1. An editorial by Senator Ridley-Thomas, “Allensworth centennial: A celebration of self determination,” appears in Our Weekly.

2. Senator Ridley-Thomas declares October 18th California Firefighters Memorial Day. Firefighters and their families will gather at the State Capitol on the 18th to remember those lost in the line of duty this year and in years past, as part of the 2008 California Firefighters Memorial Annual Ceremony.

This comes on the heels of Governor Schwarzeneggar signing SB 997 by Senator Ridley-Thomas into law. The new law “gives firefighters two new seats on the now 16-member Commission on Emergency Medical Services.”

3. “Bernard Parks has backed off his effort to evict Anthony Thigpenn’s SCOPE community organization from its city-owned building.” Betty Pleasant at The Wave has much more on why Parks caved to community pressure.

4. The Wave Newspapers have picked up on Bernard Parks financial troubles. Of the “$207,038.30 spent by the Parks campaign since the June primary election, $133,478.68 of that went to paying down the debt.” In other words, for every $1 given to the Parks campaign, 64 cents vanishes immediately to pay down Parks’ huge debt.

5. The L.A. Times is reporting that Senator “Ridley-Thomas gets cash infusion”.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

6. Senator Ridley-Thomas and Bernard Parks will appear at a candidates forum tonight in Hawthorne. The event, which is hosted by the Holly Park Homeowners Association, begins at 7 p.m. at Atherton Baptist Church, 2627 W. 116th Street.

7. Mark your calendars for The Florence Firestone Chamber of Commerce Candidates Forum on Tuesday, October 28th. The event starts at 6:15 p.m. and free seating will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. The forum will be held at Thomas A. Edison Middle School Auditorium at 6500 Hopper Ave, Los Angeles, 90001.

8. Meet and greet Senator Ridley-Thomas with the friends and neighbors of Leimert Park on Sunday, October 12th between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The event will be held at 3801 Grayburn Avenue, Los Angeles, 90008. Please RSVP to peashet@hotmail.com.

9. Los Angeles residents have two options to vote early in California: apply for an absentee mail-in ballot, or march on over to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder’s Office in Norwalk at 12400 Imperial Highway. California Faultline has more information.

1. City Watch explains why Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stopped Bernard Parks from evicting a nonprofit organization. According to the article, “Many see the Parks move as strictly political”.

2. Celeste Fremon asks whether “Councilman Bernard Parks used his office to play politics with the city’s rental policy” at Witness LA.

3. Liberty Hill Foundation wants to know why “Councilman Parks wants to evict one of his district’s most effective community organizations?”

4. In response to Bernard Parks’ attempt to evict a nonprofit group that focuses on community organizing and job training, a spokesperson from Mayor Villaraigosa’s office stated, “It makes little sense for an individual member of council to unilaterally revoke leases that were approved by the entire City Council.”

5. Inglewood Today reports that “Inglewood and Gardena are considering joining the growing list of cities that support a proposal by Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) to secure $1.1 billion to refinance the loans of distressed borrowers with subprime loans. Last week, Carson and Culver City lent their support to the proposal, and the Los Angeles City Council has voted unanimously in favor of the program (12-0 with 3 members absent or not voting: Bernard Parks, Greig Smith and Eric Garcetti).”

6. Ari Noonan at The Front Page Online wants to know if “Parks’s heart [is] really in the runoff against Ridley-Thomas.” Noonan calls Parks, “Too dapper. Too button-down. Too Board Room”.

UPDATE:

7. Governor Schwarzeneggar signs Senate Bill 997 by Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas. According to the Sacramento Business Journal the bill:

“gives firefighters two new seats on the now 16-member Commission on Emergency Medical Services to help provide consistent oversight, standardize enforcement and ensure due process for disciplinary action.”