Category: Opinion

Bilingual commentary — A Man Named “Tonto”

by Community Contributor • June 18, 2021 • Comments Off

I can recall evenings sitting around the new television in the home I shared with my parents and siblings in the 1950s. The TV with a small screen that displayed black-and-white images was a new and wondrous phenomenon for Americans, who were just beginning to experience it. My father seemed enthralled by the magic of images beamed from across Los Angeles to the antenna mounted on our roof and into the television—that mysterious apparatus that was powered by glowing red vacuum tubes and voltages that could kill a horse.

Bilingual commentary — Experiencing the “Dog Person” Life

by Community Contributor • June 11, 2021 • Comments Off

I have never owned a dog. I don’t plan on ever owning a dog. I am (obviously) not a “dog person.” Some mornings on my walks along the water at the marina (dogless, of course), I feel that I am in the minority. I must look like the “odd person,”—the outlier—without a dog.

But for a brief period yesterday evening, when my daughter invited me to go for a walk with her at the marina, I was able to experience the joys of the “dog person” life.

Bilingual commentary — John Cox’s Bear

by Community Contributor • May 28, 2021 • Comments Off

John Cox, a businessman and political activist, has been a perennial candidate for political office. He has not quite yet achieved his goal. He has run for Congress, a county office in Illinois, and even president of the United States. More recently, he ran for governor of California, but lost to Gavin Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, in the 2018 election. Now he is one of the current Republican candidates vying for the governorship of California in the effort to recall Mr. Newsom this year. Cox has his eye on being the incumbent in California’s gubernatorial election in 2022.

Bilingual commentary — Is the Pandemic Our New “Sputnik Challenge”?

by Community Contributor • May 21, 2021 • Comments Off

As young as I was in the latter part of the 1950s, I was acutely aware of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. I recall that we were hell-bent on “beating those Communists.” Except that we didn’t. Twice.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union were planning to launch the world’s first satellite. Whoever accomplished this would be recognized as the world’s technological leader. The Soviets beat us to the punch in 1957 when they launched into orbit their Sputnik I satellite. In comparison with modern satellites, it was nothing sophisticated. But its impact on the American psyche was profound.

Bilingual commentary — To College or Not to College?

by Community Contributor • May 14, 2021 • Comments Off

As I was coming of age in the 1960s, the United States economy was galloping along after the end of World War II and still heading for its peak. By then, we had established ourselves as the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, college was the indisputable ticket to the middle class, which at the time was an indicator of affluence. Young people were acquiring college educations to graduate and fuel the engines of prosperity. Single-income families were the norm. Except for the scourge of racial discrimination, it was by some measures almost an idyllic society compared to today’s problem-ridden existence for far too many Americans.

But now, even some wealthier families are questioning the intrinsic, assumed value of a college education.

Bilingual commentary — Native America Was Not “Nothing”

by Community Contributor • May 7, 2021 • Comments Off

Former senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum echoed last week what many of us learned in school about the history of early America: that the original white “settlers” who arrived from distant shores had planted the seeds of American culture. In fact, he said that there was “nothing here” when the colonizers arrived. He flatly declared that “there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”

Mr. Santorum’s baseless claims about the absence of Native American influence on our national character is a continuation of white nationalist propaganda that ignores, or at least gravely understates, the vast impact of Native American culture upon ours. To say, as he did, that the first settlers to arrive on our eastern shores “birthed a nation from nothing” is to erase the wisdom and knowledge that was already present and predated the birth of the United States by several millennia.

Bilingual commentary — When Religion Channels Into Politics

by Community Contributor • April 29, 2021 • Comments Off

A Gallup news item from last month describes the precipitous drop in religious affiliation in the United States since the turn of the century—not that long ago. In just over 20 years, the number of those who declare themselves members of a church, mosque, or synagogue has decreased more than 20%. In fact, according to the Gallup poll cited in the report, less than half of Americans claim to belong to a religious organization.

