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Texas’s rodeo excludes Tejano acts

by Antonio Mejías-Rentas

Grupo DueloGrupo Duelo

TEXAS OUT OF TEJANO: Controversy is brewing over this year’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the lack of homegrown music at its annual Latino music day.

There are no Tejano acts scheduled to perform at the rodeo’s “Go Tejano Day.’’ Instead, the lineup announced for the March 16 event include Mexican norteño band Duelo and the Chicago-based Los Horóscopos de Durango, a leading act in the growing duranguense genre.

According to reports last week, some local politicians and music stars are threatening to sit out or protest “Go Tejano Day, draws the rodeo’s biggest crowds.

Organizers say the programming reflects the dwindling popularity of Tejano music and point to the fact that there is no FM radio station in Texas that plays the music.

This would be the third time without Tejano acts since the event’s inception in 1990.

Los Horóscopos de DurangoLos Horóscopos de Durango

Mexican acts Intocable and Control played in 2001 and San Jose, California-based nonteño stars Los Tigres del Norte were the 2002 stars.

Throughout its history, “Go Tejano Day” has included performances by such Tejano stars as Roberto Pulido, Emilio and Selena, but also a wide variety of artists ranging from Colombian rocker Juanes to pop singer Vikki Carr.

AWARDSUPDATES: At least one Latino performer will participate – as a presenter—in this week’s 50th annual Grammy Awards.

JuanesJuanes

Juanes is among a list of presenters and performers announced last week by the Recording Academy, It is likely that Juanes will announce the winner in one of nine Latin music categories during the Feb. 10 ceremony in Los Angeles, to be broadcast by CBS.

In a related item, more than a dozen performers and presenters have been announced for this year’s Premio Lo Nuestro. Performing at the Feb. 21 Miami ceremony will be Pepe Aguilar, AB Quintanilla lll, Enrique Iglesias, Los Tigres Del Norte and Ivy Queen, among others. The awards show is produced and broadcast by Univision.

ONE LINERS: Cartoonist Gus Arriola, whose long-running Gordo was one of the first syndicated comic strips about Hispanics, died Feb. 2 in Carmel, Calif., following a lengthy illness; he was 90, former Univision weekend anchor Maria Antonieta Collins told People en español she is leaving her current job in Telemundo, as host of the morning magazine Al día, to return to journalism. Pewee is among vocalists leaving the Kumbia All Starz with the group founder’s blessings.
Hispanic Link.

Sutter admits closing St. Luke’s likely to reduce charity care

by Contessa Abono

Gavin NewsomGavin Newsom

Sutter Health told the San Francisco Chronicle that the reason their North of Market CPMC campuses offer dramatically less charity care than St. Luke’s Hospital, the South of Market facility is that they are trying to close.

Kevin McCormack, [Sutter] spokesman, countered that the hospital’s three campuses are located in wealthy neighborhoods where poor and uninsured people aren’t likely to seek treatment.

“Those neighborhoods are not ones where you have a large low-income community,” McCormack said.

“Sutter basically admits the point that Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and the community are making: their attempt to close St. Luke’s is a clear example of “medical redlining,” or the dumping of a supposedly un-desirable patient population,” said Bonnie Castillo, RN, Director of the Sutter Division of the California Nurses Association.

“A new report by the San Francisco Department of Public Health details that the CPMC facilities North of Market earned $67 million in tax breaks in 2007 due to their non-profit status, but performed only $5.2 million in charity care. By contrast, St. Luke’s earned $630,000 in tax breaks because of its non-profit status, and gave $2.5 million in charity care.

No more smoking in the car with children

A new law passed to protect kids from harmful risks of secondhand smoke. California’s new “Smoke-Free Cars with Minors” law took effect on January 1, giving California the most comprehensive smoke-free car law in the nation.

The California legislature passed the law in response to compelling scientific evidence that smoking in cars exposes passengers, especially children, to high levels of toxic secondhand smoke.  The law prohibits smoking in a motor vehicle (stationary or moving) in which a youth under the age of 18 is present.  A violation is punishable by a fine of up to $100.

