Sacramento's Human Rights Violations A United
Nations appointee has rebuked Sacramento for restricting access to
public restrooms and criminalizing public urination, calling the
city policies "discriminatory" and saying they violate fundamental
human rights. UN Special Rapporteur Catarina de Albuquerque
sent a letter to Mayor Kevin Johnson last Friday urging him to
change these city policies. Johnson said no one is more
frustrated than he is about the lack of progress in fully
addressing our homelessness challenges at his weekly press
conference Tuesday while advocates for a homeless campground
rallied outside city hall to protest. We'll speak with
Steve Watters, Executive Director of Safe Ground Sacramento, Connie
de la Vega, Professor of law at the University of San Francisco
School of Law, Jay Schenirer, City Councilman who's worked with
Safeground over the past year, and Joaquin McPeek, from the office
of the Mayor.
To read the UN letter to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson click
HERE.
Marcos Breton The Sacramento Bee columnist
joins us the first Wednesday of each month; his columns appear each
Wednesday and Sunday in the Bee's Our Region section.
The "Poetry Out Loud" Competition The
Sacramento County "Poetry Out Loud" competition encourages high
school students to learn about great poetry through memorization,
performance, and competition. The program provides students
with the opportunity to perform poetry in English classes,
encouraging youth to learn about great poetry, read it aloud and
share it with others. Sacramento County's "Poetry Out Loud"
program is supported by the Sacramento County Office of Education,
the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, the California Arts
Council, California Poets in the Schools, the National Endowment
for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation. The winner will advance to
the California
Poetry Out Loud competition, held March 25-26 in Sacramento.
California's overall winner will receive $200 and an expenses-paid
trip to compete in the national competition in Washington,
D.C. The National Finals and Semifinals will be held May
13-15, 2012. A total of $50,000 in scholarships and school
stipends will be awarded at the national finals.
Joe Hamilton's Story Goalball athletes
show just one way visually impaired people can excel.
