LAWT 04-26-2012

W E E K E N D E R

Vol. XXX, No. 1281

www.lawattstimes.com

Thursday, April 26, 2012

L.A. Watts Times

SEE PAGES 8-9

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

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RIES ~ If you didn’t get invited to the party, that’s okay. If your air conditioner doesn’t work, if one of your favorite pieces of clothing has a spot on it, if your dinner guest didn’t show up, smile. Your ability to accept misfortune with a smile is going to be important to you this week.

Soul affirmation: I pay special attention to family members this week.

AURUS ~ This week will teach you a valuable lesson about money. Make a mental note of how you got into the shape you’re in so that you can avoid future mistakes of the financial kind. Request advice from a friend in money matters. Love and money mix well. Soul affirmation: I let peace reign in my life.

EMINI ~ Emphasize generosity. Give and the gift itself will turn into a reward. This week is excellent for making important decisions and for reaching agreements with others. Agreement with your lover might be the most important one to try to reach. Soul affirmation: I stand firm in what I believe and am rewarded.

ANCER ~ You have opportunities to win big this week. Make the most of them. Stay alert to possibilities concerning a career move. You might see something that you believed was lost. It comes back to you this week. Give it your full attention. Soul affirmation: I let my feelings bring me information that I allow myself to trust.

EO ~ Feel deeply for the sorrow of a loved one. They can sense your commitment, and that will be a comfort.

Change is coming into your life. Handle it in the manner that you usually handle change. Anchor yourself in the past and move forward. Soul affirmation: I open up to the wisdom of children.

IRGO ~ Charm is an extremely effective tool for you this week. Charisma works better than at any recent time, especially at home. Shine brightly and let your glow work for you. Your self-image is you most effective tool. Soul affirmation: Romantic and financial rewards are calling me, and I listen.

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April 26 - May 2

Inside This Edition

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IBRA ~ The spiritual package you’ve been waiting for is likely to arrive this week. It should assure you that you’ve been on the right track. Your insights can be an inspiration to those who work with you.

Love is the reward for generosity. Soul affirmation: I seek good news by reaching out to those who love me.

CORPIO ~ This week, let your gentle spirit shine through. Your rough-andtumble side is not appropriate for the relationships that you’ll encounter. Someone will need your understanding and sympathy. Give it with sensitivity. Soul affirmation: My feelings are a reflection of the company I keep.

AGITTARIUS ~ Look for financial good news this week. Wow! It’s about time. This week might be a good week to window shop for a big vacation or extravagance purchase. Be sensitive to your lover’s needs this week. You may have been thinking too much of your own needs recently.

Soul affirmation: Being easy to get along with is the best thing I can do this week.

APRICORN ~ Be especially sensitive to your spirit and your intuition this week. They are your sixth sense that will alarm you of a situation that you should avoid. You’ll also be alerted to meet a new person who will be important to your personal life in the near future. Expect the unexpected from your lover. Soul affirmation: New intuitions create new plans and a new cast of characters.

QUARIUS ~ Do not feel alone in facing your tumultuous circumstances this week. Call upon your support system and do not be afraid to ask for help. Your ability to reach out will be a strong sign of courage.

The people closest to you will feel a new respect for you. Soul affirmation: When I reach out in love, someone is always there.

ISCES ~ Do not narrow your options by accepting any offer that is put on the table this week. Internalize the situation and discover how resourceful you are and capitalize on your own strengths and ability make things happen. Don’t underestimate yourself, especially this week! Soul affirmation: The wisdom of the ages is revealed as my spirit.

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L.A. Watts Times WEEKENDER Published Weekly – Updates 3800 S. Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008 Administration – Sales – Graphics – Editorial 323.299.3800 - office 323.291.6804 - fax Beverly Cook – Publisher, Managing Editor 1976 – 1993 Charles Cook – Publisher 1976 – 1998 Melanie Polk – Publisher 1998 – 2010

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WWW.LAWATTSTIMES.COM Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. ............Executive Publisher & Executive Editor Brenda Marsh Mitchell ..................................Executive Vice President Tracey Mitchell ......................................................................Controller Brandon I. Brooks ..................................................Co-Managing Editor Yussuf J. Simmonds ..............................................Co-Managing Editor Joy Childs ....................................................................Assistant Editor Bernard Lloyd ....................................................Director of Advertising Benjamin Samuels ....................................................Graphic Designer Chris Martin ..........................................................Production Designer EMAIL: wattsweekender@yahoo.com Circulation ..................................................................................50,000 The opinions expressed by contributing writers are not necessarily those of the L.A. Watts Times.

The L.A. Watts Times is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, CDs or tapes.

CIRCULATION AUDITED BY CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL

BlackFacts.com April 29, 1968 The Poor People’s Campaign began with Ralph Abernathy, SCLC president, leading a delegation of leaders representing poor Whites, Blacks, Indians, and Spanish Americans to Capitol Hill for conferences with cabinet members and congressional leaders.

Californians to vote on abolishing death penalty

BY PAUL ELIAS | ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California voters will soon get a chance to decide whether to replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A measure to abolish capital punishment in California qualified for the November ballot on Monday, Secretary of State Debra Bowen said.

If it passes, the 725 California inmates now on Death Row will have their sentences converted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It would also make life without parole the harshest penalty prosecutors can seek.

Backers of the measure say abolishing the death penalty will save the state millions of dollars through layoffs of prosecutors and defense attorneys who handle death penalty cases as well as savings from not having to maintain the nation's largest death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Those savings, supporters argue, can be used to help unsolved crimes.

If the measure passes, $100 million in purported savings from abolishing the death penalty would be used over three years to investigate unsolved murders and rapes.

The measure is dubbed the “Savings, Accountability and Full Enforcement for California Act,” also

POLL RESULTS

HOROSCOPES

known as the SAFE California Act. It's the fifth measure to qualify for the November ballot, the secretary of state announced Monday. Supporters collected more than the 504,760 valid signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot.

“Our system is broken, expensive and it always will carry the grave risk of a mistake,” said Jeanne Woodford, the former warden of San Quentin, who is now an anti-death penalty advocate and an official supporter of the measure.

The measure will also require most inmates sentenced to life without parole to find jobs within prisons.

Most death row inmates do not hold prison jobs for security reasons.

Though California is one of 34 states that authorize the death penalty, the state hasn’t put anyone to death since 2006. A federal judge that year halted executions until prison officials built a new death chamber at San Quentin, developed new lethal injection protocols and made other improvements to delivering the lethal three-drug combination.

A separate state lawsuit is challenging the way the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation developed the new protocols. A judge in Marin County earlier this year ordered the CDCR to redraft its lethal injection protocols, See DEATH PENALTY, page 11

Have better relationships been formed between the Korean and Black communities?

65.8%

No

34.2%

Yes

Visit www.lasentinel.net to vote for Weekender polls.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

3

e v e n t LISTINGS

4-5 / 2012 happening these months

L.A. Watts Times Calendar, Compiled by Brandon I. Brooks, Co-Managing Editor 4-27-12 The Center for Juvenile Law and Policy: (CJLP) at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles is hosting its third-annual symposium, “Ineffective Assistance of Counsel: Systemic Causes, Systemic Solutions.” WHEN: Friday, 9 a.m.-2:45 p.m. at Loyola’s downtown L.A. campus. Sessions will examine the definition of ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) along with its problems and responses. The lunchtime keynote address will be “Rethinking How We Provide Defense Services.” The event will be followed by a ceremony to present the secondannual Sister Janet Harris Juvenile Advocate Awards. WHERE: 919 Albany St. (at Olympic), Los Angeles, CA 90015. More information is available at http://events.lls.edu/fidlerinstitute/12.

4-28-12 Town Hall Meeting: Black construction workers and residents throughout Los Angeles are invited to the Los Angeles Black Worker Center’s Town Hall Meeting to unite with workers as well as civic and labor leaders as they discuss a new era in employment for African-Americans two decades after the civil unrest. WHEN: Noon to 4:30 p.m. WHERE: Watts Labor Community Action Center 10950 South Central Avenue Watts, CA 90059 Urban Youth Technology Fair 2012: City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks Pacific Region, South District in conjunction with the C3

event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. WHEN: Registration: 7am – Cleo King sings National Anthem at 7:45am. Walk begins: 8:30am (best photo opportunities, crowd shots, 45ft banner with VIPs). WHERE: Exposition Park – Start Point: Directly in front of the Natural History Museum, adjacent to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 900 Exposition Blvd.

Los Angeles 90007. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com/ca or nacersano.org.

12th Annual Women’ s Health Forum: KJLHFM will host their 12th annual Women’s Health Forum (WHF) Saturday, April 28, from 8:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center (1201 S. Figueroa St., Downtown Los Angeles). Special surprise guests will join KJLH on-air personalities Dominique DiPrima, Nautica De La Cruz, Tammy Mack, and Kevin Nash throughout the day. The WHF will conclude with a fashion show and show giveaway featuring KJLH’s Adai Lamar from the Steve Harvey Morning Show. For more information, including a complete schedule of events, please log onto kjlhradio.com or call (310) 330-2200.

La Tijera K-8 School GRAND OPENING: The

Foundation and Pressline Entertainment will host the “Invention to Innovation, See Yourself-See the Future” Urban Youth Technology Fair 2012.

WHERE: St. Andrews Park, 8701 St. Andrews Place Los Angeles, CA 90047.

WHEN: 11:30 A.M.-4:30P.M.

Household Hazardous Waste Roundup: County of Los Angeles residents will have the opportunity to safely discard of household hazardous waste. WHERE: Betty Ainsworth Sports Center 3851 W. El Segundo Boulevard (El Segundo Boulevard and Doty Avenue) Hawthorne WHEN: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. For further information, contact the County of Los Angeles Department of PublicWorks at 1-(888) CLEAN LA or www.CleanLA.com or the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County at 1-(800) 238-0172 or www.lacsd.org.

March of Dimes: The leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health.

With chapters nationwide and its premier

Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of the new La Tijera K-8 School will take place at 10:00 am. Please join the Superintendent of Schools, Board Members, the School Principal, Elected Officials, Students, Parents, Teachers, Community Leaders, and Community Partners in making this a memorable community event. RSVP to grandopening@inglewoood.k12.ca.us.

4-29-12 18th Annual “ A Run for Hope” : OUR HOUSE, the primary resource for grief-related services within Los Angeles County, will host its 18th annual “A Run for Hope”, a 2.7Mile run/walk, memorial ceremony, fundraiser and fair that allow families and friends to celebrate the lives of those closest to them who have died. WHERE: West LA Farmers Market. West Los Angeles Farmers Market (where run begins/ends and post-run fair takes place) and Sawtelle Blvd. between Olympic and Santa Monica boulevards (where run/walk takes place) WHO: 500 runners/walkers of all ages. WHEN: 9:00 a.m.

