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‘Cal Poly Homeless’: Does Northern California’s first polytechnic university have the infrastructure to support its growth?

Officials hope to double enrollment at Cal Poly Humboldt by 2027. Plans to reserve all on-campus housing for first-years were scaled back last week after current students staged protests – but some returning students may still end up living in hotels or even on a barge. The uproar illustrates the severity of the state’s student housing crisis

by Oden Taylor

 

February 15, 2023 – When students decide to attend Cal Poly Humboldt, they likely see themselves living in the forest among the state’s largest redwood trees, high enough on a hill that they can see Humboldt Bay and the ocean in the distance. They probably don’t picture studying from a motel or a floating barge.

But that could be the reality for hundreds of returning students next academic year as the university prepares for an influx of enrollees drawn by its recent transformation from Humboldt State to Northern California’s first polytechnic university. When the university revealed Feb. 4 that incoming first-years would have priority for all on-campus housing – likely locking out returning students –  the move sparked protests, a petition, and the founding of a new organization, Cal Poly Homeless, to fight the change.

In response to the backlash, Cal Poly Humboldt partially walked back its plans, saying it will now find on-campus beds for about half of the estimated 1,000 returning students who were set to be displaced from the 5,700-student campus. But the uproar illustrates how central student housing has become to just about any major higher education initiative in California, where skyrocketing housing prices have students living in cars and state lawmakers have set aside more than $2 billion over the next few years to build new dorms and on-campus apartments.

The university became a polytechnic campus last year, receiving more than $450 million in state funds to add new STEM courses with a focus on environmental sustainability and to build the infrastructure to support them. Enrollment is expected to grow by 50% in the next three years and double by 2029. Already, the university has received more than 19,000 applications for fall 2023, nearly twice as many as for fall 2022.

The state funds will help pay for the new off-campus Craftsman Mall housing complex, projected to open to about 1,000 residents in fall 2025. New on-campus housing, along with a parking structure, will house another 600 to 700 students – but that won’t open until summer 2027, the university says.

“I think our transition has been really fast, and we’re starting to see the effects of not planning properly for the influx of additional interest,” said Juan Giovanni Guerrero, the president of the university’s student government.

Cal Poly Humboldt currently has enough on-campus housing for a little more than one-third of its students – more than some campuses in the Cal State system, where many students commute. A 2018 study found nearly one in five of the university’s students had experienced homelessness, twice the Cal State system average.

Housing students on a barge

The university says it has been “looking into many creative solutions” to bridge the gap until new housing is built, and has signed contracts with three local hotels – the Comfort Inn, Motel 6 and Super 8 – about three miles from campus to provide a total of 350 beds. Administrators also said they are considering housing students in “floating apartments or studios.”

Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery confirmed that the city has been discussing logistics for parking a barge in Humboldt Bay, and identified it as the Bibby Renaissance, which can house as many as 650 guests and crew members. The “floating hotel” is often used to shelter workers in remote locations. An online virtual tour shows spartan bedrooms, a gym and a roof terrace.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, housing students in hotels became a temporary solution to overcrowding and housing insecurity, including at a number of University of California campuses. Cal Poly Humboldt has housed more than 100 upperclassmen at the Comfort Inn since 2022.

But Cal Poly Humboldt students have said the hotel plan compromises their safety because it puts them in close contact with homeless people in the local community who may be mentally ill, doesn’t guarantee access for disabled students and places students of color and LGBTQ students in areas where they’re likely to experience bigotry.

Last week, hundreds of Cal Poly Humboldt students and community members gathered in the campus quad to hear hours of testimony from students affected by the change. Students set up tents and cardboard boxes to symbolize the housing options they are facing.

“The school made this decision without talking to any students. They just decided, ‘Hey, we’re gonna send all of the students to motels,’ and so we want to make sure that we are the ones involved in this decision,” said Annabel Crescibene, a sophomore involved with Cal Poly Homeless. The new organization has set up an Instagram account and plans to create a podcast for students to share their housing woes.

Many of the speakers at the protest talked about fleeing abusive homes and experiencing homelessness and housing instability for most of their lives. The campus has provided them with a safe haven, they said – but that’s not the case for the surrounding community.

Sydnie Berglund, a sophomore at Cal Poly Humboldt, works as a front desk agent at the Hampton Inn, which is next to the Motel 6 that will be used to house students this fall. She said that she always feels unsafe outside of the hotel because of the large number of homeless people who live there and throughout the small town of Arcata. Once when getting off work late at night, she said, she witnessed a woman being assaulted by a man with a sword near the hotel parking lot.

“This is not an adequate place to house students ever, unless they are going to address the homelessness issue,” said Berglund. “Not that they as people are the problem, but how they don’t have resources and what they have to resort to to survive, that is the problem.”

Environmental concerns and opposition from neighbors have slowed the development of affordable housing in surrounding Humboldt County, housing advocates say. Students also sometimes report being discriminated against when they try to find housing off-campus, said Chant’e Catt, the university’s off-campus housing coordinator.

