The Alameda Elks, in conjunction with Operation Dignity, commemorated the completed construction of a pergola at the Dignity Commons military housing on Saturday. Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft was in attendance and delivered a speech at the dedication. “As the veterans move into Dignity Commons here at the former Naval Air Station, they will be walked in with dignity by this outdoor trellis pergola area where they and their families can gather, build camaraderie, and socialize,” Mayor Ashcraft sai...

The Alameda City government is considering a ban on animal testing on city owned property and is seeking residents’ feedback on the draft ordinance. The council will vote on the ordinance on April 16. The proposed language for the ordinance reads, “Except as specifically required by state or federal law, no person shall engage in or permit animal testing or experimentation on any property owned or controlled by the City of Alameda in its proprietary capacity.” The ordinance will impact most of...

Unlike medical professionals, most journalists are not trained to work during a contagious virus outbreak, let alone a virus with so many unknowns. But as essential businesses, news outlets continue to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporters are putting themselves at risk in order to get important, indispensable information out to the public while still trying to soothe people’s anxieties during unparalleled times. “It’s a parenting story; it’s an education story; it’s a personal invest

There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19, but coping with the distress and emotional turmoil after this pandemic is going to take more than an injection or a pill. The damage it inflicts may reach much further and last much longer than the virus itself can spread. Outside, a war rages on—but inside the heads of millions of Americans, a whirlwind of anxiety and fear is its own battle. Housebound during quarantine, people are stuck reading story after news story about how bad circumstances are,

African Americans and the Vote is the theme for this year’s Black History Month, a topical subject for an election year. Appropriately, the theme coincides with the 150th Anniversary of the 15th Amendment. The 15th Amendment, which stated no citizen would be denied a vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” was meant to guarantee the vote to Black men after the American Civil War and the abolishment of slavery. Nevertheless, many state-level discriminatory measures, such as polling taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation tactics, were enacted that successfully disenfranchised black voters. Many states, particularly in the South, would have one-party control by the Democratic party for decades as a result of black voter suppression. The depth of this disenfranchisement is exemplified by Alabama in 1965, where only 2% of registered voters were African Americans despite making up half the population. To fight these injustices, Alabama became the site of several clashes where peaceful protesters demanding protection for their voting rights were met with violence by state troopers. When protesters tried to initiate a march in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, they were pushed back by troopers, beaten, and tear gassed. Known as Bloody Sunday, the outrage from this day led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. According to the United States Department of Justice, The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is “the single most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress.” The numbers of African American voters registered jumped after drastically the Act. One quarter of a million new black voters would be registered by the end of 1965 according to National Park Service. It also meant a drastic change in leadership and the political landscape. No longer would the southern states be dominated by one party. Despite this, turnout for voters of racial minorities continues struggling to keep up with white voter turnout to this day. Today, issues with accessibility of polling places, particularly for older voters is a concern. “There used to be polling places in their neighborhood. Now, they’ve changed that, and they don’t have any transportation,” said Monrovia Duarte Black Alumni Association President Barbara Gholar. According to Gholar, other obstacles are photo ID requirements and a general excess modification to rules and regulations. Such new regulations came after the Shelby Counter v. Holder Supreme Court case ruling in 2013 which struck down a provision in the Voting Rights Act which required any voting changes to be approved the federal government. In fitting with the theme for this Black History Month, the MDBAA will be holding a lecture on Voting Rights this Saturday. In order to include reach out to different age groups, tor the first time, they will be including two student speakers. “It’s time for the young people to step up. It’s their future, and what their country is going to look like for them,” Gholar said. “[Voter suppression in 2018] was not targeting just African-Americans. They were also targeting young people, the college students, even the armed forces overseas. That’s why it’s important to me that those students speak and that most of that room is filled with students and college kids.” Sophia Luti, one of the student speakers, is a junior from California School of the Arts. She will be presenting on the history about the voting rights act and the 15th amendment. “I think kids my age really need to understand that voting is a privilege that we haven’t yet had afforded to us, so that means we need to fight harder for the day that when we do get it, we understand it with our full hearts,” Luti said. “Black History month is a time to celebrate a really rich and deep history of, not only oppression, but a people who got through everything thrown at them. If we stand together and try to do what we want, then maybe we’ll have a better world in the end. To reach out to young children the MDBAA and the Monrovia Public Library will present a story theater enactment for Papa’s Mark a book by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert that tells a story of an African American boy who teaches his father to write his name, so that the father may cast a voting ballot. The MDBAA Voting Rights lecture will be held at the Monrovia Community Center this Saturday at 2 p.m. The lecture will include a screening of Suppressed: The Fight to Vote. A voting registar will be on site. The story theater is a part of several activities celebrating Black History at the Monrovia Public Library on Feb 22 at 1 p.m.

