State News |
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and
Holly Petraeus Meet with Troops
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AG Harris (c.) and Holly Petraeus (r.) discussed new efforts, like the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, to protect military families.
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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and Holly Petraeus, Director of the Office of Service Member Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), today met with Airmen and their families to discuss the financial difficulties they face, especially as they relate to the foreclosure crisis.
California has the largest population of military members, reservists and veterans and is the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis. Attorney General Harris formed a working group last year to explore scams and other predatory conduct uniquely targeting servicemembers.
Attorney General Harris is proposing the California Homeowner Bill of Rights in order to fix California’s broken mortgage process and extend to all borrowers many of the same reforms included in the recent national mortgage settlement. The legislation builds on the national mortgage settlement, which secured enhanced protections for active-duty and veteran homeowners, in addition to bringing an historic $18 billion in relief to California homeowners and foreclosure victims.
“Our servicemembers, veterans and their families have made tremendous sacrifices for all of us,” said Attorney General Harris. “It is our obligation to do right by them and make sure they have the tools they need to protect their homes, their families and their future.”
“I commend Attorney General Harris’ work to address the unique financial challenges military personnel face,” Petraeus said. “Military homeowners experience frequent moves and deployments, and it’s important that mortgage servicers recognize and respond to their special circumstances. Servicemembers put their lives in jeopardy to serve our country, and in return we owe them strong consumer protections.”
The National Mortgage Settlement protect those in the military by requiring banks to provide specially-trained points of contact to servicemembers and give special consideration for loan modifications and other relief to servicemembers who are required to relocate to a new duty station.
The California Homeowner Bill of Rights would require banks to notify servicemembers of their rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act before filing a foreclosure. Under that Act, servicemembers are eligible for various mortgage-related protections, including a capped interest rate and possible deferment of payments.
Military families are especially vulnerable to mortgage-related abuses for a variety of reasons. Deployments and emergencies lead to unplanned and unique financial difficulties; servicemembers are often victims of marketing preying on their loyalty and patriotism; frequent relocation can make it difficult to sell a home; and foreclosure or other debt can lead to loss of security clearance and position.
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Maxine Waters was Treated Fairly According to
House Ethics Committee
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By Larry Margasak
The House Ethics Committee concluded that Rep. Maxine Waters’ rights weren’t violated in an ongoing investigation, clearing the way for the panel to determine whether the California Democrat improperly tried to steer federal money to a bank where her husband is a shareholder.
Her allegations of unfair treatment led to the extraordinary decision in February by the committee’s five Republicans and its top Democrat to step away from the case. Six new members were added to handle the investigation and an outside lawyer, Billy Martin, was hired to investigate the committee’s conduct.
The committee, which has five members from each party, investigates whether lawmakers violated House rules and can recommend punishment such as a reprimand, censure or even expulsion. Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, has denied wrongdoing.
Waters had no immediate comment.
A letter to Waters by the acting chairman, Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., and the acting top Democrat, Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky, said Martin concluded that Waters’ rights were protected and there was no wrongdoing by lawmakers.
But the letter cited unauthorized leaks of investigative information by committee staff and by Waters.
Waters has contended that committee procedures did not give her a chance to present her case and unduly delayed the investigation, which began in late 2009.
The most explosive allegations, which led to the committee shake-up, centered on the leak of internal committee documents to the news media and communications among some staff investigators and Republican committee members.
The Goodlatte-Yarmuth letter said the committee found three instances in which confidential information was disclosed. One was Waters’ news conference on Aug. 13, 2010, the letter said, in which she “disclosed documents containing significant evidentiary information regarding your matter.”
The letter said a review has not uncovered the identity of the other leakers, but assumes a staff member who invoked Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination could have been responsible.
The committee concluded the disclosures occurred after formal charges were brought against Waters and therefore could not have had any affect.
Responding to Waters’ allegations of improper contacts among staff members and Republican lawmakers, the letter said these communications could not have influenced the case.
