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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2016 Pay to rise for millions as 19 states increase minimum wage Oregon’s wage will increase in varying amounts By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press AP Photo/Mike Groll Supporters of a $15 minimum wage for fast food work- ers rally in front of a McDonald’s in Albany, N.Y. Millions of workers across the U.S. will see their pay increase as 19 states bump up their minimum wages as the new year begins. California, New York and Arizona are among the states with increases taking effect Saturday or Sunday. ALBANY, N.Y. — It will be a happy New Year indeed for millions of the lowest-paid U.S. workers. Nineteen states, including New York and Cali- fornia, will ring in the year with an increase in the minimum wage. Massachusetts and Wash- ington state will have the high- est new minimum wages in the country, at $11 per hour. California will raise its wage to $10. New York state is taking a regional approach, with the wage rising to $11 in New York City, $10 in its downstate sub- urbs and $9.70 elsewhere. “This $1.50 increase, I can- not even comprehend or tell you how important this will be,” said Alvin Major, a New York City fast-food worker. The 51-year-old father of four helped lead the fight for the increase in his state, one of sev- eral successful efforts by fast- food workers and other low wage workers around the coun- try. “The price of food has gone up. Rent has gone up. Every- thing has gone up. ... This will make a difference for so many people.” Voters in Arizona, Maine, Colorado and Washington approved increases in this year’s election. Seven other states, Alaska, Florida, Mis- souri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio and South Dakota, are automatically raising the wage based on indexing. The other states seeing increases are Arkansas, Con- necticut, Hawaii, Michigan and Vermont. Workers and labor advo- cates argue the increases will help low-wage workers now barely making ends meet and boost the economy by giving some consumers more money to spend. But many business owners opposed the higher wages, saying they would lead to higher prices and greater automation. Some restaurant owners may consider reducing portion sizes or charging for side dishes that were once included in the price of a meal to absorb the increase, according to Melissa Fleischut, president of the New York State Restaurant Association. “I’m sure prices will go up where they can, but restaurants want to avoid sticker shock,” she said. “They’re going to have to get creative.” The adjustments in Oregon States face off over future of Obama global warming plan other states are part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Ini- tiative, a cap-and-trade pro- gram that has reduced carbon dioxide emissions from elec- trical generation in the region by 40 percent from 2005 levels. Oregon among the signers By MARY ESCH and JASON DEAREN Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. — Two weeks after officials in two dozen states asked Republican President-elect Donald Trump to kill one of Democratic Pres- ident Barack Obama’s sig- nature plans to curb global warming, another group of state officials is urging Trump to save it. Democratic attorneys gen- eral in 15 states plus four cit- ies and counties sent a letter to Trump asking him to preserve Obama’s Clean Power Plan, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the lead author, announced Thursday. The letter was a rebuttal to one sent this month by Repub- lican officials from West Vir- ginia and 21 other states and Democrats from the coal-pro- ducing states of Kentucky and Missouri urging Trump to issue a Day 1 executive order declaring the Clean Power Plan unlawful and prohibiting the U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency from enforc- ing it. The Clean Power Plan aims to reduce carbon dioxide emis- sions at existing power plants, the nation’s largest source of the pollution, by about one- third by 2030. Opponents say the Environmental Protec- tion Agency lacks authority to implement the rules. The plan is already the subject of a legal fight. Climate agenda Trump has called the sci- ence showing climate change a hoax. His choice to head In California AP Photo/Seth Wenig Two weeks after officials in two dozen states asked Don- ald Trump to kill one of President Barack Obama’s plans to curb global warming, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (pictured) was lead author on a rebuttal let- ter signed by Democratic attorneys general in 15 states, plus four cities and counties, asking the president-elect to save it. the EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has sued the EPA repeatedly to stop its climate agenda including Obama’s sweeping power plant rules. And his nomi- nee to run the Department of Energy, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, has questioned climate science while work- ing to promote coal-fired power in Texas. But in a tele- vision interview this month Trump said he was “still open-minded” about the sci- ence of climate change. Schneiderman said states like New York are “on the front lines of climate change” and have demonstrated how to cut pollution and emissions while protecting affordable and reliable electricity, cre- ating jobs and growing the economy. “The Clean Power Plan builds on that successful work and is a blueprint for the crit- ical action needed to fight climate change’s devastat- ing environmental, economic and public health impacts,” he said. Under Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, established this year, 50 percent of New York state’s electricity must come from renewable energy sources like wind and solar by 2030. New York and eight In California, the nation’s most populous state, which also signed the letter, the goal is also to have half of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and a 40 per- cent reduction of greenhouse gases. The letter to Trump lists local impacts of climate change from fossil fuel emis- sions, including