Six thousand pairs of electric shock gloves. Sixteen point seven million dollars. That’s a federal contract, for ICE. And the Sacramento County Sheriff already bought ten of his own, for thirty-five thousand dollars. California has two weeks to decide whether its police can wear them.

This week on News Observer Weekly, Marcus and Nia break down the five stories that mattered most to our readers — from Observer Group Newspapers, publishers of the Bakersfield News Observer, the Los Angeles News Observer and Valley’s News Observer, serving Kern County, Los Angeles, and the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

ONE THING THIS WEEK
If you’re a Black man 45 or older — or 40 with a father, brother or uncle who
had prostate cancer — call your doctor and ask one question: should I be
screened? Before you call, ask your family what the men in it died of. The
American Cancer Society says most men diagnosed early will not die of this
disease. No doctor? ACS helpline, free, 24 hours: 1-800-227-2345

ON THE GOVERNOR’S DESK
AB 2760 pauses California law enforcement’s use of shock gloves for three years
pending a DOJ safety study. It passed 29-9 and 55-16. Newsom has until
September 30 to sign it.

ON YOUR NOVEMBER BALLOT
Prop 38 would authorize $8.4 billion in bonds for immunology and immunotherapy
research — $500–600 million a year in debt payments for about 20 years. Read
both arguments before you vote.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open
0:42 Sacramento: Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins’s Bill Would Pause Law Enforcement’s Use of Shock Gloves Pending Study
3:09 Los Angeles: Blacks and Latinos Clash Over LA’s Barrio Run; Mayor Karen Bass Calls for Dialogue Across Racial, Neighborhood Lines
5:26 Inglewood: How Inglewood’s Homeless Seniors Are Finding Relief Through Housing and Trauma-Informed Care
7:52 Your November Ballot: Prop 38 Would Allocate $8.4 Billion to Immunology and Immunotherapy Funding
10:15 Your Health: Prostate Cancer is Twice as Likely to Kill Black Men. Talking to Your Doctor Could Help Save Your Life
12:46 What to do this week

THE FULL STORIES
Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins’s Bill Would Pause Law Enforcement’s Use of Shock Gloves Pending Study

Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins’s Bill Would Pause Law Enforcement’s Use of Shock Gloves Pending Study

2. Blacks and Latinos Clash Over LA’s Barrio Run; Mayor Karen Bass Calls for Dialogue Across Racial, Neighborhood Lines

Blacks and Latinos Clash Over LA’s Barrio Run; Mayor Karen Bass Calls for Dialogue Across Racial, Neighborhood Lines

3. How Inglewood’s Homeless Seniors Are Finding Relief Through Housing and Trauma-Informed Care

How Inglewood’s Homeless Seniors Are Finding Relief Through Housing and Trauma-Informed Care

4. Prop 38 Would Allocate $8.4 Billion to Immunology and Immunotherapy Funding

On Your November Ballot: Prop 38 Would Allocate $8.4 Billion to Immunology and Immunotherapy Funding

5. Prostate Cancer is Twice as Likely to Kill Black Men. Talking to Your Doctor Could Help Save Your Life

Prostate Cancer is Twice as Likely to Kill Black Men. Talking to Your Doctor Could Help Save Your Life

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If a man who wasn’t related to you lived in your house, California could make him prove what he spent on groceries. Under penalty of perjury. Or your family’s check stopped. That rule is still on the books right now.

This week on News Observer Weekly, Marcus and Nia break down the five stories that mattered most to our readers — from Observer Group Newspapers, publishers of the Bakersfield News Observer, the Los Angeles News Observer and Valley’s News Observer, serving Kern County, Los Angeles, and the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

ONE THING THIS WEEK
Pull your child’s immunization record before the school year gets away from you
and book the well-child visit. California’s school and child-care vaccine
requirements have not changed. The routine childhood schedule is free whether or
not you’re insured, through Vaccines for Children — find a location and your
child’s digital record at myturn.ca.gov

CARING FOR SOMEONE AT HOME?
In-Home Supportive Services can pay family caregivers for work they’re already
doing unpaid. Kern County Aging and Adult Services will talk through your
situation and connect you.