Children are more susceptible to the hazards of secondhand smoke because their lungs are still developing, and they breathe more rapidly than adults. “I’ve treated thousands of children and observed firsthand the ill-effects of secondhand smoke on young children.,” said Dr. Pamela Simms-Mackey, Chair of the First 5 Alameda County Commission, Pediatrician and Associate Director of Medical Education at Children’s Hospital & Research Center in Oakland.

For people who want to quit smoking, the American Lung Association offers free online support at www.ffsonline.org or by calling 800.LUNG.USA.

Mayor Newsom and environmental groups hold hearings for solar bond

Mayor Gavin Newsom and several prominent environmental groups meet on Jan. 31st with the Board President Aaron Peskin, to calendar the General Obligation Solar Bond for a committee hearing to keep the bond on track for submission to the June 3rd ballot. The bond would utilize $50 million dollars from the city’s Seismic Safety Loan Program to create a loan program that would allow San Francisco residents and businesses to install solar panels and repay the loans incrementally at below-market rates. “This bond measure presents an important climate protection opportunity for San Francisco and we request the voters be given an opportunity to contemplate this measure in June,” said Mayor Newsom.

The bond must be heard by a committee and the full Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks in order to be submitted to the Department of Elections by February 25th, which is the final date that ballot initiatives can be placed on the June 3rd ballot.

Another reason why Obama isn’t winning thte Latino vote

por Edward Barrios Acevedo

Inspiring an audience with his message of hope and a brighter future, presidential candidate Barack Obama can dazzle the crowd with a fresh appeal for unity and optimism.

With Republicans whispering in the ear of the freshman U.S. senator from Illinois, telling him of their support, Obama’s campaign is quick to point out he can end Washington gridlock and partisan politics while transcending race, gender, and class. Senator Obama’s inspiring message certainly appeals to the very best in us. Measuring the crowds and interest in this year’s campaign, it seems we can’t get enough of it.

Obama is the 46-year-old son of a black Kenyan father and a white Kansas-born mother.

In Nevada and South Carolina, the African-American community has rallied steadfastly for him as one of the two candidates on the verge of making history. It delivered more than 80 percent of its vote to Obama. In contrast, New York Senator Hillary Clinton captured the Hispanic vote 3-to-1 in Nevada. It was key to her victory there.

This bipolar support for two different Democratic candidates will certainly would be discussed much more on and after Feb. 5, Super Tuesday, as the campaigns move North and West, where Hispanics compose a significant portion of the electorate. Talking heads point out why Latinos support Senator Clinton, starting with the obvious: her good name recognition and a deep admiration for her husband, Bill, who appointed more Hispanics to high level positions than any other president, before or after.

­Perhaps influenced by their own bias, more than a few writers and commentators have raised the issue of racism. The white media seems to enjoy exploring “tensions” between the black and brown communities when they are pitted against one another for society’s scraps. From that premise, political analysts leap to infer that Hispanics won’t support a presidential candidate who is black.

Subtly and powerfully, the theory suggests that Latinos would somehow like to sabotage Obama’s campaign. So much so that those macho Latinos would even choose a female over a black.

In staging this fantasy political theater, political analysts and even Obama’s own advisors may be missing something important. His failure to capture the Latino vote has little to do with race or name recognition. Rather, it may have everything to do with the senator’s promises.

Obama’s message of hope and non-partisanship, which resonates with so many others, falls limply in the lap of Latinos.

Why?  Because this powerful demographic, particularly immigrant Latinos, are already believers in the American Dream, more optimistic about the future than their white and black counterparts.

The last comprehensive studies specifically on public optimism, conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 44 percent of all Hispanic adults believe their families’ next generation will be much better off than now, about a dozen points greater than blacks or whites believe. These numbers are much higher despite Hispanics reporting less overall satisfaction with their current condition, in lower household earnings and education than other ethnic groups.

Despite those playing up the brown and black divisions, Latinos have a history of supporting African-American candidates who deliver not so much messages of hope, but records of results.

So when along comes a candidate, charismatically rallying us to trust and believe in the future, Latinos say, “Great, glad you can join us. Where have the rest of you been all these years?”

