With a national unemployment rate of 16.5 percent for Black people as of January 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, jobs are becoming more limited and harder to find. With the 2010 Census coming, the Census Bureau is offering thousands of jobs that pay great and offer flexibility to accommodate anyone.

DOING HIS PART—A resident fills out the census form from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“These jobs are great opportunities for people who may have jobs already and are looking for extra income or for those who are unemployed and looking for a job,” said Pamela Golden, media specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. “They are ideal for people who like to work with the public and who work well independently.”

But before a new negotiating session could be convened the next day, the worst winter storm to hit the region in 17 years took the focus off the strike and put it on dealing with downed trees, no power and no heat for everyone in the municipality.

ALL FOR ONE —Administrative Assistant Vickie Pollard walks the picket line as Penn Hills teachers go on strike Feb. 4. They agreed to return to work Feb. 10, though an agreement on a new contract has not been reached.

At a community forum held to address the beating of 17-year-old Jordan Miles by three Pittsburgh City police officers, tensions rose when Beth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizens Police Review Board, suggested police brutality is not only an issue plaguing the African-American community.

COME TOGETHER— Beth Pittinger calls for everyone to support the Citizens Police Review Board.

“Victims of police brutality are not just Black, and that is not diminishing the history,” Pittinger said. “I’m suggesting that to say that when we come together in our city, that is when we have achieved things.”

After detailing the history of the CPRB at the forum hosted by the Community Empowerment Association Feb. 13, Pittinger pleaded for the community to support the board. She said it is important for everyone to attend meetings addressing police brutality, whether the victim is White or Black.

LaVerne Baker Hotep is known for her many deeds. She is an essential part of the Center for Victims of Violence and Crime, a vocalist, African drummer, author and founder and president of WellWoman InnerPrize. Now after more than 30 years of study and research she is fully operating Numerology Readings for Enlightened Living and revealing her numerology expertise.

SPREADING KNOWLEDGE— LaVerne Baker Hotep shares information through her numerous business ventures.

“Nearly every aspect of our daily lives deals with numbers in someway,” said Hotep. She listed time, money, bus routes, highway exits, addresses, telephones, Social Security numbers, bank accounts, elevators and even fast food ordering as a few possible everyday encounters. Noting that some people might classify numerology as being mythical, she says the roots of it date back thousands of years with variations being found in most cultures going back to Phoenicia and Babylon.