California’s new budget could

harm nonprofits – unless Jerry

Brown steps in

By the Editorial Board (The Sacramento Bee)

Legislation on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk threatens an important source of funding for nonprofits in California. The governor should heed a coalition of nonprofit organizations that oppose it, and use his veto pen.

Under current law, judges distribute money from settlements in class action lawsuits that goes unclaimed to nonprofit organizations that do work that is relevant to the cases. The theory is that the money, while not going to victims of whatever wrong is addressed in the litigation, will help prevent some future harm.

But as part of this year’s budget, legislators added a provision to a trailer bill that would take half of the unclaimed funds and earmark it for indigent legal services and collaborative courts such as those established for veterans or mentally ill people who run afoul of the law.

As it is, those services compete for that money with other nonprofits. Indigent services and collaborative courts are important, and deserve to be funded and expanded, but not at the expense of other worthy nonprofit organizations.

The American Civil Liberties Union backed the provision, contending that legal aid services have suffered an 80 percent reduction in state funding during the last decade, while the need for those services has increased.

While poor people ought to have access to legal aid, consider some of the nonprofits that could end up losing.

One is the Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, based in Oakland, which in 2014 and 2016 received a total of $130,000. It used that money to provide financial literacy workshops to low-income residents. A Rose Foundation report said the Oakland organization’s efforts helped eliminate almost $1.7 million in its clients’ high interest debt, clearly a worthy undertaking.

In 2015, the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative received $50,000, which it used to educate mainly low-income Asian immigrant nail salon workers about their worker safety rights. The Utility Reform Network, based in San Francisco, received $60,000 in 2015 for work to protect the privacy rights of mobile phone users.

The issue of earmarking the payments for indigent legal aid services and collaborative courts was raised during budget hearings. However, the provision was added to the trailer bill, Assembly Bill 103, late in the budget process.

The effort to alter the payment process, known as cy-press, is part of a disturbing practice in which lawmakers and governors, including Jerry Brown and his predecessors, approve policy without subjecting it to full legislative review.

Trailer bills ought to be used to implement specific aspects of the budget, not create significant policy that bypasses full legislative review.

The Legislature and the Judicial Council, which oversees the court system but wasn’t consulted on the issue, should address any shortcomings with how money from class action lawsuits has been distributed. Short of that, the Legislature should leave to judges the responsibility for overseeing how money unclaimed from class action suits is allocated.

While they’re at it, Brown and lawmakers should make sure there’s sufficient funding for indigent legal aid and collaborative courts.

NEWS RELEASE

CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS                          Contact: Steven Mendoza, Development Services Director (562) 431-3538

City of Los Alamitos Holiday Hours

4^th of July - 2017

Los Alamitos City Hall will be closed on Tuesday, July 4, 2017 in observance of the 4^th of July holiday and will reopen on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 at 7:30 AM.

·         Refuse and Recycling Collection will be delayed one day and occur on Wednesday, July 5, 2017.

·         Street sweeping will not occur.

·         City Hall:                      Closed, Tuesday, July 4^th

·         Recreation:                 Closed, Tuesday, July 4^th  ****

·         Police:                         Closed, Tuesday, July 4^th - Call (562) 594-7232 or 911 for Emergencies

·         Building & Safety:        Closed, Tuesday, July 4^th

·         Business Licensing:    On Line

****DON’T MISS THE FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR AT THE JFTB STARTING AT 4:00PM!!!****

The City of Los Alamitos is located at 3191 Katella Ave., Los Alamitos, CA  90720 and is open between 7:30 AM and 5:30 PM. Monday through Thursday; 7:30 AM and 4:00 PM Friday; and closed alternate Fridays.  For further information, you may call (562) 431-3538, ext. 300.

On behalf of the Board of Education, thank you for sending your children to our schools.  It is a privilege to work with our students, families, and community members; and, we are extremely grateful for your continued support and commitment to helping us provide unlimited possibilities now and following high school graduation.