Latinos are choosing Senator Clinton, not because she is white, not black, but rather that in addition to being smart and competent, she has a strong track record working with grassroots activists like United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta for more than two decades.

You are not quite as impressed with someone delivering something you already have. Hispanic Link.

(Edward Barrios Acevedo is a teacher and columnist in Los Angeles. He can be reached at edwardfactor@yahoo.com.) ©2008

Memo to media: stop using hate groups as, ‘experts in immigration

by Janet Murguía

José de la IslaJosé de la Isla

“Janet is a lying, fact-misrepresenting Mexican jerk. There will come a day when the average American has had enough of her and her lies and runs her back to Mexico with the rest of the diseased, ignorant, budget ruining, crime causing scum they are.”

Since I became head of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) three years ago, I have received hate mail. My predecessor got it as well. Typically, we shrug it off as coming with the territory. When people tell me to “go back to where you came from,” I joke that they would be surprised to find they are sending me back home to Kansas.

It is no longer a joke. I received that email above at the height of the immigration debate and have received many more, including death threats. So have many members of my staff. The immigration debate has opened the floodgates to hate speech in this country of ours. Hate and extremists are defining the debate on immigration.

Hate is part of our national legacy. Throughout U.S. history, Native Americans, African Americans, Irish immigrants and other groups have suffered from injustice stemming from hate. The immigration debate has made the Hispanic community hate’s latest target, and too often, the news media serve as the anti-immigrants’ bullhorn.

The Internet, television, and the political stage have become platforms for hate. Turning the term “illegal” into a noun, nativists, extremists and politicians have broadcast their messages across the county. They demonize the undocumented and, in turn, all Latinos. They depict us as disease-ridden invaders and criminals.

The media have been instrumental in moving this language from the fringes of society right into our living rooms and everyday lives.

Dan Stein, president of FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, has warned that immigrant groups are engaged in “competitive breeding” aimed at eliminating white power. He has appeared eight times on MSNBC and 18 times on CNN. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled FAIR a hate group.

Television talk show hosts like CNN’s Lou Dobbs have echoed the anti-immigrant hate speech, calling undocumented immigrants “criminals” and an “army of invaders.” Glenn Beck, a CNN commentator, jokingly read an ad that said the one-step solution to the immigration and energy crises is a “giant refinery” that produces “Mexinol,” a fuel made from the bodies of illegal immigrants coming here from Mexico.

The news media are not the only ones willing to work with anti-immigrant extremists; some politicians do, too. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee accepted the endorsement of Jim Gilchrist, a man who proclaimed he is “proud to be a vigilante.”

The distorted images projected by the media and some politicians have had dangerous consequences. All Latinos become targets for anti-immigrant hate crimes and speech because it is impossible to look at us and determine who is a citizen and who is not. According to the FBI, anti-Latino hate crimes have increased by 23% over the past two years.

The reality is that most immigrants, undocumented and documented, are hardworking and family-oriented – they are a part of our national fabric. Many hold down multiple jobs to provide for their families. The undocumented would choose to be here legally if they could, but the immigration system is broken. For people wanting to come here, there is a 20-year backlog to legal entry.

The only way to combat hate is to confront it with something just as strong, just as pervasive in society – hope. The hope for a better future for all U.S. residents is the driving force behind NCLR’s efforts to unite with others to silence hate speech and stop hate crimes.

Last month, I experienced the power of hope firsthand. I was honored to be the first Hispanic keynote speaker at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. unity breakfast in Birmingham, Alabama. I urged African Americans and Latinos to renew both communities’ historic commitment to promoting equal opportunity for all of us. Unity among all communities will strengthen our resolve to remove hate from the mainstream.

Anti-immigrant groups are using every medium to spread their message of hate. We must be just as persistent with our message of hope. NCLR has launched a website, www.wecanstopthehate.org, as part of our Wave of Hope campaign. We have also written letters to politicians and network executives insisting that they eliminate hate from the immigration debate on their news programs.

