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Testimony February 27, 2018
NELP Testimony on HB 664, Which Would Raise Maryland's Minimum Wage to $15
by Laura Huizar
Areas of expertise: Immigrants and Work, Living Wage and Minimum Wage, Wage and Hour Protections Read Profile
Thank you, Hon. Dereck Davis and members of the House Economic Matters Committee for the opportunity to submit written testimony on HB 664, "Labor and Employment – Payment of the Minimum Wage Required (Fight for Fifteen)," which would gradually raise Maryland's minimum wage to $15 by 2023. This bill would also gradually eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers and eliminate exemptions that subject younger workers to a lower minimum wage, guaranteeing one fair wage for all workers regardless of occupation or age. Moreover, starting in 2024, the bill would establish an indexing mechanism that would allow the state's minimum wage to keep up with increases in the cost of living.
My name is Laura Huizar, and I am a staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project (NELP). NELP is a non-profit, non-partisan research and advocacy organization specializing in employment policy. We are based in New York with offices in Washington DC, and throughout the country. We partner with federal, state, and local lawmakers on a wide range of workforce issues including unemployment insurance, the on-demand economy, and—as is relevant for today's hearing—the minimum wage.
NELP testifies in support of HB 664. A $15 minimum wage would raise pay for 573,000 low-wage Maryland workers. The typical worker who would be affected by a minimum wage increase in Maryland is a woman over 20 years old, who works full-time, and is likely to be a worker of color and have at least some college experience. She may also be a mother to dependent children, doing her best to raise her family while living in or near poverty.
The impact of a gradually phased-in $15 minimum wage would not only be positive for low-wage workers, but would also have a negligible impact on jobs and businesses, according to the most recent and sophisticated economic research, which I will review below.
The Benefits of Gradually Phasing in a $15 Minimum Wage in Maryland Would Be Far-Reaching & Would Help Reverse Decades of Pay Inequality
Due to flat or falling wages, today, approximately 573,000 workers in Maryland earn less than $15 an hour and would benefit from legislation that would increase the state's wage floor to that amount, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). These workers comprise nearly one-fourth of all workers in Maryland—22 percent of its workforce.[1]
The average worker would see a raise of $4,600 a year by 2023, when the higher wage floor is fully phased-in. That's a life-changing difference for low-wage workers, such as home health aides, security guards, and cashiers, who are entitled to just $19,240 a year working full-time under the state's current minimum wage.[2]
The Typical Worker Earning Less than $15 in Maryland is a Woman Over 25 Who Works Full-Time, and Is Likely to Have at Least Some College Experience
The overwhelming majority (90 percent) of Maryland's low-wage workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage are 20 or older, and 37 percent are 40 or over.[3]
More than half (55 percent) of low-wage workers in Maryland who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage are women.[4]
About 50 percent of low-wage workers in Maryland who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage are workers of color. Looking at each racial or ethnic group separately, EPI finds that 25 percent of African-Americans, 28 percent of Latinos, 18 percent of Asian-Americans, and 27 percent of all other workers would benefit from a $15 minimum wage increase.[5]
The majority (64 percent) of low-wage workers in Maryland who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage work full-time.[6]
Nearly half of workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage have some level of post-secondary education. Thirty-four percent have some college experience or have earned an Associate's degree, and an additional 15 percent have a Bachelor's degree or higher—for a total of 49 percent.[7]
Nearly one-third (31 percent) of workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage are parents to 273,000 of Maryland's children.[8]
About 800,000 (17 percent) of Maryland's working families live in or near poverty, and 13 percent receive Food Stamps.[9]
By Adopting a $15 Minimum Wage, Maryland Would Join a Growing Number of States, Cities, and Counties that Are Raising Their Wage Floors to $15 per Hour
Since the Fight for $15 began in November 2012, more than 40 cities and counties,[10] and more than 20 states have adopted minimum wage increases. These cities and counties include places like Santa Fe, NM, Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, Portland, ME, and Flagstaff, AZ.[11]
Last year, Montgomery County joined two states (California and New York), Washington DC, and 24 other cities and counties that have adopted $15 minimum wage laws.[12] Once they are phased in, these measures will deliver annual increases between $2,859 and $6,614 for nearly 10 million workers.[13]
More states and cities are now looking to follow their lead. In Massachusetts, legislators are considering legislation that would raise the state's wage floor to $15 and also gradually eliminate the sub-minimum tipped wage. Legislative leaders in several other states and localities, including Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Nevada, Hawaii, and St. Paul, Minnesota, are considering similar proposals.[14]
While Business Lobbyists Argue that Employers Cannot Adjust to $15, Growing Numbers of Employers and Small Business Organizations in Other States Say That It Will Be Manageable—and Even Beneficial
In other states that have already approved $15 minimum wages, business organizations representing more than 32,000 small businesses have endorsed the $15 minimum wage or, in some cases, simply not opposed it. These include the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce (endorsed),[15] the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce (endorsed),[16] the Northeast Organic Farmers Association – New York Chapter (endorsed),[17] the Long Island and Westchester/Putnam African-American Chambers of Commerce (endorsed),[18] the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (endorsed),[19] the Golden Gate Restaurant Association (did not oppose),[20] and others.
A diverse range of business leaders confirm that transitioning to a $15 minimum wage is feasible. "'Everybody in retail is dealing with an increase in minimum wage,'" said Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder to CNN Money, further stating, "'We will adjust to increased costs just like we have before. Life will go on. There's been too much hubbub about it.'"[21]
As fast food franchise owner Dennis Kessler who teaches at the University of Rochester's Simon School of Business told The Washington Post, "This $15 thing is being phased in over quite a few years, so I don't think it's going to have much of an impact. . . . People are going to have to pay a little more. It really isn't too much more complicated than that."[22]
In Flagstaff, Arizona, where voters in November approved a $15 minimum wage, Ron Watkins, the director of operations for 16 McDonald's restaurants throughout northern Arizona, told the Arizona Daily Sun, "the minimum wage measure would not affect the company's willingness to add locations or jobs in Flagstaff."[23]
In California, Bill Phelps, CEO of Wetzel's Pretzels with 100 stores statewide, and franchise owner Mike Jacobs report that they have already seen higher sales resulting from their customers having more money to spend.[24]
Evidence from Early Adopters of High Wage Floors Shows Little Adverse Effects on Jobs, and that Implementation is Manageable for Employers
Beginning with SeaTac, Washington, in 2012, the worker-led Fight for $15 has been winning pay increases for low-wage workers throughout the country. Once these laws are fully implemented, 10 million workers will have received income gains of more than $62 billion in total.[25]
Academic studies and the media are beginning to report on the experience of these cities, documenting the positive effects these policies are having on local economies. To date, both research and business press reports suggest these measures are boosting pay with little negative impact on employment.[26]
Seattle. A recent study by University of California economists explored the impact of Seattle's higher minimum wage between 2015 and 2016, when the city's $15 minimum wage ordinance began phasing-up. The study focused on the restaurant industry—the largest low-paying sector where any negative effects on jobs would first appear—and found that Seattle's minimum wage, which ranged from $10.50 to $13.00 during the period analyzed, had raised pay for workers without evidence of a negative impact on jobs.[27]
Another much-publicized Seattle study reached a conflicting conclusion, suggesting that the increase had cost jobs. But the conflicting study has come under fire for its serious methodological errors, which cast doubt on its findings. These problems include the fact that the study excluded 40 percent of the workforce from its analysis, and failed to control for Seattle's booming economy, which was naturally reducing the number of low-paying jobs as employers raised pay independent of the minimum wage to compete for scarce workers.[28]
Business press reports on Seattle's economy and job market confirm that the city is continuing to thrive as the $15 minimum wage phases in. Today, Seattle has an unemployment rate of just 3.8 percent, lower than both, Washington State and the U.S unemployment rates. As Forbes reported last year, "Higher Seattle Minimum Wage Hasn't Hurt Restaurant Jobs Growth After a Year." Earlier reporting in the Puget Sound Business Journal was titled "Apocalypse Not: $15 and the Cuts that Never Came."[29]
San Francisco. Before SeaTac and Seattle, San Francisco was one of the first U.S. cities to adopt a significantly higher minimum wage in 2003. Four years later, a study published in Cornell University's Industrial and Labor Relations Review found that the city had raised pay without costing jobs. Today, the city's minimum wage is $14, and it will increase to $15 in July of this year. While an updated study of the impact of the city's higher wage floor is expected in the coming months, all indicators suggest that the implementation of the higher minimum wage has been going smoothly. According to the latest available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the city's unemployment rate dropped to 3 percent in October 2017 from 5.7 percent in July 2014—the year in which the city adopted its $15 minimum wage. In addition, its restaurant sector sales grew from 5.4 percent to 6.6 percent from 2014 to 2015, a faster pace than comparable cities like New York.[30]
San Jose. In 2012, voters in San Jose approved a $10 minimum wage by wide margins, despite predictions of economic doom and gloom by opponents. Four years later, the City Council, acknowledging the need for more robust wages, unanimously voted to adopt a $15 minimum wage. In 2016, University of California researchers released a study of the city's $10 minimum wage policy. The authors found that the $10 minimum wage had raised pay without costing jobs, which confirmed earlier observations reported by the media. As The Wall Street Journal reported a year after full implementation of the new minimum wage and two years before the study was released, "[f]ast-food hiring in the [San Jose] region accelerated once the higher wage was in place. By early [2014], the pace of employment gains in the San Jose area beat the improvement in the entire state of California."[31]
Other studies, which estimated the impacts of New York's and California's $15 minimum wages, examined the net impact of all the positive and negative effects on businesses of a $15 wage. They found that, unlike small wage increases, a $15 minimum wage would generate billions in new consumer spending that would offset much of the impact of the higher wage costs on businesses. As a result, any net negative impact on jobs would likely be small—and would be vastly outweighed by the benefits of delivering large raises for more than 1 in 3 workers, reversing decades of falling pay.[32]
The California study focused, in particular, on the impact of the state's $15 minimum wage in areas such as Fresno County—one of the poorest of the state, located in California's agricultural Central Valley. It finds that even in Fresno County, the net impact is roughly the same: the large increase in worker spending power generated by a $15 minimum wage offsets most of the higher costs to businesses.[33]
Decades of Rigorous Research Shows that Raising the Minimum Wage Boosts Workers' Incomes Without Adverse Employment Effects
The Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno, and New York studies are in line with the substantial weight of the scholarly evidence from the past two decades, which examined scores of state and local increases across the U.S., and found that minimum wage increases raise workers' pay without reducing employment.[34]
This is most clearly demonstrated by several recent "metastudies" surveying the entire field of minimum wage research. For example, a meta-study of 64 individual studies on the impact of minimum wage increases, published in the British Journal of Industrial Relations in 2009 by economists Hristos Doucouliagos and T. D. Stanley, shows that the bulk of the studies find close to no impact on employment.[35]
Drawing on the methodological insights of Doucouliagos and Stanley, a more recent metastudy by Dale Belman and Paul Wolfson reviews more than 70 studies and 439 distinct estimates to come to a very similar conclusion. They found that, "[I]f negative effects on employment are present, they are too small to be statistically detectable. Such effects would be too modest to have meaningful consequences in the dynamically changing labor markets of the United States."[36]
Last year, a study by University of California economists analyzed over three decades (1979 to 2014) of teen and restaurant employment data, comparing states with high average minimum wages and those with low average minimum wages (typically, equal to the federal minimum wage). The analysis did not find disemployment effects among restaurant workers—who comprise a large share of the low-wage workforce affected by a minimum wage policy—while the effect on teen employment was only a fraction of the already negligible impact claimed by minimum wage opponents.[37]
Another 2017 study, which also examined nearly four decades of data (1979–2016), and used a different methodology comparing the number of jobs in various wage categories (rather than total employment) prior to and following a minimum wage increase ("bunching method"), also found that jobs were not adversely impacted. The researchers concluded that any observed "job losses" were in fact the disappearance of jobs paying at or below the old minimum wage, with an equivalent increase in jobs at or slightly above the new higher minimum wage.[38]