“Staff does not and cannot become independent operators.” the letter said.
It noted that lawmakers cannot get help from their personal staffs on ethics investigations, so it’s clear that committee members “must be permitted to speak with committee staff regarding committee matters.”
The letter said some communications between staff and members of only one party did occur and can raise concerns about partisanship, but “such concerns do not override the requirement that the members must be able to communicate with staff.”
Waters has contended from the start that she did not try to steer federal bailout money to OneUnited Bank, where her husband had stock and at one time served on the board.
She said she did try to help an association of minority-owned banks, which included in OneUnited. They were in trouble partly because of their investments in troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In August 2010, the committee charged the 11-term congresswoman with three counts of alleged ethics violations. Waters asked for a proceeding that would amount to an ethics trial, but it never took place after the internal committee turmoil erupted over the Republican communications with staff.
OneUnited eventually received $12 million in bailout money, but federal officials have said Waters was not involved in the decision.
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Williams’ Bills Clear Assembly Floor, Advance to Senate
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Assemblymember Das Williams
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SACRAMENTO — A bill that will help enforce and reduce Workers’ Compensation premium fraud was among several legislative proposals carried by Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) to clear the Assembly Floor this week ahead of a key deadline.
AB 1794, addresses a serious problem in California regarding underreporting of worker’s for Workers’ Compensation insurance. Specifically, authorizes information already collected by the EDD to be shared with the Contractors State Licensing Board. The Licensing Board can then verify that all the workers are covered by insurance. Both the EDD and the Licensing Board are members of a Joint Enforcement Strike Force on the Underground Economy.
This helps ensure that more current information regarding construction employees is available, which assists with the enforcement of the existing workers’ compensation insurance requirement.
“AB 1794 will save money by slowing unscrupulous contractors who intentionally underreport or fail to report employees as a way to skirt paying workers’ compensation premiums, committing what is known as premium insurance fraud,” said Assemblymember Das Williams. “We’ve been looking for common sense ways to save money and help continue to fix California.”
“AB 1794 will save money and level the playing field for those good employers who follow the law by targeting unscrupulous contractors who commit premium insurance fraud by intentionally underreporting or failing to report employees as a way to skirt paying workers’ compensation premiums, said Assemblymember Das Williams. “This bill will also help capture a portion of the billions of dollars lost in underreported annual payroll taxes – at a time when the society needs it most.”
This bill passed the Assembly floor with no opposition and next advances to the State Senate.
Also this week, several other legislative proposals authored by Assemblymember Williams advanced from the Assembly floor to the Senate, including a legislative proposal to create a dedicated revenue stream for higher education.
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The California Wellness Foundation Honors Angela Minniefield
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Angela Minniefield, vice president of strategic advancement at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science is a 2012 Champion of Health Professions Diversity honoree.
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Los Angeles, CA - The California Wellness Foundation will honor Angela Minniefield, along with two other honorees, as a 2012 Champion of Health Professions Diversity for her successful efforts to improve the health and wellness of California’s most underserved communities. Minniefield recently became vice president of strategic advancement at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and previously directed programs to increase the diversity of the health professions at the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in Sacramento. On June 12, 2012, TCWF honored these three leaders at its tenth annual “Champions of Health Professions Diversity Award” ceremony in San Francisco.
Angela Minniefield worked for 20 years in state government advancing policies and programs that increase the number of underrepresented students in health professions. Minniefield recently became the vice president of strategic advancement at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. She previously held several leadership positions at the state Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, including deputy director of the Healthcare Workforce Development Division. “Not only is increasing access to higher education imperative in developing and diversifying California’s health workforce,” said Minniefield, “There is also a direct relationship between one’s educational background and his or her own health status.”
