Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 1-9-18

Charlottesville, VA, The Site Of
18 States Increase Minimum Wage; Florida Is One Of Them
Violent White Supremacist
Rally Votes In Black Mayor
Minimum wage workers in 18 states should have seen a pay hike beginning last week when higher wage floors went into effect around the country for 2018.
With the federal minimum wage remaining just $7.25 per hour, more and more states have opted to implement their own, higher rates that local employers must observe.
Many of the bumps slated for the New Year’s Day raise came courtesy of recent ballot initiatives approved by voters or bills passed by statehouses, in red and blue states alike.
Some of those states have laws requiring that the mini- mum wage is adjusted each year according to an inflation index, to rise with the cost of living. So several of the raises amount to less than a quarter an hour.
But other states that recently enacted new laws will have more significant increases. Maine’s will move a full dollar, to $10. Hawaii’s will rise 85 cents, to $10.10. And Col- orado’s will increase 90 cents, to $10.20.
Here are the states with new minimum wages, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that tracks mini-
$.15 increase
• Missouri: $7.85, $.15
increase
• Montana: $8.30, $.15
increase
• New Jersey: $8.60,
$.16 increase
• New York: $10.40,
$.70 increase
• Ohio: $8.30, $.15 in-
crease
• Rhode Island: $10.10,
$.50 increase
• South Dakota: $8.85,
$.20 increase
• Vermont: $10.50,
$.50 increase
• Washington: $11.50,
$.50 increase
The institute estimates that
the raises will impact 4.5 mil- lion workers.
The federal minimum wage hasn’t budged in more than eight years and prevails in any state that doesn’t mandate a higher one. The last hike, in 2009, was the result of a series of increases signed into law by President George W. Bush.
President Barack Obama
attempted to get the federal minimum wage hiked through- out his second term, but Re- publicans in Congress blocked Democratic proposals from coming up for a vote.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Less than a year after a string of white supremacist and KKK rallies put a global spotlight on Charlottesville, the Virginia city is diversify- ing its governmental leader- ship by voting a black woman into office.
On Tuesday (Jan. 2), the city council voted 4-1 to make Nikuyah Walker Char- lottesville’s first black female mayor, the Daily Progress re- ports.
“I’m learning, this is all new, but again running a campaign was new, I have been successful,” Walker said upon accepting the nom- ination.
Her vice mayor, Heather Hill added, “I certainly be- lieve that we are in a commu- nity that is looking for change and I would look forward to the opportunity to partner with Ms. Walker.
The vote is being viewed as a clear rebuke of Donald
Charlottesville, Virginia’s new mayor is Nikuyah Walker.
Trump giving complimen- tary words for tiki-torch bar- ing nazi’s, and downplaying the overall racial hatred that erupted in Charlottesville.
Walker was born and raised in Charlottesville, and this isn’t the first time she made history in her home- town. Last year, Walker be- came the first independent candidate to be voted to the city council since 1948.
Fast-food workers with the ‘Fight for $15’ campaign have rallied in cities around the country for higher minimum wages.
mum wage legislation:
• Florida still lags be-
hind at: $8.25, $.15 increase The others are:
• Alaska: $9.84, $.04
increase
• Arizona: $10.50, $.50
increase
• California: $11.00,
$.50 increase
• Colorado: $10.20,
$.90 increase
• Hawaii: $10.10, $.85
increase
• Maine: $10.00, $1.00
increase
• Michigan: $9.25, $.35
increase
• Minnesota: $9.65,
Houston Mayor Grilled About Press Secretary’s
Black Company Acquires Essence From Time, Inc.
Richelieu Dennis, the founder of SheaMoisture is the founder and chairman of Essence Ventures. Essence Ventures now owns Essence Magazine.
Misuse Of City Time
HOUSTON — Mayor Sylvester Turner was pum- meled with questions Wednesday after it was re- vealed that his press secretary failed to turn over thousands of documents required to be released under state law.
Houston Press Secretary Darian Ward was running a side business during her working hours, records show. When The Texas Monitor in- quired about that business in October, she said she had 30 documents in connection with the request.
A city investigation found there were not just 30 records. Ward was sus- pended for two weeks without pay and was back to work Wednesday.
Turner defended his press secretary. “The matter is closed,” he said. “It’s been looked at by legal, it’s been looked at by HR.” Turner said he even went “over and above the recommendation” that his staff gave him for Ward’s recommended sus- pension. He also said he would not be forwarding this
Houston, Texas Mayor Sylvester Turner has a tough few years, with flooding in his city after storms and a major hurricane. Now he is dealing with another storm inside the ranks. His press secretary has been sus- pended for using the city computer to transact per- sonal business.
issue to the Attorney General or the Harris County District Attorney, even though it ap- pears state law may have been violated.
Two city council members have also said publicly that Ward should have been fired.
Essence Ventures, an inde- pendent Black-owned com- pany, acquired Essence Communications on Wednes- day from Time Inc., making the iconic brand 100 percent Black owned and led by a Black female executive team with an ownership stake.
“We are excited to be able to return this culturally relevant and historically significant platform to ownership by the people and the consumers whom it serves and offer new opportunities for the women leading the business to also be partners in the business,” said Richelieu Dennis, founder
and chairperson of Essence Ventures.
Time announced in July that it was selling its majority stake in Essence. The Essence brand was not part of the historic, nearly $3 billion sale of Time Inc. to the Meredith Corp. in November 2017.
The brand was looking for another buyer and has appar- ently found one with Essence Ventures, which was founded and is chaired by Richelieu Dennis, who also is founder of SheaMoisture (in November, Unilever acquired the parent company for SheaMoisture, Sundial Brands).
“This acquisition of ESSENCE represents the be- ginning of an exciting transfor- mation of our iconic brand as it evolves to serve the needs and interests of multigenerational Black women around the world in an even more elevated and comprehensive way across print, digital, e-commerce and experiential platforms,” said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence.
Ebanks will continue to lead the company and will also join its board of directors. She is a member of the female ex- ecutive team with an owner- ship stake in the business.
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