Volunteers hit the streets of Monrovia to count homeless during the first day of the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Tuesday. The count is designed and run by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to help understand and fight homelessness. Due to the large geography of Los Angeles County, the count is split into three days. The Monrovia count is a part of the count for San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys during the first day. West Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles and South Bay w

The Monrovia Historical Society acknowledged Louise Robertson during their 40th anniversary celebration on Sunday. Robertson, who passed away in October, was the secretary of the Monrovia Historical Society and co-director of the Legacy Project, which aims to preserve the historical photos and documents online and made available to the public.

One of the great thrills that we can look forward to during the holidays is enjoying the lights and decorations that people put on their homes. Most houses might put up a string of lights or two, but for the most spectacular, beautiful, and elaborate displays, Monrovia acknowledges the remarkable hard work of homes and businesses to spread Christmas cheer during an annual home decorating contest. Winners from the contest hope their displays inspire and strengthen community togetherness in Monro

It’s easy to think public art as background noise. It’s natural to dismiss as too peripheral for busy commuters and distracted passerbys to ever stop and take notice. But muralist Jose Antonio Aguirre, who has 35 permanent artworks commissioned in various places (Southern California, Colorado, Illinois, Texas and Mexico), believes that the value of public art is how easily it becomes a part of our everyday lives.

Gigi Yue was afraid to breathe. She was hit by tear gas fired by Hong Kong police into a crowd of pro-democracy protesters, and all she could do was try to avoid inhaling the white smoke, which creates a burning sensation in the eyes and lungs. “You just hear people. They’re shouting ‘Move! Move! Go away!’ and then smoke starts to come, and then you know you got to run, because it’s coming at you,” Yue said.

Parents say their son was wrongfully suspended from Monrovia High School after he warned others about a possible school shooting threat on social media in September. Wayne Perry believes the punishment for his son, who does not wish for his name to be published, was partially motivated by race and a result of a rushed investigation by authorities. “They rushed to judgement and just assumed my son created this whole mess, and because of it, they tried to expel him from the school,” Perry said.

The Kinesiology Department has filed a work environment grievance for lack of air conditioning in several rooms within department buildings. The grievance was filed in August after repeated failures to rectify the problem over the course of eight years. The grievance was for lack of air conditioning in fitness rooms as well as faculty offices. Faculty have since been moved to bungalows, but the lack of air conditioning in the classrooms are still pending. The Kinesiology Department rooms are

Living in a high fire severity zone such as Monrovia means taking responsibility to comply with brush clearance requirements. While most Monrovians comply, a handful of homeowners have difficulty or refuse to comply with requirements, several citations have been issued. Stubborn homeowners will be given three citations and increasing fines before the case goes through an abatement process with a city attorney to determine if the fire department can legally clear the brush. In a worst-case scena

For youth in juvenile rehabilitation camps, finding work upon release can be a daunting task. To address this issue, East Los Angeles College has been working with the Los Angeles County Probation and United Postal Service to provide youth with job opportunities in the logistics industry after discharge. The creation of the 10-week, three-course program was led by ELAC logistics professor Leonardo Medina. Initially offering one course last fall to Camp Afflerbaugh, a rehabilitation center in

The East Los Angeles College Speech and Debate Team won their second consecutive community college championship title at the National Forensics Association Tournament in Santa Ana, which ran from April 18-22. At NFA, the team competed against four-year universities as well as other community colleges. They placed second among California schools and 17th in the nation overall. When the team went up to receive their award during the awards ceremony, the sound was cut on the video recording, becau

When Jasine Cumplido was looking for a job as a student on East Los Angeles College campus, she could have spent hours researching online. Instead, Cumplido drafted a question and posted it on Facebook. “Does anyone know of any departments on campus that hire student workers without work study?? I need a job and I just found out I don’t qualify for work study because I’m receiving [sic] a Cal Grant,” Cumplido’s post reads. Within 20 minutes after Cumplido posted her original question, she beg

Christine Sepulveda sometimes puts the wrong address into her GPS. She will enter the wrong numbers, causing her and her husband to drive around in circles. When she is teaching her anthropology classes at East Los Angeles College, she mumbles to herself the words and numbers as she writes problems on the board. If she is sleepy or stressed out, she says things backward. “I might say something like, ‘Egg cells in males and sperm cells in females,’ and I’ll realize as it’s coming out and everyb

Simply known as Toni to friends, the 22-year-old free safety has since starred in a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, granting her all kinds of attention by press and social media. When it comes to her dreams, Antoinette Harris won’t let anyone veer her off the trail she’s blazing. Despite demonstrating her asset to the football team when she first came to East Los Angeles College in 2017, the staff initially had reservations about how a female athlete would fit in