Laugh 4 Life Comedy Show: Laugh 4 Life, a program featuring a FREE comedy show, lunch and health screenings will be held

April29, 2012 at Second Baptist Church. The health screenings will begin at 10:00 a.m. and continue through the program, the free lunch will be served beginning at 1 p.m., the comedy show will begin at 2 p.m. Comedian Rod Allison, “Rod of God” will deliver his special brand of church humor. This special event is being sponsored by Healing Our Village, of Maryland, Inc. The health screenings will include a check for diabetes and high blood pressure. Second Baptist Church is located at: 2412 Griffith Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90011. More information is available by calling: (800) 788-0941 or the church office at: (213) 748-0318.

improve conditions for Black male youth in Los Angeles that are adversely affecting their futures. “SAVING OUR SONS: A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION” will take place on Wednesday, May 2, at 6 p.m., in the North Tent at Los Angeles Trade-Tech College (LATTC), 1937 Grand Ave., Los Angeles 90015. More than 200 people are expected in attendance. Free parking for the event is available at the LATTC parking lots on Grand Ave. in between Washington Blvd. and 23rd St., or in campus lot F. People may register for the free event in advance, at www.calfund.org/sos.

5-2-12

TO MAKE A CALENDAR SUBMISSION:

California Community Foundation: (CCF) invites parents, educators, employers, community, civic and religious leaders, and all concerned members of the public to participate in a historic town hall on the need to change and

Larenz Tate – Actor and Activist

include event name, date(s), time, location, contact/RSVP information and admission price, if any. Use BRIEF paragraph format (no lists, line breaks, or all-caps). All calendar submissions are space permitting and may be edited for brevity. Send submissions, along with any images, to brandon@lasentinel.net with the subject heading “LAWT Community Events.” Please include text in the body of your email, not in an attachment.

1(;7 &(1785< /$':3 /HDUQ 0RUH $ERXW 3URSRVHG 3RZHU :DWHU 5DWHV &20081,7< 0((7,1*6 Harbor: Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Salon A 601 S. Palos Verdes St. San Pedro 90731

East L.A.: Wednesday, May 2, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Recreation and Parks Ramona Hall 4580 N. Figueroa St. Los Angeles 90065

West Valley: Thursday, April 26, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites 22617 Ventura Blvd.

Woodland Hills 91367

Central Valley: Thursday, May 3, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

LADWP Van Nuys Service Center 14401 Saticoy St. Van Nuys 91405

Metro: Saturday, April 28, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

LADWP John Ferraro Building Headquarters 111 N. Hope St., A Level Los Angeles 90012

West L.A.: Thursday, May 10, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Stephen S. Wise Temple, South Taub Annex 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive Los Angeles 90077

South L.A.: Monday, April 30, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

LADWP Crenshaw Service Center 4030 Crenshaw Blvd.

Los Angeles 90008

To RSVP, please visit www.ladwpnews.com or call (213) 367-1361 As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, service and activities. To ensure availability, such requests should be made 72 hours in advance by calling (213) 367-1361, TDD: 1 (800) 432-7397.

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

On a mission

Rodney King reflects RN begins campaign to recruit on an up-down life 100,000 single mothers to become since riot nursing students

Mona Clayton

When Mona Clayton became a registered nurse, she did so to make a better life for her and her daughter. The single mother was determined to show her daughter what could be accomplished through hard work and dedication.

It has been more than 10 years since Ms. Clayton passed her California state nursing exam and not only has she had a successful nursing career, she has obtained her Bachelor of Science degree and started her own company, Nurses Roc 2 Publishing.

“The vision of Nurses Roc 2 Publishing is twofold” states Ms. Clayton: “To bring awareness about the nursing profession and its many opportunities and to publish books and promote seminars and workshops that will help nursing students accomplish their goals.”

One resource published by Nurses Roc is “From Student to Nurse, Surviving the Journey,” the highly successful debut book

by Mona Clayton. Regarded as a must-have by many nursing professionals, “From Student to Nurse” is a common-sense guide for nursing students to help eliminate some of the anxiety associated with entering this exciting field.

“I took my personal experiences and created a guide that has helped nursing students around the world” said Ms. Clayton.

Because of the popularity of “Surviving the Journey,” Ms. Clayton launched a speaking and book-signing tour to promote the benefits of a career in nursing this year.

The “Surviving The Journey” tour featuring Mona Clayton kicked off in January at the Long Beach Job Corps.

She will also visit nursing schools, colleges and host seminars, with the goal of reaching 100,000 single mothers and convincing them that nursing is one of the most rewarding careers in the world.

If you would like to have Mona Clayton R.N., B.S.N., speak at your school or event, call The Red Letter Agency at (213)444-9444 or Nurses Roc at 1-866-676-2286.

metro.net/works

Crenshaw/LAX / Transit Corridor Open House May 10 Metro invites you to an Metro a open house to learn about design n changes that have he project’s preliminary engineering g phase. A second taken place through tthe essment is completed public meeting will bee held when the environmental asse assessment later this summer r, at which w be taken. summer, time public comments will be Thursday, Thursday y, May 10, 20 2012, 012, 6-8pm 6 8pm Shep pherd Episcopal Church Christ the Good Shepherd Vernon A 3303 W Vernon Avv 900 008 Los Angeles, CA 90008

etro Bus Lines Served by M Metro 40, 42 and Rapid Bus Line 740. hments will be served.

Refresh Refreshments

BY JOHN ROGERS | ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — We saw his face a bloody, pulpy mess.

And in 1992, when the four Los Angeles police officers who beat him after a traffic stop were acquitted, it touched off anger that affected an entire generation. Now, 20 years later, this is the face of Rodney King, and this is what has happened to him in the interim.

He’s been a record company executive and a reality TV star among many other things.

To millions of Americans, though, he will always be either a victim of one of the most horrific cases of police brutality ever videotaped or just a hooligan who didn't stop when police attempted to pull him over.

He’s indisputably the Black motorist whose beating on a darkened LA street led to one of the worst race riots in American history.

AP Photo/Matt Sayles It’s been an up-and-down ride for King since he went on televi- Rodney King 20 years after the riots. sion at the height of those riots and pleaded in a quavering voice, “Can over to a local TV station.

After a jury with no Black memwe all get along?”

He’s been arrested numerous bers acquitted the officers on April times, mostly for alcohol-related 29, 1992, the city’s Black communicrimes. In a recent interview with ty exploded in rage. Fifty-five people The Associated Press he said, “I still died, and more than 2,000 were injured over three days. sip, I don't get drunk.”

King received a $3.8 million setHe has been to a number of rehab programs, he said, including the tlement from the city but said he lost 2008 appearance on “Dr. Drew” most it to bad investments, among Pinsky’s “Celebrity Rehab” program. them a hip-hop record label he Still, he was arrested again just founded that quickly went broke.

He makes money these days taklast year for driving under the influing part in events like celebrity boxence.

It was his fear of being stopped ing matches. He’s also promoting his for drunken driving on March 3, just-published memoir, “The Riot 1991, King said, that initially led him Within: My Journey From Rebellion to try to evade police who attempted to Redemption.”

A tall, physically imposing man to pull him over for speeding.

After he did stop, four LA police who is disarmingly friendly, selfofficers hit him more than 50 times effacing and soft-spoken, King, 47, with their batons, kicked him and maintains he is happy.

“America’s been good to me shot him with stun guns. A man who had quietly stepped outside his home after I paid the price and stayed alive to observe the commotion video- through it all,” he says. “This part of taped most of it and turned a copy my life is the easy part now.”

Federal Transit Administration preparing The F ederal T ransit Ad dministration and Metro Metro are prepar ring an Environmental Assessment to review w design changes that were not previously prevviously evaluated in the document include a change final environmental d ocument approved for the project. These T in location for the C Crenshaw/Vernon reenshaw/V Vernon e Station at Leimert Park P to an in-street underground station just j c north of 43rd Pl. Other design changes include the demolition of two existing exissting railroad bridges at I-405 and C entury Bl, and additional Century full and partial proper rty acquisitions. property W haaving your involvement in the dynam mic process of building a Wee look forward to having dynamic world class transporta ation system. Please use one of the following to RSVP or to transportation learn more about the project:

crenshawcorridor@metro.net crenshawcorridor@ @metro.net metro.net/crenshaw m etro.net/crenshaaw

12-1847mr©2012lacmta

213.922.2736 AP Photo/Matt Sayles

What set it off: This March 3, 1991, file video tape shot by George Holliday shows what appears to be a group of police officers beating Rodney King with nightsticks and kicking him as other officers look on.

The officers’ acquittal sparked rioting.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

5

2012 Jenesse Silver Rose Weekend rallies new support for worthy cause Silver Rose Gala and Auction and 4th Annual Halle Berry Celebrity Golf Classic draws new partners, celebrity guests and supporters

Bryce Wilson (host), Halle Berry, Mary J. Blige Photos by Steven Williams Photography

TOO

TOXIC TO TRASH

Old paint. Solvents. Batteries. Computer monitors. These are some of the household hazardous waste and electronic waste items you can bring to a Roundup for recycling. It’s a great opportunity to clean out your garage and clean up the environment. Our free drive-thru, drop-off events are a quick, convenient, and common-sense way to dispose of materials too toxic to trash, pour down a sink, or dump in a storm drain.

Imperial

Hwy.

120 th.

3851 W. El Segundo Blvd.

El Segundo Blvd. and Doty Ave.

Hawthorne For more information or an event schedule, contact: 1(888) CLEAN-LA, www.CleanLA.com or 1(800) 238-0172 www.lacsd.org

Segundo

Blvd.

Ave.

Blvd.

El

Crenshaw

Betty Ainsworth Sports Center

Enter Parking Lot for this Roundup from Doty Avenue

Doty

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Betty Ainsworth Sports Center Hawthorne Memorial Park

Ave.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

St.

HAWTHORNE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

Prairie

Household Hazardous Waste & Electronic Waste Roundup

Ave.

Halle Berry presented the award to Madison who, in addition to being honored by Jenesse, was celebrating having just acquired the number one draft pick for the LA Sparks, Nnemkadi Ogwumike. Berry, who is a Sparks fan, was presented by Madison with a postersized framed cameo photo of Berry in

Blvd.

people. Not a person was in their seat during her performance. She sang her heart out and it energized and rejuvenated us all to keep doing the work that we do.”

Schinal Walker, a former Jenesse client who is now an active spokesperson and advocate for women and girls overcoming domestic violence, was awarded with the first-ever Fannie Lou Hamer Award. Walker’s friends, Jazz and Jurnee Smollett, who recommended she go to Jenesse when she needed help, presented Walker the award. In her acceptance speech, Walker beamed with passion, resolve, power and conviction. She said, “Never again will I silence my voice! I will continue to raise awareness and take a stance. This is just the beginning!”

Xerox Corporation received a salute as a 2012 Silver Rose honoree.

Xerox executives Dawn Sutherland, Diane Martin and other top executives were on hand to accept the tribute.

The 4th Annual Halle Berry Celebrity Golf Classic was the biggest ever. With a sunny, clear day as the backdrop and a really good cause — domestic violence awareness and prevention — the participants had all the right elements for a great day of golf and some hearty fundraising.

This year’s participants included Halle Berry, Cedric the Entertainer, Sugar Ray Leonard, Kevin Farley, Boris Kodjoe, Salli RichardsonWhitfield, Dondré Whitfield, Chris Spencer, Eric Dickerson, Eric Laneuville, Kenny Lofton, Quinton Aaron, Dorian Missick, Eddie Murray, Louis Price, Kathleen Bradley, Dawnn Lewis and Flex Alexander.