Eliminating the Sub-Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers Is Crucial to Making a Real Difference in the Lives of Low-Wage Workers
The gradual elimination of the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers is crucial to improving the lives and economic prospects of low-wage workers in Maryland. Without it, a significant share of the state's lowest-paid workers will become increasingly vulnerable to poverty. As inflation erodes the real value of the tipped wage, tipped workers will become progressively more dependent on the generosity of customers to earn their livelihoods and avoid poverty.
A sub-minimum wage for tipped workers has not always existed. Until 1966, there was no federal sub-minimum wage for tipped workers.[39] But with the 1966 expansion of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to cover hotel, motel, restaurant, and other leisure and hospitality employees who had previously been excluded by the FLSA, the law was amended to allow employers to pay tipped workers a sub-minimum wage of 50 percent of the full minimum wage.[40] In 1996, tipped workers' pay decreased further when a Republican-controlled Congress raised the federal minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15, but froze the tipped minimum wage at $2.13. This policy decoupled the tipped wage from the full minimum wage for the first time in the history of U.S. wage law, setting up over two decades of a frozen minimum wage for tipped workers[41] in most of the nation.
If Maryland adopts a gradual elimination of the tipped sub-minimum wage, it would join the seven "One Fair Wage" states—Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington—that do not allow employers to pay their tipped staff a lower wage.[42] Tipped workers in these One Fair Wage states receive the full minimum wage directly from their employers, and their tips function as gratuities should: As supplemental income over and above their wages, in recognition of good service. Although not technically a One Fair Wage state, Hawaii also abolished the sub-minimum wage for most tipped workers, preserving a very limited tip credit of just 75 cents for tipped workers who average at least $7.00 an hour in gratuities.[43]
Last year, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, introduced a $15 minimum wage bill, the Raise the Wage Act (S.1242), which was co-sponsored by 32 other Senators, including Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin. Its companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.15) was similarly strongly received, with more than 160 co-sponsors, including Representatives Steny Hoyer, Jamie Raskin, Elijah Cummings, John Delaney, John Sarbanes, Anthony Brown, and C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger. The Raise the Wage Act, S.1242/H.R.15, would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 and also gradually phase out the sub-minimum tipped wage nationwide.[44]
Although minimum wage opponents in the restaurant industry often claim that most tipped workers earn high incomes and do not need a raise, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data shows that the typical tipped worker in Maryland earns just a few dollars above the state minimum wage. According to the most recent BLS data, between November 2013 and May 2016, the median wage for restaurant servers in Maryland was $9.38 per hour including tips, and the average was $11.43 per hour, also including tips.[45] During the period covered by the BLS data, the applicable minimum wage in Maryland was between $7.25 and $8.75 per hour,[46] meaning that servers in the state earned between $0.63 and $4.18 above Maryland's wage floor—hardly the type of high incomes that the restaurant industry claims to be typical.
In addition to restaurant serves, other tipped jobs include car wash workers, nail salon workers, and pizza delivery drivers—notorious sweatshop occupations where pay is often even lower than in the restaurant industry.[47]
Tipped work is inherently uneven and often unpredictable. While most of us expect to be paid the same for every day or hour we work, for tipped workers this is often not the case. For example, restaurant servers can earn substantially more on Friday or Saturday nights, but much less on other days of the week. Bad weather, a sluggish economy, the changing of the seasons, a less generous customer, and a host of other factors can also cause sudden drops in their tipped income and lead to economic insecurity. Not surprisingly, tipped workers face poverty at twice the rate of non-tipped workers, with waiters and bartenders at even higher risk of poverty.[48]
Tipped workers across the country are also significantly more likely to rely on public assistance to make ends meet. Close to half (46 percent) of tipped workers and their families rely on public benefits compared with 36 percent of non-tipped workers.[49] Ultimately, shifting the responsibility to pay workers' wages to customers under the tipped sub-minimum wage system allows employers in a few select industries to benefit from a customer-funded subsidy at the expense of workers' economic security.
The Complex Sub-Minimum Wage System for Tipped Workers Is Difficult to Enforce and Results in Widespread Noncompliance
The sub-minimum tipped wage system is complex, difficult to implement, and plagued by noncompliance. For example, both employers and employees find it difficult to track tip earnings, a task that is often complicated by tip sharing arrangements amongst workers. In addition, when tipped workers' earnings fall short of the full minimum wage, many will forego asking their employers to make up the difference—as employers are legally required to do—for fear that the employer may retaliate by giving more favorable shifts to workers who do not make such demands.[50]
Given the implementation challenges inherent in the sub-minimum wage system, it is not surprising that a 2014 report by the Obama Administration's National Economic Council and the U.S. Department of Labor found that one of the most prevalent violations amongst employers is failing to properly track employees' tips and make up the difference between an employee's base pay and the full minimum wage when tips fail to fill that gap.[51] A survey found that more than 1 in 10 workers employed in predominantly tipped occupations earned hourly wages below the full federal minimum wage, including tips.[52]
Maryland's Restaurant Industry is Strong and Can Afford to Adapt to a $15 Minimum Wage without a Tip Credit
While restaurant industry lobbyists often argue that eliminating the tipped sub-minimum wage would hurt restaurants and its workers, the facts belie those claims. In particular, the restaurant industry in One Fair Wage states is strong and projected to grow faster than in many of the states that have retained a sub-minimum tipped wage system.
According to projections by the National Restaurant Association (NRA), restaurant sales were expected to reach $799 billion in 2017, a 4.3 percent increase over 2016.[53] In Maryland, restaurant sales were expected to reach $12 billion this year. Restaurant and food service jobs currently make up 9 percent of employment in the state, and are expected to grow by a healthy 9 percent over the next ten years.[54]
Many of the states with the strongest restaurant job growth do not allow a tipped minimum wage for tipped workers, and require employers to pay tipped workers some of the country's highest base wages. For example, restaurant employment in California—which has no sub-minimum wage for tipped workers and is phasing in a $15 minimum wage—is projected to grow by 10.6 percent during the 2017–2027 period.[55] In California, the minimum wage is now $10.50 per hour for small employers (25 or fewer employees) and $11.00 for large employers (26 or more employees), and the minimum wage will reach $15 for all employers by 2023.[56] In Oregon, where the minimum wage is currently between $10 and $11.25 and will increase to between $12.50 and $14.75 by 2022,[57] and which has no tipped sub-minimum wage, restaurant employment is projected to grow by 13.2 percent during that same period.[58] And in Washington State, where the minimum wage is $11.50[59] and will increase to $13.50 by 2020,[60] restaurant employment growth during the same period is expected to grow by 11.8 percent.[61] According to the NRA's own projections, restaurant employment in the seven states without a tipped minimum wage will grow in the next decade at an average rate of 10.7 percent.[62]
Moreover, a 2015 Cornell Hospitality Report looked at the impact of minimum wage increases on restaurant employment and business growth levels over twenty years across the United States. It found that raising the minimum wage (including the tipped wage) will raise restaurant industry wages but will not lead to "large or reliable effects on full-service and limited-service restaurant employment."[63]
The Exemption of Young Workers from the State's Full Minimum Wage Harms All Maryland Workers
HB 664 eliminates provisions in the current state minimum wage law that allow employers to pay younger workers a lower minimum wage simply based on their age. A lower minimum wage for young workers would harm all Maryland workers and should be rejected as a corporate-backed strategy to stall efforts to raise wages.
Current Maryland law allows employers to pay employees who are 20 years of age or younger 85 percent of the full minimum wage for the first six months of employment.[64] For an employee working full-time for their first six months of work at the current minimum wage, this difference can amount to more than $1,200.
Current Maryland law also allows employers to pay workers under the age of 20 85 percent of the full minimum wage if they work for certain amusement or recreational establishments.[65]
In December 2017, The Intercept published a leaked memo by the well-known corporate lobbyist Rick Berman.[66] The leaked memo pitches a multi-million dollar campaign to corporations in order to undermine growing support for a higher minimum wage across the country. One of the key strategies it proposes is pushing for a lower "youth" minimum wage.
The leaked memo shows that corporations view youth minimum wage exemptions not as a path to better wages for young workers, but as a way to undermine support for higher wages and keep wages low for all workers.
Young workers in their late teens and early twenties constitute the typical targets of minimum wage "youth" exemptions or carve-outs. These workers work side-by-side with their older counterparts across industries, and they often perform the same work.
Many young workers come from struggling low- and middle-income households, and their earnings provide essential household income.
In Baltimore, for example, census data shows that workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage, on average, contribute over half (54.6 percent) of their entire family's income.[67]
Young workers are also often college students who study hard and work long hours to try and cover at least some of their education expenses. In the U.S., nearly 50 percent of students pursuing a 2-year degree, and over 40 percent of students pursuing a 4-year degree work more than 35 hours per week.[68] A higher minimum wage would allow them to cover more of tuition costs, finish school more quickly, and take out fewer loans.
State-of-the Art Research Shows that Raising the Minimum Wage Does Not Cost Young Workers Their Jobs
Economists from the University of California reviewed the impact of the minimum wage on teen employment in a state-of-the-art, peer reviewed study, "Do Minimum Wages Really Reduce Teen Employment?"[69] The study carefully examined the impact of all U.S. minimum wage increases between 1990 and 2009 on teen workers—including minimum wage increases implemented during times of high unemployment, such as the national recessions of 1990–1991, 2001 and 2007–2009.[70]
The study found that the even during downturns in the business cycle and in regions with high unemployment, the impact of minimum wage increases on teen employment is the same: negligible.[71]
As Bloomberg News wrote in summarizing the study, "[This study is part of] a wave of new economic research [that] is disproving those arguments about job losses and youth employment. Previous studies tended not to control for regional economic trends that were already affecting employment levels, such as a manufacturing-dependent state that was shedding jobs. The new research looks at micro-level employment patterns for a more accurate employment picture. The studies find minimum-wage increases even provide an economic boost, albeit a small one, as strapped workers immediately spend their raises."[72]
Declines in Youth Employment Are Unrelated to Minimum Wage Levels
Opponents of a strong minimum wage for young workers sometimes argue that a higher minimum wage causes higher rates of youth unemployment. This is simply not the case.
A review of the data shows that youth employment levels have been falling for decades, including a dramatic decline since 2000.[73] This trend is unrelated to the minimum wage and has continued regardless of whether the minimum wage has been flat or increasing, making it clear that this decline has nothing to do with the minimum wage.[74]
There are multiple reasons for this decline, including the fact that more teens and other young workers are full-time students than in the past, and those seeking work face increasing competition from adult workers over 55, many of whom cannot afford to retire and are turning to low-wage jobs.[75]
Fast Food and Retail Chains with High-Turnover Staffing Models Would Be the Main Beneficiaries of a Youth Exemption
The main beneficiaries of a minimum wage exemption for young workers are low-wage employers who have chosen a high-turnover staffing model. These are chiefly fast-food and chain retail employers who have disproportionately high rates of employee turnover—as high as 120 percent on an annual basis, according to researchers from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (as cited by Robert Pollin and Jeannette Wicks-Lim, PERI).[76] This means that, on average, fast-food and chain retail employers often replace their entire staff more than once a year.
A minimum wage exemption for young workers essentially creates a loophole that would allow fast food and chain retailers to pay young workers less simply because of their age, and it could incentivize employers to discriminate against older workers.
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Maryland, Minimum Wage, Tipped Workers, Youth Workers
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National Employment Law Project, The Case for a $15 Minimum Wage in Maryland, January 2018, http://stage.nelp.org/content/uploads/Case-for-15in-Maryland-January-2018.pdf.
Economic Policy Institute and Oxfam America, Maryland, June 2016, https://policy-practice.oxfamamerica.org/work/poverty-in-the-us/low-wagemap/scorecard/?state=MD.
