The California Public Banking Options Act, or Measure AB1177, sponsored by Santiago, Carrillo, Chiu, Garcia, Kalra, Lee, Ting, Wicks, Gipson, seeks the creation of BankCal which, they say, "closes the financial services gap, strengthens the economy, and ensures equitable economic recovery by providing a stable and accessible platform for underserved communities especially affected by the pandemic".
And, they say, one in two households in communities of African descent and Latinos do not have banking services such as checking or savings accounts. They state that these needs "are fundamental to financial stability.
Figures provided by BankCal on its website explain the need to pass AB1177, noting that one in four California households have no or insufficient access to personal banking services. Forty-seven percent of California households earn less than $15 an hour and are therefore unbanked.
Such is the case of 46 percent of African-American households in California that are underbanked, they say. This is in addition to 44 percent of households of people with disabilities and 41 percent of households owned by people in the Latino community.
The measure, they announce, "addresses inequities in financial services that acutely affect the communities that have been hardest hit by the pandemic and the recession: discrimination, predatory lending, evictions, and vicious spirals of debt.
BankCal provides accounts and debit cards with no fees or penalties for account management or minimum balance. A bank account where employers can directly deposit their salary, as well as obtaining financial incentives from the state, the possibility of direct debit of utility bills and donations.
With such a bank account, it is expected that the user will begin to generate income and, subsequently, be eligible to receive credit or begin to build their credit history. In addition, as a last point, he points out the importance of advising people on financial education.
In the bulletin published this March 31stThe non-profit free speech and digital rights organization, Article 19, took a stand against comments made by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during his morning conference saying that Article 19 was "supported by the foreigner" belonging to "the conservative movement".
In this regard, the NGO points out that: "What happened at the conference on March 31 is another example of a growing intolerance of criticism and uncomfortable information for the federal government. Article 19, along with the news outlet Aristegui Noticias and the digital laboratory Signa Lab of the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO), which belongs to the Jesuit University of Guadalajara, revealed "a network of cyber attacks against government critics orchestrated by the management of Notimex," headed by Sanjuana Martínez.
Article 19 considers that the president's "labels are simplistic and reflect intolerance of the work of those who seek to call power to account".
He also reminded Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that the objective of Article 19 is "the need for a free citizenry to express itself without intimidation or violence and to call those in power to account" and that this objective is based on "banners that were also part of the agenda that López Obrador raised during his presidential campaigns.
"We view with concern the way in which the president has moved away from the attributes of a democratic society," says Article 19 and reiterates, "What worries us is that Mexico is falling into the same," regarding the intolerance shown in the morning conference of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
The bulletin is signed by Santiago Corcuera, Laritza Diversent, Javier Garza Ramos, Adrián López, Adela Navarro Bello, Michael Reed Hurtado and Gabriela Warkentin. Additionally, the NGO called on the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to "verify there that there are no "foreign companies" financing their activities, but foundations and governments that support civil society projects in dozens of countries around the world".
Meanwhile, Article 19 reiterates its role in "defending journalists from harassment by the powers that be and ensuring citizens' access to public information and communication technologies free from censorship".
The recent shooting in Orange County, California, which left four people dead, including a 9-year-old boy who died in a woman's arms, adds to the chilling toll these acts have taken on the U.S. despite a COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally from the city of Fullerton, 44-year-old Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez was responsible for the massacre that took place on Wednesday where he murdered four people in cold blood, which, according to authorities, were not random.
Thus, the Fullerton Police Department stressed that the terrible events that occurred in an Orange office lot were premeditated, as the attacker locked the gates of the complex with bicycle cable locks and was armed with a gun, as well as pepper spray and handcuffs.
They also detailed that the perpetrator of the massacre, who is in critical condition in the hospital, as he was injured after the intervention of the police, was connected to the victims through business and personal ties.
Orange Police Department Lt. Jennifer Amat said that after a call came in around 5:30 p.m. reporting shots fired at a business in the 200 block of West Lincoln Avenue, officers went to the scene and after finding the doors locked, they had to open fire, which wounded the assailant.
After the shooting, police were able to cut the cable locks with special pliers to enter the compound. In the courtyard, they found a 9-year-old boy dead and a woman - who remains in a hospital in critical condition - and who hugged the little boy, it is believed, in order to save him from the bullets.
In addition, police also found three additional bodies in other spaces: a woman upstairs, a man inside an office and a woman in a different room, all shot to death.
It should be noted that the Orange Police Department is conducting the investigation into the terrible act in order to send the reports to the District Attorney's office. The perpetrator of the massacre could receive capital punishment if it is requested for this case.
