LANCASTER – Mayor R. Rex Parris is calling on all Antelope Valley residents to serve alongside him at the City of Lancaster’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, Saturday, January 19, 2013.
“This is an opportunity for us all to join together in the spirit of Dr. King’s legacy to help shape and transform our City through service,” Parris said in a city news release. “Please join me in rolling up your sleeves this holiday to work together and improve our community.”
Last year, more than 2,000 volunteers and local businesses showed their commitment to the community by joining the Day of Service.
Southern California Edison’s corporate giving arm has granted $5,000 toward Antelope Valley’s 2013 MLK Day of Service to enhance the impact of this annual community event.
“As more families and communities require assistance, we have accepted the challenge put forth by Dr. King to make a difference,” said Cathy Hart, Deputy Region Director/ Local Public Affairs, Northern Region, Southern California Edison. “Through combined neighborhood efforts, such as this, we are working to combat concerns in our community.”
Local residents can visit www.cityoflancasterca.org/mlkday to find out about local King Day service opportunities. Non-profit and service organizations, groups and individuals are all encouraged to sign up to volunteer. Businesses are invited to donate to established service projects.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is led by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The effort to make the King Holiday a “day on, not a day off” focuses on engaging Americans in service to honor Dr. King’s legacy.
More than 1.5 million volunteers served in 13,000 projects, which took place in all 50 states last year, including the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
(Information via press release from the city of Lancaster.)
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Ginny says
How about if the community calls upon Parris to show up for meetings.
Gladys says
My reading and comprehension are fine.
You even sent “Forward” a link to a website about how to buy a house from the middle east.
The conversation was about Section 8 ownership here in the AV.
Why would you attach a link that has nothing to do with Section 8 IN THE AV, in response to a request for a link supporting the statement made by Forward. Makes no sense.
Forward wrote:
“Yeah, did you know that most of the “investment homes” being used to house Section 8 people in Lancaster are actually owned by people who live in the Middle East?
Give us a link proving what you say, sounds very interesting….”
Your reply:
Joanne on January 6, 2013 at 11:36 pm
Like or Dislike: 1 2
There’s probably some truth to it. I heard the same thing and looked it and I have found here’s a link:
http://howtobuyusarealestate.com/middle-east-investors-are-turning-to-usa-real-estate/
dontworrybehappy says
well i hope William got his 2013 Nancy Pelosi calender hung up. you just amaze me with your thinking sometimes. you will take any story and put your far left views on it. sometimes it just a story.
Megan says
Something you NEVER do, right?
dontworrybehappy says
I admit I use to. but after seeing the results of the last election, I have removed myself from the voting public. I no longer follow the events of this once great nation. I only come here to see what going on in my little town. And William I am talking about all of the election results. I.E. prop measures and such. I have determined that you cant beat the uneducated voters in mass.
William says
@dontworrybehappy.
The GOP is coming apart at the seams. They are like 2 year olds having temper tantrums in the mall cause mom won’t buy them an ice cream or the toy they want. Explain to me how they are different from 2 year olds?
And, they are eating each other alive. Good.
They’ve done enough damage to this country and now they are damaging themselves and, hopefully, won’t be around a decade from now in the present form.
So, when you and others here criticize Democrats, you really should check your blind spot-the tea party GOP, worse than ever and proud of it.
dontworrybehappy says
only time will tell if this so called president will be good for the country or not. as for me, ill keep paying my higher taxes to support the slackers that have become dependent on my money.
dontworrybehappy says
And by the way William, I use to be a raving maniac just like you. Then decided getting all worked up over something I could not control was just not good for me. Might want to chill a little. Both sides of our political parties are trash.
William says
You’re the one bitching and moaning. I’m just enjoying the clown car crashing full of republicans.
That you think they are equally at fault is telling. It’s lopsided. It’s asymmetrical. The tea party republicans are willing to drive the car over the cliff again and again and you’re focused on the guy trying to stop them.
Forward says
don’t worry sez: ” … well i hope William got his 2013 Nancy Pelosi calender hung up…
…Then decided getting all worked up over something I could not control was just not good for me”.
I guess leaving a post about Nancy Pelosi got you all worked up again – don’t worry, be happy – the Dems are keeping track of the criminals for you.
dontworrybehappy says
time will tell. and trust me im far from being worked up.
Heather says
so, Edison has granted $5,000 towards the event, and will pass that donation on to the customers of Edison to pay for it..
Not Enthused says
I don’t know about you, but that guy shaking Rex Parris’ hand doesn’t look very enthused about meeting the Mayor. It kind of looks like he’s thinking, “just get this over with so I can turn back around and get back to doing what I was doing.”
Letlow says
This MLK Day of Service story has been hijacked by Section 8 haters, even though there’s no mention of Sec 8 ANYWHERE in the story!
