Vardith L. Fox, M.D., Best Mom Ever, November 9, 1928 – June 10, 2015
Equal rights, Worker advocacy
36 Great Things Labor Unions Have Done for Americans – Happy Labor Day
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In areas where a high number of workers belong to labor unions, the number of people in the middle class increases. In places like Mesa County where there are few and weak unions, wages stay low and more people live in poverty.
Re-posting in honor of Labor Day, 2022. Join a union. Unions have achieved great things for workers, and there’s much more strength in numbers:
Did you know that labor unions made the following 36 things possible?
- Weekends off work
- All of your breaks at work, including your lunch breaks
- Paid vacation
- Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Sick leave
- Social Security
- Minimum wage
- Civil Rights Act, Title VII, which prohibits employer discrimination
- 8-hour work day
- Overtime pay
- Child labor laws
- Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
- The 40-hour work week
- Workers’ compensation (workers’ comp)
- Unemployment insurance
- Pensions
- Workplace safety standards and regulations
- Employer health care insurance
- Collective bargaining rights for employees
- Wrongful termination laws
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
- Whistleblower protection laws
- Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA), which prohibits employers from using a lie detector test on an employee
- Veteran’s Employment and Training Services (VETS)
- Compensation increases and evaluations (raises)
- Sexual harassment laws
- Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
- Holiday pay
- Employer dental, life, and vision insurance
- Privacy rights
- Pregnancy and parental leave
- Military leave
- The right to strike
- Public education for children
- Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011, which require employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work
- Laws ending sweatshops in the United States
Environment, Ethics, Pollution
The Grand Mesa Jeep Club Cleans Up North Desert!
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The Grand Mesa Jeep Club cleans up Grand Junction’s North Desert
Members of the Grand Mesa Jeep Club (GMJC), a collection of local four-wheel-drive and off-road enthusiasts, turned out to clean up the trash-ridden North Desert area on Sunday, June 7. The group met at 9:00 a.m. at a large dumpster out in the desert just off 27 1/4 Road and spent the morning picking up trash, electronic waste, old refrigerators, bottles, cans, tires computers, TVs and other garbage littering the off-road area. The cleanup event was not posted on their website‘s calendar or mentioned in the “Events” listing on their website, but was posted on their Facebook page a few hours before the cleanup was to take place.
The GMJC encourages its members and non-members to recreate responsibly and use public lands ethically. It encourages off-roaders to stay on existing trails, and be courteous to non-motorized users of the desert. The GMJC even has a program called “Stay the Trail” that coordinates volunteers to help with projects like cleanups and rehabbing public lands. The “Stay the Trail” project also educates off-roaders about etiquette, for example discouraging unnecessarily loud vehicles and telling users how they can make their loud vehicles quieter without losing any speed or power.
A big “thanks” to the GMJC for cleaning up the North Desert. We’ve already noticed a lot less trash in the last few weeks, too, and you’re really making a big difference.
Education, Ethnic/Minority, LGBT issues, Pop culture, Women
Culture Shift: Drag Queens Come to Grand Junction
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The CD’s Drag, Grand Junction’s first professional drag queen troupe
While Caitlyn Jenner has been grabbing all the headlines, it’s been almost overlooked that Grand Junction has been experiencing some gender-bending of its own.
Grand Junction now has its first professional drag queen troupe, The CD’s Drag and Jewell Case, LLC. The troupe is another indication of a slow but steady culture shift going on in this formerly conservative area of Colorado, and for that reason alone it’s surely something significant enough to talk about.
The troupe currently has five members, although usually only two or three perform at any given time. The group’s founders and lead performers are Coco Jem Holiday and Donatella Mysecrets De’Ore, and the supporting members are Livvi Dior, Onyx Reign and Delilah Delight. With a total of five entertainers now in their “Jewell Case,” the CDs have enough so they can have coverage in the event that some can’t make it to a gig.
Uncategorized
Helping Cook the Toffee
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A couple attending the downtown G.J. Art, Music and Bike festival stop to help an outsized Mr. Enstrom and his assistant prepare some fresh toffee. They may not know that Doug Simons, the current owner of Enstrom Candies, served for 8 years on the Grand Junction Regional Airport Authority Board (twice as chair) during the time the FBI raided the Airport Authority offices looking for evidence of fraud.
Uncategorized
Splash Pad in Jail
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The City of Grand Junction has done its best to lock people out of the formerly well-loved Splash Pad, an interactive fountain originally constructed for people to play in downtown on warm spring and summer days. The splash pad proved too popular, however, leading to problems of overcrowding and bacteria-filled water. So the City shut it down in July of 2014, and directed people to the splash pad at the Lincoln Park Pool, which is free.
Pop culture
How Bike Cops Lock Their Bikes
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Democracy, Ethnic/Minority, Fake patriotism, Hate, politics, Pop culture, Propaganda, Stupid Republicans
Welcome to Mesa County, Colorado
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Environment, Pollution
Dumping in the Highline Canal
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Democracy, Equal rights, Human rights, LGBT issues, Pop culture, Women
G.J.’s 3rd Annual Gay Pride Parade Bigger and Better Than Ever
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ONE BIG PARTY — Grand Junction’s 3rd Annual Gay Pride Parade, Sunday, May 17, 2015
Grand Junction’s Third Annual Colorado West Pride Parade was more impressive than ever this year, with more sponsors and floats than in previous years, and a bigger crowd of spectators on Main Street. The weather was perfect for the event, with a temperature in the 70s, intermittent cloud cover, just a faint breeze and no rain.