Several of these local minimum wage laws were subsequently invalidated by preemption legislation adopted by the state legislature. These include: Birmingham, Alabama (preempted by Ala. Code § 25-7-41); St. Louis, Missouri (preempted by Mo. H.B. 1193, 1194 (Mar. 2017)); Linn County, Iowa, Polk County, Iowa, and Wapello County, Iowa (preempted by Ia. H.F. 295 (Mar. 2017)). Of the more than 40 local minimum wage laws enacted recently, only the ordinances passed in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, were found preempted by a court. Kentucky Restaurant Association v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, 501 S.W.3d 425, 426 (Ky., 2016). The City of Miami Beach has appealed a decision by a trial court and an appellate court invalidating the Miami Beach minimum wage ordinance adopted in 2016 based on the interpretation of a 2003 state law preempting local minimum wages and a 2004 constitutional amendment establishing the state's minimum wage. City of Miami Beach v. Florida Retail Federation, Inc. et al. (Fl. Sup. Ct., filed Dec. 27, 2017) (No. SC17-2284).
rmw.stage.nelp.org, Minimum Wage by State, http://rmw.stage.nelp.org/minimum-wage-state/ (last viewed Feb. 23, 2018).
For California (including cities and counties), New York, Washington, DC, SeaTac, Washington, and Seattle, Washington, see Tables 4 and 5 of National Employment Law Project, Fight for $15: Four Years, $62 Billion, Dec. 2016, http://stage.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fight-for-15-Four-Years-62-Billionin-Raises.pdf. For Minneapolis, see David Cooper, Estimated Effects of Minneapolis Minimum Wage Increase to $15 by 2022, Economic Policy Institute, Dec. 2017, http://www.epi.org/chart/minneapolis-minimum-wage-table-1-estimated-effects-of-minneapolis-minimum-wage-increase-to-15-by2022/ (based on these estimates, NELP calculates that affected Minneapolis workers will receive a total annual increase of $4,480 at the end of the phase-in period).
Yannet Lathrop, Raises from Coast to Coast in 2018: Workers in 18 States and 19 Cities and Counties Seeing Minimum Wage Increases on January 1, Many of Them to Rates of $12 to $15 an Hour, National Employment Law Project, Dec. 2017, http://stage.nelp.org/publication/raises-from-coast-to-coast-in2018-minimum-wage-increases/. See also Associated Press, "Connecticut Democrats Plan to Push for Higher Minimum Wage," WTNH News 8, Feb. 6, 2018, http://wtnh.com/2018/02/06/connecticut-democrats-plan-to-push-for-higher-minimum-wage/; Steve Ahiquist, "Announcing the Campaign for a $15 Minimum Wage and Fair Wages," Uprise RI, Jan. 30, 2018, https://upriseri.com/news/economics/minimum-wage/2018-01-30-minimumwage-fair-wage/; Bob Kinzel, "Vermont Senate to Vote on Bill Boosting State Minimum Wage to $15 and Hour," VPR News, Feb. 6, 2018, http://digital.vpr.net/post/vermont-senate-vote-bill-boosting-state-minimum-wage-15-hour#stream/0; "Legislation would Raise Pennsylvania's Minimum Wage, Gant News, Feb. 7, 2018, https://gantdaily.com/2018/02/07/legislation-would-raise-pennsylvanias-minimum-wage/.
Office of the Governor of New York, Governor Cuomo, Joined by Vice President Biden, Announces Push to Raise New York's Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour, Sept. 10, 2015, https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-joined-vice-president-biden-announces-push-raise-new-yorks-minimum-wage15-hour.
Paula Katinas, "Chamber Brings Brooklyn Business Concerns to Albany," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Mar. 16, 2016, http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2016/3/16/chamber-brings-brooklyn-business-concerns-albany.
Elizabeth Henderson, "$15 Minimum: Good for Farmers," Morning AgClips, Mar. 22, 2016, https://www.morningagclips.com/15-minimum-good-forny-farmers/.
Phil Andrews, "A $15 Minimum Wage is Good for Long Island Businesses," The Huffington Post, Mar. 24, 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philandrews/long-island-15-minimum-wage_b_9538916.html.
Martin Austermuhle, "D.C. Takes First Step Towards $15 Minimum Wage," WAMU 88.5, June 7, 2016, http://wamu.org/story/16/06/07/dc_takes_first_step_towards_15_minimum_wage/.
Samantha Higgins, Golden Gate Restaurant Association, "The State of the Industry: An Update from GGRA's Executive Director," Apr. 20, 2016, http://ggra.org/the-state-of-the-industry-an-update-from-ggras-executive-director/.
Benjamin Snyder, "The CEO of Popeyes Has a Surprising Stance on the $15 Wage," Fortune, Nov. 13, 2015, http://fortune.com/2015/11/13/popeyesminimum-wage-fast-food/.
Lydia DePillis, "Businesses are Getting Steamrolled on the Minimum Wage. Here's why," Washington Post, July 24, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/24/businesses-are-getting-steamrolled-on-the-minimum-wage-hereswhy/?utm_term=.378b0204cb4e.
Emery Cowan, "Slim Margins: Higher Wages Would Benefits Restaurant Workers, but Force Tough Cuts for Owners," Arizona Daily Sun, Aug. 28, 2016, http://azdailysun.com/news/local/slim-margins-higher-wages-would-benefit-restaurant-workers-but-force/article_760314d0-6293-59f1-99e55382ade5b815.html.
Sam Harnett, "Fast Food CEO Says Higher Minimum Wage Boosts Business," KQED News, Jan. 3, 2017, https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/01/03/minimum-wage-goes-up-and-so-does-business-thats-what-this-fast-food-ceo-says-happened/.
Yannet Lathrop, op. cit.
National Employment Law Project, The Case for a $15 Minimum Wage in Maryland, op. cit.
Doruk Cengiz, Arindrajit Dube, Attila Lindner, Ben Zipperer, "The Effect of Minimum Wages on the Total Number of Jobs: Evidence from the United States Using a Bunching Estimator," Society of Labor Economists, Apr. 30, 2017, http://www.sole-jole.org/17722.pdf. (Updated Dec. 2017 version can be accessed from the American Economic Association, https://www.aeaweb.org/conference/2018/preliminary/1530). 39. William G. Whitaker, The Tip Credit Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Congressional Research Service, Report for Congress, Order Code RL33348, Mar. 24, 2006, http://www.mit.edu/afs.new/sipb/contrib/wikileaks-crs/wikileaks-crs-reports/RL33348.pdf.
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC) and the National Employment Law Project (NELP), The Case for Eliminating the Tipped Minimum Wage in Washington, D.C., May 2016, http://stage.nelp.org/content/uploads/Report-Case-Eliminating-Tipped-Minimum-Wage-Washington-DC.pdf.
Hawaii currently allows employers to take a 75 cent tip credit when employees earn $16.25 or more an hour in base wage plus tips. In 2018, the minimum wages plus tips threshold will rise to $17.10. See State of Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Notice to Employees: Tip Credit under the Hawaii Wage and Hour Law, June 2014, http://labor.hawaii.gov/wsd/files/2014/06/Tip-Credit-Notice-with-exhibits-June-2014.pdf.
Raise the Wage Act, S.1242, 115th Congress (2017–2018), https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1242/cosponsors. See also Raise the Wage Act, H.R.15, 115th Congress (2017-2018), https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/15/cosponsors.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, May 2016 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, Maryland, revised Mar. 31, 2017, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_md.htm.
Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, Changes in Basic Minimum Wages in Non-Farm Employment Under State Law: Selected Years 1968 to 2016, revised December 2016, https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/stateMinWageHis.htm.
ROC and NELP, The Case for Eliminating the Tipped Minimum Wage in Washington, D.C., op. cit.
Sylvia A. Allegretto and David Cooper, Twenty-three Years and Still Waiting for Change: Why It's Time to Give Tipped Workers the Regular Minimum Wage, Economic Policy Institute, July 2014, https://www.epi.org/publication/waiting-for-change-tipped-minimum-wage/. According to this analysis, the poverty rate of non-tipped workers is 6.5 percent, while it is 12.8 percent for tipped workers and 14.9 percent for waiters and bartenders. Ibid.
National Economic Council, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Domestic Policy Council, and the Department of Labor, The Impact of Raising the Minimum Wage on Women: And the Importance of Ensuring a Robust Tipped Minimum Wage, Mar. 2014, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/20140325minimumwageandwomenreportfinal.pdf.
National Restaurant Association, 2017 National Restaurant Association Restaurant Industry Outlook, https://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/News-Research/2017_Restaurant_outlook_summary-FINAL.pdf.
National Restaurant Association, Maryland: Restaurant Industry at a Glance, http://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/StateStatistics/2016/MD_Restaurants2016.pdf.
National Restaurant Association, California: Restaurant Industry at a Glance, http://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/StateStatistics/2016/CA_Restaurants2016.
Department of Industrial Relations, State of California, Minimum Wage, December 2016, https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_minimumwage.htm.
Bureau of Labor and Industries, State of Oregon, Oregon Minimum Wage, http://www.oregon.gov/boli/WHD/OMW/Pages/Minimum-Wage-RateSummary.aspx.
National Restaurant Association, Oregon: Restaurant Industry at a Glance, http://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/StateStatistics/2016/OR_Restaurants2016.
Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Minimum Wage, http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Wages/Minimum/default.asp.
Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Initiative 1433: An Overview of the New Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Requirements, http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Wages/Minimum/1443.asp.
National Restaurant Association, Washington: Restaurant Industry at a Glance, http://www.restaurant.org/Downloads/PDFs/StateStatistics/2016/WA_Restaurants2016.
ROC and NELP, The Case for Eliminating the Tipped Minimum Wage in Washington, D.C., op. cit. Refers to the period, 2016–2026.
Michael Lynn and Christopher Boone, Have Minimum Wage Increases Hurt the Restaurant Industry? The Evidence Says No!, Cornell Hospitality Report, Vol. 15, No. 22 (2015), http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=chrreports.
Md. Code Ann., Lab. & Empl. § 3-413(d).
Lee Fang & Nick Surgey, "Fearing 2018 Democratic Wave, Right-Wing Lobbyists Are Mobilizing Against a $15 Minimum Wage Push," The Intercept_, Dec. 14, 2007, https://theintercept.com/2017/12/14/minimum-wage-rick-berman-democrats/.
Will Kimball, Economic Policy Institute, Raising Baltimore's minimum wage to $15 by July 2020 would lift wages for 98,000 working people, May 2016, http://www.epi.org/publication/raising-baltimores-minimum-wage-to-15/.
U.S. Department of Education, Profile of Undergraduate Students, 2011–2012 (Oct. 2014) at 5, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2015/2015167.pdf.
Sylvia A. Allegretto, Arindrajit Dube and Michael Reich, "Do Minimum Wages Really Reduce Teen Employment? Accounting for Heterogeneity and Selectivity in State Panel Data," Industrial Relations 50: 205-240, 2011, http://irle.berkeley.edu/files/2011/Do-Minimum-Wages-Really-Reduce-TeenEmployment.pdf.
Bloomberg View Editorial Board, "Raise the Minimum Wage," Bloomberg, Apr. 18, 2012, http://www.bloombergview.com/ articles/2012-04-16/u-sminimum-wage-lower-than-in-lbj-era-needs-a-raise.
Teresa L. Morisi, Monthly Labor Review, Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Early 2000s: A Period of Declining Teen Summer Employment Rates, May 2010, http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2010/05/art2full.pdf. See also Julia Dennett & Alicia Sasser Modestino, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Uncertain Futures? Youth Attachment to the Labor Market in the United States and New England, Dec. 2013, http://www.bostonfed.org/economic/neppc/presentations/2013/sassermodestino120413.pdf.
Sylvia Allegretto, Arindrajit Dube and Michael Reich, op. cit.
Anne Thompson, National Employment Law Project, What is Causing Record-High Teen Unemployment?, Oct. 2011.
Robert Pollin & Jeannette Wicks-Lim, "A $15 U.S. Minimum Wage: How the Fast-Food Industry Could Adjust Without Shedding Jobs," Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) Working Paper Series, No. 373, Jan. 2015, https://www.peri.umass.edu/publication/item/602-a-15-u-s-minimum-wage-howthe-fast-food-industry-could-adjust-without-shedding-jobs.
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The Rise of Hylzarie ~ A Flash Fiction Fantasy by Liza Roberts
Oct 26 2017, 10:48 pm in Australia, Fantasy, Flash Fiction
The Rise of Hylzarie
Luciana walked towards the sinking rays of the sun, basking in their orange light where she reached a rocky clearing beside a small stream.
The light turned salmon pink and the horizon swept to lilac, an evening star twinkled, signalling that this was the place.
Luciana knelt on the dusty earth at the water's edge, capturing the cool liquid in her hands. Her thirst quenched, she opened the sleep sack that she had carried on her back and laid it out against the soft sand. The earth still warm from the sun and smelt of sun baked clay. Breathing in the warm air, she sank into the soft layers of the sack, head cushioned against the mound she had made. Eyes widely gazing out to the indigo endless sky. She smiled at the small stars, each twinkling in their own time and pace. All her life had led to this moment, to this night, to this place in her journey now.
She was ready.
Fulfilled with all that she had achieved and ready for what was to come. Butterflies fluttered and danced inside her, in anticipation of the moon rise.
Then, across the mountain range, a glow, a slit of light rising. Luciana closed her eyes. Hoping for a moment, to be suspended, without the wrinkle of time to change it. A cool breeze wafted across her body, light and smooth as a silk scarf, sending a quiver through every part of her. Sensing that something had changed, she opened her eyes.
The moon had now risen in the sky as a luminous ball of pearlescent light. All around her was a blaze of silver and white shadows.
Sitting bolt upright, she peered closer, making out shapes of heads, a scramble of legs and manes. A soft hush flowed from the circle, the sound of gentle pawing and stamping of hooves against the earth and the occasional snicker and snort from flared nostrils. It was then that Luciana noticed the glittering horns. Her butterflies rose again, but this time with each flap and flutter of their wings, bursts of joy exploded from their energy.
This was her destiny!
Luciana stepped from her sleep nest towards the circle. The largest unicorn stepped forward to meet her and the rest of the clan, bowed their heads and murmured "Biancha the great white powerful one."
Biancha shook his long mane, jewels twinkling within the tumble of curls. Upon his breast, a crest, which Luciana recognised immediately to be that of her family. Luciana bowed her head, reaching out to touch the crest with trembling fingers and whispering "I am yours" Beneath her fingers she felt Bianchas powerful muscles and strong beat of his heart thud within him.
"I name you Hylzarie, lover of the moon," he bellowed. His muzzle dipped, touching Luciana lightly on her head, sending an electric flash between them both.