So blinded by hatred, people can’t even see that the MLK projects talk about serving our VETERANS and SENIOR CITIZENS.
Absolutely PATHETIC!!!!
Raul J. says
I forgot, the AV Times has to protect their precious Section 8 folks from any criticism.
Nobody is allowed to say anything bad about Section 8 people because they are your pets! No freedom of speech for the hard working taxpaying Americans. We just have to shut up and keep paying, paying and paying our taxes to subsidize someone else’s bad choices in life. Just shut up and keep paying, right?
Oh, and come on down and volunteer to paint the basketball courts in the ghetto for MLK Day!
Now I know what kind of “news site” this really is.
Have a nice day!
William says
Tax payers are actually subsidizing the absent landlords, developers and speculators who own the Section 8 houses. They get the rent checks. The voucher holders don’t get any money, just a voucher.
The real moochers are the landlords who get a guaranteed rent payment, probably higher than they’d get on the open market if all the Section 8 homes were rented on it.
Funny how we never, ever hear about that half of the Section 8 equation.
Raul J. says
Still, why don’t you ever see any of the people who are “taking” from society go out and volunteer to make this community better?
You don’t. Ever! They are the first ones to scream about getting their vouchers taken away but the last to lift a finger to do anything good in the community and I’m tired of it!
William says
I don’t like the fraudsters either but my point was that we get distracted by the fraudsters that, of course, anger us while the real greedy ones are the landlords, foreign and domestic.
Why do you suppose that the tea partiers and the GOP haven’t tried to de-fund Section 8 like they have Planned Parenthood and National Public Radio?
Frank Rizzo says
These tea party people that you refer to are against all governemnt handouts and taxes, get it right.
Forward says
” … Why do you suppose that the tea partiers and the GOP haven’t tried to de-fund Section 8…”
So true. I say we start a campaign to defund/dismantle HUD. After all, all it provides is welfare “entitlements” for investors.
William says
@Frank Rizzo. So, why haven’t the tea partiers railed against Section 8 and demanded that it’s funding be cut or decreased?
There is a blg silence about that except for complaining about the fraudsters.
I suspect that a majority of the landlords of Section 8 property vote republican and the program puts money in their pockets.
Frank Rizzo says
These people who live in the ghetto or crappy areas need to get out there and make their community better, not me.
A Day Off, Not A Day On!
Heather says
Right you are, Raul J., when all these freeloaders and moochers, that really could care less about MLK, go out there and “make a difference” maybe more people would happily join them..of course most of the dregs on society won’t because they might actually have to work..(you know, that bad 4 letter word)..also, when the govt. comes up with a day for “white pride” I might be more inclined to help out with “others” days..
Frank Rizzo says
@ Heather – The government doesnt want people to believe in white pride or white power. IF you do you will be compared to a NAZI or Hitler lover. People will call you a racist, the same people who belong to la raza, NAACP, MLK day supporters, and other various organizations that want to shame white people.
Heather says
Frank Rizzo, I agree with you and with this last joke of an election, that’s exactly what they were trying to do, if you don’t vote for oblowhard it’s because you were racist.. well, I didn’t vote for him because I can’t stand what he stands for..no matter what color he is.. (I know it’s a bit off topic, sorry) lol
Raul J. says
Yeah, did you know that most of the “investment homes” being used to house Section 8 people in Lancaster are actually owned by people who live in the Middle East?
Bet you didn’t know that, did you? So our taxpayer money is floating around over there now.
How did we ever get to the point in this country where we reward slothfulness and laziness with free homes and then pay the foreign owners of those homes out of our pockets?
This nation is really in the crapper!
Forward says
Yeah, did you know that most of the “investment homes” being used to house Section 8 people in Lancaster are actually owned by people who live in the Middle East?
Give us a link proving what you say, sounds very interesting….
Joanne says
There’s probably some truth to it. I heard the same thing and looked it and I have found here’s a link:
http://howtobuyusarealestate.com/middle-east-investors-are-turning-to-usa-real-estate/
Forward says
Thanks for the link, Joanne. We’ve known for awhile that the Saudi’s are buying up Beverly Hills, Malibu etc at a rapid rate, infringing on current resident’s property lines, building their ugly temples to the sky.
Curious isn’t it that U.S. Banks won’t lend to American’s, who bailed them out – but will take foreign $$ in a heartbeat.
From the website:
” … While a large number of Middle Eastern investors use conventional banks, there is a strong push in that region toward Islamic banking, also known as Sharia complaint banking. This system ***prohibits charging interest***. Instead, the bank buys the investment outright and sells it to the investor at a profit that is amortized over a fixed period of time.
MORE US BANKS are willing to accommodate Islamic investors. Lenders working within the real estate market are already used to including Sharia addenda in documents drawn up for major real estate deals with Middle Eastern investors”.
Wall St. Reform? Nah, GOP don’t want that.
