San Bernardino Press MONDAY, JULY 7, 2014 - JULY 13, 2014
sanbernardinopress.com
Levi Ponce: a talented muralist envisioning community improvement through painting by Jennifer schlueter A close friend recommended I check out Levi Ponce’s art (www.leviponce.com). Thrilled about what I saw, we set up an interview at the location of his next mural on a Sunday. In the afternoon, I arrive at Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights, where Levi and his crew had already been working for two hours on a memorial painting for Mexican –American starlet Jenni Rivera who died in a plane crash 2012. Approximately a dozen people stand around the shaded spot where Levi is painting alongside his father and a few other artists he had invited to join, including Rivera’s son Mike. While Levi’s father is coloring the yellow flowers at the bottom of a painting, Levi stands on a ladder shading Rivera’s face. The bilingual artist tells me that he has been painting since he was 4 and that he has “always been the kid with a paint brush in his hand.” Levi idolizes his father with whom he regularly paints, and legendary Classics such as Salvador Dali, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. When I ask him if he prefers realistic styles, he says no; he loves everything that looks good: sculpture, graffiti, pop art, etc. In 2011, the artist, who works
More than half a billion dollars targeted to upgrade transportation and drive job growth New state budget also increases transportation funding by $351 million
California state budget. A California Department of Education press release states that 123 eligible applications were received from various kinds of educational institutions, such as community
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has allocated $510 million to 83 transportation projects that will put people to work improving the state’s highways, bridges, and public transit. One of the highlights of the meeting was the CTC revising its funding estimate upward for the State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP) for the 201415 fiscal year from $2.2 billion to approximately $2.4 billion. The revision was in response to the new state budget, which provides $351 million in new transportation funding through the early repayment of loans made to the General Fund. The new funding includes $210 million for the SHOPP, which pays for transportation safety projects, pavement repair and preservation work, and upgrades bridges; $27 million for Caltrans maintenance projects; $100 million for city and county transportation; $9 million for bicycle and pedestrian projects under California’s new Active
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Levi Ponce painting with his father -Photo Jennifer Schlueter
in visual effects for his day time job in the film industry, started to use his art to bring the community of his hometown Pacoima together. When he paints, he invites everyone to join. Together with his fa-
ther and many other volunteers, he transformed graffiti marked walls of his neighborhood into what is now called the “Mural Mile.” The Please see page 4
$600k grant approved for Public Safety Academy by Vickie Vértiz The $600,000 state-funded California Career Pathways Trust grant was awarded to the Public Safety Academy, a San Bernardino-based middle through high school charter. San Bernardino County only received one of these grants, which will support
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a school focusing on developing professionals with careers in law enforcement and fire service. According to the Daily Bulletin, the California Career Pathways Trust was established as a one-time $250 million competitive grant program in the 2013-2014