Saturday, February 29, 2020

Saturday Morning in the Blogosphere

Reiff Zeitungsdruck gets new automation from QIPC


Q.I. Press Controls (QIPC), the Dutch specialist in measuring and control equipment for the printing industry, will equip the Koenig & Bauer Commander press of German regional printing company Reiff Zeitungsdruck with new automation. 
In Offenburg, central Germany, QIPC’s mRC-3D system for register and cut-off control will replace an automation system from a local manufacturer. That system is outdated and no longer supported. 
The 12 new mRC-3D cameras for register and cut-off control will be installed on the K&B Commander press and will help the print facility save start-up waste and work more efficiently, says QIPC.
News and Tech

Today in Labor History February 29, 2020

Hattie McDaniel

The minimum age allowed by law for workers in mills, factories, and mines in South Carolina is raised from twelve to fourteen. – 1915
Screen Actors Guild member Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African-American to win an Academy Award, honored for her portrayal of “Mammy” in “Gone with the Wind” – 1940

Friday, February 28, 2020

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

Austin, Palm Beach, Albuquerque papers work with Tecnavia


The Austin American-Statesman, Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News have gone live with print replicas from Tecnavia. Last month, the Albuquerque Journal implemented Tecnavia’s e-edition on web browser and Total Media 2-in-One App to upgrade their audience user experience.
Tecnavia provides a print replica platform that is used by large daily papers including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, the company says. 
Minnesota-based Tecnavia manages over 2,000 titles and processes over eight million pages per year for publishers large and small, the company says. Along with digital editions, their services include live news apps, website hosting, meters, digital archives, eTearsheets and the new Tecnavia Ad Network.
News and Tech

Today in Labor History February 28, 2020


Sue Cowan Williams

The U.S. Supreme Court found that a Utah state law limiting mine and smelter workers to an eight-hour workday was constitutional. – 1898
Faced with 84-hour workweeks, 24-hour shifts and pay of 29 cents an hour, firefighters formed the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). Some individual locals had affiliated with the AFL beginning in 1903. – 1918
Firefighters form the IAFF, the Chinese Ladies' Garment Workers' Union begins a 4-moth successful strike, Sue Cowan Williams was the plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit over the disparity between black and white teachers, and more.CLICK TO TWEET
Members of the Chinese Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in San Francisco’s Chinatown began what is to be a successful four-month strike for better wages and conditions at the National Dollar Stores factory and three retail outlets. – 1938
Sue Cowan Williams represented African- American teachers in the Little Rock School District as the plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit challenging the disparity between black and white teachers’ salaries in the segregated South. The case was lost but won in a 1943 appeal. – 1942
The entire workforce of the 3M factory in Elandsfontein, South Africa, went on strike in support of the 450 members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union being laid off at a 3M plant in New Jersey. The South African worker, all of whom were black, were among the hundreds of thousands of union members whose militancy helped bring down the apartheid system. – 1986.
Earning as little as 6 dollars and forty cents an hour, janitors working for contractor UNICCO at the University of Miami go on strike over wages and benefits, working conditions, and union recognition. Students and faculty at the university joined in demonstrations, sit-ins, and hunger strikes, and by the fall, the janitors ratified a contract that increased wages and included health care benefits and paid vacation time. – 2006

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

Men’s Journal cutting staff, moving operation


Men’s Journal is cutting all of its editorial staff and relocating the operation to Carlsbad, California, the New York Post reports.
The move should happen by the end of May, the Post said.
The publication was bought by American Media in 2017.
Around 20 editorial employees will be laid off, the paper said.
American Media recently sold Muscle & Fitness, Flex and Muscle & Fitness Hers and the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition to businessman Jake Wood for some $70 million, the Post said. The titles are going all digital in the wake of the sale.
American Media owns US Weekly and In Touch, among other titles. Its majority owner is Chatham Asset Management. Its recent efforts to sell the National Enquirer have hit snags, the Post has reported.
News and Tech

Today in Labor History February 27, 2020

Eugene V Debs

Legendary labor leader and socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs became a charter member and secretary of the Vigo Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. Five years later he was leading the national union and in 1893 helped found the nation’s first industrial union, the American Railway Union. – 1875
Eugene V. Debs became a charter member and secretary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, John Steinbeck was born, 38 mines die in a mine explosion, 100 women start a sit down strike at Woolworth, mine diaster kills 75 in…CLICK TO TWEET
John Steinbeck was born on this date in Salinas, California. Steinbeck, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962, wrote numerous novels from the perspective of farmers and the working class, including The Grapes of Wrath (1939), Tortilla Flats, Of Mice and MenCannery Row & East of Eden – 1902
Thirty-eight miners died in a coal mine explosion in Boissevain, Virginia. – 1932
Just days after the autoworkers’ victory at General Motors, more than 100 women workers at one of forty Woolworth stores in Detroit, Michigan, began a sit-down strike over wages, hours, working conditions, and union recognition. Solidarity action in support of the workers was incredible. The strike spread, and on March 5th the workers won their demands, including the union shop. The union won a uniform contract for all forty stores in Detroit, which covered 2,500 workers. – 1937
Following a decade of sit-down strikes, the Supreme Court ruled that sit-down strikes, a major organizing tool for industrial unions, were illegal. – 1939
A mine disaster killed 75 at Red Lodge, Montana. – 1943
Seattle ACORN workers went on strike. Their office was shut down after their employer refused to recognize Public Interest Workers IU 670 union of the IWW. – 2001

