South L.A. some years ago with my then-kindergarten-aged godson. Something happened with another driver, and I must have said something aloud about it, because he quipped, unsolicited, mind you, “Stupid Mexicans!”

I was so shocked, and looking in the rearview mirror, I asked him where he learned that, and he said that’s what his mom always says. He learned that day from me, that was not something he should ever say?—?even if his parents say it.

I’m telling you, kids are like little sponges soaking up everything happening around them.

It’s hard to expect a child not to be a racist when their parents have given them the green light, literally and figuratively. If you ask me, having a racist parent as a child should be considered a form of maltreatment if it isn’t already. Child abuse is not just physical violence. It is any form of maltreatment by an adult, which is violent or threatening to the child, including emotional abuse that harms a child’s emotional well-being. I’d argue that being raised by a racist harms a child’s emotional well-being.

It’s sad to know that all of these years later, this is still happening in our schools. However, I am proud of the Black students at Pepper Tree Elementary for stepping forward publicly about the abuse they’ve endured from other children. But the onus is not on them to fix the situation. It’s on the parents of the bullies, teachers, and administrators who allowed this situation to fester and get to the point it is now. We know from the suicides of 10-year-old Seven Bridges in Kentucky and, more recently, 10-year-old Isabella “Izzy” Tichenor in Utah, that bullying is real and has real effects and consequences, whether verbalized or not, on children. Bullying cannot be left unchecked.

The students and parents at Pepper Tree Elementary are doing the right thing by exposing the racism and the bullying and, in doing so, are setting an example and adding to the playbook for other Black children and their parents on how to go up against Goliath (their schools)?—?and win.

Jasmyne Cannick is a Gen X award-winning journalist and on-air contributor in Los Angeles. She writes and talks about the collisions at the intersection of politics, race, and social issues. She’s online at iamjasmyne.com.

This oped can be link to online here.

As of earlier this week, the online interactive snow removal map created by the County Public Works Department showed that 409 miles or 79 percent of the roadways maintained by San Bernardino County had been made passable by crews working around the clock since last week from Mt. Baldy and Wrightwood to the eastern edge of the Big Bear Valley.

Please view this video documenting the County’s progress.

Passable means at least one lane open with less than 8 inches of snow, which can be navigated by four-wheel drive vehicles with chains.

As of this afternoon, 100 percent of the County roads in Wrightwood County Maintained Roads are at 100% passable with properly equipped vehicles and crews are working on clearing and widening the roads.

County Public Works crews also continue to make progress servicing County-maintained roads in the Crestline and Lake Arrowhead area, where more than 60 percent of the roads are now passable.

Please avoid driving and parking on newly plowed roads. The pathways are needed for emergency vehicles and additional plowing.

While the County is closing in on 100 percent clearance of County-maintained roads, those who live on privately owned roads must need to contact a private contractor to remove snow. The County and Caltrans are prohibited from plowing private property.

For other snow guidance from DPW, visit our Snow Removal Frequently Asked Questions site.

Meanwhile, mountain residents are urged to remember that if they make to down the hill on either Highway 18 or Highway 330, there is a very strong chance they won’t be allowed back up. For those who find themselves stranded down the hill, there is a Red Cross shelter at Redlands East Valley High School. For assistance, call 909-387-3911.