Newsbytes – Minimum Wage, Planned Parenthood, Google Logo, and J.K. Rowling

By: Opinion Editor Grace Dong and Centerspread Editor Neha Shah

 

Local 

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has requested a council committee to weigh in on a decision to raise the city’s minimum wage, from $10 to $15 per hour. The plan is for the minimum wage to go up one dollar within the next year, making it $10  per hour; $3 by 2017, creating $13 per hour; and by 2021, the minimum wage should be $15 per hour. Last March, the City Council supported Senate Bill 3, changing minimum wage, by state Senator Mark Leno. Although Mayor Liccardo did not support raising minimum wage in the past, he is now determined to address the issue as the cost-of-living continues to increase.

 

National

The Department of Justice sides with Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc. (PPGC) against Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s decision to cut PPGC’s Medicaid funding. Previously, the anti-abortion group, Center for Medical Progress, accused PPGC of illegally distributing fetal tissue for profit. Last week, PPGC sued Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals for going against the federal Medicaid Act in an attempt to block Medicaid patients from receiving service. The Justice Department has stated that the state’s decision to defund PGCC violates the federal Medicaid Act since Louisiana has not provided sufficient reasons to terminate funding.

 

International

On September 1, 2015, Google discontinued its old logo, replacing it with one that is much more simplistic and visually appealing. The four colors that Google is known for – red, yellow, green, and blue – remain the same; but the font style now resembles those seen in children books. Google has had the same logo since 1999, and it has only changed it a total of 5 other times since it was founded in 1998. The logo is said to have been changed because it is more appealing to see on a mobile device. Although Google faces the possibility of its user base being unsatisfied with the new logo, it hopes that everyone will enjoy the message that they are trying to send by simplifying it.

 

Quirky

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, took to Twitter on September 1, 2015, the 24^th anniversary of Harry’s first day at Hogwarts, to share exciting updates for Harry and Ginny Weasley’s eldest son’s first day at Hogwarts. James Sirius Potter has been placed in Gryffindor just like his parents. In the same tweet, she also revealed the late Remus Lupin and the late Nymphadora Tonk’s son, Teddy Lupin, is the head boy from the Hufflepuff House. Hufflepuffs, often seen as the most overlooked of the four houses, rejoiced together in their 140 character limits.