“NIMBY-ism is huge — not in my backyard — and there is a lot of fear of taking the rural city and overexposing it to the metropolitan,” Catt said.

Students involved in Cal Poly Homeless are demanding that all housing both on and off campus be safe and accessible – including resolving mold problems that some students have reported in the dorms – that transportation be provided, and that the university increase amenities in off-campus housing and lower the cost.

Some students and parents are also calling for a cap on admissions until the infrastructure is built to support a larger campus population. A Change.org petition started by Cal Poly Humboldt parents urging the university to accommodate returning students on campus has gathered more than 4,000 signatures.

“If Cal Poly Humboldt does not have the facilities to properly house their student body, they should not increase enrollment and should work with the CSU to address this crisis properly,” the petition reads.

In response, the university said Friday that returning students can apply for on-campus housing – though only 600 beds will be reserved for them – and that officials are looking into how they could provide students living in hotels with access to kitchens and study spaces.

Some returning students with disabilities are entitled to single-room accommodation, which could affect the number of beds available.

Hotels used for housing students will have fenced-in perimeters with key cards required to access the buildings, the university said in an online FAQ, and only students and university staff will be staying there. The university also promised to provide shuttle transportation to campus with extended hours.

The promise of a Cal Poly

The conversion of Humboldt State to Cal Poly Humboldt is meant to help Cal State meet student demand for STEM careers. The campus is adding new programs in software engineering, marine biology, applied fire science and management, and cannabis studies, among others.

“Cal Poly Humboldt will be a polytechnic for the 21st century, preparing students to address the urgent issues our society faces,” Cal Poly Humboldt president Tom Jackson said after Cal State trustees approved the name change last year.

University leaders also hoped to reverse a trend of declining enrollment at the campus; the number of incoming undergraduates fell by nearly 40% between 2017 and 2022. Cal State has said it plans to withhold some state funding beginning in 2024 for campuses that fall 10% below their enrollment targets.

As enrollment declined at Humboldt, on-campus housing development also stagnated. Now the campus is playing catch-up.

“Essentially, with polytech designation came funding for new housing, but that housing takes time to build,” said Cal Poly Humboldt spokesperson Grant Scott-Goforth.

Studies have shown that students who live on campus are more likely to continue their education from one year to the next, said Hans Johnson, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California who focuses on higher education. “Living on campus gives students that sense of belonging and being part of the university,” he said.

It’s common for universities to guarantee on-campus housing for first-years but not for returning students, he said – but that strategy breaks down when there isn’t enough local housing.

“Ideally if you’re going to increase the size of the university you would build housing and have the housing ready to go on day one when you have a larger population,” he said. “But all these things are moving targets — you don’t know exactly how many students you’re going to get, and how many are going to want to move out of the dorms and how many are going to want to stay in. You have these periods where you have to scramble to find out what you’re going to do.”

Rick Toledo, a transfer student who started at Cal Poly Humboldt this semester, said he believes that in general, the Cal Poly change was a good idea for the university. But he worries about the impact of the housing crunch on students with disabilities, like himself – and on the new students who will arrive next year.

“They’re gonna bring in new freshmen who have no idea what’s going on,” he said. “They’re going to give them the good life on campus and then kick them into a motel the next semester.”

(Taylor is a fellow with the CalMatters College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. Former fellow Hannah Getahun and network editor Felicia Mello contributed reporting. This story and other higher education coverage are supported by the College Futures Foundation.)

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US jury convicts Mexico’s ex-security minister García Luna

by Mexico News Daily

 

A jury in the United States has found former federal security minister Genaro García Luna guilty of colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel.

The top law enforcement official in the 2006-12 government led by former president Felipe Calderón faces a minimum of 10 years in jail and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with no opportunity for parole.

A sentencing hearing is expected to be scheduled for later this year, although the former cabinet minister – who was arrested in Texas in 2019 – could appeal his conviction.

On their third day of deliberations on Tuesday, the jurors at a U.S. federal court in Brooklyn voted unanimously to convict García Luna on charges he took multimillion-dollar bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, which was previously led by imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Their decision came after an almost month-long trial that included damning testimony from cartel figures such as Jesús “El Rey” Zambada, brother of current Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

García Luna, who was head of the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency (AFI) before becoming security minister, was found guilty on a total of five charges.

He was convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise; international cocaine distribution conspiracy; cocaine distribution and possession conspiracy; cocaine importation conspiracy; and making a false statement on an application for U.S. citizenship.

According to a Vice News report, the 54-year-old “reacted stoically as the jury’s foreperson read out the verdict, betraying no emotion.”

“His wife and adult son and daughter were in the courtroom, holding hands with their heads bowed,” the report said.

Linda Cristina Pereyra testified last week, and rejected the prosecution’s claim that she and her husband purchased properties and businesses with bribe money.

Defense lawyers repeatedly argued that prosecutors lacked hard evidence to show that their client took bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations.

