L.A. City Council calls for new plan to get homeless off the streets

By | April 24th, 2015|Employment & Housing|

Signaling a more assertive approach on homelessness, five Los Angeles City Council members introduced a measure Wednesday aimed at developing a comprehensive plan for getting 23,000 transients off the streets and into housing.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times.

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Bruce Jenner and the shifting dynamics of TV’s transgender moment

By | April 24th, 2015|LGBTQ+|

The stakes are high for Bruce Jenner, who in a highly anticipated interview airing Friday night is expected to reveal to Diane Sawyer what many have long speculated — that the 1976 Olympic champion is now identifying as a transgender women.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times.

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L.A. County D.A. to create unit to review wrongful-conviction claims

By | April 23rd, 2015|Police & Community|

Citing a rise in wrongful-conviction claims by inmates, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is launching a unit of veteran prosecutors to review the integrity of past convictions, joining a small but growing number of prosecutorial agencies around the country devoting resources to identify innocent prisoners.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times.

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With smartphones everywhere, police on notice they may be caught on camera

By | April 22nd, 2015|Police & Community|

In South Gate, police had already been warned: Just expect that you might be filmed with cellphones and other cameras as you do your job.

After high-profile uses of force caught on video in places like South Carolina, New York and L.A.’s skid row, officers in the Southeast L.A. suburb had been told to take filming

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Colleges Respond to Racist Incidents as if Their Chief Worry Is Bad PR, Studies Find

By | April 21st, 2015|Education|

College administrations react to hate crimes, hate speech, and other high-profile incidents of bias by

focusing mainly on repairing their institution’s reputation, two new studies conclude.

Read more in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

 

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In Brief to Justices, Former Military Officials Support Same-Sex Marriage

By | April 20th, 2015|LGBTQ+|

WASHINGTON — The most influential friend-of-the-court brief in living memory was filed by a group of retired military officers in a 2003 affirmative action case.

When the case was argued, the justices echoed the brief’s argument that military preparedness would be threatened if service academies

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Value of Postsecondary Degree Higher Among Blacks and Hispanics

By | April 20th, 2015|Education|

When it comes to increasing the number of Americans with a college degree, the vast majority of Americans agree that the goal is important and that a postsecondary degree will be more important in the future to get a good job, a new Gallup-Lumina Foundation study has found.

Read more in Diverse Issues in Higher

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Obama’s Immigration Overhaul, Halted by Judge, Comes Before Appeals Court

By | April 17th, 2015|Immigration|

NEW ORLEANS — Justice Department lawyers on Friday will urge the federal appeals court here to let President Obama immediately move forward with his overhaul of the nation’s immigration and deportation policies, despite a legal challenge by more than half of the states.

Read more

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Fighting Homelessness, One Smartphone at a Time

By | April 14th, 2015|Employment & Housing|

Holly Leonard has been homeless on and off for years. There was a stint in jail and, more recently, a period in a women’s homeless shelter, while her husband slept in their car.

But last month, the two moved into a one-bedroom apartment in San Jose, Calif.,

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