Bilingual commentary — The Termite Doll House

by Community Contributor • April 23, 2021 • Comments Off

More destructive than earthquakes, thunderstorms and floods, termites are a potent force of nature. Termites are insidious. They are one of the biggest threats to our homes, though they are minuscule, nearly invisible, and silent.

In 2018, the National Pest Management Association produced a video that would strike fear into the heart of any homeowner: Tiny Termite House. A team of researchers built the “Tiny Termite House,” a miniature, doll-house version of a typical “dream home.” It even had hardwood floors, electricity, and plumbing. Upon completion, the researchers introduced a mass of termites onto the idyllic “property,” much like a swarm might arrive to colonize their chosen real estate. The researchers then filmed and watched the results over time with a combination of horror, awe, and fascination. The video shows the massive, horren

Guest commentary — The Obsolete American Police Model Must Be Abolished — Now

by Community Contributor • April 23, 2021 • Comments Off

The genesis and perpetuation of the monstrous, murderous, and maligent powers of the police in America is a 245 year work in progress in the consolidation of absolute police/military power and control in communities of color throughout this nation We cannot erase, forget or ignore the past 500 years of police/military oppression by the police/military in our communities. Likewise we cannot wait another day to begin the systemic demolition and destruction of the current police/military model that currently operates with deadly racist impunity in this country. In Oxnard, and throughout the nation, the community must take over the management and supervision of its police department.

The first crucial and mandatory step toward real and progressive 21st-century police reform in Oxnard is the community taking over the vital role of departmental management and policy administration of the Oxnard Police Department (OPD). The initial step is not about defunding the cops, because it deflects and detracts from the number one problem that every police department in the nation has, including the OPD, which is cops supervising cops! For 100+ years the Oxnard City Council and by silent complicit acquiescence of the residents, we have let the “foxes” patrol with unfettered power, control, and impunity the community’s “chicken coop”. How has that worked out, for people of color, the homeless, the disenfranchised, the immigrant, and the youth, Oxnard?

Social Justice Fund for Ventura County Monthly update — Continue travel to just and equitable society

by Community Contributor • April 21, 2021 • Comments Off

While the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County is pleased that the jury found Derek
Chauvin guilty for the murder of George Floyd, we must not veer away from the long
road we still must travel to reach a just and equitable society. Chauvin’s trial has been a
traumatic and painful experience to watch, as we were continuously forced to relive the
gruesome murder George Floyd. Chauvin’s conduct was the byproduct of the historical
injustices inflicted on Black and Brown people in our Country and a legacy of the
unacknowledged racism, which permeates throughout our criminal justice system. This
case was merely a single demonstration of one person being held accountable. We
must not be distracted from our continuous fight for systemic change, true justice, actual
fairness, societal equity and inclusion.

Bilingual commentary — The Scourge of Random Capitalization

by Community Contributor • April 16, 2021 • Comments Off

I grew up with a father, a typesetter by trade, who was obsessed with the rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation. Starting in my school years, informally proofreading everything that was printed on paper was as natural as breathing air. I hardly realized I was doing it. Now, fast-forwarding several decades, I am a recent graduate of an online proofreading course. I have become like my father, obsessed with the rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Lately, I have become acutely aware of several troubling trends in writing among the general public.

Bilingual commentary — Tragicomedy in the Pandemic Era

by Community Contributor • April 9, 2021 • Comments Off

This past week I had an appointment with a friend, a shop owner I’ve known for several years. Like so many other shop owners this past year, her business has been closed more than it’s been open. Our encounter felt a bit eerie as we took those first tentative steps up from the depths of the Great Pandemic Lockdown.

Bilingual commentary — Are We Hoarding, Collecting, or Being Prudent?

by Community Contributor • April 2, 2021 • Comments Off

As I was setting up some equipment for a video I wanted to make, I realized that I had lost a small mounting screw that I needed. I started looking for it all over the house until it dawned on me that this search could take hours, if not days. I could have spent precious time wandering around hardware stores searching for a replacement. In any case, without that piece, I was “dead in the water,” not able to proceed with my project.