Gladys says
Joanne and Forward, Nice try. Nowhere in that article does it mention anything about Middle East Investors owning the majority of Section 8 houses in the AV.
Sure, the AV may have a large population of middle eastern people. Most are professional, working, taxpayers.
Maybe someone could publish the names of landlords who rent their houses thru the Section 8 program. Not the addresses to the houses, just the names of the landlords. Afterall, we, the taxpayers are paying for their investment properties.
AGAIN, I AM NOT SUGGESTING THE ADDRESSES OF THE HOUSES, ONLY THE NAMES OF THE LANDLORDS. NOT PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES. IF THE PROPERTY IS IN A BUSINESS NAME, WE SHOULD BE GIVEN THE PRINCIPALS NAMES.
Gladys says
Your statement SMELLS like something a former City Council Woman would have said. Are you on City Council? Come on, you can tell us.
Joanne says
Gladys,
Do you lack reading comprehension skills? Did I say it had anything to do with the Middle Eastern population that lives in the Antelope Valley?
NO, I DID NOT AND NEITHER DID THE ARTICLE!
The article mentions that people in the Middle East are buying distressed properties from the banks. Since they aren’t actually living in them, they are renting them out until they can turn them over for a profit.
I have an aquaintance in the real estate business and she told me last week that she has Middle Eastern people calling her from the Middle Eastern and asking if she has 10, 20 or 30 houses available for them to buy here in the AV. She has turned them away and she told me that there is not that kind of availability in the AV, only in Phoenix and Las Vegas, but not here.
They Middle Easterners and the Chinese are buying tons and tons of foreclosed homes in towns all over America right now and renting them out for profit until they can be flipped.
Liz says
The real moochers are the people who get on, and stay on Section 8 for generations. The landlords are screwing the tax payers. They are not moochers, they are business men. In the business of taking advantage of a program that even they probably hate.
William says
The landlords are the bigger moochers of the two. If the homes have a mortgage, we are paying it for the landlords.
Forward says
Of course these homes have mortgages, or they bought them flat-out for ca$h money – even better! Houses went so cheap, and still are in this area, anybody can pick up a home for last centuries price of a double-wide.
Not only do they get their GU-ARanteed!!! U.S. Government HUD Section 8 ‘entitlement’ taxpayer money checks, they get cash $$ from the tenant. Tenant pays all utilities, so the lawns dry up and die. Best investment since Enron.
I
Forward says
That’s because they’re also banks, which we ALSO bailed out, as I remember.
If we got rid of Section 8, the housing values would tank to where they should be. Rents would match income for this area – what’s wrong with that?
Speaking of course like a true Tea Party/Ayn Rand freak – I’ve got mine, who cares about anyone else?
William says
Interesting how many species in the animal world work cooperatively but for humans, well, for people like tea partiers and Ann Rand disciples, it’s just too much to ask.
It’s a very primitive unevolved way of thinking and acting. But, hey, they don’t believe in evolution anyway.
Imagine 2 tea partiers trying to fold sheets or blankets.
Forward says
[[Like]]
Notice how the Dislikes don’t like your comment. Is it because they don’t know what folding sheets and blankets is, or is it because they have not evolved into knowing how to fold their own sheets?
Oh sheet!
XterraDriver says
Animal species only work “cooperatively” among their own species William. Otherwise, it’s the Darwinian “law of the jungle”. Didn’t you pay attention in biology? Maybe you were too busy fantasizing about Karl Marx and not paying attention?
Liberals like to make halfbaked statements about science and evolution when they think it suites their agenda, but they conveniently toss aside such scientific truths as natural selection, genetic differentiation and cognitive ability because those things aren’t supportive of the hyper-P.C.liberal agenda.
Next…,,
Tyrus says
I just love how people come on this site to talk crap about the sight that they’re commenting on. Where else can you do that? Valley Pres, I think not. EVEY News site that allow comments has rules. If you want freedom of speech, use your real name.
Raul J. says
As a taxpayer, I am tired of being told I “have” or “should” do something! Don’t I do enough already?
[Removed]
Andrew says
100% Agree
Sheldon says
I didn’t see any mention of a demand to serve the community. I saw within the article a request to do something nice and possibly meet someone you would not otherwise get to know. That is truly how you influence people to see your point. Maybe your example can be the catalyst for someone to change their viewpoint and see production as a better avenue than being sedintary.
Sheldon says
Again, nothing about a day of service is saying tht you have or should do anything. The request is WOULD you do something. Again it is a request, not a mandate. To answer your question, YES!!!! as productive working tax payers we carry a tremendous load and do far more than enough. But, under the current system, isn’t it extremely COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE to create an environment where MORE people are put on the system to suck out even MORE resources? Face it, under the current system we wage earners are SCREWED so encouraging as many people to become productive is actually the BEST defense against being drained dry don’t you think?