March 21, 2006 Honorable Mitch Ward Mayor, Manhattan Beach 1400 Highland Ave. Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 Re: Renaming Parque Culiacan to Bruces’ Beach Dear Mayor Ward: We urge you to rename Parque Culiacan to Bruces’ Beach Park to commemorate and honor the civil rights legacy of Charles and Willa Bruce and the Bruce family. Mr. [...]

Press Statement Regarding the Passing of Marco Antonio Firebaugh Los Angeles, CA- Marco Antonio Firebaugh, 39, former California Assembly Majority Floor Leader and Chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus passed away this morning at approximately 7:15 a.m. at UCLA Medical Center. Doctors attributed the cause of death to influenza and liver failure.

The failure of the negotiations over the infrastructure bond in Sacramento is bad for urban parks, for revitalizing communities, and for the children of California, but the struggle is not over. We can and will continue to build diverse alliances to fight for urban park funds to be distributed fairly among all communities. The Senate [...]

Lawmakers, governor ‘close’ to bond deal; Senate meets tonight By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer Last Updated 7:53 pm PST Thursday, March 9, 2006 SACRAMENTO (AP) – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders on Thursday scrambled to try to put together a massive public works bond deal in time to make the June ballot. “We [...]

From Times Staff and Wire Reports March, 10 2006 The president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, one of the nation’s leading Latino advocacy groups, announced her resignation Thursday. Ann Marie Tillman, 42, an attorney formerly with Fannie Mae, has been at MALDEF for a decade, serving as its [...]

From the Los Angeles Times Mayor Backs More Urban Parks By Duke Helfand Times Staff Writer “Children of color have the least access to parks,” said Robert Garcia, executive director of the Center for Law in the Public Interest. “These are the children who need the parks the most but have them the least.” Garcia [...]

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a diverse network of urban park and natural resources stakeholders will hold a press conference to support significant funding for urban communities in any infrastructure bonds. Legislators are scrambling to meet the March 10 deadline for placing an infrastructure package on the June ballot. Please make every effort to join us [...]

ASSOCIATED PRESS 6:01 a.m. March 1, 2006 SACRAMENTO – California voters favor by more than a 2-1 margin Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to put a series of bond measures on the ballot over the next nine years to pay for infrastructure improvements, according to a new statewide poll. But they oppose the governor’s plan to [...]

Los Angeles Times By Teresa Watanabe Times Staff Writer March 1, 2006 Wading back into the growing debate over illegal immigration, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on Tuesday denounced what he called “hysterical” anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping California and the nation. In an interview on the eve of Ash Wednesday, Mahony said he planned to use the [...]

The Center supports significant funding for urban parks in any infrastructure bond this year and beyond as part of a comprehensive plan to promote economic, environmental, and equitable development for all, and making sure that underserved communities receive their fair share of those public benefits. Los Angeles City Councilmembers Ed Reyes and Tom LaBonge have [...]