Compiled by the El Reporero’s staff
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA – Sempra Energy, parent company of Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas and Electric, has reached a landmark consumer protection settlement with The Greenlining Institute and other consumer groups, announced the Greenlining Institute.
The settlement gives additional protections to low-income and recessionbattered consumers facing shut-off of their electricity and gas service – protections that go beyond those ordered by the California Public Utilities Commission in July.
In the settlement, which still requires CPUC approval, Sempra has agreed to send customers facing shut-off of their gas or electricity notices in a variety of languages warning, “You are at risk for disconnection. We can help. You may be eligible for a payment plan.
Please call [appropriate number for language].” In addition, if the rate of shutoffs exceeds a designated threshold level, additional requirements regarding payment plans and further limits on deposits that can be required for customers seeking reinstatement of service are triggered.
The SFAC and the DPW to sponsor a mobile free wall activity at Sunday streets
SAN FRANCISCO – Building on the success of the StreetSmARTs program, which pairs urban artists with private property owners to create vibrant murals, the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and the Department of Public Works (DPW) have joined forces again to launch a Mobile Free Wall Activity pilot program.
Debuting on Sept. 19, 2010 at the Sunday Streets event in the Western Addition, the program provides temporary free areas where urban artists can ply their skills. Notable urban artists will oversee Free Wall Activities to facilitate crowd participation. The activity is open to community members of all art backgrounds and levels. Artists and the public are encouraged to stop by the Free Wall and participate throughout the Sunday Streets event, which lasts from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The next activity takes place at the upcoming Sunday Streets event on Sunday, October 24 in the Civic Center and Tenderloin neighborhoods.
Students pave new teaching career path in gang prevention program
(Hayward, CA) – Thanks to a new program, more than 50 at-risk East Bay students have taken a detour away from gang life and embarked on a path at Chabot College toward teacher education and training–improving their own lives, the lives of their future students, and the quality of life in their communities. Chabot College and key community partners form one of six groups in the state recently awarded a grant for Career Pathway Partnerships-a program to get at-risk youth away from gangs, into college, and onto a path toward teaching and service.
The Governor’s California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) initiative has awarded the $490,125 grant to Davis Street Family Resource Center to launch the East Bay Teacher Pathway Program (EBTP) as a positive alternative to gang life for at-risk young adults ages 17 to 24.
The Chabot College career pathway program has a strong STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) emphasis, noted Tram VoKumamoto, dean of math and science.
“To increase student success and strengthen the math and science knowledge of future K-8 teachers, we have created a two-and-a-half year teacher preparation program that will help students earn an Associate in Arts degree and transfer to a four-year university,” explained Vo-Kumamoto.
