By Megan Burks
KPBS Snags Former Voice of San Diego Reporter
Adrian Florido announced yesterday he’s joining the news staff at KPBS. He’ll report for Fronteras: The Changing America Desk, which collects stories from public radio stations about immigration and life in border cities.
Florido was laid off last week from voiceofsandiego.org, a Speak City Heights partner. His reporting for the news website often appeared on www.SpeakCityHeights.org. Yesterday’s announcement means it will continue to be featured here: KPBS is also a partner.
“Looking forward to keep telling stories from San Diego’s overlooked communities, and now the border,” Florido said on Twitter.
Follow Fronteras: The Changing America Desk @fronterasdesk.
The AjA Project Needs Your Help for Mini Park Mural
Speak City Heights partner The AjA Project will unveil a large-scale mosaic mural at the City Heights Square Mini Park. Price Charities commissioned the project that will consist of more 1,300 custom printed tiles depicting the photos residents of both the past and present.
To collect photos, The AjA Project will be holding a photo-scanning event 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the City Heights Weingart Library. Community members will have the chance to contribute to the mural by bringing family portraits and photo representations of the many cultures and traditions of City Heights. The photos will be scanned, added to the photo database and returned to their owners that day.
Follow The AjA Project @AjAProject.
Los Angeles Neighborhood and City Heights Have A Lot in Common
The Huffington Post featured an article from the youth-run newspaper Boyle Heights Beat Wednesday. The newspaper reports on community health in Boyle Heights, a Los Angeles neighborhood selected as a California Endowment Building Healthy Communities grantee.
The article traces Boyle Heights residents’ struggle to reclaim their streets from violence and crime.
“Overhearing gunshots and police helicopters was routine, day and night. Streets were overrun with drug dealers and buildings sprayed with graffiti. Residents worried about getting caught in gang crossfire or finding dead bodies in the alleys.”
Like City Heights, crime has subsided and fears have calmed in recent years. But there is still much to be done, including stamping out remaining gang activity and building trust between the immigrant community and its police officers.
Follow Boyle Heights Beat @boyleheightsbt.
Tracing an ‘Epidemic of Expulsions’
The Center for Public Integrity published an article this week on California’s harsh school discipline measures, which disproportionately affect students of color. Many say they go too far, setting kids on a path toward dropping out and becoming incarcerated.
The article zeroes in on Kern County, where school expulsion rates are high. Schools there were responsible for 14 percent of expulsions in the state last year, despite educating just 3 percent of the state’s kids.
The author uses the case of a little boy who “slapped a girl on the buttock, then ran away laughing” to illustrate how severe punishment can be. Under the school’s discipline model, he was alleged of sexual battery and obscenity.
“This, on his record, puts him right up there next to the kid who raped somebody behind the backstop,” said the boy’s lawyer.
The article features expulsion data for all California counties. San Diego County schools more often suspend students for non-serious, non-violent offenses.
Follow The Center for Public Integrity @iWatch.