Sammy Maloof Speaking at Trinity on Friday

Our Community Forum! FREE! - Open to Everyone. We provide coffee and goodies, too! Join us for our community forum held every Friday from 9:00 am to 10:00 am at our Santa Fe Springs store. It is a dynamic atmosphere each week as we bring in speakers from different ministries, unique performers, dance groups, or Christian musicians.

This Friday!  

Sammy Maloof

Hollywood Stuntman Driver and Speaker

Sammy Maloof is a stuntman, hot rod shop owner, race engine builder, race car driver, speaker & author with appearances in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Fast & Furious, Rock of Ages, Magic City, Burn Notice, Spiderman2, Rush Hour & many many more.

YES, SAMMY WILL SHOW OFF
SOME OF HIS DRIVING SKILLS! 

His passion however, is telling everyone the GREAT things God has done in his life and sharing God's word. Come join us to hear the Word and see some fun driving as we will hold this one outside in our back lot!

Join Us: 

Fridays, 9:00 am to 10:00 am

Where:   

Trinity's Santa Fe Springs Store

10410 Pioneer Blvd. #2,
Santa Fe Springs, 90670 

562-567-2050

Visit our web site for more information >

James Rainey Announces $50,000 reward for info regarding his slain brother

Los Angeles Times Columnist James Rainey bravely stood before the media to announce that Los Angeles City Council had approved a reward fund of $50,000 for information leading to the capture of his brother's killer, Dr. Robert Rainey. Watch the short video to understand how deep his love for his brother runs, as he shares what his brother was like as a person.

If you witnessed anything on May 31st contact the Los Angeles Police Department at 213.382.9470 or 877.LAPD.24.7

Thursday Night in the Blogosphere

Residents of Skid Row Los Angeles

Relax, ‘Mitt,’ Just Be Yourself - Tina Dupuy

Paywall Goes Up at U-T San Diego - Fishbowl LA

Corporate heads for Wall Street today - Gannett Blog

Skid Row cleanup off to smooth start - Blog Downtown

Dow Jones kills SmartMoney print edition - Romenesko

New Orleans needs a daily dose of its Times-Picayune - Guardian

Baquets in new life: reading T.S. Eliot on the subway - Kevin Roderick

What rapid changes in U.S. newspapers in past 30 days mean to us all - INMA

Officials Say Skid Row Street Sleeping Won’t Be Overlooked - Downtown News

BBC honcho Mark Thompson may become next New York Times CEO - Poynter

New York Times journalists seek an equitable contract deal

Fourth video in a series produced by the Newspaper Guild of New York featuring esteemed journalists calling on Times management to settle their bitter contract dispute. Guild members Dan Wakin, Ralph Blumenthal, Clyde Haberman and John Schwartz describe their devotion to The Times, the sacrifices they've made in service of the paper, and their betrayal by management's threat to freeze pensions and reduce wages and benefits.

Today in Labor History

June 21

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 hours' instruction in the Christian Religion every Sunday and not be required to sleep more than two in a bed - 1802

10 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 & 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

100,000 unionists and other supporters march in solidarity with striking Detroit News and Detroit Free Press newspaper workers - 1997

 SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Wednesday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

Rolls of Newsprint

Lifted the print LA Times lately? - Kevin Roderick

Reporter quits over prank phone call - Gannett Blog

Who jumped first from the newspaper sinking ship? - Jack Shafer

LANG Increasing Printing on OC Register Presses - Fishbowl LA

Advance layoffs to impact about 400 in Alabama - Business Journal

African-Americans take greater hit in Times-Picayune layoffs - Poynter

We will probably experience another substantial loss this year - Poynter

Barrett Tryon decides not to return to Colorado Springs Gazette - Romenesko

Laurie Ochoa rejoins Gold at LAT; new A and E editor named - LA Observed

LA Times Names John Corrigan Arts & Entertainment Managing Editor - The Wrap

Today in Labor History

June 20

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
[Contract Bargaining Handbook for Local Union Leaders: This nuts-and-bolts handbook gives union negotiators specific instructions on bargaining for pay, fringes and other terms and conditions of employment. Summaries and checklists guide you through the process as you learn to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the employer, find your best strike and no-strike alternatives, avoid impasse, use third-party mediation and more. In the UCS bookstore now.]

