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ONME Local: City Council to raise Pride flag; money needed for sidewalks; Merced playhouse to open

By ONME Newswire

In the beginning of this episode of ONME Local Central Valley, producer host, Julia Dudley Najieb reviews Merced County news: UC Merced's 13th Recipient of Spendlove Prize; Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza.


Also, Playhouse Merced will be back with its 2021-22 “The Story is Us” season of live, on stage productions starting this September. Its previous live season was unfortunately interrupted by the pandemic. The play, The Mountaintop, by African-American playwright, Katori Hall, will debut this season.

The play is a fictional depiction of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last night before he was assassinated in 1968, and is set entirely in the Lorraine Motel, where he was staying.


Then Dudley Najieb reviews Fresno City Council and Mayor Jerry Dyer's once-escalated-now-resolved agreement regarding the raising of the Pride flag at City Hall located in downtown Fresno; an over 30-year request from the LGBQT&Other community was finally approved. A ceremony to recognize the raising of the Pride flag at City Hall was to continue forward this week.


Also in Fresno news, City of Fresno councilman, Miguel Arias holds press conference to reveal the 109 year-old promise broken by the City of Fresno to service its residents with the creation of gutters, sidewalks, as well as the fixing of streets and pavements; there are schools and neighborhoods deemed unsafe for children walking home alone because there are no sidewalks. He also pointed out the deep neglect of trimming shrubbery and tree in neighborhoods or in front of local small businesses.


About the The Spendlove Prize


The Spendlove Prize at UC Merced was established in 2005 and made possible through a gift from Merced native Sherrie Spendlove in honor of her parents, Alice and Clifford.

The recipients are chosen for their contributions towards social justice, diplomacy and tolerance.


Previous recipients have included Merced native and Harvard professor Charles Ogletree, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Nobel Peace Prize winner RigobertaMenchú Tum, and attorney and professor Anita Hill.


The committee that selects the award winner is chaired by UC Merced’s dean of the School of Social Science, Humanities and Arts. It also includes a representative from the Spendlove family, an undergraduate student, a graduate student, a faculty member and representatives from the university community.


 

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