Bonus Pay for Essential Workers Varied Widely from State to State

Wednesday, July 14, 2021 75 cents ESTABLISHED 1896 • VOL. 175, NO. 189 As gun violence continues to rise, grief counselors in short supply By CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — As Brett Roman Williams stood at the Phil- adelphia Medical Examiner’s office staring at a photo of his older brother’s face, a familiar feeling welled in his chest. Williams’ father was shot and killed in 1996, when Williams was 11, and the ebb and flow of grief had washed over him for 20 years. But in 2016, when his brother was killed by gunfire, Williams reached out to a grief counselor for help coping. Now, Williams serves on the board for the organization where he once sought solace, and he’s trying to provide that same kind of support to others. But the demand is far outpacing the supply of counselors because of spiking crime. With more than 270 homicides in Philadelphia during the first half of (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar) 2021, the city has been outpacing the number of murders in 2020, when Crosby Smith is a care provider at Ludeman Developmental Center, a state home for the developmentally disabled in Park Forest, Ill. Smith and his fiancee were among numer- 499 people were killed, mostly from ous staff and residents at the Center who contracted the virus last year. He said the hazard money helped pay down credit cards and avoid further debt. gunfire — the highest homicide numbers in more than two decades. The number of people injured in shootings has also exploded over the past 18 months. Bonus pay for essential workers Williams is chairman of the board for the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia, which provides counseling services to people affected varied widely from state to state by violence. He said there were 174 people on the waitlist at the end of By DAVID A. LIEB janitors, retail workers and many received — varied widely, accord- and local governments to pro- June, compared with about 30 people Associated Press others got as much as $2,000. ing to an Associated Press review. vide retroactive pay under a $350 at the same time last year. Over the past year, about one- While some were paid thousands billion aid package enacted in “Hurt people, hurt people. And this JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — third of the states have used fed- of dollars, others with similar jobs March. is a pivotal moment in Philly, because For putting their health on the line eral COVID-19 relief aid to reward elsewhere received nothing. So far, only a few states have there are a lot of people hurting in during the coronavirus pandemic, workers considered essential who As society reopens, momen- committed to paying workers ex- this city right now,” Williams said. prison guards in Missouri got an dutifully reported to jobs during tum to provide pandemic hazard tra with money from the American Executive Director Natasha Mc- extra $250 per paycheck. Teach- the pandemic. pay appears to be fading — even Rescue Plan. Glynn said that since September, ers in Georgia received $1,000 But who qualified for those though the federal government the agency has provided counseling bonuses. And in Vermont, nurses, bonuses — and how much they has broadened the ability of state SEE PAY, PAGE 12 services to 425 teenagers who have lost family or friends, or who have themselves survived gunfire. She said counselors are seeing layers of trauma and revictimization as gun violence increases. Officials across Florida rethink condo inspection policies Crime has been spiking nationwide after it plummeted in the early By BRENDAN FARRINGTON reinspection of a building once it’s what’s found, inspecting again an- the recertification rules already in months of the pandemic, with many Associated Press completed. other decade later. place. cities seeing the type of double-dig- “We inspect bridges every two Miami-Dade County, where One municipality, North Miami it increase in gun violence that is TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — years and yet a high-rise can go up the 40-year-old Champlain Tow- Beach has evacuated the nearly plaguing Philadelphia. Across Florida, people living in right on the coast and it’s inspect- ers South partially collapsed last 50-year-old Crestview Towers and President Joe Biden has encour- the thousands of condominiums ed at the time it’s built and never month, requires buildings to be won’t allow residents back in until aged states to use COVID-19 relief rising above the state’s 1,350 miles again,” said Volusia County Chair recertified as safe every 40 years required repairs have been com- money to hire police or additional pleted. of coastline wonder if the building Jeff Brower, who said residents have and every 10 years after that. counselors. Philadelphia is one of 15 The county announced late Fri- collapse in Surfside could happen sent photos of damaged buildings. “We definitely have to have cities nationwide joining a federal ef- day that the 28-story Miami-Dade fort to expand and enhance commu- to their home as state and local “It’s kind of a wake-up