LAWT -09-06-2012

W E E K E N D E R

Vol. XXX, No. 1300

www.lawattstimes.com

Thursday, September 6, 2012

L.A. Watts Times

SEE PAGES 8-9

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

HOROSCOPES Sept. 6 - 12 put my charm to work for me this week.

IBRA ~ Your good will and intentions towards others will reap you an inheritance of abundance and wealth. You will be blessed with many good wishes and enjoy them in the company of family and friends.

Soul Affirmation: I appear to others what I know myself to be.

CORPIO ~ Your dignity and composure is a sure asset this week. Be Mr. or Ms. Cool Breeze. In touchy situations you have the ability to maintain a high level of emotional balance and a calm disposition. Use these qualities to the fullest this week. You have the knowhow to re-direct negative feelings into a positive solution. Soul Affirmation: Superficiality is often the best route to clarity.

AGITTARIUS ~ Start this week to make a difference for tomorrow. You can determine the prosperity of your future by making difficult decisions in the present. Rearrange your priorities and decide what are the important things to you. Make a list. Write them down and act on it now! Soul Affirmation: As chances come around again. I take advantage of them.

APRICORN ~ You are often superb at exercising good judgment and rational decision-making. Yet sometimes you are rash.

Flip to the observant side of your mentality this week. You will soon find yourself in a situation where there will be strife if you are not careful.

Soul Affirmation: A cheerful soul should be wrapped in a cheerful package.

QUARIUS ~ Just to prove to yourself once again how lucky you are you should fly into the face of bad predictions. Gamble this week in business, relationships, love -something. Remain truly confident that things will come out in a way that will satisfy you. Soul Affirmation: Change is my middle name.

ISCES ~ Move through your social environments and festive occasions this week without stopping even for a little while to listen to rumors. Rumors are often untrue. And for goodness sake believe only good things about friends and your lover. Soul Affirmation: I keep my eyes open for business opportunities this week.

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RIES ~ Do not travel in the company of those who work against you. Move towards people with words of encouragement and an extended hand. Release the grudge that you have for someone who betrayed you. You will find liberation and lightheartedness in forgiving.

Follow your heart when it comes to a love interest. Soul Affirmation: Intelligent information does not have to come from intelligent sources AURUS ~ Stay adaptable, and all will be fine. Flexibility is easy for you when you want it to be. The situation you’ll face this week will require that you alter your way of thinking about someone with whom you’re involved in business or friendship. Soul Affirmation: Facing down challenges makes me feel good about myself.

EMINI ~ Modesty doesn’t mean cowardly. It can mean gracious. Let a friend have the credit for something that you did. Be cool.

It’s good exercise. Tooting your own horn doesn’t get you the biggest notice. The people you want to impress this week will be more impressed by your graciousness. Soul Affirmation: I am willing to do more than my part to get the job done this week.

ANCER ~ Give birth to some new impulses about love. The ones you’ve been using have led you to a place you do not wish to be.

Give yourself a break. Change. Be less critical.

Accept love even from those you do not completely agree with. Soul Affirmation: I keep in mind the practical side of life this week.

EO ~ Be modest! Don’t just be smug and cool about your greatness. This week get in touch with your limitations and acknowledge them. You’re not doing it in order to fix anything. You’re just enlarging your capacity for self-acceptance. Soul Affirmation: I am a giver of good words this week.

IRGO ~ This could turn out to be the most argument-filled week you’ve had for a while. Your feelings could be deeply hurt if you try to force your sense of rightness off on anyone else. Chill. Remember that in the past when people were cantankerous you could find pleasure in nature, or animals. Soul Affirmation: I

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Two masked gunmen kidnapped a bank manager, strapped with what they said was a bomb to her midsection and forced her to order employees to empty cash drawers when her Bank of America branch opened the morning of Wednesday September 5, authorities said.

The bank robbers got away with an undisclosed amount of money, but no one was injured in the heist. A Los Angeles County sheriff's bomb squad disabled the device, but investigators wouldn’t say if it was explosive.

No arrests have been made.

The robbery occurred shortly after 8:30 a.m. after the bank manager, told authorities she had been held against her will since Tuesday night.

The bank manager arrived at her workplace wearing a device placed

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AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Los Angeles Police bomb squad members check for explosive devices outside a Bank of America branch in Los Angeles Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012.

Authorities say two gunmen kidnapped a bank manager, held her overnight and strapped a device to her stomach before robbing a Bank of America. The woman then had employees take money from the bank and put it outside. The suspects remain at large.

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Calif. bank robbed; device strapped to manager

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MOMBASA SQUARE

on her stomach by the suspects, authorities said.

“She was told that it was explosives and she was ordered to go into the bank and take out all the money,” said sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker. “She did do that in fear for her life.”

The woman then ordered her fellow employees to remove the cash from the bank and it was thrown to the suspects who were waiting outside, authorities said.

The two men, who were armed with handguns and wore ski masks, took off in a two-door car, possibly a Kia, and remain at large.

Parker said the woman remained inside the bank until a bomb squad arrived and removed the device from her body. The bomb squad later disabled the item with a robot.

It’s unclear if the woman knew the suspects.

5 LAPD officers investigated in death of woman ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANSWERS FROM 8-30-12

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Inside This Edition

At least five police officers are under investigation after a woman died during a violent arrest in which an officer kicked her genitals, police officials said.

“I take all in-custody death investigations very seriously,” Chief Charlie Beck said last Thursday in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.

“I am confident we will get to the See LAPD INVESTIGATED, page 4

AP Photo/Nick Ut

A photo of Alesia Thomas is held up during a news conference in Los Angeles on Friday, August 31, 2012. At least five police officers are under investigation after Thomas died during a violent arrest in which an officer kicked her genitals, police officials said.

Thursday, September 6 , 2012

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Former Inglewood mayor and state legislator Ed Vincent Jr. dies

Ed Vincent Jr. The Honorable Edward Vincent Jr., former State Legislator and first African-American mayor of Inglewood passed away Friday August 31 in Los Angeles.

Edward Vincent Jr. was born in Steubenville, Ohio on June 23, 1934.

He showed a love for sports and a desire to succeed. This helped him to gain an athletic scholarship to the University of Iowa in 1952.

There he majored in public relations and advertising. Vincent excelled on the football field, receiving All Big Ten and All-American honors. As the third draft choice of the 1956 Los Angeles Rams, He played in several games before being sidelined by injuries.

While serving in the military, Vincent received all Army and all Service Football Team honors. After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army in 1959, he continued his education, earning a BA degree in corrections and social welfare from California State University, Los Angeles. He then embarked upon a 35-year career with the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

Vincent was elected to the Inglewood Unified School District’s Board of Trustees, where he served as president from 1978 to 1979.

Moreover, he represented the residents of District No. 4 on the Inglewood City Council from 1979 to 1983. In 1983, Vincent began his term as the first African-American mayor of the City of Inglewood and was re-elected for three additional terms. He was also commissioner of the State of California World Trade Commission. After he left office, the city renamed Centinela Park on Florence Avenue to Edward Vincent

Jr. Park in his honor.

Vincent served as a member of the California State Assembly from 1996 to 2000, representing the 51st Assembly District. In the Assembly, he chaired the Elections, Reapportionment, and Constitutional Amendments Committee as well as the California Horse Racing Industry Committee. On October 24, 2000, Vincent received the Cuactemoc Award for outstanding public service on behalf of farm workers. The award was presented by La Cooperativa.

Between 2000 and 2008 Vincent served in the State Senate. He was a member of the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Governmental Organization, and Health. He also chaired the Select Committee on the Horseracing Industry. In this function, he authored legislation on gambling licenses, state teacher retirement benefits, horse racing, and community care facilities. He was forced to leave the Senate in 2008 due to term limits. .

Vincent is survived by his wife of 55 years, Marilyn, two daughters, three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren along with a host of relatives and friends.

Services for Vincent are as follows: Viewing and Visitation, September 6 from 3-8pm, Inglewood Mortuary, 1206 Centinela Avenue, Inglewood, California 90302.

Funeral Service, September 7 at 11am, Galleria Chapel-Mausoleum of the West, Inglewood Park Cemetery-720 E. Florence Avenue, Inglewood, California 90301.

Internment, Immediately after service. Mission Chapel, Sunset Mission Mausoleum.

California to seek sales tax from online retailers ASSOCIATED PRESS California will hire dozens of specialists to enforce a new law requiring Internet merchants to collect state sales tax — an effort that could bring in more than $300 million a year for the cash-strapped state.

The state Board of Equalization, which collects taxes, announced on August 30 that it will spend $10 million over the next three years to hire nearly 100 new state auditors, lawyers and other specialists for the effort.

Many online retailers based out of state, including Seattle's Amazon.com, had avoided adding state sales taxes to their prices because they had no business operations on the ground.

Brick-and-mortar stores, who must collect taxes of up to 9.75 percent, had long argued that was unfair competition.