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

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 International 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

 SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Working: Clockwork Lemon

With the Australian newspaper industry currently undertaking a major restructure of its workforce and business models, including the closing down of printing presses, this film shows that this is not the first time technology and the influence of computers has raised its digital head. Original synopsis: The printing industry is facing a change almost as big as the introduction of the printing press. Do computers take away the enjoyment of the job? Have skills been lost? Is job security at risk? This film demonstrates the effects of technological change on workers in the printing industry. Produced by Film Australia 1979. Directed by Macek Rubetzki

Tuesday Night in the Blogosphere

Another LA Times departure - Kevin Roderick

Disrupting journalism education, too - Jeff Jarvis

LA Riot Deaths Haunted Rodney King - Pandora Young

New update on badly injured press operator - Gannett Blog

Industry Revenue Continues to Plunge - Newspaper Death Watch

Fields of Dreamers: Looking Back at the UFW - Frying Pan News

Tablet users more likely to buy magazines, than newspapers - Poynter

Paper stops the presses after spotting obscenity in grad’s glasses - Romenesko

Australian Newspaper announced it will cut 1,900 jobs - Sydney Morning Herald

Six Corporations own 90% of all print, broadcast, and digital - Broadcast Union News

Today in Labor History

June 19

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

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 four day general strike in sugar, pineapple, and longshore to protest convictions under the anti-communist Smith Act of seven activists, "the Hawai’i Seven." The convictions were later overturned by a federal appeals court - 1953

 SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Juneteenth Celebration

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the holiday. For the work by Ralph Ellison, see Juneteenth (novel).

Juneteenth
Juneteenth celebration in Austin, Texas, on June 19, 1900.
Also called	Freedom Day or Emancipation Day
Observed by	Residents of the United States, especially African Americans
Type	Ethnic, historical
Significance	Emancipation of last remaining slaves in the United States
Date	June 19
Observances	Exploration and celebration of African American history and heritage

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday in the United States honoring African American heritage by commemorating the announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. State of Texas in 1865. Celebrated on June 19, the term is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth,^[1] and is recognized as a state holiday or state holiday observance in 41 states of the United States.^[2][3]

Contents 1 Observation 2 History 3 In literature 4 Traditions 5 Juneteenth's decline and resurgence 6 Modern Juneteenth Movement 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Observation

The state of Texas is widely considered the first U.S. state to begin Juneteenth celebrations with informal observances taking place for over a century; it has been an official state holiday since 1890. It is considered a "partial staffing holiday", meaning that state offices do not close, but some employees will be using a floating holiday to take the day off. Schools are not closed, but most public schools in Texas are already into summer vacation by June 19th. Its observance has spread to many other states, with a few celebrations even taking place in other countries.^[4][5]
As of June 2011, 42 states^[2] and the District of Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as either a state holiday or state holiday observance; these are Alabama, Alaska,^[5] Arizona, Arkansas, California,^[5] Colorado, Connecticut,^[5] Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,^[3] Kentucky,^[6][7] Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi ^[8][9] Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey,^[5] New Mexico, New York,^[5] North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,^[2] Vermont,^[2] Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.^[10]
Eight states have not recognized Juneteenth: Hawaii, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah.

History

Ashton Villa, from whose front balcony the Emancipation Proclamation was read on June 19, 1865.

Though Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, it had minimal immediate effect on most slaves’ day-to-day lives, particularly in the Confederate States of America. Many liberated slaves died during emancipation as a result of the illness that devastated army regiments. Freed slaves suffered from smallpox, yellow fever, and malnutrition. ^[11] Texas, as a part of the Confederacy, was resistant to the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865. June 18 is the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. On June 19, 1865, legend has it while 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.^[12]

That day has since become known as Juneteenth, a name coming from a portmanteau of the words June and teenth like nineteenth and other numbers ending with -teenth.
Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets with jubilant celebrations. Juneteenth celebrations began in Texas the following year.^[12] 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.^[12]

Today in Labor History

June 18

Union and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph and others meet with Pres. Roosevelt about a proposed July 1 March on Washington to protest discrimination in war industries. A week later, Roosevelt orders that the industries desegregate - 1941




  SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

A TASTE OF O.C. is BACK - and The Ultimate Stones will ROCK IT!