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Mayor Don Kendrick gives you tour of CTEC





Mayor Don Kendrick gives you tour of CTEC. An innovative academic program that provides necessary skills to enter the workforce or continue on the pathway of higher education. 

For more information Fairplex.com/TLCfairplex/ctec.

Wednesday Morning in the Blogosphere

Pressmen Marc Austin and Paul Anders




Publishers Sharpen Their Approach to Paywalls - Folio

Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet - Wired

Ex-Sports Illustrated top editor lands at Los Angeles Times -Monkey Viral

The Biggest Story Your Newsroom Isn’t Ready to Cover - Cronkite News Lab

syracuse.com to end reader comments on website beginning Thursday - Syracuse

Six tips to make science and health fact-checks sexier (and trustworthy) - Poynter

Can Rupert Murdoch and Boris Johnson Team Up to Kneecap the BBC? - Nieman Lab

100 Printing Plant Workers To Be Laid Off; Operations Relocated To New Jersey - Biz Journal

Judge who handled Tribune Co. bankruptcy appointed to mediate in McClatchy case - McClatchy

Journalists at Orlando Sentinel unionize to battle new 'vulture capitalist' owners - Orlando Weekly

Springfield News-Leader moves printing


The Springfield News-Leader (Missouri) is relocating its printing and production from Springfield to a sister facility in Columbia, the paper reported. The facility prints the Columbia Daily Tribune. Both are Gannett papers.
The News-Leader news and advertising teams are staying in Springfield, the paper said.
The move is set to take place at the end of March, the paper said.
The company aims to link workers with area resources to help with looking for new jobs, and opportunities will be extended, if possible, at other company spots, according to the paper.
“As our industry continues to evolve and transform, we are forced to make changes that allow us to be competitive in the future marketplace. This is without a doubt one of the most difficult decisions we’ve had to make to date,” said Allen Jones, upper Midwest regional president. “We must strategically invest in quality, local journalism and the digital experience we provide our readers and business partners.”
News and Tech

Today in Labor History February 26, 2020

The Buffalo Creek Valley Dam Collapse

Congress okayed the Contract Labor Law, designed to clamp down on “business agents” who contracted abroad for immigrant labor. One of the reasons unions supported the measure: employers were using foreign workers to fight against the growing U.S. labor movement, primarily by deploying immigrant labor to break strikes. – 1885
Bethlehem Steelworkers struck for union recognition in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. – 1941
Congress okayed the Contract Labor Law, Steelworkers in Bethlehem strike for recognition, 118 die when Buffalo Creek Valley coal slag heap collapsed, and the UFCW wins a strike in Southern California.CLICK TO TWEET
A coal slag heap doubling as a dam in West Virginia’s Buffalo Creek Valley collapsed, flooding the 17-mile long valley. 118 died, 5,000 were left homeless. The Pittston Coal Company said it was “an act of God.” – 1972
The UFCW and employers reached an agreement to end the nearly five-month-long grocery strike and lockout of 59,000 workers in Southern California. The strike was fueled by management’s demand to strip workers of their healthcare benefits. The new two-tier contract required employees to pay for healthcare benefits for the first time, included no raises, and paid new hires less and put them in a different healthcare plan. – 2004
1,700 locomotive manufacturing workers struck for nine cold days in Erie, Pennsylvania. After returning to the bargaining table, they eventually beat back demands of the new owner Wabtec, which had unilaterally imposed a two-tier system and stripped rights they had won with the prior owner, General Electric. They ratified a contract on June 14th. – 2019