Luciana shuddered and felt her long silver blond hair tumble across her shoulders and back. Her pale skin became translucent and her fine hairs stood on end. Each strand grew and glimmered into shining fur. Her coat flashed, sending rainbows of sparkles along every hair, a mane and tail shimmered silver pearl and her aura changed from blue to violet. Her delicate doll like hands and feet melded before her eyes into pearly hooves and upon her head, pointed ears grew.
With a shake of her jaw against her dainty neck, she flung her head from side to side and her dark blue violet eyes and rosebud lips transformed. She felt a tingle at the place of her third eye and at once knew that she too had a horn like her sisters.
The moon high in the sky now, its luminous gaze of approval to the birth of Hylzarie below. A shooting star shot across the sky adding to the celebration. All was quiet. Then there blew up a breeze, and with it across the dark blanket of sky, clouds raced towards the moon. Their great billowing tufted balls casting shadows across the earth.
Hylzarie looked up to see great Pegasus, imposing and encircled with cloud. Shades of magenta, aqua, violet and blue swirling, flowing, circling about him, his long mane flowing with the breeze, unable to see where his mane ended and the circles began, his huge powerful wings arched high into the heavens, powerful beyond anything Hylzarie had ever imagined. His presence filled her, His voice inside her, a part of her.
"Hylzarie you are the chosen one, you are the light and doorway to our future, you must keep the gateway safe, guard it with your life and only allow those with the gift through. If you fail you will die along with your clan and their future."
Hylzarie reared, her feathered hooves reaching high into the sky, she threw back her head releasing a cry. Her powerful hind legs exploded her entire being into the sky, her spirit soared into the clouds, propelling her higher and higher. She felt so powerful and limitless. Her entire being filled with energy and light.
Full of power from the moon and universe, her hooves fell towards the earth once more. When her front hooves felt the thud of the earth beneath her, the full heaviness of gravity oozed back into her being and the comforting sensation of mother earth, warmed her blood again.
Liza is an Australian social worker and successful social entrepreneur with three teenage children and four cats who is harnessing increased time and the space to extend on her writing.
Previously published co-author of social work practice programs, Liza is putting pen to paper in a new genre. Filled with sentimentality and adoration of human resilience, Liza incorporates paranormal, fantasy and spiritualist concepts and philosophies into her fiction writing. Writing sets her soul free and allows her imagination to wander, creating new landscapes and worlds for her readers to explore.
Rise of Hylzarie is Liza's first flash fiction in a fantasy world, and is an excerpt from a wider piece that encompasses a world where unicorns run free, and where magic transcends the human race.
Ring Pop ~ A Flash Fiction Romance by Rebekah Simmers
Oct 25 2017, 11:56 pm in Family, Flash Fiction, Romance
Graham was kneeling, sinking into the muddied trail, with a broad smile and his arm outstretched holding the ring. A cherry red ring pop.
"You're such a son of a bitch," Annie said, biting her lip, hands hard on her hips.
"Get up," she said, cocking her head and motioning with her hand. Seriously? What is this? He can't really….
"Answer me first."
Thousands of thuds pounded around them, spitting through the naked tree limbs laced thickly above, smacking against rocks, earth and piles of sun burnt leaves around their feet. Looking up, Graham belted out a hearty laugh.
"What's so amusing?"
"This," he laughed.
"Can we just go? We're getting soaked," Annie sputtered, looking frantically around. I can't do this. I'm not ready.
He coughed and shook himself, his hair flying around like a wet dog.
"Not until you give me an answer woman," he said in a playful draw, fluttering his thick brows.
"You can't be serious. This isn't the time for this!" Annie's arms though covered in her jacket, were rife with goosebumps, her nerves flying electrically through her skin. She shook her feet alternately, her socks swollen with water than had soaked through her sneakers and diverted her eyes. Damnit.
"There's never been a better time," Graham said, broadly swiveling around, gesturing around them. "C'mon love. Say you'll marry me. Take me, here, now – all these trees will stand witness."
Annie smiled, but her heart rose sharply into her throat.
"I love you," she said. "Really, I do but….."
"Then say yes."
"I don't want things to change," Annie said, her voice cracking. He moved to her, lifting her chin gently to see into her eyes.
"WE won't," he said.
"Then why? Why do we have to be married?" Annie said. I'm going to lose him. Here. Now. This is how this will end.
"Why?" Graham repeated, with a soft smile. "Because I love you. You love me. I want you to be my wife. To be married. Married old fools who go hiking in the rain."
She shook her head, trying to throw the words away from her. I can't….give that much…..Bare myself….risk it all. Again.
Graham's brows hardened and his jaw twitched at her words.
"I just can't," Annie repeated quietly.
"You're not making sense," he said, bobbing his head trying to regain eye contact.
She turned and walked into the trees, leaning against one heavily.
"You don't understand – what it was like to….try so hard…..lose so much……"
"You're right, I haven't been through what you have." He trudged up behind Annie, turning her with a solid yet soft grip on her shoulder. "But love, I am NOT him."
"I know that."
"Then don't let HIM, what he did, ruin US. Please," Graham said. "What we have is great. It's actually pretty fucking great. I love you. You're a STUBBORN ASS, but you're brilliant, and funny, and sexy as hell…..We're good together. Better than any of that bull-shit. You know that." He shook his head. "Damnit. Have I ever done anything like that? WOULD I? Don't be afraid of me because of……."
"It's not just me in this," Annie said sharply. "You know that. I love you. So much. I just don't know if getting married is the right thing. I promised myself that I wouldn't – for Adam's sake. He's the most important thing in my life."
Graham's shoulders pulled back, as a wave rolled through him.
"I know he is. He's your son," he said.
Annie nodded, crossing her arms over her chest as hot tears rose behind her eyes.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you."
"That's all over. Behind me." She looked away, lost in thought.
"He's a great kid. Adam."
"He told me you liked cherry."
"Cherry," he said, flicking the ring pop into his mouth and winking at her. "I almost forgot. He wanted me to give you this."
Graham handed her a sloppily wrapped box and then held his backpack over them like a canopy.
"You work so hard," he said as she pulled at the crinkled paper. "You do everything right by Adam. For him. And you love him fiercely…."
Annie opened the flaps of the box and saw a card. "Mommy".
"I want to be a part of that. Take care of, and do right by you BOTH. You – and Adam – deserve that. I know he's not my blood, but I love him. And with every part of me, woman, I love and adore you," Graham said, his hand brushing the line of her cheek. "Adam has an incredible, strong mother – I'd like to show him what it's like to have a real man for a father. One who respects his mother. Treats her right. A man, a father, who will fight to my very last breath to give you both the world. Let me be that man. Let us be a family."
A small sob escaped as Annie opened the card. Adam had drawn a picture of the three of them on the mountain – him in the middle, holding both of their hands. On her other hand was a large cherry red diamond. The curved smile drawn on his face spoke volumes and three words he had written in crayon were simple and blunt – "say yes Mommy"
Annie straightened, her eyes tracing over the soaked mess in front of her. This is a good – really good – man. And he's right. THIS is right. I can't let fear…my past…dictate my future.
Graham nodded towards the box and the blue jewelry box nestled into the bottom. When she opened it, a ring with three diamonds sparkled up at her.
"One for each of us," he smiled, with a large exhale. Tears freely falling, she leaned into him, kissing him on his cherry flavored lips.
"You're right. There's never been a better time." She smiled, her heart warm and at peace within her chest. "Yes."
I'm addicted to words. As a kid, I wrote about bunnies. My teenage years were full of short stories and poems, as I tried to figure out who I was and where I wanted to go with my life. At 40 – the road here and ahead look pretty grand. I've dove head first into writing and research as I work to complete my first novel in a trilogy – a lifelong dream that I'm working hard to realize. In my "spare time", I'm a military spouse, mother of five (awesome) children and one furbaby (meow), volunteer and "Peaker". Currently located in Germany, (which luckily supports my research habit of studying castles and medieval life), my greatest joy now is balancing raising five good hearted resilient children with my best friend, with combatting the stress of military life and special needs parenting, while happily re-adding the word "writer" to my life story. Rebekah
Burning Revenge ~ A Flash Fiction Contemporary Romance by Alyssa Henderson
Oct 24 2017, 11:45 pm in BFFs, Flash Fiction, Florida Writer, Romance
Burning Revenge
"Mal, I don't think this is such a good idea anymore." Katie's dark-lined eyes scanned the corridor they stood in. Her hands nervously tugging the cords hanging from her black hoodie. They thought it would be a good idea to dress in Mission Impossible black outfits for their covert op, but now she looked down at herself and best friend, she felt ridiculous. This was probably the stupidest thing Mallory had ever talked her in to. She might as well put the handcuffs on right now.
"This is a brilliant idea. Best one yet. Have I ever steered you wrong?" Mallory crouched in front of apartment G-7 and aptly pick the lock.
"Yes, on several occasions."
"Pff, I get you out of that damn comfort zone you've boxed yourself into." Mallory jiggled the door knob and it opened. She gave Katie a sly smile. "We're in."
"How do you know how to pick a lock?" Katie asked. An incredulous tinge to her voice.
Mallory stood, shrugging her shoulders. "I know people. Now let's go." She pulled her hoodie down and walked into the apartment as if she had every right to be there.
Katie's eyes darted around the hallway again. Why did she agree to this? Oh-wait, that's right. Her ADHD on crack co-worker did everything he could and almost succeeded in sabotaging the promotion she's been busting her ass for. Anger jackhammered through her as the memories of today's meeting flashed in her head. She was not going to let that dickhead Tommy Trent get away with what he'd done.
They spent the next few minutes sorting through the two boxes of dildos that cost damn near half her paycheck. The plan was simple. Decorate his entire apartment with them and ruin his top-secret date with Daisy, the HR Director with their firm.
"Who knew they made so many different types. I mean look at this one?" Katie said holding up a double headed penis. It was velvety soft and confused the hell out of her. "How does this even work? Is it like a raunchy tug of war game?" She tilted her head and squinted.
"Ooo, what about this one!" Mallory held up a gigantic cock like a trophy. Her fingers didn't come close to meeting as she waved it back and forth like a sloppy noodle. "Awe, that's sad. I think this one needs some Viagra."
Katie laughed. Snorted and then laughed harder causing Mallory to fall backwards laughing hysterically. Katie hit Mallory in the arm with the double edge dildo. "Shh" snort snort "We're gonna get caught." Snort. "Seriously…" and she was gone, lost in fits of snorting hysteria.
"Who's going to catch us the dildo police?" They dissolved into hysterics again.
"Ohmygod, did you hear that?" Katie pulled herself upright.
Voices came from the other side of the door. Mallory's eyes widened and Katie's mouth dropped.
"I thought you said he had reservations." Mallory whispered. Straining her ear toward the door.
Katie shrugged looking at the colorful penis display they had thrown around them. "Maybe she stood him up?" she whispered back, swinging her arms wide. "What are we going to do?"
Mallory bit her bottom lip as she tossed her hands up with the larger-than-life dildo still in her hand.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Mallory's mouth dropped open. "Ohmygod, Katie. It vibrates."
Katie rolled her eyes. "Well, it has to do something besides being limp. Now, turn that thing off."
Mallory turned it upside down, then rolled it in her hands before looking back at Katie. "I don't know how."
Katie's lips pulled to one side as she stared at the puzzle in her friend's hand. "Shake it?"
Mallory pumped the mammoth penis in the air three times. Harder each time. "I can't get it to work." She looked at Katie in disbelief.
Katie chewed on the inside of her cheek, desperately trying not to lose it. "Don't!" She held up a finger in warning to Mallory then pointed to the door.
Mallory's eyes danced as she scrunched up her face.
The snorting hysteria followed.
The sharp click of the lock sobered them in an instant. Plastic penises flew through the air as they scrambled to find a hiding place finally cramming into the pantry.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
The hum of the vibrating Goliath dildo still reverberated through the apartment.
"What the fuck?" Tommy's voice boomed.
Katie scrunched her eyes closed. They were so getting busted. She could smell the stale, musty jail cell now.
"Is this some kind of joke Tommy? Or do you have some kind of fetish?" Daisy's soft southern belle voice floated through the apartment.
"No. NO! I-I don't know what this is. I swear." Tommy said.
"Cause, you know, I don't mind." Daisy said all breathy.
Katie and Mallory side-eyed each other.
"I think it's sexy,"
"You…uh…you do?" Shock evident in Tommy's voice.
"Mmhm… like this one. Ooo, it's already turned on for me." Daisy giggled.
Katie pulled back bumping into the shelves behind her. She looked to Mallory. "If they go at it right here and I have to listen to it, I'm killing you." She half mouthed- half whispered as low as possible.
Mallory gave an outrageous eye roll then mouthed "whatever."
"Well." Tommy cleared his throat. "I guess we should put this to good use then… in the bedroom?"
"You read my mind, you dirty, dirty boy." Daisy giggled again. "Oh, grab that bottle of lube too."
Mallory gave Katie a broad smile and two thumbs up. "Told you, swapping out the lube with unscented Bengay was going to be epic."
Katie glared at Mallory. "I hate you. I'm never letting you talk me into shit like this ever again."
Mallory laughed. "Sure you will. Now, move it before we get caught." Her eyes glittered in the dark, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "Think he'll get fired?"
"Oh yeah." Katie grinned back.