ATTENTION!! SEND US AN EMAIL TO theultimatestones@gmail.com and we will email you back a FREE ADMISSION COUPON WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO REGISTER FOR THIS GREAT EVENT! SAVE BIG $$ and party with us!! 21+ ONLY for Saturday's event.

The event begins at Noon. We start at 4PM!! www.tasteofoc.com for more info and directions to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.

Dad's Day Saturday - Car Show

Treat DAD and the family to something special THIS FATHER'S DAY. SATURDAY JUNE 16, 2012 from 9am-3pm in Los Alamitos CA there will be over 200 hotrods, classic cars, dragsters, many vendors, food, a live band, Ironhide from the move Transformers, Kit Car from Night Rider, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol / Fast & Furious stuntman Sammy Maloof and MUCH, MUCH MORE. Don't miss this:

— with Southern California Chevelle and Camino Club and Cottonwood Church.

Historic Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tours

By Brady Westwater

The HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour will take place this  Saturday June 16th and next Saturday June 23rd  at 11 AM and 2 PM AND this Sunday June 17th  and next Sunday June 24th at 2 PM.   That is two tours each Saturday and one tour each Sunday


Then the HOW DOWNTOWN LOS ANGLES INVENTED THE WILD WEST (and why no one knows it) walking tour will take place this Sunday June 17th at 11 AM and next Sunday June 24th at 11 AM. 

The Bradbury Building

 All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  EXCEPT FOR THIS WEEKEND!  This weekend if you bring your Father with you, you will only have to pay $5 for you Dad.on either day!

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in Saturday's 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

You will also see where the first new lofts were opened, the places where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

And if you take the "How Los Angeles Invented The Wild West (and why no one knows it"tour, you will discover that long before the famed Western cowtowns and mining camps Tombstone, Dodge City, and Deadwood existed, Los Angeles was the first town where everything that happened in the Wild West, happened here first and that everyone from Wyatt Earp to Judge Roy Bean came to Los Angeles first before going east to help start the Wild West. You will also discover LA was a far ‘wilder’ town than any Western town that followed after it.

And besides ‘inventing’ the original Wild West, Los Angeles also remained part of the Wild West for far longer than other place (from 25 years to over 90 years - compared to the average period of 3 or 4 years to 10 years of most cowtowns) and LA was also one of the few towns built upon both cattle and mining.

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

For future updates and more information go to http://www.historicdowntownlosangeles.blogspot.com

Spazmatics to Rock Pasadena Tonight

The Spazmatics will be playing tonight at the Pasadena Civic Plaza at 7:30 p.m., if you have never experienced this group I highly recommend you give them your ears. Are you ready to party like it's 1985? Help the Pasadena Chalk Festival kick off its 20th annual installment with the Spazmatics, who render the greatest hits of the '80s

Friday Morning in the Blogosphere

Tough time for Tribune stations auction - Variety

Tinker, Tailor – Walmart Spy? - Steven Mikulan

The Reality Of Canada's "Free" Health Care - Advice Goddess

Newseum defends decision to oust news reporters - Gannett Blog

Let's face it, newspapers were always destined to die - Mark Lacter

Dunkin' Donuts Workers Join TNG-CWA - Broadcast Union News

So how much did a private investor group pay for the OC Register? - KPCC

Mercury flack for Walmart caught posing as student journalist - Kevin Roderick

LA Times Crowns Kings Celebration with Multimedia Book Release - Fishbowl

Freedom paper tells reporter to remove LAT story from Facebook - Romenesko

Today in Labor History

June 15

The Metal Trades Department of what is now the AFL-CIO is founded - 1908

The Congress of Industrial Organizations expels the Fur and Leather Workers union and the American Communications Association for what it describes as communist activities - 1947

Battle of Century City, as police in Los Angeles attack some 500 janitors and their supporters during a peaceful Service Employees International Union demonstration against cleaning contractor ISS. The event generated public outrage that resulted in recognition of the workers' union and spurred the creation of an annual June 15 Justice for Janitors Day – 1990




June 14

The first commercial computer, UNIVAC I, is installed at the U.S. Census Bureau - 1951

Today in Labor History

June 13

Congress creates a Bureau of Labor, under the Interior Dept.  It later became independent as a Dept. of Labor without executive status in the Dept. of Commerce and Labor; in 1913 it became the Dept. of Labor we know today - 1884

Tony Mazzocchi born in Brooklyn, N.Y. An activist and officer in the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers union, he was a mentor to Karen Silkwood, a founder of the Labor Party and a prime mover behind the 1970 passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act - 1926  Click here for a great video touching on the full range and scope of Tony's vision of working class empowerment.





  SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Led Zepagain Stolen Equipment Fund

My name is Brenda Wootten, I am the wife of Jim Wootten, who is the bass player for a well known Southern California based tribute band, Led Zepagain.

On June 9, 2012, LED ZEPAGAIN, were victims of one of the worst crimes a band could face. As they slept at the Microtel Inn and Suites in Morgan Hill (Northern California) Tens of Thousands of dollars of music gear was stolen from their van. The alarm was cut and years of investment and sentimental value was lifted from the van. This is a major setback as it puts the band in immediate jeopardy of lost revenue as well as capital investment.

The boys are devastated...

I have set up this site as we have had a lot of fans asking where they can donate funds to help Led Zepagain become whole again!

The band is going to slowly start to replace the stolen equipment so they can continue to keep the magic alive.
Thank you so much for all your support!

List of Led Zepagain's stolen Gear...

Today in Labor History

June 12

Fifty thousand members of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen employed in meatpacking plants walk off their jobs; demands include equalization of wages and conditions throughout U.S. plants - 1904

The U.S. Supreme Court invalidates two sections of a Florida law: one required state licensing of paid union business agents, the other required registration with the state of all unions and their officers - 1945

Major League Baseball strike begins, forces cancellation of 713 games. Most observers blamed team owners for the strike: they were trying to recover from a court decision favoring the players on free agency - 1981


 SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Monday Night in the Blogosphere

Downtown Los Angeles

Newspaper as Business Pulpit - New York Times

New Dilemma for Struggling Newspapers - Good E-Reader

OC Register Owner Sold to 2100 Trust LLC - Fishbowl LA

Shoplifting suspect wanted arrest to make local paper - Poynter

How to get New York Times front page coverage - Romenesko

New Journalism Debate Gets Nasty - Newspaper Death Watch

Daily News, other LANG papers merge management - Kevin Roderick

Donald Trump cancels subscription after Neuharth column - Gannett Blog

Report calls for new clampdown on newspaper sex ads - HoldTheFrontPage

Judge expects to rule in early July on Tribune bankruptcy - Chicago Sun-Times

The Newspaper: From paper to people

The process of printing press. Watch how the news is delivered to you. 

Today in Labor History

June 11
Representatives from the AFL, Knights of Labor, populists, railroad brotherhoods and other trade unions hold a unity conference in St. Louis but fail to overcome their differences - 1894
[From Blackjacks to Briefcases is the first book to document the systematic and extensive use by American corporations of professional unionbusters, an ugly profession that surfaced after the Civil War and has grown bolder and more sophisticated with the passage of time. In the UCS bookstore now.]

Police shoot at maritime workers striking United Fruit Co. in New Orleans; 1 killed, 2 wounded – 1913

John L. Lewis dies. A legendary figure, he was president of the United Mine Workers from 1920 to 1960 and a driving force behind the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations - 1969


 SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Fan Halen playing Fullerton Tonight

Tonight is the 1st Night of the FAN HALEN World Tour and we're kicking it off in style at The Slidebar Rock N Roll Cafe in Downtown Fullerton, California. Come on out and ROCK with "Classic" Van Halen...FREE SHOW!!!

Friday Afternoon in the Blogosphere

Hope for Firefighters

From fired to ‘on vacation’ - Romenesko

Note from Click and Clack to Their Listeners - Car Talk

The Mayor's Lavender Smokescreen - Joseph Mailander

Unions: Our Last, Best and Final Hope - Steven Mikulan

News in 21st Century is a multi-media program - Maui News

Why I Did Not Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times - Virginia Postrel

Mass Layoffs Reportedly Underway at Star Magazine - Fishbowl LA

For Newspapers, a Less than Daily Future - American Journalism Review

Kaplan Teachers Choose The Newspaper Guild - Broadcast Union News

‎‎Times Sale Getting Closer. What Does This Mean For Los Angeles? - Brady Westwater

Leave it to Beaver - Hope for Firefighters Event

Eddie, Lumpy, Wally, and The Beaver

Yesterday’s event called Hope for Firefighters was a complete success with a crowd I estimate at 8,000 in attendance to raise money for injured firemen, orphans, and widows of firefighters.

