Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 8-23-16 Online Edition

Local
Commissioners Approve $30,000 For Community Police Workshops
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
The Board of the Hillsbor- ough County Commissioners voted to approve funding for a series of workshops. The pur- pose of the workshops is to create positive dialogue and interaction with members of the community and law en- forcement.
The Board voted 7-0 to al- locate $30,000 of their up- coming budget for the next fiscal year. Board Chairman Les Miller, Jr., spearheaded the effort.
Chairman Miller said, “We are thinking about all of the things happening all over the country involving law en- forcement and the community. We want to do something in Hillsborough County to make sure it doesn’t happen here.
“In these workshops, we want to bring together com- munity leaders, youth, law en- forcement and others to have an open dialogue. We must work together so that people
FRED HEARNS
... Workshop Facilitator
see what police go through and police can understand what people go through as well.”
Fred Hearns, Facilitator of the Workshops said this is not the first time the work- shops have been held in Hills- borough County. “We had them from 1985 until 2005. And, during that time, we only had one incident and that was involving Melvin Hair over in College Hill.”
In 1987, Hair died after being placed in a choke hold by a Tampa Police officer. The in-
LES MILLER, JR. Chairman, Hillsborough County Commissioners
cident resulted in several days of civil unrest.
“These workshops give everyone a chance to express themselves. They are a forum where everyone has an equal voice and gives everyone a chance to be heard. I want to hear what people have to say. And, we can put some of these ideas in black and white and bring them to officials.”
The workshops will begin after October 1st. The dates and locations are not yet available.
Federal Grant Available For Civil Rights Parks
The National Park Service (NPS) has opened the applica- tion period for new grants to preserve and highlight the sites and stories related to the African American struggle for equality in the 20th Century. Anyone interested in applying for the grant must meet the deadline set for Friday, October 14, 2016.
Members of Congress ap- proved the funding and appro- priated $8.0 million for this new grant program.
The grants are funded by the Historic Preservation Fund and administered by the NPS. The competitive grant program will provide funding to states, tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations.
Funding will support a broad range of planning, devel- opment, and research projects for historic sites associated with African American civil rights in the 20th century. Pos- sible projects include surveys and documentation, interpre- tation and education, oral his- tories, architectural services, historic structure reports, plan- ning, and bricks and mortar preservation.
The “Civil Rights in America, A Framework for Identifying Significant
Sites,” which is a 2008 NPS study, will serve as the princi- ple reference for grant appli- cants to determine the appropriateness of proposed projects and properties.
States, territories, federally- recognized tribes, Alaska Na- tives and Native Hawaiian Organizations, local govern- ments (including Certified Local Governments), non- profit organizations, including private non-profit historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) can apply.
However, HBCUs need to apply in partnership with an el- igible recipient.
Applications must be sub- mitted using Grants.gov.
Search in Grants.gov for Funding Opportunity #P16AS00485, under Cata- logue of Federal Domestic As- sistance (CFDA) number 15.904 or African American Civil Rights Grants.
If the project is funded, ap- plicants should expect to be able to begin work no sooner than January 2017. For ques- tions or additional information contact the NPS at (202) 354- 2020; or visit the website at preservation_grants_info@np s.gov.
THE FLORIDA
SENTINEL BULLETIN . . . Picks For August 30th Election
U. S. Senator
Pam Keith
U. S. Representive
No recommendation
State Senator District 19 Edwin Narain
State Rep. District 59
Rena Frazier
State Rep. District 61
Sean Michael Shaw
State Rep. District 70
No recommendation
Clerk Of The Circuit Court Pat Frank
Board Of County Commissioners District 6 Thomas Scott
Circuit Judge, 13th Judicial Circuit Group 3
Carl Hinson
Circuit Court Judge Group 24
Melissa “Missy” Polo, Gary S. Dolgin, and Lanell Williams-Yulee
County Court Judge Group 10 Miriam Valkenburg
School Board District 1 William “Bill” Person
School Board District 5 Joseph Jordon-Robinson
School Board District 7 Stanley Gray
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2016