call, and inspection of the infrastructure County Courthouse will begin nity violence interruption programs. officials discuss what they can do to some of the pictures I have seen of of these buildings,” Brower said. undergoing repairs immediately Williams’ group and others that make sure it doesn’t. our own structures are scary.” “They’re not falling all over the because of safety concerns found provide counseling to victims are Although building collapses are He’s in contact with the gover- place, but we don’t want even one during a review prompted by the applying for grants to hire more rare, local governments are look- nor’s office on the issue but thinks more like the tragedy at Surfside.” deadly collapse of a nearby condo- counselors. ing at whether they need to adopt acting locally will be quicker. One The collapse prompted the coun- minium building new inspection policies — the vast idea is reinspecting new buildings ty — as well as cities and towns SEE GUN, PAGE 12 majority of counties don’t require after 10 years and, depending on within it — to take a closer look at SEE CONDO, PAGE 12 Smoke, extreme heat pose harsh test for West Coast vineyards By ANDREW SELSKY ahead amid a historic drought and Associated Press extremely high temperatures could hit yet again. Wildfires are also TURNER, Ore. (AP) — The heat expected to be ferocious. wave that recently hit the Pacific Christine Clair, winery director of Northwest subjected the region’s Willamette Valley Vineyards in the vineyards to record-breaking city of Turner, just outside Oregon’s temperatures nine months after capital, watched rare winds last the fields that produce world-class September smother the Willamette wine were blanketed by wildfire Valley, famed for its delicate pinot smoke. noir, in smoke from nearby flames. But when temperatures began “Last year was our first experi- climbing close to 120 degrees Fahr- ence in the Willamette Valley with enheit in late June, the grapes in wildfires and smoke impact from Oregon and Washington state were them. Though it was considered a still young, as small as BB’s, many once-in-a-100-year east wind event, still shaded by leaf canopies that we believe we are at risk annually had not been trimmed back yet. now,” Clair said. The good news for grape grow- In recent years, wineries world- ers, wineries and wine lovers is the wide began hedging their bets historic heat wave came during a against global warming and its narrow window when the fruit suf- fallout by moving to cooler zones, fered little, if any, damage. Earlier or planting varieties that do better in later in the growing season, it could heat and drought, and shading their have been disastrous. grapes with more leaf canopy. A less intense heat wave again hit Similarly, in the wake of the parts of the West just about a week Northwest heat wave, wineries plan after extreme temperatures gripped to protect their crops from more the Pacific Northwest and British blistering sunshine. Columbia on June 25 and lingered At Dusted Valley Vintners, in for several days, causing what could Walla Walla, Wash., less of the leaf be hundreds of heat-related deaths. canopy will be trimmed to keep the (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky) This cool, rainy part of the coun- grapes shaded and prevent sun- Christine Clair, winery director of Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner, Ore., inspects pinot noir grapes. After a recent try normally experiences plenty of burn, co-owner Chad Johnson said. record heat wave and more hot weather expected, vineyard workers will trim less of the leaf canopy to keep the grapes shaded sunny summer days but winemak- and prevent sunburn. ers are worried about what’s still SEE VINEYARDS, PAGE 12 2 Wednesday, July 14, 2021 THE DAILY REPOrtER Business & Finance Index Earnings boom is expected a year after pandemic-driven skid BUSINESS & FINANCE Bankruptcies .................2 “The numbers are going ment,” said Sam Stovall, chief Lien Filings ...................2 to be big and they’re skewed, investment strategist at CFRA. Marriage Licenses .............2 because the second quarter of As a result, individual stock Secretary of State Filings .......2 last year was awful for a lot of prices are likely to make companies,” said Willie Del- more modest moves when a LAW & GOVERNMENT wiche, investment strategist company exceeds its earnings U.S. District Court at All Star Charts. estimates than if they miss. New Cases ................... 3 The S&P 500’s 11 sectors are S&P 500 companies have expected to report earnings mostly beat earnings esti- Court of Appeals growth for the April-June mates every quarter since the Hearing Schedule .............3 quarter, led industrials, which second quarter of 2009 except include airlines, and con- one: The second quarter of Common Pleas Court sumer discretionary, which 2020, when companies were Civil includes retailers, homebuild- left scrambling to adjust to New Cases ....................3 ers and other companies that the economic fallout from the Decisions ....................3 rely on consumer spending.

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