With temperatures hovering at eighty degrees on a cloud free day no one was uncomfortable, with the exception of one of the relay participants suffering from heat exhaustion. With so many different rescue crews on hand, the situation was taken care of rather quickly.

One of the many methods used to raise funds was taking photographs with the four members from the television show “Leave it to Beaver”, which only cost $10.00, and the line of oldsters such as myself was long. Wally and The Beaver were extremely friendly, which shows through our photograph, and I thank all four gentlemen for donating their time for this worthy cause.

User beware of parking in downtown Los Angeles, I paid $37.00 for three and a half hours, next time I’ll park at Union Station for $6.00, and take a bus over, which I believe costs 50 cents each way.

I spent a total of $77.00 on the fundraiser, but just took a call that I won four tickets to the Angeles game on July 5^th. Now get this, they called back again and announced I had also won four additional tickets to the Angels game on August 12^th, wow I have great luck!

My hats off to the men and women that volunteered for this great event, and will give you my support next year as well.

Today in Labor History

June 08

A battle between the Militia and striking miners at Dunnville, Colo. ended with six union members dead and 15 taken prisoner.  Seventy-nine of the strikers were deported to Kansas two days later – 1904

Spectator mine disaster kills 168, Butte, Mont. – 1917

Some 35,000 members of the Machinists union begin what is to become a 43-day strike – the largest in airline history – against five carriers. The mechanics and other ground service workers wanted to share in the airlines’ substantial profits - 1966

The earliest recorded strike by Chinese immigrants to the U.S. occurred when stonemasons brought to San Francisco to build the three-story Parrott granite building – made from Chinese prefabricated blocks -- struck for higher pay - 1852

New York City drawbridge tenders, in a dispute with the state over pension issues, leave a dozen bridges open, snarling traffic in what the Daily News described as "the biggest traffic snafu in the city's history" - 1971


SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Sammy Maloof to speak this Sunday in Temecula

Join Hollywood stuntman, speaker, author and businessman Sammy Maloof as he shares a POWERFUL message of faith, hope and love with Pastor Rocky & First Lady Alnita Moore and the mighty champions at Living Hope Faith Center.

Visit http://livinghopefaithcenter.com/ for details.

Living Hope Faith Center, Temecula CA
32819 Temecula Parkway Suite B Temecula CA 92592

This Sunday June 19th, 2012 at 10:30 am.

Today in Labor History

June 07

Militia sent to Cripple Creek, Colo., to suppress Western Federation of Miners strike – 1904

Sole performance of Pageant of the Paterson (NJ) Strike, created and performed by 1,000 mill workers from the silk industry strike, New York City – 1913

Striking textile workers battle police in Gastonia, N.C.  Police Chief O.F. Aderholt is accidentally killed by one of his own officers. Six strike leaders are convicted of “conspiracy to murder” and are sentenced to jail for from 5 to 20 years - 1929

Founding convention of the United Food and Commercial Workers. The merger brought together the Retail Clerks International Union and the Amalgamated Meatcutters and Butcher Workmen of North America - 1979
[Relations between organized labor and environmental groups are typically characterized as adversarial, most often because of the threat of job losses invoked by industries facing environmental regulation. But, as Brian Obach shows in Labor and the Environmental Movement: The Quest for Common Ground, the two largest and most powerful social movements in the United States actually share a great deal of common ground.In the UCS bookstore now.]

The United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club announce the formation of a strategic alliance to pursue a joint public policy agenda under the banner of Good Jobs, A Clean Environment, and A Safer World - 2006


SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.

