Vandenberg Air Force Base photo
If you happen to be awake at 2:56 A.M. this morning (July 1st) watch the skies towards Vandenberg as a rocket is scheduled to launch at this time.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Monday Afternoon in the Blogosphere
Ink hose bursts causing a little mess at the Los Angeles Times
Press Club awards honor Mark Lacter tonight - LAObserved
Time Inc. digital boss: We want to create the next Facebook - Poynter
Unearthed downtown structure could be old L.A. Times building - LA Times
Metrics! Newspapers' mantra; the quest to be 'on fire' - Springfield News-Leader
Tribune Company Hopes to Turn WGN America Into Cable Network - NY Times
Denver Post owner Digital First Media aggressively silent about layoffs - Westword
Tribune Broadcasting announces partnership with New Jersey Lottery - WPIX-TV
San Diego Community News Network acquires Mission Publishing - ScoopSanDiego
What the newspaper trends of 2014 mean for our industry's future - The Huntsville Times
Today in Labor History
June 30 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
Alabama outlaws the leasing of convicts to mine coal, a practice that had been in place since 1848. In 1898, 73 percent of the state's total revenue came from this source. 25 percent of all black leased convicts died - 1928
The Walsh-Healey Act took effect today. It requires companies that supply goods to the government to pay wages according to a schedule set by the Secretary of Labor - 1936
The storied Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, a union whose roots traced back to the militant Western Federation of Miners, and which helped found the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), merges into the United Steelworkers of America - 1967
Up to 40,000 New York construction workers demonstrated in midtown Manhattan, protesting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s awarding of a $33 million contract to a nonunion company. Eighteen police and three demonstrators were injured. "There were some scattered incidents and some minor violence," Police Commissioner Howard Safir told the New York Post. "Generally, it was a pretty well-behaved crowd." – 1998
Nineteen firefighters die when they are overtaken by a wildfire they are battling in a forest northwest of Phoenix, Ariz. It was the deadliest wildfire involving firefighters in the U.S. in at least 30 years - 2013
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Today in Labor History
June 29 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
What is to be a 7-day streetcar strike begins in Chicago after several workers are unfairly fired. Wrote the police chief at the time, describing the strikers’ response to scabs: "One of my men said he was at the corner of Halsted and Madison Streets, and although he could see fifty stones in the air, he couldn't tell where they were coming from." The strike was settled to the workers’ satisfaction - 1885
An executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the National Labor Relations Board. A predecessor organization, the National Labor Board, established by the Depression-era National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933, had been struck down by the Supreme Court - 1934
IWW strikes Weyerhauser and other Idaho lumber camps - 1936
Jesus Pallares, founder of the 8,000-member coal miners union, Liga Obrera de Habla Espanola, is deported as an "undesirable alien." The union operated in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado - 1936
The Boilermaker and Blacksmith unions merge to become Int’l Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers - 1954
The newly-formed Jobs With Justice stages its first big support action, backing 3,000 picketing Eastern Airlines mechanics at Miami Airport - 1987
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in CWA v. Beck that, in a union security agreement, a union can collect as dues from non-members only that money necessary to perform its duties as a collective bargaining representative - 1988
Saturday, June 28, 2014
La Verne Food Bank Open Today - 1:00 to 3:00 PM
Sowing Seeds For Life will be open this afternoon from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. for seniors citizens and veterans in need of food. Be certain to bring some type of wheeled cart to transport the food back to your vehicle, the canned goods can get quite heavy.
1350 Arrow Highway
La Verne, CA. 91750
Today in Labor History
June 28 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
Birthday of machinist Matthew Maguire, who many believe first suggested Labor Day. Others believe it was Peter McGuire, a carpenter - 1850
President Grover Cleveland signs legislation declaring Labor Day an official U.S. holiday - 1894
The federal government sues the Teamsters to force reforms on the union, the nation's largest. The following March, the government and the union sign a consent decree requiring direct election of the union's president and creation of an Independent Review Board - 1988
Friday, June 27, 2014
Mexican Chopper Crosses Into AZ, Fires on U.S. Border Patrol Agents
A dangerous situation reportedly unfolded at the southern border early Thursday, with a Mexican military helicopter crossing into Arizona and firing shots at U.S. Border Patrol agents. Gretchen Carlson reported that the chopper returned to Mexico and officials later apologized to U.S. authorities for the incident.
