Man killed after taking ex-girlfriend hostage at Office Depot; woman rushed to hospital

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-man-hostage-office-depot-20160324-story.html#nt=oft01a-1gp3

This is Los Angeles Times Pressman Greg Bauer's daughter. Let us pray for her speedy recovery.

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Attorney: Freedom Communications to sell to Digital First Media

http://www.dailynews.com/media/20160319/attorney-freedom-communications-to-sell-to-digital-first-media

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Update: Temporary restraining order blocks Tribune purchase of OC Register, Press-Enterprise

http://m.ocregister.com/articles/tribune-708746-court-temporary.html


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Farm Living in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya

I'm staying on a farm six hours from Manila by bus, where life is simple and peaceful. Here I'm a minority and many come by to see The American, the people shared that the only white people they see are on television. This is not a tourist stop, with the nearest town five miles from here.

Good Morning from the Philippines

This was from Dumaguete City, very beautiful Island, where many Americans have retired.

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Out of the country

I completely forgot to mention I'm visiting the Philippines for a month, regular posting will resume on April 3rd.

Davan Maharaj is named publisher too of the LA Times*

Davan Maharaj is named publisher too of the LA Times*: The editor since 2011 will be the first joint editor-publisher of the LAT possibly since the era of General Harrison Otis. He's the fourth publisher in two years.

Today in Labor History

March 02  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

Postal workers granted 8-hour day - 1913
(From the Folks Who Brought You The Weekend: This is a sweeping, highly readable history of U.S. labor that will be welcomed by anyone interested in learning more about the struggle of American working people to better their lives through collective action. This excellent narrative surveys the historic efforts and sacrifices that working people made to win the rights we take for granted today, from minimum wage and overtime protections to health and safety guarantees to even the weekend itself.)

More than 6,000 drivers strike Greyhound Lines, most lose jobs to strikebreakers after company declares “impasse” in negotiations - 1990

Tribune Publishing posts 4Q loss

Tribune Publishing posts loss of $77,000 in 4th quarter

Associated Press 

CHICAGO (AP) _ Tribune Publishing Co. (TPUB) on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $77,000, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Chicago-based company said it had a loss of less than 1 cent. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and restructuring costs, came to $1.34 per share.

The newspaper publisher posted revenue of $461.8 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $2.8 million, or 11 cents per share, swinging to a loss in the period. Revenue was reported as $1.67 billion.

Tribune Publishing shares have decreased almost 8 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has decreased 60 percent in the last 12 months.

LA Times manages to goof up the Oscars

LA Times manages to goof up the Oscars: Oscar reporters had to demand access to the ceremony after corporate suits took the LAT's passes. Also: could Davan Maharaj add publisher to his title?

Russ Parsons purges his cookbooks after 30 years

Russ Parsons purges his cookbooks after 30 years: The former LA Times food editor donated upwards of 500 cookbooks to the Long Beach Public Library. But it wasn't easy.

Today in Labor History

March 01  --  Union Communications Services, Inc.

The Granite Cutters National Union begins what is to be a successful nationwide strike for the 8-hour day. Also won: union recognition, wage increases, a grievance procedure and a minimum wage scale - 1900

Joseph Curran is born on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. At age 16 he joined the Merchant Marines and in 1937 went on to lead the formation of the National Maritime Union. He was the union’s founding president and held the post until 1973, when he resigned amidst corruption charges. He died in 1981 - 1906

IWW strikes Portland, Ore., sawmills - 1907

An article in the March 1936 edition of the magazine Popular Science lists what it terms “the world’s craziest jobs,” all of them in Hollywood. Included: Horse-tail painter (to make the tails stand out better in the movies); bone-bleacher (for animal skeletons in Westerns); and chorus-girl weigher, whose function the article did not make terribly clear - 1936

Sailors aboard the S.S. California, docked in San Pedro, Calif., refuse to cast off the lines and allow the ship to sail until their wages are increased and overtime paid. The job action lasts three days before the secretary of labor intervenes and an agreement is reached. The leaders were fined two days’ pay, fired and blacklisted, although charges of mutiny were dropped. The action marked the beginnings of the National Maritime Union - 1936

After five years of labor by 21,000 workers, 112 of whom were killed on the job, the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) is completed and turned over to the government. Citizens were so mad at President Herbert Hoover, for whom the dam had been named, that it was later changed to Boulder Dam, being located near Boulder City, Nev. - 1936

CIO president John L. Lewis and U.S. Steel President Myron Taylor sign a landmark contract in which the bitterly anti-union company officially recognized the CIO as sole negotiator for the company's unionized workers. Included: the adoption of overtime pay, the 40-hour work week, and a big pay hike - 1937

The federal minimum wage increases to $1 per hour - 1956