CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 5, 2010 | By Ann M. Simmons
When the eight-minute promotional video wrapped up, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris' review wasn't entirely flattering. The movie-making seemed amateurish in spots, and, in some shots, he and others would have benefited from a little makeup. Most important, the mayor told his staff, there weren't enough Asians in the video. "If we're going to try to attract members of the Asian business community, we need to have more Asians in there," Parris told staffers. The promotional video, which Parris requested be re-shot before being dubbed in Mandarin, is part of a larger strategy that Lancaster hopes will help it attract Chinese investment and create jobs in a region where unemployed is pegged at 17%. The city is sending business delegations to China, partnering with a Chinese sister city, and using a language tutor to teach bureaucrats Mandarin.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 31, 2009 | By Ann M. Simmons
Businesses operating in the city of Lancaster will be required to ensure that all new hires are eligible to work in the United States by using an Internet-based federal program to check the immigration and employment eligibility of potential workers. The free online program, called E-Verify, allows participating employers to use federal databases to compare information provided by job seekers with millions of records kept by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
November 27, 2009 | By Ann M. Simmons
A plan to patrol Lancaster with an airplane that would record the movements of people on the ground has stoked the concerns of civil liberty advocates while being embraced by some residents who say they would support any means to crack down on crime. The piloted plane would circle the High Desert town 16 hours a day, recording video footage that would be transmitted to law enforcement officials, according to the plan. The plane, its designer said, would fly at an altitude of about five miles, making it all but invisible to residents.
BUSINESS
August 5, 2009 | Alana Semuels
The hundreds of glass mirrors break the dusty field in Lancaster, a sea of silver in a landscape of brown. When switched on for the first time today at an opening gala with investors, local politicians and others, they'll make up the first operational solar tower energy facility in the United States. They reflect the sun into a tower in the middle of the field, boiling water into steam that travels through pipes to power a turbine and create electricity.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
July 17, 2009 | Ann M. Simmons
Determined to prevent the Mongols motorcycle club from using a Lancaster motel to host its annual meeting this weekend, the city's mayor has taken steps to shut down the establishment. Mayor R. Rex Parris said the members of the Mongols, which law enforcement agencies consider a violent biker gang, are not welcome in Lancaster because they "are engaged in domestic terrorism . . . and they kill our children."
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 17, 2009 | Ann M. Simmons
Inmates and staff at the state prison in Lancaster will be tested and evaluated for tuberculosis after a case of the disease was confirmed at the facility, officials said Thursday. "We take it very seriously," said Lt. George Allen, a spokesman at the prison. "That's why we're in full lockdown." Testing is set to begin today and will be conducted by medical staff and continue for as long as necessary, "depending on what they are able to determine," Allen said.