New Generation Of Mexican Singers Embrace Corridos

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, July 12, 2024:

• Peso Pluma’s new album Exódo just dropped and it hit the Billboard 200. The artist sings corridos, a type of Mexican traditional music that was once relegated to Spanish language radio.  But today, demographic changes in California are helping to fuel the rise of young artists like Peso Pluma and Xavi, who are bringing the music into the mainstream.
• The U.S. Postal Service has until Friday to put forward a plan to reopen two rural California post offices. The town of Niland in Northern Imperial County has been without a post office since it burned down in 2022. The U.S. Postal Service office in Bolinas in Marin County has also shut down in recent years.
• Starting next week, Oakland residents will see a four-fold increase in CHP patrols in the city. That’s building on operations that began late last year in response to concerns about crime. Over the next four months, as ordered by Governor Newsom, CHP officers will target car theft, violence on roadways, and organized crime. 
• The president at Cal Poly Humboldt, Tom Jackson Jr., is stepping down next month. Jackson will be staying on as a professor at the university. He was heavily criticized for the university’s response and crackdown of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

New Mexican Music Stars Put Corridos In Spotlight

Regional Mexican music is having a moment. Artists like Peso Pluma have hit the Top 10 of the Billboard charts in recent years.  

Peso Pluma sings corridos, a type of Mexican traditional music which has been around for more than a century, featuring ballads that chronicle the realities of life. It was once relegated to Spanish language radio, but now new stars are embracing it.

It’s not only young music stars that are being drawn to corridos. Young listeners are also seeking it out. This new audience helped propel the  corrido called “Ella Baila Sola” into the Top 5 in the Billboard 100. The song is by  Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma and they were the first Musica Mexicana artists to hit so high on the chart. And the changing demographic in California and beyond could keep these stars at the top of the charts.

Postal Service’s Deadline For Plan To Reopen Rural California Post Offices Expires Friday

The U.S. Postal Service has until Friday to come up with a plan to reopen two rural California post offices, both of which have been closed for more than a year.

Those closures have cut off daily access to the mail for hundreds of residents in Niland in the Imperial Valley and Bolinas in Marin County, forcing some people to travel long distances to obtain critical medications and important documents.

The deadline for the postal service to put forward a reopening plan was set by U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla. In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy last month, the lawmakers said the closures showed a broader pattern of lacking federal support for post offices in California’s rural communities.

Newsom To Quadruple CHP Deployment In Oakland, Ramping Up State’s Policing Role

Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a four-fold expansion of California Highway Patrol operations in the East Bay, stepping up the state’s law enforcement role as local authorities face criticism over crime and public safety.

Starting next week and continuing through the next four months, CHP officers will be on Oakland streets seven days a week assisting with traffic enforcement, efforts to curtail sideshows and recovering stolen cars. The deployment builds on CHP operations that started late last year and expanded in February.

“We are back in Oakland mindful that there is still more work to be done, mindful that we need to step up our resources,” Newsom said at a news conference at Berry Bros. Towing in West Oakland, backed by rows of cars recovered by CHP. 

Cal Poly Humboldt President Resigns

Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr. is stepping down in August, just a few months after he was heavily criticized for the university’s response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

The university said an interim president would be selected shortly, and that a nationwide search will be conducted for Jackson’s replacement.

Jackson was the first Black president at the college. He took the reins in 2019. He recently faced calls to resign after law enforcement broke up a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus and forcibly removed protesters from campus buildings. Following those incidents, the school closed campus for the remainder of the semester.