ON THE GOVERNOR’S DESK
SB 1030 repeals the CalWORKs “man-in-the-house” rule. It passed 77-0 and 40-0.
Newsom has until September 30 to sign it.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open
0:34 Sacramento: Asm. Smallwood-Cuevas’s Bill Repealing ‘Racist’ CalWORKs ‘Man-in-the-House’ Rule Clears Legislature
2:33 Los Angeles: Street Medicine Brings Care to Unhoused Angelenos — But Housing Remains the Missing Prescription
5:12 Bakersfield: “This is Not a Job. This is Life”: One Grandmother’s Fight Against Caregiver Burnout
8:11 At The Table: Black Americans Have Doubts About the U.S. Food System
10:11 Your Health: Giving Our Black Children the Healthiest Start We Can
12:15 What to do this week

THE FULL STORIES
1. Asm. Smallwood-Cuevas’s Bill Repealing ‘Racist’ CalWORKs ‘Man-in-the-House’ Rule Clears Legislature

Asm. Smallwood-Cuevas’s Bill Repealing ‘Racist’ CalWORKs ‘Man-in-the-House’ Rule Clears Legislature

2. Street Medicine Brings Care to Unhoused Angelenos — But Housing Remains the Missing Prescription

Street Medicine Brings Care to Unhoused Angelenos — But Housing Remains the Missing Prescription

3. “This is Not a Job. This is Life”: One Grandmother’s Fight Against Caregiver Burnout

“This is Not a Job. This is Life”: One Grandmother’s Fight Against Caregiver Burnout

4. Black Americans Have Doubts About the U.S. Food System

Black Americans Have Doubts About the U.S. Food System

5. Giving Our Black Children the Healthiest Start We Can

Giving Our Black Children the Healthiest Start We Can

If you are in crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free and available 24 hours a day, by call or text.

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James Luckey Jr
shared 9 links
12:33 PM
News Observer Weekly — September 2, 2026 | Top 5 Stories of the Week

## Description
Eleven and a quarter percent. Lancaster and Palmdale. The highest sales tax in the United States. On October first it goes higher.

This week on News Observer Weekly, Marcus and Nia break down the five stories that mattered most to our readers — from Observer Group Newspapers, publishers of the Bakersfield News Observer, the Los Angeles News Observer and Valley’s News Observer, serving Kern County, Los Angeles, and the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

ONE THING THIS WEEK
Kern County parents: children under five can get a free book in the mail every
month through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, administered locally by the
Kern Literacy Council. No income requirement. Enroll at kernliteracy.org/dolly-partons-imagination-library.html

And before October 1, look up the sales tax rate for your own address at
cdtfa.ca.gov. Groceries and prescription medicine are exempt from the increase.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open
0:33 Your Money: America’s Highest Sales Tax Is About to Go Higher
2:51 The Vote: California Black Civil Rights Leaders Mobilize to Defend Voting Rights
5:27 Sports: Aaron Donald Comes Out of Retirement to Rejoin Rams
7:08 Culture: Why Kern County and Black Americans Love Dolly
9:46 Bakersfield: He Learned to Believe in Himself. Then He Built a Legacy
12:36 What to do this week

THE FULL STORIES
America’s Highest Sales Tax Is About to Go Higher

America’s Highest Sales Tax Is About to Go Higher

2. California Black Civil Rights Leaders Mobilize to Defend Voting Rights

California Black Civil Rights Leaders Mobilize to Defend Voting Rights

3. Aaron Donald Comes Out of Retirement to Rejoin Rams

Aaron Donald Comes Out of Retirement to Rejoin Rams

4. Why Kern County and Black Americans Love Dolly

Why Kern County and Black Americans love Dolly

5. He Learned to Believe in Himself. Then He Built a Legacy

He Learned to Believe in Himself. Then He Built a Legacy

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Subscribe for the top five, every week.

#BlackPress #Bakersfield #LosAngeles #SanFernandoValley #AntelopeValley #BlackNews

Your ballot lands in your mailbox the first week of October. Three of the five stories in this show get decided by it.

