California
Eight high-profile California laws set to take effect in 2023
As with each approaching new yr, a bunch of legal guidelines are about to take impact in California that embrace a concentrate on minorities and animals.
On Jan. 1, 2023, quite a few payments signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), surrounding clothes, the office, and the legal justice system, will go into impact. Listed here are probably the most excessive profile examples:
No extra fur
Hollywood celebrities and Silicon Valley moguls should purchase their fur some place else. The manufacture and sale of fur merchandise might be prohibited because the progressive state turns into the primary to ban all new fur merchandise.
The cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, San Francisco, and Berkeley have already got this legislation on the books. The legislation doesn’t apply to the sale of used merchandise for fake fur, which is manufactured with plastics.
Freedom to jaywalk
Crossing a road outdoors of a sidewalk is technically unlawful in California, however as of Jan. 1, police are urged to look the opposite manner. The Freedom to Stroll Act says wayward pedestrians shouldn’t be ticketed until they create an “quick hazard of a collision.”
Backers of the brand new legislation say racial disparities exist when police hand out tickets, with black pedestrians cited extra typically. A earlier model of the legislation was vetoed by Newsom in 2021.
Prostitution loitering
If you’re a prostitute and need to declare a road nook as your personal, beginning on Jan. 1, police can’t do something about it.
The Safer Streets for All Act strikes parts of the state’s legal code part that prohibits “loitering with the intent of prostitution.” Proponents say the present legislation unfairly focused minorities, however Newsom burdened that prostitution continues to be unlawful in California.
“It merely revokes provisions of the legislation which have led to disproportionate harassment of ladies and transgender adults. Black and Latino ladies are significantly affected,” Newsom stated.
The pink tax
For years, ladies have been buying merchandise aimed toward males as a result of the price might be considerably lower than a feminine counterpart, comparable to shampoo or razors. This markup has been referred to as the “pink tax” and it’ll quickly be unlawful.
A “individual, agency, partnership, firm, company, or enterprise shall not cost a distinct value for any two items which can be considerably comparable if these items are priced otherwise primarily based on the gender of the people for whom the products are marketed and supposed,” the underlying Meeting invoice states.
New vacation
Respect for some Californians’s Asian heritage has impressed a brand new state vacation: Lunar New Yr, which varies by date in January. It offers state workers eight hours of trip or compensation if they don’t take the time off.
“Recognizing at the present time as a state vacation acknowledges the range and cultural significance Asian People carry to California and supplies a chance for all Californians to take part within the significance of the Lunar New Yr,” Newsom stated.
Felony data disappear
A controversial new legislation will completely seal most felony convictions after defendants full their sentences and any probation necessities. They need to additionally go a sure variety of years with none new arrests. These data will nonetheless be out there to legislation enforcement and college districts, however can’t be accessed by most people.
Proponents argued that the legislation was essential to keep away from discrimination in varied sectors of society, comparable to job and housing functions. Felony data are available on databases to county superior courts.
Transgender youth haven
Minors who arrive in California to acquire transgender surgical procedures or different medical therapy are secure from repercussions by different states. The legislation blocks out-of-state subpoenas and file sharing by docs.
It additionally permits judges to make baby custody determinations if one dad or mum resides in one other state the place custody is revoked from a California dad or mum supporting transgender therapy.
New law enforcement officials
Cops in California not should be a citizen or authorized resident of the US. The brand new legislation removes language that officers “should be a citizen of the US or a everlasting resident alien who’s eligible for and has utilized for citizenship.”
Federal legislation prohibits unlawful immigrants from turning into officers, so this legislation would solely apply to authorized immigrants who’ve a visa or inexperienced card, supporters say.
California
More than $450K recovered for Half Moon Bay mushroom farm workers at sites of deadly shootings
HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — The owners of two Northern California mushroom farms where a farmworker killed seven people in back-to-back shootings last year will pay more than $450,000 in back wages and damages to 62 workers, the Labor Department announced Monday.
The owners of California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms in Half Moon Bay will also pay $70,000 in civil penalties for illegally deducting money from the workers’ pay for housing them in cramped cargo containers, garages, dilapidated trailers and a moldy greenhouse infested with insects and surrounded by trash, the department said in a statement.
Half Moon Bay mushroom farms cited for workplace safety violations after Jan. mass shooting
Chunli Zhao, who worked at California Terra Gardens and had worked at Concord Farms, was charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in the Jan. 23, 2023, shootings that stunned the small coastal community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of San Francisco. He has pleaded not guilty.
Authorities said Zhao opened fire at California Terra Garden, killing four co-workers and wounding another one. They said he then drove about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) to Concord Farms, a mushroom farm he was fired from in 2015, and shot to death three workers.
‘Hidden Crisis: Tragedy in Half Moon Bay’ | Watch full special
The mass shooting in Half Moon Bay exposed the deplorable living conditions that some farmworkers endured. Now, officials are looking for a solution.
