September 26, 2019
By Faith Petrie
Contributing Writer
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power announced the expansion of weekend hours and an increase of fast chargers at its Crenshaw Customer Service Center location.
“[The Crenshaw station is] very popular so we want to be able to accommodate folks who use the charging stations and one way we can do that is by expanding the hours,” said LADWP’s Chief Sustainability Officer Nancy Sutley on Tuesday.
In addition to being available to the public on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the chargers will now be open on the weekends from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. According to a press release, currently there are “(4) 25kW DC Fast Chargers and (16) Level-2 6.6kW chargers at the Crenshaw Customer Service Center parking lot.”
Sutley said throughout California around 10 percent of new cars bought are electric vehicles or plug-in-hybrids.
“We’ve certainly seen a lot of interest and activity around electric vehicles, we have tens of thousands of them here in the city of Los Angeles registered to LA residents,” Sutley said. “We see the automakers are offering more and more electric vehicle models.”
In order to maintain this upsurge of electric vehicle purchases, the LADWP is working with local car dealerships to educate them on the benefits of the cars.
“We’re always looking to see what else we can do to help people who are interested in electric vehicles like find out information about whether or not an electric vehicle makes sense for them,” Sutley said.
The LADWP is also hoping to provide incentives for electric vehicle users in the form of rebate programs. Offered for both residential and commercial use, the programs are aimed at making the chargers available to any Los Angeles resident.
“We’ve really increased the type of incentive we offer and the amount so we’re getting ready to increase for example, if you want to put an electric vehicle charger in your house we’ll give you a rebate that will basically cover the cost of the charger and also the installation,” Sutley said.
On the commercial spectrum, the rebate begins at up $5,000 for a qualified level 2 single-port charger and can go up to as much as $125,000 per charging station for medium and heavy duty electric vehicles.
The Residential Rebate Program offers up to $500 for the purchase of a qualified home electric vehicle charger and an additional $250 for installing a TOU or time-of-use meter for the charger. Still pending approval, the Residential Rebate Program will offer an additional $500 for costs of installation of the electric vehicle charger and $1000 for the installation of the TOU.
The LADWP also offers a Used Rebate Program, an initiative aimed at increasing the purchase of used electric vehicles.
“I think people will feel more comfortable with buying an electric vehicle knowing that no matter where they are in the city they can charge up and we also want to ensure every Angeleno has access to an electric vehicle,” Sutley said.
With the rise of convenient charging, LADWP hopes to educate Los Angeles residents on electric vehicles and the benefits they provide to not only the driver but also the environment.
“[Electric vehicles] are great to drive, they’re quiet and clean, you’re helping the environment, you’re helping yourself and your community by driving a cleaner car,” Sutley said.
The LADWP has worked with LA Metro and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation in order to push for more electric transportation usage in the city.
“We hope to see more and more electric buses and other kinds of heavy duty vehicles like trucks and other things that can run on electricity and put out much less pollution onto the streets of LA and really help deal with climate change as well as our local air pollution problem,” Sutley said.
As for what lays ahead for electric vehicles and charger accessibility, Sutley said the department anticipates a rise in the automobile in the coming years.
“We have goals to get to 10,000 publically accessible chargers by 2022 and 28,000 publically accessible chargers in LA by the time of the 2028 Olympics,” Sutley said.
For now, the LADWP is working on adding additional chargers in their own facilities as well as community spaces for any electric vehicle owner to use.
“We think this is where all vehicles are going to end up in the not too distant future we’re really looking at an electric vehicle future,” Sutley said.
September 19, 2019
By Danny Bakewell, Jr.
Executive Editor
On Thursday, September 12, 2019 the Los Angeles Sentinel Family was shocked when we got word that former Los Angeles Sentinel Managing Editor, Yussuf J. Simmonds, passed away after several years of battling health challenges.
Simmonds who has worked with Los Angeles Sentinel Executive Publisher, Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. dating back to the days when Danny Sr. was the president of The Brotherhood Crusade, was a highly respected journalist, an artist and devoted member of the Nation of Islam.
“When I heard the news, I was deeply saddened by the news of Yussuf’s passing. He was a dear friend and confidant, who worked with me on so many projects over the years. Yussuf was a man I could always count on to help serve our people and our community, whether working on a protest event, the Brotherhood Crusade Dinners or at the Sentinel, Yussuf was a man committed to getting the job done,” said Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. chairman of Bakewell Media and board chairman of The Brotherhood Crusade.
Simmonds was born and grew up in Trinidad and moved to Los Angeles, where he began following the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and working at the Nation of Islam – Temple #27. Not only was he a loyal member of the Brotherhood Crusade team, but he was an entrepreneur creating and working in a multitude of various businesses including real estate, finance and in the grocery business.
Simmonds will be a man always remembered for being a good friend of the community. He was very close with former Lt. Governor Mervyn Dymally, who was also from Trinidad. As managing editor of the Sentinel, Simmonds became known as a serious journalist, who interviewed several of Los Angeles top political and community leaders as well as in depth stories on the challenges of those living here locally.
“Yussuf helped prepare me for taking on the responsibility of being the managing editor of the Sentinel, he taught me so much about the task of getting a newspaper ready for print and about how to frame a story so that it speaks directly to the African American community, and for this, I will always be grateful,” state Brandon Brooks, L.A. Sentinel Managing Editor.
As of Sentinel press time, no other information regarding services are available.