I'm Alyssa Henderson. Like all things in my life, I came a little late to the writing party. I've been a professional dreamer all my life, but it wasn't until my early thirties my stories refused to be squashed. I began writing and I haven't stopped since. Creating the perfect plot twist for my story is seriously one of the best things EVER. I am a book junkie with a coffee habit and no desire to stop either. I love practicing yoga, enjoying good food with my family and friends – with wine, of course (got to balance out the caffeine) and walking my dogs if the weather is nice. When I'm not writing and juggling daily life, I love traveling and using my experiences to enrich my stories and characters and meeting up with other writers. The writing community is truly amazing.
Today ~ A Flash Fiction Romance by Jo Jackson
Oct 20 2017, 6:09 am in Finland, Flash Fiction, MPC Writer, Romance
"So, what's it going to be today? Chicken or ham?" Her voice wasn't as chipper as it could have been but then given the sodden trainers that were squelching her around the office space and the torrential rain battering the windows, no one could have been overly surprised.
"Do you have tuna?"
"Really? We're really going to do this. Again." The sandwich girl sighed wearily, switching her basket of clingfilm smothered sandwiches and rolls to the other hip. The plastic wrap decorated with droplets of water that sparkled under the lighting. She rolled her shoulders to try and get the wet shirt to stop clinging to her back, the fabric making her want to shiver.
"Well, do you?" his tone was hopeful.
"Dan, let me ask you a question. It is Dan, isn't it?"
Dan nodded.
"Dan, did I have tuna yesterday?"
He shook his head.
"Or the day before?"
Another shake and his overly bright smile began to fade ever so slightly.
"Have I ever, in all the months I've been bringing sandwiches to your office, had tuna?"
"No," he replied quietly.
"And do you know why that is, Dan?"
"Because no one orders any?"
"Because no one orders any. No one has ever ordered tuna and so no tuna sandwiches ever make their way into my basket. And yet every day, every single day, you ask if I have one." She tried to keep her voice down but there was little chance that her words didn't carry to the nearest cubicles around them, even more so given that most people seemed to have paused their work to listen in. "May I suggest if you're so keen to have a fish based sandwich for your lunch, Dan, you bloody well order one when asked!"
In the silence that followed a droplet of rain dripped from her pixie cut hair and ran down her forehead and dripped off the quirked brow currently aimed at the hapless Dan.
Somewhere, in someone's cubicle, a phone rang and the bubble burst instantly. Quiet noise filling up the office space once more and prompting Dan into responding.
"I'll have ham, please," Dan took the offered sandwich with a muted word of thanks, dropping some coins into her outstretched hand to cover the cost.
Closing her eyes and taking a slow breath to try and calm herself down she turned away from Dan and his non-tuna filled sandwich and headed to the next cubicle. The man inside clearly amused by what had just gone on given the grin on his lips.
"Well, that was rather dramatic for a Tuesday lunchtime, even for you and Dan and your daily battle of the baguettes."
"You need to get out more, that was nothing. You want drama? Go to the office where only one gluten free sandwich has been ordered and someone else has taken it."
"I can imagine," he chuckled, holding out a box of tissues. "Handbags at ten paces."
"You're not far off," she smiled gratefully, setting her basket down on the corner of his desk and taking one of the offered tissues to wipe at her face.
"Aren't you worried someone might make a complaint?"
"Oddly enough, this isn't my dream job," she countered defensively, balling up the damp tissue and tossing it into a nearby bin. "If I'm completely honest, when I left the sandwich shop and the heavens opened I was genuinely tempted to just chuck this lot on the ground, put the basket over my head and go home."
As if to emphasise her point there was a massive flash of lightning outside followed by a crash of thunder so loud it shook the huge windows that stretched from floor to ceiling.
"I don't blame you," he assured her, frowning slightly. "But, even so, you'd probably need a reference, wouldn't you? A bad comment from a client could really mess that up."
"I appreciate your concern," her voice was a little softer, it surprised them both, "but if he hasn't got the balls to order the sandwich he wants I highly doubt he's going to be picking up the phone to start making complaints any time soon."
"I'm sure I'll be back here tomorrow, with a basket devoid of tuna based lunch items, just as I always am."
"Well, I hope so. I kind of like watching you and Dan every day."
"Then I'll do my best not to disappoint, assuming I don't get washed away on my way to the next office on my list of course." She blushed slightly. "So, what'll it be? Chicken or ham?"
"Today?"
"Today I'd really like to take you out for dinner but I didn't put that on the order slip this morning so…" his words tailed off and her eyes rose from the basket to his face. "I guess it'll have to be chicken."
"Dinner?" she repeated quietly, suddenly hoping her eyeliner wasn't too badly ruined by the rain.
"No, chicken," he repeated slowly, stressing the syllables slightly.
Grinning bashfully, she pulled out a chicken roll from her basket and held it out.
"But, I don't even know your name," she admitted as he took it from her and pulled his wallet from his suit jacket pocket.
"You're Sophie, the sandwich girl, and I'm Chris. I like sandwiches and walks in the rain. Seems like we'd be a good match." He held out a ten pound note to pay for the sandwich along with his business card.
"I don't have enough change for this."
"Don't worry, you can bring it along tonight. Give me a call or a text later and we'll sort out where to meet."
"Ok then," Sophie smiled, pocketing the card and hoping like hell that it survived the rest of the lunchtime deliveries.
"Ok," Chris repeated, watching her walk away.
"So," Sophie approached the next cubicle with a much brighter expression than she had been wearing a few minutes earlier. "What'll it be today?"
I'm Jo Jackson and I've been writing stories since I was a child. I wrote my first serious attempt at a novel at the age of 14 and wrote regularly after that until real life and 'adulting' got in the way.
A few years ago I allowed myself to have enough belief and confidence in my writing to try and do something about the stories that have been trapped in my imagination for too long. I'm a British born preschool teacher and photographer who's been living for the last 12 years in Northern Finland with my husband, two children and our crazy black labrador. Here I write under the northern lights in winter and the midnight sun in summer, taking large amounts of inspiration from family holidays spent in the Scottish Highlands as well as the adventure games of my childhood. I tend to write about love, in various guises. Check out my book, 'Moments Matter: The importance of family photography'
Bitter ~ A Flash Fiction Mystery by Carolyn Greeley
Oct 20 2017, 6:09 am in Flash Fiction, Florida Writer, Mystery
The woman thrashed across the bed. Sheets and covers tangled her legs. She clawed at her throat, fighting to breathe. Specks of light floated before her eyes as she strained to see through the darkness.
Familiar male laughter rumbled over the ringing in her ears.
Jane Harris gasped awake. Her heart pounded as she struggled upright and flipped on a lamp, focused on her surroundings. She scanned her small Manhattan bedroom. Empty. The scent of sour sweat sickened her as she raked trembling fingers through her hair.
She hadn't heard the last of her ex-boyfriend.
Slipping out of bed, she checked the window latch before heading to the kitchen. Lights flicked on as she went.
See? He's not here. No one's here. He can't hurt me again. Her hand tightened into a fist. He won't.
She inspected the apartment, then entered the bathroom. Stared in the mirror as she filled a cup with water. The woman reflected looked alien: hollow blue eyes and snarled hair framed an ashen face. A quick swallow, then she faced her bedroom again. And thoughts of Tom Ridley, her ex of two months past.
Memories chased away sleep. The first bruising grab after she teased his football team's loss. The belittling of her choice of Miles Davis over his AC/DC. The time his punch cracked her ribs because he claimed she'd flirted with another man.
As if I'd ever do that. I can't even think of other men. Another slow breath. But at least I finally ditched him.
Spring blossomed the next week. The dream didn't return, and Jane enjoyed the mundaneness of spring cleaning, errand-running, and doctor visits that marked her personal season change. Routine brought a gratifying calm.
One evening, an eerie sensation crawled over her as she left the dentist. Dusk crept into the streets. Lights winked on but didn't dispel sidewalk shadows. She glanced around. Nothing unusual. Still, tingling iced her spine. Entering a boutique on her block, she ducked behind a display, and turned to look outside.
Tom Ridley pinioned her with his stare.
Minutes ticked by.
He didn't move. She couldn't.
A clerk approached. The distraction startled Jane, and she bumped into the rack, dislodging items. She stammered an apology, then looked toward the window.
Tom had vanished.
Oh, God, where is he?
Fumbling fingers dialed her friend Helen. Voicemail. She hesitated, then slipped out. Phone and keys in hand, she peered around and hurried home. The deadbolt slammed behind her.
Over the next week, Jane's life deteriorated. The standoff with Tom left her jittery, fearful of other surprises. Her nights became restless, nightmare-plagued. She suffered through long days with an achy head and an acid stomach.
"Maybe visit your dad for a couple days," Helen suggested. "Get your mind off things."
"I'd hate to worry him. He and Tom never got along, and hearing this would upset him." She shook her head. "I'll just hope that was the end of it."
That night, Jane writhed across the bed. Rough hands choked her again. This time, though, she awoke gagging. She stumbled to her bathroom, spat out the mouth guard she slept with. She'd cracked off a piece and swallowed it.
What a joke! This is supposed to help?
Her dentist instructed her to sleep with the guard because stress had her grinding her teeth. She returned to bed, but nausea and sleeplessness overwhelmed her.
Her boss frowned when he saw her the next morning, noting her sunken cheeks and bloodshot eyes. "You look like death with a side of fries. You need a doctor." He patted her shoulder. "Go on, get outta here."
Great, I'm freaking him out, too. I guess the doctor isn't a bad idea.
She'd tried over-the-counter remedies. Nothing helped. Still queasy, she felt more drained every day. The negative pregnancy test result brought relief, but even one less major stressor didn't alleviate her symptoms.
Something else was wrong.
"Don't worry, Ms. Harris," said the doctor. "We'll have your results in a few days. The office will call to follow up. In the meantime, try to get a good night's rest." Her hand twitched, wanting to smack him.
She headed to the dentist next, to replace her mouth guard. The entrance flung open, and Jane jumped as a man dashed out, nearly sideswiping her.
She stumbled backward. Her uneasy gaze scanned the area for help before she noticed his lab coat and supply bag. She'd forgotten he was a technician for one of her dentist's suppliers, though they'd met during his rounds.
His gaze pierced her. "You feeling okay, Jane? You look like hell."
She ignored him, hurried inside, feeling daggers in her back.
The dentist took Jane's guard to return to the supplier. Because Tom had left, the lab dispatched another tech for the pickup.
Now we wait and see….
Three nights of solid sleep helped, but a call from her dentist disquieted Jane. The tech examined her mouth guard and found it wasn't made of the usual material. Molded to last for years, it shouldn't have broken. The tech was running tests to determine its chemical composition.
The phone rang again. What now? Her doctor's words chilled her. Her bloodwork showed unusual inclusions; she was to return to the office immediately.
Jane listened to the doctor as a steady buzz intensified in her head.
Traces of arsenic.
"What? Poison?" She hugged herself tight.
"Exposure occurs in numerous ways. From the volume we detected, it was small but prolonged. Let's go through any changes in your routine over the past two months to see if we can isolate anything unusual."
Jane's horror escalated as they dissected her life. She described her recent improvement and the conversation with her dentist. She shook her head. But she couldn't ignore her mouth guard as the likely conduit.
And Tom Ridley the only suspect.
The arresting officers found his apartment abandoned. Fear, fury streaked through Jane when she heard. Soon after, she began to plot her revenge.
Carolyn Greeley is the award-winning author of Emerald Obsession. Equal parts city slicker and beach bum, she concocts mystery-adventures, combining elements of both locales. Contemporary action and historic exploits infuse her stories, creating an engaging escape. A former Manhattanite, she now lives in St. Augustine, Florida, where things like cellphone photography, wine-and-cheese adoration, dictionary reading, and investigating everything are perfectly acceptable pastimes. Visit her at carolyngreeley.com. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, GoodReads, and Pinterest.
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LyndaLadret: Interesting poems, very expressive. I think I will try this form of poem. Thanks for the inspiration
Alyssa: Wow! That's really inspiring. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
rhenuber: Glad you could stop by
rhenuber: Thanks
Liza: Cool!! Light houses are fascinating, do much history and stories that are hidden within their walls.
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As a cornerstone of our thriving community in Caldwell, Idaho, West Valley Medical Center offers exceptional healthcare. We meet that standard by focusing on the needs and comfort of our patients, upgrading technology and offering advanced procedures in Canyon County.
Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. In recognition of this commitment, we strive to deliver high-quality, cost-effective healthcare to the communities we serve.
Named among the nation's 100 Top Hospitals® by Truven Health Analytics™ for three consecutive years (2014-2016).
Grade "A" hospital safety score from Fall 2014 to Fall 2015 by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national non-profit who's aim is to inform Americans about their hospital's safety and quality and promote full public disclosure of hospital performance.
The only hospital in Idaho to achieve designation among the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare 2015 by Modern Healthcare. This annual award recognizes outstanding employers in the healthcare industry nationwide that empower employees to perform at their optimum level.


