(This is fourth in a four-part series dealing with the juvenile justice system.)

In 2008, the disparity between Black and White juvenile offenders in Alle­gheny County rose to its highest peak in the past five years. Commonly referred to as the backbone of juvenile court, probation officers are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring these offenders repay their debt to society and go on to lead productive lives.

RUSSELL CARLINO

“We’re always trying to keep the community safe and hold kids accountable. The big challenge in addition to that is developing competencies for youth,” said Russell Carlino, the county’s director of juvenile probation. “We’re doing more assessments regarding the juvenile’s risks and needs so we really try to determine them so we can address that appropriately.”

(NNPA)—According to a new analysis of cell phone usage by The Nielsen Company, African-Americans spend more time on average talking and texting than any other ethnic group. The voice and text results are compiled from one year (April 2009-March 2010) of mobile usage data gathered by Nielsen, which analyzes the cellphone bills of more than 60,000 mobile subscribers each month in the United States.

Nielsen found that African-Americans use on average more than 1,300 voice minutes a month, compared to the next most talkative segment, Hispanics, which talk on average 826 minutes a month. Asian/Pacific Islanders logged on average 692 talk minutes a month, followed by Whites, who use approximately 647 voice minutes a month.

The music was great, the food was great, and perhaps most importantly for a roof-top fundraiser, the weather was great.

So event organizer Russell Bynum said it was no surprise that the fundraising event to help build a technical trade school in Haiti was a success.

FUNDS FOR HAITI—Russell and Kathy Bynum, Leon Pamphile, Anna Singer with “Sammy,” a moluccan cockatoo, and Don Kortlandt.

“We had about 60 people attend, hear the presentation, enjoy the music and food. We even had Haitian art for sale,” he said. “It went very well. People got to make new friends and enjoy scenes of hope as we work to rebuild lives.”

Entertainers included Bynum’s wife and gospel singer Kathy, local jazz icons Etta Cox and Al Dowe, Dr. James Johnson and Pamela Johnson from the Afro-American Music Institute, the Caribbean Vibes Steel Band, and opera singer and WQED radio host Anna P. Singer, who hosted the event at the Mt. Washington home she shares with Donald Kortlandt.

The August Wilson Center for African American Culture is asking for $102,500 more in Allegheny County RAD funding than the $247,500 it received last year. And it is not alone among African-American arts organizations trying to stay afloat in difficult economic times.

Of the eight Black arts entities applying for annual grant funding, all requested increases, some as much as six times the amount they received for 2010.

ANDRE KIMO STONE GUESS is president and CEO, of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center.

The AWC, which is working to pay down $8.5 million in construction overruns, requested the funding to help pay operating costs.

President and CEO Andre Kimo Stone Guess said the center hasn’t generated sufficient funds from its 480-seat theater. He said the focus will now be renting out its facilities, putting on jazz and dance festivals, and presentations of August Wilson’s plays, which may be filmed for distribution.