Council District 1 elections coming March 3rd. Consider.

As we head into 2009, City elections set for March 3rd will decide council offices in the odd-numbered districts up for election for another 4-year term (The even-numbered Districts will be up for election in two more years). Guess what? Lincoln Heights is in Council District 1 ("CD-1").

CD-1 Council Member ("CM"), Ed Reyes, is running for a 3rd term with only one opponent, Jesus Rosas, having qualified to be on the ballot so he's certainly pleased. The lack of any challenge to what City Hall routinely does is disheartening. Occasionally, the ire of the community is raised as with the aborted "Las Villas" project that would have put a restaurant and banquet facility on the site that was occupied by the Rose Eye Clinic. The biggest objection was made based on the intention to have alcohol served in the restaurant. Many opponents likened this condition to having a liquor store added to the neighborhood and scenarios of doom and disaster for residents and students were some of the extreme levels to which the discussion was taken.

The site is now a dirt lot across the street from the LHS on Thomas St. and North Broadway. CM Reyes resisted for a while, considering an addition to the business element of Lincoln Heights would be economically beneficial. Finally, the continued protests forced Reyes to reconsider the whole thing, and he relented in his support and the project ended. This was about as close as Reyes has come to being challenged while in office.

City elections largely demonstrate an historic apathy, with often only 1/4 or less of the registered voters participating in the city elections. The city council ran through two deceptive measures that pulled in the desired result in 2007. One total lie was the "term limits" proposition that really was a"term extension" ploy, connected with the "ethics reform." The Council supported this wholeheartedly- who do you think put it together? The result was to fool the voters to think that "ethics in government" were being somehow monitored and enforced. The reality was that the second of the two-fold purpose of this measure had the purpose of changing the term limits from two-term to add one more, for a total maximum of THREE-terms. That was played DOWN to a whisper level, lest anyone understand the true reason for creating the ballot measure.

The ethics part of the measure was another irony. What ethics are demonstrated by a council that intentionally misleads the voters? The called for in the ethics part of the measure had little useful effect, just a little re-shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic. But it did serve the purpose of camouflaging the term extension as it was designed to do.

Our city council, including the CD-1 representative, Ed Reyes, pushed another measure that was called a "10 % tax reduction of the phone tax." That was another completely dishonest move in intent, although not in math.

The City had a 10 percent tax on all phone service in the city. There was a court challenge to the City's tax because the federal enabling regulations relied upon for collecting this tax had recently ceased, but the City kept it's tax collection running. The court case was pending a decision that was very clearly heading to a decision that would declare the tax illegal and bar the City from collecting the 10 percent tax or any tax.

The "deal" that lured voters was a "reduction of 10 percent" of the phone tax. It would change from a "10% tax" to a "9% tax" and that IS "ten-percent." Sounds good? What's the catch? If the voters had simply all stayed home, or voted "NO" to the measure, the anticipated court decision would have invalidated the tax completely- you would have a "Zero" tax, reducing it "100%"; and the end of that tax altogether.

The Council saw this outcome clearly and quickly moved to create the measure to ENACT a tax by "voter approval." Such "voter" approval WOULD legally be the authorization needed to take the place of the federal provisions that were ended and no longer available to support the continuing 10-percent city tax. A "NO" on this measure would have meant what? It changes it all. The existing tax would have been ruled invalid and the City would be missing that money- and all politicians live to handle and disperse money, the more the better. We can examine to whom it goes at another time.

Now that the tax measure was voted on and approved, there is a NEW city tax put into place that collects 9% instead of 0%, NOT a good deal. Oh, and they didn't make the other parts of this very clear, but the measure not only created the 9% tax for phone service, it extended the City's authority to tax other aspects of phone usage including Internet activities. Proponents say that won't happen but they could not give a good reason for putting it there. If they did not intend to have it ready to be used and create more tax opportunities for the City, then why put it there?

All this is the City government that Reyes is part and parcel of and it's too bad that there is only one challenger to run for that office to represent CD-1, or any CD in an ethical manner. Both measures were supported by all CMs as you will find no comments by them as I have presented to show the "OTHER SIDE" that they did not want to reveal. That is not honesty, but whatever you want to call it, that IS what we have now.

One more week of classes for Lincoln High in 2008

Only more week in 2008 until classes end for the year at Lincoln and the 3-week Christmas (or, officially, "Winter") break begins, with a return date of Monday, January 12, 2009. As December arrived, the Lincoln High Alumni Association ("LHAA") provided the school with a gift of a Christmas tree to decorate and create a more festive school setting in celebration of the holiday season. Alumnus Marco Robles deserves much credit on his personal effort and involvement needed to obtain the tree and deliver it to its Lincoln High destination this year on behalf of the LHAA.

Christmas is coming. What to give Lincoln Heights? Try a parade.

The Lincoln High Alumni Association will be among the entrants in this Sunday's "Lincoln Heights Christmas Parade" that begins at 11 a.m. The alumni intending to participate were sent an email from the Association this week.

In case you did not receive the email and want to be part of this entry, what you should know is that alumni parade participants are asked to show up at the formation area at the DMV offices at Lincoln Park Avenue and Mission by 10 a.m. They will follow the cheer leaders and the school band. Participating alumni are asked to wear school colors and comfortable shoes. You can get any further information on that entry directly by contacting the Alumni Association through it's website.

The Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council's own announcement provides some additional details on the parade. From that web posting:

"At the end, there will be a celebration for the whole community in the
parking lot behind the Bank of America with Santa, snow, Christmas gifts, music
and food for all. Thousands of spectators are expected to crowd along the Parade
route. For over two hours they will be treated to a seemingly endless line of
colorful drill teams, dance groups, bands, classic cars, dignitaries and large
and small floats. The Miss Taiwan entry will grace an antique fire truck from
Fire Station #1."

The Christmas Parade announcer will be LHS teacher, Mark Shapiro, as noted in an earlier posting on this blog. He will be delivering the play-by-play on the parade from Griffin Avenue and North Broadway, making the adjustment from his regular duty as Lincoln High School's Football home games announcer. Now you have the location and you know his work, so get there early to find a spot to hear the Shapiro touch, a truly unique experience.

I am glad to see that the "Christmas Parade" is still called that and not a "Holiday Parade"which sounds so cheesy and yielding to political correctness. If there is a federal and a state holiday for Christmas, there should not be any hand-wringing over the title of a parade that comes once a year with most entries themed with Christmas decorations and Santa Claus as the big ending. Ho, Ho, Ho.

LAUSD makes it official- Brewer's Bought Out and Off

Well, there goes another page into the LAUSD scrapbook of economic fiascos and waste and abuse. This story continues with the saga of the LAUSD's search for salvation and relates to my comments from yesterday's posting here. "$517,500-plus buyout OKd for L.A. schools chief David Brewer," LA TIMES, 12-10-08 http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-laschools-brewer10-2008dec10,0,3316108,full.story


Another not-to-shrewd maneuver to cut the losses will make David Brewer an "Ex-superintendent" come January 31, 2009. And at the bargain price of only $517,500.00. That exit strategy was almost as notable as rivaling their sign-up of the Admiral as being a deal at $300,000.00 a year for a 4-year contract- and he doesn't even throw a decent fastball or have many RBIs for that price.


