Griselda olivares

HOUSTON (AP) — Tejano musician Fito Olivares, known for songs that were wedding and quinceanera mainstays including the hit “Juana La Cubana,” died Friday. He was 75. The noted saxophonist died in the morning at home in Houston, according to his wife, Griselda Olivares. She said he was diagnosed with cancer last year. Born Rodolfo Olivares in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on April 19, 1947, Fito Olivares started playing professionally in his teens. In 1980, he and his brothers formed Olivares y su Grupo La Pura Sabrosura and moved to Houston. Other tunes he is known for include “Aguita de Melon,” “El Chicle" and “El Colesterol.” In addition to playing the saxophone, he also played accordion, wrote songs and occasionally sang, his wife said. Griselda Olivares said the family was seeing a lot of support from fans on social media. “They played the music all over the world,” she said. Among those posting tributes was Ed Gonzalez, the sheriff for Harris County, where Houston … [Read more...] about Tejano musician Fito Olivares dies in Houston at 75

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 HOUSTON (AP) — Tejano musician Fito Olivares, known for songs that were wedding and quinceanera mainstays including the hit “Juana La Cubana,” died Friday. He was 75. The noted saxophonist died in the morning at home in Houston, according to his wife, Griselda Olivares. She said he was diagnosed with cancer last year. Born Rodolfo Olivares in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on April 19, 1947, Fito Olivares started playing professionally in his teens. In 1980, he and his brothers formed Olivares y su Grupo La Pura Sabrosura and moved to Houston. Other tunes he is known for include “Aguita de Melon,” “El Chicle" and “El Colesterol.” In addition to playing the saxophone, he also played accordion, wrote songs and occasionally sang, his wife said. Griselda Olivares said the family was seeing a lot of support from fans on social media. “They played the music all over the world,” she … [Read more...] about Tejano musician Fito Olivares, 75, dies in Houston

LOS ANGELES — As rain pummeled the sidewalks and wind bent back umbrellas on Tuesday morning, Bartui Merchain, a pool clerk, arrived at her job at a recreation center, her children in tow. She had left her 14-year-old son at home, but her workplace east of downtown Los Angeles suddenly had become an impromptu child supervision site for Mindy, 9 and Israel, 8. Ms. Merchain, 36, had learned only the day before that school employees and teachers were going on a three-day strike, facing off against administrators in the nation’s second-largest school district. It would mean no classes for the district’s more than 420,000 students — news that many children seemed to greet with glee, though a number of parents felt blindsided. “My son told me, ‘There’s no school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,’” Ms. Merchain said. “This really caught us off guard. Definitely. It’s not something that they prepared us for, like, for two weeks. They just straight up dropped it like a bomb.” … [Read more...] about Los Angeles Schools Shut Down After Workers Launch Three-Day Strike

LOS ANGELES — Since Tuesday, Diana Cruz has juggled her stay-at-home job as an executive assistant with the care of her children after the Los Angeles school strike forced their classes to be canceled for three days. Ms. Cruz earns $36,000 a year and is raising her two daughters and teenage son in a two-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, where she splits the $1,700 rent with her mother. A few miles away, Yolanda Mims Reed makes about $24 an hour as a part-time special education assistant at Hamilton High School. She supplements her income by caring for an older woman and by doing hair. Parents like Ms. Cruz may be flustered by the strike, but few are angry with the strikers like Ms. Reed. The parents see their lives mirrored in the struggles of the bus drivers, cafeteria workers and classroom aides walking the picket lines — working-class residents who take on multiple jobs to survive in Southern California. “If you’re not making massive six-figure salaries, then, … [Read more...] about Los Angeles School Workers Are on Strike, and Parents Say They Get It