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

News Media Alliance chimes in on Google case


The News Media Alliance has filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of Oracle in the Google v. Oracle (docket no. 18-956) case concerning “Google’s unauthorized copying of parts of Oracle’s computer code when developing applications for the Android operating system,” according to the Alliance.
The Alliance brief rebuts Google’s argument that its use of Oracle’s code was justified under the four-part fair use test used by U.S. courts, drawing comparisons to what the News Media Alliance calls Google’s widespread and unauthorized use of news media content.
“There have to be limits to fair use, otherwise it will eat the world,” said Alliance Senior Vice President and General Counsel Danielle Coffey. “For the last decade, sweeping exemptions have allowed Google to defend against almost any reproduction of quality content, including journalism, which requires tremendous investment that goes unrecovered when misappropriated. Like news publishers, companies like Oracle depend on robust copyright protections that promote innovation and creativity in the online ecosystem, and we must stand together against such blatant misrepresentations of law and abuses of market power.”
Google appealed the case to the Supreme Court in January 2019 after two decisions by the U.S. Court for the Federal Circuit held that Oracle’s code was copyrightable and that Google’s use was not fair use under the Copyright Act. The Supreme Court accepted the case in November 2019.
The Alliance is asking that the Supreme Court affirm the federal circuit’s decisions.
The case is scheduled for a hearing on March 24.
News and Tech

Oklahoma Newspaper Closes After 110 Years


Russ Newton - Researching Speech Options

By Russ Newton

So one of the first side effects of Bulbar onset ALS is the gradual loss of speaking ability. No one can tell me how long it will take, but I will lose my ability to speak sooner or later. So I am researching devices that allow me to record my voice now and speak later using technology. I have met with two vendors, and I really liked the second vendor. He suggested that I wait six weeks as a new device was coming out and he recommended that I try a free resource that would allow me to digitize my voice and would work with his device when it was time to buy it. I like him a lot, he is willing to wait for my purchase and offered me a option that is free that will help out in the long run. There are still good people in the world! Russ



Discover Russ Newton ALS Ride of a Lifetime

Tuesday Morning in the Blogosphere

The fate of the printed newspaper 




Men’s Journal Lays Off Entire Editorial Staff - WWD

Oklahoma Newspaper Closes After 110 Years - KJRH

Prairie Mountain Media buys Greeley Tribune - BizWest

Long Lines in Cuba, Even for Newspapers - Havana Times

The Costco Connection is America's fourth biggest magazine - CNN

How CNN uses audience insights to drive newsroom change - Editors Weblog

Northeastern North Dakota newspaper closing after 124 years - Bismarck Tribune

Audio Articles are Helping News Outlets Gain Loyal Audiences - Nieman Reports

Inside The Wall Street Journal, Tensions Rise Over ‘Sick Man’ China Headline - NYT

Four Maine newspapers will stop printing Monday editions of their newspapers - 92 Moose

Report for America will support 19 journalists to cover Native American communities - NL

New York newsrooms using AP tool


News organizations in New York state are using AP StoryShare in a project supported by the Google News Initiative, the AP reports.
The AP created the tool to encourage collaboration and boost local news.
The effort started in January.
So far, more than 200 stories have been shared by outlets including The (Albany) Times Union,  the (Utica) Observer-Dispatch and the Niagara Gazette, AP says. Photos are also being shared. More than two dozen news organizations are involved, according to AP.
Participating newsrooms can republish each other’s stories and photos in their papers.
“We are delighted that AP StoryShare is helping newsrooms with what they need most: more local and state news coverage for their communities,” said AP Deputy Managing Editor for U.S. News Noreen Gillespie. “This platform provides an easy way for news outlets to connect with each other in the shared — and critical — interest of preserving local news.”
News and Tech

Today in Labor History February 25, 2020

Edgar Daniel (“E.D.”) Nixon

The Paterson, New Jersey silk strike began, with 25,000 immigrant textile workers walking out when mill owners doubled the size of the looms without increasing staffing or wages. The strike was organized by the Industrial Workers of the World but collapsed when mill owners exploited divisions between skilled and unskilled workers, successfully getting the skilled workforce to agree to return to work. Five strikers were killed during the 208-day walkout. – 1913
The Paterson silk strike begins, Edgar Daniel (ED) Nixon dies, and 100,000 gather at the Wisconsin State Capitol to protest Scott Walker's plan to cripple public employee bargaining.CLICK TO TWEET
The Amalgamated Association of Street & Electric Railway Employees of America changed their name to the Amalgamated Transit Union. – 1965
The Order of Railroad Telegraphers changed their name to the Transportation-Communication Employees Union. – 1965
Labor organizer and civil rights activist Edgar Daniel (“E.D.”) Nixon died on this date. While working as a Pullman porter, Nixon organized the Montgomery local of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and served as its president for many years. He was a key organizer of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and co-founder of the Montgomery Improvement Association. – 1987
A crowd estimated to be 100,000 strong rallied at the Wisconsin State Capitol in protest of what was ultimately was to become a successful push by the state’s Republican majority to cripple public employee bargaining rights. – 2011 – Note, I was there and it was a blast.

Monday, February 24, 2020

New Yorker launches climate change newsletter


The New Yorker has launched a weekly newsletter focused on climate change, Nieman Lab reportedThe Climate Crisis newsletter will be authored by environmental journalist Bill McKibben, an ex-New Yorker staffer. Among other things, McKibben is known for writing the 1989 book “The End of Nature.”
The newsletter will be free.

