Community organizations call for July 28 protest at?Assemblyman’s offices in Oxnard and Santa Barbara OXNARD — Assemblyman Das Williams (D-35th District) is walking a tightrope among his constituents in this sensitive election year after provoking outrage among migrant justice advocates…
Category: Opinion
Summer business card-size advertisement special
Amigos805 will be offering a summer business card-size advertisement special for the month of August for all our social media users. For a discount price of $50, your business card will appear in August on our website, e-newsletter and in…
Hernandez issues response to VCCCD accreditation issues and perceptions
By Arturo Hernandez / Board Trustee, VCCCD This statement is in response to the recent public accusations against me in the April 16th, 2012 Report from the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, released by the commission on July 2, 2012.…
Commentary: Homeless at 9, artist at 15
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor 1 in 45 kids is homeless in the U.S. What can you do for 1? This is Inocente… “In San Diego, a young teenage girl’s eyes stare into a compact mirror. She paints a dramatic black…
Bilingual commentary: Why so quiet?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Last week, I introduced the topic of my recent trip to London, England. The following is not necessarily fact, but rather what I managed to make out during that recent visit. These are my perceptions…
Bilingual commentary: Call for candidates!
By Denis O’Leary / Guest contributor We have all heard about the Presidential election of November 2012. We also survived the June primary elections to decide the candidates who will face off for county, state and federal positions. Yet, local…
Bilingual report: Local activists respond to ruling on Arizona’s law
Groups announce plans to challenge remaining portion of law on other constitutional grounds By Cesar Arredondo / Amigos805 The recent Supreme Court ruling on Arizona’s controversial immigration law has been received with mixed feelings by some Latino leaders in Ventura County.…
Bilingual commentary: Remembering a family’s history
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 Sometimes a fleeting comment can lead to a whole world of discovery. Such was the case for Sylvia Munoz Schnopp, who was visiting her father one day in 2003. “It started out by just…
News notes: Capps supports effort to keep low student loans, Schiffer departing Museum of Ventura County
Capps applauds passage of legislation to keep student loan interest rates low WASHINGTON — Rep. Lois Capps (CA-23) on Friday applauded passage of bipartisan legislation to prevent the interest rate on Stafford Student Loans from doubling. If Congress had not…
Capps applauds U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-23) supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, or health insurance reform law. “I’m pleased the Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act,” Capps stated Thursday…
Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, June 22 to submit events, reserve advertising space for July Amigos805 print edition
The deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, June 22 to submit July calendar events, information and reserve advertising space for the July newspaper print edition of Amigos805. A total of 10,000 copies are distributed throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.…
Bilingual commentary: A Trip To London
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor I just returned from a trip to London, England. My biggest dilemma in this moment is … where do I begin to relate my experiences? For purposes of resolving this dilemma, I’ve decided to share…
Bilingual commentary: Amnesty from taking a parent’s hand
By Denis O’Leary / Guest contributor Nov. 6, 1986, the icon of conservative thinking, President Ronald Reagan enacted the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). Amnesty! Twenty-six years later, President Reagan’s name has been bantered in the Republican presidential campaign as a standard to compare all other…
Health report: Some facts you should know about thyroid problems
By Rob Billiton / Wire report Your thyroid is a gland in your neck that can affect many aspects of your health. If you have problems with your thyroid, it can cause everything from depression to weight gain, plus it can…
Commentary: A father’s blessings
By Armando Vazquez / Guest contributor It began at the turn of 1900s. That’s when my parents were born in the foreboding village of Ahualulco, Jalisco. My jefitos were children of miserable poverty, suffocating Catholic resignation, a caste system that…
Santa Barbara Teen News Network seeking sponsors
sbTNN presents moving season finale episode honoring spirit of late founder, activist Patricia Henley. Nonprofit seeks sponsors to continue providing opportunities for local youth. SANTA BARBARA — The local teenage cast and crew of Santa Barbara Teen News Network (sbTNN)…
Health report: Six steps to staying mentally sharp and preventing Alzheimer’s Disease
By Kyle Scott / Wire report Alzheimer’s Disease is a horrible illness that effects millions of people each year. Essentially, Alzheimer’s Disease slowly ruins your memory and takes away the function of your brain until you are left unable to…
Commentary: The Cristero War and an Oxnard family connection
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor As a Latina and an American of Mexican descent, I often anticipate the release of films that highlight the history of Mexico or the Latino experience in the United States. That was the case with…
Bilingual commentary: Catholics and Hatred
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor A news item published several days ago tells about two threatening letters sent to a Catholic church in Santa Cruz, California. A few weeks ago, someone had scribbled anti-Catholic graffiti on the walls of…
June edition of Amigos805 has hit the streets
The June print edition of Amigos805 is now available. Click on image above for a pdf of the edition. Click here for a list of locations where you can pick up a copy of the 10,000-copy edition. Thank you readers…
Bilingual Commentary: College and debt
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor It is becoming more and more difficult to sell to our young people the idea that going to college will allow them to better their lives, be a success, or, in general terms, to achieve something…
Guest Commentary: Successful business networking tips
By Shawn McCarthy / Guest contributor Networking is the process of developing contacts and relationships to increase your business, enhance your knowledge, expand your sphere of influence or serve the community. In its most basic form, “business networking” is leveraging your…
Bilingual commentary: The graduation ceremony
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor This past week, my beloved daughter received her master’s degree in education from Cal Lutheran, a prestigious and highly recognized university here in Ventura County. Her mother and I, together with her husband and two sons,…
Bilingual commentary: ‘Today, we are all Mixteco’
By Denis O’Leary / Guest contributor The Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), has started a campaign against racism and bullying of the Mixteco community in Ventura County. MICOP estimates that there are more than 20,000 indigenous Mexicans in Ventura County, mostly Mixtecos…
Deadline approaching for June print edition of Amigos805
Also check out our Amigos805 On Scene email newsletter on May 24 for discount coupons The deadline is rapidly approaching for the June print edition of Amigos805. Thank you dear readers and advertisers for supporting our efforts to make Amigos805…
Bilingual commentary: Filing … not piling
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Some time ago I felt completely inundated by mail, receipts and documents that I would receive — and, as a result, accumulate — day after day after day. The very volume of that paper was overwhelming…
Bilingual commentary: Children, schools and food
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Children delight us, although at times they may bother or even anger us. But our children are our treasure, and nothing is more important than their upbringing and their health. The success of our efforts is…
Commentary: Single-member district elections will better serve Oxnard
By Denis O’Leary / Guest contributor Be it a smiling teacher at the door as a child walks in the classroom, a new school site or solar panels on the playgrounds to generate clean electricity, there are many ways to educate the…
El Concilio profile: Oliva Barajas
Editor’s note: Part of a continuing series of stories in May profiling the award-winners of El Concilio Family Service 2012 Latino Leadership awards — “Excellence in Education.” The awards gala will be held on Friday, June 1, 2012 at the Oxnard…
Amigos805 May print edition has hit the streets
The May print edition of Amigos805 has hit the streets in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Click on the image above to see a PDF of the edition.
