News (Noticias) Tagged ‘Watsonville’

As a county child mental health specialist who works with youth serving court-ordered probation, Baustista, now 39, is helping to fulfill the longtime need for more bilingual therapists who understand the many faces of Latino culture.

And he hopes to join other like-minded caregivers in a ground-breaking program designed to educate culturally competent therapists in how to break through barriers — such as language differences, distrust of government systems and an inability of counselors to understand cultural nuances — that may keep Latino residents from seeking counseling services.”*

Jóvenes SANOS, a Watsonville teen group that tackles obesity issues among area youth, took to the streets Wednesday afternoon to ask community members if they would support efforts to limit the number of fast-food restaurants in town.

The survey effort took two weeks, with the four teens in the group’s city planning team conducting 100 surveys, a job they completed Wednesday.”*

Throughout California, the nationwide mortgage crisis — driven by adjustable-rate mortgages, subprime loans and an already plummeting economy — hit Latino families especially hard due to language barriers, unfamiliarity with the mortgage process, unforeseeable income changes and subprime lenders who didn’t verify income.

Being a Latina, Maria Enomoto, a Consumer Credit Counseling Services counselor who led the Spanish-speaking workshop, said she understands that in Latino culture, “It means a lot to own our own home. If you have your own property, you are successful.”"*

Longs, a chain with more than 500 stores in California, Nevada and Hawaii, is working to customize its stores to the neighborhoods it serves. Some 200 stores have been refurbished since 2003, part of the nearly 70-year-old company’s bid to prosper in the increasingly competitive retail drug industry.

But the downtown Watsonville store is the first to be designed specifically for the Latino market, and it could become a model for 50 to 60 other Longs stores in neighborhoods with similar demographics.

“Here’s the real test,” said Phyllis Proffer, Longs corporate spokeswoman. “We did a lot of research, but real research comes from customers.”"*

“Maria is not her real name, but the woman I have called that told me this story last year as I was administering surveys during Binational Health Week. It’s hard to imagine that a doctor in Watsonville would turn away a woman with a broken arm, but that’s precisely what Maria believes happened to her.

Since its launch in 2001, the goal of Binational Health Week — which occurred last week — has been to improve the health care of immigrants by providing information about tuberculosis, diabetes, breast cancer and other diseases, and initial health screenings for conditions such as high blood pressure. Increasingly, the goal includes educating immigrants about their rights. Under state law, for example, the hospital Maria visited was required to provide a Spanish translator. More basically, even undocumented immigrants have the right to emergency health care, a right few realize they have.”*

“A Northern California grocery store chain that caters to the Latino community has agreed to pay $95,571.64 in civil penalties, costs and restitution after being charged with selling food products that were short of the weight represented on the package, according to the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Unit joined with the district attorney of Santa Cruz County in resolving the civil action against Mi Pueblo San Jose Inc. Mi Pueblo operates a chain of 10 supermarkets with stores located in four Northern California counties, including one in Watsonville.”*

“Tonight at midnight, KQED and Comcast launch V-me (pronounced veh-meh), a new network with dynamic programming that engages, entertains, and empowers Latino families throughout the Bay Area. V-me offers a youthful, contemporary mix of original productions, exclusive premieres and acquisitions, and popular public television programs specially adapted for American Latinos.

“KQED is proud to provide entertaining, educational, and informative programming and content relevant to the Latino families and audiences in our communities who depend on the quality of public television,” said Jeff Clarke, President and CEO of Northern California Public Broadcasting, parent company of KQED, “We are excited to bring V-me to the Bay Area, as well as to our Monterey/Salinas/Watsonville audiences.”

V-me will be available throughout Northern California on KQED’s Comcast channels 191 and 621, and on digital channels over the air on KQED 9.4, KTEH 54.4 (San Jose), and KQET 25.4 (Monterey).

“V-me is part of Comcast’s on-going commitment to our Latino community, as we add even more quality programming to our already diverse lineup,” said Rick Lang, Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Comcast. “Comcast brings value to all our customers by connecting them to people, places and information that are important to their lives, 24 hours-a day.”

V-me programming goes beyond stereotypes to reflect the many personalities and interests of US Latinos, with programming that is as multi-layered and multi-dimensional as the people who watch it.

