News (Noticias) for Maryland

Testifying before the Maryland Public Service Commission at a recent Public Hearing, Secretary Luwanda Jenkins, of the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs, highlighted Maryland’s efforts to grow state procurements with certified small businesses as well as women and minority business enterprises. Governor Martin O’Malley’s Secretary for Minority Affairs went on to suggest the Commission also adopt a procurement goal of 25% from small and diversity business enterprises.

In her testimony, Secretary Jenkins said, “I certainly wanted to give Commissioner Williams our support as he moves forward with this initiative. I think it’s ideal to have what we do in the public sector influence what happens in the private sector, because that’s really the benefit of public sector MBE programs.  It’s one thing to have public policy impact state spending and spending at the local level.  But to the extent that you can inspire and encourage with some level of enforcement the same type of behavior in the public sector really speaks for the economic benefit of why you have MBE programs operating in states like Maryland.”

The Maryland Public Service Commission is currently considering an order setting its own procurement standards for regulated utilities serving Maryland’s rate paying residents and customers.

“Driving business opportunities to small, disadvantaged and minority businesses has resulted in expanded businesses, more reliable services and higher quality suppliers for utilities in California. That environment has increased competitive pricing, enhanced innovations, and built stronger communities across our state. The rate payers are winners, but the biggest winner has been our state’s economic competitiveness. I applaud Maryland’s PSC for examining the diversity elements in its regulated utilities’ purchases and programs. The closer the correlation between diversity procurement and the rate payer’s diversity population, the better. I would encourage the Maryland PSC to seriously consider adopting the discussed goal of 25%,” said Michael Peevey [Chairman, California Public Utility Commission] Co-Chair of the National Utilities Diversity Council.

The last U.S. Census shows Maryland with an ethnic population of over 40% yet that group exercises ownership of only 24.5% of businesses in the state. The census also shows that women comprise 52% of the residents, but just over 30% of the businesses are owned by women.

About NUDC: The National Utilities Diversity Council Inc. is a not for profit, 501-c-3 partner to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, one of the nation’s oldest utility industry advocacy organizations.  For more information visit www.nudc.biz.

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Proyecto Salud, an independent primary care clinic in Wheaton, opened the satellite office last week in the old Physicians Office Building next to the hospital and has already treated several patients, officials said.”*

As the morning workshop ended the three teens sat and talked, wondering aloud what treats would be on the lunch menu. The three high-schoolers had just heard a presentation on obtaining financial assistance for a college education.

They were among dozens of Latino youth gathered at Towson University last week for the Hispanic College Fund’s youth symposium, which included talks and panels by college admissions directors, educators, state Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick and Luis E. Borunda, a former member of the Baltimore County Board of Education.”*

Latinos have emerged as the fastest-growing population group in Montgomery County, and more needs to be done to boost their health and well-being, including improving access to medical care and expanding transportation and bilingual services, a new report says.

The report noted that the best estimates, from 2005, suggest that more than 50 percent of Latinos in the county are uninsured, and about half do not have a primary-care doctor. Among Latinos who had not seen a doctor in the past year, the primary reason was the high cost of care. “*

Above all, do not give police false documents, and never lie to them.

That’s the message Hispanics received from senior officials of Casa de Maryland in Frederick on Saturday.

The Silver Spring-based organization, whose ‘‘primary mission is to work with the community to improve the quality of life and fight for equal treatment and full access to resources and opportunities for low-income Latinos and their families,” according to its Web site, came to Frederick to continue its campaign against a four-month-old deportation program.”*

Homicide numbers indicate a rise in the number of Hispanics being killed in Prince George’s County in recent months.

From mid-March to mid-May, Latinos accounted for 10 of the county’s 24 homicides. Hispanics make up 21 percent of all homicides that county police investigate - a jump from an average of less than 13 percent over the past five years.”*

Good strategy if the numbers and facts were solid. They weren’t. Despite a detailed 30-page report with 81 endnotes describing the research, errors in logic and math left gaping holes and biased interpretations.

In response to the criticism, Casa executive director Gus Torres accused the sheriff’s office, in last week’s Gazette, of shunning Freedom of Information Act requests. The group moved ahead without the info, he wrote, because the situation warranted action.

Casa should rewrite its report, and have it verified by a neutral party. If the sheriff is withholding anything, he’d do well to hand it over. In the meantime, advocacy groups are quietly monitoring the program and let’s hope any resulting reports are scrupulous and above reproach.”*

The word pachanga means “party” in Spanish, and the atmosphere was certainly festive, with guests gathered under tents on the Carrillos’ verdant lawn and the smell of mint from the mojitos pervading the air. But for the Carrillos, there was another reason to invite people over on a Sunday afternoon for Cuban sandwiches and croquettes: the opportunity to make inroads in a community that is becoming economically powerful in the region. It was hard not to notice the event’s sponsor, Chevy Chase Bank, where Carrillo works as the director of Hispanic banking.