Hope is more than just wishing for improvement. It is an expectation backed by action. The media have a responsibility not to amplify the voice of hate. The rest of us have a responsibility to challenge those seeking office to renounce the politics of hate and to distance themselves from those known to be affiliated with hate groups or vigilantes. Together, we can ensure that hope triumphs.

(Janet Murguí, president & CEO of the National Council of La Raz, the nation’s largest Hispanic advocacy and civil rights organization, writes a monthly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service. Reach her at opi@nclr.org.)

Guatemala: end impunity now!

por los servicios de noticias de El Reportero

Alvaro ColomAlvaro Colom

Yesterday saw the conclusion of the international conference on the role of trade unions in the fight against impunity, held in Guatemala City by the ITUC, its regional organisations ORIT and CLAT, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the ITUC’s Guatemalan affiliates, the CGTG and CUSG. The event was inaugurated by the President of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom. At the close of the event, the Conference Declaration was handed over to the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Edgar.

The aim of the Conference was to devise and apply political and trade union strategies to promote respect for core labour standards, to build trade union capacity to fight impunity, and to secure full investigations into the murders of trade unionists, so that those responsible are brought to justice and sentenced as soon as possible.

Guatemala is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for trade unionists; a fact confirmed just one day prior to the Conference when two armed men attacked the head office of the CGTC. The two individuals forced staff at gunpoint to open one of the offices, from which they took two computers containing valuable information.

Killing in southern Mexico sparks new fears

The state government in Oaxaca said on 31 January that the Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca had hired gangsters to kill a local police chief. The federal government’s nightmare is that its war on organised crime will become politicised and this is what may be happening in Oaxaca, one of the poorest and most politically polarised states in the country.

U.S. responds to Alba challenge with soft diplomacy

Food and war. These were the main topics of discussion during the Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas (Alba) summit in Caracas. Unsurprisingly, the world’s media preferred to focus on the latter. President Hugo Chávez accused Colombia of plotting with the US against Venezuela and discussed with his Nicaraguan peer, Daniel Ortega, creating a joint defence force in readiness for an attack on any Alba member. The U.S. did not take the bait. The State Department rejected what it described as “wild conspiracy theories”, focusing instead on a charm offensive in the region.

Conservatives form new bench in Nicaragua

On 30 January the Partido Conservador (PC) in Nicaragua decided to end its alliance with the Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense (ALN) and form its own bench in congress.

Nicaraguan dairy firms eying Venezuela

Managua, Jan 30 (Prensa Latina) Nicaraguan dairy producers are setting their sights on Venezuela, a market with 30 million consumers, where they aspire to market their excess production.

Businessman Alfredo Lacayo considers that the country must use its great exporting potential of these products, as only 20 percent of it is currently used.

Nicaragua went from exporting dairy products worth $300,000 in 1996 to $100 million in 2007, which shows its potential, according to official statistics.

He considered that if transportation conditions improve, a flourishing business in the sector may emerge, favoring both countries.

What the presidential candidates don’t talk about

by Marvin J Ramirez

Marvin J. RamirezMarvin J. Ramirez

As I listened to most of the Democrat and Republican candidates during this past Big Tuesday spit their slogan of the day, that they will do this, that they will do that to fix the economy, none of them seemed to care that our country’s economic problems are resumed in one single sentence: Private and foreign banks are controlling our constitutional government and our lives through the printing of our own money, and lending it back with interest. But, who are they?

In an article we just received in the El Reportero’s email address, Dr. Edward Flaherty, of the University of Charleston, in West Virginia, asks the question no politician from any of the traditional political parties ask during their campaign: ‘Who owns the Federal Reserve Bank,’ and why it is important to know?

“Is the Federal Reserve System secretly owned and covertly controlled by powerful foreign banking interests? If so, how? These claims, made chiefly by authors Eustace Mullins (1983) and Gary Kah (1991) and repeated by many others, are quite serious because the Fed is the United States central bank and controls U.S. monetary policy,” explains the article.

By changing the supply of money in circulation, the Fed influences interest rates, affecting the mortgage payments of millions of families, causing the financial markets to boom or collapse, and prompting the economy to expand or to stumble into recession,” says Flaherty in his article, in which he cites these observation to come from authors Eustace Mullins (1983) and Gary Kah (1991).