Guest commentary — Stardust

by Community Contributor • April 2, 2021 • Comments Off

There once was born a magical and loving child, a golden boy! He was stardust that had travelled many light-years through the deepest, darkest and furthest expanses of the universe. In fact this stardust had travel for more than 15 light years or about 90 trillion miles to reach one desperately longing young woman, who wanted nothing more in her life than to be a mother. An army of doctors had told her that it would never, ever, happen, she was sterile. Impossible to become pregnant they told her, yet she never stopped praying to an unknown God that she had rejected all of her life. Why was she praying now? It was as though the closer the golden star dust travelled across the universe toward the woman the more she felt mysteriously compelled to pray.

And then one day behold the miraculous stardust had taken embryonic form, and the woman was pregnant. …

Bilingual Commentary — No More Boys’ and Girls’ Toys

by Community Contributor • March 26, 2021 • Comments Off

Parents of young children need not panic. “No more boys’ and girls’ toys” does not imply the prospect of a world without toys.

What it does mean is that a California Assembly bill, AB 2826(19R), is proposing that large retail department stores have toy departments that are gender-neutral; i.e., no more division between the boys’ and girls’ toy sections.

Bilingual commentary — White Supremacy in…Mathematics?

by Community Contributor • March 19, 2021 • Comments Off

Last week I saw an article in Yahoo News condemning a more liberal approach to teaching mathematics in Oregon, that bastion of liberal thinking (rivaling that of neighboring California!). Don’t get me wrong. I’m a political moderate with strong leftist leanings. But the way “liberal mathematics” was described in the article left me gobsmacked—not to mention incredulous. The article’s characterization of modern mathematics education was outrageous. But then I considered the news source and understood why the facts were being distorted.

The state of Oregon was encouraging teachers to receive training in “ethnomathematics.” This branch of mathematics, which never appeared in my college catalog back in the 1970s when I was a student, explores relationships between mathematics and culture. Fair enough. Understanding how Native Americans and the ancient Chinese, for example, viewed and used mathematics can be fascinating and enlightening.

Bilingual commentary — Work in the Post-Pandemic Age

by Community Contributor • March 5, 2021 • Comments Off

In a matter of weeks or months, if all goes well, the world will begin to transition into a new era: the Post-Pandemic Age. When we emerge and behold the new world order, a different work landscape will present itself—for better and for worse.

Guest commentary — HR 1 For the People’s Act – Making Democracy Work

by Community Contributor • March 1, 2021 • Comments Off

On January 4, 2021, H.R. 1 For the People’s Act was introduced and is currently being reviewed by Congressional committees. The bill provides an opportunity to expand and protect voting rights, get big money out of politics, hold elected officials accountable and assure our democracy is representative of all Americans’ voices and values.

The vast majority of Americans support this bill, including 56% of Republicans. Special interests spent $14 billion to influence the 2020 election, the most amount of money spent on an election in the history of the U.S.

Bilingual commentary — Sifting Through Parents’ Papers

by Community Contributor • February 26, 2021 • Comments Off

Upon the death of a parent, we children find ourselves scrambling about, muddling through the logistics: finding a mortuary, arranging religious and/or memorial services, choosing a cemetery and possibly meeting with family and friends for that last goodbye at the burial grounds. Of course, much of this can be pre-arranged.

Guest commentary — Family Law Attorney Maya Shulman Says Courts Are Not the Place to Be

by Community Contributor • February 23, 2021 • Comments Off

Family law attorney Maya Shulman is used to hearing from clients who say they want an “aggressive” lawyer, someone they envision boldly striding into court and convincing a judge to rule in their favor.

Most often, Shulman tells them that’s a bad idea.