Halle Berry welcomed the golfers in the morning before the shotgun start and made her rounds throughout the day to greet each team and to offer refreshments, a photo op with each team and an occasional friendly golfing tip. Terri Seymour, host of nationally syndicated entertainment news show, “EXTRA,” hosted the spirited Golf Awards Dinner, which immediately followed the golf tournament and was preceded by a reception and auction.

Los Angeles Sparks owner Paula Williams Madison was recognized as an esteemed 2012 Silver Rose honoree.

Hawthorne

Jenesse Center welcomed new and longtime supporters alike to its 2012 Silver Rose Weekend, which included the Silver Rose Gala & Auction held Sat., April 14, at the Beverly Hills Hotel as well as the 4th Annual Halle Berry Celebrity Golf Classic, held Monday, April 16, at the Wilshire Country Club.

The event raised funds and saluted important community figures who advance Jenesse Center’s mission to protect families from the ravages of domestic violence. Jenesse Center is a national nonprofit domestic violence intervention and prevention organization that provides a holistic, comprehensive program to nurture victimized families back to a place of mental, financial, physical and emotional wellbeing.

The theme for the 2012 Silver Rose was “Welcome.” Jenesse Board President, Avis Frazier-Thomas, said, “We chose the theme ‘Welcome’ because it's a simple word that embodies the hopes and dreams of families looking for a fresh start. It’s the affirmation that lets people know they are home.”

Hosted by two-time Grammy Award-winning music producer Bryce Wilson, special celebrity participants for the Silver Rose Gala & Auction included Halle Berry, Mary J. Blige, Leon, Vanessa Williams, Jazz Smollett, Jurnee Smollett and more.

This year’s distinguished 2012 Silver Rose honorees were individuals and corporations and are representative of Jenesse’s strategic vision to change the world by welcoming the very best ideas and opportunities for families.

This year’s honorees included Ingrid Roberts, managing director for First Picks Management, who was presented with her award at the Silver Rose Gala and Auction by the incomparable Mary J. Blige after Blige performed a crowd-pleasing, soul-stirring performance of her hit anthem “No More Drama” and “Living Proof.”

Halle Berry, Jenesse’s ambassador and Silver Rose chair, said, “We are so grateful that someone of Mary J. Blige’s caliber was so gracious to join us. She sang like she was at Madison Square Garden, performing for 50,000

cuisine, including oysters on the halfshell, jumbo cocktail shrimp, a Mexican taco bar, various gourmet pastas, antipasto, various slow-roasted, carved meats and a delectable dessert bar. After the awards ceremony and dinner, DJ Ilu Johnson spun all the popular hits and guests moved the tables and danced the night away.

The official sponsors of the 2012 Silver Rose Weekend included Xerox, Verizon, BET Networks, Cîroc, Nestlé USA, NBC Universal, SEIU ULTCW, See JENESSE SILVER ROSE, page 10

Rosecrans

Western

Jazz Smollett, Vanessa Williams, Bryce Wilson, Robi Reed, Jurnee Smollett

the stands cheering the Sparks on.

Golf tournament participants cheered fellow tournament winners, including Low Gross Winners: George Weaver, Mykol Lewis, John Harris and Cedric the Entertainer; Low Net Winners: Flex Alexander, James Arceneaux, Kylan Gamell and Fuzzy Naseri; Male and Female Longest Drives: Kylan Gamell and Dawnn Lewis; and Male and Female Closest to the Pin: Michael Sherman and Dawnn Lewis.

Guests enjoyed a delicious fare of

Blvd.

No Business Waste Accepted.

Brought to you by the County of Los Angeles and presented by the Department of Public Works and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County in cooperation with the cities of Carson, Compton, Culver City, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale,Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance.

Home-generated sharps waste such as hypodermic needles, pen needles, syringes, lancets, and intravenous needles SHOULD NOT be placed in your trash. Bring them to the Roundups or visit www.CLEANLA.com for alternate disposal options.

You can also take your used motor oil to more than 600 oil recycling centers in Los Angeles County.

Call 1(888) CLEAN-LA for a complete listing.

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

African Union: Sudan must stop bombing South Sudan

AP Photo/Abd Raouf

Sudanese armed forces stand near burnt oil pipes at the oil-rich border town of Heglig, Sudan. The African Union says Sudan must resume negotiations to end hostilities immediately.

BY KIRUBEL TADESSE | ASSOCIATED PRESS ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The African Union called on Sudan to stop its aerial bombardment of South Sudan and for both countries to cease hostilities as an uneasy calm settled over the south Wednesday with a lull in violence.

Sudan and South Sudan must with-

draw their forces from the disputed border region and keep their troops within their borders, the AU Peace and Security Council said in a statement released after a council meeting late Tuesday.

The AU also said the two neighboring countries should stop issuing inflammatory statements and propaganda that could escalate the conflict.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir

had said Tuesday that Sudan had “declared war” on his country following the north’s repeated bombing of the south. Kiir’s comments, made during a trip to China, signal a rise in rhetoric between the rival nations who spent decades at war with each other. Neither side has officially declared war.

Sudanese President Omar AlBashir gave a fiery speech last week in which he said there will be no negotia-

tions with the “poisonous insects” who are challenging Sudan’s claim to a disputed territory near the border.

South Sudan won independence from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war that killed 2 million people.

Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full-scale war in recent weeks over the unresolved issues of oil revenues and their disputed border. The violence has drawn alarm and condemnation from the international community.

The AU said Sudan and South Sudan must resume negotiations over their disputes, which collapsed earlier this month in Ethiopia when two the countries started attacking each other.

In January, the landlocked South Sudan shut down oil production and accused Sudan of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil it shipped through its northern neighbor.

Sudan responded by bombing the South's oil fields.

Earlier this month, South Sudan invaded the oil-rich town of Helgig, which was in the control of Sudan but which both countries claim. South Sudan’s government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said that troops from the south had withdrawn

from the Heglig on Monday but that Sudan continued with aerial bombardment of the south.

The U.N. Mission in South Sudan confirmed that at least 16 civilians in South Sudan were killed and 34 injured in bombings by Sudanese aircraft in Unity State, Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told reporters in New York Tuesday. She said the mission reported that the bombings also caused significant damage to infrastructure.

In the South Sudan region of Panakuac, which has seen days of air and ground attacks, violence subsided Wednesday and people were out in the streets.

South Sudan government spokesman Benjamin also said there were no reported incidents of violence

by Wednesday afternoon in much of the South, though he cautioned he was still receiving reports from various regions.

A Chinese official said Wednesday Kiir had to cut short a five-day visit to China because of the rising threat of war at home. Kiir originally planned to spend five days in China, a key economic and strategic partner for the newly independent country. It remained unclear exactly when he would return to South Sudan.

En route to Tribeca, 2 Cuban actors go missing

AP Photo/Tribeca Film Festival

Did they defect?: Cuban actors Javier Nunez Florian, left, and Analin de la Rua de la Torre never made it to New York City for the premiere of their film at the Tribeca Film Festival.

BY JAKE COYLE | ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK (AP) — In a case of life imitating art, two Cuban actors have gone missing en route to their film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Javier Nunez Florian and Analin de la Rua de la Torre disappeared in Miami during a layover last week.

The film, “Una Noche,” premiered at Tribeca on Thursday.

Where the 20-year-old actors went remains unknown, but they are assumed to have defected. Written and directed by Lucy Mulloy, “Una Noche” is about teenagers struggling in poverty who decide to defect to the United States.

“I wish they could have been here in New York City to enjoy the Tribeca Film Festival,” said Mulloy. “Though

they’ve made difficult choices about what to do at present, I wish them the very best in all their endeavors and I hope I will get to see them again soon.”

“I would love to know that they are well,” she added.

De la Rua de la Torre and Nunez Florian play brother and sister in the film, which was shot in Cuba.

The festival said in a statement that it has not had any contact with the actors.

A third actor from the film, Dariel Arrechada, continued on to New York where he has participated in the festival. He is scheduled to return to Cuba.

“Though we all miss them, and I miss them very much, I am confident they will do what is best for them,” said Arrechada. “My heart is with them and I hope they are safe and well.”

Thursday, April 26, 2012

7

BY BEN FELLER | ASSOCIATED PRESS

Obama woos students, pushes low-rate student loans

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Addressing a key constituency: President Barack Obama speaks to students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Courting college voters, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Congress needs to keep the cost of college loans from skyrocketing for millions of students, taking an election-year pitch to three states crucial to his bid to hold onto the White House.

Obama told students at the University of North Carolina that he personally understood the burden of college costs, noting that he and first lady Michelle Obama had “been in your shoes” and didn’t pay off their student loans until eight years ago.

“I didn’t just read about this. I didn’t just get some talking points about this. I didn’t get a policy briefing on this,” Obama said, recalling he and his wife shared a “mountain of debt” not a long time ago. “When we married, we got poor together.”

The emphasis on his personal experience set up a contrast with his likely Republican presidential opponent, Mitt Romney, whose father was a wealthy auto executive.

By taking on student debt, Obama spoke to middle-class America and targeted an enormous burden that threatens the economic recovery. He was heading to campuses in the South, West and Midwest to sell his message to colleges audiences bound to support it.

Pressuring Republicans in Congress to act, he sought to energize the young people essential to his campaign — those who voted for him last time and the many more who have turned voting age since then. Obama urged students to take their message to social media sites like Twitter to pressure their lawmakers.

Both Obama and Romney have expressed support for freezing the current interest rates on the loan for poorer and middle-class students but lawmakers are still exploring ways to pay for the plan. The issue is looming because the rate will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 without intervention by Congress, an expiration date chosen in 2007 when a Democratic Congress voted to chop the rate in half.

8

Thursday, April 26, 2012

F E AT U R E

quittal of four White police oƥcers accused of brutally beating Rodney King, a Black motorist, now infamously, and practically synonymous with the

Was it a rebellion, an uprising or a revolt? What it’s called is not as important as what happened and why.

BY YUSSUF J. SIMMONDS Co-Managing Editor Inevitably, positive changes have taken place in Los Angeles twenty years after the civil unrest began at Florence and Normandie. For example, “Generally there has been a diminishing sense of disrespect toward Black residents,” says Professor David Horne, director of the Pan African Public Policy Institute at Cal State Northridge. “Arguably, one of the most significant changes is a marked cohesiveness in the eơorts to improve the quality of life for all who reside here.”

Community leaders, elected oƥcials, law enforcement agents and activists alike are rallying to panels, forums and town halls, continuously analyzing the environment and attitudes that led to the uprising. They are hopeful that lessons learned since then will serve as an eơective preventative measure.

However, some current statistics reveal that while reaching the goal of a more peaceful, economically just Los Angeles won’t be impossible, it may be daunting.

Currently, young Black males comprise 33 percent of youth in L.A. county probation system despite representing about 10 percent of the county’s population. Black unemployment is about 20 percent here according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And, according to the Department of Education, the county’s Black students have an over 30 percent dropout rate.

“Just look at the Trayvon Martin case and you can see that while much has been done there is much work remaining to keep our justice system on track,” said Judge David S. Cunningham III on the rebellion…

There were a variety of names for it: uprising, civil unrest, rebellion, urban insurrection, protest, revolt… The unchanging element was the fact that what triggered the L.A. riots was the April 29, 1992 ac-

L.A. Watts Times WEEKENDER

of conduct became typical.”

