[su_label]BAY AREA[\/su_label]<\/p>\n
Mexican restaurateur gives ex-cons an opportunity<\/strong> Supervisors reject plan for new jail<\/strong> [su_label]INTERNATIONAL[\/su_label]<\/p>\n Mexico census recognizes Afro-Mexicans<\/strong> [su_label]BAY AREA[\/su_label] Mexican restaurateur gives ex-cons an opportunity The upscale Hayes Valley eatery Cala has an unusual hiring policy: it\u2019s staffed mostly with employees who have criminal records. Mexican-born chef and restaurateur, Gabriela C\u00e1mera, who opened Cala in October of 2015, believes in second chances, especially since the food industry in San Francisco has a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":28839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,3570,7],"tags":[7605,7609,7607,7611,7613,7615,7617,3782,3602],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-28838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-health-news","category-news","tag-afro-mexicans","tag-cala-en","tag-convicts","tag-emma-rosenbush-en","tag-gabriela-camera-en","tag-hayes-valley-en","tag-jail-en","tag-mexico-en","tag-san-francisco-board-of-supervisors-en","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe upscale Hayes Valley eatery Cala has an unusual hiring policy: it\u2019s staffed mostly with employees who have criminal records. Mexican-born chef and restaurateur, Gabriela C\u00e1mera, who opened Cala in October of 2015, believes in second chances, especially since the food industry in San Francisco has a labor crisis. \u201cOn one hand, you can\u2019t find people to work in restaurants because they can\u2019t afford to live here,\u201d said Cala General Manager Emma Rosenbush. \u201cBut there\u2019s a whole population of people who can\u2019t get work because\u2014what\u2014they have a record?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSan Francisco\u2019s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously against a plan to build a new jail in the city. The construction would have cost an estimated $300 million, funded with an $80 million grant from the state and $215 million in bonds. Supervisors felt the money would be better spent on alternative solutions including more resources for mental health and other rehabilitation services. District 5 Supervisor London Breed said the new jail would have been \u201ca return to an era of mass incarceration, an era San Francisco is trying to leave behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFor the first time ever Mexico\u2019s national census included an \u201cAfro\u201d category.\u00a0 According to the 2015 census, released Dec. 8, 1.2 percent or 1.38 million Mexicans are of African descent.\u00a0 Mexico had been one of two Latin American countries (Chile being the other) that didn\u2019t recognize its citizens of African descent as being from Africa.\u00a0 The inclusion is seen as a major victory for Afro-Mexican activists who have sought official recognition for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"