It is with great sadness that we inform you that Johnny Mellano passed away on Sunday.   The love of his life, his wife Diane, was by his side and he was surrounded by his children, grandchildren and dear friends.  Our prayers are with the Mellano family and their many friends in the floral industry during this difficult time.

The California State Floral Association (CSFA) honored Johnny and his family with the CSFA Meritorious Award during last year's Calif Flora event held at The Original Los Angeles Flower Market.  

Johnny Mellano, second generation owner and operator of Mellano & Company, died Sunday, May 27, 2012, due to complications after suffering a stroke. He was 76 years old.

Johnny was a family man and loved the flower business, and he let nothing get in the way of his two passions. He was dedicated to Mellano & Company, supportive of the floral industry and made many life-long friends throughout the industry. Even in his retirement, as more of his time was spent golfing and doting on his beloved grandchildren, Johnny regularly came to Mellano & Company's Los Angeles location in the early mornings as he had for fifty-plus years, and he remained active on the LA Flower Market Board of Directors. He could not walk through the market without stopping a dozen times to talk to friends and colleagues.

Johnny was born in 1936 to Giovanni & Maria Mellano. He was a lifelong resident of the Orange County area, where his parents settled after they immigrated to the United States from Italy.

Johnny is survived by his mother Maria, his wife, Diane, son Mike A. & daughter-in-law Val, son Jim & daughter-in-law Monica, son Bob & daughter-in-law Mary, daughter Linda & son-in law Ernie Santos, son Steve & daughter-in-law Mandana, and thirteen grandchildren. He is also remembered by his brother Mike Sr. & wife Sharon, sister Rose Marie & husband Battista Castellano, many nieces & nephews, and over 200 members of the Mellano & Company family.

*this announcement was provided by Mellano & Co."

Service Information:

Viewing June 1st from 5:00pm/7:00pm @ McAulay & Wallace 

Rosary June 1st from 7:00pm/8:00pm @ McAulay & Wallace

Mass June 2nd from 11:00am/12:00pm @ Saint Philip Benizi  

Cemetary June 2nd immediately following @ Calvary Cemetery

Reception June 2nd immediately following @ Hilltop Banquet   

Addresses:

McAulay & Wallace

902 N. Harbor Blvd.

Fullerton, CA  92832

Saint Philip Benizi Church

235 S. Pine Drive

Fullteron, CA  92833

Calvary Cemetary

4201 Whittier Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA  90023

Hilltop Banquet Center

Fullerton Elks Lodge

1400 Elks View Lane

Fullerton, CA  92836

Two opportunities to attend this UC Nursery and Floriculture Alliance workshop: Long Beach June 12, 2012 or Watsonville June 26, 2012. 

Presenters: Trent Teegerstrom, Associate Specialist, Agricultural and Resource Economics Dept. and Ursula Schuch, Extension Specialist and Professor, The School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona.

Agenda

What websites does the floriculture industry use most for business information? Are we doing business by smartphone? Help us find out in our 2012 Internet Use Survey.

We'd like to know how you use the Internet so we can offer you more of what you like, and less of what you don't, with information that is truly beneficial to your business. Please take a moment to fill out the2012 Greenhouse Grower Internet Use Survey. It should take no longer than five to seven minutes to complete.

Interested to hear where you stack up? All survey respondents will receive a copy of the executive summary, detailing the results.

Please click here to take the survey . The deadline for the 2012 Greenhouse Grower Internet Use Survey is Monday, June 11, so please take a moment to fill out the survey today!

Thanks very much,

Sara Tambascio

A bill that would have required the state's minimum wage to automatically adjust every year based on inflation was killed in the Assembly this week. AB 1439, by Assemblymember Luis Alejo, would have measured inflation using the California Consumer Price Index (CPI). Alejo's chief of staff, Marva Diaz, said the lawmaker will try again.

