Lafreniere calls Jacob an “everyday hero.” But he says the heroes are the kids who come to his shop.

19. “When they are at my place, they are the kings,” he said. “My barbershop is like going for an ice cream. It has to be fun.”

News for you, December 6, 2017

Gerrymandering:

What is it, and Why is it in the News This Year?

Americans believes in the power of the vote. Our system of voting lets us choose the people who represent us at all levels of the government.

2.   But one practice has let politicians choose their voters. It is called “gerrymandering.”

That is when politicians create voting districts to make sure their party has a better chance of winning.

This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case that could change how those political maps are drawn.

The court will decide on the case by late spring.

Each voter registers to vote in a certain geographic area. It is called a voting district.

7.   The outlines of these districts are redrawn every 10 years. That is called “redistricting.”

The districts are redrawn based on data from the U.S. Census. The lines change based on population change.

Lawmakers draw these lines. Sometimes they draw them to clearly help or hurt one group. That is called gerrymandering.

The term comes from a person. Elbridge Gerry was the fifth vice president of the United States. But first, he was the governor of Massachusetts.

11. He signed a law there in 1812 that made districts that helped his party. A cartoon in the Boston Gazette showed the shape of one of the districts. The newspaper said it looked like a salamander. It called the shape a “Gerry-mander.”

Both Democrats and Republicans have said gerrymandering is bad.

They say it wastes the votes of people whose party is not in power. They also say it is partly to blame for our bitter politics. They say if districts were more diverse, lawmakers would have to make people in both parties happy.

The case heard by the court comes from the state of Wisconsin.

In 2011, the state had a Republican governor and legislature. New maps were drawn that would help Republicans keep power.

This is what the court must decide: Can a political map be so unfair that it is unconstitutional? And if so, how would that be decided?

A three-judge federal court has already said that Wisconsin’s leaders went too far. It said that map would give Republicans more power even if Democrats got more votes.

An election was held after the new district maps were drawn. Republican candidates won 48.6 percent of the statewide vote. But they won a 60- to 39-seat advantage in the legislature.

The Supreme Court listened to both sides. They talked about maps. They talked about technology.

But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also came back to the voter.

She said that results are already known in some districts, whether they are Republicans or Democrats.

22. “If you can stack a legislature in this way, what incentive is there for a voter to exercise his vote?” she asked. “What becomes of the precious right to vote?”

News for You, December 6, 2017

West Coast Cities Struggle With Rising Homelessness

Ellen Tara James-Penney teaches English at a California college.

She teaches four classes during the day. At night, she grades papers and plans lessons.

She does all of this while living in her car.

4.   James-Penney makes $28,000 a year. That is not enough to afford a place to live in the expensive Silicon Valley.

The region is home to many high-tech firms. They pay very well. But there is not enough housing. That means prices go too high for low-income workers. And it means James-Penney sleeps in her old Volvo.

I’ve basically been homeless since 2007, and I’m really tired,” she said.

Homelessness is not new on the West Coast. But people who help the homeless say it is getting worse.

Officials say there are now 168,000 homeless people in California, Oregon and Washington. That is 19,000 more than 10 years ago.

It is hard to compare those numbers. Things like weather and new ways of counting can change the figures. But there are clearly more people in trouble.

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