The incident has become the third mass shooting in the country in the last two weeks.
According to the Armed Violence Archive, as of March 30, there were 119 mass shootings and 8 mass murders.
The number of people killed in the country due to a weapon reached, until two days ago, 10,580, of which 4,574 were due to homicide, murder or unintentional.
2021 could surpass last year's numbers
The mounting attacks suggest that this year could surpass the chilling figures recorded in 2020, which became the most violent year for guns in decades.
The Gun Violence Archive noted in its annual report that there were 43,535 gun-related deaths in the U.S. in 2020. 19,379 of those deaths were homicide, murder or unintentional, while 24,156 of them were due to suicide.
The report, released March 24, details that during the past year, in which the COVID-19 pandemic began, 611 mass shootings and 21 mass murders were reported.
The number of children aged 0-11 years who were injured by a firearm was 697, which means that 1.9 children, daily, were victims of these devices in 2020. Meanwhile, 299 were in delicate condition.
In the case of adolescents - 12 to 17 years old - the situation did not improve, since 3,061 were wounded by a weapon, 1,073 were in delicate conditions. In that sense, 8.4 young people were affected daily during one of the deadliest years in all senses.
From January 1 to March 25, 2021, the organization has registered 9,762 deaths by armed violence, 4,218 by homicide, murder or unintentional, while 5,544 have been by suicide, which reflects that the problem already marks a trend.
Thus, during the first three months of the year, 106 mass shootings and six mass murders have already been reported.
Statistics show that from 2014 to 2020, the number of gun deaths increased by 352 percent. While from 2019 to 2020 there was a rise of just under 10 percent.
And is that in 2014 there were 12 thousand 355 deaths by weapons; in 2015 there were 13 thousand 572; in 2016, 15 thousand 122; by 2017 they reached 15 thousand 718; in 2018 they dropped to 14 thousand 885; and in 2019 it reached the terrible figure of 39 thousand 532.
Joe Biden and the debate over gun use in the U.S.
According to a recent Ipsos poll of more than 500 Americans, 57 percent disapproved of President Joseph Biden's handling of gun violence in the wake of shootings across the U.S.
The survey found that two-thirds of respondents believe that reducing gun violence should be a higher priority than protecting the right to own a wide variety of weapons.
Also, by a two-to-one margin, more Americans say enacting new laws to try to reduce gun violence is the top priority right now.
In this regard, the document notes that "there is widespread agreement on this issue, with Americans of all ages, educational levels, racial or ethnic backgrounds, and from all regions.
However, he explains that just over one in three Republicans (36 percent) believe enacting new laws is the priority. Instead, 64 percent say protecting the right to own a wide variety of guns should be more important.
Here, too, there is a significant partisan divide, with more than nine out of ten Democrats in favor of enacting new laws to reduce gun violence.
A suspect in an attempted armed robbery was arrested Tuesday night after a 14-hour standoff, Redwood City police said.
That's after a man approached two others standing in the garage area of an apartment complex and demanded a drink, then grabbed a semiautomatic handgun from his waistband and pointed it at them, the local police department said.
He added that the suspect did not advance his actions when the possible victims fled.
The men attacked identified Domingo Molina, 37, in a list of photographs.
Upon learning that Molina had been seen entering a residence in the 500 block of Flynn Avenue, officers set up a perimeter and attempted to coax him out.
"After numerous failed attempts over the course of the night, the Redwood City SWAT team with the assistance of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and the San Mateo Police Department responded to the scene," police said in a statement.
Negotiators tried a variety of tactics to convince Molina to come out of hiding, including requests from family members that he surrender peacefully and unarmed. Such persuasive actions continued for about 14 hours, police said.
He also explained that the Redwood City Police SWAT team deployed chemical agents to the residence and Molina surrendered after several minutes.
"After being medically evaluated for previous injuries sustained elsewhere, the suspect was booked into the county jail for attempted armed robbery, resisting arrest, possession of methamphetamine and a felony warrant," authorities said.
Therefore, the Police Department encourages anyone with information about the case to contact Redwood City Police Detective Ryan Kimber at (650) 780-7138 or the city's police tip line at (650) 780-7110.
Redwood City police identified and arrested a man who allegedly assaulted another man at a wine bar earlier this month.
Aldo Medina Valenzuela was arrested in connection with the attack, which was reported at 2:18 a.m. March 15 at 840 Wine Bar & Cocktail Lounge on Brewster Avenue.
Officers responded and found a man unconscious with head injuries and learned he had been attacked by a group that had been drinking at the bar. The victim was punched and fell to the ground, then kicked and punched while on the floor, according to police.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from a nearby business, which showed one of the suspects fleeing in a red Chevrolet Camaro.