Friday Night in the Blogosphere
Memory of a once powerful newspaper
Digital First versus Jim Romenesko Part I - Romenesko
Digital First versus Jim Romenesko Part II - Romenesko
What is the Future of Media and Advertising? - The Media Online
San Francisco Chronicle's Food Section Is Shut Down - Eater National
Dan Gilbert buys Detroit Free Press, Detroit News building - Detroit FP
USA Today Tries New Way to Keep Readers From Leaving - Mashable
Crucial time for drone reporting laws: industry needs to act - Editors Weblog
Controversial Italian Newspaper il Giornale Now Accepts Bitcoin - CoinDesk
American earns three-peat as 'nation's best black newspaper' - St. Louis American
The World Cup you aren't seeing on the news
AYUDEMOS A ORAR POR NUESTROS AMIGOS LOS VENEZOLANOS. LO QUE HICISTEIS A UNO DE ESTOS PEQUEÑOS, CONMIGO LO HICISTEIS, DICE EL SEÑOR
Post by Padre Teodoro.
Government Seeks To Jail A Bunch Of Old Sick People For Growing Medical Pot
Government Seeks To Jail A Bunch Of Old Sick People For Openly Growing Medical Pot
"70-year-old Larry Harvey, his wife, two family members and a friend are facing mandatory 10-year prison terms for growing medical marijuana -- openly and, they thought, legally -- on their farm near the little town of Kettle Falls".
"70-year-old Larry Harvey, his wife, two family members and a friend are facing mandatory 10-year prison terms for growing medical marijuana -- openly and, they thought, legally -- on their farm near the little town of Kettle Falls".
West Ferry Printers Ltd - Printing Tomorrow's News
West Ferry Printers is a modern, dynamic company which caters for all your Newspaper printing needs from conception, into production and through to distribution. Our State of the art printing plant is one of the most technically advanced Newspaper printing plants in the world which produces the Daily Express and The Daily Star on a nightly basis.
Our 4 high-speed KBA printing presses are capable of producing 360k copies per hour from 8 page tabloid to a 256 page tabloid with full inserting and stitching capability.
Our 4 high-speed KBA printing presses are capable of producing 360k copies per hour from 8 page tabloid to a 256 page tabloid with full inserting and stitching capability.
Today in Labor History
June 27 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
Emma Goldman, women's rights activist and radical, born in Lithuania. She came to the U.S. at age 17 - 1869The Industrial Workers of the World, also known as the "Wobblies," is founded at a 12-day-long convention in Chicago. The Wobbly motto: "An injury to one is an injury to all." - 1905
Congress passes the National Labor Relations Act, creating the structure for collective bargaining in the United States - 1935
A 26-day strike of New York City hotels by 26,000 workers—the first such walkout in 50 years—ends with a 5-year contract calling for big wage and benefit gains - 1985
(There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America: This sympathetic, thoughtful and highly readable history of the American labor movement traces unionism from the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1820s to organized labor’s struggles in the 1980s and the challenges that unions must confront today. Illustrated with dozens of photos.)
(There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America: This sympathetic, thoughtful and highly readable history of the American labor movement traces unionism from the textile mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1820s to organized labor’s struggles in the 1980s and the challenges that unions must confront today. Illustrated with dozens of photos.)
A.E. Staley locks out 763 workers in Decatur, Ill. The lockout was to last two and one-half years - 1993
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Orange County Teen Challenge - Walk for Recovery
Don't forget that Orange County Teen Challenge is having a 5k Walk for Recovery this Saturday. For more information, you can call 714-835-8822.
Thursday Afternoon in the Blogosphere
Los Angeles Times Orange County Press Room 2009
Tribune expansion is matter of opinion - Robert Feder
Aereo decision a win for Tribune Co. - Chicago Tribune
What’s the best newsroom prank you’ve ever pulled? - Poynter
Newspapers Line Up for Liberal Censorship - American Spectator
Tribune Publishing Names Matthew Hutchison SVP - MarketWatch
Digital News Finally As Popular As Newspapers In The UK - TechCrunch
The urgent need to shield journalism in the age of surveillance - Editors Weblog
The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos has the paper thinking global domination - CJR
Go Daddy broke the code, and Tribune Company’s web sites went down - Fox17
Today in Labor History
Members of the American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, refuse to handle Pullman cars, in solidarity with Pullman strikers. Two dozen strikers were killed over the course of the strike - 1894
The 189-mile-long St. Lawrence Seaway opens, making the Great Lakes accessible to Atlantic shipping. Thousands of laborers toiled for decades to make it happen; indirectly and directly, the Seaway today supports 75,000 jobs in Canada and 150,000 in the U.S. - 1959
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Dismantling the Mighty Printing Presses at the LA Times
As the production facility is dismantled most whom drive by the LA Times Costa Mesa plant will not notice much, but for the men and women that spent many decades working at this location, it will be a sad time.