Bilingual report: Colleges fight to survive time of change
State budget cuts, capped enrollment make community college today a challenge Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories on the state of affairs in the California community college system. This story addresses the problems facing Latino students. Next…
Bilingual Commentary: Cinco de Mayo. Not Cinco de Drinko
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 A cultural battle is being waged on the streets of America and those fighting it must at times feel like the Mexican patriots on May 5, 1862 — shivering during a cold morning in…
Thank you for supporting our May print edition of Amigos805
Dear reader, Thank you very much for supporting our efforts to make Amigos805 your key source of news for and about the vibrant Latino community in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. Your reaction to our first…
Commentary: The morning run
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Every day we read or hear that we as Americans must be doing more exercise if we are to ward off some pretty serious issues, such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and an entire litany…
Commentary: When stress eats holes in your brain
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor It sounds like something out of science fiction, but this is no Sci-Fi novel where Zombies eat brains. A recently released Yale University study, says that stress causes the brain to shrink. Houston neuroscientist and author…
Easy way to get email updates from Amigos805
Now there is an easier way to sign up for the Amigos805 enewsletter if you are seeking regular email updates on issues and events for and about the vibrant Latino community in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. Just…
Commentary: The elephant in the room — Chronic unemployment
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor No one wants to look at it. After all, maybe it will just go away. We avoid even mentioning it, lest we give it power, lest it be true. If we do discuss it,…
Contributor Magallanes has column highlighted in New American Media
Amigos805 guest contributor David Magallanes had his column highlighted in New American Media on April 9. The column, Is U.S. education unraveling?, was originally published in Amigos805 on March 29. Under the headline “A Sense of ‘Despair’ Hangs Over Community College Campus,”…
Commentary: Media panel persecution (I mean, candidates panel presentation)
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 It was certainly an educational meeting for us all at the Latino Issues Forum, held Thursday, April 5 in a hotel ballroom in Oxnard. The forum, featuring questions put to candidates for the 26th…
Commentary: What do daughters want?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor My daughter is my emotional salvation. I don’t know where my perspective in life would be centered without her existence. She is the center of my emotional mass, very much the heart of my…
Capps celebrates César E. Chávez’s birthday
“César Chávez’s campaigns for farm worker justice changed the face of agriculture in this country, by improving living standards for migrant workers, reducing the use of harmful chemicals on farms, and awakening Americans to the process by which agricultural products…
Amigos805 print edition is now hitting the streets — See distribution list
Click on image above for PDF version of the April 2012 edition of Amigos805 Hello everyone. The bilingual print edition of Amigos805 is now hitting the streets. Click here for our distribution list, which is growing by the hour In…
Commentary: Is U.S. education unraveling?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor As I walk across campus at the community college where I teach, I sometimes get the impression that I can almost hear my own footsteps as I walk toward my classroom or to an office…
Commentary: In honor of César Chávez Day
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier/Guest contributor On Monday, March 26, 2012, Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis, hosted the Induction of the Pioneers of the Farm Worker Movement into the Labor Hall of Fame and the naming of the César E. Chávez…
Commentary: My Role Models — Teenage Entrepreneurs
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Last month I wrote about my visit to Solvang and how I watched what books my hand went for in the book section of a store that sold mystical items (candles, crystals, amulets, etc.).…
Commentary: Time to celebrate the life of César Chávez
By Denis O’Leary / Guest contributor This year marks the 50th anniversary of the United Farm Workers. Oxnard has benefited greatly, as has the nation from the advocacy and laws that have come about from the UFW. César Chávez was the catalyst…
Commentary: Martyrdom
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor We all know members of our family who are “martyrs.” My American Heritage Dictionary defines a martyr, in the most literal sense, as “one who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.”…
Commentary: Your Ventura County Museum
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier /Guest contributor On Sunday’s I take a little longer reading the Arts and Culture section of the newspaper because of the variety of museums, theaters, and cultural events in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Ventura Counties. I’m…
Commentary: The Sunbelt strategy
By Frank P. Barajas / Guest contributor What do California State University Professor Rodolfo F. Acuña, Henry David Thoreau, and Abraham Lincoln have in common? Before I tell you, you need to know that the narratives of Acuña (a founder of Chicano…
Commentary: The Dementia scare
By David Magallanes /Guest contributor My morning earlier this week, like most mornings, was peaceful. I had read my newspaper and once again felt that I was aware of local, state, national and world news. I had settled into some…