A new law passed last year as a compromise with Amazon.com expands the state sales tax requirement. It now applies to out-of-state online merchants that do substantial business in California.

That includes those who sold more than $1 million worth of goods to California shoppers in the past year and had more than $10,000 in sales referred to them by California-based affiliated websites, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“This law is a giant step forward,” said Jerome E. Horton, chairman of the Board of Equalization. “It will help California collect much-needed revenue to support critical public services.”

The Board of Equalization estimated that more than 2,000 out-of-state online retailers may have to collect state taxes under the new law but it will take time to identify them.

Jerome E. Horton, chairman of the Board of Equalization Hence, the new enforcement effort.

Amazon.com, the nation’s largest online retailer, agreed to start collecting state sales taxes on Sept. 15.

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

FAMU suspends dance team UC votes against privatizing UCLA after hazing reports business school

AP Photo/The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Jason Getz, File

In this Sept. 26, 2009 file photo, the Florida A&M marching band members perform during the half time show of the 2009 Atlanta Football Classic NCAA college football game between FAMU and Tennessee State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Florida A&M University, still reeling from the hazing-related death of a marching band drum major 10 months ago, suspended its Torque Dance Team on Tuesday September 4

following allegations of an off-campus hazing incident.

Interim President Larry Robinson said the university received an anonymous report from a parent Tuesday afternoon about an alleged incident that occurred over the Labor Day

weekend.

“The University takes very seriously any allegation of hazing and has moved quickly to shut the organization down pending the outcome of an investigation,” Robinson said in a See FAMU, page 7

ASSOCIATED PRESS University of California faculty leaders said current policy doesn’t give them the power to allow UCLA’s Anderson School of Management to privatize its funding, a move administrators had sought to put the school on par with private business schools.

A graduate affairs committee of the UC Academic Senate voted 10-0 against continuing a review of the conversion, with UCLA’s representative abstaining, according to a letter to Anderson dean Judy Olian last Friday.

The final decision will be made by the UC President.

Under the proposal, the Anderson School of Management would have kept its UCLA affiliation, but it would no longer have received state funding.

The plan would make the 745student, full-time MBA program at the Anderson School of Management self-supporting through philanthropic gifts and its $49,000 a year in-state tuition.

The $8.8 million in state money

that has previously funded the program would be directed to other uses on the campus. In 2010, when the proposal surfaced, Anderson relied on state funding for only about 6 percent of its budget.

UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton said in a recent statement that privatization is important to the program’s success and gives other campus programs Anderson’s share of $8 million.

“UCLA leaders believe it is imperative to find innovative solutions to ensure continued academic excellence amid dramatic reductions in state support,” said Hampton.

Various bodies at UCLA approved the proposal before sending it to the University of California for review.

The UC committee wrote that “a serious failure” of current systemwide policy does not allow them to approve the move to private funding.

The committee “recommends that the UC Office of the President and the Academic Senate develop an explicit policy regarding such conversions,” according to the letter.

LAPD INVESTIGATED Continued from page 2 truth no matter where that leads us.”

Alesia Thomas, 35, died July 22.

The confrontation with officers occurred after she abandoned her 3year-old and 12-year-old children at a police station around 2 a.m. and they wandered inside, drawing the attention of an officer, police said.

“The officer said, ‘Hey, what are you kids doing here?’ They said, ‘Well our mom doesn’t want us anymore. She dropped us off at the police station,’” Cmdr. Andrew Smith, a department spokesman, told KTTV. Smith said the children told the officers they hadn’t eaten for a couple of days.

Police Cmdr. Bob Green told the Times that the woman was giving up the children because she was a drug addict who could not care for them.

Beck wants to investigate

whether she was intoxicated at the time of the altercation, or if her death may have been caused by a medical condition.

Police tracked down the South Los Angeles resident and were trying to arrest her on suspicion of child endangerment, they said. The incident was caught on a patrol car camera.

A Police Department press release at the time said Thomas “put up a violent struggle” and that “she began actively resisting arrest, attempting to pull away from the officers.”

One officer knocked her to the ground by sweeping her legs out from beneath her and two other officers then handcuffed Thomas behind her back and attempted to lead her to See LAPD INVESTIGATED, page 6

Thursday, September 6, 2012

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First lady’s focus is drawing contrast with Romney

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama sits with his daughters Sasha and Malia to watch the first lady’s speech.

BY JULIE PACE ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Obama rarely mentions Mitt Romney by name. But everything she says during this presidential campaign is meant to draw a contrast between her husband and his Republican challenger.

She implies that Romney, who had a privileged upbringing, can’t relate when she tells middle-class voters that President Barack Obama understands their economic struggles because he has struggled too. And she suggests Romney would have other priorities when she says her husband’s empathy will result in a second-term agenda focused squarely on middle-class economic security.

The first lady made her case to millions of Americans on Tuesday September 4, headlining the first night of the Democratic Party’s national convention, where two days later her husband accepted the party's presidential nomination for a second time. Her high-profile appearance underscores her key role in his re-election bid: chief defender of his character and leader in efforts to validate the direction he is taking the country.

“I am going to remind people about the values that drive my husband to do what he has done and what he is going to do for the next four years,” Mrs. Obama said of her speech during an interview with SiriusXM radio host Joe Madison.

The president said he planned to watch his wife’s speech from the White House with the couple's two daughters.

“I’m going to try to not let them see their daddy cry because when Michelle starts talking, I start getting all misty,” Obama said at rally in Norfolk, Va.

Once the reluctant political spouse, Mrs. Obama has embraced that mission to sell her husband anew throughout the summer while raising money for the campaign and speaking at rallies in battleground states.

These days her speeches are peppered with references to the president’s upbringing in Hawaii, where he was raised by a single mother and his grandparents. She talks about the student loans he took out to pay for college and the years it took to pay them back.

When Romney accused Obama of running a “campaign of hate,” the first lady delivered Obama’s strongest counterpoint — without mentioning the Republican candidate.

“We all know who my husband is, don’t we? And we all know what he stands for,” she said, standing alongside the president at a campaign rally in Iowa.

Key to Mrs. Obama’s campaign strategy is maintaining her own personal appeal.

Anita McBride, who served as first lady Laura Bush’s chief of staff, said that means staying away from the vitriol that has permeated the White House campaign.

“There are plenty of attack dogs in this campaign,” McBride said. “She doesn’t need to be one of them.”

In many ways, the first lady’s challenge Tuesday night was more difficult than it was when she spoke at the 2008 Democratic convention.

Back then, her mission was to vouch for her husband’s personal qualities.

This time around, she also has to persuade voters to stick with him amid high unemployment and sluggish economic growth.

Many Americans didn’t know Mrs. Obama and some viewed her suspiciously before the 2008 conven-

tion. Republicans had questioned her patriotism throughout the campaign because she told voters during the primary that “for the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country.”

Her convention speech sought to put those issues to rest. She declared “I love this country” and used personal stories about her marriage to assure voters they had nothing to fear about her and her husband's values.

Since moving into the White House, Mrs. Obama has focused on tackling childhood obesity and assisting military families. She's largely steered clear of her husband's political battles, at least in public.

But behind the scenes, she’s a sounding board for her husband on pressing policy matters. She also has increasingly promoted his health care overhaul after it was upheld by the Supreme Court.

AP Photo

Michelle Obama

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

California legislature Nigeria navy Oks pension changes retakes hijacked oil tanker off coast

BY JON GABRELL ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Lakewood, center, receives congratulations from Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, D- Hollywood, left, and Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park after his pension reform bill was approved by the Assembly at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Aug. 31, 2012. The measure, AB340, a sweeping pension compromise plan negotiated by Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders, was approved by a 49-8 vote.

The state Legislature approved a package of changes to California’s

public employee pension system on Friday August 31, that is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars, even as Republican lawmakers said much more needs to be done to fix a system with massive liabilities.

The main pension bill, AB340,

business card bulletin board

BY JUDY LIN AND JULIET WILLIAMS ASSOCIATED PRESS

passed 49-8 in the Assembly and 38-1 in the state Senate. Gov. Jerry Brown negotiated the reforms with the Legislature’s Democratic leadership.

The legislation will increase the retirement age for new employees, cap See CALIF. PENSIONS, page 15

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Nigeria’s navy retook an oil tanker on Wednesday September 5, hijacked off the country’s largest city, freeing 23 Indian sailors held hostage by pirates who fled as the navy arrived, a spokesman said.

None of the sailors was hurt in the hijacking of the MT Abu Dhabi Star, which happened off the coast of Lagos, said Pat Adamson, a spokesman for Dubai-based Pioneer Ship Management Services LLC. The Nigerian navy was providing an escort for the vessel Wednesday afternoon to make sure it arrived safely at Lagos’ busy port, Commodore Kabir Aliyu said.

The pirates who took over the vessel fled when they saw the Nigerian naval ship on the horizon, Adamson said. It was unclear whether they stole any of the ship's cargo, though the crew had begun an inspection of the ship, the spokesman said.

