Decline of Labor Unions Support for labor
unions is eroding in a time many organized labor supporters say we
need it most. Two major California cities are rolling back pensions for
union members with little opposition and the ballot measure Proposition 32 has the power to undercut union
power -and some say membership- by banning labor organizations from
automatically deducting money for campaigns from their members'
paychecks. Plus, labor projections say the state's employment
rate is increasing while the number of workers represented by unions is
declining. We'll speak with UC Berkeley Senior Labor Policy Specialist John
Logan about the decline of labor unions and what that might
mean for the state.
Electoral Changes in California The debut of
two California electoral reforms resulted in more open seats and
more competition in races for the state legislature and Congress.
But with most candidates endorsed by the major parties and all
incumbents advancing to the fall election, the reforms have yet to
significantly shift the status quo, according to a study released today by the Public Policy
Institute of California (PPIC).
Fall Running It's marathon and 10k season for
thousands of amateur runners. Local Race Director Rich Hanna (Run To
Feed The Hungry, Urban Cow Half Marathon & more)
has teamed up with Sally Edwards for an iPhone training app Rich
created called "Upbeat Workouts". It's designed with a
training program to prep people for the October 7 Urban Cow half
Marathon in Sacramento.
Sound Advice: Theatre Capital Public Radio
arts contributor Jeff Hudson gives a little advice on which
plays, performances and musicians shouldn't be missed this theatre
season.
1. The Mondavi 10th anniversary celebration, which starts on
September 18 with Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples, and continues
with jazz bassist Christian McBride, the San Francisco Symphony
(doing Mahler 5) and more.
2. Three Stages is being renamed after retiring Los Rios
Community College District Chancellor Brice Harris. Three
Stages is very busy, at this point they are hosting more
actual performances than Mondavi, but since the main hall at
Three Stages is 800 seats, they will often have two performances by
a major artist, where Mondavi's Jackson Hall seats 1,600 to
1,800 people (depending on configuration) so it would be a single
performance there.
3. The Gallo Center in Modesto, which opened in Fall
2007. Unlike Mondavi and Three Stages, which are affilated
with academic institutions, Gallo is more of a civic auditorium,
and Gallo programs some mainstream pop acts that you probably won't
find on the Mondavi and Three Stages seasons.
4. The old State Theater in Auburn is being converted
into the Auburn Placer Performing Arts Center, The old State
Theatre opened in 1930 with 1,300 seats. The movie theater was
remodeled along the way and the balcony was removed, and the mai
hall was "twinned" into smaller auditoriums.