text:
Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became successful films: Gypsy, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Funny Girl.

Early life
Styne was born to a Jewish family in London, England. His parents, Anna Kertman and Isadore Stein, were emigrants from Ukraine, the Russian Empire, and ran a small grocery. Even before his family left Britain, he did impressions on the stage of well-known singers, including Harry Lauder, who saw him perform and advised him to take up the piano. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Chicago, where he began taking piano lessons. He proved to be a prodigy and performed with the Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit Symphonies before he was ten years old.

Career
Before Styne attended Chicago Musical College, he had already attracted the attention of another teenager, Mike Todd, later a successful film producer, who commissioned him to write a song for a musical act that he was creating. It was the first of over 1,500 published songs Styne composed in his career. His first hit, "Sunday", was written in 1926.

In 1929, Styne was playing with the Ben Pollack band.

Styne was a vocal coach for 20th Century Fox until Darryl F. Zanuck fired him because vocal coaching was "a luxury, and we're cutting out those luxuries." Zanuck told him he should write songs because "that's forever." Styne established his own dance band, which got him noticed in Hollywood, where he was championed by Frank Sinatra and began a collaboration with lyricist Sammy Cahn. He and Cahn wrote many songs for the movies, including "It's Been a Long, Long Time" (No. 1 for three weeks for Harry James and His Orchestra in 1945), "Five Minutes More", and the Oscar-winning title song for Three Coins in the Fountain (1954). Ten of his songs were Oscar-nominated, many of them written with Cahn, including "I've Heard That Song Before" (No. 1 for 13 weeks for Harry James and His Orchestra in 1943), "I'll Walk Alone", "It's Magic" (a No. 2 hit for Doris Day in 1948), and "I Fall In Love Too Easily". He collaborated with Leo Robin on the score for the 1955 musical film My Sister Eileen.

