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Tag: raise

  • Chicago Chefs Raise $30K for Hurricane Helene Relief as Locals Prep for Hurricane Milton

    Chicago Chefs Raise $30K for Hurricane Helene Relief as Locals Prep for Hurricane Milton

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    Over the weekend, Chicago Chefs raised more than $30,000 to benefit Hurricane Helene relief efforts. The fundraiser, held on Sunday, October 6 at Chicago Q in Gold Coast, was a success, says chef Art Smith.

    Smith is from Florida, which was in Helene’s path, and the chef’s connection has led to the launch of a second fundraiser as another storm, Hurricane Milton, is forecast to hit Florida on Wednesday, October 9. As the Chicago Marathon will take place this weekend, Smith is holding an event so runners — and their supporters — can carb-load before Sunday, October 13’s run.

    The event will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 12 on the second floor of Chicago Q, 1160 N. Dearborn Street. There’s a suggested donation of $65 with all proceeds going to World Central Kitchen’s hurricane relief efforts. Smith says he’s got a celebrity chef lined up to help at the event but can’t reveal their name due to security reasons.

    Milk Bar teams with Portillo’s

    As Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar is opening its first Chicago location, the bakery has already lined up a collaboration with another Chicago entity. Portillo’s, the Chicago street food chain with around 80 locations scattered in 10 states is, starting on Tuesday, October 8, launching the Portillo’s Chocolate Cake Cookie. It combines Portillo’s famous chocolate cake — which was the inspiration for the cake that appeared in Season 1 of The Bear, and a Milk Bar chocolate cookie. They’ll be available individually wrapped at Portillo’s or in multiples of six packed into a cookie tin available online on Milk Bar’s site.

    Portillo’s and Milk Bar are collaborating.
    Portillo’s

    La Gondola finds a new home

    Earlier this year, La Gondola closed its location inside a Lakeview strip mall after 40 years at 2914 N. Ashland Avenue. But ownership has found a new home inside a West Town restaurant with a menu of old favorites. Loyal customers can visit Mirella’s Tavern, 2056 W. Division Street, and find their old Lakeview favorites. Both Mirella’s and La Gondola coexist with the two parties working together.

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • Durham city budget passes. What it includes, and why tax increases may continue

    Durham city budget passes. What it includes, and why tax increases may continue

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    Major the Bull statue in downtown Durham.

    Major the Bull statue in downtown Durham.


    Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan

    dvaughan@heraldsun.com

    DURHAM

    Durham residents will see an increase in their property tax bills and city employees will receive raises after the Durham City Council unanimously approved a new budget Monday.

    “They’re going to get a big old fat paycheck increase, and they deserve it,” council member Javiera Caballero said.

    City Manager Wanda Page has called the budget “the right thing to do.”

    The city property tax rate will increase 3.85 cents, to 59.62 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

    Here’s what is included in the $668 million budget, up 9.5% since last year, according to Page:

    • $28.5 million for raises, increasing the minimum livable wage for city workers to $19.58 per hour from $18.46
    • $16.4 million for affordable housing investments
    • $14.9 million to expand GoDurham bus services and keep them fare-free
    • $12.5 million for parks, trails and open spaces
    • $5 million to begin lead cleanup in city parks that once housed trash incinerators
    • $4.7 million for sustainability projects to help the city reach its climate goals
    • $4 million for street maintenance
    • $1 million for a guaranteed income program following up on a 2022 pilot
    • $1 million to support the Hayti Reborn Justice Movement, which is working to address gun violence
    • $650,000 to support Legal Aid’s eviction diversion program and $250,000 for Justice Matters’ immigrant legal defense

    Durham mayor elect Leonardo Williams addresses supporters at The Velvet Hippo on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, in Durham, N.C.
    Durham mayor elect Leonardo Williams addresses supporters at The Velvet Hippo on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, in Durham, N.C. Kaitlin McKeown kmckeown@newsobserver.com

    It is the first budget approved under Mayor Leonardo Williams.

    “I didn’t get everything I wanted, but I got enough that makes me feel good about where we are,” Williams said, adding that he’ll continue to push for more money to address gun violence.

    Monday night’s vote, at 8:40 p.m., was unanimous.

    “This is a budget I think, Madam Manager, we can be proud of,” Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton said.

    Tax increases add up

    With the 4.65-cent tax rate increase passed last week by county commissioners, the tax rate for residents inside the city limits will rise 8.5 cents to $1.3949 per $100 of assessed property value.

    For a $400,000 house, the median sales price this year, the city increase adds $154 and the county increase $186 to the annual tax bill, which would total $5,580. Residents can check the impact on their property online.

    Further worrying some council members, a reappraisal looms next year. The county tax assessor will decide new property values for the first time since 2019, further driving up costs for most homeowners.

    Mayor Pro Tempore Mark-Anthony Middleton, center left, City Manager Wanda Page and Durham Mayor Elaine O’Neal listen to a sanitation worker speak during a council work session at City Hall in Durham, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023.
    Mayor Pro Tempore Mark-Anthony Middleton, center left, City Manager Wanda Page and Durham Mayor Elaine O’Neal listen to a sanitation worker speak during a council work session at City Hall in Durham, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com

    Caballero said they’ve been foreshadowing a tax increase since last year’s “very contentious” 4-3 vote.

    “This budget does raise property taxes, and it does so for a very, very good reason,” council member Nate Baker said.

    In the November election, voters will be asked to support another tax increase in the form of a $200 million bond referendum:

    • $115 million for streets and sidewalks
    • $85 million for parks

    The bond would raise taxes 3.45 cents per $100 of assessed value starting in 2026 and slowly dropping off over 20 years.

    This story was originally published June 17, 2024, 9:01 PM.

    Related stories from Raleigh News & Observer

    Mary Helen Moore covers Durham for The News & Observer. She grew up in Eastern North Carolina and attended UNC-Chapel Hill before spending several years working in newspapers in Florida. Outside of work, you might find her reading, fishing or fawning over plants.

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    Mary Helen Moore

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  • California State University faculty vote in pay raises and other benefits amid strike

    California State University faculty vote in pay raises and other benefits amid strike

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    (FOX40.COM) — After a lengthy negotiation process and strikes, the California Faculty Association ratified a vote that adds pay increases and other benefits for California State University instructors to their employment contracts.
    •Video Above: Faculty begins weeklong strike at Sacramento State, other CSU campuses

    “The California State University (CSU) is pleased with the results of the California Faculty Association’s (CFA) ratification vote,” the CSU chancellor’s office said in a statement on Monday.

    The tentative agreement provides a 10 percent general salary increase to all faculty by July. It also includes a raise in salary minimums for the lowest-paid faculty that will result in increases—some as high as 21 percent—for many of them, according to the chancellor’s office.

    It also addresses issues that the CFA identified as “extremely important to its members, such as increased paid family leave from six to 10 weeks and a process for making gender-inclusive restrooms and lactation spaces more easily accessible.”

    “We look forward to the CSU Board of Trustees Committee on collective bargaining ratification of the agreement in March and to continue working in partnership with the CFA and its members to carry out our mission in service to our students and the university,” the CSU chancellor’s office said.

    The CFA went on strike in 2023 and again in January 2024. The most recent strike (January 2024) was planned for the first week of the spring semester. After one day, CSU agreed to negotiate.

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    Veronica Catlin

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  • Bank of America is raising the minimum wage again for thousands of hourly workers

    Bank of America is raising the minimum wage again for thousands of hourly workers

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    Bank of America said on Wednesday that it will raise its minimum hourly pay rate to $23 next month.

    Two years ago, the Charlotte-based bank said it planned to increase the minimum hourly wage in the U.S. to $25 by 2025. That’s a 121% increase of nearly $14 per hour since 2010, according to Bank of America.

    In the last six years, Bank of America raised the minimum hourly wage five times, to $15 in 2017, $17 in 2019, $20 in 2020, $21 in 2021 and $22 last year.

    With the latest increase, hourly full-time employee base pay is nearly $48,000 a year.

    “Providing a competitive minimum rate of pay is foundational to being a great place to work,” Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer at Bank of America, said in a statement. The pay raise helps attract employees and is an investment in the bank’s workers, customers and communities, Bronstein said.

    The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which is the same rate in North Carolina and South Carolina.

    The bank declined to say how many hourly employee it has in the U.S. and Charlotte area but said the pay increase affects 3.7% of all U.S. employees, and that thousands will benefit from the move.

    Bank of America had over 170,000 U.S. employees as of December, according to the bank’s annual report. In 2021, Bank of America had 16,000 workers in the Charlotte area.

    Bank of America is giving U.S. hourly workers another pay raise as the bank plans to reach a minimum wage of $25 by 2025.
    Bank of America is giving U.S. hourly workers another pay raise as the bank plans to reach a minimum wage of $25 by 2025. Chris Keane Bloomberg

    Minimum hourly wages at other Charlotte banks

    Several banks have increased the minimum wage over the past two years in the Charlotte area:

    ▪ In 2021, Ally Financial raised the minimum hourly rate to $23, according to Ally’s 2022 annual report. In 2021, the digital-only, Detroit-based bank raised the hourly pay rate in 2021 from $17 to $20, affecting 2,300 employees companywide. That same year the bank’s employees began moving into the 26-story Ally building at 601 S. Tryon St., which is expected to house about 2,100 workers.

    ▪ Last year, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its minimum hourly pay to $20 last year. The Cincinnati-based bank with hundreds of employees in Charlotte and dozens of area branches, had increased pay to $15 in 2018 then $18 in 2019.

    ▪ Also last year, Truist Financial, based in Charlotte, raised its minimum wage to $22 per hour nationwide, affecting about 14,000 employees, from $15 to $18 an hour, depending on the region. As of last year, the bank employed more than 50,000 workers throughout the U.S., including more than 3,000 people in the Charlotte area.

    ▪ In 2021, Wells Fargo raised its minimum wage for hourly workers to $18 to $22, depending on location, following an increase the prior year, which was $16 an hour in Charlotte. The San Francisco-based bank has about 27,000 in the Charlotte region.

    ▪ Also in 2021, Connecticut-based credit card company Synchrony Financial raised its minimum hourly wage from $15 to $20 an hour for all employees, impacting hundreds of workers in Charlotte.

    This story was originally published September 20, 2023, 11:00 AM.

    Related stories from Charlotte Observer

    Catherine Muccigrosso is the retail business reporter for The Charlotte Observer. An award-winning journalist, she has worked for multiple newspapers and McClatchy for more than a decade.

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  • Blockstream Raises $125 Million For Bitcoin Mining Expansion

    Blockstream Raises $125 Million For Bitcoin Mining Expansion

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    Blockstream has announced they’ve raised $125 million in convertible note and secured loan financing with the aim of expanding their institutional bitcoin mining services. The raise was led by Kingsway Capital along with other investors including Fulgur Ventures.

    According to the announcement, Blockstream will use the capital raised to expand their bitcoin mining facilities “in order to meet the strong demand for its institutional hosting services,” which they claim remains high “due to the company’s strong track record and substantial scale, coupled with an industry-wide shortage of available power capacity.”

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    BtcCasey

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  • Ralston 5th grader raises $2,000 for grieving, struggling teacher

    Ralston 5th grader raises $2,000 for grieving, struggling teacher

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    The bond between a Ralston teacher and her fifth-grade student is stronger than ever. Janice Rhods is mourning her baby boy. He recently died after dealing with a rare heart issue. But about a month before, fifth-grade student Adrianna Case stepped up to help in a big way.It’s been about two weeks since Rhods lost a huge piece of her world.”I think of his smile. Honestly, I think of him now in peace,” Rhods said.Her 5-and-a-half-month-old son Caden suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome.”His life was one that was filled of pain and hospital stays. He was happiest when he was outside, and he only got that for a couple months,” Rhods said. “Out of the 5-and-a-half months that he was alive, he was home for two of them.”In November, Caden caught a common cold which led to a fever and a high heart rate.”Everything escalated super quickly,” Rhods said.Caden passed away on Nov. 17.”A combination of all of that, they think his heart was just overworking. His heart was super, super fragile,” Rhods said.Rhods teaches fifth grade at Karen Western Elementary School in Ralston. So far this school year, she has spent a lot of time out of the classroom to be by Caden’s side.”You’re trying to be there for your son and for my two other kids I have at home and then I’m also trying to be there for my students,” she said.Rhods’ student, Case, noticed that struggle about a month before Caden died, and decided she wanted to do whatever she could to help. “I got him a blanket and I felt like that wasn’t enough so I started a GoFundMe,” Case said.With the help of her mom, Case was able to create a GoFundMe, raising $2,000 for her favorite teacher.”I thought it would just be, not like to $2,000. I thought it would just be like a couple hundred dollars,” Case said.For Rhods, the joy of all of this is about so much more than the money.”It’s more of, what she did to show her compassion and caring for others. Because she showed that for me, I know she’d do that to other people,” Rhods said.”I truly love her,” Case said about Rhods.Rhods said she’ll go back to work Monday. She said she doesn’t think she’d be able to make it through if it weren’t for her amazing students like Adrianna.

    RALSTON, Neb. —

    The bond between a Ralston teacher and her fifth-grade student is stronger than ever. Janice Rhods is mourning her baby boy. He recently died after dealing with a rare heart issue. But about a month before, fifth-grade student Adrianna Case stepped up to help in a big way.

    It’s been about two weeks since Rhods lost a huge piece of her world.

    “I think of his smile. Honestly, I think of him now in peace,” Rhods said.

    Her 5-and-a-half-month-old son Caden suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

    “His life was one that was filled of pain and hospital stays. He was happiest when he was outside, and he only got that for a couple months,” Rhods said. “Out of the 5-and-a-half months that he was alive, he was home for two of them.”

    In November, Caden caught a common cold which led to a fever and a high heart rate.

    “Everything escalated super quickly,” Rhods said.

    Caden passed away on Nov. 17.

    “A combination of all of that, they think his heart was just overworking. His heart was super, super fragile,” Rhods said.

    Rhods teaches fifth grade at Karen Western Elementary School in Ralston. So far this school year, she has spent a lot of time out of the classroom to be by Caden’s side.

    “You’re trying to be there for your son and for my two other kids I have at home and then I’m also trying to be there for my students,” she said.

    Rhods’ student, Case, noticed that struggle about a month before Caden died, and decided she wanted to do whatever she could to help.

    “I got him a blanket and I felt like that wasn’t enough so I started a GoFundMe,” Case said.

    With the help of her mom, Case was able to create a GoFundMe, raising $2,000 for her favorite teacher.

    “I thought it would just be, not like to $2,000. I thought it would just be like a couple hundred dollars,” Case said.

    For Rhods, the joy of all of this is about so much more than the money.

    “It’s more of, what she did to show her compassion and caring for others. Because she showed that for me, I know she’d do that to other people,” Rhods said.

    “I truly love her,” Case said about Rhods.

    Rhods said she’ll go back to work Monday. She said she doesn’t think she’d be able to make it through if it weren’t for her amazing students like Adrianna.

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  • American workers can expect bigger raises next year, despite a looming recession

    American workers can expect bigger raises next year, despite a looming recession

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    It’s the most wonderful time of the year: corporate budget season. Or in some cases, budget re-adjustment season. 

    It’s the time when companies start to get realistic about what’s ahead for the coming year, particularly during the first quarter. And while that’s already playing out for some companies in the form of layoffs and hiring freezes, there is some good news for some employees heading into 2023. 

    Next year’s raises should be even higher than 2022 payouts, according to WTW’s annual salary budget planning report, based on survey responses from 1,550 U.S. organizations fielded in October. Despite the threat of an impending economic downturn, companies estimate they’ll be increasing their average workers’ salary 4.6% next year, up from the 4.2% the average worker received in 2022. 

    “As inflation continues to rise and the threat of an economic downturn looms, companies are using a range of measures to support their staff during this time,” Hatti Johansson, research director of reward data intelligence at WTW, said in a statement. 

    Boosting salary budgets is proving especially critical as companies continue to struggle to attract and retain employees. Three-quarters of organizations admitted to hiring and staffing issues—a number that’s nearly tripled since 2020. The continued tight labor market is the primary reason about 68% of companies opted to increase salary budgets. 

    But that pressure to pay well is a balancing act. About seven in 10 companies said they spent more than they’d planned to on salary increases and compensation adjustments over the last year. In order to fund pay increases, one in five are planning to raise prices on their products while 12% expect they will need to restructure and reduce staff headcounts. 

    And yet, despite the historic pay increases that organizations have doled out in recent years, compensation has not kept pace with inflation. National wage growth during the third quarter of 2022 increased 4.7% year over year, according to the PayScale Index. Yet, as of the end of September, real wages—which factor in the effect of inflation—are actually down 3% year over year. 

    For organizations struggling to make the math work if workers keep playing musical chairs with jobs and employers, WTW’s Lesli Jennings recommends focusing on the overall employee experience, not just providing pay increases. Two-thirds of companies surveyed have already provided workers with more flexibility and 61% have sharpened their focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and programs. 

    “By focusing on health and wellness benefits, workplace flexibility, careers and DEI, organizations can position themselves as the employer of choice for their current and prospective employees,” Jennings says.

    Our new weekly Impact Report newsletter will examine how ESG news and trends are shaping the roles and responsibilities of today’s executives—and how they can best navigate those challenges. Subscribe here.

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    Megan Leonhardt

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