Brewer, however, did show that he could pitch some elusive curveballs during the job and even on the way out, not bad for being 62. Brewer is going out with a good boost as far as his slugging percentage goes, hitting the District hard on their final pitches and getting his own homerun, to continue with the baseball metaphors, shown very expensively in the L.A. TIMES story today:

Because the board terminated Brewer "without cause," he's entitled to
receive a buyout specified under his contract. The terms under the contract
are 18 months' salary, totaling $450,000, and his expense account over that
period, which adds $67,500. He'll also get cash for unused vacation pay, an
amount not yet calculated. Finally, he'll be eligible for health benefits
during the period covered by the buyout.

Since Brewer was given a job without any real standards to be met, what did the Board think they were going to do if "he didn't do his job satisfactorily?" Really poor vision for LAUSD - again. This is the organization that has the responsibility to work with students and standards for their performance but can't manage when it comes to their own operations.


If they had created a contract in the beginning with some measurable or objective items as even the lowliest of employees see in their own job descriptions, they might have been able to find sufficient "cause" to save the taxpayers a few dollars. But, not surprisingly, the LAUSD administration heads don't show that they care. They don't have any experience, successful experience, that is, in getting the District moving ahead. What they have in plentiful amounts is just a lot of experience in the waste of money and the abuse of the public trust.


The LA TIMES story includes comments from Kevin Reed, the District's head attorney when Brewer was hired. Reed tries to explain the difficulties involved with this mess, but the lack of foresight and planning as well as considerations of the realities of the problem they started out with should have called for more time at the hiring stage if they knew it was a difficulty. And if it was too big a risk, why take it? And why take that risk of getting an astronomically high-salaried person on-board with no experience in the task? But the LAUSD attorneys are holding the bag for that contract drafting part of the story, and now are covering their own asses. Read on in that LA TIMES story for other views.


If the problem was so difficult, what justified the Board in taking the financial risk that THIS outcome might happen? Simple. They don't HAVE to be accountable, their pay isn't affected, and life goes on for them. In terms of behavior that we often use in educating people, young and old, "There are no consequences for their actions."


How badly does LAUSD handle the operations of the District to generate an education for the "K through 12" population? I'll compare it to lending out your car to a relative for a while to get to work. You know, a simple favor. Then you get the car back and notice a few things about it like needing a wash. O.K. no big deal. Then you find a lot of dents and other body damage, noticing too, that the gas gauge is on "empty"and the engine doesn't sound right.


The example continues. On top of this, the cops come to check out a hit and run involving your car and, later, your mail brings you a lot of accumulated unpaid parking ticket notices to light up your life. So when you're at the police station you start to think about doing things differently. The LAUSD has been there and does the same over and over. What can you really expect when they have no controls? Are they just "hard core" or what?


Monica Garcia, the President of the Board, tried to salvage the situation, publicity-wise, for another day with her comments, taken below from the LA TIMES story:

In a brief appearance before reporters, Garcia took no questions and read from a
statement that echoed the concerns of Cortines. She vowed to develop a
"leadership plan," adding, "We understand that we need stability."

Well, all that is certainly reassuring, Monica. A word to the wise- Stay in school and you, too, will be able to make very insightful comments like these when the need arises. But shouldn't they have known about all of this BEFORE NOW? Oh, well. Here's another word to the wise- Better late than never.


David Brewer's comments on the state of things are just as transparent, simply being useless blather:

In a brief statement regarding the buyout, Brewer said: "No matter what
happens next, I will remain a champion for the children, teachers and staff of LAUSD."

* * *

Brewer said he recognized that the controversy over his removal had the potential to exacerbate racial tensions in the city. His departure, he added, should not be viewed through a racial prism, although he accused his opponents of pursuing political agendas to the detriment of children.

I really don't see that Brewer is sitting on any powder keg of racial tension based on what happens here to him. Brewer was pretty much an unknown to the average person in the city. If anything, it's the revelation of the details of his pay and benefits, along with the terms of his "buyout" that would inflame public opinion in this area. But he's just a player in the game that the Board runs on a daily basis, and unlike the conditions in Las Vegas, the odds are not with the house.

Will Supt. Brewer be leaving LAUSD (poorer)?

LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer has been on the job for 2 years, and was hired for a contract price of $300,000.00 per year for 4 years. There are lots of people who want him out now. What is all that about?


The Board of Education is more than anything else another political operation. They are now trying to get Mr. Brewer out for a very good reason. There has been no change seen to benefit the students, or the District. There’s nothing of an improvement in exchange for paying him to do the job. And that is a pretty hefty sum he’s getting. There is a $45,000.00 annual expense account to cover his needs, including meals, and a $3,000 a month housing allowance to go with the $300 grand a year salary. Brewer’s expense account alone is about equal to what an entry-level teacher’s annual income is.


That outcome should have been expected from the start and for the stubborn supporters of Brewer, after a year of no change, no real plan and no hope.


The LAUSD did two things that it does best, (1.) Nothing, and, (2.) Spend money for non-productive activity, also called “wasting money.”


Now, Mr. Brewer has focused on two items himself, (1.) his accomplishments as the Superintendent, which appear to be largely imaginary, and (2.) his willingness to step down from his position as the Board wants- as long as he gets his money.


You may think he’s being greedy and selfish, but his reaction is just normal behavior for politicians and he shares that quality with so many more appointed and elected officials in city, county and state government, and let’s not leave out the federal level. You have to consider that the LAUSD went out and selected Mr. Brewer for the job and worked out the deal to hire him. Why they chose him, a retired U.S. Navy admiral with no demonstrable experience in the education system to come in at a time of intense distress in the District is one question. Well, having no educational experience should have been a clue of what to expect. There was not even a real plan on what was supposed to happen, but David Brewer still says he accomplished a lot.


Ramon C. Cortines was appointed as Asst. Superintendent last Spring to help fix the LAUSD’s condition. If progress what actually happening, they would not have needed Cortines, who has to be paid well for his time, too. Mr. Cortines has much more experience so he is the one that is doing what Brewer should have been doing all along. At the tune of $300,000.00 a year, you have a lot of money going down the drain at the same time that LAUSD continues to ask for more money to operate the District. It is a District of declining enrolment and substantial construction in the face of that fact, a very contradictory situation.


Mr. Brewer was the focus of a Sunday, December 7, 2008 L.A. TIMES column by Steve Lopez (see posting of Saturday's items on this blog) that demonstrates problems with the hiring of Mr. Brewer and shows how the LAUSD Board has racked up another expensive misstep in management, all at the taxpayers expense. Nothing comes from the wallets of the politicians; nothing is taken out of the pay of any of them for any mistakes they make, no matter how big or how obvious they were. Maybe that is why this pattern of the Board should not be expected to change in the near or even distant future.


In the L.A. TIMES story today, December 9, 2008, “L.A. schools chief says he'll take buyout,” http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd9-2008dec09,0,3527514,full.story Brewer defended his performance.

“Brewer said last week he didn't understand the board's unhappiness with his
performance. He also defended his record, noting that test scores rose this year
and that voters last month passed the district's largest-ever school bond."

‘I would take those two years and match them up against anyone else in
the country,’ he had said.”

Very simply, the response should be that speaking it doesn't make it true, and any test score improvement is a change that happens unevenly throughout the District, on a school by school basis. Brewer, like any politician takes credit for anything positive that they can find whether they caused it or not. And like a true politician, Brewer will deny responsibility for the bad things that happen on his watch.