A call for the abolition of the Federal Reserve has been made over the years since its creation in 1913, although the media hasn’t covered it in the way they cover a super bowl or a boxing match. The schools of economics don’t get into this subject in the classroom, nor law schools teach future lawyers about the unconstitutionality of using currency not backed by gold or silver.

From the video, The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America, a script was produced by Patrick S. J. Carmack.

Since the turn of the century, explains the script, there has occurred throughout the world a major increase in debt and a major decline in the freedom of individuals, and of states, to conduct their own affairs. To restore a condition of widespread, modest wealth is therefore essential to regaining and preserving our freedom.

“What’s going on in America today? Why are we over our heads in debt? Why can’t the politicians bring debt under control? Why are so many people – often both parents now – working at low-paying, dead-end jobs and still making do with less? What’s the future of the American economy and way of life?”

The script continues to question why does the government tell us inflation is low, when the buying power of our paychecks is declining at an alarming rate? Only a generation ago, bread was a quarter and you could get a new car for $1,995!

“Are we headed into an economic crash of unprecedented proportions – one which will make the crash of 1929 and the Great Depression which followed look like a Sunday school picnic? If so, can we prevent it? Or, will we simply arrive at the same point through more inflation-caused poverty, robbing Americans of their savings, fixed incomes and wages by imperceptible degrees – reducing their purchasing power. What can we do to protect our families?

Those talk show hosts most of us happily watch and make us laugh every night should be the ones asking those questions, instead of just distracting us from reality. These should be the questions asked to those politicians trying to proof that they are running for office because they care about the people and their country.

Banker and former Presidential candidate Charles Collins is a lawyer, has owned banks, and served as a bank director. He believes we’ll never get out of debt because the Federal Reserve is in control of our money, cites the script.

“Right now, it’s perpetuated by the Federal Reserve making us borrow the money from them, at interest, to pay the interest that’s already accumulated. So we cannot get out of debt the way we’re going now.”

Economist Henry Pasquet is a tenured instructor in economics. He agrees the end is near for the U. S. economy.

“No, not when you are adding roughly a billion dollars a day. We just can’t go on. We had less than 1 trillion dollars of national debt in 1980, now it’s $5 trillion – 5 times greater in 15 years. It just doesn’t take a genius to realize that this just can’t go on forever.”

REPUBLICAN RACE: Party has fences to mend with Latino voters

by Anne Wakefield

¡Hoy marchamos!, the cry that held together the massive Hispanic rallies in 2006, has reached mañana votamos, its first big deadline on Super Tuesday. Among the 24 states conducting primaries and caucuses Feb 5 are Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and New Mexico, all with vast Hispanic populations that will likely vote against those candidates they perceive as anti-immigrant.

During the 2004 elections, George W. Bush won 40 percent of the Latino vote. But, as a nationwide survey by the Pew Hispanic Center revealed, Republicans have lost most of that support due to their hard stance on immigration. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson has suggested that this could ruin the party’s chances to retain the presidency in 2008 and beyond.

The Pew study shows some 57 percent of Hispanic registered voters now call themselves Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party, while just 23 porciento align with the Republican Party.

Of the GOP candidates, only U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona has been supportive of immigration reform with a path to legalization for some 12 million undocumented immigrants, although following a barrage of criticism from his party’s extreme right, he flip-flopped. He leads in most polls. McCain won back-to-back victories in the South Carolina and: Florida primaries.

An endorsement by Cuban-American Melquiades (Mel) Martínez of Florida, the GOP’s lone Hispanic in the U.S. Senate, was sought by all of the party’s candidates. After several clashes with Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney over their hard-line stances on immigration, Martinez finally announced his support for Mc Cain Jan. 25. AlsolntheMcCaln camp is Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Álvarez, a popular f gure in the Hispanic community. Polls show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney running slightly ahead of McCain in California. He, like McCain, has a website in Spanish. The site includes a video of his son Craig, speaking for 38 seconds in fluent Spanish, stressing the candidate’s virtues as a father.