This is our last week of school and promotion and graduation information is listed below:

Tuesday, June 13

Weaver Elementary - 9:00 am; Oak Middle School - 5:00 pm at the LAHS Track & Field

Wednesday, June 14

McAuliffe Middle School - 5:30 pm at the LAHS Track & Field

Thursday, June 15

Los Alamitos Elementary - 8:15 am; Lee and McGaugh - 8:30 am; Hopkinson and Rossmoor - 9:00 am

Los Alamitos High School - 4:00 pm at the Stub Hub Tennis Stadium

Have a fabulous summer and visit, explore, and read with your children and young people. They benefit from this and will love the extra time and attention you give them.  See links below to watch our recently produced, annual student song as well as the new, monthly show, School Stuff.  Enjoy!

http://ourtvchannel.com/school-stuff-for-may-2017/

[written by Dr. Sherry Kropp, Superintendent @ LAUSD]

World War I-era unused structures dot a portion of Fort Meade, Maryland.

Army leaders urge lawmakers to consider another round of BRAC. (Photo Credit: David Vergun)

Military.com | 13 Jun 2017 | by Amy Bushatz

Closing unneeded bases and relocating troops is the best way to make the most of limited military construction funding, a panel of top Pentagon installation officials told lawmakers Tuesday.

"We are asking for base realignment and closure funding once again this year, and that's important to us," said Peter Potochney,

the Defense Department's acting assistant secretary for energy, installations and environment. "In the end, it allows us to validate the installations that remain

so they can compete for the funding we expect in the future."

Potochney and representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps testified  at the Senate Appropriations military construction subcommittee hearing.

The Pentagon's 2018 budget request, sent to Capitol Hill last month, includes $11.9 billion for military construction and family housing, and a request to restart

a Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, Commission process to shut down unneeded bases and facilities.

Related content:

• EUCOM Gives 'Another Look' at Planned Base Closures
• BRAC: Not Easy or Cost Effective
• Living on Base: Pros and Cons

About 20 percent of the Pentagon's facilities could be closed without negative impact, John Roth, the acting budget chief, told reporters May 22.

Doing so would instead allow the department to spend construction money on upkeep of facilities that are actually needed, he said.

BRAC is a politically toxic subject, as individual lawmakers' districts stand to win and lose in the process with an increase or decrease of cash to local economies.

While findings from the proposed BRAC would not be delivered until 2021, after the 2020 elections, the Pentagon can't even analyze what the potential changes would look like without Capitol Hill's OK.

BRAC was last approved in 2005.

Low military construction funding levels over several years have resulted in a backlog for both facility maintenance and family housing upkeep, officials said.

"We have been putting ourselves in a hole," Potochney said. "This budget gets us out of the hole a little bit, or at least puts on a glide path to get out of the hole."

The Army, for example, has a $10.8 billion deferred maintenance bill, Lt. Gen. Gwendolyn Bingham, assistant chief of staff for Army Installation Management, told the subcommittee.

The service also has 161 million square feet of expensive-to-maintain excess facility capacity.

Yet only 33 million square feet of that excess can be shut down or divested without congressional approval for BRAC.

"Army installations can only be ready and resilient with adequate, predictable and sustained funding, and the authority to implement measures such as closing and realigning our resources,"

she told the committee.

The debate over whether to approve a new round of BRAC, as well as the president's baseline budget proposal of $603 billion, will likely stretch well into the fall.

A message from Amy Payne, Executive Director, Summer Harvest:

For many families in the Los Alamitos Unified School District, summer brings space for bucket lists and vacation. Yet, for 13% of our district families or roughly 1,300 children who regularly receive free or reduced lunches during the school year, summer becomes a stressful season.  Only 1 out of 8 children that receive free or reduced lunch during the school year receive any government assisted lunch over the summer months when school is not in session.  What most of us do not realize is that the percentage of free or reduced lunch families in our district is not actually high enough to meet the government’s criteria for a summer food service program. These families are caught in a gap, a gap which creates food insecurity. 