“Prosecutors were unable to show the jury any recordings, text messages, emails or other records to prove the bribe payments ever actually occurred, and there was little evidence to show that García Luna was living beyond his means as a high-ranking public servant in Mexico,” Vice News reported.

Cesár de Castro, who led the defense, asserted in his closing statement that “the government’s lack of evidence is shocking.”

“They’re asking you to condemn a man solely on the words of some of the most notorious and ruthless criminals this world has ever seen,” he told the 12-person jury.

Defense lawyers argued unsuccessfully that the statute of limitations on the charges García faced had expired by the time he was arrested and formerly accused of collusion with the Sinaloa Cartel.

They also presented photos of their client meeting with former United States president Barrack Obama, his secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Drug Enforcement Administration personnel, among other U.S. officials, in an attempt to persuade the jury of his innocence by demonstrating that he was a trusted ally of the U.S. government.

However, the prosecution ultimately presented a more compelling case, Tuesday’s decision indicated.

Jesús Zambada, the final prosecution witness, told jurors that he delivered US $5 million in cash to García Luna to buy his support for the cartel.

“You could work a lot” with the protection and information provided by García Luna and other law enforcement officials, said Zambada, who told jurors he was the Sinaloa Cartel’s chief at the Mexico City airport from 2000 until his capture in 2008.

According to trial testimony, Vice News reported, “cartel members received police credentials, uniforms, and equipment, and cartel bosses were allowed to choose which police commanders would supervise areas they controlled.”

Witnesses, the report continued, “said federal police officers sometimes served as bodyguards for cartel leaders and even helped unload shipments of cocaine that transited through Mexico City’s airport.”

Calderón, who launched a militarized war against cartels shortly after he took office, and current President López Obrador were mentioned during the trial, but both men denied the accusations leveled against them.

In a Twitter post on Feb. 7, Calderón rejected an accusation by former Nayarit attorney general Édgar Veytia that he ordered former Nayarit governor Ney González to support “El Chapo.”

He had previously denied any involvement in or knowledge of the alleged criminal activity of his security minister, a key architect of his bloody “war on drugs.”

López Obrador said Tuesday that he intended to file a lawsuit against de Castro after the lawyer questioned Jesús Zambada about an alleged statement he gave to U.S. authorities in which he claimed that he had delivered $7 million to a Mexico City official to fund AMLO’s 2006 presidential campaign. Zambada testified that he never said such a thing.

García Luna, who was also accused of receiving millions in bribes when AFI chief under president Vicente Fox (2000-2006), is one of the highest-ranking Mexican officials to be accused of – and convicted of – colluding with a drug trafficking organization.

Former National Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos, army chief during the 2012-18 government led by ex-president Enrique Peña Nieto, was arrested in the United States on drug trafficking charges in 2020.

But under pressure from Mexico, which implicitly threatened to restrict the activities of U.S. agents working here and expressed “profound discontent” over not being informed of the plan to arrest him, the United States dropped the charges against the retired general and granted Mexico its wish to conduct its own investigation. The federal Attorney General’s Office exonerated Cienfuegos in early 2021.

García Luna also faces criminal charges in Mexico, but given his conviction in the U.S. and probable lengthy imprisonment it would appear unlikely that he will appear in a Mexican court any time soon, if ever.

However, with his conviction in the U.S. “justice has arrived” for the former official, tweeted Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, spokesman and communications chief for López Obrador.

“The crimes against our people will never be forgotten,” he added in a post on Tuesday afternoon.

Given the accusations García Luna faced, López Obrador claimed in 2020 that Mexico was a narco state during Calderón’s presidency. He didn’t immediately comment on the guilty verdict, but will no doubt field questions on the jury’s decision at his press conference on Wednesday morning.

With reports from Vice News.

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President of El Salvador Showcases Brutal Solution to MS-13 Gangs: ‘This Will Be Their New House’

by Truth Press

 

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador isn’t playing around when it comes to gang violence.

On Friday, Bukele showcased a new prison intended for hardened gang members in a video shared on his official Twitter account.

The video detailed a law enforcement operation in which 2,000 detainees were transferred from other jails and prisons to El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism, a new facility intended to house gang members.

The prisoners — many of them tattooed with gang imagery — were made to shuffle in an exposed state in handcuffs as they were led to their new residence in the video.

“Today at dawn, in a single operation, we transferred the first 2,000 gang members to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT),” began the tweet, according to a Google translation.

“This will be their new house, where they will live for decades, mixed up, unable to do any more harm to the population.”

The prison is slated for an eventual capacity of 40,000 inmates, according to Insider.

If the prison proves capable of holding its intended capacity, it’d be the most populous penal facility in the world, dwarfing the current record-holder of Silivri Penitentiaries Campus in Turkey.

One image shared by Salvadorian politician Mauricio Ortiz showed the volume of detainees held in the country’s prisons, although it’s not clear if the image was taken at the new facility.

Some inmates in the video even bear tattoos advertising their affiliation with MS-13, one of the most bloodthirsty and dangerous drug smuggling organizations in the Americas.

More footage from El Salvador’s prison show conditions that would break the will of even the most savage organized criminal.