Romney’s grandparents were Mormons who fled the United States because of the U.S. government’s opposition to polygamy. Mexico President Porfirio Díaz allowed Mormons to establish a colony in Chihuahua. When the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, the Romneys moved to Oakley, Idaho, and eventually ended up in Salt Lake City.

Romney has enlisted a key Latino figure, Al Cárdenas, in his campaign Former president of the Florida Republican Party, Cardenas chairs the “Romney for President” Hispanic steering committee. His voice can be heard on a radio ad that targets Spanish speaking voters.

As for the other two remaining GOP candidates, Mike Huckabee at one point supported the Bush-backed immigration plan that provided a path to residency for many undocumented workers. Huckabee has ex” pressed that massive deportation is “unworkable.” He wants a secure border, not a “closed” one. When asked about his lenient past position as Alabama governor on education for undocumented workers’ children, he said we shouldn’t punish the children for the sins of their fathers.

Ron Paul supported the strict House Sensenbrenner bill on immigration and voted in favor to authorizing a 700-milefence along the border.

During their last televised Republican debate, all candidates favored reinforcing border security. Romney also urged considerable deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Mc Cain said he would not try to revive the bipartisan immigration reform bill he co-authored in 2006 because the American people want to protect the border first.

He spoke in favor of stricter sanctions for employers who hire undocumented workers, but said authorities should wait for the children of undocumented immigrants to finish their school year before deporting them. Only Huckabee flatly rejected a proposal to deny citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

While the Democratic race might go on beyond Feb. 5, the GOP race is more likely to conclude this week with a definite winner. Hispanic Link.

Latino community searches for a voice in presidential candidates

by Contessa Abono and Rigoberto Hernández

Sharing the spotlight with Super Tuesday, the election day for the 2008 California Presidential Primary Election was full of uncertainty for many.

Residents of the Mission District in San Francisco were voicing their concerns about the candidates, which many felt did not adequately address the issues that mattered to them most.­

Although many were excited by the news that Democratic candidate and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has won in California’s presidential primary and Republican John McCain is the state’s GOP pick, some in the Latino community thought there were issues still not dealt with by the presidential candidates.

Roberto Hernández, a Mission District resident and co-chair of a local voter registration campaign in his neighborhood, said he did not like the way the issues he cares about are addressed by the presidential candidates. “I have not seen one candidate that has a comprehensive immigration plan for Latinos,” said Hernandez.

Luis Aroches is part of the Community Response Network, which is in charge of preventing and responding to youth violence in the Mission District.

Aroches, who voted for Clinton, said the candidates have not focused on the issues that he cares about and that the candidates do not reach out for the Latino vote.

Education is another issue that Hernández would have liked to see addressed by the candidates.

“I have not heard a comprehensive plan now that we are going to get rid of the Bush Administration’s ‘No child left behind,’ a total failure,” said Hernandez. “In terms of this county Latinos are never counted.”

Hernández, who supports Obama, was part of a Latino march last May in San Francisco and remembered the slogan for the march: “Today we march, tomorrow we vote.” The slogan caught everyone in this country by surprise, including Hernández, who realized how the up-rise of Latinos took place.

“They realized it was time to do something about it. It got the Latinos to say we have power. It went beyond illegal or undocumented workers, and it got the Latinos to say they are not going to treat us like this,” said Hernández.

Anhoni Patel is a contractor who took the day off from work to campaign for Obama outside the BART station on 16th Street and Mission Street. Patel said she didn’t have strong feelings about the primaries until Obama became a candidate. “Obama can really bring change, he always mentions we. He represents what we care about,” she said.

For Karina García, 21, who works in a Guatemalan restaurant on Mission Street, it is all about showing that Latinos have a voice. “I would like someone who supports Latinos.”

Now more than ever the Latino vote is being sought after “now all of a sudden the candidates are locking into the Latino community,” said Hernández. “We are making a difference in this election. Politicians took us for granted for so long, those days are over.”