Thursday Morning in the Blogosphere

L.A. City Hall, a lavender beacon for gay rights

Los Angeles City Hall last night

Can old people save newspapers? - Poynter

How to survive if your local paper dies - Gannett Blog

Documentary: Newspapers aren’t going extinct - Politico

In scare for newspapers, digital ad growth stalls - Reuters

Why no ‘Save the Birmingham News’ rally? - Romenesko

Tribune set to emerge from bankruptcy - Broadcast Union News

Editorial: The Tribune Tower of Babble - Occupied Chicago Tribune

Online newspapers more popular than hard copies - Silicon Republic
 ‎
Robert Rainey May Have Been Killed During a Robbery - Culver City Patch

Waste Violations Hurt L.A. Workers and the Environment - Frying Pan News

The Fifteenth Annual "Hope For Firefighters" Event

Benefiting the Los Angeles Fire Department
Widows, Orphans and Disabled Fireman's Fund
The Largest Firefighter Event of its Kind In The Nation

Mayor Villaraigosa and the City of Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Fire Department, Corporate Sponsors, and more than five thousand Angelenos will have fun in the sun!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Downtown Los Angeles - Hope Street between 3rd and Hope Place
Event Layout Map
 

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), Corporate Sponsors and Teams, and thousands of Angelenos will gather for this event, the purpose of which is to honor the firefighters who risk their lives to serve and protect us, and to raise funds for the Los Angeles Firemen’s Relief Association’s Widows, Orphans and Disabled Firemen’s Fund, a valuable 501(c)(3) organization.

Hope for Firefighters features live music, delicious meals prepared by over 25 different fire stations throughout the City, fire apparatus and demonstrations, LAFD gift merchandise booths, raffle drawings, prizes, trophies and exciting Firefighter “Muster” games where more than twenty sponsored teams will compete for trophies & prizes in everything from bucket brigade, firefighter suit-up to an old fashioned hose pull contest. Funds are raised through sponsorship, meal ticket sales, raffle items and the sale of LAFD merchandise through the Dalmatians Store. 

Hope Street between 3rd and Hope Place will be closed to make way for the thousands of people who will be attending. Click for event layout map.

Bring your hats and sunscreen (especially for the little ones).

Food and beverage (fire bucks) pricing is as follows:
Meal = $7.00

Soda or Water = $1.00

Dessert or Coffee Beverage = $2.00 to $4.00

Join us for a great event!
Downtown News Article (June 4, 2012)
Downtown News Article (February 28, 2011)

Hope For Firefighters

Today in Labor History

June 04

Massachusetts becomes the first state to establish a minimum wage - 1912

The House of Representatives approves the Taft-Hartley Act. The legislation allows the President of the United States to intervene in labor disputes. President Truman vetoed the law but was overridden by Congress - 1947

The AFL-CIO opens its new headquarters building, in view of the White House - 1956

Gov. Jerry Brown signs the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first law in the U.S. giving farmworkers collective bargaining rights. The legislation came after years of effort by the United Farm Workers union - 1975
[No man in this century has had more of an impact on the lives of Hispanic Americans, and especially farmworkers, than the legendary Cesar Chavez. The Fight in the Fields tells of Chavez and his union’s struggles: to raise farmworker pay; to win union recognition from savagely resistant grape and lettuce growers; to stop the use of deadly pesticides that were killing children in the fields. The pacifist Chavez endured several month-long fasts to counteract what he saw as a growing tendency toward violence in the farmworker movement, and many think those heroic acts contributed to his early death, at the age of 64. In the UCS bookstore now.]

June 05
Thirty-five members of the Teamsters, concerned about the infiltration of organized crime in the union and other issues, meet in Cleveland to form Teamsters for a Democratic Union - 1976

A strike begins at a General Motors Corp. parts factory in Flint, Mich. that spreads and ultimately forces the closure of GM plants across the country for seven weeks.  The Flint workers were protesting the removal of key dies from their plant and feared their jobs would be lost. The company ended the dispute by assuring the plant would remain open until at least the year 2000 - 1998

June 06
The U.S. Employment Service was created - 1933

A general strike by some 12,000 autoworkers and others in Lansing, Mich. shuts down the city for a month in what was to become known as the city’s “Labor Holiday.” The strike was precipitated by the arrest of nine workers, including the wife of the auto workers local union president: The arrest left three children in the couple’s home unattended - 1937

U.S. President Harry S Truman and American Federation of Musicians President James Petrillo perform a piano duet at the union’s convention in Asbury Park, NJ. - 1948

Labor Party founding convention opens in Cleveland, Ohio – 1996

Robert Rainey Rest in Peace

A tribute to my brother by Jim Rainey

Robert Rainey

April 19, 1958 - May 31, 2012


Robert was a shy boy and quiet through his high school years. He didn’t go out much for sports or extra curriculars. But when he got to Humboldt State up in the Redwood country, Robert was reborn.