In 1947, Styne wrote his first score for a Broadway musical, High Button Shoes, with Cahn, and over the next several decades wrote the scores for many Broadway shows, most notably Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan (additional music), Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy, Do Re Mi, Funny Girl, Lorelei, Sugar (with a story based on the movie Some Like It Hot, but all new music), and the Tony-winning Hallelujah, Baby!.

Styne wrote original music for the short-lived themed amusement park Freedomland U.S.A. that opened on June 19, 1960.

His collaborators included Sammy Cahn, Leo Robin, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Hilliard, and Bob Merrill.

He wrote career-altering Broadway scores for a wide variety of major stars, including Phil Silvers, Carol Channing, Mary Martin, Judy Holliday, Ethel Merman, and an up-and-coming Barbra Streisand.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life for British television in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in New York's Time Square.

Styne died of heart failure in New York City at the age of 88. His archiveincluding original hand-written compositions, letters, and production materialsis housed at the Harry Ransom Center.

Awards
Styne was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972 and the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981, and he was a recipient of a Drama Desk Special Award and the Kennedy Center Honors in 1990. Additionally, Styne won the 1955 Oscar for Best Music, Original Song for "Three Coins in the Fountain", and "Hallelujah, Baby!" won the 1968 Tony Award for Best Original Score.

Songs
A selection of the many songs that Styne wrote:
 "The Christmas Waltz"
 "Conchita Marquita Lolita Pepita Rosita Juanita Lopez"
 "Don't Rain on My Parade" (from Funny Girl)
 "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
 "Everything's Coming Up Roses" (from Gypsy)
 "Every Street's a Boulevard in Old New York" (from Hazel Flagg)
 "Fiddle Dee Dee"
 "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry"
 "How Do You Speak to an Angel"
 "I Don't Want to Walk Without You"
 "I Fall in Love Too Easily" (from Anchors Aweigh)
 "I Still Get Jealous" (High Button Shoes)
 "I'll Walk Alone"
 "It's Been a Long, Long Time"
 "It's Magic" (from Romance on the High Seas)
 "It's You or No One"
 "I've Heard That Song Before"
 "Just in Time" (from Bells Are Ringing)
 "Let Me Entertain You" (from Gypsy)
 "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
 "Long Before I Knew You"
 "Make Someone Happy" (from Do Re Mi)
 "Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket" (from Living It Up)
 "Neverland"
 "Papa, Wont You Dance with Me?"
 "The Party's Over" (from Bells Are Ringing)
 "People" (from Funny Girl)
 "Pico and Sepulveda"
 "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)" sung by Frank Sinatra
 "Small World", from Gypsy, which became a moderate hit when sung by Johnny Mathis in 1959
 "Sunday" with Ned Miller
 "The Things We Did Last Summer"
 "Time After Time" (from It Happened in Brooklyn)
 "Three Coins in the Fountain", Oscar-winning song from the film of the same name
 "Together (Wherever We Go)" (from Gypsy)
 "Winter Was Warm" (from Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol)

