By Sarai Garrett

Elizabeth McSwain, Founder of Caramel Connections Foundation, (CCF) recently announced the launch and upcoming fundraiser for her non-profit foundation. Elizabeth will host ‘Bidding for Health’ a Quartermania fundraising event on Sunday, May 22 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 215 N. Laurel Avenue in Ontario. Quartermania is a fun event in which high quality items will be up for auction, participants bid up to eight quarters per item, once all bids are placed, and a randomly chosen number is called. Admission is $55 dollars per person, all proceeds benefit the CCF scholarship program.

Elizabeth’s vision for serving a community of underserved children has piqued the interest of key community partners. When asked why she started her nonprofit Elizabeth replied, “We all know that we are heading in a dangerous path when it comes to healthy eating habits. We have to come together as a community and understand that enough is not being done to educate, help and aid our children and their parents in making the right choices.”

Caramel Connections Foundation’s scholarship program is geared towards middle school aged children. The curriculum is designed to engage children in healthy eating habits by learning about food, kitchen safety, agriculture, and math which includes measuring, science and more. CCF’s mission is to make learning enjoyable by using food as a way to connect and build lasting relationships with their students and community.

The American Diabetes Association estimated that one out of every three children born after the year 2000 in the United States will be directly affected by diabetes.  Data collected from the American Heart association and the American Diabetes Foundation suggest that an estimated 35% of children in the Inland Empire are prediabetic.

“It is no longer a matter of knowing there is a problem, but a matter of acting to ensure the future we leave for our children and their health is a priority for generations to come,” said Elizabeth McSwain. CCF invites you to participate in their ‘Bidding for Health’ Quartermania event in an effort to raise awareness and funding for a healthier tomorrow.

For more information on CCF’s Launch Fundraiser, Sponsorship and or Volunteer Opportunities, or to make a Donation, contact Caramel Connections Foundation at www.CaramelConnectionsFoundation.org.

RIVERSIDE, CA-The Riverside Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. joined the San Bernardino Valley Chapter of the Links, Inc. at its 38th Annual Scholarship Ball to award scholarships to high achieving African-American male students. The awards ceremony, where the Fraternity was recognized as an Emerald Donor, took place on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA.

Community and educational leaders were in attendance to acknowledge the academic accomplishments of the high school seniors, who are among the top performers in their graduating classes. Superintendents Dr. Dale Marsden of the San Bernardino City

Unified School District and Dr. Judy White of the Moreno Valley Unified School District were on hand to celebrate as the Fraternity awarded a total of $4,000 in scholarships, $1,000 each to four Inland Empire students.

“Collaboration with the Links has allowed the Riverside Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity to combine resources and ensure that students attain a sufficient amount of support for their educational goals,” says Polemarch Demarius Carmichael, head of the Riverside Alumni Chapter of the Fraternity.

During their acceptance speeches, award recipients Christian Coston, Adetola Soyemi, Ryan Laudermilk and Halbert Beaver gave special thanks to the Riverside Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., and the Links, Inc. for their academic scholarships. For more information about Riverside Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. visit www.rackapsi.com.

Ericca Cross

BIG BEAUTIFUL WOMEN (B.B.W.) What it Do I.E. and everybody! This week I would like to highlight the beautiful Ericca Cross, an aspiring full figure model here in the Inland Empire. With the modeling industry finally taking notice of plus size/full figure ladies, LUE Productions decided to put on the 1st B.B.W. Model Competition/Fundraiser here in the City of San Bernardino. The goal is to highlight beauty in all shapes and give back to the community at the same time. The event is scheduled to take place Saturday, June 11 at the San Bernardino Women’s Club located at 503 W. 31st Street in San Bernardino. Doors open at 2 p.m. Tickets are only $15 now and $20 after June 1.

Ericca Cross, born in Fontana, now resides in the beautiful City of Highland. She is pursuing her dream at the age of 35. Inspired by her mother, twin daughters, and other family members, Ericca hopes to gain the experience and exposure needed to help her further her desire to be a plus size model.

Appreciative of the opportunity provided by LUE Productions she comments, “In my eyes we are all winners.”

So major props to Ericca Cross for going after her dream and that $500.00 cash prize along with a crown. Good luck Ericca! Until next week folks L’z! For more information please visit our Face Book page under LUE Productions or our website at www.lueproductions.org.

Pictured from left to right, Elections Office staff members-Ashleigh Bachar, Roxana Castro, and Travis Weaver

SAN BERNARDINO CA- San Bernardino County voters can vote early for the June 7, 2016 Presidential Primary Election and while they’re at it, can share their experience with their friends and family by taking a ballot selfie in the Election Office’s “Ballot Selfie” booth and sharing it through social media.