September 12, 2019
By Cora Jackson-Fossett
Religion Editor
Hundreds of people obtained autographed copies of “Behind the Seen” by Pastor Frederick K. Price, Jr., at the book release receptions on Sept. 6 and Sept. 8, at Crenshaw Christian Center in Los Angeles.
Making his debut as an author, Price Jr. sub-titled the book “Angels, Demons and the Battle for the Human Soul” and he dedicated it to “truth-seekers, deep researchers, and those who know that behind the veil lie the answers to life’s most staggering questions.
May the Lord continue to open your eyes to the mysteries that are ever-present in the pages of His Word.”
“I have been desiring to write something for a while.
Now that the book has manifested, I guarantee that you will be intrigued,” said Price, who added that his intent is to “create dialogue” and “separate the realities from the misconceptions.”
Using the Bible as his primary source, Price Jr. said he devoted 15 years to researching and preparing to write “Behind the Seen.”
According to the book’s introduction, his aim is to “draw us more deeply in God’s truth about spiritual realms and their effects on our lives and on eternity…and equip you to prevail in this life and the next.”
During the receptions, Price Jr. read the book’s forward written by his father, Apostle Frederick K.C. Price and greeted scores of well-wishers including Kitty Davis, Union Rescue Mission director of public relations, and the Rev. Andy Bales, executive director of URM. In addition, attendees purchased more than 600 copies of the book.
“Behind the Seen” is also available online at thematrixoftruth.com.
September 12, 2019
By Faith Petrie
Contributing Writer
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power are hoping to clear the air about electric vehicles with the ninth annual Charge Up LA! Los Angeles event corresponding with National Drive Electric Week.
On Saturday, Sept. 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center at 1700 Stadium Way will be dedicated towards informing and allowing attendees to test drive the cars in an effort to consider purchasing the environmentally conscious car.
Although the free event is presented by Plug In America, Sierra Club and Electric Auto Association, Louis Ting, director of power planning development and engineering at LADWP said that as the event’s lead sponsor, their main goal is to showcase EVs first-hand to guests.
“We’ve found out that in order for people to find out what [electric vehicles] are, is to do a test drive,” Ting said. “The best part of it is you get to get into the cars and drive around Dodger Stadium.”
According to Ting, electric vehicles are the future of the Los Angeles driving experience and “over 50,000” electric vehicles are registered in Los Angeles.
“If more people drive electric vehicles, buses and trucks… that means our air will be even cleaner not just from the transportation source of emissions but also for our generation, so the air quality will be so much better, just imagine that,” Ting said.
Martin Adams, interim LADWP general manager and chief engineer echoed Ting’s statement in the event’s press release saying, “EVs bring direct benefit to our environment by reducing carbon emissions and improving air quality.”
Adams went on to add, “LADWP supports the growth in the adoption of electric vehicles in our city not only because of the ecological impacts but to also help our customers save money by charging their cars with electricity at home or at work, instead of fueling with gas.”
Along with getting people behind the wheel of electric vehicles, Charge Up LA! will feature LADWP’s Used Rebate Program. According to an email sent by Ellen Cheng, LADWP’s media relations specialist “the program currently offer up to $450 towards the purchase of a qualifying used EV or plug-in hybrid EV.”
Ting said that LADWP is in the process of increasing this year’s rebate program from $450 to $1,500 in an effort to get Los Angeles residents interested in EVs. To qualify for the program interested buyers have to be residents of or those who conduct business in Los Angeles. Along with that criteria, potential clients must be customers of LADWP.
“We believe that barely used EVs that are in the market that people turn in after two or three year leases are still in very good shape,” Ting said.
Along with the Used EV Rebate Program, the press release stated there will be a “Residential EV Charging Station Rebate Program that will allow up to $500 for the purchase of a qualified home EV charger and an additional $250 for the installation of a dedicated time-of use meter for the charger.”
To supplement this push for electric vehicles, Ting said that the LADWP has increased its charging infrastructures and hopes to continue the growth.
“We have been installing chargers and right now we have over 2,600 publicly available chargers and we also have a total of over 4,000 electric vehicle chargers in the city that are either publicly available or available in government intenties,” Ting said.
Aside from learning about electric vehicles, guests of Charge Up LA! can also expect an afternoon of food, vendors, speakers, raffles and more.
According to the press release, an EC Tailgate Community of electric vehicle enthusiasts will be featured and will include hundreds of devotees who will be “sharing their insight on a range of vehicles” and spreading personal knowledge about the cars.
Whether or not attendees purchase a car, Ting hopes that more people are informed about electric vehicles.
“First of all [we want people] to get to know electric vehicles if you don’t have one,” Ting said. “Especially for people who have never driven one, you’ve never seen one or you don’t even know what an EV looks like.”
For those who are a bit more well versed in the world of EVs, the event is a way for potential buyers to see what is on the market.
“We want the current EV owners to get even more excited about the EV future. We’re adding some manufactures that [have] never [been] shown before,” Ting said.
Featured vehicles available to test drive are the Audi e-tron, BMW 530e, BMW i3, Chrysler Pacifica, Jaguar I-PACE, Kia Niro EV, MINI Cooper S E Countryman, Nissan LEAF and Toyota Prius Prime.
Free parking is available at Dodger Stadium’s parking lot 13 for Charge Up LA! and further information can be found at the event’s Eventbrite page or the LADWP website.