The pirates targeted the ship as it was anchored off the coast Tuesday night, Aliyu said. The sailors onboard sent distress signals as the pirates boarded the Singapore-flagged ship, with their last message indicating they had locked themselves inside a panic room on the vessel, Aliyu said.

During the short hijacking, the ship's management received no ransom demands for the crew, Pioneer Ship Management Services said.

That's not unusual, as pirates in the

region increasingly target oil tankers for their cargos, holding control of the vessels only long enough to offload the fuel before escaping.

That’s in contrast to pirates off the Somali coast, who typically hold sailors for months for ransom.

Pirate attacks are on the rise in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, which follows the continent's southward curve from Liberia to Gabon. Over the last year and a half, piracy there has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings and cargo thefts. Last year, London-based Lloyd's Market Association — an umbrella group of insurers — listed Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia, where two decades of war and anarchy have allowed piracy to flourish.

Pirates in West Africa have been more willing to use violence in their robberies, as they target the cargo, not the crew for ransom as is the case off Somalia. Experts say many of the pirates come from Nigeria, where corrupt law enforcement allows criminality to thrive.

Analysts believe the recent hijackings of tanker ships may well be the work of a single, sophisticated criminal gang with knowledge of the oil industry and oil tankers. Those involved in the hijackings may have gotten that experience in Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta, where thieves tap pipelines running through the swamps to steal hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day.

LAPD INVESTIGATED Continued from page 4 a patrol car, according to the department's official report. Two other officers also arrived at the scene.

Green said Thomas was a large woman and officers used a “hobble restraint device” — a strap that was wrapped around her ankles.

Green confirmed to the Times that during the struggle to get Thomas into the back of the patrol car, a female officer threatened to kick Thomas in the genitals and then did so.

Once Thomas was in the car, the video showed her breathing shallowly until she drew her last breath.

A neighbor awakened by the noise described Thomas as the aggressor and said he did not see officers do anything wrong, the Times said.

Gerald McCrary Sr., 55, said he saw Thomas break free from plastic handcuffs and officers then put her in metal handcuffs and tried to calm her down as she sat against a wall.

“They were talking to her, asking her to calm down, that everything will

be all right,” McCrary said.

He said officers brought Thomas water to drink and she told them, “My heart hurts. I can’t walk anymore.”

Thomas was taken downstairs from the apartment complex with one officer on each arm, according to McCrary, who later followed and saw Thomas in a police car “shaking her head against the back seat.” At a later point he saw her lying on a sidewalk as paramedics arrived.

McCrary’s live-in caregiver, Charmaine Hood, told the Times that the officers were trying to help Thomas.

“I didn’t see them try to harm her in any shape or fashion,” Hood said. “I seen them protect her from hurting herself.”

In a separate incident that was also videotaped, two officers were shown slamming a handcuffed woman to the ground. Beck announced Wednesday that he was transferring a captain from his command in response to that incident.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

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Calif. lawmakers Obama vows help to soldiers, marks Iraq war end OK private-sector retirement plan

BY MATTHEW DALY ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY JUDY LIN ASSOCIATED PRESS Democratic lawmakers approved a bill Friday August 31that would create the nation’s first state-run retirement program for private-sector workers over the objection of Republicans who said it creates a new liability for taxpayers.

The Senate sent SB1234 to Gov. Jerry Brown on a 25-13 vote just before the Legislature’s midnight deadline. The Assembly approved the bill earlier in the day on a 44-24 vote.

Democratic supporters say the bill would establish the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program for nearly 7 million lowincome workers whose private employers don’t offer retirement plans.

According to the bill's author, Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, the program directs employers to withhold 3 percent of their workers' pay unless the employee opts out of the savings program. It would be administered by a seven-member board chaired by the state treasurer.

Democrats said the program gives workers more savings options, particularly women working lowpaying jobs. Supporters say it will not cost the state money because it will be backed by underwriters.

But Republicans said they have too many questions about the program and note that if the underwriter fails to meet investment targets, taxpayers and employers could be held responsible for covering investment losses and administrative overhead.

“It’s still troublesome that the measure would have the government take over the retirement, insert itself into the retirement plans in the private sector here,” said Sen. Doug La Malfa, R-Willows. “For the state to be usurping that responsibility from the private sector is really a giant leap.”

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano,

D-San Francisco, defended the bill, saying it sets up a fiscally responsible program. He noted it would not be implemented unless the savings program is exempt from federal rules that cover private-sector defined benefit plans. Such plans have to meet minimum standards under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The bill also requires the board to submit an annual audit. It is opposed by businesses, insurance companies and financial services firms.

“I encourage you not to be fooled by the Wall Street subterfuge,” Ammiano said. “This is a responsible bill that will be a tremendous benefit for working Californians.”

Morrell said low-income workers might be better off financially if they put after-tax earnings into a Roth IRA, which would allow them to earn investments tax-free.

He also expressed concern that the fund could be administered by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. The state’s largest pension fund posted an annual return of just 1 percent last year, missing its own long-term annual target of 7.5 percent.

“CalPERS is going to request to manage this money, and I know they’ve done a pretty good job when the stock market was booming, but the last few years they have not done very well and that's another concern,” Morrell said.

De Leon introduced the bill earlier this year in response to what he called the “looming retirement tsunami” as millions of low-wage workers face financial hardship in their retirement years. He said the program would act as a supplement to Social Security by offering private-sector workers a portable savings plan with a guaranteed return.

“One of the most common myths being perpetrated about this bill is that it creates a pension for privatesector workers,” Ammiano said.

FAMU Continued from page 4 news release. “We have zero tolerance for hazing. It’s deplorable and will not be tolerated. It is unconscionable that a student organization would participate in any hazing activity considering what has transpired in the past year.”

The campus police chief, dean of students and director of student activities were all notified of the allegations. Robinson said they’ve launched an investigation, but details about what may have happened weren’t released.

According to university records, the dance team had already been inactive since December 2011 because it didn’t have an adviser.

FAMU has cracked down on haz-

ing since the death last November of drum major Robert Champion, who died after being beaten by fellow band members during a hazing ritual aboard a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel following a football game. The Marching 100 was later suspended, meaning the band won’t be playing at this season’s football games.

Twelve people face felony hazing charges, while two others face misdemeanor counts. They have pleaded not guilty.

Also following Champion’s death, FAMU suspended new membership intake for all clubs and organizations and implemented more strict procedures. That recruitment ban is set to be lifted this month.

In an election-year reminder that he ended the war in Iraq, President Barack Obama vowed last Friday to help soldiers, veterans and their families overcome economic and health care struggles as they return to the nation they have served.

Surrounded by a sea of men and women in fatigues, Obama saluted their service, but cautioned that a “tough fight” remains in Afghanistan even as the U.S. works to transfer security control to Afghan forces. He said the troops’ return home now presents different challenges.

“After fighting for America you shouldn’t have to fight for a job in America,” Obama said. “To you and all you serve, we need to be there for you just like you were there for us.”

Obama’s visit to the vast Fort Bliss Army post in El Paso came on the second anniversary of the end of combat operations in Iraq. While officially not a presidential campaign trip, the visit also served clear political aims by highlighting the end of one unpopular war and the wind-down of another and drawing attention to Obama's role as commander in chief.

Obama also visited Fort Bliss on See IRAQ WAR END, page 15

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

President Barack Obama walks with Gen. Lloyd Austin, vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army, right, to greet members of the military and their families on the tarmac, upon his arrival at Biggs Airfield at Fort Bliss, Texas, Friday, Aug. 31, 2012.

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

F E AT U R E

L.A. Watts Times WEEKENDER

The Smoking Hot Debate of MEDICAL MARIJUANA With Sept. 6 dispensary ban looming, taxpayers to foot another cost.

By Kenneth Miller | LAWT Contributing Writer It is critical mass for the thousands of patrons in Los Angeles who require use of medical marijuana as the Sept. 6 ban looms on the majority of dispensaries here, and communities fear the likelihood of emerging street merchants filling the vacuum.

As more than 50,000 generated signatures reached the Los Angeles City Clerk’s oƥce this week, and as local law enforcement prepares to mount raids on several dispensaries, a crescendo will be reached on one of the nation’s ongoing hot button issues.

California voters passed Prop 215 by a majority of 56 percent in 1996 legalizing cannabis and certifying a California Supreme Court ruling that marijuana is as legal as any prescription drug under state law.

Arizona, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii and Nevada joined the state of California in legalizing the popular drug.

The law was to ensure that seriously ill Californians would have the right to obtain and use marijuana for illnesses such as cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine or any others illnesses for which it provides relief.

In subsequent years the dispensaries began to mushroom and storefronts with the green plant symbol were prominent in neighborhoods and near schools.

During the peak of its growth there were an estimated 186 dispensaries, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed an ordinance in 2010 that “shut hundreds of marijuana dispensaries in the city and imposed stricter regulations on the 186 remaining stores.”

