Volume 48 | November 2018
Your monthly news & updates
Rexland Acres Park Kicks Off A New Soccer Field
Rexland Acres residents are celebrating as construction started last month for a new soccer field at Rexland Acres Park. After years of fighting for funding, a coalition of community members — many of them students — secured the funds through a combination of State, county and grant funding. Modeled after the popular "indoor soccer" version of the game, the dimensions of the field are different from a traditional soccer field, but require less upkeep and allow for it to be used for other activities.

Read more about the new addition to Rexland Acres Park on South Kern Sol .
GBLA Hosts Conference on Civil Rights and Immigrants
In October, the Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance (GBLA) brought together representatives from a wide variety of professions across the county to discuss issues and challenges faced by the immigrant population.

Attended by approximately 150 people, participants heard presentations by university professors, advocates, and attorneys from many organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, the United Farmworkers Foundation, the National Immigration Law Center, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, California State University, Northridge, the Jakara Movement, and Faith in the Valley.

Convened with the intent to raise awareness, educate attendees, and clarify common misconceptions about immigrant communities, GBLA also aimed to inspire others to help and protect vulnerable immigrant communities.

Also addressed during the conference was the GEO Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield. Many attendees were unaware that ICE has a local detention center. Read more about it on South Kern Sol.
TCE Honors Local Youth
In October, The California Endowment held their first annual Youth Awards. Celebrating young leaders from around the State, recipients of the award are young people activity engaged bettering their communities. Dubbed the Community Champions Award, Chyna Patz from Bakersfield was the local winner. Chyna is an LGBTQ youth rights advocate, founder of the GSA club at her school, a member of Dolores Huerta Foundation's Teens For Equality, and a youth reporter for South Kern Sol. Congratulations to all of the young people across the State transforming their communities!
South Kern's Economy Continues to Grow
On the heels of the Board of Supervisors approving the new Arvin-Lamont economic opportunity zone in September, Kern County's District 4 Supervisor David Couch recently announced that the Board has approved changes to Recology's Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for their composting operation in Lamont. These changes will will create jobs, address air quality, and provide revenue to the newly established Arvin-Lamont Economic Opportunity Area.

Thanks to the work of BHC partners Center for Race, Poverty, and the Environment, Committee for a Better Arvin, and Comité Progreso de Lamont during the Recology CUP modification application to County, South Kern communities will benefit financially without incurring environmental harm.
ACLU Opens Office in Bakersfield
Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California opened an office in Kern County. While the newly established local office will address all matters of inequity, immigrant rights and policing practices were the impetus for opening the local branch.

“Kern County residents value constitutional protections,” said staff attorney Jordan Wells, who previously worked in New York’s ACLU office. “The ACLU will work to protect and advance these cherished constitutional rights here in Kern County.” Read more here .
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