The fact that the voters approved the bond measure last month for $7 billion has really little to do with the performance of David Brewer. Did anyone pay attention to what he said when they cast their vote? Did most people even know who he is? How can he claim that dubious credit. It had more to do with the District’s campaign salesmanship that was applied right before the elections. The Board launched the deeper journey into indebtedness for taxpayers that will last them for generations to come.


Why $7 billion anyway? Because they CAN “ask” for any amount and they DID, doubling the original plan to ask for a $3.5 billion bond to cover non-specific expenses, really just money to have to spare. Bonds are not free- maybe some thought so, but they are actually expensive. The taxpayers have to pay for the loan of the money and can cost taxpayers roughly double the face value over the life of the bonds.


In fact, the LAUSD will probably also waste a good deal of this amount per their track record. Remember the new Belmont high school, over $400 million for a high school that is the most expensive one in the country, and possibly, in the world, built over an oil field and earthquake fault? Don’t forget the “Arts” high school on Grand and Cesar Chavez (formerly Sunset Blvd.) old headquarters that was delayed in completion by a year and way higher in costs than the plan, all for the benefit of a design “image” for the city in the future, not for the students or our crisis-level performance..


Some actual performance “results” in the present time would have been nice, but they don’t see that over on Beaudry, the District’s headquarters. So you have another year of students passing through the system and the school was not ready to serve any of them. It is so typical. Every year of delay on any program or other change will mean another year of 12th graders moving on without being a part of whatever good it was supposed to create. Students do not stop to wait for the improvement; and then some just dropout.


But the Belmont project was the work of an earlier Board that escaped without any blame or personal responsibility for any mismanagement (which is normal for political bodies- and also explains why they don’t really worry about making mistakes). Most people are not familiar with the glitches, expensive glitches in money and time, that happened with the “Arts” high school- another Steve Lopez column earlier in 2008 reflects on that and is available through the L.A. TIMES online.


What happened during 2007 and 2008, with the payroll system catastrophe that cost over $100 million? Read Nov. 22, 2008, Daily Breeze, “LAUSD’s Payroll Mess” and judge for yourself. http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_11091571


Mr. Brewer will be able to walk away with a lot of money no matter what, and that’s a pretty good deal since most firings for not doing what the boss wants doesn’t usually leave you with money for NOT working. So it looks like it will cost LAUSD $500,000.00 for Mr. Brewer to pack up and leave his job. Mr. Cortines looks like the one left to really do the work needed for school improvement, and Mr. Brewer’s expense accounts and housing allowance did not do anything useful for taxpayers.


One more thing, in his bid to appear to be the good guy, Brewer has cleverly shifted the talk to racial terms, and while he says he does not want things to be divisive in racial terms, HE is the one bringing that sort of characterization to the table. If he were not black but instead, every color of the rainbow, he still did not do the job that was needed to be done. I think that he relies on the tensions in LAUSD regarding racial concerns INSIDE the schools to come out ahead. Some beleaguered schools have now come to be run as charter schools, using specificly tailored approaches for the needs of the campus to solve problems. Uniforms routinely are part of the charter school differences and I think THAT change should be used in all LAUSD as a start to get some headway in straightening out things for school operations.


No, Brewer, because he is African-American, considers racial issues to be used as a shield from accountability for his game plan. It’s all a shell game and LAUSD is a player, the losing one again, to let it happen. Did they put a contract together for his employment that guaranteed him money for NOT working out? Did they add any terms to release him less expensively if they could not find progress while the District was under his responsibility? Well, if they did plan it, somebody goofed badly, again.


Some on the Board want to keep Brewer for the last 2 years of his contract- why? He’s not working out and he doesn’t appear to know how to change. The Board is to blame, too, for not getting a work plan for him to follow in order to measure up his progress against what they wanted to see, step by step, in regular intervals of time. Like I said, LAUSD has a track record, a very expensive track record.


This is another indication of a District too large to work effectively or economically. We don’t have students being educated, and we don’t have fiscal responsibility for the money that is spent to ensure it is spent wisely and not wasted. See Saturday’s story here on the LAUSD credit card waste.


If you wonder why things don’t get better, you can check out the people at the top, and not just the schools that your children and neighbor’s children attend. Board President Monica Garcia is openly aligned with Mayor Villaraigosa, who also added low-performing school to his duties, while still not attending to real city business.


Monica Garcia’s association with the Mayor is expected since she would not have won her seat without the Villaraigosa-approval.


Villaraigosa does not have a background of educational expertise, he just has a lot of money coming in from special interests to finance campaigns that function to hide lots of the revealing truth and color the lies to make them appear to be the truth. It all ends up helping everyone but the city, the schools and the students.

The Sunday Parade in Highland Park- 2008-style.

SUNDAY in Highland Park was a good day for "The Highland Park Christmas Parade," but they didn't have a "Highland Park Christmas Parade" anymore- and that is why I could not find much about anything for 2008 on the web.

Instead, they had a "Northeast Los Angeles Holiday Parade," and that certainly appeared in a lot of places on the web, as I checked it under that name after the parade. I'll get back to that later, but there were lots of entrants, many organizations and many students and schools represented.

Our own Lincoln High School was represented nicely, even if we did not have a band to include in the mix.




(If you see two frames of the same image, don't worry- they are the same; don't ask me why there's two, but one will work for video.)

December 7, 1941 "A Day That Will Live In Infamy"

Today, is Sunday December 7, 2008, A Day of Remembrance- It is almost 9 a.m. local time. In 1941, 67 years ago, at this hour for those in Hawaii, and on this December 7th date on a Sunday morning in Hawaii, two separate flights of Japanese war planes were making a suprise attack on the U.S. Navy ships anchored in Pearl Harbor, killing over 2400 Americans. At the time of the attack, there was a condition of peace existing between the U.S. and Japan.

The Japanese aircraft carriers were prepared to launch a third attack flight but did not want to spend more hours in the area and risk a loss of any of them should the U.S. ships at sea already know the location of the Japanese ships. Forturnately, none of the U.S. aircraft carriers were in the harbor that morning. The Japanese thought their attack would cripple the U.S. fighting ability to enable them to win the war but they could not get to the carriers and that was a crucial failing of their attack.

The U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressed Congress on Monday, December 8, 1941, and proclaimed December 7th, 1941 as "a day that will live in infamy." War was declared on Japan and a few days later, Germany declared war on the U.S. and World War II had begun for the U.S., lasting until 1945 when the U.S. and it's allies won over the Axis powers, Japan and Germany. Italy was earlier defeated, and it's leader, Benito Mussolini, killed by the Italian citizens.

This was the easily the most treacherous attack upon the U.S. in the 20th Century, being rivaled by the 9-11-01 Attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.


RESOURCE ITEMS

FDR's SPEECH TO CONGRESS, 12-8-41:
There is a YouTube video of Franklin D. Roosevelt's address to Congress that conveys the gravity of the situation somewhat and marks the official entry of the U.S. into war. There are several video clips of the speech, but this particular choice is a more complete version with a photo collage and some very clear audio that preserves this historical moment, giving you another example of FDR's leadership role as President. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uCGxk-v-Mc

THE ATTACK
The Pearl Harbor Attack is presented in the form of graphics, audio and timelines in a series of very informative presentations by NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC at http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ The locations and times are some points that are more readily understood in seeing them here.