The California Wellness Foundation is a private independent foundation created in 1992 with a mission to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. The Foundation prioritizes eight issues for funding: diversity in the health professions, environmental health, healthy aging, mental health, teenage pregnancy prevention, violence prevention, women’s health and work and health. It also responds to timely issues and special projects outside the funding priorities.
Since its founding in 1992, TCWF has awarded 6,544 grants totaling more than $815 million.
Please visit TCWF’s website at CalWellness.org for more information, including a newsroom section devoted to the award and the three honorees. High-resolution photos are available. Video interview clips are posted at TCWF’s YouTube channel.
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Student Kicked Out of School When Mom Complained About Teacher’s Insensitive Comment
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“Sit your nappy-headed self down.”
This was the comment that Brea Persley, a 13-year-old student at Century Academy For Excellence in Inglewood, Calif., received from teacher Kelly Dempsey last week in front of the entire classroom.
“When the kids started laughing, it brought back the memories of when I was in 4th grade and kids used to laugh at me and tease me,” Persley said to KTLA in an exclusive video interview. KTLA footage of the school indicates that Dempsey is a white woman.
But it was the charter school’s response to the teacher’s actions that stunned Shronda Williams, Persley’s mother, more than the alleged insensitive remark. According to Williams, principal Giselle Edman, who is African-American, shifted the blame onto Persley, saying, “Bad things need to happen to mean kids.”
Persley later received an expulsion letter, citing her mother’s scolding of the principal as the reason she was banned from school.
The Century Academy for Excellence is a charter school in the Lennox Elementary School District. There are approximately 300 students enrolled at the school, according to localschooldirectory.com. African-American students make up 92.5 percent of the student population, and 87.7 percent of the school is eligible for either a free or reduced lunch.
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Parents Fed Up with Foggy Reports on Their Son’s Death
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The family of Ohio native Everette Howard has lost its patience following the release of an inconclusive report it hoped would tell them how their son died, according to NBC affiliate News 5.
University of Cincinnati public safety officers responded to an assault in progress and tased Howard when he didn’t step down in August of 2011, according to police reports.
Howard, who was 18 years old then and enrolled in a summer college preparatory program at the university, entered cardiac arrest, and doctors pronounced his death on the following morning.
Nearly a year after the tragedy, the precise cause of death has yet to be determined. Howard’s family is beginning to demand answers, threatening to take legal action of their own.
The Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammar, who works at the Mayo Clinic, stated that despite ten months of testing, they are no closer to the truth than on the night Howard died. Sammarco said that though the clinic was conducting additional tests, they would likely take up to three months to process. He added that the results were unlikely to produce evidence regarding cause and manner of death.
Sammar extended his sympathy to the Howard family in a news release.
“....It is always tragic to lose a loved one but particularly a child,” Dr. Sammarco said. “Despite the tremendous efforts of the coroner’s staff, it is frustrating not to be able to ascertain a definitive cause of death.”
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D.C. Official Kwame Brown Charged with Fraud |
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District of Columbia Council Chairman Kwame Brown
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WASHINGTON -- District of Columbia Council Chairman Kwame Brown (D), who has been under investigation by federal prosecutors for months, was charged with one count of bank fraud.
According to multiple media reports, Brown, who was described as “somber,” apologized to his council colleagues in an emergency closed session and told them he planned to resign.
The Washington Post, which first reported that Brown would face charges, said that the chairman’s lawyer had been working out a plea deal with prosecutors:
The three-page charging document says that Brown provided Industrial Bank of Washington “falsified documents” that overstated his income by “tens of thousands of dollars” to allow him to obtain a home equity loan and to purchase a boat. Prosecutors wrote that the two-year scam started in August 2005.
Brown sent his resignation letter to the D.C. Council secretary, according to the Post:
I have behaved in ways that I should not have. I was wrong, and I will face the consequences of that conduct. I have apologized to the residents of our great city, and I also offer my unconditional apology to the members of the Council for all of the negative attention that my conduct has brought about.