The measure capped the number of marijuana stores at 70, but allowed 116 stores that registered before November 13, 2007 to stay in business. Each store was required to pay an annual licensing fee of $1,595.

Critics of Prop. 215 contend that too many of the dispensaries increased the crime rate in the communities where they are located, and enhanced usage among teenagers, while promoting the drug to school age children.

The 2010 ordinance increased the distance between dispensaries and schools, parks, churches and private residences and restricted their hours of operation from 10am to 8pm.

It also imposed se-

curity requirements, requirements that the dispensaries be legally organized only as non-profit collectives, and says that any one medical marijuana patient can only get prescriptions filled from one dispensary.

A pair of researchers from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Aơairs concluded that clinics in California did not contribute to increased crime in the neighborhoods where they were located.

Nonetheless, the Los Angeles City Council made the decision for a ban on medical marijuana collectives and dispensaries on June 24 and most likely set the wheels in motion for a lengthy and expensive legal battle that could cost the already cash strapped city millions.

There is a strong possibility the ban will not even last.

According to Kimberly Briggs, who serves as a media specialist for the Los Angeles City Clerk’s oƥce, the ban will be suspended once the petitions are submitted to the City Clerk’s oƥce.

Of the 50,000 generated signatures, only 27,480 need to be valid, but it could take the Clerk’s oƥce up to 30 days to verify all of the signatures depending on workload and by that time with raids imminent on dispensaries on Sept.6 many could be put out of business.

Verifying the signatures alone could cost taxpayers an estimated $250,000 and that does not include the cost for what has become an almost infinite war against medical marijuana.

The City does allow for primary caregivers and patients to grow and transport marijuana, and those who have medical marijuana cards will still be able to grow and smoke marijuana. They just will not be allowed to go to a clinic and buy it under the ban.

Even at press time, clinics were still gathering signatures and fighting to overturn the ban. Regardless of the immediate outcome, both the City and the advocates of legal marijuana appear to be in the fight for the long haul.

www.lawattstimes.com

Of the 50,000 generated signatures, only 27,480 need to be valid, but it could take the Clerk’s ofďŹ ce up to 30 days to verify all of the signatures.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

9

10

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Obama needs to project Who built what? more than ‘Hope’

BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX NNPA COLUMNIST

BY GEORGE E. CURRY NNPA COLUMNIST The primary goal of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. this week is to highlight the sharp contrast between the policies of President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, his Republican opponent.

In the past, political conventions were used to count delegates to determine each party’s respective presidential nominee. That has changed in recent years, with the ballot outcome already determined by the time thousands of delegates roll into a city for the convention. Today, the speeches are directed at millions watching on television, the Internet or a mobile device, not the people sitting in the convention hall.

Republicans concluded their national convention in Tampa and for the first time in 60 years, the GOP nominee didn’t make the argument that his party will do a better job in foreign affairs. President Obama took that issue away from Republicans by ending U.S. involvement in the war in Iran, bringing troops back from Afghanistan and approving a mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

With shifting U.S. demographics, the Tampa gathering may be the last

George E. Curry national political convention that Republicans or any other party can make a race-based appeal to White voters. Despite token appearances by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Artur Davis, a former Democratic congressman from

Alabama who couldn’t carry his on precinct in his bid for governor, Team Romney made a major appeal to its base. And the selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate served to underscore that point.

The problem for Republicans is that the election will largely be decided by undecided independent voters. And Romney, a Massachusetts moderateturned-conservative, can’t afford to appeal directly to that group without alienating ardent conservatives already suspicious of him.

Except for a speech to the NAACP annual convention in Houston, Romney has done little to appeal to AfricanAmerican voters. Not that it would do him much good. A recent NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll showed Romney getting zero percent of the Black vote. Of course, that does not mean no Black person in America will vote for him. Instead, the zero was in a poll with a margin of error of 3.1 percent. That means that Romney probably will not match John McCain’s unimpressive 4 percent in 2008. By comparison, George W. Bush captured 11 percent of the Black vote in 2004.

Both Obama and Bill Clinton were elected president without receiving a See CURRY, page 14

The Republican National Convention’s theme was, “We Built This.” One of the speakers was Sher Valenzuela, a Delaware businesswoman who happens to be Latina. She touted the success of her upholstery business and implied it thrived because of her hard work.

That’s only partly true. She also thrived because she started out with $2 million loan from the Small Business Administration, and got another $15 million in non-competitive government contracts. Would her company, First State Manufacturing, have made it without government help? Your guess is as good as mine. But the notion that “we built this” is extremely shortsighted.

What exactly did these Republicans build without government help?

They don’t even go to work every day in our nation’s Capitol without the help of unpaid enslaved people who toted rock and worked in hot sun to build our nation’s Capitol. It took until 2010 for our nation’s leaders to erect a plaque commemorating this effort. We built the Capitol? And it’s isn’t the same “we” the Republicans are talking about.

It reminds me of a book written

by Pulitzer Prize-winner Annette Gordon Reed, The Hemmings of Monticello (2008). As she reprises some of former President Thomas Jefferson’s diaries, he writes about all the cotton and tobacco “we” planted.

I had an amazing visual of Jefferson with a hoe picking and planting. He didn’t. He appropriated the effort of other people’s work, initiative, and infrastructure. He didn’t plant a thing. Enslaved people did the work.

Based on his diaries, though, the man who died nearly bankrupt, expropriates the work of others in his use of the term “we.”

Republicans held their convention last week at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. This is a convention center that was partly built with government money, to the tune of $86 million. As the arena was renovated to accommodate Republican attendees to the convention, no doubt government funds were also used for some of this. This is one of the tax subsidies that Republicans often decry. And how does government justify this? The infusion of all those big spenders might bring money to local venders and tax dollars to the community. I’d like to see the accounting.

President Obama is right to talk about the way all enterprise is interconnected and the many ways that the government role stimulates business.

Federal, state, and local government engage in practices that subsidize businesses because they hope for a return, or because they believe that there are benefits to the community that may come because of government investment. Most sports arenas and fine arts concert halls have some government investment, and hopefully nobody is running around shouting “we built it.” Still, the Republican stance seems to be a purposeful amnesia, an attempt to ignore the many ways government facilitates the building that they claim they do.

Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate, peppered

Julianne Malveaux his speech with slams on President Obama.

In his Wednesday night speech, he said “None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers, a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life.”

What entitlements is he talking about? Subsidies to Head Start, proven to make a difference in early childhood education? Unemployment benefits, which many in his Janesville, Wisconsin hometown community used when a General Motors plant closed under President George Bush not, as he suggested, President Obama? Would he remove Pell grant subsidies to college students? Would he eliminate Social Security? Does he visit national parks? Government subsidies built that. Does he ride on any of our nation’s government subsidized roads and highways? Ryan has told us what he feels about Medicare, but his slam on government entitlements ignores the work government has done. Who built the roads? “We” didn’t. Government did, with the help of well-paid contractors.

If Republicans want to know what “we” built, they need to look back to the record of former President George W. Bush. That president built a banking crisis, and gave banks nearly $800 billion to bail themselves out. Bush built an unemployment rate that continued to soar under the leadership of his successor, President Barack Obama. President Built built a couple of wars, leaving the splash back to President Obama.

Romney and Ryan; Do you own the house your party built, the house President Obama is trying to repair?

Will you claim the “we” on this?

Republicans need to be reminded of who built what when they walk into our nation’s Capitol. Some folks eagerly claim credit for their quasiaccomplishments. Others toil, and it takes more than 200 years for our nation to grudgingly acknowledge them. As a descendent of enslaved people, that “we built it” rhetoric repels me.

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based economist and writer. She is President Emerita of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

11

e v e n t LISTINGS

9 / 2012 happening this month

L.A. Watts Times Calendar, Compiled by Brandon I. Brooks, Co-Managing Editor 9/6 COMMUNITY MEETING: With all the news concerning the second closing of the I-405 through the Sepulveda Pass September 29 and 30, it would be easy to overlook that the range of closures will be the same as last year. Northbound lanes will be closed from the I-10 to US 101.

Southbound lanes will be closed from US 101 to the Getty Center ramps. A community meeting offers the opportunity to ask questions of representatives of the Unified Command, the group of agencies managing public safety and emergency services during the weekend I-405 freeway closure, on September 29 and 30. WHEN: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: Skirball Cultural Center Ahmanson Hall 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90049. Free parking will be available in the north garage on the Skirball campus and the east garage on the east side of Sepulveda Bl. KICKOFF PARTY FOR THE 2012 LA URBAN LEAGUE/JIM HILL CELEBRITY GOLF CLASSIC: Celebrate the upcoming Golf Classic with colleagues, the League Team, and Jim Hill & friends for a night of wings, raffles, networking, and socializing.

WHEN: 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. (and then 9 pm – until).

WHERE: Jim Hill Buffalo Wild Wings, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors is the Title Sponsor for the Los Angeles Urban League /Jim Hill Celebrity Golf Classic to be played Friday, September 21, 2012 at Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms Resort in Industry Hills, CA on the renowned “Ike” course.

Co-hosted by Jim, the annual Golf Classic is an agency signature event and a unique day on the links for a critical cause featuring legends and stars from sports, entertainment, media, politics and community. The Golf Classic raises funds to support the League’s community activities through Neighborhoods@Work®, Early Childhood Development and State Preschool, and Workforce Development. Call the League for more information about the Sept. 21st Golf Classic including sponsorships, foursomes and auction/raffle donations.

Everyone’s support is needed and appreciated! 323.299.9660 x2216, x2230, x2244 or x2256.

6TH ANNUAL 50 FREE SUMMER CONCERTS SERIES: Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park continues its 6thAnnual 50

Free Summer Concerts Series. WHEN: Thursdays through Sundays, through September 9. WHERE: Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park at MacArthur Park near the intersection of West 6th Street & S. Park View Street across from the Park Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA. During the concert season, annual Youth Soccer Tournaments, which are part of Levitt Pavilion at MacArthur Parks’ community outreach program, take place on Sundays.

Weekly concerts are presented Thursday through Sunday evening’s beginning at 7:00 p.m., and children’s shows on Sundays begin at 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park concertgoers also have access to a food court that features artisanal foods from local, independent food-based businesses and vendors and nonprofit organizations every night. PARKING: Street parking surrounding MacArthur Park and within walking distance to Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park is available. Please be sure to read all posted signs. The redline stops at MacArthur Park station. The following are cash only with fees ranging between $5 - $10. 623 S. Carondelet Street - parking garage located between West 6th Street & Wilshire Blvd.

2509 Wilshire Blvd. - parking lot located at the northeast corner of Coronado Street (entrance) & Wilshire Blvd. TICKETS: Free and open to the public. INFO: 213 384-5701 or info@levittLA.org.

9/7 SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH PRESENTS JAZZY FRYDAY: The Second Baptist Church ongoing music series, “Jazzy Fryday” will hold its’ sixth installment of this popular event. WHEN: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. WHERE: The church in Griffith Hall. Sybil Coker has scheduled another set of stellar jazz musicians that will surely delight the crowd. The $15.00 donation at the door includes a complete fish dinner and amazing live entertainment.

Proceeds from the event benefit Second Baptist Church. For more information call Welton Jones at 626-791-4904 or Dessiraee Eleby in the church office at 213-748-0318.

Come celebrate our musical legacy and share in this wonderful fellowship.

9/8 BBJAZZ FESTIVAL 10TH ANNIVERSARY: Enjoy a fabulous Vendor Village with great choices of food, merchandise and it is topped with a live R&B/Funk band PINOT performing between the main shows. Don’t forget to sign up at the Farmers & Merchants Bank booth for a chance to win a Balcony Suite for a week on the Smooth Jazz Cruise next January 2013. WHERE: Located in Central Park, located at 7111 Talbert Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92648.

The events main stage will feature some of today’s hottest performers in Angie Stone,

the family's own children and/or grandchildren ages 2 to 17, additional guest passes, Safari Shuttle and Choo Choo Train passes, concierge for VIP requests, exclusive early access to events, 10% discount in shops, restaurants and for lectures and educational programs, free or discounted admission to more than 170 zoos and aquariums around the country, a variety of members-only events and much more. To receive an invitation to “TWILIGHT AT THE ZOO” by joining GLAZA or upgrading an existing GLAZA membership to the Contributing Associate level, please call (323) 644-4751.

9/9 THE LIBERATION TOUR: Mary J. Blige and D’Angelo take center stage. The concert features performances by Mary J. Blige, Angie Stone

Peabo Bryson, Najee, The Tony Rich Project, Walter Beasley and Anthony David.

The festival takes place down the hill from the Huntington Beach Library in an incredible setting filled with lots of shady trees, a beautiful Peabo lake Bryson behind the stage and many desirable spots to pick from.

Every year music lovers come together for a great time, great shows and great food. WHEN: Music will start at 11:15 a.m. and continue until 9 p.m. For Tickets go to www.bbjazz.com or call (714) 377-7574.

THE GREATER LOS ANGELES ZOO ASSOCIATION (GLAZA) PRESENTS “TWILIGHT IN THE ZOO”: A once-a-year after-hours evening for GLAZA members at the Contributing Associate level and above ($250 per family). The evening includes an opportunity to learn about many of the Zoo’s animals on a docent-led walking tour, complimentary hors d’oeuvres, and crafts for adults and youngsters.

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Los Angeles Zoo. The Los Angeles Zoo is located in Griffith Park at the junction of the Ventura (134) and Golden State (5) freeways. GLAZA’s Contributing Associate-level membership, which is $250 per family, features a variety of benefits including unlimited free admission for up to three adults and

Mary J. Blige

D’Angelo

D’Angelo and Melanie Fiona. WHERE: Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk Universal City, CA. WHEN: 8:15 p.m.

TO MAKE A CALENDAR SUBMISSION: 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.

12

Actor Michael Clarke Duncan dead at 54 “I will miss my friend, Michael Clarke Duncan,” comedian and talk-show host Steve Michael Clarke Duncan Harvey said on Twitter. “What an was one big, irresistible jumble incredible soldier in God’s Plan.” of contradictions.

Other sad and shocked reactions His presence was formidacame from a diverse field that ble, even intimidating: The forincluded Dallas Mavericks mer bodyguard had a muscular, owner Mark Cuban, actresses 6-foot-4 frame, but it was Alexa Vega, Niecy Nash and topped by the brightest of Olivia Munn, and former boxing megawatt smiles. champion Lennox Lewis.

His gravelly baritone was In the spring of 2012, well-suited to everything from Duncan had appeared in a video animated films to action spectafor PETA, the animal rights cles, but no matter the role, a organization, in which he spoke warmth and a sweetness was of how much better he felt since always evident underneath. becoming a vegetarian three The prolific character actor, years earlier. whose dozens of movies “I cleared out my refrigeraincluded an Oscar-nominated tor, about $5,000 worth of meat,” performance as a death row he said. “I’m a lot healthier than inmate in “The Green Mile” I was when I was eating meat.” and box office hits including Duncan had a handful of “Armageddon,” “Planet of the minor roles before “The Green AP Photo/Carlo Allegri Mile” brought him accolades Apes” and “Kung Fu Panda,” died Monday at age 54. And This Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 photo shows actor and fame. The 1999 film, based although he only turned to act- Michael Clarke Duncan in New York. Duncan died on the Stephen King novel of the ing in his 30s, it’s clear from the at the age of 54 on Monday, Sept. 3, 2012 in a Los same name, starred Hanks as a outpouring of prayers and Angeles hospital after nearly two months of treat- corrections officer at a penitenremembrances he received ment following a July 13, 2012 heart attack, his tiary in the 1930s. Duncan across the Hollywood and fiancee, the Rev. Omarosa Manigault, said. played John Coffey, a convicted sports worlds that his gentlemurderer with a surprisingly giant persona made him much-loved time. Celebrations of his life, both pri- gentle demeanor and extraordinary vate and public, will be announced at healing powers. during that relatively brief time.

Duncan died at Cedars-Sinai a later date.”

Duncan’s performance caught on Tom Hanks, star of 1999’s “The with critics and moviegoers and he Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a heart attack, Green Mile” — the film that earned a quickly became a favorite in said his fiancée, reality TV personali- then-little-known Duncan a support- Hollywood, appearing in several films ty Rev. Omarosa Manigault, in a state- ing-actor nomination at the Academy a year. He owed some of his good forment released by publicist Joy Fehily. Awards — said he was “terribly sad- tune to Bruce Willis, who recomDuncan “suffered a myocardial dened at the loss of Big Mike. He was mended Duncan for “The Green Mile” infarction on July 13 and never fully the treasure we all discovered on the after the two appeared together in recovered,” the statement said. set of ‘The Green Mile.’ He was “Armageddon.” Duncan would work “Manigault is grateful for all of your magic. He was a big love of man and with Willis again in “Breakfast of prayers and asks for privacy at this his passing leaves us stunned.”

Champions,” “The Whole Nine Yards” and “Sin City.”

His industrial-sized build was suited for everything from superhero films (“Daredevil”) to comedy (“Talladega Nights,” “School for Scoundrels”). He could have made a career out of his voice work alone, with appearances in several animated and family movies, including, “Kung Fu Panda,” “Racing Stripes” and “Brother Bear.” Among Duncan’s television credits were “The Apprentice,” “Two and a Half Men,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and a new series, “The Finder.”

Born in Chicago in 1957, Duncan was raised by a single mother whose resistance to his playing football led to his deciding he wanted to become an actor. But when his mother became ill, he dropped out of college, Alcorn State University, and worked as a ditch digger and bouncer to support her. By his mid-20s, he was in Los Angeles, where he looked for acting parts and became a bodyguard for Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and other stars.

The murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G., for whom Duncan had been hired to protect before switching assignments, led him to quit his job and pursue acting full-time.