The Central American nation has long struggled with the scourge of organized crime and gun violence.

Bukele’s tough-on-crime approach has caused the nation’s homicide rate drop considerably, however.

Homicides decreased by 56.8 percent in 2022, according to Reuters.

The Center for the Confinement of Terrorism opened earlier this year in connection with Bukele’s plans to crack down on the country’s crime epidemic, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Claim of impunity vs. psychiatry in Bolivia

by the El Reportero’s wire services

 

La Paz, February 23 – Bolivians perceive with sympathy today the recommendation of a psychiatric evaluation by Bolivian Senator Leonardo Loza to the civic citizen Rómulo Calvo from Santa Cruz, who the day before threatened President Luis Arce with initiating a process to recall his constitutional mandate.

“Calvo is sick in the head and must go to the psychiatrist, since he cannot threaten to recall the head of state because he would be attacking democracy,” said the legislator of the Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS). -IPSP) when referring to the subject.

This Wednesday, Calvo tried to intimidate the dignitary by initiating this type of process if he does not issue a supreme decree of amnesty for those whom he called political prisoners within 72 hours.

“Arriving at a recall process is the least convenient scenario for Bolivians because we will be throughout 2023 with uncertainties, but with the certainty and certainty that you are not capable of continuing to lead the course of the country,” he said.

He warned that it is “a scenario that you can stop by issuing an unrestricted amnesty,” he said, addressing the head of state at a press conference in which he was accompanied by Fernando Larach, recently elected president of the Pro Santa Cruz Committee, and the new prime minister. Vice Principal, Stello Cochamanidis.

Before a crowd emotionally manipulated by the corporate media network controlled by the so-called Cruceño committee, Calvo launched the question on January 25 in a non-binding town hall with the demand in favor of the supposed figure of “more than 180 political prisoners”, in a period of 30 days.

In response, the vice president of Bolivia, David Choquehuanca, asserted this Wednesday in a public speech that Arce was elected by the will of the people and those who propose a presidential recall referendum “do not realize that they are going against an entire people.”

Government authorities repeatedly recalled that the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights investigated “in situ”.

He then confirmed that, after the November 2019 coup that exalted Jeanine Añez, massacres of unarmed civilians took place in Sacaba, Senkata, Pedregal and other places with less conflict. These events left a balance of 38 dead, hundreds injured, thousands imprisoned and tortured and are investigated in the Coup d’état I judicial file, in which Áñez and the governor of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, both imprisoned at the moment, are accused. .

The GIEI also verified that the de facto regime not only used the military and police forces, but also the paramilitary Resistencia Juvenil Cochala and the Unión Juvenil Cruceñista.

During his speech for the 15th anniversary of the Deputy Mayor of the Challa district, Cochabamba department, Choquehuanca recalled that Arce was elected in 2020 in national elections with the support of 55.11 percent of voters.

For his part, the Minister of Public Works, Edgar Montaño, warned that “this gentleman is used to threatening, insulting, and belittling the same people from Santa Cruz who live in Santa Cruz,” deploring Calvo’s ultimatum.

He recalled his habitual attitude of insulting anyone who doesn’t think the same way, addressing high authorities in a disrespectful manner, and then victimizing himself as politically persecuted.

Since the requirement imposed in the council was known, the national government ruled out this possibility with the argument that it would go against the recommendations of the GIEI.

In suggestion 10 of the 36 issued by these experts after concluding their investigation and interviews with the relatives of the deceased and other victims of the de facto government, it was made clear that it must “guarantee the imprescriptibility and inapplicability of amnesty norms in cases of serious violations of human rights.

In this regard, the constitutional lawyer Pedro Ugarte clarified that, according to current regulations, the resolutions of a council are not binding and the amnesty that the Pro Santa Cruz Committee requests is not applicable in cases related to terrorism, a charge for which he is prosecuted, for example, Camacho.

Another MAS-IPSP legislator, deputy Freddy López, considered that Calvo’s proposal will be a failure due to lack of support.

“Time and procedures are not enough (…), this is going to fail, instead of ensuring the development and growth of Santa Cruz (…) there are lodges that are only thinking about their personal interests,” concluded the member of the Assembly Plurinational Legislative.

 

Former president of Ecuador will be accused of alleged bribery

by the El Reportero wire services

Via Prensa Latina

 

Quito, February 22, 2024-The Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office announced today that the former president of the Andean country Lenín Moreno will be accused along with his family for alleged bribery within the so-called INA Papera case.

Diana Salazar, State Attorney General, asked the National Court of Justice (CNJ) to set a date and time for the hearing to file charges against 37 people, linked to an alleged corruption structure around the Coca Codo hydroelectric project. Sinclair, with an interstate and transnational scope, which would have carried out illegal actions between 2009 and 2018.

The complaints against the ex-president stemmed from an investigation entitled The presidential circle offshore labyrinth, released in 2019 on a corruption case, directly involving the company INA Investment Corporation, created by Edwin Moreno, which supposedly bears part of the name of the daughters of the former head of state.