V-me Kids — Growing and Playing

For parents and caregivers, V-me offers nearly 40 hours a week of the highest-quality educational pre-school programming, creating a healthy, positive environment, where pre-school children can learn and have fun in Spanish. Appealing characters delight young viewers in shows such as Jim de la Luna, Las Tres Mellizas Bebes, Los Pies Magicos de Franny, Cinco Minutos Mas and Plaza Sesamo.

V-me Lifestyle — Living and Changing

V-me’s diverse lifestyle line-up reflects the high interest among Latinos in health, parenting, nutrition, travel, food, home, design, self-improvement, sports and more. Starting the day with the original production, Aire Yoga, extending into the afternoon with the Peabody Award-winning parenting show, Los Ninos en su Casa, V-me offers programs for every taste and interest.

V-me Factual & Current Affairs — Exploring and Expressing

V-me’s primetime line-up challenges as well as entertains — with intelligent, appealing programming covering current affairs, history, science, biography, and natural history. Highlights include the V-me original Viva Voz — a nightly interview program featuring provocative conversations that cut across family, home, politics and entertainment — with a guest list that spans presidents, poets, personalities and all-star athletes. V-me also offers a nightly block of acclaimed natural history series from BBC, National Geographic and Thirteen/WNET New York; and current affairs programs hosted by Andres Oppenheimer, Maria Hinojosa and Marlene Fernandez.

V-me Movies & Specials — Celebrating and Enjoying

Today’s Latin cinema reveals new faces, voices, and images to Latinos and non-Latinos alike. V-me en Pantalla presents a contemporary Spanish-language film every night. Weekly specials feature international concerts and performances in the arts, pop culture and more, including V-me’s new original series Estudio Billboard, where top Latin artists spend a fascinating hour revealing new personal and musical insights.

About V-me

V-me is a new national network, presented by public television stations, which engages America’s Latino families in Spanish with a lively mix of original and exclusive programs including: kids, lifestyle, nature, science, history, current affairs, music, arts, and nightly movies. The 24-hour network, with broadcast and digital carriage reaching one-third of all U.S. Hispanic TV households, is America’s largest Spanish digital channel, and the fastest out-of-the-box sponsor-supported network in U.S. Hispanic media history. V-me is the first venture of the media production and distribution company, V-me Media Inc. To find out more visit www.VmeTV.com

About NCPB

Northern California Public Broadcasting, Inc. (NCPB) (www.ncpb.com) is the most-watched public television and most-listened-to public radio broadcaster in the country. NCPB owns and operates public television stations KQED 9 (San Francisco), KTEH 54 (San Jose), and KQET 25 (Watsonville/Monterey); public radio stations KQED 88.5FM (San Francisco) and KQEI 89.3FM (Sacramento); KQED’s Education Network; and the Interactive platforms KQED.org and KTEH.org. Audiences and users can also access NCPB content through: digital television channels KQED HD, KQED Encore, KQED World, KQED Life, KQED Kids, and KQED PBS Kids Sprout; and stream or download available content on www.kqed.org.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (www.comcast.com) is the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. With 24.1 million cable customers, 12.4 million high-speed Internet customers, and 3.5 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content. Comcast’s content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, AZN Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, Comcast SportsNet and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast’s Internet business. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.”

“For over 25 years, Cherri­e Moraga has been dedicated to work centered on building community amongst diverse people. She has been nationally recognized for her plays, which include a Theatre Communications Group Theatre Artist Residency Grant in 1996, and two Fund for New American Play Awards””one for Shadow of a Man in 1990 and one for Watsonville: Some Place Not Here in 1995.

Moraga, a California-based writer, has premiered her work at Theatre Artaud, Theatre Rhinoceros, the Eureka Theatre and Brava Theater Center. Brava’s production of Moraga’s Heroes and Saints in 1992 received numerous awards for best original script, including the Will Glickman Prize, the Drama-logue and Critic Circles Awards and the Pen West Award. Her plays have been presented throughout the Southwest, as well as in Chicago, Seattle and New York.”

“Next Thursday, April 19, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, HITN-TV – the channel that educates and entertains – will present another live edition of its original program, Latinoamerica Hoy. This edition, titled Latinoamerica Hoy: Crisis in Oaxaca, Still Unresolved, will host a discussion about the social upheaval taking place since last year in Oaxaca, Mexico, when a teachers’ strike led to a popular movement. The program will also present the Spanish premier of two documentaries about this issue: “Land, Rain and Fire: Report from Oaxaca” and “The Assault”.