Early film and television credits, AP Photo/Michael Caulfield, File when he was usually cast as a bodyor bouncer, included In this Jan. 7, 2001 file photo, actor Michael Clarke Duncan shows off two guard awards for the film “The Green Mile” at the 27th Annual People’s Choice "Bulworth," ''A Night at the Roxbury" and "The Players Club."

Awards in Pasadena, Calif.

BY CHRISTY LEMIRE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Stars attend funeral of hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty

BY KAREN MATTHEWS ASSOCIATED PRESS Hip-hop royalty including LL Cool J and Sean “Diddy” Combs packed a standing-room-only funeral chapel this Wednesday to pay their respects to music-industry mogul Chris Lighty.

Mourners at the Manhattan funeral home also included Missy Elliott, Q-Tip, Russell Simmons, Busta Rymes, 50 Cent and Grandmaster Flash.

The 44-year-old Lighty was found dead in his Bronx apartment last week with a gunshot wound to the head. The medical examiner ruled it a suicide, but his family has asked for a second autopsy.

Speakers at the funeral, who included family members as well as LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes, didn't allude to the circumstances of Lighty’s death. Instead they stressed his legacy in the music world and his life as a family man.

AP Photo/Tina Fineberg

Sean “Diddy” Combs, second from left, leaves the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel following the service for hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012 in New York.

AP Photo/Tina Fineberg

Busta Rhymes leaves the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel following the service for hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty, Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012 in New York.

Mourners filed past the flowerbedecked coffin where Lighty was laid out in a dark suit. A slideshow depicting his life appeared on a screen. By the time the service started, the chapel had become as crowded as a hot nightspot, with security guards only letting people in if someone else left.

Lighty had been a part of the hip-hop scene for decades, working with pioneers like LL Cool J before starting his own management company, Violator. But he was in the midst of a divorce and had been having recent financial and personal troubles.

A player in the hip-hop game since he was a child disc jockey, Lighty rose through the ranks at Rush Management, Simmons' first company, before eventually founding Violator Management in the late 1990s.

His roster ranged from Academy Award-winners Three 6 Mafia to Elliott to up-and-comer Papoose and perpetual star Mariah Carey. He made it his mission not so much to make musical superstars but rather to create multifaceted entertainers who could be marketed in an array of ways: a sneaker deal here, a soft drink partnership there, a movie role down the road.

In a 2007 interview with The Associated Press, Lighty talked about creating opportunities for his stars — a Chapstick deal for LL Cool J, known for licking his lips, and a vitamin supplement deal for 50 Cent.

“As music sales go down because kids are stealing it off the Internet and trading it and iPod sales continue to rise, you can’t rely on just the income that you would make off of being an artist,” he said at the time.

Survivors include his two children. He and his wife, Veronica, had been in the process of divorcing. The See CHRIS LIGHTLY, page 13

AP Photo/Tina Fineberg

LL Cool J, foreground right, shares an embrace with another as he leaves the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel following the service for hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty, Wednesday Sept.

5, 2012 in New York.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

13

Ex-NFL star Strahan Hundreds pay respects to Robin becomes Kelly Ripa’s co-host Roberts’ mother

BY FRAZIER MOORE ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP Photo/ABC, Donna Svennevik

This 2006 photo released by ABC shows “Good Morning America” cohost Robin Roberts, right, with her mother Lucimarian Roberts on the set in New York.

ASSOCIATED PRESS Hundreds of people waited in line for an hour or more on Tuesday September 4 to pay their respects to the late Lucimarian Roberts, a leader on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast for more than 40 years and the mother of ABC’s “Good Morning America” cohost Robin Roberts.

Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home employees tell the Sun-Herald that at least 700 people came to the wake.

A private funeral was scheduled Wednesday, with burial at the Biloxi National Cemetery next to her husband, Col. Lawrence Roberts, who died in 2004.

Lucimarian Roberts was the first black to serve as chairman of the Mississippi State Board of Education.

She died on August 30 at her home in Pass Christian at age 88.

Her children also include New Orleans anchor Sally-Ann Roberts of WWL-TV.

Lawyer: LaBelle settles suit over NYC lobby run-in ASSOCIATED PRESS R&B diva Patti LaBelle has agreed to pay $100,000 to a Manhattan woman who accused her of hurling curses and water at her and her 18-month-old daughter during a dust-up over parenting in an apartment building lobby.

Roseanna Monk and her husband, Kevin, filed a lawsuit against LaBelle last year.

The couple lives in a Manhattan building where the Grammy Awardwinning singer stayed while appearing in the Broadway musical “Fela!”

The couple’s lawyer, Sam Davis, tells the New York Post LaBelle settled the case even before AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File being deposed. The Monks will Patti LaBelle donate the money to a children’s chastised Roseanna Monk, threw a cancer charity.

LaBelle’s publicist declined to bottle of water and launched into an obscenity-filled tirade during the Nov. comment.

According to the lawsuit, LaBelle 11, 2010 argument.

The only worry on Michael Strahan’s mind when he made his entrance Tuesday September 4 as the new co-host of “Live!”: “Don’t trip,” he summed up after the show.

He didn’t.

When Kelly Ripa introduced him, the gap-toothed former football player jogged onto the morning show set and gathered her up in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet.

“When I was hugging Kelly, that’s when I was calming down,” Strahan explained.

The rest of the hour was clearly a snap for him and for Ripa, who was getting a permanent partner nine months after Regis Philbin retired from the show and after having welcomed Strahan and 58 other guests in the chair beside her.

Taking his seat on Tuesday, the former New York Giant joked that it felt “comfy, like it was molded for my body.”

Strahan was relaxed, amiable and playful, and drew “ahhhs” from women in the studio audience when he presented Ripa with a dozen red roses.

“It’s so nice to have a co-host literally sweep you off your feet,” Ripa told viewers, “and I know that he can bench press me if he wanted to.”

Maybe his arrival was fulfilling a prophecy. Ripa played a clip of Strahan's first appearance on the show in 2008, shortly after the Giants had won the Super Bowl. Philbin asked Strahan what he would want to do after retiring from football, and Strahan said that Philbin’s job looked pretty good.

“I was joking,” Strahan said, “and I’m glad the joke came true.”

Strahan’s hiring has been an open secret for the past two weeks. His selection was made official a couple of minutes into what, since November, had gone by the stripped-down title “Live! With Kelly” and now rechristened “Live! With Kelly and Michael.”

Or rather, “live! with kelly and michael.” Eyeing the brand-new alllowercase logo during a commercial break, the co-hosts pondered whether the first letters of their names would look better capitalized.

During their breezy first “host chat,” Strahan amusedly shared from a list of obnoxious pet names for women (“babe” and “sweet cheeks” among them). The pair discussed parenting policies, in particular how much money the Tooth Fairy should award for a lost tooth.

“Homeland” star Claire Danes was the first guest, followed by singer Phillip Phillips.

Then Olympic gold-medal gymnasts Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber each teamed with one of the co-hosts in a challenge on balance beams.

Strahan was totally game for the stunt, which called for carrying eggs balanced on a spoon. (The two teams tied with 13 eggs apiece.)

After the broadcast, Strahan downplayed any suggestion the show would be changing much.

“I think you have two people who can laugh at themselves, who can laugh at each other, who have a good time, who get along — and make sure

Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Images

Former football player Michael Strahan, right, poses with Kelly Ripa on the set of the newly named “Live! with Kelly and Michael” on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012 in New York. that anyone who watches the show enjoys it,” Strahan said. “I think it’s the same formula.”

The formula was cooked up by Philbin, the original host, nearly 30 years ago. Ripa joined him in 2001.

Executive producer Michael Gelman, who oversaw that transition from Kathie Lee Gifford to Ripa, was asked how Strahan emerged as the favorite in the current competition.

“Chemistry isn’t something you can really put your finger on,” he said.

“But there was something special individually with Michael, and the chemistry was there.”

Ripa, declaring that she had had “a little bit of a say” in Strahan’s selection, said, “I wear my heart on my sleeve, so it’s pretty obvious that I love him. So I was definitely on board.”

“It seems like we’ve been doing it all along,” she added.

In return, Strahan said Ripa has “done a great job for 11 or 12 years, and hopefully we’ll do it for the next 11 or 12 years.”

In the meantime, he will continue as a host of “Fox NFL Sunday,” which originates from Los Angeles, where he lives. He will commute to New York to do “Live!”

How will he handle that routine?

“Get on a plane,” he cracked.

“Coming here during the week and doing this show, it’s fun. I don’t look at it as if it’s a chore.”

Before bringing Strahan out, Ripa joked about the lengthy search, advising people to stop sending her resumes.

“I have enjoyed every single solitary person — except for one,” she said. “The staff is laughing because they know that’s true.”

Asked afterward who that one spoilsport had been, she stated with a laugh, “I would never reveal the cohost I did not enjoy being with.”

“But I will!” Strahan jumped in.

“He figured it out,” said Ripa, offering yet more evidence of their rapport. “He watches the show and he knows my body language.”