Courts are unpredictable and hard to navigate, even with a good lawyer by your side, she says. Divorce and custody proceedings can drag on for months, piling stress on clients and their children, and draining families financially. Even then, there are no guarantees that clients will get what they want in court, Shulman explains. Judges, like all humans, have blind spots, biases, and bad days. Taking a case to court means leaving critical, life-impacting decisions to the whim of a judge, and losing control over the outcome, the attorney says.

Guest commentary — Reevaluating Your Retail Business Security Measures During Next Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic

by Community Contributor • February 22, 2021 • Comments Off

Almost a year into the COVID-19 shutdown, retail businesses must continually reevaluate their security needs as pandemic restrictions and public behavior change, says Access Patrol Services (APS), a security guard company serving California and Arizona.

“What worked early on in the pandemic may not make sense now,” says Fahim Abid, APS security director. “A strong retail security plan needs to have a two pronged approach—one, to ensure that safety and health procedures are followed by employees and the public, and two, that customers, employees and property are not subject to increasing criminal behavior.”

Bilingual commentary — Relationships in the Age of Covid

by Community Contributor • February 19, 2021 • Comments Off

“Ok, fine, but I go wherever I want and don’t worry about anything. In fact, I don’t believe what the scientists say about the coronavirus.”

This was more or less the response I got from a family relative who wanted me to go into Los Angeles, the global epicenter of COVID-19 at the time, to meet with her. She had arrived from out of town. We hadn’t seen each other in years. This would have been our big chance to reconnect, but I couldn’t bring myself to contravene the health guidelines that the health authorities have been pounding into our heads for the past year—guidelines, by the way, that have made perfect sense to me.

Bilingual commentary — What Is Personalized Nutrition?

by Community Contributor • February 5, 2021 • Comments Off

Why Personalized Nutrition Is Important

By necessity, the standard nutritional support recommendations tend to be generic; there’s nothing “personalized” in your nutrition plans, given your uniqueness even within a particular demographic. It’s true: there’s only one you. You may have a friend of about the same age, the same body type. Maybe you exercise about the same and eat about the same kinds of foods. But you have your own routines, stressors and family history that set you apart and play a role in how healthy you are and how you feel.

Bilingual commentary — Surviving the Belly of the Beast

by Community Contributor • January 29, 2021 • Comments Off

Amanda Gorman, our country’s first Youth Poet Laureate, stood proudly, if not nervously, before the country and the world during President Biden’s inauguration as she delivered her poem, aptly entitled “The Hill We Climb.” It was a formidable image, reminiscent of watching Barack Obama delivering his inaugural address to the nation as our first African American president.

Bilingual commentary — The Promise and the Challenge of 2021

by Community Contributor • January 8, 2021 • Comments Off

We’ve just bid adieu to The Terrible Year. Yes, 2020 was the year that many of us simply want to forget and make believe it never happened. But it did happen. And we are not going to snap back to normal in the very near future, at least, just because a vaccine on a white horse is about to ride into town. Maybe we’re “done” with the pandemic and believe that we should “take our chances” because we’re so tired of the lockdowns and restrictions that robbed us of life as we knew it.

In 2021 the blessings of Unconditional love For all

by Community Contributor • January 8, 2021 • Comments Off

Unconditional love is not so much about how we tolerate and endure each other, but rather how we welcome and embrace each other, no matter the circumstances.

Unconditional love is about how we promise ourselves to never under any conditions stop bring the flawed and humble truth of who we are to each other.

Guest commentary — A 2021 Immigrant Story, for the New Year, for this Nation, for the World…

by Community Contributor • December 31, 2020 • Comments Off

Millions of us immigrants flee from countries from all over the world because tyrannical leaders routinely and viciously abused democratic principles, it seemed, at every turn. Many of the world’s immigrants attempt to come to this country seeking refuge, asylum and protection.

