As they struggle to rehire, owners are navigating whether to require, encourage or reward staff COVID vaccinations. Before implementing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees at his 15 Chicago restaurants, Fifty/50 Restaurant Group co-founder Scott Weiner did his due diligence. He consulted a lawyer, discussed the idea with his staff, and developed a policy around […]
equity
Posted inNews
Book Drive Promoting Equity and Boosting Local Bookstores
February is a short month so it’s only fair the Eureka branch of the NAACP is extending its Black History Month book drive through March 15. The drive, which aims to put books featuring Black and African-American history, arts, stories and illustrations into the hands of local K-12 students is a double-duty donation opportunity, asking […]
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What the Failure of Prop. 25 Means for Racial Justice in California
Proposition 25 would have made California the first state to end cash bail by allowing each county to use an algorithm to assess a person’s flight risk or likelihood of reoffending while awaiting trial. Supporters pitched the referendum as the Legislature’s best plan for advancing racial justice by upending a system that preys on communities […]
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Public Health Pledges Support for Latinx Community, Assures it Won’t Ask About Documentation Status
Humboldt County Public Health issued a statement of support for the local Latinx community — whic h has experienced a disproportionate impact form COVID-19 — and pledging that its contact investigators will not ask people about their “documentation status.” According to the statement, the Latinx community makes up about 12 percent of Humboldt County’s population […]
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Current, Former Staffers Call Out Dell’Arte on Equity
In an open letter to Dell’Arte International shared on social media titled “Collective Response to Dell’Arte International,” nine current and former staff members of the theater school call out what they say is a leadership that “cannot competently lead the organization in matters related to Equity.” The post says this has created “an unsafe environment […]
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‘People Over Profits’ Caravan in Eureka this Afternoon
A caravan of cars will circle through Eureka this evening, calling for society to put “people over profits.” “The coronavirus pandemic has clearly shown the flaws in our institutions,” reads a press release announcing the caravan. “It’s also showing how much we need each other and how powerful we can be when we stand together.” […]
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The Pandemic’s Great Divide: 12 Hours in an L.A. Restaurant
Edson Romero maneuvers his black Cadillac Escalade under the early afternoon sun onto Highway 101 in Los Angeles. Behind him is the Boyle Heights home he shares with three siblings. Up ahead is Echo Park, and the job he’s held since the recovery from the last economic crash, back in 2011. He’s dressed in his […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Privileged Protest
By now, just about everyone has seen the photograph. It’s of a brunette white woman standing on the Humboldt County Courthouse lawn with a smattering of American flags in the background. Her head is cocked to the right, sunglasses covering her eyes and a red bandana tied around her neck above a jean jacket. In […]
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Pandemic Steals Most from Immigrant Working Women
Early estimates indicate that the coronavirus pandemic has stolen jobs from non-citizen workers — including immigrants who have green cards, work visas or are undocumented — in California at higher rates than citizens. And women have suffered greater job loss than men. But it’s the Californians at that intersection, women who aren’t citizens, who have […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Interpreting Equity During a Pandemic
One of my first memories interacting with other children in our community is of having my older brother, Mauro, interpret for me as we were playing — he was attending school and picking up English much faster than I was. We would migrate back and forth from Mexico where my abuelita y abuelo (grandma and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Ridgeline Force is Strong
The Emerald Cup — essentially the World Series of California cannabis — was held this past weekend and Humboldt County represented. Hard. Local farms and manufacturers fared well in a variety of categories, from butane hash oil to pre-rolled joints. But nowhere was Humboldt’s dominance more evident than in the best sun-grown flower category, which […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Pot Full of Privilege
White privilege, please come get your boys. As the nation watched transfixed last week by news that federal prosecutors had charged at least 50 people in a brazen college admissions scandal in which rich parents allegedly paid millions to get their kids into universities like Yale and Stanford, young Malcolm Abbott strolled out of his […]