CHRIS LIGHTLY Continued from page 12 case was still listed as active, but electronic records show an agreement to end it was filed in June.

Lighty’s brother Dave has said he wants a full investigation of his brother's death, which he isn’t sure was a suicide.

Forensic pathologist Michael Baden, the former head of the city medical examiner’s office, said Wednesday that he performed a second autopsy at the request of the family and was awaiting test results.

Baden is paid to give independent opinions on deaths and has testified in several high-profile cases including the O.J. Simpson trial.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the department is still investigating and will wait until the full tox-

icology report is back, but he reiterated that the medical examiner's office has said it’s a suicide.

Grandmaster Flash referred to medical examiner’s findings outside the chapel.

“Whatever the pressure was that made him take his life had to be tremendous pressure,” he said. “I just wish that Chris would have reached out and said, ‘Flash, I need some help, man.’ ... He didn’t reach out. It's really sad.”

Simmons posted an online appeal to the music industry Wednesday to fill the void left by Lighty by mentoring young hip-hop artists.

“Chris was a shining example of playing the game, while always keeping it real,” he wrote.

14

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Jus Kick ‘N It|

By Kenneth Miller

[Editor’s note: Ken Miller is an award winning veteran journalist who spent 30 years writing for the L.A. Sentinel and has been a popular guest on local sports talk radio for several years. This is the first edition of his weekly sports column.]

Nobody asked me but something really fishy is going on with UCLA recruit Shabazz Muhammad who has yet to be cleared to play by the NCAA. Muhammad was considered among the top two high school seniors of the class of 2012.

Rumors circulated early on that the dynamite 6’5 guard had received improper benefits during his high

school career.

However, I am not buying it!

Muhammad got nothing more than any other high school playing on a grassroots basketball circuit dominated by sleazy street agents and power brokering shoe companies.

Both his mom and dad are college graduates and way too smart to allow for some peddler to ruin a one and done collegiate career.

UCLA would possibly pay a high school super star! Would they…

Are you kidding me! Show me a high profile program that does not do a lil something extra for a player the caliber of Muhammad and I’ll show you a D-I program playing like a mid major.

They all cheat, within the rules of course.

You don’t think UCLA was just a tad desperate following last season’s

disaster? Moving into renovated Pauley Pavilion that was half empty during most of “gentle” Ben Howland’s reign. A scathing article by Sports Illustrated citing the program as out of control last season might have been the tip of the iceberg.

Let’s hope he is cleared and for Howland’s Serena sake lets Williams hope they win it all…

I t looks like Serena Williams will be celebrating yet another grand slam after steam rolling into the semifinals at the US Open in New York.

Since that C-Walk that got every body including Black folk riled up she has been the best tennis player on the planet-man or woman!

I remember when she wasn’t even the best tennis player in her own family. Venus was first and then probably her dad Richard was second.

That was a long time ago. Few remember that Venus is still playing unless it’s doubles with her, and Richard has given birth to another child who I am sure will have absolutely nothing to do with tennis.

My sources tell me the girls have about two more years before they retire.

Finally, remember when Don King was recognized as the best box-

ing promoter in the world? Huh! You’re not old enough? Well, I was in Florida last week and had barbeque with him and while there he got a phone call from a certain undefeated fighter.

King didn’t take the call though, he was too busy conducting business with a Korean NGO queen and famed Nigerian Filmmaker Jeta Amata.

Appears the ‘Only in America Man’ is now an International entrepreneur fostering peace with Korea and promoting the political blockbuster ‘Black November’ that releases in December.

Michael Vick

It’s football season and let’s see if Michael Vick can stay up right for one regular season game and the Eagles can win a Super Bowl for coach Andy Reid.

Meanwhile on the Raiders front, I never cared much for that freckled face Black GM especially after he fired Huey Jackson after just one season.

Here’s hoping the Raiders fall into the Black hole.

I like that Griffin III kid in DC, but I love Cam Newton better. Peace Out!

Don King

BY MALCOLM RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS A study of former NFL players finds they were unusually prone to dying from degenerative brain disease, the latest indication that repeated blows to the head may cause serious trouble later on.

The death rate from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease combined was about three times what one would predict from the general population, researchers reported.

Prior research had suggested football players were unusually prone to those diseases, said lead researcher Everett Lehman of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which is part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, reported online Wednesday September 5 in the journal Neurology, looked at death certificates.

It drew on a long-running study of more than 3,400 NFL players with at least five playing seasons in the league between 1959 and 1988. Some 334 had died by the end of 2007, the cutoff for being included in the study.

Researchers compared their death rates from various causes to that of a comparable group of American men.

One or another of the three brain diseases was listed as the underlying cause of death in 10 cases, which is about three times the general rate for American men, the researchers reported.

Researchers noted that the study

can’t prove that the results were caused by football-related concussions, and that they may not apply to pro or amateur players who’ve played fewer than five years.

In recent years, much of the attention to brain problems in football players has focused on a condition known as CTE, which is traced to repeated head blows. The new study didn’t look for CTE. It’s not among the standard list of conditions the researchers used for classifying deaths, Lehman said.

But some of the brain disease deaths counted in the study may have actually come from misdiagnosed CTE, which stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the researchers noted.

Dr. Robert Cantu, who co-directs a center that studies CTE at Boston University but did not participate in the new study, said the results are “not at all surprising.” He agreed that some of the deaths could be misdiagnosed CTE, noting that the diagnosis requires a special chemical test of the brain after death.

Also on Wednesday, the NFL announced a donation of $30 million for medical research to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the fundraising arm of the NIH. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the research could benefit athletes and potential areas of study may include CTE, concussion management and treatment and disorders from later in life such as Alzheimer’s.

USC will investigate report of gifts to athletes

CURRY

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued from page 10 majority of the White vote. And Obama can do it again this year.

Look at how this plays out in the battleground state of North Carolina, which Obama carried by only 4,177 votes – or 0.3 percent – in 2008.

Blacks make up 22 percent of North Carolina’s population. Over the past decade, 1.5 million people migrated to North Carolina – 61.9 percent of them non-White. According to demographers quoted by the Charlotte Observer, Obama can carry the state by winning just 36 percent to 37 percent of the White vote.

Obama’s larger problem is that after campaigning four years ago on a theme of hope and change, there is not much of either today. His severest critics note that after promising change – that’s about all they have left in their pockets after nearly four years of his leadership.

Of course, it’s impossible to bring about change by yourself. And Obama was naïve to believe that he could single-handedly change the political bickering in Washington. The party out of

Study: Brain disease deaths high in NFL veterans

power is always plotting to re-gain control. However, Republicans reached a new low when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced before Obama was sworn in that his top priority was to make sure Obama was a oneterm president. And Republicans have sought to block Obama’s major initiatives, including his signature Affordable Care Act. They outmaneuvered him on extending the Bush tax cuts. On the campaign trail, Obama promised to extend the Bush tax cuts only for individuals earning less than $200,000 and couples making less than $250,000, a position favored by most Americans.

However, Obama consented to a GOP plan extending all tax cuts supposedly in exchange for extending unemployment benefits. Obama should have stood his ground and forced Republicans to vote on whether to extend unemployment benefits to people who had lost their jobs.

House Republicans learned early that they could simply pretend to be

interested in adopting bipartisan legislation. In an effort to court them, Obama would propose legislation that he hoped would appeal to conservatives. They would play along right up to the end and withdraw from the process, leaving Obama with proposals that even his base couldn’t support.

The test this week for Obama is to demonstrate that he isn’t the same naïve former U.S. Senator he was four years ago in Denver. With Republicans hell-bent on not seeing Obama return to the White House, he needs to show that he has more than just the audacity of hope.

George E. Curry, former editor-inchief of Emerge magazine, is editor-inchief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA) and editorial director of Heart & Soul magazine. He is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach.

Curry can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/ currygeorge.

Southern California athletic director Pat Haden says USC will investigate a Los Angeles Times report claiming two Trojans athletes received gifts from an employee of the Los Angeles County assessor's office.

The Times reported on September 1 that former tailback Joe McKnight and former men’s basketball player Davon Jefferson apparently received a car, an airline ticket and cash from Scott Schenter.

The former appraiser is under investigation in an apparently unrelated scandal at the assessor's office. His interest in the two athletes wasn't immediately apparent.

Haden says USC investigated reports of McKnight using a Land Rover registered to Schenter in 2009.

The school worked with the NCAA, which didn’t process a violation.

Haden says the school wasn't aware of additional gifts to the two athletes. USC already has discussed the report with the NCAA and Pac-12.

AP Photo/Don Ryan

Southern California running back Joe McKnight walks off the field after their 27-21 loss to Oregon State in an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008. McKnight was held to just 10 yards rushing.

Haden replaced Mike Garrett in July 2010.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

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IRAQ WAR END Continued from page 7 Aug. 31, 2010, the day he announced the end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq.

