Higher percentage of women in the SGV affected by HIV than LA County

Did you know that  in the San Gabriel Valley, the percentage of women affected by AIDS is much higher than the rest of Los Angeles County?  Compare the numbers:  SGV – 16% versus LA County – 10.9%.

Additionally, 21.2% of meth cases are from the SGV area – the second highest in the County.  There is definitely a correlation between substance abuse and risk of HIV infection.   Communities of color are disproportionately affected due to a lack of awareness about prevention and HIV testing as well as the cultural stigma attached to HIV.

As part of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 10), the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team (APAIT) is holding an event with Assemblymember Mike Eng at the Asian Youth Center in San Gabriel on March 12 to raise awareness in the Asian Pacific American community about this issue.

Event information:

For more information about this event, you can check out the APAIT website.

The Canvas Paint

Politicians in the SGV aren’t doing so fresh these days.  It seems like small city politics has become great fodder for negative news headlines.  Politics already leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the public and politicians behaving badly really doesn’t help change that image:

[TEMPLE CITY]  Councilmember Judy Wong finally resigned from her position on the city council at the end of Tuesday’s council meeting.  This news comes months after maintaining her innocence against charges of bribery and perjury brought about by Randy Wang, the developer of the Piazza commercial space at the corner of Las Tunas Drive and Rosemead Boulevard.  It is sad news for many community members who have supported her in the past.  Wong became Temple City’s first Asian American councilmember when she was elected in 2003 and subsequently became the city’s first Asian American mayor in 2007.   The charges come as a blow to the Asian American community that looked to her for representation in a city rife with racial tension.  Many community members had called for Wong to step down in the past few months but she has always maintained her innocence in the case.  It is unclear what this means for her court case.  [San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Temple City corruption probe]

[MONTEREY PARK]   Former city council member Sharon Martinez lost her reelection bid in 2009 and it seems like it has just gone downhill from there.  She and her former political consultant are currently being charged for conspiracy, false political advertising, forgery, counterfeiting, and perjury–all felonies.  So much for quality leadership.