Journalist Juan Carlos Fernández will host a guest panel that will include Rocí­o Luna Acevedo, delegate of the teachers union, who will participate from Oaxaca. Guests at HITN-TV studios will include Gerardo Renique, writer and professor of Latin American history at City College of New York; and social filmmaker Tami Gold. Viewers will be able to participate in the live discussion through phone and e-mail.

“At HITN-TV we believe in the importance of discussing this type of topics within the Latino community. For that reason, we are committed to work hand in hand with the Latino community in the US and to serve as a medium that facilitates this type of dialogue”, said Jose Luis Rodriguez, President of HITN-TV.

HITN-TV is available throughout the United States through channels 438 (DirecTV) and 843 & 9401 (Dish Network). HITN-TV is also available in the following cities and cable systems:

CA: San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose & Santa Clara (AT&T U-verse, channel 3055)
CA: Watsonville, Capitola, Central, San Luis Obispo, West Sacramento & Turlock (Charter Cable, channel 264)
CO: Denver (Comcast, channel 649)
CT: New Haven, Hartford & Stamford (AT&T U-verse, channel 3055)
IN: Indianapolis (AT&T U-verse, channel 3055)
MO: Kansas City (Time Warner Cable, channel 167)
NJ: Parts of the counties of Bergen & Hudson (Time Warner Cable, channel 811)
NV: Reno (Charter Cable, channel 264)
NY: Manhattan, Queens & Brooklyn (Time Warner Cable, channel 811)
TX: Austin (Time Warner Cable, channel 645)
TX: Houston & San Antonio (AT&T U-verse, channel 3055)
TX: San Antonio (Time Warner Cable, channel 294)
WA: Statewide (Charter Cable, channel 264)

Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. (HITN-TV) is the first Latino/Spanish-language public television network providing educational and cultural programming in the United States. For more information visit: http://www.hitn.tv “

“Watsonville shoulders much of the burden of teen pregnancy in Santa Cruz County. In 2005, four of every five births to county teens aged 15 to 19 were to Pajaro Valley girls, according to the Community Assessment Project report.

Meanwhile the countys overall teen birth rate has dropped dramatically since 1996, more than 18 percent. But the bulk of the decline is in Santa Cruz. During the same 10 years, Watsonvilles decline has been barely noticeable. “

Part two can be found here

“HITN-TV, “the channel that educates and entertains” and El Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen MUPI, invite you to watch “1932, Scars of Memory”, a documentary which will be broadcast on HITN-TV on Thursday, March 1st at 9pm ET.

This will be the premier of this documentary in the US. It deals with the events that took place in El Salvador in 1932, which led to the death of more than ten thousand indigenous people and several decades of civil war. Following the program, between 10 and 11 pm ET, HITN-TV’s production Latinoamérica Hoy will host a “live” discussion with a panel of experts on this topic.

HITN-TV viewers can also call in to participate in the discussion and express their thoughts on this part of the history of El Salvador.

In recognition of the recent 75th anniversary of the historical events of 1932, which impacted the cultural, social and political history of El Salvador, the MUPI and HITN-TV also encourage people particularly Salvadorian groups to gather in churches, cultural centers and their homes to watch the broadcast together and to participate in the Latinoamérica Hoy show.

The film “1932, Scars of Memory” was produced by the MUPI and directed by Jeff Gould and Carlos Henrí­quez Consalvi, with the intention to make heard the voices of survivors of the massacre of more than 10,000 indigenous people from El Salvador’s western region.

These programs will be aired nationwide through HITN-TV. For more information or if you are interested in gathering to watch the programs call HITN-TV at 1-800-294-4486 ext. 3801, write to mbadia@hitn.org or visit www.hitn.tv. HITN-TV can be found on the following satellite channels: 438 on Direct TV, and 843 & 9401 on Dish Network. HITN-TV can also be viewed through the following cable systems:

Time Warner Cable 811 NY Manhattan, Queens & Brooklyn
Time Warner Cable 811 NJ Parts of the counties of Bergen & Hudson
Time Warner Cable 645 TX Austin
Time Warner Cable 294 TX San Antonio
Time Warner Cable 167 MO Kansas City
Comcast 649 CO Denver
Charter Cable 264 CA Watsonville, Capitola, Central, San Luis
Obispo, West Sacramento & Turnlock
Charter Cable 264 NV Reno
Charter Cable 264 WA Statewide
AT&T U-verse 3055 IN Indianapolis
AT&T U-verse 3055 TX Houston & San Antonio
AT&T U-verse 3055 CT New Haven, Hartford & Stamford
AT&T U-verse 3055 CA San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose &
Santa Clara

Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. (HITN-TV) is the first and only Hispanic public television network providing educational and cultural programming in the United States. HITN-TV was founded in 1987 with the intention of advancing the educational, cultural, socioeconomic and political aspirations of Latinos living in the US. Some of HITN-TV’s programming highlights include: GED en Español, a series that prepares viewers to obtain their high school diploma; EASY English, a series of classes to teach Spanish speakers basic and intermediate English language skills; and Dialogo de Costa a Costa, a daily live talk show that provides a forum for Latinos in the 50 states to call in live to give their opinions and ask questions on key issues affecting their families and communities.

El Museo de la Palabra y la Imagen (MUPI) is a citizen initiative, established in El Salvador as a legal non-profit foundation, which dedicates itself to researching, salvaging, preserving and displaying cultural and historical relics of El Salvador for the public. The MUPI has a vast collections of manuscripts, topographies, audio, film, artifacts and publications donated to the museum by members of the society, who have responded to a call against “the loss of collective memory”.”

“Look no further than the City Plaza for a sampling of what people thought about Mexico’s controversial presidential election, which mirrored the 2000 race between Al Gore and George Bush in its result.

Local Mexican nationals said they thought the election was rigged, and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the opponent who lost by 1 percent of the vote, should have won.”

“Look closely, and you might spot the familiar strawberry fields, homes and markets of Watsonville on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when the 26-minute film “Gordo” premieres during Showtime’s 7th Annual Latino Filmmaker Showcase.

The film, by Watsonville director Vince Navarro, 26, was selected as one of four finalists this year and will air alongside the other three finalists in the competition.”

“It’s the second most recognized symbol in the agricultural community in the Central Coast, the first being those little “organic” stickers you’re apt to see on fruits and vegetables around town.

It’s “Buy Fresh, Buy Local,” and now it’s bilingual ”” courtesy of its creator, the Watsonville-based Community Alliance with Family Farmers.

The city of Watsonville is expected to hang a banner above Main Street today with the new Spanish translation: “Compre lo fresco de nuestra region.”"

“Immigration rights advocates are warning undocumented residents in Santa Cruz County to be careful who they allow into their homes. They suggest residents look out their windows or ask who is a the door before opening it. Legally, residents do not need to allow anyone inside their home unless they have a warrant. The suggestions come after last week’s immigration raid in the county. Doug Keegan, program director for the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project in Watsonville, said”

“The unexpected deportation of a Mexican man who made a living cooking meals for residents of a Live Oak residential care home has shaken staff members, including his wife, who is a caregiver at the center. The woman and her husband were separated after a 5:30 a.m. immigration sweep at their workplace Friday. “They showed up abruptly, and said if he tried to come back he would go to jail for 20 years,” his wife said in Spanish. One phone call is the only contact she and the pair’s three children have had with him since. The identity of the center and the couple have been withheld in light of a series of sweeps dubbed “Return to Sender” by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week that snared 107 undocumented people from Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Hollister. The operation has left families and communities uneasy, especially with federal officials saying Wednesday that more sweeps are “very possible” in the region.”

“When Ana Maria Luna talks to moms about breastfeeding, they listen.
…
A certified lactation counselor at the Community Bridges Women Infants and Children program, she is a key element in a grass-roots effort to encourage more Latino mothers to give their babies a healthy start by breastfeeding. Doctors recommend babies be fed only breast milk for the first six months to reduce the likelihood of becoming overweight.”

“López, a visiting research professor at UC-Berkeley who has been teaching botany and environmental studies at San Jose City College since 1969, has been studying farmworkers in two regions: west-central Mexico and nearby Salinas and Watsonville’s Pajaro Valley. She says that campesinos are here seeking work because the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allowed U.S. corporations to flood Mexico with cheap food products, leaving no markets for the produce of rural Mexican farmers whose lives, she found, depend on its sale.

López believes that her study is the largest and most thorough ever undertaken on the subject of immigration and international trade agreements, and she spoke to Metro about the connection.”