It is a day for remembrance and, like so many other important moment is the history of the United States is not just forgotten by many, it is not even learned by many in the context of the nation's position in the world at that troubled time, with Germany's persecution and extermination of Jews and others under Hitler's rule, and the British struggle to resist attacks on their soil by the German Luftwaffe's pilots.

Many of the survivors of WW II have now died, and this is what Tom Brokaw has called "The Greatest Generation." It was said a few years back that WW II vets were dying at the rate of 1,000 a day, from the over 1 million that helped win the war. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357941,00.html Fox news, 5-24-08


If you know of any WW II veterans, or even people who lived through that time in history, you might see if they will talk about their war experience to record that as a verbal history. Once gone, these memories are lost forever unless recorded. The entire country worked for the U.S. victory that brought all races and ethnicities into the picture. In the U.S. we had rationing and extensive recycling to manage our effort. It was a time of universal involvement and sacrifice to allow us to reach the end of the war.

Latinos were involved in this part of history, too, at home and in combat. Their contribution could and should be explored by the rest of us with just a little attention to talking to them as, in many cases, they are are our own relatives- parents, grandparents, great grandparents, uncles and aunts, and so on. Some have experienced unbelievably horrible things, as hapens in all wars, and do not want to remember some events, but others may and will tell us so that the experiences will be remembered by the rest of us from a more personal aspect.

The month of December 1941 was not a typical time of holidays and celebration but the U.S. survived with a more unified spirit than ever before and for a time after WW II, things were peaceful.

Job Openings: "Magnet School Principal" and "Superintendent" (soon)

MORE ON LAUSD happenings:
One news story in today's LA TIMES shows that a magnet school principal used the school credit card for personal use to the tune of over $150,000.00. He was in court Friday and entered a guilty plea on the charge of misappropriation of public funds, and ordered to pay restitution of $178,00.00 to the LAUSD. And he is just ONE who got caught because of the size of loss. Misappropriation of funds by credit card usage is a very significant area of waste and fraud in LAUSD.

Philip Toyotome of Arcadia was a principal at 32nd Street/USC Performing Arts Magnet, a school near USC, according to the story. He has resigned and since been replaced. You can see the story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-principal6-2008dec06,0,3524019.story

Another report on the use of school district credit cards is mentioned in the story, and that showed there was up to $1.8 million dollars misspent each year with the cards ($1,800,000.00).

Tax dollars that are collected is where all this money comes from. Schools also add to these tax dollars occasionally with some money, a small part, being from "gifts."

A $100,000.00 gift was the source of the money given to upgrade the Lincoln High auditorium and provide some training in fine arts, including music, in the name of Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, former LHS principal and founder of the AARP ("American Association of Retired Persons"). The auditorium was re-dedicated as the "Ethel Percy Andrus Theater."

-----------------------------------

A second story today tells us that the LAUSD Board wants Supt. Brewer to step down. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd06-2008dec06,0,6988074.story The Board may just buyout the contract of Brewer. His contract is for $300,000.00 per year. LAUSD is so generous with money paid out but they have this tendency to pay out before they even know whether there's a reason to justify it. The payroll software that fouled up paychecks of employees for a year was one example, put into use when it was not really out of a beta-level of operation.

David Brewer might be a nice guy, but he's more and more looking like another LAUSD waste of money. Here's a column from Steve Lopez in the LA TIMES for tomorrow's column http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez7-2008dec07,0,877150.column If you want to see how the other half lives, check it out. This is the kind of behavior that we see too frequently in politicians and Brewer turns out to be no diferent. Expensive? Ouch.

Sandy Banks, another LA TIMES columnist has something to add about how Brewer is really not showing what your Superintendent should be about when it comes to the students. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks6-2008dec06,0,5614117.column

----------------------------------------------------------

A Concern at a Very Local Level

-----------------------------------------------------------

As an aside, at the November alumni meeting, there was a problem mentioned in the formation of a marching band at Lincoln due to the numbers of students becoming ineligible for the program because they could not keep up a "C" grade average (2.0). An Alumni Association donation for band uniforms was made but it will be a bit longer until any of them will publicly used in performance.

This is all the information that I have and if it is accurate, it is a major disappointment for a couple of reasons.

1. That condition leaves us with no band. I saw Franklin High's band at the Veteran's Day parade and it shows a lot in terms of school pride being demonstrated when they perform, as with any school's band. We don't get that element operating at Lincoln that itself could promote a better level of morale and pride like the school had in those days we might still remember. Pride in a school should be something contagious, but that means it has to start somewhere to enable it to spread. The area of music should be where it could start. Music has the property of being something that touches everyone in many ways.
2. The fact that a "C" level is just barely "average" and that it can't be met is indicative of the academic problems at Lincoln, not just in terms of student performance lagging, but in the overall attitude of students that the need to "work as well as they can" in school is something the students don't seem to adopt as a necessity for success in school life.

I hope to be able to report here soon that there is a change happening.

December, And there's the Highland Park Parade

Well, it looks like there was the long-standing 2008 Highland Park Christmas Parade that was really a hard one to find on the Internet. Lots of old stuff found for the past parades, but the 2008 Parade will be tomorrow, Sunday, at 1 PM, travelling south on Figueroa St., from Avenue 60 to Avenue 50 (or Sycamore Grove Park, nearly the same area).

This parade is much older than the Lincoln Heights parade (happening next week, Sunday at 11 a.m.) and so it has more variety and numbers of entries. I don't know what high schools have as entries but where there are parades, there are bands, drill teams, civic groups, clubs, horses, beauty pageant winners and so on.

Your access is very good from numerous driving directions- AND the Gold Line rail service that runs between Union Station and Pasadena, passes a block behind and along Figueroa St. with a "Highland Park" stop that gets you right there in the main part of the business district.

The weather looks to be very good for tomorrow. Visit if you can.

The Politician and Family Life

Former California State Assembly Speaker of the House, FABIAN NUNEZ, who was termed out of office in last few months has family concerns in news. His son was arrested the other day in Sacramento on murder charges for a killing that happened in San Diego in October.

Well, it wasn't the typical gang member, or the typical drive-by shooting, but something of an attack by Esteban Nunez, and his 3 friends, bringing out some knives and attacking some others after a party. They were all arraigned and entered "not guilty" pleas yesterday in San Diego.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-nunez5-2008dec05,0,3458565.story

So now we have some parenting issues in the news, namely, how did things come to this? There is a lot that is leading to the conclusion that the son was not the clean-cut straight-arrow type, but was into anti-social and criminal conduct. A web page shows some non-flattering images of the defendant in his relaxed state. From Latino Politics blog http://latinopoliticsblog.com/?p=392 you can see what we are talking about.

Although not the hardcore gangster type, he and his friends wear the same tatoos and talk of hurting people casually as part of the routine topics for attention. The reports in the news were that Nunez said that his father would be able to get them to apply a self-defense claim to get off, which would show the the younger Nunez is already aware of what influence a politician has or thinks he has, from a son's view. Not a good picture.

The story is on talk radio and blogs so there's a lot coming out on this but parents of supposedly civilized levels of society still don't escape having children that wind up doing some of the most uncivilized behavior possible.

