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NEWARK LAUNCHES COMMUNITY YOUTH MAPPING PROJECT |
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
NEWARK YOUTH MAP OUT CITY’S RESOURCES AND KEY LANDMARKS
Kids to map out areas that are “youth-friendly” or are important to them
Newark, NJ - July 8, 2008 - Mayor Cory A. Booker and Deputy Mayor of Neighborhood Engagement Margarita Muñiz today joined with NewarkWORKS and the Nicholson Foundation to launch the Community Youth Mapping initiative in Newark, a program that will see city teenagers map out their wards and neighborhoods, locating areas that have positive resources, and areas and opportunities that they deem safe and important.
Ten teenagers and one college student supervisor from each of the City’s five wards will work on the project, each team mapping their own ward until August 15. In creating these maps, students will learn about making positive decisions and community development, as well as build positive connections within their communities.
“We are going to give our youngsters an opportunity to decide what they consider important for their neighborhoods and the City as a whole,” Mayor Booker said. “They will have an opportunity to define for us the terms and agenda for addressing their needs as youth and as residents. We eagerly await their energy and ideas.”
“Our students will have the chance and responsibility to create a positive impact on their own neighborhoods, with Community Youth Mapping they will produce an online youth directory that has never been done in the City of Newark before. They are making history and leading the rest of our youth into a positive and resourceful future!” said Deputy Mayor Muñiz.
“I see great things for all of us including the youth and the supervisors...it is the best opportunity for the youth go out and do something positive. I am excited and glad to be a part of this program and especially since it’s the first time being done in my hometown of Newark!” said Katherine Saboya, an Essex County College student who is supervising the North Ward team.
“Community Youth Mapping is not only for our youth to see the great opportunities that this City can provide for them but it will also have an impact on the rest of the country and prove that Newark is one of the greatest and largest cities in the nation,” said Kevin Scott, an NJIT college student who is heading the East Ward team.
The program is part of a nationwide initiative developed by the Washington-based AED Center for Youth Development and Policy Research to empower youngsters to map out communities and issues. The project enables youth to create for their communities accurate databases of places to go and things to do for young people, children, and families; a strategy that can replace annual needs assessments and seldom updated databases; a complete picture and map of where available services and supports are; and access to technology that makes this information easily accessible to everyone.
For more information on the AED Center, please visit: www.communityyouthmapping.org |
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Michael T. McPhearson will discuss The Iraq War on radio show |
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
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Michael T. McPhearson Executive Director of Veterans For Peace, my guest this coming Tuesday on my radio show "Lets Get Real With Reuben Torres" will discuss The IRAQ WAR.
Michael T. McPhearson, a native of Fayetteville North Carolina was a field artillery officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, also known as Gulf War I. Michael joined the Army Reserve 1981 as an enlisted soldier at the age of 17 and attended basic training the summer between his junior and senior high school years. He is a ROTC graduate of CampbellUniversity in Buies Creek , North Carolina . His military career includes 6 years of reserve service and 5 years active duty service. He separated from active duty in 1992 as a Captain.
Michael is currently the Executive Director of Veterans For Peace. He is also Co-chair of United for Peace and Justice. His volunteer social and economic justice activist work include membership in Military Families Speak Out, as a coordinating committee member for the Bring Them Home Now campaign against the U.S. occupation of Iraq and as a steering committee member of United For Peace and Justice. Michael is the publisher of Cpeace.com.
In December of 2003 Michael returned to Iraq as part of a peace delegation to examine the state of the occupation first hand. He has also traveled to Istanbul Turkey and Bologna Italy as a speaker on the U.S. peace movement and world peace.
