AMOS recently pushed through state legislation to increase funding for workforce development. Pathways to College Education (PACE) provides community college funding for people who are low income, cannot qualify for Pell grants and are interested in pursuing careers in Iowa where there's a shortage of workers (i.e. welders, machinists, tool and die makers, CNA's, etc.). PACE has passed the House and Senate and is awaiting signature from the Governor. The bill would provide $5 million for the state's community colleges.

Leaders from The Border Organization demanded that the Commissioner's Court reestablish the public defender's office for the County. Marta Iza Gonzalez-Stitts (pictured right) spoke for the organization.

Local Organization Seeks Action on Public Defender's Office, Del Rio News Herald

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"Jeremiah Group, which pushed the state to dedicate the money for the new program out of the failed Road Home rental recovery program, deserves credit for ...pushing the administration to deliver on the idea."

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New Priest Adjusting to San Luis, The Yuma Sun

Institutional leaders from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, the Worker's Defense Project and the University Methodist Church weigh in on the Texas miracle and its effects on Austin residents.

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Chaplain Dan Olivieri and lay leader Mary Littel Walsh presented the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors a petition signed by over 400 parishioners from Resurrection Catholic Church in Aptos. They sent a clear message — don't cut home care wages!

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Valley Interfaith Bids a Fond Farewell to Elizabeth Valdez, Rio Grande Guardian

The Ray Marshall Center released the latest updates of a multi-year study of several hundred Capital IDEA participants, concluding that "longer term investments in skills training yields large, lasting returns in the labor market."

Local Investments in Workforce Development: 2011 Evaluation Update, Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources

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The Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, a W/SWIAF labor market intermediary in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, announced that they have been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Greater Texas Foundation to prepare low-income adults to obtain jobs in high demand fields. GTF Executive Director Dr. Wynn Rosser notes, "We became very interested in VIDA's work after learning that 91 percent of VIDA's participants served last year had either graduated or were still in school." VIDA's innovative program combines financial assistance with support services for adults motivated to graduate from college.

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In Pomona, hundreds of leaders assembled last spring to challenge a planned waste transfer station in a neighborhood already burdened with one. Leaders cited increased risks of cancer and other respiratory illnesses that exceed local regulatory standards. The Inland Empire Sponsoring Committee (locally known as the Pomona Valley Cluster of One LA) generated over 1,000 letters in opposition to the proposed project while proponents mustered only twelve.

This summer, the fight over trash escalated with a over 100 leaders hitting the streets in a neighborhood walk to inform residents of increased risks of cancer and other respiratory illnesses implicit in the planned expansion of a local waste transfer station. Press from miles afar picked up the story. Leaders await a decision from the City of Pomona Planning Commission.

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