recopilado por Mark Carney
Markanthony Sanchez, 55, a well-known radio personality in Central California, passed away on December 6, in his home, from complications of diabetes. Beginning in 1981, Sanchez took over a radio show at KSJV in Fresno that was immensely popular not only with Chicanos, but also with many Anglos. His late-night show, “Oldies but Goodies”, played a hip mixture of Latin rock, Soul, and R&B. This mixture appealed particularly to the “low-riders” among Central Valley Chicanos, who, if arrested and sent to prison, often wrote and sent artwork to Sanchez. To be sure, Sanchez considered himself an advocate for ex-convicts and, according to his sister, Sylvia Clark, “He loved helping prisoners to improve their lives. Mark was the same wonderful person on and off the air.”
Mission Neighborhood Center Thanks AT&T
The Mission Neighborhood Center (MNC) thanks AT&T for their continued financial support of an important community resource. This funding has allowed MNC to expand the hours of their Capp Street Senior Center to Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and to start a fee-based Child Development Program.
Avalos and Building Trades Urge Local Hiring
The San Francisco Building and Construction Trades is, not surprisingly, excited about San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos’ proposal that 25% of construction workers hired be local residents. In addition, of that number, half must be from low-income communities; each year, that number must increase by 5% until, by 2016, 50% of all workers hired be from low-income communities.
Tea Party Leader in favor of Restricting Voting
Judson Phillips, the President of “Tea Party Nation”, has spoken in favor of restricting voting to property-holding citizens, as was done in eighteenth-century America. On his weekly radio show, Phillips remarked,” The Founding Fathers…put certain restrictions on who got the right to vote. It wasn’t you were just a citizen and you automatically got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of them was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense because if you are a property owner, you actually have a vested stake in the community.” In response to these comments, Tenants Together, a renter’s advocacy group, noted that there were 14 million renters in California alone, and has demanded that Phillips apologize.
Campaign To Prevent Medicare Cuts
The California Medical Association and the AARP have launched a campaign to kill legislation that would cut Medicare payments to doctors by up to 25%. Many experts believe that this reduction would leave many Californians without access to medical care.
Transportation and Social Issues interest Young San Franciscans
The San Francisco Youth commission, together with the Student Advisory Council, held hearings on Wednesday, December 8, to consider crucial transportation and social issues affecting young San Franciscans. These two groups, which are empowered by the city charter to advise the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors, consists of young people aged 12 to 23. Because two-thirds of San Francisco public school students rely on public transportation, its availability and cost are of paramount importance. A second hearing will focus on prejudice shown towards Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ) youth in San Francisco.
