July 31, 2014

St. Louis County to investigate Sunset Hills mayor's role in cycling crash

SUNSET HILLS, Mo. (AP) -- The criminal investigation of a small-town Missouri mayor accused of purposely striking a bicyclist with his car has been turned over to an outside law enforcement agency.

Sunset Hills Police Chief William LaGrand said Thursday that St. Louis County police will now handle the inquiry. Cyclist Randy Murdick of Fenton says he was nearing the end of a 40-mile ride Tuesday afternoon when Mayor Mark Furrer used an expletive while yelling at him to get off the road and then swerved his red Mercedes into the high-performance racing bike.

Murdick says his Achilles tendon was ruptured and his $12,000 bike damaged extensively. Furrer says he didn't hit Murdick but that the cyclist grabbed onto his car before falling.

Murdick and other local cyclists say they regularly encounter hostile drivers.
Authorities told News 4 the transfer of the investigation from one department to another means witnesses who spoke to Sunset Hills police will have to be interviewed again.

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/County-to-investigate-Sunset-Hills-mayors-role-in-cycling-crash-269445531.html

July 31, 2014

Man accused of inserting needles into meat at Belleville grocery store

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Man-charged-with-inserting-needles-into-meat-at-Belleville-grocery-store-269431541.html

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (KMOV) – A Belleville man has been charged with putting needles into packaged meat at a Shop n’ Save on N. Belt West Road.
Ronald G. Avers, 68, has been charged with seven violations of the Product Packaging Protection Act of 2002, according to a news release.

On July 9, the store reported needles were found seven different times at their location on N. Belt West Road from May 2013 to July 2014.

Shop n’ Save conducted an investigation and reported their findings to the Federal Bureau of Investigation which led to the arrest of Avers.

The news release sites customer complaints including one woman who found a needle while eating.

July 29, 2014

August 5th Primary Election

A reminder that we have a primary election in just one week. On this ballot will be several proposed amendments to the state constitution and local issues depending upon your municipality or taxing districts. I encourage all to take time, be informed and most importantly go to vote next Tuesday.


Democracy belongs to those who show up.

July 28, 2014

Ballotopedia

Came across this site when researching some Missouri State Ballot issues for our upcoming August 5th election. Don't know if others have seen it or might find it useful, but I did in the case of a couple of proposed amendments to our state constitution.

http://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page

July 22, 2014

Hazards in the Retail Workplace

This guide was created to help make the legal language of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) easier to understand.

We hope the combination of the OSHA standards with photos of hazards will help you spot and eliminate dangerous situations. We invite you to read on and be alert for these hazards in your own workplace. Contact your Union Representative with questions or concerns.

http://safetyandhealth.ufcw.org/hazards-in-the-retail-workplace/

July 22, 2014

Student Pallbearers Serve the Underprivileged

School is out for the summer, and may students are spending their with friends or working a summer job. But some students at the Cleveland, Ohio-based high school St. Ignatius are also spending time doing an unlikely act of service.

More than 400 juniors and seniors at this all-male Catholic school volunteer in the Saint Joseph of Arimathea Ministry, a student organization that leads funerals for deceased people who were homeless, financially insecure, or simply didn’t have anyone to give them a dignified burial.

Over the past 12 years, the Pallbearers Ministry has led hundreds of funerals. Burying the dead, these students learn that every person is worthy of dignity and care, a lesson that makes them more conscious of how they treat the living.

http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/student-pallbearers-serve-underprivileged/?utm_content=buffer31b3a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

July 10, 2014

Kroger to accelerate sustainability efforts

Kroger Co. said it intends to accelerate its efforts to achieve greater sustainability by 2020, even as it noted its success in achieving or exceeding many of the sustainability goals it set for 2015.

“We intend to push faster and more accelerated improvements across all areas of our business,” Rodney McMullen, chairman and CEO of the Cincinnati-based chain, said. “Our annual sustainability report contains quantifiable evidence of the progress we are making.”

According to the chain’s eighth annual sustainability report issued Wednesday, Kroger’s immediate goals include establishing its first-ever water conservation targets for its stores, moving the store base to “zero waste” and attempting to source 100% certified sustainable palm oil for its manufacturing facilities.

Kroger said it is committed to reducing water consumption at its stores by 5% this year, following a reduction in water usage at its manufacturing plants last year of 61 million gallons.


Read More: http://supermarketnews.com/sustainability/kroger-accelerate-sustainability-efforts#ixzz373ZnFf1i

July 9, 2014

Judge puts ‘theft’ of Illinois pensions on hold

Judge says lawsuits challenging the law must be decided

By CARL GREEN

Illinois Correspondent

Springfield IL – Illinois’ ever-contentious public employees pension issue now sits in a Sangamon County courtroom in the form of five lawsuits challenging the law passed late last year that would reduce future cost-of-living increases for the retirees.

The law was to go into effect June 1, but Sangamon County Judge John Belz put it on a shelf in May until its legal status can be determined. That could take until next year.

Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan issued a statement on behalf of the We Are One Coalition, which opposes the law: “This is an important first step in our efforts to overturn this unfair, unconstitutional law and to protect retirement security for working and retired Illinois families.

http://labortribune.com/theft-of-illinois-pensions-put-on-hold/

July 9, 2014

Editorial There's family value in paid parental leave

For a country that so often extols family values, the United States makes it awfully hard for Americans to care for their children. In Britain, Sweden and Norway, parents are granted about a year of paid parental leave to tend to their newborns during that particularly crucial and difficult period. In the U.S., on the other hand, federal law guarantees workers a mere 12 weeks of parental leave without pay.

In fact, the U.S. is the last remaining industrialized nation to offer only unpaid parental leave to workers. And even this overstates its generosity. The federal government deems workers eligible for unpaid parental leave only if they have been with their employer for at least 12 months, if their employer has at least 50 employees, and if they worked at least 1,250 hours during that yearlong period. Given these and other restrictions, only about 60% of private sector workers are covered. Things are even worse for low-income and minority parents, who are far more likely to be denied coverage because of the restrictions.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-paternity-20140707-story.html

July 9, 2014

Suit says Maine blueberry industry exploited labor

http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Suit-says-Maine-blueberry-industry-exploited-labor-5604557.php

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A federal lawsuit claims a farm labor recruiter, two employers and multiple housing providers committed more than 250 violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act during the 2008 Maine blueberry harvest.

The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1mBk1u5 ) reports Monday that Pine Tree Legal Assistance filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court on behalf of 18 workers. The lawsuit says the workers were recruited in Maine based on false promises of good wages. It also says the transportation and housing provided to the workers did not meet federal requirements.

An attorney for Coastal Blueberry Service Inc. of Ellsworth and Hancock Foods of Hancock says the companies "firmly deny having engaged in violations."

The 18 workers are all U.S. citizens born in Haiti or Haitians who are legal permanent residents.