“You left Iraq with honor, your heads held high,” Obama said. “And today Iraq has a chance to forge its own destiny, and there are no American troops fighting and dying in Iraq.”

Fort Bliss soldiers participated in the Iraqi invasion in 2003 and were among the last to serve in combat roles there. The post endured significant losses during the Iraq war and its troops are now being deployed in Afghanistan.

Before his remarks, Obama held a private roundtable meeting with service members and military families, including “Gold Star” families who lost relatives overseas.

His message to them, Obama said: “Your loved ones live on in the soul of our nation.”

Obama acknowledged that for those who return, “coming home can be its own struggle.” He cited the effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injury.

He announced that he had, earlier, signed an executive order directing federal agencies to expand their efforts at addressing the mental health needs of veterans, service members and their families and to increase measures aimed at preventing suicide.

“I know that you join me in saying to everyone who’s ever worn the uniform, if you’re hurting it’s not a sign of weakness to seek help, it’s a sign of strength,” he said. “We are here to help you stay strong — Army strong.”

Among the steps spelled out in the order is an increase in the number of Department of Veterans Affairs’ counselors. It also orders the Pentagon and the Department of Health and Human Services to undertake a mental health study aimed at improving prevention, diagnoses and treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injury.

Obama also renewed a call on Congress to pass measures in Obama’s economic proposals specifically aimed at veterans, including one that provides tax credits to businesses that hire vets.

Veterans are a key voting bloc in the closely fought presidential race.

A Gallup tracking poll in August shows Republican Mitt Romney leads Obama, 55 percent to 38 percent among veterans. Exit polls conducted in 2008 showed voters who had served in the military preferred Republican John McCain over Obama by 10 percentage points.

At their party’s convention in

CITY OF LOS ANGELES

GOVERNMENT

$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, DENNIS TILLETT, in the City of Los Angeles. On Wednesday, July 4, 2012, at approximately 10:28 p.m., 24-year old Dennis Tillett was standing in front of 4818 2nd Avenue, in the City of Los Angeles. Mr. Tillett was with a group of people celebrating the 4th of July Holiday when two males approached the group and fired multiple gunshots at them. Mr. Tillett and four others were struck by the gunfire. Mr. Tillett was transported to a local hospital where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. This senseless act of violence led to the loss of a promising young life. Mr. Tillett was a recent graduate of Morehouse College, and a manager for Enterprise-Rent-A-Car. To date, detectives have been unable to identify the suspects responsible for the murder of Mr. Tillett.

Detectives hope that a monetary reward may motivate witnesses to come forward and identify the suspects responsible. 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, MARCH 2, 2013.

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-s36 9/6/12 CNS-2372242# WATTS TIMES

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (METRO)

Tampa, Fla., Romney and other Republicans made repeated references to veterans. Romney broke away from the convention to speak to the American Legion in Indianapolis.

Romney has attempted to blame Obama for threatened spending cuts in defense that will kick in if Congress doesn’t come up with a deficit reduction plan by year's end. The sharp reductions in Pentagon spending and in other domestic programs were part of a deal Obama struck with Republican leaders last year and was designed to force Congress to find other means of reducing the deficit.

Obama reiterated his demands for Congress to act.

“Here’s the thing, there’s no reason those cuts should happen because folks in Congress ought to come together and agree on a responsible plan that reduces the deficit and keeps our military strong,” he said.

Romney’s campaign, however, said Obama’s economic policies had made it more difficult for veterans and said more veterans would face unemployment if the defense cuts are enacted.

“As president, Mitt Romney will never play politics with our military’s strength and will enact pro-growth policies to get veterans — and all Americans — back to work,” said Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams.

BlackFacts September 6, 1865 One of the great White heroes of Black history Pennsylvania Congressman Thaddeus Stevens first proposed an addition to the Freemen’s Bureau Act, which would have required the confiscation of land from former slave owners and the redistribution to former slaves in “40 acre lots.” Although Stevens was at the time the most powerful person in the U.S. Congress and a friend of Blacks, he was unable to get the measure passed. The so-called “40 acres and a mule” promise to aid Black economic development after slavery was defeated in Congress on Feb. 5, 1866 by a 136 to 36 vote.

The lopsided nature of the vote reflected lingering pro-slave owner sympathies in the Congress and a general lack of support for the freed slaves.

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) is requesting Statement of Qualifications. (“SOQ”) from Design–Build Entities (“Respondents”) interested in submitting a proposal for the Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project Contract for design-build delivery. Work under this contract will include, but is not limited to, furnishing all management, coordination, professional services, labor, equipment, materials and other services to perform the final design and construction of the Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project that will create a 1.9 mile light rail line from 7th and Flower Street to 1st St. and Central Avenue that connects to the existing Metro Blue, Expo and Gold Lines.

All responses must be marked “Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project” and “Statement of Qualifications and submitted by 2:00 p.m., on Tuesday, October 9, 2012, Pacific Time.

Responses received later than the above date and time will be rejected and returned to the Respondent unopened.

The Request for Qualification (RFQ) documents will be available online to download at http: //www.metro.net/EBB/bids1.asp beginning August 24th, 2012.

Please email Joseph Lemon at lemonj@metro.net if you have any questions.

9/6/12 CNS-2371983# WATTS TIMES

To place a Classified Ad Call (323) 299-3800

CALIF. PENSIONS Continued from page 6 the annual payout at $132,120, eliminate numerous abuses of the system and require workers who are not contributing half of their retirement costs to pay more.

Brown said he supports the legislation even though it falls short of the 12-point reform proposal he offered last October.

“This is the most far-reaching pension reform in the history of California,” he told reporters before the final legislative vote.

He said the package was a difficult compromise with many “contentious parties.”

Lawmakers voted even as companion legislation was hustled up to make key fixes in the hastily written bill, which was taken up on the final day of the legislative session.

Some Republican lawmakers complained the process was rushed and preferred to delay a vote until the drafting mistakes were fixed. But several GOP lawmakers voted for it while saying the Legislature also needs to do much more to address the unfunded public pension liability of roughly $165 billion in the state's two main systems.

“What we have before us is not pension reform, but a pension change,” said Sen. Mimi Walters, a Republican from the Orange County community of Lake Forest. “While I will support this measure today, it is my hope that our vote will be the beginning of achieving real reform and taking on the challenge of our unfunded pension liability.”

She and other Republicans also noted that none of the changes was enshrined in the state constitution, meaning they can be changed by a majority vote of a future legislature.

Brown announced the pension package 10 months after he released a more comprehensive reform proposal that would have gone much further than the approach approved Friday.

Underlying the negotiations was staunch opposition from public employee labor unions that are sup-

porting Brown’s November ballot proposal to temporarily raise sales taxes and taxes on high-income earners.

While some union leaders expressed dismay over the final bill, Democrats appeased their labor allies by removing some of the most important elements of Brown’s original proposal, such as instituting a hybrid pension plan that would have included a 401(k)-style savings vehicle.

Republican Assemblyman Jim Nielsen said the bill was an example of “the Legislature at its worst: lastminute scrambling around on a major, major issue.”

“The governor can sign it and say, ‘We did pension reform. Hooray! Now support the tax increase.’ I think this only gives more reason to say no to the tax increase, that the Legislature that spends their money proceeds in this kind of manner,” Nielsen said.

The state’s main pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, estimated the pension plan will save the system between $42 billion to $55 billion over 30 years.

Lawmakers were told by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System that the teachers’ system would save an estimated $12 billion over 30 years, although it was still conducting an analysis.

Republicans say the proposal tackles only a fraction of state and local government retirement obligations.

Some Democratic lawmakers closely aligned with labor opposed the legislation, saying it could be the first step toward rolling back collective bargaining rights.

“This is a slippery slope,” said Democratic Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, who opposed the bill.

Brown rejected those arguments, noting that some of the provisions that greatly expanded public employee pensions also were done through the legislative process.

Still, the package fell short of Brown's original proposal. In addition

to the lack of a hybrid retirement system that would make public employees bear some of the investment risk, nothing was done to reduce skyrocketing retiree health care costs.

And the union-dominated board that oversees operations of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the nation’s largest public pension fund, will not face reforms or independent oversight of its decisions, as Brown had sought.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who negotiated the deal with Brown, took issue with lawmakers who characterized the changes as a small or modest step.

The Sacramento Democrat noted that both labor unions and pensionreform advocates criticized the deal, but said surveys show the majority of Californians do not want to eliminate defined-benefit pensions for government workers.

“As this debate has gone on, I, for one, am tired of public employees being the sole and, I think, unfair focus of the state’s problems,” Steinberg told his colleagues on the Senate floor. “People who enter the public service are public servants, and you have great public employees, mediocre, and the rest, just like you have in the private sector.”

BlackFacts September 9, 1915 The “Father of Black History” Carter G. Woodson led the founding of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History during a meeting in Chicago. It was originally called the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The organization became the nation’s leading organizing center for the dissemination of information on Black history. Woodson was also the founder of Negro History Week which grew into the current day Black History Month.

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Thursday, September 6, 2012