The Weekly Newspaper of Manhattan Beach Herald Publications - El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 Vol. 11, No. 1 January 5 2017 Inside This Issue Certified and Licensed Professionals...................8 Classifieds............................3 Entertainment......................8 Finance..................................2 Food.......................................5 Looking Up...........................6 Pets........................................7 Real Estate.................. 9 - 11 Seniors..................................6 Sports....................................3 Weekend Forecast New Year Baby New Year Means Changes for Hourly Workers, Drivers See New Year Changes, page 2 See New Cars , page 6 Friday, January 6 Mostly Sunny 62˚/52˚ Saturday, January 7 Cloudy 62˚/57˚ Sunday, January 8 Partly Cloudy 69˚/59˚ Zoe Leonie Stowischek, Daughter of Daniel & Lauren Stowischek; Granddaughter of Chuck & Linda Nicoli. Photo by Marcy Dugan By Rob McCarthy The state’s lowest-paid workers will get a raise on Sunday when the minimum wage moves to $10.50 per hour, and it won’t stop there. Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill in March making California the first state to commit to a $15 minimum wage. The first 50-cent jump kicks in on January 1 and affects businesses with 26 or more employees. Smaller businesses are being given additional time, though all businesses eventually will pay the same rate. The law calls for another 50-cent raise in 2018, followed by a $1 per hour jump annually until 2022. Once the minimum wage reaches $15 for small business, the rate will rise annually with inflation. The Governor has the power to suspend an annual increase if the state is projected to run a deficit or the economy sputters. Brown called the gradual increase in the minimum wage a “careful and responsible” approach that leaves the Governor flexibility to ease the burden on employers should the economy slow unexpectedly over the next five years. This is the third consecutive year that California has raised the minimum wage. It increased to $9 in 2015 and $10 this year. A full-time worker making minimum wage will earn $21,840 this year. The federal poverty level for a family of four is $24,300, and the federal minimum wage is $7.25--though a federally contracted worker in California would make the higher $10.50 per hour under the law. Along with the higher hourly rate, minimum wage earners are awarded paid sick days- -though that provision of the law won’t begin for another year. When the $15 hourly minimum takes effect sometime next decade, full-time workers will earn $31,200 per year and have three paid sick days. Filling the Retirement Gap Take-home pay isn’t the only employment issue for hourly workers in the state. An estimated seven million people don’t have a workplace retirement savings plan because their non-covered employers don’t offer one. A voluntary program for non-covered employers who want to save for retirement starts in 2017. The bill’s author, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, said he pushed for creation of the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust to provide retirees the same opportunity for financial security at retirement that millions of Californians enjoy as a job perk. “Nearly seven million of our workers, who help make California the sixth largest economy in the world do not have access to a retirement savings plan at their place of employment, and after a career of working tirelessly they are forced to retire into poverty when their bodies give out,” Leon said. Much like the minimum wage law, the retirement-saving program would be phased By Rob McCarthy We can’t hear you! That’s the message the federal government has sent to car companies that make electric and hybrid vehicles. Alternative fuel vehicles are so quiet when the motor’s running that 2,400 pedestrians a year are struck in crosswalks, streets and parking lots, according to estimates. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just added a sound requirement for new hybrid and electric light-duty vehicles. The safety standard, put in place to protect pedestrians who are blind or have low vision, will help prevent as many as 2,400 pedestrian injuries per year once all hybrids on U.S. roads are properly equipped. Protecting pedestrians is near the top of the agency’s to-do list now that vehicular deaths are on the rise, ending a 50-year decline in the nation. Drivers are more distracted than ever, and cell phones and mobile devices are getting most of the blame. in to give smaller employers more time to set up automatic payroll deductions for employees who choose to participate. Businesses with 100 employees have 12 months after the plan opens enrollment to create a payroll-deposit system for non-covered employees. The minimum contribution level is three percent of wages in the Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust, and like employersponsored plans the participants can have more deducted as their incomes rise and they approach retirement age. There is no liability to employers or the state, and the monies in the plan will be invested for long-term growth in a diversified, managed portfolio. Nearly 50 percent of middle-income workers are at risk of entering poverty when they retire, according to statistics. The Undetectable New Cars Told to Make Some Noise Pedestrians play a role in traffic safety, and it just makes sense they should be looking out for danger instead of at their phones. “This is a common-sense tool to help pedestrians — especially folks who are blind or have low vision — make their way safely,” said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind. “With pedestrian fatalities on the rise, it is vitally important we take every action to protect the most vulnerable road users.” Under the new rule, all hybrid and electric passenger vehicles will be required to make audible noise when they’re moving at speeds below 20 mph, either forward or in reverse. The government says tire and wind noise would drown out the engine’s sound at higher speeds. Carmakers may choose to install external speakers in the front grill. When an electric or hybrid is in motion, a recording of a car engine would begin to play. The lack of
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