The current minimum wage in California is $8.00 an hour. Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. The bill would have raised minimum wage about 14 cents an hour starting in January.  

A coalition of ag and business groups actively opposed the legislation effectively communicating the costs to employers, negative impact on job creation and even the costs to the state. The California state government employs 91,272 minimum wage workers, according to the state Controller's Office. If passed, the bill would have cost the state nearly $800,000.

Today is the last day for bills to pass out of the house of origin. A measure that will greatly expand the current requirements for farmers to provide shade and water and codify them in statute passed the assembly by a minimum 41 votes. A coalition of agriculture groups had been working against AB 2346 (Butler) for many weeks. After several attempts the bill failed passage requiring the speaker to individually call members on the floor pushing for their vote. The coalition was successful in communicating that agriculture has been working diligently with Cal OSHA in educating supervisors and employees of the need to watch out for signs of heat stress as well as complying with the various requirements of the heat stress regulations. The statistics show that heat stress incidents and deaths have greatly decreased since the current regulations were put in place. The bill now heads to the Senate.  

When the Senate returns from Memorial Day recess next week, the Senate Agriculture Committee-approved Farm Bill could be up for a floor vote as early as Wednesday, June 6. Two things are certain: Ag committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) continues her assertion she's got 60 votes for ultimate approval, and floor amendments are mounting up. Southern crop producers - particularly rice and peanuts - remain fundamentally unhappy with the commodity title of the Senate bill, and staffs privately admit floor action will not be easy if the southern bloc of Senators opposed to the current commodity title decide to force target prices and countercyclical payments back into the legislation or vote against the bill.  

Also key is whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV) allows any and all amendments to be offered or whether he'll seek an agreement with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R, KY) to limit the number of amendments which can be offered on the floor. Both Stabenow and committee ranking member Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS) are meeting with members to head off concerns, but committee discussions and press reports indicate there are a number of known amendments being drafted. It's expected a group of Senators will offer an amendment to include in the Farm Bill legislation approved last year by the full House and the Senate ag panel to fix the NPDES permit system that forces farm chemicals used near water into double-permitting. Sens. Tom Coburn (R, OK) and Richard Durbin (D, IL) will very likely offer an amendment to cap federal subsidies on crop insurance premiums, and some expect a group of southern Senators to offer separate amendments to cut the crop insurance program overall.  

Confirming the Senate Agriculture Committee's estimate, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week said the panel's approved Farm Bill, which could see floor action as early as next week, saves a net $23.6 billion over 10 years. The 10-year cost of the Senate package: $969 billion. The House Farm Bill, because that chamber approved a FY2012 budget resolution, is challenged with finding $32 billion in savings over the next 10 years.  

However, the way the Senate bill is constructed, any substantive change to the commodity title or any significant restoration of monies cut by the committee during markup leave Senate agriculture leadership little room for negotiation once the bill hits the floor. Both committee chair Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) and ranking member Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS) pledged their bill would save at least the $23 billion in savings reached in last fall's debt reduction draft farm program rewrite.  

However, some economists continue to allege the bill really only saves about $17 billion over the next decade. CBO said cutting direct payments saves $44.6 billion; part of that savings goes to fund the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) plan devised by the committee to cover 11-21% of a farmer's loss based on price and help span the gap between ARC and conventional crop insurance protection. ARC is expected to cost about $28.5 billion over 10 years.

Are You and Your Workers Ready for the Summer Heat?

Every year, thousands of workers become sick from exposure to heat, and some even die. But your people don't have to suffer. These illnesses and deaths are preventable.

With summer just around the corner and heat and humidity on the rise, many employers need to start thinking about and planning to prevent employee heat-related illness.

Although OSHA doesn't have a specific standard that covers working in hot conditions, under the General Duty Clause of the OSHA Act, you nevertheless have a duty to protect workers from recognized serious hazards in the workplace, including heat-related hazards.

This means right off the bat you need answers to three very important questions.

Read more....