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WEDNESDAY
12.21.16 Volume 16 Issue 33
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WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 BERGAMOT ART PROJECT ..........PAGE 3 CURIOUS CITY ................................PAGE 4 POLICELOG ......................................PAGE 7 FIRE LOG ..........................................PAGE 8
Santa Monica Daily Press
smdp.com
Employees to get more sick days in the New Year BY KATE CAGLE Daily Press Staff Writer
Sick days will start adding up for hotel and restaurant and workers in Santa Monica at the start of the New Year, but that doesn’t mean employees will feel ready to cash them in. Starting on Jan. 1, companies in Santa Monica with more than 26 employees will have to offer 5 days of paid sick leave. Smaller businesses are required to give 4 days, or 32 hours. While the city is reaching out to businesses about the new ordinance, community organizers started talking to employees around the busy Third Street Promenade three months ago. At that time, few people had learned a
new California law allowed them to call in sick when they’re not feeling well or need to take care of a loved one. “It’s really been the norm in the service industry for workers to not have any time off. It’s not only a policy change, but there’s a cultural change,” said community organizer Sophia Cheng who works with the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Los Angeles. One of the challenges: restaurant employees typically get their schedules week by week, so there’s a fear that taking a paid day off may result in a bad schedule in the future. The new ordinance requires more paid time off than existing SEE WAGE PAGE 5
Cities, counties plan immigrant legal aid after Trump’s win BY SOPHIA TAREEN AND AMY TAXIN Associated Press
Major U.S. cities and counties are beefing up legal services for immigrants to help them fight deportation and avoid fraudulent lawyers in the wake of Donald Trump’s election and his hard-line immigration enforcement promises. Tapping local government funds to represent immigrants in federal proceedings provides an early example of the type of pushback the Republican incoming president will receive in Democratic strongholds. Advocates call it a matter of justice and smart economics, but some question whether it’s a fair use of taxpayer money. Chicago has approved a $1.3 million legal fund. Los Angeles
elected officials said Monday they are working with private foundations to set up a $10 million fund, while some California state lawmakers have proposed spending tens of millions of dollars to provide lawyers to immigrants facing deportation. New York is mulling a public-private legal fund, building on New York City’s public defender program that’s considered a national model. “We need to be able to stand by people who are fearful,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff, said after the measure passed the City Council last week. Trump’s pledges to build a border wall and deport the estimated 11 million people living in the country without legal permission
In today’s real estate climate ...
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Courtesy Photos
Firefighters, and Santa from the Santa Monica Fire Department visited the children at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica on Dec. 19. The firefighters buy and wrap the gifts themselves and spend quality time with each child on the floor. The group was lead by James Altman, President of Local 1109.
SEE AID PAGE 6
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