Also typical, was the violent but otherwise non-existent relationship between Blacks and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). By the time the world saw the four oƥcers beat King via television and their subsequent acquittal on television, Blacks in Los Angeles had long realized that the system designed to protect, serve and render equal justice under the law had failed them. It was not the first time, nor was it the only time.

Just days after the televised beating, Korean liquor store-owner Soon Ja Du, shot and killed 15 year old Latasha Harlins, a Black student, accusing her of trying to steal a bottle of orange juice. Despite the fact that Harlins was shot in the back of the head as she attempted to leave the store without the juice, Ja Du was sentenced to five years probation and a $500.00 fine. The incident and weak-sentencing only served to exacerbate an already festering wound.

“We were getting [disrespect] from the immigrants coming over; we were getting it from the police and we were saying, ‘no, we cannot stand it’ and that’s the major reason the dam broke.”

About three hours after the not-guilty verdict was read for the oƥcers charged in the beating, a crowd at the now infamous corner of Florence and Normandie began to heat up. Non-Black motorists unfortunate enough to be caught driving by were pulled from their vehicles, beaten and robbed. Reginald Denny, who like King, became an unintentional symbol of the 1992 civil unrest, received the most severe beating.

When it was all over, there were about 53 deaths, thousands injured and arrested and approximately $1 billion in property damage.

“I sat down at 54th and Normandie at the RTD bus depot forever, before they actually let us out to do crime suppression and start making arrests in South Central Los Angeles,” said Commander Robert Green.

“The most vivid memory I have is that when we first came out and started rolling into the neighborhoods that I had policed for some time, people were coming out onto their porches and cheering. The good people in the neighborhood were terrorized and locked in their homes, afraid to come out.

“I’ll never forget that. [I was] thinking the system had completely failed these people. Not only had law enforcement’s relationship deteriorated so significantly for a variety of reasons, but we had victimized the best people in the community… people who had supported us, people who really needed law enforcement more than anybody…”

Like Horne, Green believed the explosion in 1992

riots.

“When I heard the words, ‘N****r run, we’re gonna kill you, n****r run’... You know, here in a street fight that’s to the death,” King recalled during a recent interview with KTLA’s Eric Spillman.

“I knew life was just a matter of seconds of me dying, so I’ve gotta try and cover up what I can...

Keep my hands above my brain and just scream as loud as I could and as long as I could.”

While the beating may have been the breaking point, many believe the real Rodney King, three days after his vidcause was de- eotaped beating in Los Angeles on cades of mistreat- March 6, 1991. AP Photo/Pool,File ment and total lack of respect toward Los Angeles’ black community.

“Back then we had a massive and increasing amount of general disrespect for the African American community,” explained Horne.

“You had a number of immigrants coming over, sometimes Korean, sometimes Vietnamese. They would get liquor store licenses [whereas] Blacks could not.

“They were in charge of all the swap meets.

They would be in charge of a lot of gasoline stations in the community.

And, with regularity, when people would stop to get gas or when people would try on something before they paid for it, the mantra was, ‘no, no, you’re The four police officers indicted for brutalizing black motorist Rodney King in a videotaped attack dirty. You cannot are shown in these police mug shots taken March 14, 1991. From left are: Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, Officer put on, buy or Theodore J. Briseno, Officer Timothy E. Wind and Officer Laurence Powell. Their initial acquittal of leave… That kind charges spurred the Los Angeles Riots in April 1992.

AP Photo

AP Photo/Reed Saxon AP Photo/Chris Martinez AP Photo/Akili-Casundria Ramsess

didn’t happen overnight, though his account of that time is now slightly diơerent.

“If you go back into the mid 1980s and early 1990s, we really had 10 years of extraordinary violence in Los Angeles. We had over a thousand murders a year.

“The violence near 77th street alone for 10 years, we averaged 130 murders a year. The highest year we had 163 and when you look at those numbers and you look at the staƥng levels of the police department, you had people who were constantly responding to significant problems.

Crack cocaine was out of control. PCP was out of control.

“It wasn’t just the homicide victims, it was the people’s lives that were destroyed. So, cops were tremendously overworked, responding to one violent incident after another, one emotional victim after another … victims of crime. They weren’t dealing with the community.

There was no community policing at the time.

“The feeling was that you had to move from one incident to the next as quickly as you could, to free resources up so that you could respond to the calls for service. If you sat back and looked from a removed position at what was going on in the city, I think you could have respected being caught up in it everyday.

“You clear from roll call and you get in that blackand-white, it was on. You went until you got relieved and things slowed down for the night. Until then, it was just one traumatic incident after another…”

Like the Watts Rebellion in 1965 and instances of urban civil unrest in 1967, the 1992 civil unrest spawned a commission. The Christopher Commission emulated its predecessors the McCone and Kerner commissions, blaming the government for failed housing, education and social service policies. One of its outcomes was an appointment of a federal monitor to oversee recommended changes in the LAPD. Those included new leadership in the department and procedures to enforce more accountability among oƥcers. For his part, Green says “hard lessons” helped him see how important reaching out to the community is.

“We continued to have a poor feedback loop from the community,” he recalled.

“We thought we knew how to do it best. And it wasn’t until 15 years later, when I started establishing those critical relationships [in the community] the light really went on for me. There’s so much to learn from taking your feet out of police shoes and putting them in community shoes, the shoes of the victims, and the shoes of the victims’ families to get their perspective on how we can do it better.”

Some things have indeed gotten better, said Cunningham.

“Since the 1992 civil unrest, many of us, the beneficiaries of the Civil Rights Era, have fought hard to make sure we never lived through such deadly times again in Los Angeles,” he said.

“While I still can see Connie Rice greeting me with the words ‘The City is on fire!’ after the Rodney King verdict was announced, I also recall 10 years later in 2002 the way the LAPD top brass and city oƥcials responded swiftly and fairly to the Stanley Miller incident (the video recorded flashlight beating that so many compared to the Rodney King incident). Oƥcers were fired, reforms were implemented and the City of LA remained calm.

“We have so many people to thank like Bill Bratton, Earl Paysinger, Jan Perry, Martin Ludlow, Mark Ridley Thomas, John Mack and Karen Bass, to name just a few that worked every day for police reform. Still we must continue to make sure that the lives of our children are saved both in the streets and in the criminal justice system.”

Thursday, April 26, 2012

PHOTO CREDIT (L-R from top): AP Photo/Reed Saxon AP Photo/Nick Ut AP Photo/Paul Sakuma (also cover)

www.lawattstimes.com

9

10

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Student Athlete | Of the Week

BY JASON LEWIS SENTINEL SPORTS EDITOR JASONL@LASENTINEL.NET Darius Spates likes to put the ball in the basket, and the senior shooting guard has figured out how to do just that, and he does it a lot. Look him up on Youtube.com and you’ll see him scoring from the outside, the inside, off screens, and at times just creating his own shot.

Spates, standing at 6-1, quickly moved up the ranks at Verbum Dei High School. He was one of only two freshmen to play on the varsity team, and the same was true during his sophomore season. As a junior and a senior he was a team captain and he was named the team’s MVP both years. He also made the All League team in both of those seasons, and this past year he was a few votes shy of being named the Santa Fe League MVP after he averaged 20 points a game.

Spates can be considered a combo guard, but he did the bulk of his damage as a shooting guard.

“I feel more relaxed from the shooting guard position,” Spates said. “I look at the game a bit differently. At the point guard position you need to see everything. At shooting guard, you still have to see everything, but it’s just a different view, and I love to score.”

Spates had a smile on his face when he said that he loves to score.

“My main strength is my shooting, and I believe that I’m a great shooter,” Spates said. “I depend on it a lot. I love the midrange, from 13’ to 17’.

Metta World Peace Verbum suspended 7 Dei’s games for elbow Darius Spates

Photo by Jason Lewis

When a defender is looking at Darius Spates from this angle, he’s either going to watch Spates drive right by him, or hit a jump shot in his face.

From inside to out, I’m pretty pure.”

Spates likes to come off of screens and take the open jump shot, but if a defender is in his face, he has the quickness and ball handling skills to drive to the basket.

“To average 20 you need to be able to create your own shot,” Spates said.

Spates has the abilities to operate within a system, but at times he has to freelance a bit when the opposing defense is playing well.

“I don’t want to preplan too much, because I still want to be able to react to the defense, but what’s basically on my mind is that I feel bad for the person that’s guarding me,” Spates said.

Spates usually lights up his defender, but in his mind, that is only half of the job.

“It’s time to get back on defense, no time to celebrate,” Spates said. “Defense is important to me. You can’t win games without defense. I can do all the scoring that I want, but if I let the man I’m guarding score just as much or even more, than the ratio, I’m down. I don’t like cutting even, or being down when it comes to the ratio. I need to be winning, so I have to defend my man to the best of my abilities.”

There are a few colleges that are recruiting Spates for a basketball scholarship, and with a 3.0 grade point average, it will be easy for most colleges to get him in. He worked hard in the classroom to make sure that colleges will not pass him up.

“First off it is student before athlete,” Spates said. “I want to go to college, and I hope that I can use basketball as a way to pay for college. I want basketball to take me as far as it can, but first comes the books.”

Spates has already been accepted into six schools. A few of them Cal State universities, and a couple Historically Black Colleges and Universities, such as Howard and Hampton. His plan is to major in physical theopy, and he wants to be the head athletic trainer for a professional or college team, or open his own business where athletes can be treated.

“I know as an athlete that being hurt is no fun at all,” Spates said.

Spates has been active in a few organizations outside of basketball. At Verbum Dei, he is on the campus ministry team, he is the president of the black student union, and he is an ambassador for the school.

“The one I like the most is being an ambassador,” Spates said. “Even though I’m graduating, I’d still like to see the school improve. If I’m able to put my two cents into seeing who is coming to this schools, I’d take that opportunity at any time.”

His father, Marshall Spates, believes that his son is going to make it on the next level. At this point they are just trying to figure out how his college education will be paid for.

“As a basketball player, the thing that separates him from most players is that he is a really good shooter,” his father said. “He’s better than most kids. A lot of collegiate players do not shoot the ball as well as he does, and he can get his own shot. Most guards need somebody to set them up, but he can get a shot off over anybody. But the thing that I’m most proud about is that he’s learned how to manage his time,” Spates has work-study, where he goes to school for four days and to work for one. So he has to do five days of school work in four days. He manages his time by starting his homework in class after he finishes his class work.

That frees up time in the evening to work on his basketball skills.

Also working in Spates favor is that his younger brother, Nicholas, is the starting point guard on the team. Nicholas is just a freshman, and he knows who to feed the ball to. But he gets rewarded for that by getting guidance from his older brother.

“He gives me a goal to reach, and even pass if I can,” Nicholas said. “I’m very thankful for that.”

Both brothers are following similar paths by playing varsity as freshmen, but Nicholas does admit that his brother beats him at this point, because he is three years older. But when Nicholas catches up to his older brother in height and speed, he has a simple statement.

“He’s going to have some problems.”

World Peace?

Not so much: Los Angeles Lakers trainer Gary Vitti, left, escorts Metta World Peace from the court after he was ejected for double flagrant fouls against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on Sunday.