"Who is to blame for things coming to this?" is really the big question. That's the big question. I don't fault Fabian Nunez completely as others do, although his particular brand of politics is shady and he is a sleezemaster in my opinion. But for a man with numerous resources, financial and otherwise, you would think he would show his boy what is the difference between right and wrong.

Maybe therein lies the problem. Politicians really have their hands full when it comes to determining right from wrong in life since they usually don't pay much attention to that in their decisional making routines. "What pays off best" has a much higher standing in their personal priorities column, all part of their political makeup. Honesty, too, is one of the rarely considered qualities for personal conduct, so how would you expect much to rub off on their children?

Maybe this is not universal, since national political figures don't seem to have as many dramatic instances of anti-social actions. I feel a little bad for Nunez since I was defending the father's position in another blog against simple claims of bad parenting, and I didn't imagine then that the kid was as much of a "dark side" fellow as he is turning out to be with every new report.

I also wrote in that blog posting that the Mayor is "wise" to keep his mouth shut on a personal matter- and then Villaraigosa blows it by saying, "He's a great boy", as reported in that same blog. I thought the mayor was getting to be more thougthful in his choice for comments- maybe at least some tact in his personal friendships, and keeping them personal. But I was dead wrong and Tony is still the same foolish ego-driven deceiver of the public trust that he ever was, using any opportunity to get his name and face in the news. All of my "benefit of the doubt" that I allowed Fabian Nunez and Tony were undeserved, it appears, and maybe there should have been some more attention given by Mom and Dad to Esteban in growing up regarding who his friends were, and what were their activities that engaged their attention.
http://latinopoliticsblog.com/2008/12/04/mayor-villaraigosa-says-that-esteban-nunez-is-a-great-kid-a-good-boy-do-you-agree/#comments

You may have gathered that I am no fan of Villaraigosa, and you would be right. I hope he's a one-termer as mayor and a disasterous one, as well (see LA WEEKLY's "All About Me Mayor" http://www.laweekly.com/2008-09-11/news/the-all-about-me-mayor ) but we will cover that later.

For now, we all know or even have personal examples of ourselves, family and friends whose kids have a problem with life, drugs, the law, people or all of it. It is a tough question of who is to blame or what should have been done to come up with a better result. Think about it. I would like to hear what opinions are, even if they are different from mine. r.g. at lhs90031@earthlink.net

December's Here: One Less Meeting, One More Parade

A few days into December and here are some things to consider from a Lincoln High view -

The December meeting of the Lincoln High Alumni Association was cancelled for the holidays by a membership vote on a motion at the last meeting (November). Hope to see you at the next meeting scheduled for January. Current membership dues are being accepted by mail, so check the Alumni Association link in the sidebar "Links to Visit" for that information or any other questions you may have on that topic.


The Lincoln Heights 2008 Christmas Parade will be coming to you this year on Sunday, December 14th, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. According to the Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council's 2008 Parade announcement. The parade route proceeds mainly on North Broadway, coming from the DMV office at Lincoln Park Avenue and Mission- and then heads "West" on North Broadway to Ave. 24- (which is so typical of L.A., heading "West" on a street that is called "North Broadway," changing to "South Broadway" when it gets to downtown at First St. or Temple).

Mr. Mark Shapiro, Lincoln High's veteran and absolutely veritable teacher, is the stated parade announcer who will be working his vocal magic again, with that same affable style he's demonstrated for years as the announcer at Lincoln's home football games. You can find him and hear his mellifluous tones emanating from the Griffin Avenue and North Broadway judging area.

I expect this parade to be a notably impressive presentation if I have read the Neighborhood Council's page correctly, where it says that they have been working on this since "January 2007." My reaction is "It better be something remarkable after putting in 2 years of work." But that could be a typo getting into their copy. I know so well that it can happen with the printed word. "Just when you think you're finished, oops." (see examples throughout this blog for proof.) The other clue to the typo angle is the the date mystery in the closing statement, "December 9 will indeed be a festive day in Lincoln Heights."

Here are a couple of photos from the 2008 Northeast Veteran's Day Parade in November that I thought I would add now.

Lincoln High Cheerleaders in Eagle Rock (above), with some well-deserved recognition to fellow classmate, Joe Galindo, LHS, Cl. of S'67 and Senior Lead Officer, LAPD, Northeast Div. (ret.) (right).

More on "Ask A Mexican," video style.

Here is video of "Ask a Mexican" Part 1- just in case you didn't feel like reading any of the material in his columns. This one gives you a sample of Gustavo Arrellano's commentary to compare against your own personal experience. It's just a sample, after all.

If you check closely, there are more clips to see at the bottom of the YouTube page, should you so desire. But not to worry, I might use them here, too, but in later entries.

LHS Professional Development Day Tuesday- "Do You Know Where Your Child Is?"

Today, Tuesday and the next two Tuesdays this month are shortened days at Lincoln High for students who will get out at 1:34 p.m., following a shortened instructional schedule for a "Professional Development Day." The teachers will stay to 3:04 p.m. with their designated activity.

So any parents of a child at LHS be "in the know" and adjust your parental supervision radar to expect an early arrival home. If your son or daughter tells you that they were staying at the library, you might want to check that to see if it was the LHS school library, an undeniably beautiful place, but with so much potential use to spare. The L.A. Public Library in Lincoln Heights, Chinatown, Cypress Park, or El Sereno might be the library of choice here, open from Noon until 8:00 p.m. today.

What is "Professional Development" anyway? Good question. It might be many things to different people, but let me give a try to describing it. Conceptually, it's to make the current teachers better ones by providing instruction or activity to advance education or performance of the teacher. Sometimes it's just to get everybody on the same page, from a District standpoint. There could be new directives from the Beaudry headquarters that have to be explicitly pronounced so that a teacher can't say they didn't know. This could be something like reinforcing- or for some schools- introducing the policies against school bullying, harassment or other aspects of school life where teachers have been known to "drop the ball." Sometimes it covers health issues of various types or the teacher's career requirements that must be met, of which there always are more.

Another area that the "Professional Development" day includes is the planning within the particular school for anything, curriculum materials and approaches taken for teaching, departmental choices in what choices the LAUSD allows to be made. It's also an opportunity for training "on-site" without having teachers take school time off to go to training sessions, thus creating a vacuum that a substitute teacher is paid to fill, at the expense of interrupting any classroom routine or momentum. It also avoids having to do after-hours training for teachers to squeeze in. The "Professional Development Day" training could be considered as a consolidation of assorted trade-offs in the operation of a school program.

Effectively, the "Professional Development Day" is where 1-1/2 hours is open to fix, fill-in, enlighten, entertain, propagandize, mystify, demean or otherwise hold a captive audience of teachers on-site for things that have any arguable level of quality or utility. In my experience, some things of relative importance will wallow in a state of neglect, while there particular areas, "pet projects," if you will, that are given the spotlight.

But the opinions of this area are mine, and they do change with the specific focus of the contents for each of these days, since some items are good ideas but many just never really get to be applied, and others matters have the LAUSD quality of "dubious value" stamped all over them. And meanwhile, even though this might look at first glance to be a teacher's break from the students, they really aren't. Teachers still have to get back to make up any teaching such shortened days might have infringed upon. But that is just my view. Some teachers look at this as part of the scheduled day that's taken into account in lesson plans and pacing, and not as a loss of classroom time, or the "instructional minutes," that seem to be less and less over time.