The school was starting a crew team and Robert was one of the first to join. It turned out that inside this reserved, modest young man there was a beastly strong heart and a will to compete. Running and rowing with the Lumberjacks crew team began to transform Robert into the person he would become—powerful, hard-working, resilient and terribly loyal to the team.

Not long after college, he returned to Los Angeles. His athletic pursuits had turned him into something of a health nut, so it wasn’t surprising that he went into that field. He trained at UCLA to become a respiratory therapist and worked in that profession for a few years before going to chiropractic school.

When he was going to Cleveland Chiropractic College (near Downtown), he continued to live on the Westside. He stopped virtually every morning for breakfast at the Original Pantry, sitting at the counter and eating eggs while bantering with Romeo and the other workers.

He married Peg Regan in 1993 in her hometown of Scranton, PA. Margaret Regan Rainey is one of nine Regan children, a close-knit family that greatly expanded Robert’s world. That was both in the figurative and literal sense, since Robert now has 28 Regan nieces and nephews.

He opened his first practice on Motor Avenue in West L.A. before moving to his location on Venice Blvd., where he has been for about 15 years. Robert believed in chiropractic and alternative medicine. He wanted to see people healthy and always encouraged them to eat right and lose weight. He saw some patients who couldn’t afford to pay much, so he would take $5, or whatever they could spare.

Besides Peg, Robert’s three great loves were running, travel and his corgi dogs. The Raineys saved money for big trips every year or two. They were particularly enamored with Venice, Italy and had vacationed there several times, maybe throwing in a marathon or another distance run for good measure.

They also liked to travel in the Italian countryside and sample wine. Robert had become a bit of a connoisseur in recent years. He would bring a large, insulated storage container to Italy and return with it laden with new vintages. When he would share a bottle, he would always ask: “It’s pretty good, isn’t it?” His huge smile made it clear there only one answer was appropriate: Yes, the wine was fabulous.

Robert’s love of running expanded when he joined the L.A. Leggers running group. He made a lot of friends who he would keep for decades. Later, he joined the Mountain Goats, a group that runs on weekends in the Santa Monica Mountains and points beyond. Robert loves the Goats, as they called themselves, and the Goats loved him. His friends announced his death Thursday by saying “a member of our herd has been stolen from us.”

The Goats routinely run 10 or 15 miles or more. A few times a year some of the group meets at the Phidippides (later Fleet Feet) running store in Encino and runs over the hill to the Westside, where they feast at the Firehouse restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica.

I once ran into my brother on the Venice boardwalk and said “How far have you gone?” Answer: “17 miles.” My kids gaped in amazement and Robert beamed. He had a really, really big smile.

Robert had just made that run with his friends this past Sunday. He was a bit stiff when he and Peg came to visit me and my family in South Pasadena on Memorial Day. I always joked with Robert what a great advertisement he made for chiropractic—limping around like an octagenarian after another mega-run. (One of the contradictions of Robert, the spinal health guru: He wanted others to stretch but would never bother to stretch himself.)

Robert was well known among ultra-distance runners, as well. He traveled around California with Peg for the endurance tests. He was something of an anomaly for a distance runner—at almost 6-2 and about 210 pounds he was built more like a free safety. Some of the runs included a “Clydesdale” Division for the rare specimen would could run hundreds of miles and still keep their weight over 200 pounds. Robert was a Clydesdale.

Robert kept the pounds on by eating every meal as if it was his last. On Thanksgiving, he would tear away what seemed like a quarter of the turkey, pile his plate high with mashed potatoes (he insisted on making the potatoes himself, because only he understood how to get the consistency just right) and then all the other fixings. Again, my kids would gape in awe. The mountain man had come from the wilds to live among us.

Robert liked to finish meals with copious helpings of pie and, especially, ice cream. His bowl would overflow and he would power through it. Somehow, in his somewhat cockeyed universe, ice cream was a noble vice, but he couldn’t understand how anyone would eat two or three cookies or some candy.