Credits
 Ice Capades of 1943 (1942) – Styne contributed one song
 Glad to See You! (1944) – closed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during tryout
 High Button Shoes (1947)
 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949)
 Michael Todd's Peep Show (1950) – Styne contributed 2 numbers
 Two on the Aisle (1951)
 Hazel Flagg (1953)
 Peter Pan (1954) (additional music)
 My Sister Eileen (1955)
 Bells Are Ringing (1956)
 Say, Darling (1958)
 A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1958)
 First Impressions (1959) (produced by)
 Gypsy (1959)
 Do Re Mi (1960)
 Subways Are for Sleeping (1961)
 Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962)
 Arturo Ui (1963) – Styne contributed incidental music to this Bertolt Brecht play
 Funny Girl (1964)
 Wonderworld (1964) – lyrics by Styne's son, Stanley
 Fade Out – Fade In (1964)
 Something More! (1964) – directed by Styne
 The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood (1965)
 Hallelujah, Baby! (1967)
 Darling of the Day (1968)
 Look to the Lilies (1970)
 The Night the Animals Talked (1970)
 Prettybelle (1971) – closed in Boston
 Sugar (1972) (revised as Some Like It Hot: The Musical for a 2002-03 national USA tour starring Tony Curtis as Osgood Fielding, Jr.)
 Lorelei (1974) – essentially a sequel/revival of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
 Hellzapoppin'! (1976) – closed in Baltimore during pre-Broadway tryout
 Side by Side by Sondheim (1976)
 Bar Mitzvah Boy (1978)
 One Night Stand (1980) – closed during preview period
 Pieces of Eight (1985)
 The Red Shoes (1993)

References

Further reading
 Suskin, Steven (1986). Show Tunes 1905-1985: The Songs, Shows and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers, New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1986.
 Suskin, Steven (2009). The Sound of Broadway Music, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
 Taylor, Theodore. Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne, New York: Random House, 1979.

External links

 Jule Styne Papers at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

 Jule Styne at the Kennedy Center

1905 births
1994 deaths
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American musicians
20th-century classical musicians
20th-century English musicians
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
British emigrants to the United States
British musical theatre composers
British songwriters
Broadway composers and lyricists
English Jews
English people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Grammy Award winners
Jewish American classical musicians
Jewish American songwriters
Kennedy Center honorees
Male musical theatre composers
Musicians from London
Tony Award winners

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As he ramps up for the release of his new solo album early next year, Johnny Marr has been appearing on U.K. radio programs, most recently recording a session for Dermot O'Leary's show on BBC Radio 2 earlier this week that aired today. The 20-minute session featured an interview in addition to performances of "New Town Velocity," off the upcoming The Messenger, and a take on The Smiths' classic "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" — which you can stream right here (via morrissey-solo.com).
If you're in the U.K., you should be able to stream the whole session via the BBC.
For those outside the UK you can hear Johnny at the site below. Starts at 19:46.
Johnny's voice is surprisingly plaintive and pleasant. Brilliant.


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Launch of new Terumo-sponsored randomized study investigating distal radial access: DISCO RADIAL
First patient enrolled in the DISCO RADIAL study
Terumo Europe N.V., a leading medical device company, announces the launch of a new randomized clinical trial: the DIStal vs COnventional RADIAL access trial (DISCO RADIAL). The trial compares the novel distal radial access with conventional radial access approach, in terms of radial occlusion rates (RAO) at discharge.
Transradial approach is the preferred vascular access for coronary angiography and interventions. Recently, the distal radial artery from the anatomical snuffbox on the dorsal side of the hand ("distal TRA" or "snuffbox access") has emerged as an alternative access to the conventional forearm radial artery for coronary angiography and interventions.
DISCO RADIAL is the first large international randomized study designed to investigate the benefits of distal radial access over conventional radial access approach. The study plans to enrol 1300 patients, in approximately 13 centers in Europe and Japan. The patients will be randomly assigned to one of the two access groups.
DISCO RADIAL aims to generate clinical evidence on the potential benefits of this novel distal access approach over the conventional radial approach, and to support the use of the distal radial approach as an alternative to the conventional radial approach.
Principal investigator Dr Saito, Interventional Cardiologist from Shonan Kamakura General Hospital, Japan, commented: 'The radial approach is a small world and just one of the access methods. However, its impact on the clinical field has been proven potent and significant. Everybody was thinking we will never have anything novel in this small world. However, unexpectedly it was not true. The distal radial approach is truly novel, and nobody has evidence yet proving its advantage over the conventional radial approach. As the group of physicians working in this field, we have the responsibility to show its efficacy. That is the reason to initiate the trial.'
Principal investigator Dr Aminian, Interventional Cardiologist from Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Charleroi, Belgium, said: 'This novel access has raised great enthusiasm among the radial community, despite the paucity of clinical evidence supporting its use. Beyond potential advantages related to improved operator/patient comfort, easier and shorter haemostasis, an important feature of this technique is a puncture distal to the superficial palmar arch. Distal TRA has the potential to maintain antegrade flow in the forearm radial artery during haemostatic compression, reducing thereby the risk of retrograde thrombus formation in the forearm radial artery and therefore the risk of RAO. The current available data on distal TRA is limited to relatively small prospective and retrospective case series looking primarily at the feasibility and success rates with this approach. By assessing the potential benefit and limitations of this alternative access, DISCO RADIAL will have an important clinical impact for radial operators.'
Dr Christophe Giot, Chief Medical Officer, Terumo Europe, commented that this study will generate clinical evidence for this novel distal access approach, and reflects Terumo's commitment to evidence based clinical practice and to the improvement of patients' healthcare.
Enrolment is expected to be completed within one year, and results are expected to be available in 2021. Terumo, the pioneer in transradial access products, is sponsoring this new study.
Name: Irene Barriocanal
Title: Clinical Project & Team manager, EMCD, Terumo Europe
EMAIL: Irene.Barriocanal@terumo-europe.com
About Terumo Europe NV
Terumo Europe, founded in 1971, is a core player in the EMEA healthcare market by providing best in class quality medical products and services. We are a strong actor of the Terumo Group by contributing to innovation and sustainable growth. Terumo Europe produces, distributes, markets and sells a vast range of medical devices in four main business units: Hospital and Laboratory Systems, Global Pharmaceutical Solutions, Interventional Systems and Cardio Vascular Products. Terumo Europe EMEA headquarters and production facilities are located in Haasrode (Belgium), production facility in Knowsley (UK) and sales units across EMEA.
Please visit www.terumo-europe.com for more information.
About Terumo Corporation
Tokyo-based Terumo Corporation is one of the world's leading medical device manufacturers with US $6 billion in sales and operations in more than 160 nations. Founded in 1921, the company develops, manufactures, and distributes world-class medical devices including products for use in cardiothoracic surgery, interventional procedures, and transfusion medicine; the company also manufactures a broad array of syringe and hypodermic needle products for hospital and physician-office use. Terumo contributes to society by providing valued products and services to the healthcare market, and by responding to the needs of healthcare providers and the people they serve. Terumo Corporation's shares are listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (No. 4543, Reuters symbol <4543.T>, or Bloomberg 4543: JP) and is a component of the Nikkei 225, Japan's leading stock index.


text:
Archive Series 2008/9
Australia In India
Ponting Calls For Australia To Raise Standards
©REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe (INDIA) Picture Supplied by Action Images
Australia have realised just how high their standards must be if they are to retain their world supremacy following a 2-0 series loss to India, captain Ricky Ponting said on Monday. India beat Australia by 172 runs in the fourth Test on Monday to hand the world number one side their first series defeat since the 2005 Ashes tour to England. "That's the lessons we've all learned, particularly the younger guys, about how high that level has to be if you want to win Test series in this part of the world," Ponting told reporters. "The expectations of all of us probably have to go down slightly when you lose some of the great players we've lost but I still expect a certain level of play from the Australian team. "You don't get to wear the baggy green (Test cap) unless you're an exceptionally talented and hard-working cricketer." Australia have lost bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist through retirements and only Ponting, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich and Matthew Hayden from the current squad had Test experience in India prior to this tour. The Indians won the second Test at Mohali by a record 320 runs to go 1-0 up in the series. Australia's bowlers then managed to take only 12 Indian wickets in the drawn third Test and Ponting gambled by handing off-spinner Jason Krejza his debut in the final Test. Krejza took eight wickets in the first innings for a match haul of 12 wickets. "Jason's debut is astounding really, for someone to take 12 wickets on debut is a magnificent achievement," Ponting said. "He's stood up to be counted probably more than anybody else has in the whole series with his one opportunity." Australia take on New Zealand next in a two-Test series this month. "It's a short turnaround for us, we've another Test in a week and a half's time or whatever it is and have to make sure when we get back to Australia against New Zealand that we're doing things a lot better than we have here," Ponting said. © Reuters 2008
Previewing the 2019 Ashes Series – England vs Australia
O Ravi Jadeja: The real 3-d player who saved India embarrassment in the World Cup semi-final
Sophie Molineux Speaks After Unbeaten Half Century
Aaron Finch accepts Australia were outplayed by classy England
New Zealand move into World Cup Final after trumping India by 18 runs in roller-coaster
Kohli admits New Zealand were too good with the new ball
Krish Srikkanth - Conditions helped New Zealand beat India but their bowling was fantastic
Australia vs England head to head - how the two semi-finalists match up


In Which Of The 13 English Colonies Would You Have Preferred To Live?
In What Sense Is Jane Eyre A Feminist Novel?
In what way has globalisation impacted on the South African State?
In what ways are families good for society?
In your chosen two television programmes, discuss the extent to which situation comedy is dependent on stereotypical representations of gender.
In What Ways, If Any, Have Terrorists Exploited Religion, The Media And Democratic Processes To Pursue Their Goals?
In what ways are the ideas of socio-biology linked with Eugenics: what's wrong with trying to engineer a better society anyway?
In Your View, What Is The Optimal Level Of Government Involvement In Business.
In your own words summarise how Hobsbawm (2003) and Sandbrook (2005) chart rising working class affluence during Post War Golden Age?