This week on News Observer Weekly, Marcus and Nia break down the five stories that mattered most to our readers — from Observer Group Newspapers, publishers of the Bakersfield News Observer, the Los Angeles News Observer and Valley’s News Observer, serving Kern County, Los Angeles, and the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open
0:34 The Vote: Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber Urges Californians to Vote Early as Voter ID Battle Intensifies
2:55 Education: Inglewood Unified Enters New School Year With Local Control In Sight, But Questions Linger
5:06 The Bench: Gov. Newsom Nominates 3 Black Women Judges to Serve on State Courts of Appeal
7:02 Bakersfield: Bakersfield’s Nigerian Community Eyes a Role in Growing California-Nigeria Ties
9:11 Culture: The Vision Theatre Performing Arts Center Reopened in South L.A.
11:08 What to do this week

THE FULL STORIES
Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber Urges Californians to Vote Early as Voter ID Battle Intensifies

Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber Urges Californians to Vote Early as Voter ID Battle Intensifies

2. Inglewood Unified Enters New School Year With Local Control In Sight, But Questions Linger

Inglewood Unified Enters New School Year With Local Control In Sight, But Questions Linger

3. Gov. Newsom Nominates 3 Black Women Judges to Serve on State Courts of Appeal

Gov. Newsom Nominates 3 Black Women Judges to Serve on State Courts of Appeal

4. Bakersfield’s Nigerian Community Eyes a Role in Growing California-Nigeria Ties

Bakersfield’s Nigerian Community Eyes a Role in Growing California-Nigeria Ties

5. The Vision Theatre Performing Arts Center Reopened in South L.A.

The Vision Theatre Performing Arts Center Reopened in South L.A.

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Subscribe for the top five, every week.

#BlackPress #Bakersfield #LosAngeles #SanFernandoValley #AntelopeValley #BlackNews

Two weeks ago we told you twenty-nine thousand people sleep outside in the city of Los Angeles. This week the countywide count tells us who is going without a home across the region. Black Angelenos are under ten percent of this county. They’re thirty-one point eight percent of everyone in it without a home.

This week on News Observer Weekly, Marcus and Nia break down the five stories that mattered most to our readers — from Observer Group Newspapers, publishers of the Bakersfield News Observer, the Los Angeles News Observer and Valley’s News Observer, serving Kern County, Los Angeles, and the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open
0:58 Housing: Black Angelenos Disproportionately Unhoused in 2026 Greater LA Homeless Count
3:31 Ballot: On Your November Ballot: Prop 37 Would Assist Middle-Income Californians to Take Out Second Mortgages to Buy New Homes
5:58 Reparations: Asm. Isaac Bryan’s Corporate Reparations Bill, Other Black Caucus Measures Advance From Suspense File
8:13 Health: “Sickle Cell Warriors” Urge Gov. Newsom to Sustain Critical Patient-Care Funding
10:29 Politics: Poll: One in Four Young Black Men Uncommitted to Voting in 2026
12:10 What to do this week

THE FULL STORIES
Black Angelenos Disproportionately Unhoused in 2026 Greater LA Homeless Count

Black Angelenos Disproportionately Unhoused in 2026 Greater LA Homeless Count

2. On Your November Ballot: Prop 37 Would Assist Middle-Income Californians to Take Out Second Mortgages to Buy New Homes

On Your November Ballot: Prop 37 Would Assist Middle-Income Californians to Take Out Second Mortgages to Buy New Homes

3. Asm. Isaac Bryan’s Corporate Reparations Bill, Other Black Caucus Measures Advance From Suspense File

Asm. Isaac Bryan’s Corporate Reparations Bill, Other Black Caucus Measures Advance From Suspense File

4. “Sickle Cell Warriors” Urge Gov. Newsom to Sustain Critical Patient-Care Funding

“Sickle Cell Warriors” Urge Gov. Newsom to Sustain Critical Patient-Care Funding

5. Poll: One in Four Young Black Men Uncommitted to Voting in 2026

Poll: One in Four Young Black Men Uncommitted to Voting in 2026

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Subscribe for the top five, every week.

#BlackPress #Bakersfield #LosAngeles #SanFernandoValley #AntelopeValley #BlackNews

Men are taught to “be strong” and hide their pain. At Bakersfield’s “It Hurts to Heal” Brotherhood Experience, over two dozen men dropped the emotional armor, shared their private struggles, and redefined what healing really looks like.

This video is a reminder:

– It’s okay to not be okay
– Your scars don’t define you
– Asking for help is courage, not weakness

If you or a man you love is carrying a heavy load, please reach out. You don’t have to do it alone.

#MensMentalHealth #ItsOkayToNotBeOkay #BreakTheStigma
#HealingJourney #Bakersfield