Every issue of the newsletter will have an essay, links and an interview called “Pass the Mic” to feature emerging perspectives on the topic, Nieman Lab said.
News and Tech

Monday Morning in the Blogosphere

Today in Labor History February 24, 2020


Lawrence Massachusetts Strike

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Muller v. Oregon to uphold the state’s restrictions on the working hours of women, setting a precedent to use sex differences, and in particular women’s childbearing capacity,  as a basis for separate legislation.  A laundry owner was fined $10 for making a female employee work more than 10 hours in a single day. – 1908
Women and children textile strikers were beaten by Lawrence, Massachusetts police during a 63-day walkout protesting low wages and work speedups. – 1912
Supreme Court upholds state restrictions on working hours of women, Textile workers on strike again in Lawrence, Congress can't pass a national child labor law and more.CLICK TO TWEET
A new national child labor law passed in Congress and was declared unconstitutional in 1924. A similar law passed two years earlier was declared unconstitutional in 1918. – 1919
Congress passed a Federal Child Labor Tax Law that imposed a 10 percent tax on companies that employed children, defined as anyone under the age of 16, working in a mine/quarry or under the age of 14 in a “mill, cannery, workshop, factory, or manufacturing establishment”. The Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1922 in Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. – 1919
District 1199 Health Care Workers became the first U.S. labor union to oppose the war in Vietnam. – 1965

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Hightimes Holding Corp. Receives Ticker and Clears Final Regulatory Hurdles to Begin Trading



Los Angeles, Feb. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Times, the most well-known brand in Cannabis, announced today that it received notification from FINRA that it was granted a trading symbol, clearing a final hurdle to begin trading. Company trading will commence with a planned listing date to be determined in the near future. The approval provides Hightimes Holding Corp. the ability to list on the public markets which will culminate the brand’s highly successful Regulation A + campaign.

“This is a big step for the company and the High Times brand. The listing of the company’s stock will give us a trading currency that will assist us in furthering our acquisitional goals. There is no better time to roll out this next evolution as we enter the cannabis retail space,” Adam Levin, Executive Chairman of Hightimes Holding Corp., noted. “With the lessons we’ve learned from other operator’s mistakes, great management, and the current state of the industry, now is the time for High Times to thrive!“

“With over 23,000 investors, this has been one of the most widely subscribed to offerings in history - across any industry,” Levin continued. “We’ve proven the strength of our brand, and of the community we represent. We’re excited for this next step.”

High Times is committed to continuing to connect cannabis to consumers with trusted products, across price points, and has introduced several plans this year to support that. High Times aims to cement its place as the largest name in cannabis and become the ultimate destination for all consumers from the canna-curious to marijuana lifers - both in-store and in person. The continued expansion in licensing and e-commerce, and now into retail stores, allow the globally recognized brand the unique opportunity to reach consumers wherever they may live. With the first two retail stores launching in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, High Times’s digital presence provides worldwide reach.

“This feels just like my early days in ecommerce - except in this case we already have audience, and we’re dealing with the most well-known brand in Cannabis,” Stormy Simon, the brand’s Chief Executive Officer, stated. “My history in ecommerce should help the company as we develop both our retail business as well as our direct to consumer delivery options in markets across the globe.”

Now marks the last opportunity to participate in the High Times Regulation A+ offering ahead of the brand’s listing on the public markets later this year. Interested investors are encouraged to visit hightimesinvestor.com to view the High Times offering circular. You can also email investor@hightimes.com or schedule a call with the brand’s investment team at https://calendly.com/hightimesinvestor/30min. View our latest Regulation A+ offering circular and our SEC filings at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1714420/000149315219008495/partii.htm and https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=hightimes&owner=exclude&action=getcompany.

About High Times
For more than 45 years, High Times has been the world’s most well-known cannabis brand - championing the lifestyle and educating the masses on the benefits of this natural flower. From humble beginnings as a counterculture lifestyle publication, High Times has evolved into hosting industry-leading events like the Cannabis Cup and the High Times Business Summit, while providing digital TV and social networks, globally distributed merchandise, international licensing deals and providing content for its millions of fans and supporters across the globe. In the world of Cannabis, High Times is the arbiter of quality. For more information on High Times visit http://www.hightimes.com.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain information about Hightimes Holding Corp.’s view of its future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from historical results or those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with its ability to maintain and grow its business, variability of operating results, its development and introduction of new products and services, marketing and other business development initiatives, among other things. For further information about Hightimes, Hightimes encourages you to review its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 1-A Offering Circular dated July 27, 2018, its Offering Circular supplement dated May 31, 2019, and all subsequent filings, including its Current Reports on Form 1-U, dated February 20, 2020.