According to the registered documentation, that company managed accounts at Balboa Bank, in Panama, from which expensive furniture, rugs and other luxury items were purchased for Moreno’s apartment in Geneva (Switzerland), where he served as special envoy of the Secretary General. of the UN for persons with disabilities.

To hold this position, Moreno moved to Paraguay, where he lives and works with the Government of Mario Abdo on issues related to inclusion.

According to the Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office, if after the charges were filed, the judge ordered the preventive detention of Moreno, his stay in Paraguay would not prevent him from being sent to Ecuador since both governments have a current criminal assistance agreement.

The investigation against Lenín Moreno also alludes to the purchase of an apartment in Spain, linked to the presidential family, among other irregularities.

The crimes under investigation include money laundering, illicit association, bribery and illicit enrichment, the Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office said.

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Dudamel to be music director of the NY Philharmonic

The 42-year-old Venezuelan conductor agreed to a five-year contract as artistic and musical director; he will be the first Latino to lead the orchestra since its founding in 1842

 

Shared from/by AP via Proceso

 

“What the orchestra told us very, very clearly is that the person they wanted, their dream candidate, was Gustavo,” New York Philharmonic director general Deborah Borda said. “When you’re trying to recruit the most sought-after director in the world, you don’t do a conventional search.”

Dudamel, who will hold the title of Music Director Designate in 2025-26, will also remain Music Director of the Paris Opera, a role he has held since 2021, and Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, a position he assumed. in 1999 and for which he began to gain international recognition.

In a statement, Dudamel quoted the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca: “Every step we take on earth leads us to a new world.”

“I look forward to the world in front of me in New York with happiness and excitement, and with pride and love the world I have shared, and will continue to share, with my beloved Angelenos for the next three seasons and more,” said Dudamel. “All of us share the belief that culture creates a better world and our dream that music is a fundamental right.”

Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden said in September 2021 that he would leave the New York Philharmonic after the 2023-24 season, after a six-season stint as music director that would be the shortest since Pierre Boulez succeeded Leonard Bernstein. and led the orchestra from 1971-77.

Borda informed the New York Orchestra and Dudamel the Los Angeles musicians of their decision in simultaneous announcements during their respective rehearsals at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Room and the Walt Disney Room. The New York Philharmonic returned to the Geffen Hall in October after a $550 million renovation that improved its acoustics, views and amenities.

Dudamel is one of the few directors who in recent years have gained greater notoriety worldwide. A character in Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle” series was loosely inspired by Dudamel, who was also director of the soundtrack for Steven Spielberg’s version of Bernstein’s “West Side Story.”

Dudamel made his New York Philharmonic debut in November 2007. He has conducted the orchestra 26 times and is scheduled to conduct three performances of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony May 19-21.

“I remember the first day when we tried to sign him, he didn’t even have a manager. And look at how he has progressed since then,” Borda said. “I haven’t seen a director like that since Bernstein.” “He really is the principal that could be transformative for the future of this institution,” Ginstling said of Dudamel. “He may be able to appeal to new audiences and young audiences, as well as a broader audience.” Dudamel is a graduate of the Venezuelan music education program known as “El Sistema” and has earned recognition for his work with young musicians. He won the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2004. Although he initially refused to speak about Venezuela’s economic and political turbulence, he criticized the Venezuelan government for cracking down on protests in 2017. President Nicolás Maduro then canceled tours by the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in USA.

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‘Young invincibles’ fight for CA young adults’ access to higher Ed

por Suzanne Potter

California News Service

 

February 21, 2023 – California’s young adults face significant barriers to accessing higher education, affordable housing, and health care – according to a nonprofit that is fighting to advance their interests. The group Young Invincibles has just released its 2023 policy agenda, and top of the list is improving consumer protections around student debt.

Sarah Bouabibsa, west advocacy manager for Young Invincibles, said they are working to convince colleges and universities to stop withholding degrees or transcripts over small debts owed to the school itself, for example.

“We’re looking for schools to stop withholding diplomas because students owe, let’s say, outstanding library fees. Because that is a direct barrier to students being able to build financial security through finding jobs to applying for graduate school once they graduate,” she said.

The policy agenda also calls on schools to build more affordable student housing, increase the number of mental health professionals on campus, and eliminate premiums on standard silver Covered California health insurance plans.

The group also wants California to fully fund its Cradle to Career Data System, an online hub currently in development. Bouabibsa said the site’s dashboard will give students the tools they need to succeed.

“This will help students plan out what colleges they want to go to,” she said. “It’ll help answer questions around financial aid as well as career opportunities they can pursue if they go toward a specific area of focus in their education. ”

All California community colleges are now required to have student “basic needs centers” that connect students with assistance programs for food, housing, and health care. The agenda calls for fully funding these centers and for the development of an assessment tool to identify trends in student needs.

 

More CA Students Earn Degrees, Certificates, But Disparities Persist

Some good news to report on college attainment rates – the number of students who have earned a degree, certificate or credential has jumped 16 percent from 2009 to 2021, according the new “Stronger Nation” report from the Lumina Foundation.