“Lets Get Real With Reuben Torres" is an open forum where topics on politics, immigration, health, education, and other global issues, that affect our country and the world at large, are discussed and debated at local, national, and global levels. "Lets Get Real With Reuben Torres" airs every Tuesday evening from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm . To listen to the program go to www.blogtalkradio.com/LETSGETREALWITHREUBENTORRES All are welcome to participate by calling (347) 327-9003 |
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Lautenberg, Sutton to Call for Soldiers to be Compensated for Stop-Loss |
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On July 10 at 11:30 am, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Betty Sutton (D-OH) will be joined by other Members of Congress, soldiers whose military service has been involuntarily extended, representatives of military organizations and Kimberly Peirce, Writer/Director of the nationally-released feature film “Stop-Loss” to call for compensation for service members affected by “stop loss.”
Stop-loss is a Pentagon policy that involuntarily extends military service beyond an enlistment contract. In response, Senator Lautenberg and Congresswoman Sutton have introduced the Stop-Loss Compensation Act in the Senate and House (S. 3060 and H.R. 6205), which requires the Pentagon to pay affected troops an additional $1,500 for each month their service is extended. The Stop Loss Compensation Act has been endorsed by Veterans for America, Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. For more information on the legislation please visit:
http://www.lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=298364& and http://sutton.house.gov/news/story.cfm?id=150 |
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CAMDEN MAN INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER AND OTHER CHARGES |
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Monday, 07 July 2008 |
Division of Criminal Justice
Deborah Gramiccioni, Acting Director
For Immediate Release:
CAMDEN MAN INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER AND OTHER
CHARGES FOR ALLEGEDLY FIRING AT STATE TROOPERS
TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram and Acting Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni announced that a Camden man was indicted today on a charge of attempted murder for allegedly firing a handgun at three State Police detectives last year.
According to Gramiccioni, John Thomas-El, 27, of Camden, was indicted in a five-count state grand jury indictment on a first-degree charge of attempted murder, second-degree charges of aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and third-degree charges of resisting arrest and possession of a controlled dangerous substance, PCP. He was charged in a separate indictment with possessing a weapon as a convicted felon, a second-degree offense.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team into a shooting that occurred on July 24, 2007. Thomas-El allegedly fired a .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun at three New Jersey State Police detectives, missing them. One detective returned fire, hitting Thomas-El once in the arm. Thomas-El was then arrested.
The Shooting Response Team investigation determined that Detective Sgt. Mark Cunard and Detectives William Stolinski and Joseph Loschiavo, who were assigned to a strategic investigations unit, were detailed to a disturbance at 8th and Tulip streets about 10 p.m. As they approached the intersection in an unmarked SUV, Thomas-El allegedly fired a handgun three times into the air. When the detectives, wearing State Police vests with police identifiers, exited the SUV and approached Thomas-El, yelling “State Police” and commanding him to stop, he fled. As Thomas-El continued to flee, he allegedly turned and fired one round at the detectives from the handgun. Cunard then fired his service weapon three times, striking Thomas-El once in the right bicep and stopping him. The handgun was recovered in the area where Thomas-El fell.
Thomas-El allegedly had in his possession a small amount of phencyclidine or PCP, an illegal hallucinogen. He was named in the second indictment because it is a crime under New Jersey law for a felon convicted of certain crimes to possess a gun. Thomas-El was convicted of burglary in 2007 in Camden County.
The case was presented to the state grand jury by Deputy Attorney General Jim Ruberton. The investigation was conducted by Detective Sgt. Geoffrey Noble of the State Police Major Crime Unit and Detective Brian Graybill of the Division of Criminal Justice, who were assigned to the Shooting Response Team.
First-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in state prison and a $200,000 fine, while second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $150,000 fine. Third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.
The indictments are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The indictments were handed up to Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg in Mercer County, who assigned the cases to Camden County. Copies of the indictments are linked to this release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Thomas-El remains in Camden County Jail in lieu of $125,000 bail.
Under an Attorney General directive, the Attorney General’s Shooting Response Team, made up of Deputy Attorneys General and detectives from the Division of Criminal Justice and State Police Major Crime Unit, are dispatched to the scene of a shooting to conduct the investigation. The Shooting Response Team also receives investigative and administrative support from county prosecutor’s offices. The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office assisted in this investigation.
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