*   You have likely heard the old joke that lab rats are being replaced by lawyers because the lab workers do not get emotionally attached to lawyers.  Or the one about a thousand lawyers being chained together at the bottom of the ocean being a “good start”.  As these jokes (and the hundreds of others) show, lawyers have a bad reputation.  Personally, I have never had the need for one and only know a few, and I have worked pretty hard at maintaining the status quo on both of those points.  It seemed to me that lawyers are for people who live near secret toxic waste dumpsites.  Recently, my work helping small businesses with marketing led me to a local Law Firm and Real Estate compan

There is no doubt that businesses in general have suffered through our ever-changing economy. Businesses on multiple levels have had to make sacrifices; downsizing, cutting salaries, furloughing, laying off, and certainly cutting expenses.Small business, especially in Sacramento, is no exception. One expense that seems to be a commonality, is the Company Holiday Party. Historically, no matter how large or small an office or business is, company's have celebrated the holidays and their accomplishments with their partners, employees, and sometimes, vendors and customers. It is a time when people put work aside, and come together over food, drinks, entertainment and memories that often survi

On Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., approximately 2,000 members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) gathered on the west steps of the Capitol in a powerful end to Tuesday's outcry rally over the state’s budget decisions, which would cut the salaries of state workers by 15 percent. A giant screen was set up to project the image of the speakers. Tents were scattered providing first aid, food and information on how to contact the governor. Participants sat on the grass and milled around, but once Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker took the stage, most remained standing to listen intently to her words. Walker addressed SEIU's grievances with the state legislature's handling of the bu

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of workers with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) congregated at the steps of the Capitol to voice their frustrations with how the state legislature is handling the budget. Yvonne Walker, President of the SEIU, opened the rally with a fiery speech about how state workers “are on the tipping point,” with the continued proposals to cut state workers’ pay and adding a third furlough day. Walker described the two-day furlough already in place for state workers as “the equivalent of one month’s pay.” She explained an additional day of unpaid leave would increase the financial burden on state workers, causing some to lose their homes. Workers were w

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen at 1915 I Street has decided to join the chorus of organizations offering free services to furloughed state workers. According to a post on its web site, the SBK will open its doors from 10 AM to 3 PM on the first and third Fridays of the month, in addition to its normal midweek schedule.  As a further incentive to pedal in for some bike maintenance, the normal $5 shop fee will be waived for furloughed state workers.

If you're a furloughed state worker - and today is the second in what looks to be a long string of Furlough Fridays - you can take some of the pain out of the reduced salary by heading for West Sacramento, where IKEA's massive store off I-80 is offering a free breakfast of eggs, bacon and potatoes, to anyone who can prove they're a furloughed state worker (with your state ID card). The breakfast is available from 9:30 to 11 a.m., today only. Buon appetito. And while you're at it, you can pick up that plastic end table you've been coveting.

Sacramento Regional Transit General Manager entered cyberspace for an hour Friday for his monthly web chat. The full text of the session can be found here. What follows is a personalized summary, along with a little regrouping to make the story a little easier to follow. Being the state capital and the home to so many state workers, it wasn’t surprising that the topic of furloughs was on the minds of several participants in the chat. Wiley offered that RT won’t be giving Regional Transit staff extra three-day weekends. “No,” he said, “Furloughs only save money for Regional Transit if they are in concert with service reductions. We want to avoid an additional service reduction. The transi