Local News Briefs

Santa Monica Fire Department to Host Third Annual Sidewalk CPR

In recognition of National CPR Week, the American Heart Association (AHA) is collaborating with the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency to coordinate a County wide effort to teach the public how to perform hands only CPR. Emergency healthcare providers, such as fire departments, ambulance companies, hospitals and education programs will be going out into the community to teach residents how to save a life with CPR. This service is free to the public and will be held in various locations across Southern California, including Santa Monica with the goal of increasing the number of lifesavers in the community.

The Santa Monica Fire Department will join these efforts for the third year and host free Hands-Only CPR training in Center Plaza at the Santa Monica Place, 395 Santa Monica Place on June 5, from 12:00 p.m. through 4:00 p.m. CPR instructors will be on hand to demonstrate the basics and proper techniques of Hands-Only CPR, and participants will have the opportunity to practice on mannequins. The training will not result in CPR certification, but information on how you can get certified will be available.

Anyone can learn CPR – and the American Heart Association believes that everyone should. Sadly, 70 percent of Americans may feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency because they either do not know how to administer CPR or their training has significantly lapsed. This alarming statistic could hit close to home, because home is exactly where 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur. Put very simply: The life you save with CPR is mostly likely to be someone you love.

By using Hands-Only CPR, bystanders can still act to improve the odds of survival, whether they are trained in conventional CPR or not.

Strike Averted? Vons, Ralphs, Albertsons Reach Tentative Deal with Union

Officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers union said Thursday that they had reached a tentative labor deal with Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons, potentially averting a repeat of the months-long contract negotiations that have occurred in years past.

The three grocery chains and representatives from the eight California UCFW locals hammered out the agreement this week after seven straight days of negotiations, said Mike Shimpock, a UFCW Local 770 spokesman.

“It was not easy,” he said. “We are happy we are going to a ratification vote with our members rather than a strike vote.”

Shimpock declined to disclose specifics of the agreement before the 60,000 members vote on the terms, which may happen at the end of next week. If the members OK the agreement, negotiators will then be authorized to officially sign the deal.

“We feel it’s a good deal,” Shimpock said. “We are recommending our members approve it.”

In a statement, Ralphs said it was “pleased” to have reached a possible consensus on a new collective bargaining agreement. The grocery chain also declined to comment on the terms “pending ratification of the agreement by our employees represented by UFCW.”

Albertsons declined to comment. Vons did not respond to a request for comment.

If a deal is reached, both sides would avoid the kind of drawn-out labor fight that hit Southern California in 2003. The 141-day strike and lockout, which began that fall, left many union members with big debts and reportedly cost the grocery stores an estimated $2 billion.

The grocery chains and the UFCW avoided a repeat strike in 2011 by reaching a three-year labor contract.

This time around, Shimpock said union solidarity helped all involved reach consensus.

“We started early and stood together and made it clear we were going to protect our workers,” he said.

PCB Check for SM Schools

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will check every school in the district for p

MinuteClinic Walk-in Medical Clinic Opens Inside CVS/pharmacy Store in SM

A MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinic has opened inside the CVS/pharmacy store in Santa Monica at 2505 Santa Monica Boulevard. It is the first location in