“With the huge layoff coming, workers and local leaders are struggling to adapt in this predominantly Latino town of nearly 50,000. There were loud protests when the Green Giant plant moved jobs from Watsonville to a Mexican factory in 1991. But after Birds Eye’s announcement late last month, there was a quiet resignation — almost acquiescence — to the global economic realities: It’s cheaper to package frozen foods in China and Chile than in California.

The economic engine that drove many of the workers from Mexico to Watsonville’s frozen food plants has been driving those same jobs south of the border since the late 1970s. Many see themselves as pawns in a vast global chess game being played by invisible hands.”

“Even at 38, Ruben Caballero Jr.’s eyes still light up like a child when he’s under a circus tent.

“Everything that makes up the circus, I love it, from the morning when you start up the trucks and you hit the road,” he said. “The circus has magic. You enter another world.”

This week the road led to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.”

“Amalia Avila never supported the war. But after her first son, Victor Gonzalez, told her he wanted to join the Marines, she felt a mixture of fear, concern and, finally, pride.

“This war makes no sense to me,” Avila said last week in her Watsonville home. “I’d ask him why he wanted to go, and he’d just say his brothers needed his help. … But when Victor did get into the Marines, when that day came, I was so proud of him.”

Avila paused to allow her tears. “It was a beautiful day.”"

“The Chicana/o Latina/o Research Center at UC Santa Cruz (CLRC) is pleased to announce its first annual Gloria E. AnzaldÚa Distinguished Lecture Award Ceremony. Noted Chicana author and MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient Sandra Cisneros will accept the award and read from her work at 5pm on Sunday, April 30, 2006 at Watsonville’s Mello Center for the Performing Arts.

The CLRC has established the Distinguished Lecture Award in Gloria Evangelina AnzaldÚa’s name to honor her extensive creative work in Chicano/a and feminist issues. AnzaldÚa, a public intellectual and creative writer, passed away at her home in Santa Cruz in May of 2004. Gloria AnzaldÚa is considered one of the boldest feminist thinkers and social justice activists of our time. AnzaldÚa wrote the landmark Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza Consciousness (Spinters/Aunt Lute 1989), named one of the 100 Best Books of the Century by Hungry Mind Review and Utne Reader. She published essays, poetry, short stories, interviews, anthologies and children’s books. “

“My name is Adisa Banjoko. I am the author of Lyrical Swords Vol. 2: Westside Rebellion. It deals with Black and Brown unity. It deals with a lot of political and social issues that we face every day. I speak in a lot of places. Some times its prisons, sometimes its universities. Today I am honored to be here with the Brown Berets. I am honored to be here with the beautiful people of Watsonville.

I came today to talk about peace and unity. Peace and unity is something that we absolutely have to have in this moment, dealing with the Bush administration and the things we face today. The Black people of America cannot do it alone. The Latino people cannot do it alone. The Arab cannot do it alone. The Muslim, the Christian and the Jew cannot do it alone. The Buddhist cannot do it alone. We have to be unified in this moment.
“

“Acclaimed Chicana author Sandra Cisneros, whose book The House on Mango Street is required reading in classrooms across the country, will give a public reading at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, at the Mello Center for the Performing Arts in Watsonville.

Cisneros will be accepting the first annual Gloria E. AnzaldÚa Distinguished Lecture Award, presented by the Chicana/o Latina/o Research Center (CLRC) at UCSC. Tickets are available through the UCSC Ticket Office online and at (831) 459-2159.”

“CISNEROS NAMED FIRST GLORIA E. ANZALDíšA DISTINGUISHED LECTURER
The University of California, Santa Cruz, reports: “Acclaimed Chicana author Sandra Cisneros, whose book The House on Mango Street is required reading in classrooms across the country, will give a public reading at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, at the Mello Center for the Performing Arts in Watsonville.

Cisneros will be accepting the first annual Gloria E. AnzaldÚa Distinguished Lecture Award, presented by the Chicana/o Latina/o Research Center (CLRC) at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Tickets are available through the UCSC Ticket Office at (831) 459-2159 events.ucsc.edu/tickets. General admission ranges from $20-$45 per ticket; admission for students and seniors ranges from $15-$35. In addition, premium seats will be available for $100 per ticket. The event is a fundraiser that benefits UCSC’s Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, which pairs students with faculty mentors who provide input, guidance, and encouragement as they open the ‘pipeline’ to higher education for young Latinos.”