The report finds a 55.8 percent attainment rate for Californians ages 25 to 64.

Courtney Brown – vice president of impact and planning at Lumina Foundation – said while students of all races made progress, Latino attainment in California stands at just over 22 percent, compared to almost 60 percent for White students.

“Although we saw 2.5 percent jump in attainment for the Latino and Hispanic population, and almost 2 percent for Black Americans,” said Brown, “you can see that incredible disparities continue to exist between Black Americans and Latino Americans on one end, and White Americans on the other end.”

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom set a goal that 70 percent of the adult population should have some post-secondary education by 2030.

The top five counties with the highest percentage of students with an associate’s degree or higher are all in the Bay Area – while rural Lassen County in the far northeastern part of the state has the lowest rate, at just over 18 percent.

Michelle Siquieros – president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, based in Los Angeles – said schools need to make it much easier for community college students to transfer to a four-year school.

“The transfer rates from community colleges to our four-year universities and completion rates in general at the community colleges are very low, especially for Black and Latinx students,” said Siquieros. “So we’ve got to do a better job of supporting students to complete a degree and to transfer.”

The report also finds that in order to compete, California will need to significantly increase the number of people who enroll in programs and earn all types of credentials beyond high school.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

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World’s 11 most powerful natural antibiotics that won’t kill your good gut bacteria

by S.D. Wells

 

February 14, 2023 – The main reason the majority of Americans do not believe in taking supplements and natural herbs regularly hinges on their faith in their medical doctor’s advice, whose learning comes from colleges funded by Big Pharma, that made sure nutrition education was removed from “medicine” curriculum almost entirely, over a century ago. It’s all part of the Hidden History of Medicine, in a free download from Natural News.

Yet, your first line of defense against infections and illnesses is boosting your own immune system with natural remedies and indigenous cures. People need to stay on their game at all times and super-boost their immune system with Mother Nature’s gifts. You see, medical doctors don’t make any money if you stay healthy, for the most part, or even if you get sick, and then take natural antibiotics for healing, since they’re not patentable and they don’t make you sicker by just covering up symptoms, like prescription medications do. There’s the rub.

The worst part about prescription antibiotics is they kill your good gut bacteria, known as flora. Your gut is a very balanced microbiome, if you eat clean food mostly and supplement, where the good gut bacteria consists of about 85%, and the bad bacteria at around 15%. When a medical doctor’s patient takes antibiotics, it ALL gets wiped out. If the patient happens to be suffering from a viral infection instead, the doctor just sets up the patient for a very dangerous outcome, by decimating the immune system’s biological “seat.”

That’s why it’s important to stock up on natural remedies and natural antibiotics. They are not expensive, especially compared to medical bills (and getting sicker from not healing in the first place). Plus, they are preventative medicine to keep you from getting sick in the first place.

Here are the world’s 11 most powerful natural antibiotics that medical doctors are never allowed to discuss as treatment or preventative medicine

#1. Garlic

#2. Apple cider vinegar

#3. Ginger

#4. Horseradish root

#5. Onion

#6. Habanero peppers

#7. Oregano oil

#8. Turmeric

#9. Echinacea (Herb)

#10. Raw honey

#11. Colloidal Silver

Garlic cloves are easy to find and amazing for the human immune system, and they serve as an antiseptic, antibacterial, and antifungal agent. Garlic contains a compound called allicin that’s a potent antibiotic that was used by the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and ancient Chinese to combat sicknesses, including the common cold. Allicin is released when the garlic cloves are crushed or chewed.

Colloidal silver is even more effective than traditional antibiotics, and that’s why Big Pharma has viciously attacked it, saying it turns people silver (some guy drank whole bottles of it all day once). Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks used silver over a millennium ago for various illnesses and to fight infections, and it doesn’t harm your liver or kidneys, like prescription antibiotics can.

Ever heard of superbugs? They are infections people often get in hospitals when they have open wounds and hygiene leaves something to be desired. Apple cider vinegar, also known as ACV, eradicates methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (staph infection) and resistant Escherichia coli (E-coli). These are infections that can spread rapidly and kill people. Often times, medical doctors sling antibiotics at them, which can add to the high morbidity rates.

ACV penetrates microbial cell membranes, significantly reducing their ability to spread and infect the human body. ACV is made from alcoholic fermentation of apples, sugar, and yeast, and the acetic acid has potent antimicrobial properties (according to scientific studies published by NIH) and high potency for defeating antibiotic-resistant microbes. That’s why Big Pharma will NOT tell you about ACV when you’re in the hospital dying from superbug infections. Can you say allopathic population control without coughing into your Covid mask?

Oil of oregano is one of nature’s most powerful medicines. One of the most potent remedies in the world, oregano oil beats down viruses and knocks back allergies to pollen. Produced from the perennial herb oregano, the oil is loaded with antioxidants that annihilate the free radicals that cause cancer. Pharmaceutical companies wish they could patent it.

Tune your internet dial to NaturalMedicine.news for more tips on how to use natural remedies for preventative medicine and for healing, instead of succumbing to Big Pharma for prescription antibiotics that cover up symptoms to deeper rooted ailments. Food.news

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US gov’t has been secretly tracking the unvaccinated. Is surveillance and persecution next?

The new International Classification of Diseases may lead to control of ‘resisters.’

by Reggie Littlejohn

(Women’s Rights Without Frontiers) — The CDC, Medicare, and Medicaid have introduced International Classification of Diseases (ICD) “diagnosis codes” for being unvaccinated or partially vaccinated for Covid-19 and also for “other under-immunization status.” These new codes, designated ICD-10, quietly went into effect on April 1, 2022, and were broadly adopted nationwide by January 2023, but we are just learning about them now.

“Diagnosis” is a word to designate disease. Is being unvaccinated now considered a disease?

Will medical and health services provided by insurance, Medicare or Medicaid be affected by the patient’s vaccination status?

This new move cannot be entirely for health reasons. Recent science shows that natural immunity is more robust than that conferred by vaccines. The reality of “breakthrough infections” demonstrates that a person’s vaccination status is not predictive of whether they will contract or spread the disease. If the tracking were for health reasons alone, they would exclude those who are Covid-recovered and have natural immunity.

Even more disturbing, why do the new codes track the reason for being unvaccinated, or being in “Delinquent Immunization Status,” for Covid-19? Some of the reasons include “patient refusal” or “belief or group pressure.” Will parents who choose not to get the many booster shots now being required for children be penalized for that? Will their children be penalized?

In my opinion, tracking the Covid-19 unvaccinated is a way to identify “resisters,” people who don’t just go along with the government narrative, who are unmoved by heavy propaganda, who think for themselves and who are willing to take the heat for going against the flow. Many of these people are conservatives and pro-life Christians, some of whom refused the jab because the injections were made using the cells of an aborted fetus. Is the government identifying the unvaxxed in order to characterize them as somehow “unclean,” or selfish, or even “grandma killers.” Will these codes be used to separate the unjabbed from society and, ultimately, to persecute them?

For example, according to a report by Teachers for Choice, unvaccinated teachers in New York City have had their fingerprints and “problem codes” (indicating misconduct) in their personnel files sent to the FBI and the New York Criminal Justice Services. Are they – and others who have refused vaccination and express their reasons for doing so – being set up as purveyors of “disinformation” (a term coined by Stalin) or worse, as domestic threat actors? Tracking immunization status is nothing new, but have those who lack a vaccination other than Covid-19 been treated this way?

ICD-10 codes were created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and are maintained by the CDC under WHO authorization. Will WHO receive this information? Will it be shared internationally, including with China? Ultimately, tracking vaccination status could be used as the pretext for requiring internationally interoperable vaccine passports, smart health cards, or other digital IDs.

The idea for a “good” Digital ID was developed with globalist NGOs like George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Indeed, the World Bank is promoting a digital ID to assess corporate compliance with the U.N Agenda 2030 17 Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 16.9 calls for, “by 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.”

At the November 2022 G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the Declaration, published on the White House website, stated:

  1. We acknowledge the importance of shared technical standards and verification methods, under the framework of IHR (2005), to facilitate seamless international travel, interoperability, and recognizing digital solutionsand non-digital solutions, including proof of vaccinations. We support continued international dialogue and collaboration on the establishment of trusted global digital health networks as part of the efforts to strengthen prevention and response to future pandemics, that should capitalize and build on the success of the existing standards and digital COVID-19 certificates. (Emphasis added.)

In addition, the WHO is pressing for international vaccine passports. It has already contracted with Deutsche Telekom to create it.

Any mandatory digital ID can give rise to a “social credit system,” a tool the Chinese Communist Party uses for mass surveillance and totalitarian control. Is that the goal? It sure looks that way. According to reports, China’s social credit system has already been used to restrict travel, loans, purchases, applying for jobs, even getting a date. And worse, it provides a means for others to make unsolicited comments about you. In some areas of China, if you call a blacklisted person, you will hear a siren, followed by a warning that the person being called is on the blacklist. In Beijing, a blacklisted person driving through certain intersections may reportedly be identified by facial recognition software and their photo and ID will appear on a large digital billboard.  Do we want this dystopian nightmare to come to an intersection near us?

Vaccine passports are one of the major vehicles to create an international digital ID. And that effort is well on the way. Indeed, Research and Markets has estimated that the “Worldwide Social Credit Infrastructure” represents a $16.1 billion business opportunity by 2026.

Humanity stands at the brink of total enslavement. We must stand against vaccine passports, digital IDs, social credit systems and Central Bank Digital Currencies. To take action, click HERE.

Reggie Littlejohn is President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers and Co-Chair of the Stop Vaccine Passports Task Force.

 

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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the following measure will be voted on by the qualified voters of the Millbrae School District

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the following measure will be voted on by the qualified voters of the Millbrae School District on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 in the Ballot-by-Mail Special Election.

SCHOOL DISTRICT MEASURE

MILLBRAE SCHOOL DISTRICT

PARCEL TAX INITIATIVE

MEASURE___ (2/3 APPROVAL REQUIRED)

To support students with funds that cannot be taken by the State, maintain hands-on 21st century science labs, for technology, engineering/math instruction, strengthen reading/writing programs, attract/retain qualified teachers; restore the arts, and maintain the music programs, shall the Millbrae Elementary School District’s measure be adopted which renews the current levy of $97 and adds $28 per parcel, raising $925,000 annually for 9 years, with a waiver for older adults, requiring independent oversight by citizens, none of the funds for administrator salaries, and all funds staying local?

But _______

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that the principal arguments for or against the aforementioned measure may be submitted in writing to the Division of Registration and Elections, 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, CA 94402, for printing and distribution to the voters. , pursuant to the provisions of the California Elections Code, until 5:00 P.M. on February 10, 2023. Rebuttal arguments by the authors of such main arguments may be submitted in the same manner until 5:00 P.M. on February 21, 2023.

Printed arguments submitted to the voters shall be titled either “Argument In Favor of Measure ___” or “Argument Against Measure ___”, and “Rebuttal to Argument In Favor of Measure ___” or “Rebuttal to the Argument Against Measure ___” respectively.

All arguments regarding the aforementioned initiative must be accompanied by the following model statement to be signed by each author and proponent, if different, of the argument:

The undersigned proponent(s) or author(s) of argument ___________ (main/rebuttal) ___________ (for/against) Measure ___ on the Ballot of the _________________________ (name of the election) of or of the _________________________ (name of jurisdiction) to be held on _______________ (date of the election), hereby declares that said argument is true and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief.

Signed

____________________

____________________

Date

____________________

____________________

The main arguments should not exceed 300 words. Only one argument for and one argument against the measure will be selected to be printed and distributed to voters. The arguments may not carry more than five signatures.

Authors of principal arguments for or against the measure may write and submit rebuttal arguments not to exceed 250 words. The authors may authorize in writing any other person or persons to draft, present, or sign the rebuttal argument. Rebuttal arguments may not carry more than five signatures.

IT IS ALSO NOTIFIED that an inspection period of 10 calendar days will be established for the public review of said arguments. During this period, any registered voter eligible to vote on the measure, or the elections official, may request an injunction or order requiring some or all of the material to be amended or removed. The review period for the principal arguments for or against the measure will begin at 5:00 P.M. on February 10, 2023 and will end at 5:00 P.M. on February 21, 2023. The review period for rebuttals to the main arguments for or against the measure will begin at 5:00 P.M. on February 21, 2023 and will end at 5:00 P.M. on March 3, 2023.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that Vote-by-Mail Ballots, Vote Center Ballots, and Provisional Ballots marked for the Election to be held on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, will be counted at the place to be indicates below:

San Mateo County

Registration and Elections Division

40 Tower Road

San Mateo, CA 94402

IT IS FURTHER NOTIFIED that in said election the polling places will be open from 7:00 A.M. hours, until 8:00 P.M. hours of the same day.

Dated: February 3, 2023

/F/________________

Mark Church

Chief Elections Clerk and County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder

2/10/23

CNS-3

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CCSF Outreach – Prepared by The Office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors

Pursuant to Administrative Code, Section 2.81
Vacancies on the Board or Commission of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors:
Participate in a Board or Commission!
The Assessment Appeals Board (AAB)
The AAB resolves legal and value assessment issue

s between the Assessor’s office and property owners. The vacancies on the Board are as follows: Board 1 – one; Board 2 – four; and Board 3 – five.

Hearings are quasi-judicial, conducted in a manner similar to a court, with evidence and testimony presented by the parties. The Board then evaluates the evidence and testimony and renders its decision.

To be eligible for appointment to a position, you must have a minimum of five years of professional experience in California as: (1) CPA; (2) real estate agent; (3) attorney; or (4) a property appraiser accredited by a nationally recognized organization, or certified by the Office of Real Estate Appraisers or the State Board of Equalization.

For a complete list of current or upcoming boards, commissions, and task forces, visit https://sfbos.org/vacancy-boards-commissions-task-forces .

Announcements throughout the city

Are you interested in working for the City and County of San Francisco? Please visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to find current job openings.

Child Support Services Department Announcements

Child support matters can be complicated, stressful, and confusing. The Department of Child Support Services helps parents understand the process so they know their rights and options for making and receiving support payments. The Department of Child Support Services is available to help you in person or by phone. Call (866) 901-3212 or visit online at www.sfgov.org/dcss today to find out how we can help you. Schedule an appointment to open your case at https://sfgov.org/dcss/opening-case.

The City and County of San Francisco encourage public outreach. Articles are translated into multiple languages to provide better public access. The newspaper makes every effort to correctly translate articles of general interest. Neither the City nor the County of San Francisco nor the newspapers assume any responsibility for errors or omissions.

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