Early Voting began at the Elections Office on Monday, May 9 and will continue until Election Day. Two additional satellite early voting sites will be open beginning Tuesday, May 31.

At the Early Voting sites, voters can take a ballot selfie with their un-voted ballots and their ‘I Voted’ stickers in front of a new Ballot Selfie poster.

“We’re hoping to generate excitement about voting in San Bernardino County by allowing voters to take a Ballot Selfie and sharing it on social media sites” said Registrar of Voters, Michael J. Scarpello.

In addition to Early Voting sites, the Ballot Selfie poster will be placed at every polling place on Election Day. California law currently prohibits a voter from revealing the contents of their voted ballot or taking pictures of other voters with the intent of dissuading a person from voting. However, the law does not prohibit a ballot selfie with an un-voted ballot.

Early voting hours for the Elections Office, 777 E. Rialto Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415, are Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, June 4 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and on Election Day, Tuesday, June 7 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information about this election, visit the Elections Office website, www.sbcountyelections.com, or call (909) 387-8300.

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- In an effort to offer a comprehensive educational program that meets both the interest and needs of its students, PAL Charter Academy is becoming a trailblazer for innovation. On Monday, May 16, PAL hosted Hip Hop legend, Money B, in its first ever of this caliber music assembly. The students participating in the music education class as an elective requirement for graduation worked together to create this phenomenal opportunity. Under the leadership of their teacher and motivation founder, Mr. Robert Bryant, this class successfully blended education and innovation creating an amazing opportunity for the students and staff.

The enthusiasm surrounding this innovative program offering is preparing PAL students for the tangible exploration of music related careers, including but not limited to marketing, journalism, management, and production. PAL Center CEO Dwaine Radden said, “Our music program at the PAL Academy is just the beginning of incredible advances for these students their linked learning environments provide relevance to education through innovative life applications.”

PAL Charter Academy is a free public school available to all students 9th to 12th grade. The independent study model allows flexibility to support most barriers to High School completion. PAL offers the benefit of A-G approved courses, small class sizes, a full athletic program, and much more. They are now enrolling for summer & fall sessions. Please contact the school at (909) 887-7002 for more information.

Inland Empire’s Mary Flowers is a Featured Speaker at World Conference of Mayors

Ms. Mary Flowers

By Adebiyi Adedapo

American investor and CEO of the Global Green Development Group, Ms. Mary Flowers, has committed efforts into finding practical solutions to poverty in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. Flowers, who is guest speaker at the 2016 edition of World Mayors conference, scheduled to hold between 23rd and 27th of May in Calabar, the capital city of Cross River state, is billed to speak on “Poverty Reduction Through Biofuel Production” and “Attracting Foreign Investors and Achieving Investment.”

The Executive Board member of the District Export Council of Southern California, is serving her fourth four-year term as a member of United States District Export Council appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Flowers is the Chair for the African Global Economic & Development Summit that is held in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California has a major focus on empowering rural dwellers, and has invested quality time, energy, and genuine commitment to work with Africa.

She has prepared a blueprint on the development of housing infrastructure, workforce development, economic and the overall infrastructure development throughout the continent.

United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Region 5 Endorse Cheryl Brown Campaign

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – With early voting already commencing, Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown’s (D-San Bernardino) re-election campaign is announcing yet another Labor endorsement. The United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America endorse Cheryl Brown for Assembly District 47. The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) is one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America, with members in virtually every sector of the economy with more than 400,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

“Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown’s voting record to improve working families’ lives and the communities we live in is deserving of another term,” said Victor Quiroz, International Union Representative, UAW Region 5. “Our members and working families in the district benefit when we have a legislator who is inclusive of all her constituency and the economic needs most important to them. Cheryl Brown is proudly supported by UAW Region 5 because she fights for working people.”

“I am honored to receive the support from the UAW and recommit my efforts on helping champion issues most important to working families in the Inland Empire,” said Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown.

UAW Region 5’s endorsement of Cheryl Brown’s re-election campaign joins a long list of union support already backing her campaign, which include:

• California Association of Highway Patrolmen
• California School Employees Association, AFL-CIO
• California Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
• Union of American Physicians and Dentists, AFL-CIO
• Laborers’ International Union of North America
• Hod Carriers and Laborers Local Union No. 783
• AFSCME California PEOPLE, AFL-CIO
• CAL FIRE Local 2881
• California Faculty Association
• United Domestic Workers of America, AFL-CIO
• California Correctional Peace Officers Association
• Fontana Police Officers Association
• United Steel Workers L&E Committee
• California State Retirees
• Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters

Partial list. For a comprehensive endorsement list, click here.

Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown is the officially endorsed Democratic candidate of the California Democratic Party running for re-election in California’s 47th district.The election is scheduled for California’s Presidential Primary Election on June 7, 2016.

Verizon offers prepaid smartphone plans on your terms starting at $30/month

Love to be in control with no fees or annual contract on the best network?  The only prepaid wireless service that’s also Verizon now comes with more data.  Beginning May 15, you’ll receive more data on your flexible, affordable prepaid smartphone plans.  And for the first time, you get unlimited calling to Mexico and Canada with Verizon’s largest prepaid plan.

“Whether you’re just starting out with your own wireless plan or simply love to have complete control of your wireless spending, prepaid plans give you the best network on the latest phones,” said Rob Miller, vice president of consumer pricing for Verizon. “Prepaid plans from Verizon keep you in control without the worry of overages or hidden fees.”

Verizon’s new prepaid plans for smartphones include:

• 6 GB of data including 1 GB of AutoPay Bonus Data with unlimited talk and text in the U.S. and unlimited text and calling to Mexico and Canada for $60 per month (prior plan included only 3 GB);
• 3 GB of data including 1 GB of AutoPay Bonus Data with unlimited talk and text in the U.S., plus text to Mexico and Canada for $45 per month (prior plan included only 1 GB);
• Unlimited talk, text, Wi-Fi for only $30 per month.

Verizon’s prepaid plans for basic phones include:

• Unlimited talk, text and mobile web for $30 per month;
• 300 voice minutes, texts or multimedia messages (in any combination), plus unlimited mobile web for $15 per month.

For even more control, you can make changes to your account, add money to your account, and add even more data through the MyVerizon app on your device. Visit www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid to learn more. Verizon’s new prepaid plans were previously offered as promotional pricing.

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

Always want to be front and center. Well, not today, tomorrow or the day after that. Get over yourself! It’s not about you! It’s about God. He is front and center. Today, tomorrow and always, and He WILL NOT share his glory with no one. You got that?

Listen; to be effective in ministry you need to learn one thing – don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t get stuck inside your own ego, because over time it will become your prison. Pride is one of the most common of all human errors and shortcomings. A person who is too filled with pride is arrogant, self-important, egotistic, big-headed, egocentric, boastful and cocksure. Pride puffs us up and makes us think that we are bigger and more important than we really are. That is not the mark of Christianity. Ephesians tells us again and again that the life of a Christ-follower is not about us but about Him. So don’t get it twisted… It’s not about you!

You ought to know that throughout the Bible virtually every part of it condemns the proud. For example, in the Psalms, the writer said that pride is the necklace worn by the wicked. In the book of Job pride is considered the force that blocks people from hearing and responding to God. Not only is pride a universal sin, but the Bible points out the consequences of pride. What happens to a person who is too full of himself or herself? The people filled with pride shall be humbled and brought low. As the Old Testament prophet Obadiah said: “Your proud heart has deceived you … Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord.” And the greatest prophet of them all Isaiah, speaking for the Lord, told the proud that they will be forced to make their bed with worms and maggots. There is no pulling of punches when it comes to describing the fate of the proud in the Bible. Pride is a deadly sin that causes those filled to overflowing with themselves great sorrow and grief.

The message is clear from beginning to end in the Bible – the proud will ultimately be brought low. The proud will ultimately fall. The proud must live with the consequences of their actions and their deeds. Perhaps this is a good day to say sorry to God for the pride in your heart. Perhaps today is a good day to begin to put right those things that your pride has caused. Perhaps today is a good day to clothe yourself with humility and to start to live the Christ-like life God has shown to you.

So what do you say? Do you want to overcome pride in your life? Do you want to get rid of the arrogant and disdainful conduct which is plugging up your life? Do you want to have a more realistic opinion of yourself and be less conceited? Do you want to eliminate your smug, egomaniacal, over proud attitude? If so, then become the servant of others. Second, come to appreciate the wonderful gift of God’s creative and sustaining power. Third, learn about Jesus and celebrate what he has done for your life.

You know, Paul wrote that if we claim to be Christian, we cannot continue to live our lives as anything but. We can either walk through life focused on ourselves, our wants and supposed needs, or can we walk according to the Holy Spirit with God’s will in our sight.

Today, I call heaven and earth to witness against you, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” [Deuteronomy 30:19-20].

Dr. Rachael Ross

By Naomi K. Bonman

“I am looking forward to just being in the room and seeing all of the people that I see on TV. I’m still in awe about the whole thing. I’m looking forward to just seeing it all and taking it in. Normally I watch it on TV, but to actually be there, it’s pretty amazing,” Dr. Rachael Ross, of The Doctors, states on what she was most looking forward to at this year’s past Emmys.

