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"Looming financial uncertainty on the advertising side" is cited in the memo announcing that Campus Times, a tabloid weekly run out of the Times Community News operation in Orange County, will shut down. Staffers were all offered jobs elsewhere in TCN.
Meanwhile, some on the downtown staff are upset that parking privileges in the Times garage have been stripped from a half-dozen teachers at the Cal-Tot Child Development Center. The center is located a block from the paper in the Reagan State Building. The issue is children of Times employees losing their priority admission. This petition is going around the newsroom:
We, the undersigned, respectfully request that The Times reinstate parking privileges in the 213 Spring Garage for teachers at the nearby Cal-Tot Child Development Center. In exchange for these parking spaces, children of Times employees have for nearly a decade enjoyed priority admission to Cal-Tot, which provides affordable, high-quality child care and preschool education just steps from The Times. The Times recently evicted these teachers in order to rent parking spaces to the general public.The Times has a proud tradition of providing innovative benefits to its employees -- including an on-site fitness center and music room and a generous tuition reimbursement program in addition to traditional medical, health and vacation benefits. The Times' long-standing arrangement with Cal-Tot was in keeping with that tradition, giving employees the option of quality, nearby care for their children. This allows them to work longer and more effectively. Over the years, many employees have taken advantage of this mutually beneficial relationship.
We urge Times management to promote Cal-Tot as another benefit proudly offered.
Last month, I reported the paper is moving to lease spots in the garage for public parking.