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"Wereferclientstomed- ical experts and counsel- ing experts in Red Bluff, Chico and Redding," she said. Osborne is enjoy- ing the new office. The new office now has a wait- ing room and a conference room. "It's amazing and so welcoming," Osborne said. "Veterans have pri- vacy and veterans orga- nizations can now use are conference room." The Tehama County Vet- erans Collaborative helped sponsor the new office and plan the open house, said Candy Carlson, a member of the collaborative and a Tehama County supervi- sor. The program Tehama Together has been a spon- sor for Home Again K-9s for Veterans, which pro- vides dogs and training to returning veterans, and the Veterans Collaborative. Each helped with the open- ing of the new veterans of- fice location, said Carlson, who is also a board mem- ber of Tehama Together. President of the Tehama County Veterans Collabor- ative John Minton said he works with Osborne with whatever veterans may need. "She is the driving force for all this," Minton said. "She's a veteran and she understands veterans." The collaborative and Osborne are collaborat- ing on a project with The Home Depot to build a ramp for a veteran who resides in the Bend area. At the open house was Kony, a K-9 who assists vet- erans in the Home Again K-9s for Veteran program. This program is set up to help veterans who need as- sistance. There are 11 vet- erans in the program with a dog trainer for each vet- eran's dog. The program plans to expand and is ac- cepting new veterans who want to sign up. In addition to the new location the veterans of- fice will be implementing a new identification pro- gram that will set up hon- orably discharged veterans in the area with IDs that will give them discounts at various Tehama County businesses. "This is a great way to honor the veterans," Osborne, said. House FROMPAGE1 CHIPTHOMPSON—DAILYNEWS CampersandcounselorspreparetodepartWednesdaymorningfortheannualKiwanisCamp,whichrunsthrough Sunday at Camp Tehama in Mill Creek. About 100 youth registered as campers for the free camp, which includes archery, tubing, water balloon volleyball, fishing, disc golf, tie-dye T-shirts and a hike to Bumpass Hell in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Other activities include nightly campfires, cabin decorating and a Friday night dance. The camp is staffed by Kiwanis members and local high school students serve as counselors. KIWANIS 10 0 HEA D OF F TO C AM P By Lisa Leff and David Klepper TheAssociatedPress SAN FRANCISCO The push for a higher minimum wage gained momentum on both sides of the coun- try Wednesday, with New York embracing an eventual $15 an hour for the state's 150,000 fast-food workers and the huge University of California system announc- ing the same raise for its employees. "How we support our workers and their families impacts Californians who might never set foot on one of our campuses," said UC President Janet Napolitano, who oversees 10 campuses, including UCLA and Berke- ley. "It's the right thing to do." The University of Cali- fornia becomes the nation's largest public university to embrace the $15-an-hour wage that has become the rallying cry of many labor groups. So far, Los Angeles, Se- attle, San Francisco, Oak- land and Berkeley have ap- proved phased-in increases that eventually will take their minimum wage to $15 an hour, or about $31,200 for a full-time job. On Tues- day, Los Angeles County, the nation's most popu- lous county, voted to craft a law to do the same over five years. In New York, the state Wage Board endorsed a proposal to set a $15 min- imum wage for workers at fast-food restaurants with 30 or more locations. The increase would be phased in over three years in New York City and over six years elsewhere. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration has the fi- nal say, and Cuomo has signaled his support. New York would become the first state to take such a step for a specific industry. The state minimum wage is now $8.75 and is set to rise to $9 at year's end. Many workers say the increase would allow them to cope with the high cost of living, though restau- rant owners say it will lead to higher prices and fewer jobs. At the University of Cal- ifornia, UC's hourly wage earners — a group that in- cludes students and full- time employees working in dining halls, dorms and bookstores or as gar- deners, housekeepers and custodians at campuses and hospitals — currently make the state minimum of $9 an hour. Napolitano said she will boost that to $13 in Octo- ber for employees who work at least 20 hours a week and will raise it some more in stages to $15 by the fall of 2017. UC has nearly 240,000 students and is California's third-largest employer, with a staff of 195,000. About 3,200 UC employ- ees and a much larger but undetermined number of people employed by out- side contractors will re- ceive the higher wage, UC said. "I just thought it was important for a public uni- versity to plant the flag here for low-wage workers and a more livable wage," said Napolitano, who was President Barack Obama's homeland security secre- tary before she assumed leadership of the univer- sity nearly two years ago. Napolitano's plan does not need approval from the university's governing Board of Regents. The higher minimum- wage argument has gained traction amid concerns over the shrinking middle class and rising income in- equality. Supporters argue a higher wage floor will help lift the working poor into the middle class. Op- ponents warn businesses will have to raise prices, shed jobs or cut employ- ees' hours. Sixteen states have passed laws barring local governments from setting their own minimum wage. Democrats, including presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, have said they support a higher federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour. Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled to promote a higher minimum wage dur- ing a stop Wednesday at a washroom equipment man- ufacturer in Los Angeles. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, announced early this year that it is raising wages for a half-million employees to at least $10 an hour by next February. Other public university systems around the country, including those in Washing- ton state, Indiana and Ten- nessee, have adopted min- imum wages higher than those set under state or federal law. But none have committed themselves to going as high as California. University of California officials estimated that the raises for workers directly employed by UC will cost $14 million a year, a frac- tion of the system's $12.6 billion annual payroll. UC said it also predicts contrac- tors will pass some of the cost of higher wages onto the university. The Republican leader of the California Assembly criticized the university's plan to extend the higher wage to outside contractors. "The university should be teaching engineering, not spending student dollars to practice social engineering by limiting who campuses can do businesses with," As- semblywoman Kristen Ol- sen said. Todd Stenhouse, a spokesman for the union that represents UC's ser- vice workers, offered muted praise for Napolitano's an- nouncement. He complained that the university has been out- sourcing jobs to private companies with less ro- bust job protections. "While it is a baby step in the right direction, it still leaves a permanent un- derclass of contract work- ers, and a first-class insti- tution should not treat any of its workers as second- class," he said. Klepper reported from Albany, N.Y. UPWARD MOMENTUM Hi gh er m in im um -w ag e pr op osa ls gain ground on west and east coasts MARY ALTAFFER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a rally a er the New York Wage Board endorsed a proposal to set a $15 minimum wage for workers at fast-food restaurants with 30or more locations on Wednesday in New York. By Christopher Weber The Associated Press LOS ANGELES Special Olympics competitors ar- riving in Southern Califor- nia were greeted by a logis- tics mess that forced many to sleep on a gymnasium floor before they were fi- nally shuttled to their host cities on Wednesday. At least 1,500 athletes and coaches spent the night at Loyola Mary- mount University in Los Angeles after flights and buses arrived late on Tuesday, Special Olympics spokesman Rich Perelman said. By midday Wednesday, the athletes from Norway, Mexico, Venezuela, Kenya, the Cayman Islands and other countries were on their way to their host cit- ies. That was just in time to clear the campus for the arrival of thousands more scheduled to show up Wednesday afternoon. "It really wasn't bad," Collins Marigiri, the Ke- nyan team's swim coach, said as he and his athletes boarded a bus for their host city of Bakersfield. He added with a smile that it was his and his team's first trip to the United States, so even getting stuck over- night in a college gymna- sium was a new and inter- esting experience for them. "The athletes didn't have any problems," Mari- giri said. "They had food. They had water. They had a place to sleep. There were no medical issues." The Red Cross provided blankets and water. The university near Los Angeles International Air- port is serving as a staging area from which more than 7,000 athletes and thou- sands more coaches and delegates are being routed to host cities, from San Di- ego to San Luis Obispo. They will be housed there until the games' opening ceremonies on Saturday. Problems began when some international flights were delayed Saturday and buses assigned to meet them began stacking up. Some minor construc- tion near the airport that caused traffic delays didn't help. "Flights arrived late and buses got backed up. The process just got so elon- gated that the decision was made to keep them here until morning," Perel- man said. Some athletes had to spend a few hours at the airport waiting for their connection to the welcome center. But overall, the ar- rival process was orderly and uneventful, said air- port police Officer Rob Pe- dregon. While some of those stranded were tired after their long trips, the major- ity made the most of the circumstances, Perelman said, playing board games and making friends with fellow athletes from other countries. Some took part in sing-alongs and at one point formed a conga line. "Everyone was very happy when breakfast ar- rived at 6:30 a.m.," Perel- man said. "That was the highlight." Competitors from more than 160 countries are coming to Los Angeles this week to take part in 25 sports at venues across the city. Athletes ages 8 to 71 will compete in soccer, basketball, volleyball, ten- nis, track, roller skating and other sports over nine days. First Lady Michelle Obama will open the event Saturday at the Los Ange- les Memorial Coliseum, site of the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics. ESPN is broadcasting the opening ceremony live. Associated Press Writer John Rogers contributed to this story. LATE ARRIVALS Some Special Olympics athletes forced to sleep on gymnasium floor R ed Bluff Simple Cremations and Burial Service FD1931 527-1732 Burials - Monuments - Preneed 722 Oak Street, Red Bluff Combining Quality and Low Cost is what we do. www.affordablemortuary.net•529-3655 FD1538 LocatedinChico,CA THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM |NEWS | 5 A