AP Photo/Reed Saxon

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace was suspended seven games by the NBA on Tuesday for elbowing James Harden, meaning he could miss at least six playoff games.

World Peace was ejected from Sunday's game against Oklahoma City for throwing an elbow that struck Harden in the back of the head, giving him a concussion.

World Peace will miss the season finale on Thursday at Sacramento, then the next six games for which he is eligible. The playoffs open Saturday.

Commissioner David Stern alluded to the former Ron Artest's history of

on-court altercations in announcing the penalty in a statement.

Artest got an 86-game ban in 2004 for jumping into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills, outside Detroit, to fight fans.

“The concussion suffered by James Harden demonstrates the danger posed by violent acts of this kind, particularly when they are directed at the head area,” Stern said in a statement. “We remain committed to taking necessary measures to protect the safety of NBA players, including the imposition of appropriate penalties for players with a history of on-court altercations.”

JENESSE SILVER ROSE Continued from page 5 Southwest Airlines, Good Works Makes A Difference and The Tyler Foundation For Disabilities.

Karen Earl, executive director of the Jenesse Center said, “Jenesse Center has been fortunate to draw sponsors who make our mission their own and we are grateful for their contribution to help give women and families peace and a chance at a new beginning.”

Halle Berry said, “The Silver Rose Weekend raised much-needed funds and awareness to help families victimized by domestic violence.

Over the past 14 years I’ve watched the lives of countless families transformed, and I am excited about the future for these families as we work to build on our success and bring an end to their suffering one family at a time.”

To donate $10 to support Jenesse, text “JCGIVE” and your email address to “20222”. Message and data rates may apply. You can unsubscribe any time by texting “STOP” to “20222”.

Visit www.jenesse.org for more details.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

11

Veteran safety Brian Dawkins retiring from NFL

BY ARNIE STAPLETON | ASSOCIATED PRESS

DEATH PENALTY Continued from page 2 further delaying executions.

Since California reinstated the death penalty in 1978, the state has executed 13 inmates. A 2009 study conducted by a senior federal judge and law school professor concluded that the state was spending about $184 million a year to maintain Death Row and the death penalty system.

Supporters of the proposition, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, are portraying it as a cost-savings measure in a time of political austerity. They count several prominent conservatives and prosecutors — including the author of the 1978 measure adopting the death penalty — as supporters and argue that too few executions have been carried out at too great a cost.

“My conclusion is that he law is totally ineffective,” said Gil Garcetti, a former Los Angeles County district attorney. “Most inmates are going to die of natural causes, not executions.”

Garcetti, who served as district attorney from 1992 to 2000, said he changed his mind after publication of the 2009 study, which was published

by Judge Arthur Alarcon of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and law professor Paula Mitchell.

Opponents of the measure, such as former Sacramento U.S Attorney McGregor Scott, argue that lawyers filing “frivolous appeals” are the

problem, not the death penalty law.

“On behalf of crime victims and their loved ones who have suffered at the hands of California’s most violent criminals, we are disappointed that the ACLU and their allies would seek to score political points in their continued efforts to override the will of the people and repeal the death penalty,” said Scott, who is chairman of the Californians for Justice and Public Safety, a coalition of law enforcement officials, crime victims and others formed to oppose the measure.

The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, meanwhile, remains one the biggest backers of the death penalty in the state and opposes the latest attempt to abolish it in California. The foundation and its supports argue that federal judges are gumming up the process with endless delays and reversals of state Supreme Court rulings upholding individual death sentences.

The foundation on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking the immediate resumption of executions in California. The foundation’s lawsuit, filed directly with the state Court of Appeal, argues that since the threedrug method has been the subject of so much litigation — and the source of the execution delays — a one-drug method of lethal injection like Ohio uses can be substituted immediately.

talented, ferocious, and determined as Brian Dawkins,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “He was one of the most dedicated and hardest working players I have ever coached. Whether it was on the practice field, the film room or the weight room, Brian always put in the extra hours it took to become the star player that he was. And he transferred all of that and more onto the field on Sundays.”

Dawkins finished his career in Philadelphia in 2008 as the franchise's leader in games played (183) and interceptions (34) while spearheading a defense that made the Eagles perennial championship contenders.

“Brian Dawkins is one of my alltime favorite players and one of the best to ever put on an Eagles uniform,” team owner Jeffrey Lurie said.

“On the field, in many ways, Brian reinvented the safety position. He had the speed and athleticism to line up against the game’s best receivers, and was equally effective in the run game.

His love for the game was infectious and he poured his entire heart and soul into everything he was doing from the moment he entered the stadium until he left.

“Everyone who ever watched Brian play saw that and it was impossible not to love that about him.”

The Eagles announced they would honor Dawkins at their Sept. 30 game against the New York Giants, and the Broncos have plans to do the same at a later date.

Longevity isn’t normally associated with the position where the hardest hits are both received and delivered — the only other safeties to log 16 seasons in the pros were Hall of Famer Paul Krause and Eugene Robinson.

Dawkins was named to several All-Pro teams and the NFL’s AllDecade team of the 2000s and he made nine Pro Bowls, including last season as an alternate. Dawkins finished his career with 17 fumble recoveries, 26 sacks, 37 interceptions, 42 forced fumbles and 98 pass breakups.

His 42 forced fumbles are the most ever by a defensive back in the NFL. “Brian Dawkins is one of the best to ever play the game, a future Hall of Famer who changed the way his position is played,” Fox said. “In many ways, he helped my job as a coach with his great leadership and preparation. He brought so much to the table and was such an enormous asset to our football team.”

As a member of the NFLPA executive committee, Dawkins pushed for new league rules that limited full contact during camp and also in the regular season. He credited those changes in the 10-year labor pact reached last summer with keeping him fresh at the beginning of what turned out to be his final season, which he played a year after laboring through sprains to both knees.

What he was really fighting for, he said, was the next generation of players who will one day walk away from the game in better shape than he could.

It was one last piece of his long legacy.

“I just hope that people will remember me as someone that went

AP Photo/George Widman, file

Sweet 16: Brian Dawkins: After 16 seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles safety announced via Twitter that he is retiring from the NFL. Dawkins spent his first 13 seasons with the Eagles, his last three with the Denver Broncos. out and gave everything that he could every week,” Dawkins said. “Not just the weekend or the day of the game, but every week ... and that my teammates could count on me to be there all of the time. Not some of the times, not most of the times.”

One tweet in response to Dawkins' retirement announcement came from Elway himself, who wrote, “Congratulations on a Hall of Fame career, Dawk!!!”

He’ll be eligible for enshrinement in 2017.

“If that’s something that happens, that will be a blessing,” Dawkins said.

“I never entered into the NFL saying that, you know, I’m going to be a Hall of Famer. I know some guys do that; I just wasn’t one of them. I mean, that wasn’t my mindset. I did not enter the league saying I want to play 16 years.

None of these things were in my mind.”

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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Brian Dawkins says his head told him to retire, not his neck.

The veteran safety called Denver Broncos coach John Fox on Monday morning to tell him that after plenty of prayer and reflection, he’d decided that 16 seasons in the NFL was enough.

Then, Dawkins announced his retirement on Twitter, where he quickly began trending as fans worldwide expressed their admiration for the mild-mannered family man who transformed himself into a ferocious football player on Sundays.

Well-known by his alter-ego “Wolverine,” and for his passionate, energetic play for 13 years in Philadelphia and three in Denver, Dawkins was one of the greatest to ever play his position, and nobody played safety in the NFL longer than he did.

Dawkins, 38, said he felt he had another year left in him after recovering from a serious neck injury that sidelined him for the stretch run and playoffs last season. But he instead fulfilled one final wish from his NFL bucket list: walking away from the game he loves before being betrayed by a battered body or one too many trips around the sun.

“It’s probably going to sound crazy, but you know the fact that I could play another year gave me a lot of peace to say that this is it,” Dawkins said.

Broncos boss John Elway said he

wanted Dawkins to play in 2012 but never pressured him to return.

“It’s always tough to take that final step,” Elway said. “He’ll be missed. He did so many tremendous things for the Broncos, not only on the field, but his leadership off the field was something that we'll always be grateful for.”

Dawkins said the offseason additions of quarterback Peyton Manning and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio forced him to pray a little longer on his future.

He insisted his neck didn’t enter the equation, though. He said the nerve had regenerated and he was fine.

“My body feels good. It really does. My neck, that nerve area is cool, nothing’s wrong with it,” he said. “My strength is back where it was and my knees, things don’t ache like they do during the season when I’m walking up and down the steps.”

Dawkins said he felt great peace over his decision.

Dawkins said he wasn’t sure whether he’d sign a one-day deal with his old team to ceremoniously retire from the team that drafted him in the second round out of Clemson in 1996, but one thing’s for sure: he’s staying in Denver, where he hopes to help coach high school football in the fall.

“I’ll raise my kids here,” he said.

“This is a beautiful spot.”

He also has a soft spot in his heart for Philly, where he plans to meet with the media on Saturday.

For 13 years, he was the heart and soul of the Eagles’ defense.

“The NFL will miss a player as

12

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Reggae ‘ round LA

Hudson murders trial to Get Up, Stand Up for “Marley” focus on youngest victim

at the Landmark Theatre

BY JOY CHILDS, SENTINEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER Most of us didn’t get to see reggae legend Bob Marley in concert three times like true fan Lloyd Ferguson. More typical are Karen Buffin as well as UCLA graduate Beverly Ware, both of whom saw him only once, at Pauley Pavilion in the ‘70s.

That school was also where Ferguson, Ware and I got to know fellow Bruin and future Marley artistic director Neville Garrick, who was studying art. Garrick’s journey with Marley figures prominently in the “Marley” documentary.

Over the years since his 1981 death, the life of Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley has been a blur of snippets and quotes — until now.

Those who knew him best have put together the most thorough and coherent picture of him to date: the boy, the son, the young, shy budding musician, the father, the icon.

“Those” would be, among others, Ziggy, Cedella and Rita Marley; Constance Marley; Cindy Breakspeare; Jimmy Cliff; Peter Tosh; and Bunny Wailer.

In “Marley” (running approximately 150 minutes — yes, nearly 2-1/2 hours), which opened at The Landmark Theatres on Friday, April 20 (significant as a holiday for marijuana devotees) and runs through at least this Thursday, we finally

Reggae legend Bob Marley

get the definitive, 360° picture of pre- and post-dreadlock-laden and Rastafarian Marley, warts and all — and there were warts aplenty.

That’s what marks this movie as being as close to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as we’re likely to ever get about Bob Marley. From execu-

tive producer Ziggy Marley, Chris Blackwell (who founded Island Records, Marley’s primary record label) and Steve Bing, and directed by Kevin Macdonald, the documentary features close childhood friends, Marley’s doctor, his lawyer and significant others.

See BOB MARLEY, page 15

AP Photo/Tom Gianni

Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson broke down in tears Monday while testifying at the trial of William Balfour, the man accused of killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew in a jealous rage four years ago.

CHICAGO (AP) — Jennifer Hudson was in the building but not the courtroom for the start of the third day of testimony in the trial of the man accused of killing three of her family members.

The Oscar-winning actress left the trial of William Balfour on Tuesday before crime scene photos of her slain mother and brother were shown.

Prosecutors on Wednesday are expect-

ed to exhibit unsettling images of the youngest victim, her 7-year-old nephew.

