Newssite of Contra Costa County student Journalism

CC Spin

CC Spin

CC Spin
Lisa Ling touched on today’s polarized landscape during her talk as part of the Lesher Foundation’s Newsmakers: Speaker Series. “When you erase someone’s history, you make it easier to erase their humanity,” Ling said. “Books that tell uncomfortable truths that are necessary for progress are the books we have to support.”

‘Erasing history doesn’t protect us, it weakens us’: Lisa Ling speaks from the heart about career, political climate

Yonglin Zhu, Special to Contra Costa Youth Journalism
July 17, 2025
Journalist and television producer Lisa Ling will be the featured speaker at the Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Series on July 10 in Walnut Creek.

Lisa Ling up next for Lesher Newsmakers series

Caroline Donahoe, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
July 5, 2025
An aisle in a local drug store is filled with makeup, some of which may have to be altered as a result of the new state law that bans 26 chemicals in cosmetics and fragrances.

Law bans cosmetic chemicals starting in 2027

Caroline Donahoe, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
May 31, 2025
Author and columnist Dave Barry brought his unique humor to the Lesher Foundation's Newsmakers: Speaker Series in Walnut Creek on May 13. "Humor is mostly just observing what’s going on around you. I think most of the things that people find most funny are not weird, exotic topics that would just scream out, ‘Well, this is weird and exotic, so you should write a column.’ It’s more like things that everybody has dealt with."

Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry leaves them laughing

Keerthi Eraniyan, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
May 22, 2025
West County Mandarin School in Pinole was one of eight Contra Costa County schools named a 2025 California Distinguished Schools. Photo courtesy of the West County Mandarin School

Eight schools in Contra Costa County honored as state Distinguished Schools

Madeleine Hanavan, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
May 21, 2025
Author and humorist Dave Barry, shown here at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in Maryland in 2023, will be the featured speaker at the Lesher Foundation’s Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Series event on May 13 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. Photo via Wikimedia Commons

‘Class Clown’ Dave Barry to take the stage in Lesher speaker series

Caroline Donahoe, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
May 9, 2025
Martin Luther King III, the sixth presenter of the 2025 Lesher Foundation’s Newsmakers: Speaker Series, spoke at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek on April 23 and said that while progress has been made, the fight for human rights and racial justice is far from over.

MLK III: ‘Leadership is about love … love for all of our fellow human beings’

Keerthi Eraniyan, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
May 1, 2025
Martin Luther King III, here with his wife, Arndrea Waters King, and daughter, Yolanda, at an event earlier this year, will be the featured speaker at the Lesher Foundation’s Newsmakers: Speaker Series event on April 23 at the Lesher Center for the Arts. Photo by Joshua Qualis/Massachusetts Governor's Press Office via Wikimedia Commons

Martin Luther King III brings his father’s dream to the Lesher Speaker Series

Emma Mayta Canales, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
April 19, 2025
Film and television stars Marlee Matlin and Henry Winkler shared stories on how they met and became lifelong friends when they appeared at the Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Series on March 18 in Walnut Creek, California.

‘If you will it, it is not a dream’: Henry Winkler, Marlee Matlin stress importance of resilience when pursuing a dream

Loujain Habibi, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
April 3, 2025
Political strategist Donna Brazile will join journalist and author George F. Will to discuss politics at the Lesher Foundation's Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Series on March 31 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. Photo by Charles Watkins/DOE courtesy of Bay City News.

Donna Brazile, George F. Will bring two ends of the political spectrum to Newsmakers series

Emma Mayta Canales and Ishita Khanna
March 28, 2025
Henry Winkler returns to the Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Series on March 18 along with his close friend Marlee Matlin. Winkler spoke at the speaker series in 2023. Photo courtesy of the Lesher Foundation.

Winkler, Matlin bring unique friendship to Newsmakers series

Caroline Donahoe, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
March 15, 2025
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox spoke at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek in late February. Fox was the first of eight speakers scheduled for the 2025 Newsmakers: Lesher Speaker Series.

‘We’re losing our humanity’: Former Mexican President Vicente Fox decries the state of politics today

Loujain Habibi, Contra Costa Youth Journalism
March 5, 2025
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