Political Playback: California Capitol News You Might Have Missed

Bo Tefu and Tanu Henry | California Black Media

– as well as tomorrow's – workers, preparing them to work in tandem with AI and to be ready for the jobs of the future" said Butler in a statement released Sept. 12.

That evening, the National Newspaper Publishers Association, an organization serving and representing historically Black news outlets around the country, also honored Butler for her support of Black-owned media over the years.

Butler said she is intimately aware of the critical role Black-owned newspapers have played in informing the communities they have served over the last 197 years since the first Black-owned newspaper, Freedom's Journal, was published in the United States.

"Thank you for bringing us this far. And thank you for what you will do to continue to inform our communities, making sure our voices are represented in the publishing and media space," said Butler.

At the conference, Butler also participated in a panel discussion on the Black women's maternal health crisis and delivered remarks on about Black communities gaining access to the financial sector and capital at an event hosted by The Connective Capital Consortium Braintrust.

– thousands of lives will be destroyed, and most of those lives will be Black and Brown men," said Wilson.

"We need to increase money for treatment programs that work, not make the deep cuts to drug treatment that Proposition 36 would inflict," she added.

Hilda Solis, member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, stated that Black and Brown communities need real solutions from leaders who understand the problems that people experience statewide.

"Proposition 36 is nothing but a bunch of empty promises, proposing cuts to proven treatment programs, while wasting billions of dollars on additional jail and prison spending. Incarceration strategies have proven ineffective, and treatment and jobs are better ways of addressing systemic poverty and crime," said Solis.

— especially the most digitally disadvantaged residents in low-income communities," said McPeak.

The collaborative Digital Equity Leadership Grants aim to expand the adoption of the policies and practices to accelerate progress to reduce the digital divide across the state. The grant program was created as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the CETF and the telecommunications company T-Mobile. The network company committed to public benefits in affiliation with its acquisition of Sprint in 2020. The partnership included a $5 million contribution from T-Mobile for the grant program and CETF committed over $1.1 million to the local government project.

The 36 local governments awarded $20,000 grants include are: City and County of San Francisco; City of American Canyon; City of Artesia; City of Bell Gardens; City of Bellflower; City of Brawley; City of Cathedral City; City of Citrus Heights; City of Inglewood; City of Isleton; City of Long Beach; City of Los Angeles; City of Maywood; City of Moorpark; City of Ontario; City of Palmdale; City of Placerville; City of Rosemead; City of San Diego; City of San Luis Obispo; City of Sand City; City of Santa Paula; City of South El Monte; City of West Sacramento; County of Del Norte; County of Inyo; County of Marin; County of Mono; County of Napa; County of Nevada; County of Plumas; County of San Benito; County of Sierra; County of Sonoma; Town of San Anselmo; and County of Yuba.

— and we have made them even stronger with our recent legislation," said Newsom. "We can be tough on crime while also being smart on crime — we don't need to go back to broken policies of the last century."

"Mass incarceration has been proven ineffective and is not the answer – we need true accountability and strategies that enhance our nation-leading efforts to address crime. I thank Speaker Rivas for his leadership in strengthening law enforcement tools in California," Newsom said.

After signing the new bill, Gov. Newsom announced that the state's $267 million investment in local law enforcement has produced strong results in tackling organized criminal activity. According to state data, law enforcement agencies arrested more than 6,900 suspects for retail and property crimes statewide.