Balfour is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the 2008 slayings.

Prosecutors say he killed the victims in a jealous rage because Hudson's sister, his estranged wife at the time, was seeing someone else.

He denies wrongdoing.

Comedian, actor Kevin Hart to perform at Essence

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH RELATIVITYMUSICMEDIA AN APATOW/STOLLER GLOBAL SOLUTIONS PRODUCTION A NICPRODUCED HOLASSTOLLER FILM “THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT” JASONSEGEL EXECUTIVE HAEL ANDREWS PRODUCERS EMILY BLUNT RHYS IFANS CHRIS PRATT ALISON BRIE BY MICWRITTEN RICHARD VANEDIRECTED JASONSEGEL BY JUDD APATOW NICHOLAS STOLLER RODNEY ROTHMAN AUNIVERSALPICTURE

BY JASONSEGEL & NICHOLASSTOLLER

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LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES STARTS FRIDAY, APRIL 27 CHECK MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes – Text FYE with your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)! No charge from 43KIX, Msg&data rates may apply. Text HELP for info.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Comedian and actor Kevin Hart has been added to the main stage lineup for the 2012 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.

Organizers say Hart, hot on the heels of his starring role in last weekend's No. 1 film, “Think Like a Man,” will debut his comedic talents during the festival scheduled for July 6−8 at the Superdome.

Hart joins a lineup that includes Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Charlie Wilson, Ledisi, Fantasia, and Eve. The festival drew more than 422,000 attendees last year.

Essence Fest began as a one-time event celebrating the 25th anniversary AP Photo/Evan Agostini of Essence magHe’s all HART: Kevin Hart. azine. The festival is organized

by Essence Communications Inc., a media company with a presence in publishing, live events and online services.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

13

KPFKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hero Awards & Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron Grammy Award-winning pianist Billy Childs and Charlie Haden Family to perform Getting his due: Poet master Gil Scott-Heron

KPFK 90.7 has announced its honorees for the 2nd Annual Hero Awards and Tribute show. The Hero Awards is a benefit series for the Los Angeles-based Pacifica Radio station. The event honors icons of our time that have left an impact on music and community.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s honoree is musician and political poet Gil Scott-Heron, with special awards to jazz bassist and activist Charlie Haden and music educator Fernando Pullum, with a Lifetime Achievement Award going to Pete Seeger, American folk singer and activist.

The 2nd Annual KPFK Hero Awards and Tribute show will take place Sun., May 6th, at Club Nokia, 800 West Olympic Blvd, 3rd floor, in L.A. Live entertainment complex.

The event starts with a VIP reception and silent auction from 5 to 7 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m. with a line-up that will feature a host of prolific and poetic artists.

The confirmed list of performers and guest speakers include Jackson Browne, John Densmore (The Doors), Billy Childs, Eric Idle (Monty Python), Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Nailah Porter, John Trudell, Lili Haydn, Rock DJ Jim Ladd, Josh Haden with Spain,

Kerry Washington: At the center of this â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Scandalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

BY FRAZIER MOORE | ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Haden Triplets and Jack Black, with a special youth performance by the 32nd Street Jazz Band. Richard Montoya of Culture Clash, LeRoy Downs and Roger Guenveur Smith are the hosts for the evening. Brian Jackson, longtime collaborator with Gil ScottHeron, will be on deck as music director. Other invited guests include Ozomatli, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Ravi Coltrane and Flying Lotus.

The KPFK Hero Awards & Tribute was conceived by KPFK music director Maggie LePique and music consultant Kasey Lovelace for the purpose of recognizing both musicianship and service to the community by artists who best represent the Pacifica Mission. KPFK 90.7 FM is a listener-sponsored Pacifica Radio for Southern California and is part of the Pacifica Foundation that was founded in 1949 by pacifist Lewis Hill. It consists of five radio stations, over 100 affiliate stations and the Pacifica Radio Archives.

Its mission is to promote peace, education and artistic expression through radio broadcasting. It is a public media operation of artists, activists and journalists, providing

NEW YORK (AP) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Nothing is simple in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital.

Consider Olivia Pope, the D.C.based crisis management consultant whose clients range from a military hero accused of killing his girlfriend to a South American dictator whose family was kidnapped. Even the president of the United States needs her help as a fixer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and more.

As viewers of the new ABC drama â&#x20AC;&#x153;Scandalâ&#x20AC;? have learned in its early episodes, Olivia is tough, shrewd and charismatic on the job. But her personal life is a little more, um, complicated.

For one thing, she had a prolonged affair with the handsome chief executive under the nose of his first lady, an entanglement that has left both lovers heartsick and his presidency hanging in the balance.

Can Olivia save it? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Scandalâ&#x20AC;? deliciously plays against viewer expectations, pivoting (to use a

favorite Beltway term) every time the narrative seems about to be predictable. It's stylishly produced (wide shots are often filmed through ripply glass, as if eavesdropping on the action), with the pace alternately frantic and contemplative. The series is a study in contrasts â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as is Olivia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the first episode we hear her tell her staff she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe in crying,â&#x20AC;? says Kerry Washington, who stars as Olivia, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and then we watch her lose her (composure) in the coat room at a restaurant. This woman is not who she seems.â&#x20AC;?

AP Photo/ABC, Randy Holmes All the better for the woman who plays her. On â&#x20AC;&#x153;Scandalâ&#x20AC;? The D.C. scandal fixer: Kerry Washington. (which airs Thursdays at 10 p.m.

It goes without saying that EDT), Washington gets to sink her teeth in a robust role fueled by the sort of Washington is equal to the task of porjuicy, knotty melodrama masterminded traying Olivia.

At 35, the Bronx, N.Y.-born actress by series creator Shonda Rhimes for her long-running hits â&#x20AC;&#x153;Greyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Anatomyâ&#x20AC;? has a varied list of credits that includes and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Private Practice.â&#x20AC;?

See KERRY WASHINGTON, page 14

YOUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;LL LOVE THIS MOVIE!â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

SHAWN EDWARDS / FOX-TV

See GIL SCOTT-HERON, page 14

Grammy winner Mary J. Blige to sing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Star-Spangled Bannerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at Kentucky Derby LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Grammy winner Mary J. Blige is expected to sing the national anthem at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kentucky Derby.

A statement from Churchill Downs on Monday says Blige will sing â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Star-Spangled Bannerâ&#x20AC;? on May 5, shortly before the 138th running of the horse race.

Blige has won nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards since her debut album â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the 411â&#x20AC;? in 1992.

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BY KEITH MERRYMAN & DAVID A. NEWMAN DIRECTED PRODUCED

BY TIM STORY

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14

KERRY WASHINGTON Continued from page 13 “Ray,” “The Last King Of Scotland” and the two “Fantastic Four” films. She has worked with directors as far-flung as Tyler Perry (“For Colored Girls”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Django Unchained,” which she’s currently shooting). She appeared on Broadway in the play “Race,” written and directed

by David Mamet.

Washington says she and Olivia clicked instantly.

“That’s how I know I want to play a character: when I’m reading a script and — I know this sounds so mystical and so froufrou — I feel like the character already lives inside of me. That happened with this script, for sure. But those are just raw instincts about the humanity of the character,” adds Washington hastily, “and they have to get layered on with information.”

Fortunately, information was at hand in the person of Judy Smith, the real-life crisis consultant on whom Olivia Pope is based (and who serves as an executive producer of the series).

“I tend to approach my work from an academic standpoint, almost like an anthropologist whose goal is to go native,” says Washington, and laughs, “I was lucky no one warned Judy that I’m that kind of actress.” So Washington seized every opportunity to study her. “We spent a LOT of time — together in person, on the phone, with email.

“Unlike Judy, Olivia Pope is not as together and all-figured-out in her personal life. Olivia almost needs her own Judy Smith for her personal life.”

All the better for a drama series, of course.

“But what the character Olivia and the woman Judy share is a belief in her fellow human being. And a belief that people deserve a second chance — if they’re willing to take responsibility for the jam they’re in.”

Olivia has a simple test for accepting a client: She trusts and follows her gut.

Even so, exactly what drives her isn’t always so obvious.

“When her own circumstances match up with her compassion for her client's circumstances,” says Washington, “it’s difficult to ascertain which person she’s fighting for.”

Olivia commands a team with varied skills and personalities (think: the diagnostic consultants on “House,” the Robin Hood crew supporting Timothy Hutton on “Leverage,” the investigators on “NCIS”) that includes an intimacychallenged ladies’ man played by Henry Ian Cusick of “Lost.”

Along with their unswerving loyalty to Olivia, they are united by their own past crises — personal secrets that begin to unravel in this week’s episode.

“That’s part of why Olivia has brought them into her work,” says Washington. “She knows they understand what it’s like to have the worst day of your life, which is what every one of their clients is facing.”

Whatever her closeted vulnerabilities, Olivia is fearless.

After a severe setback on a case, a staffer asks disconsolately, “Are we just done?”

“We’re never done,” Olivia shoots back with a defiant smile that borders on a sneer. “Whatever happens, there’s ALWAYS another move: We. Do. Not. Give. Up.” Washington has shown a similar hardiness in her wide range of projects.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

NOTICE INVITING BIDS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Long Beach, California, acting by and through the City’s Board of Harbor Commissioners (“City”) will receive, before the Bid Deadline established below, sealed Bids for the following Work: FURNISHING WATERBORNE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AT PORT OF LONG BEACH LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA AS DESCRIBED IN SPECIFICATION NO. HD-S2458 Bid Deadline:

Prior to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Bid packages will be time/date stamped on the 4th floor or in the Lobby and shall be submitted prior to 10 a.m.

Place for Submission of Bids: 1. By Delivery Any Calendar Day Before the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building 4th Floor, Plans and Specifications/Program Management Office 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 2. By Delivery on the Same Calendar Day as the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building Ground Floor Lobby 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Bid Opening: As soon as practical after the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building 6th Floor Board Room 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Contract Documents Available: Date/Time: Beginning Thursday, April 26, 2012 Monday –Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Location: Harbor Department Administration Building 4th Floor, Plans and Specifications 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Non- Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting: Date/Time: Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 9am-10am Location: 6th Floor Board Room Project Contact Gamal Elgaali Person: Fax (562) 283-7201 gamal.elgaali@polb.com NIB -1 Contract Documents. Copies of Contract Documents in DVD format may be obtained, at no cost, at the Plans and Specifications Office, 4th floor, Harbor Department Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach, CA 90802 during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. To arrange to receive a copy of the Contract Documents by courier at the expense of the Bidder, call (562) 283-7353.

For information on this Project and other upcoming Port projects, you may view the Port website at http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/out_for_bid.asp.

Copies of all Port insurance endorsement forms, SBE/VSBE Program forms, Harbor Development Permit Applications and other Port forms are available at http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/forms_permits/default.asp.

NIB -2 Non-Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting. The engineering staff of the City’s Harbor department will conduct a pre-bid meeting at 9:00 a.m. on May 8, 2012, in the Board Room, 6th floor, of the Harbor Department Administration Building. Attendance is not mandatory, but highly recommended. Should a Bidder elect not to attend the pre-bid meeting, the Bidder shall not be relieved of its sole responsibility to inform itself of all conditions at the Project Site and the content of the Contract Documents.

