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“Untitled,” 35mm photo by Sarah Abramson See page 11
Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and the City of Signal Hill
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VOL. 37 NO. 2
June 12, 2015
While some care for new paid sick leave law, others see it as ill fit
Cory Bilicko
Managing Editor
California employees, including part-timers and temp workers, soon won’t have to worry about getting a smaller paycheck or putting their job in jeopardy after missing work because of an illness. The right to accrue and use sick leave under AB 1522, the Healthy Workplace-Healthy Family Act of 2014, will take effect July 1, meaning that an employee who, on or after that date, works in the state for 30 or more days within a year from the beginning of employment, is entitled to paid sick leave. Employees, including part-time and temporary workers, will earn at least one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. The accrual will start on the first day of employment or July 1, 2015, whichever is later. In other words, a California employee qualifies for paid sick leave by working for an employer on or after Jan. 1, 2015, for at least 30 days within a year. The employee must also satisfy a 90-day employment period. There are some exceptions, however. Workers covered by qualifying collective-bargaining agreements, in-home supportive-services providers and certain employees of air carriers are not covered by AB 1522, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations. (Those employed by an air carrier as a flightdeck or cabin-crew member, if they receive compensated time off at least equivalent to the requirements of the new law, are exempt.) Also, an employer may limit the amount of paid sick leave an employee can use in one year to 24 hours or three days. Accrued paid sick leave may be transferred to the following year, but it may be limited to 48 hours or six days. Employees may: use accrued paid sick days beginning on the 90th day of employment; request paid sick days in writing or verbally; and take paid leave for his or her own or a family member’s diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition or preventive care or for specified purposes for an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. Additionally, a worker cannot be required to find a replacement as a stipulation for using paid sick days. To be in compliance with the new law, employers are required to: display the Cory Bilicko/Signal Tribune poster on paid sick leave where employees can easily read it; provide written notice Employees who, on or after July 1, work in California for 30 or more days within a year from the beginning of employment to employees with sick-leave rights at the time of hire; provide for accrual of one will be entitled to paid sick leave. Workers, including part-time and temporary employees, will earn at least one hour of see SICK page 15 paid leave for every 30 hours they work.
New management of The Breakers undeterred by building owner’s lawsuit
Atlantic Avenue shut down for seven hours as residents roam freely Cory Bilicko
CJ Dablo
Managing Editor
Staff Writer
H
Soon after state authorities ended The Breakers’s time as an assisted-living community for seniors, a new company announced plans to transform the building’s residential quarters into apartments at the historic site. The Breakers is still living in the shadow of its previous life. Now considered a historical landmark, the building on Ocean Boulevard has had many chapters, but the latest one ended bitterly after state authorities revoked the license for The Breakers to operate as an assisted-living facility. Enough complaints lodged against The Breakers and its administrator prompted the California Department of Social Services to investigate serious allegations of “failure to provide basic care.” The department noted instances in which staff did not provide sufficient follow-up for the medical needs of a few residents and also reported that, from 2011 through 2014, the facility, on several occasions, did not provide a clean, sanitary environment. The department noted the presence of mice and roaches. The complaints against The Breakers proved serious enough to draw legal action, including a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of the residents. The firm Garcia, Artigliere & Medby announced the suit in a press release, noting that it will represent 100 residents.
undreds of people were running loose in three council districts on one of Long Beach’s busiest streets last Saturday. Teenagers on skateboarders were zooming around as if they owned the road, all while loud music blasting from speakers on almost every block egged them on. And it was all sanctioned by the City of Long Beach. For the June 6 Beach Streets– the city’s first open-road event for pedestrians, bicyclists and skaters– officials shut down Atlantic Avenue to vehicular traffic so that those not behind the wheel could roam freely on a street that usually sees thousands of cars coming and going to access the 405 Freeway as well as various stores, restaurants and neighborhoods. From 9am to 4pm, the usually busy street was closed to cars from Wardlow Road all the way to Houghton Park at Harding Avenue, stretching from the 7th council district in the south to the 9th in the north. “I am proud to have played host to the inaugural Open Streets event in Long Beach,” said 7th District Councilmember Roberto Uranga. “From Bixby Knolls to north Long Beach, attendees were afforded the opportunity to explore and enjoy the diverse businesses and entertain-
see BREAKERS page 10
Up until two weeks ago, The Breakers of Long Beach had been an assisted-living facility for seniors. Solid Landings hopes to transform the building into modern apartments at a market-rate price.
File Photo
Weekly Weather Forecast
KEEP CALM and
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Low clouds then sun
Clouds and sun
Clouds then sun
Low clouds then sun
Mostly sunny & pleasant
Lo 62°
Lo 62°
Lo 63°
76°
Lo 64°
SEE OUR AD ON PAGE 9!
June 12 through June 16, 2015
76°
Lo 64°
77°
78°
78°
This week’s weather forecast sponsored by:
Bixby Knolls Detail Center & Car Wash 577 E. Wardlow Rd. @ Atlantic Ave. (562) 595-6666
see ATLANTIC page 14