It was not uncommon for Robert to retire to the living room sofa after one of these eating bouts for a good, long nap…He really didn’t mind if you carried on the conversation over and around him.
He loved the outdoors, gave to the Wilderness Society and recycled everything. If you began to throw a bottle in the trash instead of the recycle bin, he would spring up to correct the error.

We take some solace in knowing that Robert did a lot of the things he wanted to do. He climbed Mt. Kilimajaro a few years ago. He went so fast that the guides marveled. One of them told him he completed one stretch of the climb faster than anyone else that season.

Robert planned to run the Mountain Goats season-ending event this weekend at Sycamore Canyon on the coast. Also on the calendar: the 16th Annual Holcomb Valley Trail Run on June 10 near Big Bear Lake. Peg was going to run the 15-mile version. Robert had signed up for the 33-miler. Given a choice of moderation, Robert would inevitably choose the alternative.

The world travelers had reservations to hike in the Dolomites in August and in December to travel to South Africa for an extended trip, returning home through Paris, where they planned to spend New Year’s Eve. There is a stack of seven travel books for that latter trip sitting on the coffee table as I write this at my brother’s house.

Our father, Ford Rainey, lived to two weeks shy of his 97th birthday. Robert told people he would live longer. At first he said he was shooting for 100. At some point he moved his target to 105. Recently, he recalibrated again: 110 didn’t seem unreasonable.

Robert would talk to every oddball door-to-door salesman who came by his office. He would give handouts to the homeless men who hung out in the neighborhood. Sometimes he would pay them for an odd job. Many of his friends agreed they wouldn’t have been so open to people so different from themselves.

Robert and Peg loved to talk to their dogs, Cade, Henry and Zoe. The Raineys felt they were in charge of their household, but eyewitnesses confirm that the corgi brigade ruled the Culver City roost.

Robert Rainey was a gentle man. He didn’t pick fights or look for trouble. He had a kind heart. When he watched his nieces and nephews singing in school plays or playing soccer he had that wonderful, broad smile. More than you can say of most men in their 50s, he was something of an innocent—wanting to believe the best about the world and the people who live in it.

He deserved a much better, more humane end. But the outpouring of so much good feeling from patients, running buddies, family and friends has made these first hours of our grief a bit more endurable. Peg and I and the rest of the family thank everyone so much for their support and love.

Today in Labor History

 June 01


The Ladies Federal Labor Union Number 2703, based in Illinois, was granted a charter from the American Federation of Labor. Women from a wide range of occupations were among the members, who ultimately were successful in coalescing women’s groups interested in suffrage, temperance, health, housing, and child labor reform to win state legislation in these areas - 1888
[Rocking the Boat: Union Women’s Voices, 1915-1975 tells the stories of eleven dedicated union women from a wide range of backgrounds and how they dealt with issues of work, sex, fear, leadership and tradition tobecome activists and leaders in their unions. Women have had to fight for their rightful place in American life -- the right to own property, to vote, to work in "men’s" jobs. They’ve had to fight for their place in the labor movement as well, and this book does a great job of recounting that struggle. In the UCS bookstore now.]

Union Carpenters win a 25-cents-per-day raise, bringing wages for a nine-hour day to $2.50 - 1898

Congress passes the Erdman Act, providing for voluntary mediation or arbitration of railroad disputes and prohibiting contracts that discriminate against union labor or release employers from legal liability for on-the-job injuries - 1898

3,500 immigrant miners begin Clifton-Morenci, Ariz. copper strike – 1903

12,500 longshoremen strike the Pacific coast, from San Diego to Bellingham. Demands included a closed shop and a wage increase to 55 cents an hour for handling general cargo - 1916

As many as 60,000 railroad shopmen strike to protest cuts in wages – 1922

Extinguishing the light of hope in the hearts and aspirations of workers around the world, the Mexican government abolishes siestas –- a mid-afternoon nap and work break which lengthened the work day but got people through brutally hot summer days - 1944

Farm workers under the banner of the new United Farm Workers Organizing Committee strike at Texas’s La Casita Farms, demand $1.25 as a minimum hourly wage - 1966

Dakota Beef meatpackers win 7-hour sit-down strike over speed-ups, St. Paul, Minn. – 2000

General Motors filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The filing made the automaker the largest U.S. industrial company to enter bankruptcy protection. It went on to recover thanks to massive help from the federal government - 2009

SOURCE: Union Communications Services, Inc.