Brown is the second D.C. elected official this year to face federal corruption charges. Former D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) resigned earlier this year after prosecutors charged him with stealing more than $350,000 in city funds. Thomas pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 38 months in prison.
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Mom Arrested for Cheering Too Loudly at Graduation |
All parents should be their child’s cheerleader.
But not at graduation.
At least not out loud.
That’s the message parents at the South Florence High School in South Carolina were sent when at least one mother was arrested and others were escorted from the Florence Civic Center for cheering too, ummm, enthusiastically as their kids received their diplomas.
According to comments on the website of the local TV station WPDE, the school’s principal opened the event by announcing that the senior class had voted to request quiet during the reading of names. All applause, he said, should be saved until the end, and anyone who was disruptive would be asked to leave.
Comments on the WPDE website describe parents who apparently couldn’t help themselves, making noise even while they were being shown the door by local police. Some “screamed and shouted all the way out the door (entire families) and not hearing the next few graduates,” wrote Becky DeFee Thompson. “One lady took her new born baby and held it up in the air like simba in the lion king and was screaming at the rail in the upper level ! Was disgraceful.”
What Thompson (and the majority of other commenters) saw as disgraceful, however, some saw as just plain parental pride. “It’s counter-productive when we can’t cheer for our children when they FINALLY ACCOMPLISH what we BEAT INTO THEIR HEADS for 12 years!!!” wrote Allen Hayes. “So what if the celebration last 4 hours OR LONGER!!! Allow the graduates to KNOW that their parents are DAMN PROUD OF THEM!!!”
Agrees Shannon Cooper, who was handcuffed, taken to the Florence County Detention Center and charged with disorderly conduct for whooping a bit as her daughter, Iesha, got her diploma: “Disorderly conduct? What’s the disorderly conduct? How was I so disorderly, you know, any different from just a happy parent?”
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New Mission for Ex-Navy SEAL
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(NewsUSA) - If you saw the movie “Black Hawk Down,” you already know what happened to the soldiers on that mission-gone-bad to capture Somali warlords. Eighteen of them died that day in 1993, and more than 70 others were injured.
One of those hurt -- then-Navy SEAL Howard Wasdin -- was in such pain, for so long after retiring, that he sought the kind of medical help only now becoming increasingly available in the military.
“After being shot in the Battle of Mogadishu, a friend advised me to go to a chiropractor,” says Wasdin, author of the NY Times best-seller “SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper.” “Three adjustments later, I was sleeping through the night with no neck pain and walking without a limp.”
Ready for the neat twist to his story? So inspired was Wasdin by his own care that today he, himself, is a chiropractor -- as well as an avid supporter of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress.
“It took a chiropractor to give me back my quality of life,” he says. “Today, my mission is to share the importance of chiropractic with the public, so more patients are able to get the care they need.”
For more information, visit www.yes2chiropractic.org.
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Malcolm X’s & MLK’s Homes Listed As ‘Endangered’ Historic Places
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The boyhood home of civil rights leader Malcolm X and the neighborhood where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born have been named “endangered” historic places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Malcolm X-Ella Little-Collins House in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood dates to 1874 and has deteriorated due to water leaks. Malcolm X was a black nationalist in the Nation of Islam until a trip to Mecca changed his views on race and religion.
The trust, which relies on private contributions, hopes to assist in raising $750,000 to revamp the building into living quarters for graduate students studying civil rights or social justice.
Rehabilitating the Malcolm X house into housing for students studying black history “is both an appropriate tribute to Malcolm X’s life, and an innovative model for dynamic new uses of historic sites across the country,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Also on the trust’s list of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is the Sweet Auburn Historic District of Atlanta, which includes the birthplace of King and which flourished as a segregated African-American neighborhood during the Jim Crow era. While residential areas have been revived, the commercial district -- including churches and the headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference -- needs revitalization to prevent further deterioration that “may gravely impact its historic character,” the trust said.
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