“These events are a great opportunity to reach out to the Hispanic community,” said Marta Brito Perez, who used to be the director of human relations for Montgomery County but now works for a Delaware-based drug company. “There is great economic potential, so understanding how to reach the community is a must.”"*

A White Marsh Japanese restaurant and sushi bar will pay $80,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit claiming Hispanic women were harassed there.

Kobe Steak House agreed to pay the women after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit accusing workers of making unwelcome sexual advances toward several women, the federal agency said Tuesday.”*

Sheriff Chuck Jenkins is disputing a report released Tuesday that places an annual price tag of $3.2 million on a program that allows his deputies to check the immigration status of everyone arrested in Frederick County.

‘‘Much of it is not factual information,” said Jenkins (R) on Wednesday. ‘‘The costs are absolutely not true. … I absolutely dispute it.”

Jenkins stands by his claim that his department’s participation in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program will cost county taxpayers nothing extra. ‘‘There are no significant costs,” he said.”*

David was brought to tears while speaking at CASA de Maryland’s press conference to unveil a report about a Frederick County program to detain and deport unauthorized immigrants. She said she has been unable to retrieve information about her partner’s case.

The negative effects from this program are not only physical, but psychological, David said.

“The fear is immense,” she said.

The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office program will cost millions and increase racial profiling without reducing crime, according to the report presented Tuesday by the immigration activists group.”*

In just over a decade, Frederick County has been transformed from a bucolic, timeless community of dairy farms and strawberry festivals to a fast-paced mosaic of high-tech firms and housing developments, Pilates classes and exotic eateries, mega-stores and McDonald’s.

The changes have also brought thousands of Hispanics, some legal immigrants and others not, who have migrated up Interstate 270 to meet the demand for construction and service jobs. Until now, the county has handled the influx with outreach classes in schools and community policing programs. Chic Hispanic restaurants flourish in downtown Frederick, and working-class Latinos have remained relatively invisible.”*

Maryland’s Hispanic population rose 5 percent from 2006 to 2007, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday, prompting state and city agencies to rethink outreach programs to help a growing immigrant population.

The Maryland Insurance Administration started a campaign to get accurate consumer insurance information to Spanish-speaking populations, and Baltimore’s Health Department is focusing on getting more Latinos in for health care.”*

The Frederick County government has proclaimed English its official language in a resolution so watered down that its original sponsor voted against it.

The document proclaims English the official, primary and common language of Frederick County government.

But the Board of County Commissioners deleted language proposed by Republican Commissioner Charles Jenkins that would have barred the translation of government documents into other languages.”*

About 200 state legislators, officials, activists and educators gathered Saturday at the University of Maryland, College Park, to address educational disparities among Latinos in Maryland during the first Maryland Latina⁄o Education Policy Summit.”*

Undergraduates at the University of Maryland at College Park can now graduate with a minor in U.S. Latino studies after school officials yesterday approved the first such minor at a major university in the Washington region.

Students and faculty members, some of whom have been promoting U.S. Latino studies at Maryland’s flagship public university for a decade, said they were delighted by the move but said more needs to be done to meet the needs of historically underserved Latino students.”*

*From: http://www.washingtonpost.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The future rolled into Our Lady of Pompei Church a few weeks ago. Her name was Yoselin Garcia, and she sat quietly in her stroller, a bit player in the vast demographic shift reshaping the Roman Catholic Church in America.

The Garcias - mom, dad and three little girls - had stopped in at the Highlandtown church to drop off a baptism form for the youngest, 1-year-old Yoselin. The Rev. Luigi Cremis, wearing a smile so wide he squinted, cooed at the dark-haired girl and chatted with her sisters, Yasmin, 2, and Estefania, 6.”*

*From: http://www.baltimoresun.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

A man who told police he was ‘‘targeting Hispanics” in a burglary at a Gaithersburg apartment last month has been arrested in the February beating death of a 42-year-old Latino that occurred outside the same complex.”*

*From: http://www.gazette.net
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Walter Abbott lost his house, his drywall company – twice – and now his freedom.

When he discovered Maryland funds pro-immigration group CASA de Maryland, he fired off an angry letter to Gov. Martin O’Malley containing a threat on the governor’s life.

“It was out of frustration,” Abbott said.

Now is he on home detention awaiting a trial. “[CASA] helps find them a job – an American’s job that they help take away. They took away my job,” said Abbott, 44, of Parkville.”*

*From: http://www.examiner.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Senior Colleen Esper has all the credits she needs to graduate at the end of this semester with a major in sociology and a minor in U.S. Latina/o studies.

But she may not receive her minor if the university doesn’t pass the proposal to officially add it in the next few weeks.

“I’ve put in the work,” Esper said. “It’s not like I’m asking for a freebie. I earned my minor.”"*

*From: http://media.www.diamondbackonline.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Yesterday at the office of Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey in Upper Marlboro, Carlos Acosta was sworn in as the county’s first Latino deputy state’s attorney.

“I’m truly humbled to he here again,” Acosta said as state members flooded the room approvingly. They took pictures and said approving words as he took the oath of office and signed his name to the certificate of office. Ivey, who stood watching the scene approvingly, said he hired Acosta for more than just history.”*

*From: http://www.thesentinel.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish