Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/726387
ByDonThompson The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Faced with a shrinking pool of inmates to help fight major wild- fires, California is increas- ingly turning for new re- cruits to its state Conser- vation Corps, a program with roots in the Great De- pression and a motto that promises "hard work, low pay, miserable conditions ... and more!" Prisoners last year made up about 20 percent of Cal- ifornia fire crews on several major blazes, where they used chain saws and hand tools to chew through tin- der-dry brush and trees to stop the flames. But the number of avail- able inmates is declining because counties now over- see most lower-level felons under a law aimed at eas- ing prison overcrowding. In addition, there are fewer in- centives for inmates to risk their lives since a federal court broadened an early release program for fire- fighters to include other inmates. The state is about 600 inmates short of the 4,300 prisoners who could be available for fire lines. So thisyear,theCaliforniaCon- servation Corps reopened a camp to train three crews of young civilians to do the same backbreaking work as the inmates. Corps Director Bruce Saito expects to cre- ate at least four more fire crews with roughly 15 mem- bers each by next summer and a half-dozen new crews during each of the next two years. The corps has more than 1,400 members, but fewer than 200 currently work alongside local, state and federal firefighters battling blazes in rural areas. The members include both men and women and range in age from 18 to 25. They enlist for one year and earn the state's minimum wage of $10 an hour. Mili- tary veterans can enroll un- til they turn 30. Several recruits said they were drawn by the chance to work outdoors, to make a difference as they decide what to do next with their lives and to improve their chances of landing perma- nent jobs as wildland fire- fighters. "You're kind of like sac- rificing a lot to gain expe- rience and get ahead in life," said 21-year-old Jacint Duenez of Camarillo. Participants said the pro- gram lives up to its motto. They recalled tense hours trying to stay ahead of a fire that burned more than 72 square miles (116 kilome- ters) on California's cen- tral coast and threatened the historic Hearst Castle. They hiked past "maybe a 100-foot wall of flames — you could feel the heat com- ing off of it," said Bobby Fal- agai, 23, of Oroville. Then they helped other firefight- ers save a home and out- buildings. "You could barely see. You could barely breathe. Your eyes are burning. It's a great time," Duenez said without a hint of sar- casm. "I was having a lot of fun." Conservation Corps fire- fighter Adrian Valdivia, 22, of Pomona hopes to turn his experience working under the direction of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protec- tion into a career battling wildfires. California turns to civilians as inmate firefighters dwindle CALIFORNIACONSERVATIONCORPS A civilian firefighter crew seen during their deployment on the Chimney Fire in San Luis Obispo County. WILDFIRES By Jonathan J. Cooper The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Farm- workers in the nation's largest agricultural state will be entitled to the same overtime pay as most other hourly work- ers under a law that Cal- ifornia Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday that he had signed. The new law, which will be phased in begin- ning in 2019, is the first of its kind in the nation to end the 80-year-old prac- tice of applying separate labor rules to agricultural laborers. California employers currently must pay time- and-a half to farmworkers after 10 hours in a day or 60 hours in a week. That's longer than the overtime pay for other workers, who get it after eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. AB1066 will gradu- ally lower the number of hours that irrigators, ranch hands and peo- ple who sow and harvest fields must work before accruing additional com- pensation. It will take full effect in 2022 for most businesses and in 2025 for farms with 25 or fewer employees. Brown, a Democrat, signed the bill follow- ing a push by the United Farm Workers union and its allies, who say exempt- ing farmworkers from la- bor laws is racist and un- fair. The governor had de- clined to comment on the bill throughout the legisla- tive process and again on Monday through spokes- woman Deborah Hoff- man. Opponents argued the seasonal nature of farm work does not lend it- self to overtime. They said the legislation would raise costs for farmers and make it more diffi- cult for them to compete with rivals in other states and countries, and that added costs would force employers to cut workers' hours, ultimately hurting hundreds of thousands of farmworkers in Califor- nia. Farmworkers have been exempt from overtime pay requirements since Con- gress approved the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 to outline workplace protections. Farmworkers were again exempted in 1999 when California guaran- teed overtime pay after eight hours in a day, not just 40 in a week. California has for de- cades been a battleground over farmworker rights. Cesar Chavez brought together farmworkers and founded the UFW in the Central Valley in the 1960s, organizing thou- sands of workers who de- manded better wages and working conditions. AGRICULTURE Ca li fo rn ia e xpa nd s ov er ti me t o fa rm wo rk er s PHOTOS BY RICH PEDRONCELLI Maria Ceja, right, joined other farmworkers in celebrating outside the Assembly Chambers a er lawmakers approved a measure requiring farmworkers to receive overtime pay a er working eight hours, at the Capitol in Sacramento. By Sadie Gurman The Associated Press BROOMFIELD,COLO. It was a somber start to home- coming week Monday at a suburban Denver high school after a bus carry- ing football players and coaches crashed at the airport, killing the driver and injuring 18 passengers, some critically. The bus driver was speeding as she veered off a roadway and slammed into a concrete pillar Sun- day afternoon at Denver International Airport af- ter picking up members of the Legacy High School football squad. The students were re- turning from a football game in California, and the vehicle was circling back to the airport for an unknown reason when it crashed. Detectives spent hours interviewing witnesses, including those aboard the bus, but no one could explain why the driver headed back toward the terminal before driving di- rectly into the pillar, Den- ver police Sgt. Mike Farr said. "There's a big mystery there," he said. The driver was travel- ing 30 to 40 mph (48 to 64 kmh), too fast for that stretch of roadway, Farr said. Tire tracks show she made no attempt to avoid the pillar. Police were investigat- ing the possibility she suf- fered a medical condition. They were also inspect- ing the bus for mechani- cal problems. There's no evidence the driver crashed intention- ally, Farr said, but "cer- tainly it's one of the things we have to be open to." The bus carried 28 stu- dents and four adults, air- port spokeswoman Heath Montgomery said. Fifteen students were taken to hospitals with minor injuries as a precau- tion, school officials said. Three coaches remained hospitalized Monday with serious injuries. Authorities identified the driver as 43-year-old Kari Chopper. Two victims at Denver Health Medical Center were in critical condition, two in serious condition and one in fair condition. The crash stunned stu- dents at the school in Broomfield, north of Den- ver. A crisis team was there to help. Junior Kevin Segura was relieved to learn that his friend, a football player, was OK. "He was released from the hospital last night. He's just really traumatized right now," Segura said. DENVER Somber start to school homecoming a er team in deadly crash Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, receives congratulations from Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers, a er the Assembly approved her bill requiring farmworkers to receive overtime pay a er working eight hours, at the Capitol in Sacramento. DENVER POLICE DEPARTMENT A bus sits a er crashing into a concrete pillar at Denver International Airport in Denver. Antelopearea small subdivision - zoned (2 acre min.) Recently out of the Williamson Act, Private mutual water company being formed. 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