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TheAssociatedPress SACRAMENTO Afactionof California's largest union began submitting signa- tures Tuesday for a bal- lot initiative asking voters to raise California's mini- mum wage to $15 per hour by 2021, one of two compet- ing proposals vying for the November ballot. Lt. Gov. Gavin New- som joined SEIU's United Healthcare Workers West in San Francisco as union officials turned in signa- tures. The group said it has collected 600,000 names, far more than the nearly 366,000 required to qual- ify an initiative this year. The initiative, the latest in a nationwide effort by unions and other groups to raise the wage, would raise the state's minimum wage by $1 a year starting in 2017 until it hits $15 in 2021. Af- ter that, increases would be automatically tied to the cost of living. The cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Oak- land and Berkeley have ap- proved phased-in increases to eventually take their min- imum wage to $15 an hour. The state council of SEIU also is collecting signatures for a competing minimum- wage initiative that would bring it to $15 by 2020, a year earlier, and provide six paid sick days annually. The union has pledged to spend $20 million to $30 million on a statewide campaign. Lawmakers are also con- sidering whether to attempt to pass a minimum-wage increase through the Leg- islature. Gov. Jerry Brown, a Dem- ocrat, cautioned support- ers during his budget an- nouncement earlier this month that increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour would cost the state general fund about $4 bil- lion a year. The SEIU state council has said it hopes both mea- sures can eventually merge to avoid voter confusion and present a unified cam- paign. BALLOT INITIATIVE MICHAELMACOR—SANFRANCISCOCHRONICLEVIAAP California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom addresses supporters with Mayor Ed Lee, right, in front of boxes filled with more than 600,000voter signatures set for delivery to the San Francisco Department of Elections to qualify the Fair Wage Act of 2016on the ballot, at City Hall on Tuesday. Union submits signatures for $15 California minimum wage By Felicia Fonseca The Associated Press FLAGSTAFF,ARIZ. Winslow, Arizona, was all but forgot- ten when Interstate 40 dis- placed Route 66 and began whisking travelers around its downtown in the late 1970s. But it still had one thing going for it: Everybody wanted to stand on a corner in the small city after hear- ing Glenn Frey and the Ea- gles make it sound so cool in "Take It Easy." Locals capitalized on the lyrics with an annual festi- val and park featuring a statue and mural commem- orating the 1972 song. Frey died Monday at 67. Winslow residents were planning a memorial ser- vice Tuesday night that will feature Eagles songs and likely dancing in the street. "All are on the same page of being grateful for the mu- sic," said Tom McCauley, part of a foundation that or- ganizes the annual Standin' on the Corner Festival. "The Eagles is one of the great- est rock and roll bands, and Glenn Frey is certainly one of the most iconic perform- ers ever." Fans have been leaving flowers and notes at the park to celebrate the life of Frey, who co-wrote and sang "Take It Easy." The nearby bronze statue of a man with boots, jeans and a guitar has stood downtown since the late 1990s. In front of it is a Route 66 shield painted on the road and behind him is a mural with a woman look- ing in his direction — a vi- sual reference to the lines in the song: "Well, I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me." Tyler Blom of Duluth, Minnesota, was on his way to Las Vegas with a friend when they decided to de- tour to Winslow to pay their respects. "If you don't know that song, you gotta get your pulse checked," said Blom, 27. "If you don't like that song, it's an 'I don't know if I can be friends with you,' kind of thing." GLENN FREY DEATH City made famous by Eagles song celebrates Frey TOM MCCAULEY VIA AP This corner in Winslow, Arizona, was made famous by the 1972Eagles' song "Take it Easy." By Jacobo Garcia The Associated Press IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHWEST COLOMBIA The rebel leader known as Juan Pablo carries with him a new telescopic assault rifle and a heavy heart. As a commander of the 36th Front of the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, one of the most active units in a half-century of blood- shed, the