To meet this need head-on, Summer Harvest was developed with a clear vision to eliminate food insecurity for school-aged children in affluent communities where children do not qualify for government or other help programs.  As a 100% volunteer-based 501C3, our mission is to provide healthy meals to families with children on the free and reduced lunch program, during the breaks from school. This summer we will distribute groceries including staples for meal making ensuring a solid foundation of fresh fruits and vegetables. You can get involved in this program by becoming a sponsor of a grocery bag. A gift of $75 provides a bag of groceries to a family for each of our five distributions this summer. We also encourage you to come out and pack food or help with the distribution. Donate or volunteer at http://www.summerharvest.us.  We are also doing a fundraiser on June 1st at Chipotle in Seal Beach from 5 to 9pm where 50% of the proceeds go to Summer Harvest (please find the flier here). Click here to read our newsletter with more information about Summer Harvest.

If you are a family that falls in the gap and would benefit from groceries, please see the signup forms here and we encourage you to go to http://www.summerharvest.us/signup.

With each of us doing our part, no child in our district will ever have to feel insecure about their next meal. 

LONG BEACH, Ca – At 10 a.m. May 10, the VA Long Beach Medical Center was officially renamed the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in honor of Holocaust survivor and Medal of Honor Recipient, Corporal Tibor Rubin.

The ceremony took place in parking lot J and was open to the public.

“We are honored to carry the name Tibor Rubin and carry on his lifelong commitment of service to our nation”- Walt C. Dannenberg, Medical Center Director.

Congressman Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach introduced legislation to rename the medical center and it was signed into law by President Barrack Obama 16 December, 2016. 

Born to a Jewish family in Hungary, Rubin and his entire family were sent to a Nazi concentration camp in Austria during World War II.  His parents and sisters died but Rubin survived 14 months until the U.S. Army liberated his camp, inspiring him to serve. 

Immigrating to the United States, Rubin joined the U.S. Army and was attached to Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division as a rifleman, deploying in support of the Korean War.  He was designated a Medal of Honor recipient for his role in protecting his regiment while they retreated to the Pusan Perimeter.  He stood alone and protected the Taegu-Pusan road inflicting casualties on attacking forces and held his position for 24 hours, slowing enemy advance, allowing for the regiments successful withdrawal.   Later, when Rubin and fellow soldiers were taken prisoner he risked his life to sneak out of camp and gather food and medical supplies to bring back to the wounded and starving.

Rubin was a loved and cherished patient at the Long Beach VA Medical Center and received care there up until his death in December, 2015. 
The Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center is one of the most diversified health care systems in VA. Located along the Southern California coast, the facility provides comprehensive inpatient, outpatient, and extended care programs.

Source: US Department of Veterans Affairs

https://www.longbeach.va.gov/pressreleases/2017_05_10_RenamingCeremony_.asp

The Griffins from our beloved Los Alamitos High School have put together a video to share with all on YouTube please follow this link to enjoy:

https://youtu.be/ZoUf7eKN9b4

Special thanks to teachers Bob Ostmann (video), Moana Dherlin (arrangement), and Justin Padilla (recording),

and, of course, our amazing students!  

On Saturday night, our show choirs, SoundTRAX and Sound FX, placed first in their respective divisions, earning them the title of National Grand Champions at the FAME Show Choir National Finals at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago for the fourth year in a row. The grand champion choirs each won awards for best show design, best choreography and best vocals with SoundTRAX also garnering the best costume award. Sophia Wackerman and Malia Rivers were named the best female soloists of the evening, and Justin Min captured the award for best male stage presence. ABC and CBS greeted them at the airport to help capture this special moment for our Griffins. 

Director David Moellenkamp also received the Aspire Vocal Vanguard Award for excellence and innovation in directing. David's dedication to our students to provide once-in-a-lifetime opportunities inspires all of us to Ignite Unlimited Possibilities!