Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words

Articles written by Nancy Kaufman


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  • Instead of Eating McDonald's Fries and Burgers, Compton Locals Lunched on Healthy Salads & Grain Bowls

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Oct 4, 2018

    Sounds of high-volume music punctuated the festive atmosphere as the eatery, Everytable, made its grand opening last Wednesday at the Compton Towne Center. Sam Polk, former Wall Street hedge fund trader, and the CEO of this new fast food model, started Everytable to "make healthy food affordable for everybody." Compton marks Everytable's sixth location. There are five others including the first, which opened in South L.A. in 2016. The others are in Santa Monica, Century City, and Baldwin Hills,...

  • 9/11 Occupy ICE L.A. Rally Tries to Shut down the Metropolitan Detention Center #occupyicela

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Sep 20, 2018

    Tuesday, September 11th, Homeland Security agents arrested a thirty-year old Marine Corps Veteran, Cory Richard Morgan Gleeson, during a 9/11 Occupy ICE L.A. rally to shut down the Metropolitan Detention Center, in front of the Alameda Street entrance of the facility. Gleeson had joined activists at the event, hosted by Occupy ICE L.A. and ten other grassroots groups so that he could learn more about the Abolish ICE movement. Protesters and activists mobilized to occupy the detention facility,...

  • From Bartender to Rising Political Star: Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Visits Los Angeles on August 2018

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Aug 9, 2018

    From bartender to rising political star, Alexandria Ocasio -Cortez, Bronx born congressional candidate, whirled through Los Angeles last week during her campaign fundraising tour. Running on a message of economic, social and racial dignity for the working class, Cortez, in a stunning victory, unseated 10th term incumbent, Joe Crowley, in New York’s 14th congressional district in the elections this past June. During her primaries campaign, she called to attention Crowley’s vote to establish ICE b...

  • No Clean Water: Asylum Seekers Hunger Strike at the Adelanto detention in San Bernardino

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Jul 29, 2018

    When conditions are such that there is no access to clean, safe drinking water, or edible food, the only way to be heard is to go on a hunger strike. This is exactly what a group of eight asylum seekers did at the Adelanto detention facility, in San Bernardino, on June 12th, 2017. After an arduous journey, these eight Central American men arrived at the southern border of United States seeking political asylum in May, 2017. They were forced to flee El Salvador and Honduras, their home...

  • Why Illegal Aliens Quickly Surrender to the Men and Women of the US Border Patrol

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Jul 20, 2018

    At the San Diego border last Friday, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Tekae Michael jumped out of the van with her partner, Agent Theron Francisco, to catch up with two male "give ups," who had crossed the border and were walking toward the agents. Agent Michael said, "When we see illegal aliens walking East West, they are looking for someone they can turn themselves into, and they are referred to as "give-ups." Most likely, according to Agent Michael, they were going to claim asylum or "credible...

  • "Families belonging together: Freedom for Immigrants," at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Jul 4, 2018

    Sat, June 30th, the rally to end the mass detention of immigrants, "Families belonging together: Freedom for Immigrants," began at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Protesters then marched together to the Federal Building and the Downtown Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center. The event began at 11 am and ended approximately 4 hours later. Approximately 75,000 protesters attended the rally, making it the largest Families Belong Together demonstration in Los Angeles. There were also several...

  • Alison Hartson Attempts to upset six term senator Diane Feinstein

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff|Jun 5, 2018
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    Alison Hartson, is running her campaign to unseat Senator Feinstein on people and policy over profit and politics. Hartson, 37-years old, and national director of the Wolf-Pac group that tries to get money out of politics, wants to get the "politics out of politics" as she's vowed not to take a single dime of corporate or PAC money. Also, she does not believe in the endorsing of candidates From public high school teacher, to builder of an intervention program for at risk youth, Alison Hartson...

  • Gavin Newsom Poised to Succeed Jerry Brown as California Governor  

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Jun 5, 2018

    Sunday, June 3rd, in a Hollywood nightclub, Academy, hundreds of fans assembled to witness lead runner for the Gubernatorial race, Gavin Newsom, in his "Courage for a Change," rally. At 33 per cent in the lead, 48 hours before the close of the polls, Newsom sent the message out loud and clear, to get out the vote. Strobe lights danced across the floor. A post modern fresco alighted the ceiling with the rolling blue waves of California's coast. Above, the forever waves of blue, below, the...

  • "Money For Kids and Education, not for Billionaire's Profit Making!"