paunch-bel- lied warrior has spent 25 years plotting ambushes and assembling land mines but has never been to the movies, driven a car or eaten in a restau- rant. Now peace is within reach as talks between the guerrillas and the government near conclu- sion in Cuba, and for the first time the 41-year-old is thinking about a future outside this jungle hide- out. His dream: to re- turn to the poor village he left as a teenager and run for mayor. But tran- sition to civilian life will come without his girl- friend and comrade-in- arms who was killed six months ago in an army raid, underscoring the toll still being exacted by Latin America's last ma- jor guerrilla conflict even as it winds down. "This war is going to end without victors or vanquished but lots of suffering on both sides," said Juan Pablo, the soft- smiling son of a street vendor. "It's false to say we arrived defeated to the negotiating table. They dealt us some heavy blows, of course, but 51 years of war against an enemy backed by the most powerful army in the world (the U.S. army) has not made us cower, because the injustices that led us to take up arms are still occurring." That mixture of pride and trepidation about the future is common among the FARC's roughly 7,000 fighters, many of whom, like Juan Pablo, come from poor rural upbring- ings and struggle to imagine life outside the highly regimented ranks of the guerrillas. The Associated Press made a rare, three-day visit to a secret FARC camp in Antioquia state in early January to see how the region's oldest leftist insurgency is pre- paring for a peace that looks more tantalizingly close than ever. AP jour- nalists were directed to a remote meeting point and then escorted on an hours-long trek to the jungle site. The FARC in- sisted that the camp's lo- cation not be revealed to protect the lives of its fighters. Decades of fighting be- tween guerrillas, right- wing paramilitaries and the armed forces has, ac- cording to government figures, left a toll of more than 220,000 dead, some 40,000 disappeared and over 5 million driven from their homes — the largest displaced popula- tion of any country after Syria. But after President Juan Manuel Santos trav- eled to Cuba in Septem- ber and shook the hand of the FARC's top com- mander, both sides feel confident enough to pre- dict a final deal as early as March. On Tuesday, both sides announced from Cuba that they would request the United Nations pre- pare a 12-month mission made up of unarmed Latin American observ- ers to monitor adherence to an eventual ceasefire and rebel disarmament. If peace deal arrives, this generation of FARC guerrillas would be the first to abandon its stated aim of overthrowing the government and instead fight for their ideals at the ballot box. At the makeshift camp that was temporarily home to 22 rank-and-file fighters, four command- ers and two dogs, the day starts at around 4:30 a.m. With the moon still hanging on the horizon, the jungle comes to life to the sound of metal pots clanging as breakfast is prepared, rain falling on giant fronds and rubber boots sloshing through the mud. Thanks to a unilateral FARC cease-fire, it has been months since gun- shots rang out in this re- mote corner of the Andes where the rebels share the dense forest with ven- omous snakes, 20 kinds of exotic frogs and South America's only bear spe- cies. Still, the rebels show no sign of letting down their guard af- ter a decade-old govern- ment offensive that more than halved their troop strength. SOUTH AMERICA RODRIGO ABD — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Juliana, a 20-year-old rebel fighter for the 36th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rests from a trek in the northwest Andes of Colombia, in Antioquia state. Deep in Colombian jungle, peace looms at rebel hideout Get thesteak you'veb eam gab t GAMING•DINING•LODGING GOLF•EVENTCENTER•EQUESTRIAN (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St. Red Bluff $ 25 .00 No Enrollment Fee New Year Special month Fresh coverage 5 days Tuesday,January26 Wednesday, January 27 Thursday, January 28 Friday, January 29 & Saturday, January 30 ContactyourAdvertisingRepresentativetoday published only in the Deadline for 5x Flights: Friday, January 22 at 10AM Bull&GeldingSale Gayla Eckels: (530) 737-5044 geckels@redbluffdailynews.com Suzy Noble: (530) 737-5056 snoble@redbluffdailynews.com CUSTOM DAILY EDITIONS | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 8 A