Guest commentary — On love, gratitude at year’s end

by Community Contributor • December 23, 2020 • Comments Off

I am an immigrant and I thank the Great Spirit that I am alive today. To be able to celebrate the holidays and 2020 years end, with my family, my loved ones, and friends. Even in this terribly painful, agonizing and deadly year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am committed to the “good trouble” revolutionary struggle with faith, eternal gratitude and love cautiously navigating adelante into the coming New Year.

I am a 70 year old Chicano who has weathered and been humbled by the long twisted, unpredictable, sometimes euphoric, and at times wicked turn of my life’s trajectory. I am eternally grateful for both the velvet kisses and the many ass kicking that I have received in revolutionary service to my community! I do not want to die, just yet, I have a lot to contribute. But if the time comes for me to return to celestial star dust, I’m cool. While I have breath in my lungs and love in heart life here are some of the things that I am especially grateful for.

Bilingual commentary — Cultural Influences in a Country’s Music—Part 2

by Community Contributor • December 18, 2020 • Comments Off

When Latinos in this country think of indigenous music originating in Mexico, our thoughts and hearts turn wistfully to the Aztec dancers we see performing at our cultural festivals, political protests and religious celebrations. The music consists of unfiltered rhythms from the sacred beating heart of Aztec ritual that celebrated life and death as both sides of the same mystical coin. Copal incense wafts past us, reminding us of the frankincense and myrrh that is cast into the air along with our prayers at Catholic rites such as the exposition of the Eucharist and funerals.

Guest commentary — Amazon is Coming to Oxnard: Please Don’t Shoot the Messenger!

by Community Contributor • December 14, 2020 • Comments Off

Amazon takes on the World: The creation of Amazon, in 1994, by Jeff Bezos, is by any standard an incredible American entrepreneurial success story. …We, the 1,500 workforce and community, were excluded from the initial bargaining and negotiation process, we will not be excluded from future workforce deliberations and collective bargaining actions that will assure the protection, the health and safety of the workers, their family and the entire greater Oxnard area. “We are excited to join the (Oxnard) community” is the way Andre Almeida, Regional Director of Amazon Operations, put it. The community of Oxnard is also excited about the new business partnership, but we will also be vigilant and support our local workforce to make sure that Amazon in Oxnard gives as much to the community as it takes!

Guest commentary — Oxnard Must have a Special Election, and not permit the City Council to appoint a ‘Puppet’!

by Community Contributor • December 10, 2020 • Comments Off

…We have work too hard and long for district wide city council representation by and for the people. As I write this piece the City Council is deciding whether to appoint a new city council member to the seat that will be vacated on January 4, 2021, by Carmen Ramirez as she takes her new position as the Ventura County Supervisor of the 5th District. Or instead have a special election and have the voters of that district decide. An appointment by the city council of a favored “son or daughter” is highly problematic and will come with the inevitable strings attached. That appointee will be beholden to the political powers that put her/him in office.

Bilingual commentary — Not Since the Civil War

by Community Contributor • December 1, 2020 • Comments Off

For the past half-dozen years or so, there have been two warring governments in Libya. The resulting disorganization and chaos had led to a power vacuum that terrorists were only too happy to fill.

Venezuela’s presidential elections in 2018 resulted in two presidents claiming victory. The United States was quick to condemn the strongman who refused to concede, despite a vote count that was deeply flawed. …Could these scenarios presage our fate here in the United States, where only months ago we’d said, “Oh, that could never happen here”?

Guest commentary — On Immigration (Migration), Genocide, Remembrance, Atonement and Reparation to the African-American and Indigenous Nations of America

by Community Contributor • November 26, 2020 • Comments Off

Approximately 30,000 years ago our early ancestors began migrating crossed the Bering Straits. Between 15,000 to 20,000 years ago these first migrants continued their long journey into what is now known as the Americas. We the Indigenous of the “Americas” are the progeny of these first migrant. In the ensuing 15,000 years our Indigenous ancestors would continue their migration from what is now known as the North Pole all the ways south to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

Bilingual commentary — A Loaded Question: “What Do You Do?”

by Community Contributor • November 20, 2020 • Comments Off

So there you are standing by yourself at a party, or at a dance, and you wander over to someone you’d like to get to know. Maybe you’re just curious about the person, or you find him or her attractive. Or perhaps you’ve been attending those webinars or listened to podcasts that instruct you in the art of determining whether someone is or isn’t a prospect for your business.