Photo credit: Randy Lane
Randy Lane bids the Orange County LA Times Plant farewell
Los Angeles Times Pressman Randy Lane shares a few words on his last day at the Los Angeles Times Costa Mesa Production Facility yesterday.
By Randy Lane
By Randy Lane
Today I experienced a melancholy day, as I
worked my last shift at the Los Angeles Times Production Facility in Costa Mesa Los Angeles
I have returned to the Orange County Plant many
times, with colleagues at my side, today I was there alone. Being alone in this
large building gave me time to reflect upon memories of working there, after
spending most of my adult life here I can't help but recall memories of life
experiences we all shared, such as marriages, divorces, births, deaths and many
other life experiences, that we shared together.
My career at the Los Angeles Times began over
thirty years ago when I was but twenty-six, and we almost lived inside the
building with our colleagues as many newspapers were produced over the years. Amazing
how quickly thirty years can pass, almost like a blink of the eye.
The Orange County Los Angeles Times will always
be my home, with fond memories of the time spent with the other pressmen and
women at my side.
I captured a few photographs as the presses were
dismantled to become scrap, and understood this chapter of my life is now over,
and I must say goodbye to my former home away from home.
Rest in Peace Orange
County
Today in Labor History
June 25 - Union Communications Services, Inc.More than 8,000 people attend the dedication ceremony for The Haymarket Martyrs Monument in Chicago, honoring those framed and executed for the bombing at Haymarket Square on May 4, 1886 - 1893
(Inventory of American Labor Landmarks: The Haymarket Martyrs Monument is just one of the labor landmarks identified in this booklet. Did you know there are labor memorials in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, and Vermont? What about your state? Buy this user-friendly guide and investigate our labor heritage!)
Fair Labor Standards Act passes Congress, banning child labor and setting the 40-hour work week - 1938
At the urging of black labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, Franklin Roosevelt issues an executive order barring discrimination in defense industries - 1941
Congress passes the Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes Act over President Franklin Roosevelt’s veto. It allows the federal government to seize and operate industries threatened by strikes that would interfere with war production. It was hurriedly created after the third coal strike in seven weeks - 1943
A total of 21 workers are killed when a fireworks factory near Hallett, Okla., explodes - 1985
Decatur, Ill., police pepper-gas workers at A.E. Staley plant gate one year into the company's two-and-a-half-year lockout of Paperworkers Local 7837 - 1994
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tribune Media Services lays off more workers
QUEENSBURY -- Tribune Media Services laid off another group of employees Tuesday and indicated the recent spate of staff reductions is over.
Complete article can be viewed here.
Complete article can be viewed here.
Tuesday Morning in the Blogosphere
.PNG)
The pressmen celebrated the return of Victor Flores to the Los Angeles Times
Photo credit: Cesar Calderon
Sam Zell - The Best Investment Advice Of All Time - Forbes
Evolution of college newspapers - Crain's Cleveland Business
Tribune Publishing targets Aug. 4 for spinoff - Chicago Tribune
News Corp to Sell 11 Community Newspapers - Wall Street Journal
Women and minorities still just a whisper among op-ed voices - Poynter
WAN-IFRA condemns the sentencing of #FreeAJStaff - Editors Weblog
Struggling Print Media Outlets Suffering From Separation Anxiety - Variety
Newspapers continue print declines with mixed results on digital - MumBrella
Print is Dying, Adults Must Stop Lying to Journalism Students - College Media
Across the Globe, Newspaper Industry is Actually Growing - Newspaper Death Watch
Today in Labor History
June 24 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
Birth of Agnes Nestor, president of the Int’l Glove Workers Union and longtime leader of the Chicago Women's Trade Union League. She began work in a glove factory at age 14 - 1880
Seventeen workers are killed as methane explodes in a water tunnel under construction in Sylmar, Calif. - 1971
June 23
Charles Moyer, president of the Western Federation of Miners, goes to Butte, Mont. in an attempt to mediate a conflict between factions of the miner’s local there. It didn’t go well. Gunfight in the union hall killed one man; Moyer and other union officers left the building, which was then leveled in a dynamite blast - 1914
(I Just Got Elected—Now What? A New Union Officer’s Handbook: If only Moyer had had this guide to building a strong and effective local union. Don’t buy this book if your goal is simply to do things the way they’ve always been done, skating by as things just bump along. That, the author says, is what has weakened unions. Rather than one or maybe a handful of officers running your local from the top, Barry says, you’ve got to educate and involve your members at every level, using the organizing model of unionism—and he shows you how to do it.)