Again, from the parent’s standpoint, your child or children will be home early- or let's just say, they will be "out" early. Where they will be is a separate matter. And from my observations at LHS, the school library is such a good resource that is so under-utilized, first due to "hours of operation" that did not extend much past 3 p.m., AND, second, because there is just a pervasive condition of inadequate English language skills, starting with reading itself. Most of LAUSD is pretty clearly in denial on this, not addressing the problem squarely.

Undeniably there are many students that do well and many excel. These are not the majority and these are not the students I discuss here. They will survive anyway, and that is why they also will excel. It's only the changes as to the degree of higher performance that their teachers will affect.

What I look at are the ones that DON'T have an ability to read up to grade level, and the ones who will someday get to the point where they just stop coming to school and become one of the many "Dropouts." Theses are the under-achievers and the ones that many teachers would prefer be put in someone else's class. The "problem students" or "trouble-makers" would not be the first or early picks if teachers could choose their students like two captains would choose up their softball teams on the playground. But then you don't want to make your job tougher by stacking the deck, or in this case, the classroom, with any problems if you can avoid it. It's human nature, or something of a self-preservation instinct that influences that attitude, I believe, leaving the "problem students" more firmly cast in that negative image they carry throughout the school career.

They are the "at risk" students, and the risk here is losing them altogether in the educational system. Many will be re-directed to or just accelerated on a path that includes low or no real job opportunities, criminal activity, dysfunctional family life and on and on. This is a consequence that happens from not getting even that level of education that LAUSD offers now. Of course it's a two-way street, and each student bears some responsibility for the results, but there are ways to guide and retain students in the system that improve the conditions instead of making "dropping out" the eventual outcome.

That eventuality is something that LAUSD cannot explain, but their highly touted, or should I say, highly self-touted, "A-G" curriculum that replaced all, or nearly all, of the on-campus vocational opportunities has something to do with it. The P.E. requirement reduction to 2 years out of the 4 years of high school also hurts both the students' performance and their health. Also affected by this minimal P.E. requirement but maybe not so obviously, is the school sports programs of today. The ones that still survive suffer from lack of involvement that the 4-year P.E. requirement created. Many students of old thought of going out for a sport instead of just taking the regular P.E. class that they would have to take anyway. There was more money, too, for handling sports programs, but the interest today is not as widespread as before, but the students who participate do so as intently as did any of their predecessors of days gone by. Everything that keeps a student in school and involved is something that should be viewed as a "positive" factor and should be enhanced, not reduced.

Until that realization happens, too many of your 9th graders entering Lincoln won't make the 4 years trip to their Graduation Day, regardless of how loudly LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia proclaims, "We will have a 100% graduation rate." Keep beating that drum, Ms. Garcia, and the only thing that you will do is lose your hearing, your vision apparently is already affected. There has not been ever an LAUSD 100% graduation rate, to my knowledge. Even during the Vietnam War era, when student deferments- based on being enrolled in school- were clung to tenaciously as a way to avoid being drafted, we still had a dropout problem.

First, maybe we should try for a 100% literacy rate- wouldn't that be something? And THAT change might lead to better graduation rates for LAUSD. Politicians are so full of themselves, and this is one instance of that, a truism, as far as I see it.

That all will be left as topics for another day here, just another regular development day on the blog, you might say.

What Questions Do You Have About "Mexicans"?

Getting back to normal after a long holiday break now, and it might be a tough day. Here's more for you, the reader, to enjoy (maybe). Besides, you need something to take your mind off the fact that Christmas will be here too, too fast to let you be as ready as you want to be.

If you are a more observant reader of items appearing on this blog, you will see that I have been making some additions as we go along on this blogospheric path. I think knowledge of your culture is something good, as well as knowing of the culture of others, but sometimes it can be downright boring if done haphazardly, So, to handle both things, I have added a link in the sidebar, "Who Would Have Thought It," that takes you to "Ask A Mexican." Keep reading.

Over the past couple of years, I have read Gustavo Arrellano's column and have heard him on the radio talking about Mexicans. "What's so special about that?" you might ask, "People are always talking about Mexicans?" Not much special, at first, but it's the type of information and views about that ethnic group so near and dear to so many of us, and to others, or maybe just "so near,' you know, "the Mexicans." You might even be one yourself. "Who Me?" you ask now. Well, were you born here in the U.S.? Born down south? How about your parents, grandparents? Neither, but you are married to one, (or would be if he asked) or Maybe Prop. 8's involved here to keep you single for now? It's all "close enough" for most purposes. Just consider that it is, so now we can move on.

To get right down to the point, Arrellano's column is called, "Ask a Mexican," and he gives answers to the questions that may have lingered in your mind yourself but really didn't think much to find out more. To some he might be considered "threatening," as representing "them," that growing "minority group." To others, he might be viewed as spreading racist views in looking for the simple all-purpose answers to some complex questions about people (Mexicans). Read a little of his columns and you will get the idea.

I think he's got some interesting opinions with some actual information to base them on and most of the time it's either humorous or just plain funny, as well. And one other thing- he doesn't lump all Latinos as "Mexicans," which, no doubt most of you "Mexicans" know what I mean. "A Mexican hit my car," or "The Mexicans like those kinds of jobs," are convenient things to say when the truth is that it could be other Latinos, Salvadorenos, Guatemalans, even Cubans, and so on. "Mexicans" just carries the right "punch" and nothing else sounds right for that phrasing.

Nothing really substitutes for the word "Mexicans" when you're throwing out those epithets and accusations; try making the substitutions yourself. You may be technically accurate in such re-phrasing in identifying the ethnic group but it somehow does not roll off the tongue so smoothly and does not pack that crisp verbal impact that you get with "Mexicans."

O.K., enough "diversity" talk for now on this page. Read more, go to "Ask A Mexican's" columns in the "Who Would Have Thought It" sidebar links and consider that you didn't even have to study much to learn some things about culture. L.A. WEEKLY carries his column now, as does the original paper, the O.C. WEEKLY. And remember, just in case you are not clear on this session's discussion, this topic is within the "lighter side of life" things included in this blog.

Shopping Moves For A Movin' Shopper

Has the Christmas shopping got you down? Do you wonder what you might do in long lines that would pass the time less painfully? Are people telling you that you need to execrcise more these days?

But more importantly, does the store music hit the spot for you?- You might be in Super-A, hearing the familiar oldies while waiting for the line to move and just need to express yourself.

This tune, "Goin' to A 'go-go" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, might lighten things up for you- It did for this shopper who was not shy at all. (But sometimes shy could be a good thing. You can decide.)

Having a Happy Thanksgiving (celebration) in Claremont

Thanksgiving for kindergartners in Claremont

Do you remember these holiday times in elementary school where the origins of the holiday were often presented in class activities and performances as plays? Well, doing things like that might get up a little controversy, maybe a lot of controversy. In days of old, or older days for some, or maybe, not too old days for others of you, WE did those things and we learned, in the old hands-on learining style that gets us into the subject so that we can understand it better..

Over in Claremont, there were these two elementary schools, Condit and Mountain View, that had a decades-old tradition of having kindergarten students dress up as Pilgrims and Indians, all coming together for the Thanksgiving feast. The students would alternate by years, with one school taking the role of Indians and the other being the Pilgrims. The students walked over from one school to the other for the festivities.