Police said detectives were able to take the suspect into custody without incident last Friday after he was identified as Medina Valenzuela as he left his home in the red Camaro.
The case remains under investigation and anyone with information should call Detective Joe O'Gorman at (650) 780-7147 or (650) 780-7110.
On Tuesday, four Republican lawmakers asked Facebook, Twitter and Google to turn over any studies they've done on how their services affect children's mental health.
This follows a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittees last week, in which top company executives discussed their content moderation practices in the wake of the siege of the Capitol in January.
This was reported by Reuters news agency, which added that Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the committee's ranking Republican, asked the CEOs of the technology companies at the hearing if their firms had conducted internal research on children's mental health.
In turn, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he believed the company had conducted such research, while Twitter's Jack Dorsey said it had no such studies.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company consulted with outside experts and invested "a lot of time and effort in these areas.
Reuters said that in the letters sent to the companies on March 30, McMorris Rodgers asked for copies of any relevant internal investigations or communications, as well as information on any contractors and partners involved.
In addition, he said, the lawmakers asked for any research the companies have done on how competing products affect the mental well-being of children under 18.
The applications include Google's YouTube Kids and Facebook's Instagram, which is developing a version for under-13s.
The letter, also signed by Republicans Robert Latta, Gus Bilirakis and Morgan Griffith, asks the tech giants to respond to the petition and request for information by April 16.
After two cars were consumed by flames Saturday morning in Oakland, the owners of the cars believe it was a direct attack on them because they are members of the Asian community.
The victims are two Asian seniors - Cambodian and Chinese - in their 60s and 70s, who were awakened by flames surrounding their vehicles, and who prefer to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
The cars were parked on the street in front of their owners' house, one behind the other. However, no other vehicles were damaged.
The incident comes at a time when many Asian Americans have been targeted in the Bay Area.
The two seniors told ABC 7 News not avoid feeling that they were the target of the attack.
At the same time, they detailed that along the road where they live, there are only two houses owned by Asians, the rest belong to Latinos.
"I lose everything. My job, and now my car. I need to go back for my life," said one of those affected.
"We want peace right now. We didn't do anything wrong to people. We just want peace and to live in the United States," he added.
According to the media outlet, Abe Santos, who lives across the street from where the incidents took place, said she was afraid because she has children and her husband's vehicle was right behind the Chinese man's car, which could have caught fire if she hadn't moved it just in time.
It should be noted that Saturday's incident was handled by the Oakland Fire Department, which said that, so far, there is no evidence to confirm that it was a direct attack.
For his part, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, wrote on his Twitter account: "It is heartbreaking and horrifying. These acts of hate and bigotry have no place in California. #StopAsianHate".
U.S. The U.S. accuses Sanjuana Martínez, director of Notimex, of orchestrating attacks on journalists, in its 2020 National Report on Human Rights practices, in its chapter: Mexico.
The U.S. State Department points to Sanjuana Martinez, director of the Mexican State News Agency, Notimex, of orchestrating a series of actions that threaten freedom of expression, in its 2020 National Report on Human Rights Practices, in its chapter: Mexico.
In section 2 of the report, which is titled Respect for Civil Libertieswhich includes freedom of expression, reports that "Sanjuana Martínez Montemayor, director of Notimex, the Mexican State News Agency, ordered journalists to remove or not to publish content about certain institutions and government officials.
The above, he said, according to information from the news agency Aristegui NewsThe digital studies laboratory Signa Lab and the non-profit organization Article 19.
Regarding Internet FreedomOn May 12, Article 19 and the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) of the Jesuit University of Guadalajara published a report on the attacks against journalists orchestrated by Sanjuana Martínez, director of Notimex," the U.S. State Department said.
In that sense, it explains that "ten witnesses with direct knowledge of the Notimex newsroom told Artículo 19 about the existence of a WhatsApp chat called "The Avengers N"."
That chat, he said, "was used by agency executives, at the behest of Sanjuana Martinez, to order journalists to create fake Twitter accounts and post messages against voices critical of Notimex's leadership."
The document details that "Sanjuana Martinez ordered her collaborators to attack prominent Mexican journalists who questioned the appointment of Sanjuana Martinez as director of the state news agency".
In view of this, the organization "Article 19 pointed out that the attacks were very serious and put the lives and careers of the journalists at risk".
It should be noted that Notimex, which is now on strike, has been involved in various controversies due to the actions of Sanjuana Martínez Montemayor, as workers of the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de Notimex -SutNotimex- have pointed out on several occasions that the director of the agency dismissed several workers in an irregular manner, in addition to having closed the offices of Mexico's correspondents abroad.
