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OC Supervisors Approve Aug. 24 as Kobe Bryant Day

   Orange County supervisors today voted to declare Aug. 24 as Kobe Bryant Day. 

   Bryant was born on Aug. 23 and wore the number 24 in his playing days, said Orange County Board Chairwoman Michelle Steel, explaining why she settled on Aug. 24 as the date to honor the former Lakers great who died Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash that also killed his daughter and seven others. 

Apparent “Swatting” Call Brings Officers to Home of BLM-LA Co-Founder

Officers were sent shortly before 9 a.m. to Abdullah’s home near Crenshaw and West Washington boulevards on a call that three people were being held hostage by a man with a gun, according to the LAPD. 

   “After the officers were able to verify the safety of the residents, the on-scene investigation determined the call was a hoax,” according to an LAPD statement that said the Major Crimes Division will assist in the investigation. 

WENDYS WINDOW: It’s Hot, You’re Tired, But Stay the Course

Summer is just about over and many of us are feeling hot, tired, and wondering what’s next?  Where did summer go?  Fun in the sun, traveling, and enjoying a nice vacation with family and loved ones didn’t happen the way many of us are used to and we are frustrated. We usually look at this time of year as a time to relax and refresh ourselves to prepare for Fall and finishing out the year strong.  The school year will begin soon, and students and parents alike have no idea what that will even look like. Businesses are still contemplating if employees should work remotely from home, and most of us have no idea what this “new normal” is really supposed to look like. But no matter what, I want to encourage all of us to not give up or give in, but let us remain steady and stay the course.  

“Recognizing Aurora as America Unmasked: No Exemption, Even For Our Children”

As the pandemic of COVID-19 continues to ravage our community and the country, the pandemic of the pathology of racist oppression continues to claim its victims among us also. And this is not only because of the inequalities in our life conditions, health access, working needs and circumstances, and other structural disadvantages, but also because Black people and other people of color remain targets of racist violence. One of the latest cases is from Aurora, Colorado, August 2, where the police targeted, stopped, terrorized and humiliated four Black girls and a mother, out to get their nails done at a salon. Not satisfied with drawing guns on the children, 6, 12, 14 and 17, causing them to fear for their lives and call for their mother and sister, the White officers, men and women, ordered them out of the car, handcuffed them, except the 6-year old, and forced them all to lay face down on the parking lot pavement. The repulsively transparent lie told for this unjustifiable act of targeting and terrorism was that the police mistook the family’s SUV for a stolen motorcycle with the same license plate number but from another state. 

California Should Follow President Obama’s Lead on Balancing Conservation and Recreational Fishing Access

Few groups interact as closely with our country’s waterways and fisheries as the recreational boating and fishing community. Particularly here in California, with over 270 protected areas and miles of scenic coastline, recreational boaters and anglers daily, see firsthand the need to protect these resources to ensure future generations can continue to enjoy our waterways for years to come. 

Director Shaun Mathis talks about new documentary ‘Miles in the Life: The Story of a BMF Drug Trafficker’

Don’t get me wrong. There are worse places to grow up than the crack-era Brooklyn during the 1980’s epidemic. For example, there are hard-and-fast war zones where bombs explode regularly, and being rounded up and executed in plain sight are a daily occurrence. So — Brooklyn in the ’80s is not as graphic but the impact is just as devasting because it is a war and there are direct casualties and significant collateral damage.