Maybe you’re an introvert and you feel clumsy in social milieus. But you just read a book with a title similar to, “How to Make Friends,” and you want to practice your new skills, as unpolished as they might be. So you approach someone. Now the hard part: what do you say? After all, “small talk” is a social minefield. One misstep could blow up a chance to make a good first impression.

Bilingual commentary — Yesterday I was Bold and Clever, So I Wanted to Change the World; Year of Age, I Am Still Seeking Wisdom So I Can Change Myself

by Community Contributor • November 19, 2020 • Comments Off

Today at 70

Bilingual commentary — How to Become an Expert

by Community Contributor • November 13, 2020 • Comments Off

We often hear about having to hire, refer to, or consult an “expert.” But what exactly is an “expert”?

Technically, an expert is someone with either substantial knowledge or skill in a particular endeavor. A data analyst might be consulted for his expertise in statistical studies, whereas a professional musician might be hired for her adroit skill with a particular musical instrument that she has practiced playing throughout her entire life.

Guest commentary — The Crucial Latino Vote Helped Elect Biden

by Community Contributor • November 13, 2020 • Comments Off

The American people have driven the mad tyrant out of the White House, long live Democracy! The last four years have been the most polarizing, uncertain, and painful years in our lifetime, nonetheless, we got the job done we have a new president. Without doubt Biden would not be the president-elect if Black, Latino, Asian, Native American and the young folks vote had not come to the rescue of the Democratic Party again. 19 million Latinos voted in this Presidential Election, more than 13million or roughly 67% of the Latino votes went to Biden. The first time in American history that the Latino vote represented the highest minority vote in the nation. The powerful and decisive Latino voting pattern will continue to grow in the coming years. Both the Democrats and the Republican are aware of this growing American electorate, and we will no longer will be appeased, marginalized, manipulated or simply be ignored. Biden know this better than most, and he must act accordingly! We will closely watch Biden not in what he says but in what he does.

Guest commentary — What I Learned About America as a Poll Worker in the 2020 Elections

by Community Contributor • November 6, 2020 • Comments Off

I volunteered to be a poll worker in the Santa Maria area of Santa Barbara County for the presidential election of 2020. I was assigned to work at Orcutt Junior High School, in the small agricultural city of Orcutt, here is what I learned. …At the end of the final night of poll work, I walked out to my car with a big smile on my face, with the satisfaction of knowing that I had just participated in a very important and sacred part of our American electoral process. And that our team had done a wonderfully honest, transparent, inclusive, and patriotic job.

Letter to the editor — Post Election Expectations

by Community Contributor • November 6, 2020 • Comments Off

November 3rd is Election Day, but we may not know all the election results for days or even weeks afterward. This doesn’t mean anything is wrong. It just means our elections officials are doing everything possible to make sure every vote is counted and the election results are accurate.

Bilingual commentary — Terms of Endearment in Spanish

by Community Contributor • November 6, 2020 • Comments Off

What if a man is overheard calling his sister “skinny”? Or, worse yet, suppose a wife is seen in public calling her husband “fatty.” Can you imagine the firestorm if a father were to be caught calling his daughter “my little dark girl,” or if a light-skinned woman were to refer to herself as a “little black girl”?

A Twitter flare-up, the likes of which hell hath never known, is exactly what happened when the song “Lonely,” in which Jennifer Lopez, describing herself as a “negrita from the Bronx,” was released a little over a month ago.