SF Western Addition Library reopens

Funcionarios de la ciudad cortan la cinta de reapertura: (photo courtesy by SFPL)City public officials cut the re-opening ribbon (photo courtesy by SFPL)

SF Western Addition Branch Library Reopens: (L-R) Sup. Ross Mirkarimi, State Assemblyman Mark Leno, State Sen. Carole Migden, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library Director Donna Bero, City Librarian Luis Herrera, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom cut the ribbon Feb. 2 to the newly renovated Western Addition Branch Library.

The branch, located at 1550 Scott St., received a $4.3 million facelift, which included a new entry with automatic front doors, new teen area, improved main reading and children’s areas, a new state-of-the-art program room, and a beautifully landscaped outside courtyard.

­The library is now seismically safe, fully accessible and technologically updated with new computers and free WiFi access to the Internet.

DEMOCRAT RACE: Last two standing promise action on immigration reform

by Marc Heller

Hillary Clinton and Barak ObamaHillary Clinton and Barak Obama

With Super Tuesday jnow happenning, Latinos are increasingly viewed as the voting bloc that could tip the balance in several key Democratic primary states. Hillary Clinton shot into the lead early, building solid double-digit advantages in states such as California (weekend Zogby poll, 64 porciento-29 porciento, with Barack Obama ahead 45 porciento-41  porciento among all groups there) and New York. The Los Angeles daily La Opinión endorsed Obama Feb. 1.

Clinton established a Hispanic outreach effort months ahead of her rivals. With a stretch rush energized by younger voters, Obama continues to chip away at her Hispanic firewall.

A total of 22 states hold primaries Tuesday, Feb. 5. These also include Arizona, New Jersey (Zogby. Clinton leads among Hispanics (by 19 points), whites (10 points) and trails among blacks (58 points), Illinois and Colorado.

Obama has sharpened his focus in recent days, reiterating his early support for undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses—a position Clinton abandoned last year when it became clear the stance was highly unpopular nationwide collecting a respectable portion of endorsements from Hispanic elected leaders. Several shared the stage with him at a town hall campaign meeting at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College in advance of the pair’s Jan. 31 televised debate.

At that meeting, Obama greeted the crowd with the farmworkers’ slogan, “Sí se puede, sí se puede – yes we can!” It’s a mix of his campaign slogan and the rallying cry for the United Farm Workers in the 1970s and pro immigration marches two years ago.

Obama Is counting on the immigration issue to draw Hispanics from Clinton. In their last debate, he said issuing licenses to immigrants is “the right thing to do,” though unpopular among most of the public.

Clinton, who initially backed such a plan in New York, then reversed course, said immigrants should be eligible for licenses only after gaining legal status—paying a fine, learning English and meeting other requirements that were part of a failed immigration reform package in the Senate.

Some pollsters say Hispanics’ positive view of her husband’s presidency provide the incentive to pick her over a newcomer.

Polls show Clinton ahead by more than 20 points among California Latinos and an even bigger m argin in New Yorh City. Obama may have been sparked to pay more attention after the Nevada caucus, where he lost among Hispanics even though he had been endorsed by the culinary workers union.

Both campaigns launched Spanish-ianguage ads at the end of January in Super Tuesday states.

Clinton’s campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, is a Latina, as is Obama’s national campaign chairwoman, union leader Maria Elena Durazo. Clinton has a popular director of Hispanic communications, Fabiola Rodríguez-Ciampoli, and long ago launched a Web site in Spanish. On Feb 1, she announced that Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina would be her national co-chairwoman.

Clinton has Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on her side, as well as most of the Latino Democrats in Congress, including Sen. Robert Menéndez (D-N.J.) Obama’s endorsements include, in California, state senators Gloria Romero and Gil Cedillo, as well as U.S. Reps. Xavier Becerra and Linda Sánchez.

Linda’s sister, Rep. Loretta Sánchez, has endorsed Clinton.

Obama’s endorsement by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) could help build support in the Hispanic community, especially among oldervoters. Both campaigns sought the endorsement of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who so far has remained neutral, although he did watch the Super Bowl with Hillary Clinton’s husband. Hispanic Link.

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