This got one of the parents, Michelle Raheja, to object with a claim that this whole process was demeaning to American Indians and was racist. The parent an English professor at UC Riverside and objected to this. The school board met last week and heard from both sides on this, deciding to allow the festivities but no costumes for the kids. This all is too much political correctness that happens to dampen lots of things from the way we had seen in the past. Do you see Cinco de Mayo celebrations cut out the costumes because they are not “authentic” representations or racist? I haven’t heard that.

The history of Thanksgiving is of peace and sharing, and the idea that this is about genocide, racism and false events is simply bogus. The conflicts between the settlers and American Indians were not same as what the Thanksgiving celebration was all about. All things were not hostile and should not be assumed to have been so. The real haters in my view are the purveyors of dissension and hate who seek to "uncover" as politically incorrect whatever they decide impinges on their view of society, past and present.

Learning about the history that make up our culture comes to kids in representations for the sake of simplicity; something age-appropriate, and those more detailed history books come later. But some people use the events to raise their personal agenda issues, loudly objecting in their protest to whatever falls within their view. This is one of those cases.


The parents decided to go ahead with the childrens' festivities and have the kids wear Pilgrim and Indian costumes they made, and the officials did not interfere. People protested that to some degree, but it was pretty peaceful. After all, these are kindergarten kids enjoying the holiday with a completely positive feeling, not one of the holidays based on a sad event. A lot of people look to things to find whatever they disagree with and call it racism or something that it is not. The personal agendas of a few in this case almost took away an enjoyable experience.

The parents decided to keep their kids home from school today to send their message to the Board. The district gets money based on an ADA, Average Daily Attendance, and it is affected by absences. Parents were of the opinion that the Board might consider money being more important than words as the parents’ response to the decision of the Board. I normally object to students missing school as a form of protest, but for kindergarten, the day is a short one and a pre-holiday early day off for a young kid is not pivotal to gaining an education, where it might be productive for older students. I will say one thing that this certainly shows, and that is parent-involvement.

You can read more on this with a Google “Claremont, thanksgiving, kindergarten” or such to search to find the several stories, with details on more of the objections and the responses. Objectors even tried to make comparison of the event to Jews having a celebration with Nazis, so you can see the extremes to which the opinions ranaged.

For one source of an historical perspective See Nathaniel Filbrick, “Mayflower,” (Description: http://www.nathanielphilbrick.com/mayflower/index.html ) for a view of the details of the time.

This book, like so many other books, is at the L.A. Public Library [Call No. 974.4 P545] so you don’t have to buy to read for two weeks at a time; the borrower cards are issued free with some lightweight proof of being a city resident.) The web site is a wealth of information and searches as well as requests for books to be sent to your local branch for pick up is a helpful service provided online.

Dodgers have ups and down, but Vin Scully is always a hit.

Vin Scully was honored last Friday by the Pacific Pioneers Broadcasters. Scully has been bringing the word picture of the DODGERS games to the listeners in Los Angeles, mainly on radio, but on t.v., too, ever since 1958, when they came here from Brooklyn, N.Y. He also has done excellent jobs announcing NFL Football and PGA Golf, too.

There's a feature item in today's laradio.com website, with Don Barrett, site creator, covering that lucheon event. He presents a lot of information that the average listener may not even have heard about before. Several other notable figures in sports, radio and news were there to give comments about the honoree, Vin Scully, and Vinny also has some good stories to tell. Check this out at www.laradio.com that is offered free for the month of NOVEMBER (see the "link" in the left sidebar here).

There are only a few more days left and then it goes back to being the subscription website. The website contains 11 years of archives of the past columns that you can check through meanwhile, and, subscribe for a relatively low price yearly price and monthly, if you feel that' better. If you compare the plans offered to a lot of other things, it's not a bad deal. Today's stories are the kinds of things you won't find elsewhere, and it's a fresh edition Monday through Friday at 7 a.m.

A "Heads up" on a couple of things

There are a few items for your information here, especially useful to know if you are a parent home on Wednesday, or getting home early that day and thought you might get a some extra rest before Thanksgiving Day. Be advised. This is the customary "minimum day" that means your child or children at Lincoln High will be getting out of school at 12:24 p.m.

If you happen to have very ambitious children who have that wonderlust spirit, this news might help you to manage a little closer attention to those parental responsibilities. For some students, getting an early start on vacation just gets them home sooner to help or just lounge around. For others, more free time could just be more uninvolved or undirected time for them to find a way that makes their day more interesting. Sometimes they are invovled in productive things, and sometimes the choice is more things that may include bad decisions of assorted types. Just something to think about while you still have an influence and before time passes you by on these situations.

But for teachers, the short school day allows an early out that helps those who did not already manage to use any other reason to head out sooner for the holiday travel. Even teachers for just going home, as usual , the short day is welcome. They might get a break in their daily trip since there are more teachers who have longer commutes than did the teachers of my Lincoln years, and there are a few more cars on the freeway now, too, if you have noticed.

Second "heads up" announcement- more time allowed here, though, is that Representative Linda Sanchez, the sister of Representative Loretta Sanchez, announced last week that she is pregnant- and, "No," she is not married. The 39-year-old elected official is not married yet, but said that she is "unofficially engaged." Usually, that phrase means "no ring, no date." The due date for her baby is May 21, 2009. Well, it looks like unplanned pregnancies don't just happen to high school teens. Latina teens have a rate twice the national average, and teaching in high school would demonstrate that this doesn't help teens get the most of their educational opportunities.

Rep. Sanchez is an adult, and the topic is covered very well by Patt Morrison's column in the L.A. Times, http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-morrison20-2008nov20,0,2576813.column . As a role model, this one fall far short of what we would like in our elected officials (with so many being major dissappointments for other reasons).

Teen pregnancy has always been a problem, and over the years it has become worse for Latinas, while the rate has dropped for African-Americans. What changes because of teen pregnancy, anyway, or, what is the big deal? Well check a number of angles on this topic at the home page for "The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy," at http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/reports.aspx

Friday, November 22, 1963- Dallas, Texas

"Three shots were fired today at President's Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas, Texas."

YouTube audio, First Kennedy Assassination Bulletin- ABC Radio, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UHz0k3kkFw ) (1:07 min.)

Today, Saturday, November 22, 2008, marks the 45th anniversary of the day that President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Texas. Like other things in our past, a lot becomes ignored over time and the significance becomes lost, with our young people becoming more and more ignorant of things and events that we, as witnesses to those events, would not forget. This is one of those significant dates, one that brought an end to a special life and robbed all of us of so much that he envisioned for our future.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uw2yruChK8 YouTube video on the breaking news of JFK's assassination events (from breaking the story to the rest of announcements as they progressed.) (7:20 min/sec.)

Reflections- from personal recollections of the time.

For many people like me, the whole story of this assassination of the President was something we experienced, minute by minute, something that was as stunning and incomprehensible at the time as nothing else we had experienced. For many of you younger readers who weren't born yet, you might compare what happened here with another tragic event that you should vividly remember. It was as maybe, in many ways, the kind of feeling that we had as we experienced the events of the 9-11 attack and the feelings that this tragedy left us with, lasting in various ways to now. But it still was different. It was one man, not 3,000 people killed, yet the impact was enormous.

I was still in Nightingale Jr. High and it was right before lunch time that we heard the news of the shooting and they told us that the President was taken to the hospital. The news came back almost two hours later and the announcement was made that President Kennedy died.