Get Out the Vote Nationwide #LULACvota

by Community Contributor • October 30, 2020 • Comments Off

Missed the online registration deadline in your state? Same-day registration is available in-person in the states highlighted above: TURQUOISE – Same-Day Registration during Early Voting Dates ONLY PURPLE – Same-Day Registration on Election Day (November 3) ONLY BLUE – Same-Day Registration during Early Voting AND on Election Day ALASKA – Allows Same-Day registration but ONLY for President and Vice President.

PLEASE NOTE: Same-day registration must typically be done IN PERSON and only at limited locations. An elections official may request a state-issued photo ID and proofs of residency for each new registration. Contact your local / county elections office for specific requirements for same-day voter registration.

Bilingual commentary — The Ongoing Struggle for Dignity

by Community Contributor • October 30, 2020 • Comments Off

In 1945, my father returned home from World War II after taking part in the Normandy Invasion, fighting the Nazis in France and Germany, and surviving the Battle of the Bulge against the German army. Having entered the U.S. Army as a Mexican kid from the streets of Los Angeles, he came out on the other side of the war as an American citizen, battle-hardened and fully expecting to live the American Dream.

Guest commentary — A Votar Mi Gente: Winter in America — Our Vote can bring on a New Day and Save our Democracy

by Community Contributor • October 30, 2020 • Comments Off

We are in our last days out from the 2020 Presidential elections and the very future of this Democracy is in peril. We have Trumps’ criminal Republican Party that will stop at nothing to retain tyrannical power and a mealy mouth and pathetically weak Democratic Party that feints outrage cries foul, but is either strategically out maneuverer at every political turn or rolls over like a broken lap dog and refuses to fight Republican political fire with fire. Our national politics are a mess! On November 3, 2020 the people have the critical and solemn hands-on opportunity through our votes to weigh in on the future of this nation, and in the process quite possibly preserve our democracy against the tyrannical forces that threaten to destroy it!

Bilingual commentary — The Invasion of Olvera Street

by Community Contributor • October 23, 2020 • Comments Off

Olvera Street in Los Angeles is where history, culture, multicultural livelihoods, and now a pandemic all intersect. This street is the cornerstone of the very character and identity of Los Angeles. But now this iconic testament to Mexican culture in one of the nation’s oldest metropolises just south of us here in Ventura County is suddenly having incredulous visions of its demise.

Guest commentary — A Votar Mi Gente: Our Democratic Destiny is in our Vote! Part One

by Community Contributor • October 22, 2020 • Comments Off

National Politics: With less than two week before the Presidential Election, the stakes have never been higher. We must all vote like our live depend on it! It is also incredibly important to focus on the local races because what happens in Washington, D.C., is going to play out in Oxnard.

Bilingual report — VCCoLAB and VCAA sue Ventura County for its adoption of the 2040 General Plan

by Community Contributor • October 15, 2020 • Comments Off

The Ventura County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business (VCCoLAB) and the Ventura County Agricultural Association (VCAA) on Oct. 15 jointly filed a lawsuit against the County of Ventura in response to the adoption of the County’s 2040 General Plan. VCCoLAB and VCAA assert the County did not meet the basic standards demanded by law for both public review and engagement and environmental impact analysis, resulting in a Plan that detrimentally impacts the agricultural industry, local businesses, and vulnerable populations.

Letter to the Editor — Candidate Forums

by Community Contributor • October 15, 2020 • Comments Off

In an effort to inform voters, the League of Women Voters, Ventura County conducted candidate forums for local city council, mayoral, state senate and assembly elections as well as the Congressional District 26 election.

The League of Women Voters also conducted discussions of the California Ballot propositions and Ojai School Bond K. You can access the video recordings of these events at the following link:

Bilingual commentary — The Lingering Crisis of Hispanic Identity

by Community Contributor • October 9, 2020 • Comments Off

A “crisis” most often refers to intense difficulty or danger that is temporary. A “mid-life crisis” will eventually burn itself out. A “crisis of conscience” will work itself out over time. A “political crisis” will normally resolve itself, ideally without the loss of life or cherished institutions.

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