(I Just Got Elected—Now What? A New Union Officer’s Handbook: If only Moyer had had this guide to building a strong and effective local union. Don’t buy this book if your goal is simply to do things the way they’ve always been done, skating by as things just bump along. That, the author says, is what has weakened unions. Rather than one or maybe a handful of officers running your local from the top, Barry says, you’ve got to educate and involve your members at every level, using the organizing model of unionism—and he shows you how to do it.)
Congress overrides President Harry Truman's veto of the anti-worker Taft-Hartley Act. The law weakened unions and let states exempt themselves from union requirements. Twenty states immediately enacted open shop laws and more followed - 1947
OSHA issues standard on cotton dust to protect 600,000 workers from byssinosis, also known as "brown lung" - 1978
A majority of the 5,000 textile workers at six Fieldcrest Cannon textile plants in Kannapolis, N.C., vote for union representation after an historic 25-year fight - 1999
Monday, June 23, 2014
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Today in Labor History
June 21 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
In England, a compassionate parliament declares that children can't be required to work more than 12 hours a day. And they must have an hour’s instruction in the Christian Religion every Sunday and not be required to sleep more than two in a bed - 1802
Ten miners accused of being militant "Molly Maguires" are hanged in Pennsylvania. A private corporation initiated the investigation of the 10 through a private detective agency. A private police force arrested them, and private attorneys for the coal companies prosecuted them. "The state provided only the courtroom and the gallows," a judge said many years later - 1877
The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the right of unions to publish statements urging members to vote for a specific congressional candidate, ruling that such advocacy is not a violation of the Federal Corrupt Practices Act - 1948
An estimated 100,000 unionists and other supporters march in solidarity with striking Detroit News and Detroit Free Pressnewspaper workers - 1997
Friday, June 20, 2014
Friday Morning in the Blogosphere
Former Los Angeles Times pressman Kyle Wegener doing what he enjoys the most
The German war against the link - Jeff Jarvis
Russ Stanton Is Leaving KPCC - LA Weekly
Faith in news media hits all-time lows - Politico
Pittsburgh Post focuses on the city's immigrants - Romenesko
Aaron Kushner Fires Back at LA Register Criticism - The Wrap
Hot Property launches new, expanded coverage - Los Angeles Times
Print still matters, even if some would like to believe it shouldn’t - NJL
What's the impact of the Snowden-effect on your newsroom? - Editors Weblog
OC Press Club plans a chance to toast those losing jobs at OC Register - OC Press Club
Today in Labor History
June 20 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
Birth of Albert Parsons, Haymarket martyr - 1848
The American Railway Union, headed by Eugene Debs, is founded in Chicago. In the Pullman strike a year later, the union was defeated by federal injunctions and troops, and Debs was imprisoned for violating the injunctions - 1893
Henry Ford recognizes the United Auto Workers, signs contract for workers at River Rouge plant - 1941
Striking African-American auto workers are attacked by KKK, National Workers League, and armed white workers at Belle Isle amusement park in Detroit. Two days of riots follow, 34 people are killed, more than 1,300 arrested - 1943
The Taft-Hartley Labor Management Relations Act, curbing strikes, is vetoed by President Harry S. Truman. The veto was overridden three days later by a Republican-controlled Congress - 1947
Oil began traveling through the Alaska pipeline. Seventy thousand people worked on building the pipeline, history's largest privately-financed construction project - 1977(Organize or Die: Organizing in the construction trades is challenging but essential in order to ensure that living wages, job safety, and fair treatment exist for tradespeople. With a 100 percent focus on the building trades, author Mark Breslin outlines a businesslike strategy for increasing market share.)
Evelyn Dubrow, described by the New York Times as organized labor's most prominent lobbyist at the time of its greatest power, dies at age 95. The Int’l Ladies' Garment Workers Union lobbyist once told the Times that "she trudged so many miles around Capitol Hill that she wore out 24 pairs of her size 4 shoes each year." She retired at age 86 - 2006
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Juneteenth Independence Day
Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day, or Emancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States that commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state ofTexas in 1865, and more generally the emancipation of African-American citizens throughout the United States. Celebrated on June 19, the term is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth,[1][2] and is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in most states.