The Mexican State News Agency has been on strike since February 2020, where dozens of workers are suffering from the inclemencies and ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The document issued Tuesday also notes that the Mexican government did not restrict or disrupt Internet access, nor did it block or filter online content.
However, he pointed out that the report Freedom on the Net by Freedom House of 2019 classified Mexico's Internet as "partially free," and noted concerns about online manipulation tactics, high levels of violence against digital reporters, and investigations surrounding abusive surveillance practices.
Similarly, he said the report noted that political supporters launched campaigns on social networks against journalists who criticized the daily live press conferences of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
While "a trend on social media also saw public officials blocking critical journalists and media from following their social media accounts."
People in the Asian community in San Mateo County said they are more afraid of racism than of the COVID-19 pandemic because of the various attacks they have suffered throughout the pandemic, which, far from abating, have steadily increased, especially in the Bay Area.
In response, county authorities such as District Attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe and Sheriff Carlos Bolaños expressed their condemnation and repudiation of the attacks experienced by the Asian community across the country, but especially those registered in the community they seek to protect.
"One of the most important things we're trying to do is, especially now, in light of what's been happening over the last few months, to get the information out to get people talking and reporting what's going on," he said during a virtual meeting to address the attacks and the issue that means for the safety of hundreds of citizens.
The official explained that one of the big gaps that exist for the authorities to take action on the matter is that people do not report the acts, so he called on the community to approach the Sheriff's Office to work together and stop the attacks.
"What we are going to do is, when the Sherrif's Office sends these types of cases to us, we are going to prosecute them. There is absolutely no room for leniency," he said.
In that sense, he explained that he is already in dialogue with other Bay Area District Attorneys to join forces and prevent these types of attacks from occurring, and said they will join forces with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations to promote complaints, and that this will lead to tougher laws on the matter.
For his part, Sheriff Bolaños pointed out that hate crimes will never be tolerated in San Mateo County. However, in 2020 alone, and according to one of his investigations, such crimes reached nine, a figure that while he said is not as high as neighboring counties, there should not have to be a single case.
"We know this is a crime that is very under-reported. Most people don't report these crimes, and doing so is vitally important. It doesn't matter how small the hate incidents are. Hate incidents can turn into hate crimes, and we want to know about them and document them, and we want to work with the District Attorney's Office to prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law," he said.
He added that unlike other counties, San Mateo has the resources to ensure that every hate incident or hate crime is fully investigated. "We also have a District Attorney who is compassionate, but we hold criminals accountable here in San Mateo County. If you commit a felony, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will spend time in my correctional facilities."
He reminded those who need support with incidents of this type or who are witnesses to such incidents to call 9-1-1, as the county has more than 800 employees, as well as staff who speak several languages to handle any call.
"We make sure we have staff in our areas where there are people from a certain demographic who can speak that language and we recognize that it's important," he added.
He also noted that the Sheriff's Office is maintaining high visibility of officers in areas where there are a large number of Asian businesses, "so they know we're there to protect them and we're there for them."
According to Russell M. Jeung, PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, so far, of the 3,800 incidents against the Asian community nationwide, about 300 have been in the Bay Area, and of those, in 2020 alone, 120 were in San Mateo County, which is just over a third of the total in the area.
According to Jeung, among the most common incidents against Asian Americans are microaggressions, verbal harassment, and avoidance of contact, however, vandalism is among the most commonly reported attacks.
During a virtual meeting held this past Saturday, the expert highlighted that the places where the greatest number of Asians receive attacks are in various businesses -34.2 percent-, on the street -25.6 percent-, on the Internet -12.8 percent-, on their property -12.0 percent-, in traffic -5.1 percent-, and parks and schools -4.3 percent each-.
"We just did a study where we asked people in the community what was their stressor right now? And there was a mumbling response. They said they're more afraid of racism than they are of the pandemic, which has killed more than half a million people," he said.
In that sense, he pointed out that the Asian American community is the only one that lives more worried about racism and xenophobia than about the COVID-19 pandemic itself, which makes them live in a state of constant anxiety and fear, especially for those who cannot defend themselves, the elderly.
And, he said, it no longer matters much the ethnic origin of the people, since it is enough to have oriental features to be a victim of hate attacks that derived from the belief that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was their fault, as well as spreading it around the world.
However, Jeung explained that Asian American youth in San Mateo County are more aware and likely to report the large amount of bullying and harassment the community experiences through the website www.stopaapihate.org .
While the number of those reporting incidents is not yet large, it is expected to increase and allow local law enforcement to help stop the harassment and incidents against a community that has undoubtedly contributed much to San Mateo County.
