Raul Nunez

In a series of hardball campaigns for Latino candidates and causes, a brash new alliance of Mexican-American activists is thumbing its nose at political decorum, arousing ethnic anxieties and testing the strength of the region's emerging Latino majority. Newer and smaller than mainstream organizations such as MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, this insurgent group has muscled its way to the forefront of Latino activism.

In a series of hardball campaigns for Latino candidates and causes, a brash new alliance of Mexican-American activists is thumbing its nose at political decorum, arousing ethnic anxieties and testing the strength of the region's emerging Latino majority. Newer and smaller than mainstream organizations such as MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, this insurgent group has muscled its way to the forefront of Latino activism.

Citing a federal finding that Los Angeles County's Health Services Department discriminated against Latinos, community leaders Tuesday said on-the-job bias will continue until the supervisors are voted out of office. "About the only thing we can continue to do is to work to vote them (the supervisors) out," said Raul Nunez of the Los Angeles County Chicano Employees Assn. Last week, the U.S.

A group of Los Angeles County employees on Monday urged Gov. Pete Wilson to veto a bill that would get around a court order banning county workers from soliciting charitable contributions during working hours. A Superior Court judge last year ordered top Los Angeles County officials to stop "coercing and intimidating" employees into contributing to United Way, the Brotherhood Crusade and other major charities, and issued a permanent injunction against on-the-job fund raising by county employees.

A Newport Beach housewife who won $100,000 in the California Lottery turned over nearly all of her winnings to an Orange County deputy marshal this week as a result of a lawsuit against her husband. It marked the first time since the state lottery began in October that a winner has been forced--even temporarily--to hand over the prize money.

Most of a Newport Beach housewife's $100,000 California Lottery prize will be held in an untouchable account because of a suit against her husband's restaurant business, an Orange County Superior Court commissioner ruled Thursday. Citing the "spirit" of the lottery, however, Commissioner Thomas J. Keenan said Sharon Nunez, 29, could spend $4,000 of the money that she won Monday night on the televised Big Spin-Off show in Hollywood.

A coalition of Latino county employee groups charged Wednesday that Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum's decision not to endorse his long-time aide Sarah Flores for his board seat was the latest example of his insensitivity toward Latinos and women. But Raul Nunez, president of the 2,000-member Chicano Employees Assn.

A Newport Beach woman cashed her $80,000 California Lottery prize Friday for traveler's and cashier's checks despite a court-ordered freeze on her winnings. Larry Finnegan, vice president of New City Bank in Orange, told Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Thomas Keenan under oath late Friday that Sharon Nunez, her husband and her father-in-law presented the check at the bank about 10:30 a.m.

I agree with Acuna's views about our desperate need to preserve, not transform the character of Olvera Street. It is outrageous that a few self-appointed Anglo historians dare to promote the elimination of a part of our Los Angeles history, primarily because it highlights the participation of "Mexicans" in the evolution of the Ciudad de Los Angeles. It has been said that "a people who have no past, have no present and, therefore, can have no future." Apparently, the historians in charge of who is of historical value are bent on denying the Americans of Mexican descent a place in history.

Ending a five-year federal investigation into charges of discrimination in Los Angeles County hospitals, the county health department has agreed to spend $2.1 million to recruit and promote Latino employees, officials said Tuesday. The investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that the county has discriminated against Latinos in hiring and promotions.

Gonzalo "Corky" Perez, an East Los Angeles community activist who aided young people and boosted the careers of such Latino politicians as Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre and state Democratic chairman Art Torres, has died. He was 67. Perez died Monday in a Glendale convalescent home after a series of strokes and complications from diabetes, which he had for many years.