The holiday is observed primarily in local celebrations. Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing", and readings by African American writers such as Maya Angelou[3] and Ralph Ellison. Celebrations sometimes take the form of parades, rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, orMiss Juneteenth contests
History
During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863. Although it declared that slaves were to be freed in theConfederate States of America in rebellion against the federal government, it had minimal actual effect.[5] Even after the ending of military hostilities, as a part of the former Confederacy, Texas did not act to comply with the Emancipation Proclamation.
On June 18, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived on the island of Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves.[6] On June 19, standing on the balcony of Galveston's Ashton Villa, Granger read the contents of "General Order No. 3":
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.[7]
Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets. Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas the following year.[7] Across many parts of Texas, freed people pooled their funds to purchase land specifically for their communities and increasingly large Juneteenth gatherings — including Houston's Emancipation Park, Mexia's Booker T. Washington Park, and Emancipation Park in Austin.[7]
Economic and cultural forces led to a decline in Juneteenth celebrations in the early 20th century. The Depression forced many blacks off farms and into the cities to find work. In these urban environments, employers were less eager to grant leaves to celebrate this date, and a rise in patriotism among African-American people steered more toward July 4 as Independence Day.[citation needed] The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s focused the attention of African-American youth instead on the struggle for racial equality, but many also linked these struggles to the historical struggles of their ancestors.
Following the 1968 Poor People's March to Washington, D.C. called by Rev. Ralph Abernathy, many attendees returned home and initiated Juneteenth celebrations in areas where the day was not previously celebrated. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s it experienced growing interest from communities and organizations throughout the country, and in 1994 a group of community leaders gathered at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana to work for greater national celebration of Juneteenth.[8] Currently, organizations like the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation are working towards making Juneteenth a national day of observance.[9]
You can Live/Sleep in Your Car in Los Angeles---Court Overturns Ban
A federal appeals court panel struck down Los Angeles' ban on using parked vehicles as ``living quarters'' today, ruling that the law is unconstitutional because it discriminates against the homeless and impoverished.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena unanimously ruled that the city's 1983 ordinance, which bans people from living in cars or recreational vehicles on city streets or in parking lots, is unconstitutionally vague and ``criminalizes innocent behavior.''
``This broad and cryptic statute criminalizes innocent behavior, making it impossible for citizens to know how to keep their conduct within the pale,'' Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the court.
A group of homeless car dwellers sued the city in 2011 but lost in Los Angeles federal court, leading to the appeal.
The Los Angeles law prohibits the use of vehicles as living quarters both overnight and ``day-by-day, or otherwise.''
A representative for the City Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In overturning the lower court, the appeals panel said the law had caused ``arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.''
Pregerson wrote that the statute is so vague that it could ``cover any driver in Los Angeles who eats food or transports personal belongings in his or her vehicle,'' but it ``appears to be applied only to the homeless.''
When Los Angeles police began aggressively enforcing the ban in 2010 after complaints from Venice residents, city officials said the law was designed to protect health and safety.
However, the appeals court determined that ``arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement is exactly what has occurred here," according to the ruling.
Today in Labor History
June 19 -- Union Communications Services, Inc.
Eight-hour work day adopted for federal employees - 1912
AFL President Sam Gompers and Secretary of War Newton Baker sign an agreement establishing a three-member board of adjustment to control wages, hours and working conditions for construction workers employed on government projects. The agreement protected union wage and hour standards for the duration of World War I - 1917
A pioneering sit-down strike is conducted by workers at a General Tire Co. factory in Akron, Ohio. The United Rubber Workers union was founded a year later. The tactic launched a wave of similar efforts in the auto and other industries over the next several years - 1934
(Strike!: In this brand new, expanded edition of Strike! you can read about the General Tire Co. strike as well as other labor-management conflicts that have occurred over the past 140 years. Here you’ll learn much about workers’ struggle to win a degree of justice, from the workers’ point of view.)
(Strike!: In this brand new, expanded edition of Strike! you can read about the General Tire Co. strike as well as other labor-management conflicts that have occurred over the past 140 years. Here you’ll learn much about workers’ struggle to win a degree of justice, from the workers’ point of view.)
The Women’s Day Massacre in Youngstown, Ohio, when police use tear gas on women and children, including at least one infant in his mother's arms, during a strike at Republic Steel. One union organizer later recalled, "When I got there I thought the Great War had started over again. Gas was flying all over the place and shots flying and flares going up and it was the first time I had ever seen anything like it in my life..." - 1937
ILWU begins a 4-day general strike in sugar, pineapple, and longshore to protest convictions under the anti-communist Smith Act of seven activists, "the Hawaii Seven." The convictions were later overturned by a federal appeals court - 1953