California Terra Gardens, Inc.’s owners, Xianmin Guan and his wife, Liming Zhu, illegally deducted money from workers’ pay for substandard housing, federal officials said. Federal investigators discovered 39 workers housed in cramped cargo containers, garages and dilapidated trailers furnished with filthy mattresses, the department said.
At Concord Farms, owner Grace Tung housed workers in moldy, makeshift rooms inside a greenhouse infested with insects, federal officials said.
MORE: Timeline: An in-depth look at the Half Moon Bay mass shooting that killed 7
The families of three Half Moon Bay shooting victims speak out as one described the feeling when they were told his brother has died.
Emails from The Associated Press seeking comment from the farms’ owners were not immediately answered Monday.
“Our investigators found workers at California Terra Gardens and Concord Farms housed in sickening conditions, forced to sleep near garbage and with insects all around,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Alberto Raymond in San Francisco.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
California
Whole Orchard Recycling in Kern County with the Healthy Soils Program — California Climate Investments
Grower John Gless owns a citrus orchard in Kern County, California, which has greater citrus production than nearly any other county in the state. In 2020, Gless was looking to replace his old orchard and improve the orchard’s soil health through the conservation management practice of whole orchard recycling. With whole orchard recycling, orchard trees are chipped and spread back into the field evenly. Once chips are incorporated into the soil, the field can be replanted with a new citrus orchard. This practice improves soil health, nutrient levels, soil structure, and water retention, resulting in healthier orchards.
Gless applied for the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Healthy Soils Program Incentive Grants, funded through California Climate Investments, and received an award of $94,825 to implement whole orchard recycling in his 110-acre orchard. In addition to greenhouse gas reduction benefits, estimated at 26 metric tons of CO2 equivalent for this project, using whole orchard recycling serves as an alternative to burning orchards, preventing the release of particulate matter that otherwise would harm health.
California
Summer Barbecue Festival Season Has Arrived in Southern California
Summer is just around the corner, as is the season to place marinated meats over a fiery grill. Thankfully, two Southern California festivals are taking place to celebrate Los Angeles and Riverside County’s diverse barbecue scenes, starting with the Long Beach Barbecue Festival on May 25 and the Brew n’ Que Festival from May 31 through June 1 in Riverside County.
Axiom Kitchen will set up at the tail end of Shoreline Aquatic Park from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. to host its second annual event showcasing 25 pitmasters including Big Brian’s Meats, the 38-year-old operator Robert Earl’s BBQ, and the Mexican-Cuban specialist El Guero y La Flaca. In addition to 40 retail vendors, the festival will also feature whiskey tastings, a beer garden, a full bar, and an amateur chili cook-off contest. VIP tickets are still available.
Out in Norco, the Brew n’ Que Festival kicks off with panel chats from the CEO of the Kansas City Barbecue Society, Slap Yo Daddy sauce creator Harry Soo, and Black Smoke author Adrian Miller on day one. On June 1, attendees can try barbecue from local operators, North Carolina’s Bourbon & Blues Barbecue, and Good Googly Goo BBQ from Maryland. They’ve even secured live entertainment. Tickets to the festival range from $20 to $125.
Carmel Coffee craze is an understatement
Time Out LA waited in Carmel Coffee’s hour-plus line to try Silver Lake’s, or, rather, all of Los Angeles’s buzziest cafe, which opened in May. Those brave enough to stand in line were rewarded with drinks like milk teas, matcha lattes, and its popular multi-grain misugaru.
Another group of SoCal Starbucks workers join the union
Starbucks employees in Santa Clarita voted to join the worker union on May 17. The store at Newhall and Carl Court is the 35th California Starbucks location to join Starbucks Workers United. Over the last three years, Starbucks workers have organized extensively throughout the country amid allegations of anti-union actions from the coffee giant. In Southern California, the chain shuttered six Los Angeles stores in 2022, citing issues related to worker safety. The National Labor Relations Board subsequently filed a complaint against Starbucks, taking action to order the company to reopen multiple LA stores in 2023.
Grand Central Market in 1963
This time capsule of Grand Central Market from Forgotten Madness LA’s Instagram account is a healthy dose of nostalgia for Los Angeles residents and beyond.
New hours and offerings at Xuntos
Santa Monica’s Xuntos is open on Mondays and just launched a happy hour with Pintxos by chef Sandra Cordero. It also has a new bar program where gin and tonics, brandies, and Spanish natural wines are available, including Galician after-dinner drinks called chupitos.
Pescatarians, Burgers 99 wants you
DJ collective All Summa partnered with Badmaash’s Burgers 99 to create their first fish burger called the Ricks. It’s $13 with a wild-caught salmon patty, avocado spread, capers, cheddar, lettuce, and tomatoes on a toasted bun.
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