The Daily Populous

Saturday June 2nd, 2018 morning edition

image for Costco boosting hourly wages for 130,000 U.S. employees

Costco’s hourly employees are the latest U.S. retail workers to get a boost from the Trump tax cuts.

On June 11, Costco will increase the starting wage for its U.S. employees by $1 to as much as $14.50 an hour, while other hourly wage rates will increase 25 to 50 cents an hour.

Costco profit jumped about 7 percent in its fiscal third quarter to $750 million or $1.70 a share, matching analyst expectations.

The wage increases will help Costco keep to its strategy of offering employees total compensation that executive say leads the retail industry.

Costco competitors including Target and Walmart announced wage increases and bonuses for their employees tied to the tax cuts earlier this year.

Some 54 percent of Costco employees in a recent PayScale survey thought their compensation was fair, compared to 21 percent of all employees in the survey.

Costco is indeed trying to communicate its pay practices, and relative compensation, more clearly to employees. »

German zoo's 'escaped' animals didn't actually escape, just hiding

Authored by dw.com

But the mayor of Arzfeld, Andreas Kruppert, told reporters that the lions, tigers and jaguar had in fact never left their enclosures.

The only animal to actually escape was the bear, which was able to leave after flooding broke down the fence around its enclosure.

Authorities had told local residents to stay indoors, while firefighters, police and hunters scoured the local area for the animals. »

'Legion' Renewed for Season 3 at FX

Authored by hollywoodreporter.com
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FX is handing out a third-season order for quirky comic book drama Legion.

Renewing Legion keeps FX in the Marvel business after the network nixed a planned Deadpool animated series with Donald Glover in March.

As for Hawley, his marquee FX series, anthology Fargo, is on a break before an anticipated fourth run. »

Driverless cars OK’d to carry passengers in CA — but companies can’t charge for the ride

Authored by sfexaminer.com
image for

Only months after self-driving cars were given the OK by the DMV to test drive without drivers, another California regulator has cleared them to carry passengers.

While the California Public Utilities Commission voted to approve pilot programs for self-driving cars to carry passengers Thursday morning, the commission nixed a proposal to allow those companies to charge passengers.

Though the California Department of Motor Vehicles cleared self-driving cars to test-drive without drivers earlier this year, the CPUC plays another regulatory role securing the safety of passengers in those vehicles. »