NIB -3 Summary Description of the Work. The Work required by this Contract includes, but is not limited to, the following: Except as stipulated in these specifications as being furnished by the City or others, the Contractor shall provide all labor, materials, power, equipment, tools, transportation, and supervision necessary to furnish and operate waterborne construction equipment and perform certain marine demolition and construction services which cannot be performed from land, including pulling piling, removing floats, removing and disposing of sunken boats and other material off the ocean bottom, dredging, and miscellaneous marine clean-up and other related construction work as required by the Long Beach Harbor Department during the period commencing from the date of the Notice to Proceed, and expiring on the earlier of i) one (1) calendar year from the contract Notice to Proceed date, or ii) when the maximum dollar amount has been spent, which amount is one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the Contract amount.

Contractor shall not perform any work unless authorized in writing by an On-Call Contract Task Order (OCTO), which is a form issued by the Engineer describing the work to be done. All work shall be performed within the time frames specified in each OCTO. Upon completion of each OCTO, the Contractor shall legally remove and dispose outside the Harbor District, all debris, trash, and materials resulting from his operation.

NIB -4

Contract Time and Liquidated Damages. The Work shall be completed with-

“I enjoy a diversity of experience,” she explains. She points to her first movie, “Our Song” (2000), “a tiny independent film shot in New York, guerilla-style — no hair and makeup, with Metro Cards to get us home. It was magical.”

And then she made “Save the Last Dance” (2001), a Hollywood feature.

Her dream role?

“I’ve never had an answer for that,” she says. “But my response now would be: a second season on this show. That

would be my dream job.”

Chances look good. Roughly halfway through the first season’s seven episodes, “Scandal” has averaged in excess of 7 million viewers. It continues to pack weekly twists, with a dandy cliffhanger at season’s end. And in the middle of it all is Olivia.

“She’s such an exciting, complicated, interesting woman,” says Washington, savoring the possibilities.

“I’m still discovering her and I want to be her longer.”

in 720 calendar days as provided in Paragraph SC - 6.1 of the Special Conditions, from a date specified in a written “Notice to Proceed” issued by the City and subject to adjustment as provided in Section 3.1 of the General Conditions. FAILURE OF THE CONTRACTOR TO COMPLETE THE WORK WITHIN THE CONTRACT TIME AND OTHER MILESTONES WILL RESULT IN ASSESSMENT OF LIQUIDATED DAMAGES IN THE AMOUNTS ESTABLISHED IN THE SPECIAL CONDITIONS. NIB -5 Contractor’s License. Each Bidder shall hold a current and valid Class ”A” California Contractor’s License to bid this Project.

NIB -6 Contractor Performed Work. The Contractor shall perform, with its own employees, Contract Work amounting to at least 50% of the Contract Price, except that any designated “Specialty Items” may be performed by subcontract and the amount of any such “Specialty Items” so performed may be deducted from the Contract Price before computing the amount required to be performed by the Contractor with its own employees. “Specialty Items” will be identified by the City in the Schedule of Bid Items.

NIB-7 SBE/VSBE Requirements The Port has established a Small Business Enterprises (SBE)/Very Small Business Enterprises (VSBE) Program to encourage small business participation on construction contracts. Although an SBE/VSBE participation goal was not assigned to this contract, the Port strongly encourages all bidders to include such participation whenever possible, by utilizing small and very small business subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers. The Port also strongly encourages SBE/VSBE firms to respond to this solicitation as prime contractors. The Port’s SBE Program staff is available to provide information on the program requirements, including SBE certification assistance. Please contact the SBE Office at (562) 283-7598 or sbeprogram@polb.com. You may also view the Port’s SBE Program requirements at www.polb.com/sbe.

NIB -8 Prevailing Wage Rates and Employment of Apprentices. This Project is a public work as defined in Labor Code Section 1720. The Contractor receiving award of the Contract and Subcontractors of any tier shall pay not less than the prevailing wage rates to all workers employed in execution of the Contract. The Director of Industrial Relations of the State of California has determined the general prevailing rates of wages in the locality in which the Work is to be performed.

The rate schedules are available on the internet at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlsr/ DPreWageDetermination.htm.

Bidders are directed to Article 15 of the General Conditions for requirements concerning payment of prevailing wages, payroll records, hours of work and employment of apprentices.

NIB -9 Trade Names and Substitution of Equals. With the exception of any sole source determination that may be identified in this paragraph, Bidders wishing to obtain City’s authorization for substitution of equivalent material, product, or equipment, are required to submit a written request for an Or Equal Substitution using the form included in Appendix A together with data substantiating Bidder’s representation that the nonspecified item is of equal quality to the item specified, thirty five (35) calendar days after Bid Opening. Authorization of a substitution is solely within the discretion of the City.

NIB -10

NOT USED.

NIB -11 Bid Security, Signed Contract, Insurance and Bonds. Each Bid shall be accompanied by a satisfactory Bidder’s Bond or other acceptable Bid Security in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the Base Bid as a guarantee that the Bidder will, if Conditionally Awarded a Contract by the Board, within thirty (30) calendar days after the Contract is conditionally awarded to the Contractor by the City, execute and deliver such Contract to the Chief Harbor Engineer together with all required documents including insurance forms, a Payment Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price, and a Performance Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price. All Bonds shall be on forms provided by the City.

NIB -12 Conditional Award of Contract and Reservation of Rights. The Board, acting through the Executive Director, reserves the right at any time before the execution of the Contract by the City, to reject any or all Bids, and to waive any informality or irregularity. The Conditional Award of the Contract, if any, will be to the responsible Bidder submitting the lowest responsive and responsible Bid. If the lowest responsive responsible Bidder fails to submit the required documents including insurance forms, bonds and signed Contract within thirty (30) calendar days after Conditional Award of Contract, the Board reserves the right to rescind the Conditional Award and Conditionally Award the Contract to the next lowest responsive and responsible Bidder.

NIB -13 Period of Bid Irrevocability. Bids shall remain open and valid and Bidder’s Bonds shall be guaranteed for ninety (90) calendar days after the Bid Deadline or until the Executive Director executes a Contract, whichever occurs first.

NIB -14 Substitution of Securities. Substitution of Securities for retainage is permitted in accordance with Section 22300 of the Public Contract Code.

Issued at Long Beach, California, this 16th day of April, 2012.

J. Christopher Lytle Executive Director of the Harbor Department, City of Long Beach, California

GIL SCOTT-HERON Continued from page 13 commercial-free broadcast service for progressive political ideas, grassroots movements and the art and culture impacting our local communities and shaping our world.

To further peace through broadcasting activities, Hill determined that radio sponsored by individual listen-

ers would be the best way to ensure editorial freedom.

The KPFK Hero Awards & Tribute series is a means to both raise funds and advance the Pacifica’s mission.

For more information, contact 818-985-2711, ext. 361.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

CITY OF LOS ANGELES $75,000 REWARD NOTICE The City of Los Angeles offers a reward payable at the discretion of the City Council to one or more persons in the sum or sums up to an aggregate maximum total sum of $75,000 for information leading to the identification and apprehension of the person or persons responsible for the act of murder against, YING WU AND MING QU, in the City of Los Angeles. On Wednesday, April 11, 2012, shortly after 1 a.m., USC graduate students Ying Wu & Ming Qu were found murdered in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue near West 27th Street, in the West Adams area. The victims were both 23-years old and studying electrical engineering at USC. One of several motives being examined is a possible botched car theft attempt. Police investigators are working closely with USC officials to investigate the case and find the suspect or suspects responsible.

As the investigation continues and leads are pursued, a monetary reward may motivate witnesses to come forward and identify the suspect(s) responsible for this senseless act of violence which tragically took the lives of two innocent victims. The person or persons responsible for this crime represent an ongoing threat to the safety of the people of Los Angeles. Unless withdrawn or paid by City Council action, this offer of reward shall terminate on, and have no effect after, OCTOBER 23, 2012.

The provisions of payment and all other considerations shall be governed by Chapter 12 of Division 19 of the LAAC Code, as amended by Ordinance Nos. 158157 and 166666. This offer shall be given upon the condition that all claimants provide continued cooperation within the criminal justice system relative to this case and is not available to public officers or employees of the City, their families, persons in law enforcement or persons whose misconduct prompted this reward. If you have any information regarding this case, please call the Los Angeles Police Department at 1-877-LAWFULL, 24 hours.

C. F. No. 12-0010-s12 4/26/12 CNS-2301675# WATTS TIMES

BOB MARLEY Continued from page 12 In other words, people who truly knew him.

He was born in 1945 to a 16-yearold Black Jamaican woman and a 60year-old White Jamaican known as Capt. Norval Marley in St. Ann and raised in Trench Town, Jamaica. The only known picture of his dad is of him mounted on a horse. Later in the movie we learn of the distinct possibility that “The Cap’n” fathered at least one of Bob Marley’s half-sisters.

The world was unkind to the “half-caste” (now called “biracial”) boy. We also learn that Marley, though shy, was deadly serious about music from the jump.

We see wife Rita Marley’s pivotal role not only in managing Bob’ career but also, unbelievably to some, his extramarital affairs, some of which led to Marley fathering 11 children with 7 women. It’s thanks only to daughter Cedella that we glimpse the pain her mom endured.

But, personal escapades and spliffs aside, Marley’s persona gratissima superseded all that. More important are his near-assassination; his efforts to end a then-raging political civil war at the 1978 One Love Peace concert; and his final days in Germany and Miami.

Marley succumbed to cancer, which riddled his body and led to his death in Miami in 1981 at age 36 and burial thereafter in his Jamaican homeland.

Those at the film’s opening day’s 7:10 show were gifted with a 20minute Q&A with Ziggy Marley (Bob and Rita’s oldest son), who was called “Young Bob” by his dad, including, Ziggy said, the last time he saw his dad. Young Bob also confirmed the possibility of a family-wide tour (“We’ve been talking about it for years.”). Asked to identify his favorite song by his dad, his choice was a tune in which dad includes a reference to “Ziggy Ziggy” — of course!

One of Ziggy’s fun-filled memories includes footage of him and his brother Steven dancing their little hearts out on stage with their dad.

15

NOTICE INVITING BIDS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City of Long Beach, California, acting by and through the City’s Board of Harbor Commissioners (“City”) will receive, before the Bid Deadline established below, sealed Bids for the following Work: NORTH OPS AND IT MANAGEMENT BUILDING MIDDLE HARBOR TERMINAL AT PIER E LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA AS DESCRIBED IN SPECIFICATION NO. HD-S2382 Bid Deadline: Prior to 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 Bid packages will be time/date stamped on the 4th floor or in the Lobby and shall be submitted prior to 10:00 a.m.

Place for Submission of Bids: 1. By Delivery Any Calendar Day Before the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building 4th Floor, Plans and Specifications/Program Management Office 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 2. By Delivery on the Same Calendar Day as the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building Ground Floor Lobby 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Bid Opening: As soon as practical after the Bid Deadline Harbor Department Administration Building 6th Floor Board Room 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Contract Documents Available: Date/Time: Beginning Thursday, April 26th, 2012 Monday –Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Location: Harbor Department Administration Building 4th Floor, Plans and Specifications 925 Harbor Plaza Long Beach, CA 90802 Mandatory Pre-Bid Date/Time: Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 at 9:00a.m.