I did not see the television reports or hear the radio news directly until I got home and then all the stations had stopped regular programming for four days, going with continuous coverage that supplied more and more details on this unimaginable turn of events. For me, as the news gradually sunk in, I felt sadness for our loss and then, thinking of his family, for their loss.

That continuous coverage included Sunday's morning's fatal shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin, by Jack Ruby, as Oswald was being moved with detectives at his side. We were still at home getting ready for church when that happened. Jack Ruby's bullets, apparently fired to avenge the President's murder, selfishly robbed us of the opportunity to learn anything more from Oswald about the assassination.

The funeral for JFK was held on Monday after the casket bearing the President was kept in the Capitol rotunda for 24 hours while mourners filed past it to pay their respects.

Thinking back to those events still is sad for me after all these years. At that time, we were typical jr. high kids and reacted with denial and even joking around before the death was announced, since the gravity of the situation was nothing like anything ever presented to us before. And I remember we mostly all liked Kennedy a lot, so different from now. Not even President-elect Obama, as popular as he is, had that amount of admiration. So, for us being concerned with regular things of youth, you really don't want to believe that something serious could be happening as it was in this case. We found out later that the report was not a mistake when they told us he was shot and he was dead.

P.E. class was after lunch and I don't remember much detail except that the teacher said we probably would be back in school Monday. That teacher was Mr. Hodson, who said in his usual loud voice, but in an oddly quiet way, "President Kennedy would have wanted us to stay in class" or something like that. Of course, he couldn't know anything of the sort, but we just listened. He was probably trying to keep things at a low key level since the teachers must have been stunned by the news, too. Of course they were, they were adults. We were 13 and 14 years old, most of us, so what experience did we have to apply here to judge anything?

The Assassination.

President Kennedy arrived in Dallas at 9:40am Pacific Standard Time (9:40 am PST, and 11:40 am CST) and was shot while riding in a motorcade from the airport to the Dallas Trade Mart where he was to give a luncheon speech at the Dallas Trade Mart. He was 46 years old. He was the youngest person ever elected as President of the United States at 43 years of age. Only Theodore Roosevelt, at age 42, was younger when he took office after President William McKinley's assassination in 1901.

President Kennedy was riding in the Presidential limosine with the bubble top taken off, accompanied by his wife, Jackie, and the Governor of Texas, John Connelly and the Governor's wife. Governor Connelly also was shot but would recover from the wounds.

The motorcade went immediately to Parkland Hospital with the wounded President and Governor. And about an hour later, on t.v., you could see Walter Cronkite make the announcement that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was dead.

President Kennedy's official time of death was 2 pm CST (11am PST) and was announced in the news about 40 minutes later, right after the information was released..

CBS news announcement of death of JFK, Walter Cronkite reporting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CjWbemTNcw&feature=related (00:26 sec.)

The Funeral.

The funeral was held on Monday, November 25, 1963. That Monday was also the third birthday of John F. Kennedy, Jr. I remember watching the procession that went slowly from the Capitol to the Cathedral with a riderless horse ahead of the casket. I also remember when watching this on t.v. that my grandmother mentioned, in Spanish, that it was like President Roosevelt's funeral. I say here, "in Spanish," since that was all she and my grandfather spoke. We never considered why ONLY Spanish; there weren't classes everywhere like now, and many free, to learn English, but they still managed in all their years.

That recollection later reminded me of how much we lose in those memories from our own families. We don't do something as simple as write down or video record or audio tape little "interviews" on subjects to preserve things as our parents and grandparents remembered them, and a lot of it all before our time. We take much for granted until we have lost both the person and the opportunities of the moment.

I have included a link to another website that contains photos and details of the funeral that carry, in images and words, the message of loss for those days. (You can see other details and photos concerning the assassination in separate pages on this same website.) http://www.fiftiesweb.com/kennedy/kennedy-assassination-25.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More about the history of the 35th President of the United States,

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

There is a lot of material that tells us about President Kennedy, his family, the times and the assassination, that give different opinions covering many of these subjects. There was even a movie, "JFK," directed by Oliver Stone, that has been used in some schools to present its views, often taken as fact, on the assassination. The film fuels the position that there was conspiracy to kill President Kennedy and that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, did not act alone in the shooting.

The movie portrays several convincing "facts" that have not been established and remain only as opinion. Some parts of the moview are inserted as part of the story but did not happen, a criticism of other movies by Stone, with subjects including Nixon, and the Doors band. There are many people who use that movie to form their opinion as to conspiracy.

I found a good website http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkennedyJ.htm that you can scroll through to see a very readable history of President Kennedy and his related events, with links to other reference sources.

One thing that stood out as a distinguishing feature of President Kennedy was his sharp wit. He seemed to be able to respond with agility of thought and word in most situations, adding his own taste of humor in a spontaneous way that you do not see anymore.

There are some of the more polished areas of his speeches that brought us many well-remembered quotes, as well as others quotes that may not appear as familiar. A collection of John F. Kennedy Quotes can be found at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_f_kennedy.html

===========================================================

A list of "coincidences" is compiled for these two major American figures in history

It brings out a lot of coincidental things about President John F. Kennedy and President Abraham Lincoln, another president who was assassinated almost 100 years earlier- and for whom our school was named.

And sadly, Lincoln High students have generally little knowledge of our namesake, Abraham Lincoln, one of the most important of the Presidents of our country. Even more sadly, that condition is allowed to continue by the institution that should be promoting more education and using the numerous "teachable moments" presented so frequently. Bringing back more education can bring back the some of the pride that's gradually been lost at Lincoln.

-----------------------------------------------

"Now For Some Strange Facts About Abraham Lincoln's & John F. Kennedy's Assassinations"

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
*
Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
*
Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost a child while living in the White House.
*
Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.
*
Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln.
*
Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.
*
Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908
*
Both assassins were known by their three names.

*

John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.
*
Lincoln was shot at the theater named "Ford."
Kennedy was shot in a car called "Lincoln" made by "Ford."
*
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
*
Lincoln was shot in a theater and the assassin ran to a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and the assassin ran to a theater.

LHS Tigers Reach The Last Football Game For 2008

The Lincoln Tigers look they have played the last game this year for this season's roster of players. In a last matchup for 2008, last night's scoring contest resulted in Huntington Park High coming away with the 42-28 win over LHS. Congratulations are in order for this year's varsity players, the coaches and staff, who dedicated themselves in producing a "team," first of all, and giving us all a season of good football.


Thursday's City Championship first-round playoffs and Invitationals scores (partilal list):

CITY CHAMPIONSHIP

Narbonne 28, Washington 9
Birmingham 27, Garfield 15
Los Angeles Jordan 21, Fremont 12
Crenshaw 42, Wilmington Banning 6
Taft 16, Locke 8
San Fernando 27, Dorsey 19
Venice 25, Carson 20
San Pedro 34, Sylmar 3


INVITATIONAL

Arleta 42, South East 7
Huntington Park 42, Lincoln 28
Los Angeles Wilson 52, Santee 50
Fairfax 21, Reseda 17
Franklin 48, Canoga Park 3
West Adams 31, Cleveland 21
El Camino Real 35, Los Angeles Marshall 28 (OT)
Los Angeles Roosevelt 35, Jefferson 16