    Nancy Kaufman|May 28, 2018

    United Teachers of Los Angeles have joined the teacher rebellion that’s been sweeping the country from West Virginia to California. More than 12,000 union and community members marched in the “Rally for Respect” demonstration this past Thursday. Teachers sent out their message to LAUSD and the new superintendent, Austin Beutner. They demand a fair contract and a sustainable school district for all. LAUSD educators have been working without a contract for one year At the “All in for Respect Rally...

  • Methane Explosion at Playa del Rey would have a devastating blow to the Economy

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 17, 2018

    The Playa del Rey gas storage field, owned and operated by Southern California Gas Company, was purchased by SoCal Gas in 1953 as field surplus. The storage facility dates back to pre World War Two years, with active wells having been drilled as far back as the 1930's. It is the oldest gas storage facility in Los Angeles. Currently, according to Department of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, a division of California public Utilities commission 25 of the 54 wells at the Playa del Rey gas...

  • Offshore Drilling & Oil Spills Threaten Entire Pacific Ecosystems, Says Local Panel

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 1, 2018

    California's Pacific waters could be in peril if Trump's proposal to open up sensitive coastlines becomes a reality. Oceana's Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Sharpless, said, "Offshore drilling and oil spills threaten entire ecosystems." At last Saturday's "Offshore Oil Drilling's Threat to Our Coast," forum, presented by Malibu Township council, the panelists discussed the environmental and economic impact Trump's Adminstration's drilling plan could have on Southern California's golden...

  • Men in Black Trumped Democracy. But they were not Russian, Says Frenchman

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Mar 15, 2018

    It's not Russia's interference with the 2016 elections that tilted the vote Trump's way, but rather a dark force hiding in the shadows of his campaign, which is the subject of the French journalist and documentarian, Thomas Huchon's film, Trumping Democracy: Real$ "Fake News" "Your Data," that was released last December. As we take our "mystery tour," through Huchon's film, we travel down paths of dark money, algorithms, sharp tools of the digital trade, and psychometrics, as we learn who moved...

  • God Forbid, A Stock Market Crash is Ahead. Maybe. Or Maybe Not

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Feb 13, 2018

    A month before Wall Street's recent correction shared media headlines with all things Trump, columnist David Von Drehel of the Washington Post said that a recession, slump, or "God forbid a crash, " lay ahead. Drehel might have been prescient, but let's hope last week's plunge won't turn into a full-blown crash. The good news of the January jobs report (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf) brought sunshine to the economy, along with a hailstorm for the market as the Dow Jones dipped...

  • Pier Protest Against Offshore Drilling Includes Tongva Prayers and Bi-Partisan Objections

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Feb 6, 2018

    This past Saturday, hundreds of protesters packed the Santa Monica Pier at the Protect the Pacific rally, to take a stand against Trump's plan to dramatically increase offshore drilling off the California Coast. Senator Ben Allen of California's 26th district, along with the Ocean Protectors Coalition of Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples, Aim SoCal, Sierra Club, Heal the Bay, the Center for Biological Diversity and many other groups joined together to show strong unified opposition the...

  • LA March for Equal Rights For Women and Everyone Marginalized in the Trump Era

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Jan 27, 2018

    Saturday, January 21st, 2018, the day that marks the one year anniversary of Trump's inauguration approximately 500,000 people took to the streets of downtown Los Angles, to participate in the annual Woman's March that also took place in other cities across the nation. While the people marched, instead of celebrating his one year anniversary in Mar-a-lago, President Trump remained in Washington to deal with the government shut down that was the result of a dispute between Trump and Congress over...

  • Movement to Recall Mike Bonin & Vision Zero Great Streets

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Dec 15, 2017
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    Since last summer, divisiveness has grown in Mar Vista over the "road diets," that City Council member Mike Bonin implemented, as part of the Los Angeles' " Vision Zero Great Streets" initiative that included improving traffic safety. Grass roots group, "Recall Bonin," has been going after the Venice Boulevard lane reductions in it's effort to unseat Mike Bonin in Council District 11, which spans several regions of the Westside, including Mar Vista, Venice, and Playa del Rey. Last June, Council...

  • The Father of the Anti-Vaccine Movement, Andrew Wakefield, Answers Questions in New Film

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Oct 16, 2017
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    The mainstream media has called Dr. Andrew Wakefield, subject of the recently released "The Pathological Optimist," the "father of the anti-vaccine movement." Dr. Wakefield, who currently resides with his family in Austin, Texas, has been on the road promoting the new documentary film, "The Pathological Optimist," which is a much more fitting description of the former academic gastroenterologist. According to Dr. Wakefield, he is not part of an anti-vaccine movement, but more, as he says,...