Meeting and Site Visit: Location: Harbor Department Administration Building 6th Floor Board Room Project Contact Eric Paulsen, PE Person: 562-283-7352 fax paulsen@polb.com email NIB -1 Contract Documents. Copies of Contract Documents in DVD format may be obtained, at no cost, at the Plans and Specifications Office, 4th floor, Harbor Department Administration Building, 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach, CA 90802 during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. To arrange to receive a DVD of the Contract Documents by courier at the expense of the Bidder, call (562) 283-7353.

For information on this Project and other upcoming Port projects, you may view the Port website at http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/out_for_bid.asp.

Copies of all Port insurance endorsement forms, SBE/VSBE Program forms, Harbor Development Permit Applications and other Port forms are available at http://www.polb.com/economics/contractors/forms_permits/default.asp.

NIB -2 Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting and Site Visit. The engineering staff of the City’s Harbor department will conduct a pre-bid meeting and site visit at 9:00a.m., on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012, in the Board Room, 6th floor, of the Harbor Department Administration Building, then at the project site. Attendance is mandatory. Note that attendance at the pre-bid meeting can be used to satisfy a portion of a Bidder’s good faith efforts to meet the SBE/VSBE participation goals listed below. Attendees of the Site Visit must bring and wear their own Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including, but not limited to: a hard hat, a safety vest, and closed toe shoes. EACH BIDDER MUST ATTEND THE MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING AND MANDATORY SITE VISIT. FAILURE TO ATTEND THE MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING AND SITE VISIT SHALL DISQUALIFY YOUR BID. NIB -3 Summary Description of the Work. The Work required by this Contract includes, but is not limited to, the following: Construction of a 3-story, steel framed office building with roof terrace, automobile parking lot, security fencing around the site, landscaping, site utilities including water, gas, sewer, storm drain, electrical and communication ductbanks to the Middle Harbor Terminal off the immediate site to the central terminal substation.

The Contractor will also have design responsibilities for certain elements of work as described below: Deferred Submittals: The Contractor will retain Subcontractors to design and obtain separate building permits for the following work: • Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems including: o Combination Standpipe and Wet Pipe Sprinkler System o Pre-Action Sprinkler System o Clean Agent Suppression System o Fire Detection and Alarm System o Fire Extinguishers o Signage • Fire Hydrants • Emergency Generator and Fuel Tank Delegated Design: The Contractor will retain professional engineers to provide detailed design documents for approval. Design calculations and drawings shall be signed and sealed

The documentary brings into focus the blur of snippets and quotes about Marley and compels you to meditate on his lasting impact on the reggae music of today. Comments from Sentinel com-

munity filmgoers range from Geraldine Hill, who “really thought it was good” to Lloyd Ferguson, who found the documentary to be excellent: “It powerfully presented with compassion and clarity

by a registered California professional (Civil or Structural) engineer to be submitted to engineer of record and city building department for approval and record.

• Steel Stairs • Glazed Curtain Walls and Attachments • Raised Access Floor System NIB -4 Contract Time and Liquidated Damages. The Work shall be completed within 450 days as provided in Paragraph SC - 6.1 of the Special Conditions, from a date specified in a written “Notice to Proceed” issued by the City and subject to adjustment as provided in Section 3.1 of the General Conditions. FAILURE OF THE CONTRACTOR TO COMPLETE THE WORK WITHIN THE CONTRACT TIME AND OTHER MILESTONES WILL RESULT IN ASSESSMENT OF LIQUIDATED DAMAGES IN THE AMOUNTS ESTABLISHED IN THE SPECIAL CONDITIONS. NIB -5 Contractor’s License. Each Bidder shall hold a current and valid Class”A” or Class “B” California Contractor’s License to bid this Project.

NIB -6 Contractor Performed Work. The Contractor shall perform, with its own employees, Contract Work amounting to at least 20% of the Contract Price, except that any designated “Specialty Items” may be performed by subcontract and the amount of any such “Specialty Items” so performed may be deducted from the Contract Price before computing the amount required to be performed by the Contractor with its own employees. “Specialty Items” will be identified by the City in the Schedule of Bid Items.

NIB-7 SBE/VSBE. This project is subject to the Port of Long Beach (POLB) Small Business Enterprises (SBE)/Very Small Business Enterprises (VSBE) Program. The combined SBE/VSBE participation goal for this project is thirty percent (30%), of which a minimum of five percent (5%) must be allocated to VSBEs. POLB expects all Bidders to achieve the combined SBE/VSBE participation goal. Award of the Contract will be conditioned on the Bidder submitting an SBE-2C Commitment Plan demonstrating the Bidder’s intent to meet the combined SBE/VSBE participation goal. If the Bidder’s Commitment Plan does not demonstrate intent to meet the combined goal, the Bidder shall demonstrate that it made an adequate good faith effort to do so, as specified in the Instructions to Bidders (ITB 18). The Port’s SBE Program staff is available to provide information on the program requirements, including SBE certification assistance. Please contact the SBE Office at (562) 283-7598 or sbeprogram@polb.com.

You may also view the Port’s SBE program requirements at www.polb.com/sbe.

NIB -8 Prevailing Wage Rates and Employment of Apprentices. This Project is a public work as defined in Labor Code Section 1720. The Contractor receiving award of the Contract and Subcontractors of any tier shall pay not less than the prevailing wage rates to all workers employed in execution of the Contract. The Director of Industrial Relations of the State of California has determined the general prevailing rates of wages in the locality in which the Work is to be performed. The rate schedules are available on the internet at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlsr/ DPreWageDetermination.htm. Bidders are directed to Article 15 of the General Conditions for requirements concerning payment of prevailing wages, payroll records, hours of work and employment of apprentices.

A Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is required under this Contract. By submitting a bid, the Contractor is representing that it is prepared to sign the Letter of Assent and comply with the PLA requirements as defined in Appendix GG if awarded the Contract.

NIB -9 Trade Names and Substitution of Equals. With the exception of any sole source determination that may be identified in this paragraph, Bidders wishing to obtain City’s authorization for substitution of equivalent material, product, or equipment, are required to submit a written request for an Or Equal Substitution using the form included in Appendix A together with data substantiating Bidder’s representation that the non-specified item is of equal quality to the item specified, thirty five (35) calendar days after Bid Opening.

Authorization of a substitution is solely within the discretion of the City.

NIB -10

NOT USED.

NIB -11 Bid Security, Signed Contract, Insurance and Bonds. Each Bid shall be accompanied by a satisfactory Bidder’s Bond or other acceptable Bid Security in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the Base Bid as a guarantee that the Bidder will, if Conditionally Awarded a Contract by the Board, within thirty (30) calendar days after the Contract is conditionally awarded to the Contractor by the City, execute and deliver such Contract to the Chief Harbor Engineer together with all required documents including insurance forms, a Payment Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price, and a Performance Bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Price. All Bonds shall be on forms provided by the City.

NIB -12 Conditional Award of Contract and Reservation of Rights. The Board, acting through the Executive Director, reserves the right at any time before the execution of the Contract by the City, to reject any or all Bids, and to waive any informality or irregularity.

The Conditional Award of the Contract, if any, will be to the responsible Bidder submitting the lowest responsive and responsible Bid. If the lowest responsive responsible Bidder fails to submit the required documents including insurance forms, bonds and signed Contract within thirty (30) calendar days after Conditional Award of Contract, the Board reserves the right to rescind the Conditional Award and Conditionally Award the Contract to the next lowest responsive and responsible Bidder.

NIB -13 Period of Bid Irrevocability. Bids shall remain open and valid and Bidder’s Bonds shall be guaranteed for ninety (90) calendar days after the Bid Deadline or until the Executive Director executes a Contract, whichever occurs first.

NIB -14 Substitution of Securities. Substitution of Securities for retainage is permitted in accordance with Section 22300 of the Public Contract Code.

Issued at Long Beach, California, this 16th day of April, 2012.

J. Christopher Lytle Executive Director of the Harbor Department City of Long Beach, California

the life story and music of a true icon. It truly helps us to understand why he was so driven to produce such music with a universal message that resonates with people all over the world.”

Adds Ferguson, seeing the movie is “truly a mind-blowing experience — even without ganja!”

I enJOY feedback at joy4jazz@aol.com. Thanks much!

16

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Jackie Robinson Day highlights shortage of Black baseball players

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, left, and shortstop Derek Jeter join Rachel Robinson, widow of Jackie Robinson, on the field prior to the Yankees’ baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels on Jackie Robinson Day at Yankee Stadium in New York, Sunday, April 1.

BY PERRY GREEN SPECIAL TO NNPA FROM THE AFRO WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Major League Baseball continued its three-year-old tradition of Jackie Robinson Day, honoring the legendary African American athlete who broke the color barrier of pro baseball when he became the first Black by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers 65 years ago. Every player and manager of every team leaguewide sported Robinson’s jersey No. 42 on April 16.

The percentage of African American players in MLB in 2012 is at its lowest point since Robinson first kicked in the door for Blacks to play in the big league. USA Today reports that only 8.05 percent of MLB players are African Americans, a huge decline from the 27 percent during the peak of Black players in 1975; the Black players’ presence was at 19 percent as recently as 1995.

“Baseball likes to say things are getting better,” said Dave Stewart, a former pitcher and front-office executive, according to USA Today.

“It’s not getting better. It’s only getting worse.

We’ve been in a downward spiral for a long time, and the numbers just keep declining.”

Rob Parker, a sports columnist for ESPN, believes the lack of Black players is attributed to the league’s increased interest in recruiting international talent instead of developing talent in U.S. urban communities.

“Everybody wants to say that all the Black athletes only want to play football and basketball, and part of that is true. But that’s not the reason why you have far more Hispanics year in and year out coming to baseball,” Parker said during a live TV airing of ESPN “First Take” on April 16. “It’s because about 15 or so years ago, baseball basically outsourced its jobs to Latin

America. It decided that ‘you reap what you sow’ so if you set up baseball clinics and camps in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and all over, those are the kids that you’re going to develop.”

Parker went on to say that if MLB set up the same baseball clinics in the African American communities, promoting and encouraging Black youth to play baseball daily, there would be not only more Blacks players but more Black fans of baseball in general.

Ryan Clark, an NFL player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, was featured on the same ESPN “First Take” show with Parker. Clark hinted that Black youths don’t see enough African American stars in MLB so those youths aren’t as motivated to pursue the sport.

“The people that [Black youths] can relate to, you don’t see them in commercials or on TV; you see the [Derek] Jeters or the [Albert] Pujos [promoting] baseball, not the [Black NBA stars like] LeBron or Kobe so basketball stars are who they want to be like because that’s what they see.”

But Curtis Covington of Forest Park Little League Baseball based in Baltimore, Md. said there are some urban communities that still train and develop tons of Black baseball talent. Forest Park Little League travels all over the country, beating some of the best youth baseball programs established.

Still, Covington believes potential Black baseball players are being “overlooked.”

“Our kids are not being showcased at the high school and college level where the proscouts go to discover talent,” he said.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig told reporters that the league is working to address the issue.

“We’re trying to get better,” Selig told USA Today. “It won’t happen overnight. And we’re very comfortable saying it will be better. We are doing great work with our baseball academy.”