drought in California, catastrophic storm surge in New York City, a record deluge on Colorado’s Front Range, high-tide flood- ing in Virginia and South Florida and diminished shell- fish harvest in Oregon and Washington state. The legal challenge, filed by 27 states that oppose the Clean Power Plan, is before a federal appeals court in Wash- ington, D.C. A decision on the plan could come at any time, but the U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked implementation of the rule until the court challenge is resolved. Still, even if Trump wants to scrap the plan, it would be a large, time-consuming task. W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Astor Street Opry Company CLASSICAL music show hosts for morning shifts If you love classical, we will train you! Call Elizabeth | 503.325.0010 for more information www.CoastRadio.org M INDFULNESS D AY R ETREAT N EW Y EAR FOR THE State trooper out of ICU, recovering Associated Press PORTLAND — The fam- ily of a wounded Oregon State Police trooper says he has been moved out of the intensive care unit and into a hospital room just days after being shot several times on Christmas night. The brother of Trooper Nic Cederberg writes on an online fundraising page that the officer will undergo sur- gery Friday to fix a bro- ken arm. The brother, Nic Jeff Ceder- berg, says the Cederberg procedure is his brother’s last major sur- gery for the time being and he is “amazing the doctors and nurses with how his recovery is going.” Authorities say the trooper was shot Sunday night by homicide suspect James Tylka following a car chase. Tylka was then killed by police. Officers pursued Tylka after finding his estranged wife dead outside his suburban Portland home. N E W Y E A R S E V E D IN N E R PR IM E R IB with all the Trimmings Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 The Jungle Book seeks 2 0 1 6 N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Youth Auditions for COAST COMMUNITY RADIO KMUN 91.9FM David Doniger, a cli- mate policy expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council who served on Democratic President Bill Clinton’s White House Council of Environmental Quality, said the Trump admin- istration “can’t make it go away unless they go through rule-making pro- cess and unwind it.” “And that’s a public process, so they’ll have to hear from supporters of the plan,” he said. If Trump were to issue the executive order being asked for by the plan’s opponents, since the plan has gone through a formal process to become a regu- lation it would still require a long, public process to undo, Doniger said. Besides New York and California, the letter is signed by attorneys gen- eral from the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illi- nois, Iowa, Maine, Mary- land, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington as well as officials from Bro- ward County and South Miami, Florida, Boulder, Colorado, and New York City. (July 1), New York, California and several other states are part of a series of gradual increases to a $12 or $15 hourly wage. The minimum wage will also go up this weekend in 22 cities and counties, includ- ing San Diego, San Jose and Seattle. The high number of states and localities raising the wage this year reflects the successful work of fast-food workers and organized labor, according to Tsedeye Gebreselassie, senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project, as well as federal inaction on the wage. The national minimum was last raised, to $7.25, in 2009. “These aren’t only teens trying to make some pocket money,” she said. “Increas- ingly it’s adults who are using this money to support their families.” Saturday, D ecem ber 31 • 5:00 pm 18 $ each 7 PM - 12:30 A M R enee & N ighttim e Friends PREPAID TICKETS ON SALE @ CLATSOP POST 12 PRODUCED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH PIONEER DRAMA SERVICE, INC., ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO. ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Directed by: Heather A. Yadon-Ramsdell 1132 Exchange Street • 325-5771 Saturday | January 7th Noon-2pm Volunteer Pick of the Week For ages 6 and up. $50 fee per child (includes T-Shirt), $35 for the second child and $10 for the third child of the same household. For more information contact Heather Yadon-Ramsdell at (503) 791-6259 or email at jhancramsdell@gmail.com Rosie ASTOR STREET OPRY COMPANY 129 W. BOND STREET, ASTORIA OR 97103 TICKET LINE (503) 325-6104 7-Year Old Black Lab Blend A rose by any other name would be as sweet and as endearing and lovable. T HE D AILY A STORIAN ’ S C UTEST B ABY C ONTEST (See more on Rosie on http://Petfi nder.com/ ) Releasing Old Patterns for New Possibilities Heather Angiletta, Ph.D. and Ashley Dahl, MSW S ATURDAY J ANUARY 7 TH 10 AM TO 4 PM The Loft | Astoria, Oregon Come explore simple mindfulness practices for renewed intentions and living in the New Year. The day will include guided sitting meditations, walking meditations, mindfulness talks, and personal reflection. All levels are welcome. $ $ 75 Early Bird 90 After December 18 $ 110 On-Site TH M ORE INFORMATION : www.facebook.com/events/328534777517645 C ONTACT : Heather, heatherarupp@gmail.com LATSOP C OUNTY A NIMAL S HELTER E MERALD C 1315 SE 19 Street, Warrenton • 861 - PETS Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat H EIGHTS A PARTMENTS www.dogsncats.org Sponsored By If your baby was born January 1st & December 31st , 2016 , between you can submit your newborn’s picture either via email at: CLASSIFIEDS @ DAILYASTORIAN . COM or drop by one of our offi ces in Astoria or Seaside and we can scan in the photo for you. Deadline to enter is Wednesday, January 25 th at 5 pm Entries will be printed in The Daily Astorian on January 31st. *Human babies only please!* H OLIDAY B OOK S ALE With th 2 G REAT B OOKS O NE L OW P RICE Sale $ 25 s* for Astorians Eccentric & Extraordinary $ 12 95 e Pric both title Eminent Astorians $ 12 95 Special available only at The Daily Astorian Offi ce 949 Exchange Street | Astoria, OR 97103 or by calling 503-325-3211 *while supplies last