  • Aliso Canyon Gas Storage Elevates Levels of Toxins Among Valley Residents

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Oct 16, 2017

    Doctor Jeffrey Nordella shared the results of his toxic health study to a packed audience of North Valley residents in the Woodland Hills Hilton last Saturday, Oct. 14th The meeting was hosted by the local 501(c)(3) non profit group, Save Porter Ranch, and the environmental organization, Food and Water Watch. It is apparent that the doctor really cares about the people and the science. Months ago, at a press conference, he said, "I will not deviate from the people. We all know about the...

  • Porter Ranch: Another Aliso Canyon for Southern California Gas Company?

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Sep 22, 2017

    On September 13, 2017, activist groups Save Porter Ranch and Food and Water Watch hosted a rally, "Health Crisis Cover Up in North Valley! " The purpose of this event was to support Dr. Jeffrey Nordella, the only doctor helping Porter Ranch and San Fernando Valley residents cope with the toxic exposure from Aliso canyon," they said. According to Save Porte Ranch's Facebook page, this sudden termination for Dr. Nordella could be a cover up, since he was the only doctor helping North Valley...

  • Black Snake Rumbling: Some Native Americans Still Oppose The Dakota Access Pipeline

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Sep 1, 2017

    Not since Wounded Knee in 1973, has there been such a great gathering of indigenous tribes as there were in Standing Rock. The first camps were set up in August, 2016, along the Missouri and Cannonball rivers. A year later, 2017, the tribe has achieved a significant victory over an environmental justice analysis. The case is Standing Rock v U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. What began as the protests aimed to protect and defend the water, sacred burial sites, and wildlife habitat in danger from a po...

  • Playa Vista Methane Storage Nightmare Isn't Over, Allege Local Activists

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Jun 26, 2017

    Activists believe Playa del Rey gas storage facility could be the next to have a massive methane leak, following Aliso Canyon. Environmental group, Food and Water Watch, in a promotional flyer, warns to "stop the next methane blow out." Owned and operated by SoCalGas Company, The Playa gas storage field has 54 active gas wells. It's older than Aliso Canyon, and was built in 1942 by reconstructing old oil wells that were mostly empty. At a meeting in Marina del Rey last April, Alexandra Nagy,...

  • Playa Del Rey Gas Storage Facility Called "An Accident Waiting to Happen"

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|May 22, 2017
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    In April, Food & Water Watch held a meeting at the Marina del Rey Lloyd Taber Library for concerned residents to learn about the urgency of the need to shut down Playa del Rey gas storage facility. According to La Curbed, in 2016, just months after SoCal Gas Company plugged up the methane leak at its Aliso Canyon storage facility in Porter Ranch, a concern about potential leaks was brewing at the Playa del Rey gas storage field. The Aliso Canyon had the worst methane leak in U.S. history. The Pl...

  • Couldn't we all just get along? Asks Halton Pardee, celebrating SNAP Inc's Venice Presence

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Apr 16, 2017

    Venice Beach, CA is still where the action is today, in its new, improved and future form. Snap, the technology boom, the rise of digital capitalism, and Snapchat as the disrupter of social media all intersect where the economy and culture of Venice meet. According to Forbes, Snap was considered the disrupter of social media in 2013. Business Insider called Snap a "socially augmented reality platform," which has taken the digital platform to another level. Snapchat is the only app of its kind...

  • Refinery Merger threatens Wilmington Residents Health and Safety

    Nancy Kaufman|Mar 19, 2017

    On April 29th, 2017, a local Wilmington group called PCM, (People's Climate March), will march in the community for environmental justice. The focus for this march is the current Tesoro(formerly known as Texaco) refinery merger project which plans to merge two refineries together, one in Wilmington, the other in Carson, rendering it the largest refinery on the West Coast. This merger threatens the community with serious climate change and health implications for the residents. The organization,...

  • Candidates for LA City Council Weigh In On Snapchat; Mike Bonin, Robin Rudisill, Mark Ryavec

    Nancy Kaufman, Observer Staff Writer|Mar 7, 2017
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    March 2, angry Venetians demonstrate outside of SNAP INC's Venice headquarters for the third day in a row. The technology company, with its nascent IPO has become a political issue for the March 7th LA City Council District 11 race. Incumbent Mike Bonin is running against his opponents, Robin Rudisill, former CPA, CFO, and chair of the Venice LUPC(land use and planning committee), and Mark Ryavec, founder of VSA, and former chief debuty tax assessor for LA County. Amidst SNAP'S IPO that triggere...

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