With the array of different reality sitcoms that are on the air, it is very rare that we see one that educates us, as well as enlightens our minds. The majority of popular TV is filled with drama, drama, and more drama! It is just there to entertain which is why most have started to steer away from the silver screen in their homes because it’s bad enough that social media has polluted our minds. However, there are a few shows that are getting the recognition that they deserve, such as Emmy nominated show, The Doctors.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of the featured doctors on the show, Dr. Rachael Ross. After interviewing her, now I definitely have to catch up and watch it to see her live and action. In our interview, Dr. Ross chatted about what she expected from the Emmys, life as a new mommy, and her health tips so that we can continue to live healthier and longer lives.

For those who are unfamiliar with the show, The Doctor, can you give us a brief overview?

The Doctors is a panel of doctors that basically sit and discuss different health related issues, and sometimes it’s not just health, we also talk about fashion. Believe it or not fashion can affect your health. We always talk about is it okay to use waist trainers to different plastic surgery options. We run up a schedule to what we will discuss, but I think what makes us a little different is that I’m on there (laughs) and I’m an African American female that comes with a different perspective than the rest of the panel does.

Nice! So when does the show air?

It’s a syndicated program so it airs somewhere different in every city, but if you go to thedoctorstv.com they have local listings.

What inspired to you get on the show?

I’ve been practicing medicine now for about ten years and I think at the end of the day I think of The Doctors as an extension of my medical practice. It’s the same type of practical advice and information that I give to my patients at my clinic in Gary, Indiana, so to me it’s just a way to take what I do every day to reach a broader audience.

Cool! So I know that you just recently had a baby! How are you enjoying motherhood?

It’s amazing! I never though I’d be the type of mom that just stares at the baby or that’s constantly checking to see if she’s breathing or anything like that. I turned in to a real helicopter mom and I’m loving every second of it. I just keep looking at her and thinking ‘I can’t believe this came out of me.’ I’m in awe of it all.

(Laughs). What are your tips for new moms on how to get their bodies back?

Oh yes! It’s funny because all this year I’ve done three interviews on waist trainers where people ask ‘Are they affecting your health?” “Should you be wearing them?” And I would say the best tip that I have is that after you give birth you should put on an abdominal binder, and it doesn’t have to be as strong as a waist trainer because a waist trainer is kind of  like putting a tire on and wrapping it around you, but just make sure you have an abdominal binder to help mold things back to the way they used to be. And two, breast feeding. You can burn an extra 500 calories a day if you breastfeed.

What inspired you to get into medicine? 

Growing up as a child, my dad was like the town doctor. We lived in a small town, Gary, Indiana. He did house calls and would do a fantastic job at taking care of everybody, and he wasn’t doing it for the money. We always had a roof over our head and food to eat, but I still remember he had patients that would pay him in a peach cup or an apple pie, so I kind of got a chance to experience that small town doctor and how people looked up to him when they saw him. I think just experiencing all of that growing up kind of helped push me, besides my mom telling us every day that we were going to be doctors like our dad.

What is the most challenging thing about being a physician?

I would say the most challenging thing about being a doctor is balancing what they tell us to tell everybody verses what seems a little more like the truth, if that makes any sense. I’ve seen medicine come and go in these past ten years and been in situations where I’m supposed to say, “This is the most greatest medicine that everybody should be on,” then a year or two later its recalled from the market. So I think the hardest part is just balancing doing what we say, which is do no harm, which is really trying to make sure that you’re aren’t harming people just because you’re taking whatever the structure tells you that you’re supposed to push out on people.

Gotcha! What is the most rewarding thing?

The  most rewarding thing for me personally is treating families. I practice in the town that I grew up in and knowing the uncles, the aunts, the cousins, I don’t really have to ask the family history because I know it already.

What are your goals for the next few months to a year?

Being a new mom, I think that my goal is to help other moms, especially since I now see things a new perspective. I want to make sure that I give them the right information. There is a lot of debate going on right now about vaccines and whether or not they’re causing damage and whether they need to be revised. I think that for the next few months my goal is to make sure that I am as honest about that as I can be without necessarily worrying about the backlash.

Any last remarks?

I think it is important that everyone understands that pretty much what you’re eating every day is going to be the thing that dictates your overall health. I don’t think that we don’t put enough emphasis on eating fresh fruits and vegetables. We’re eating a little too much processed food. So I think that the readers should really go to their cabinets and look at their products. If it has more than six things in it when you read the label, donate it somewhere or give it to someone else, but try to get it out of your cabinets and your refrigerators and replace it with fresher foods.

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