Nobility obliges!

While most hotel friends depend on housekeeping to clean up the mess they leave behind in their rented rooms, there are some conscientious vacationers right now donning an apron and enjoying the maid.

British resident Darren Dowling last week posted an image on Facebook showing off her hotel room tag, and it went viral. The photo reveals his behavior of removing the sheets from his mattress and carefully folding every part of the mattress before leaving.

The image sent Facebook customers into a daze, with nearly 550 commentators debating the protocols of hotel visitors – the entry starting with the insistence that it’s as much as paid workers at try this out, to customers claiming it is a courtesy that needs to be extended to these employees.

“I always try to leave a hotel room like this,” he wrote in the caption. “Is this the right or the wrong thing to do?” “

Hazelnut or plain, Dowling is not alone.

“I wish everyone would do this,” said Stephanie Thompson, 50, who lives in Cincinnati.

Thompson, the director of National Down Syndrome Adoption Network, has a typical pre-departure cleaning routine that she shares with her husband – 51-year-old firefighter Jon Thompson – to minimize the pressure on hotel cleaners.

During the previous decade, at the end of their trip, Jon tidies up the suitcases and checks all the drawers to see if the couple left anything behind. As this happens, Stephanie removes the mattress from her sheets, gathers all the used and unused towels and places them in the tub, and condenses all the garbage into a bag and knots it. And even throughout their stay, the couple – who say they often keep their surroundings clean and tidy – refuse housekeeping visits every day. What’s more: they leave a tip of $ 25.

“I also leave a handwritten note that says, ‘Thank you very much! Have a wonderful day, blessings, ”Stephanie told the Post, claiming that she offered a smiley face at the end. “We’ve been doing it for so long, it’s routine.”

For the Thompsons, it’s just the right thing to do.

“I have always been called to serve those who serve people who have the privilege of going on vacation,” said Stéphanie. “I don’t even know if these people are making enough money to even go on vacation – so their daily lives are cleaning up after privileged people… I guess there are times in their day that they step into. one room and it’s just gross, and they’re depressed.

Emily Mathison, 34, agrees. She says she in no way thought his primitive and proper program of lodge assistance service was strange until he was faced with admissions of negligence on the part of acquaintances.

“I go to LA one week a month for work,” said the East Village resident, who works because the artistic director of McQueen Flowers, a high-end florist. “I stay in the same hotel each time, tidy my room and get rid of all the garbage. “

But it’s Mathison’s behavior of building her mattress every day – even with the data the household undoes and strips the mattress when she leaves – that separates her from her friends.

“I didn’t think it was unusual,” she said. “That’s what my mom does. Also, isn’t it nicer for the maid? I make my bed everyday anyway, why change because I’m in a hotel? It’s just what I do at home. Clean and tidy and shaped like a ship.

Dowling’s Facebook posts also drew responses from the housekeepers themselves, who said the gesture was certainly welcome.

“Saves us extra work and makes it easier,” one wrote, while another replied, “You have no idea how much things like this are appreciated”.

Dede Gotthelf, owner of Southampton Hostel in the Hamptons, said its employees pass out when a visitor goes an extra mile.

“Although it is their job to clean the rooms during and after a guest’s stays, housekeepers and housekeepers are human beings and appreciate caring and respectful people very much,” she said. . “There is no need to undress or make the beds. But throwing out the trash, cleaning up spills, and leaving a clean room ready for them are much appreciated. ”

“Especially during these times when CDC cleaning protocols and UVC lamps take a long time to prepare for our next guests,” she added of procedures related to the pandemic.

But for the Thompson’s, all that matters is service with a smile, even when they’re the one serving.

“I want it to be such a treat for them that the next set of rooms they do, if they’re gross they can go back and go,” At least I had a room that was so easy, and j ‘got a tip for that!’ », Declared Stéphanie.

The idea was to do something different. To an 8^e Encamped on South Avenue and South King Street in a parking lot under an overpass on Interstate 5, four organizations joined together last year under the banner of a coalition called “JustCare” to show that hotel shelters can be used to remove homeless settlements and get the people who lived there into stable housing.

Fifty-seven people entered and the encampment dissolved. But 10 months later, 20 people left the program and it is not known where they are. JustCare could not immediately provide data on 16 other people who were part of the original settlement.

City and county politicians who got money for the effort say these numbers are in line with what they would expect from a program with uncertain funding and inconsistent access to housing resources over the course of the last year. But the data also raises questions about what will happen to the more than 200 residents of the camp that JustCare took off the streets during the pandemic: whether the program will prove to be a meaningful intervention in their lives or yet another shelter program. that gets people through the system without landing them in permanent housing.

JustCare, originally a collaboration between the nonprofit programs Public Defender Association, Asian Counseling and Referral Service, Chief Seattle Club and REACH, has emerged as an innovative way to combat the growing encampments of people who had been left to survive outdoors as the shelter system struggled and reorganized during the pandemic.

Since 2020, the city and county have together allocated more than $ 43 million to JustCare as good as The Public Defender Association’s Co-LEAD program and LEAD diversion program come from a combination of local and federal funds. The program has been touted by officials in Seattle and King County as an alternative to the mayor’s current approach to camp removal and outreach.

In the aftermath of the politically charged decision of the city council’s decision to cut funding for the navigation team, the controversial group of police and city workers who removed the encampments and made referrals to shelters, JustCare executives called their method a compassionate and effective way of dealing with encampments, with care tailored to Seattle’s cultural demographics and individual hotel rooms.

A University of Washington report on the program released last June praised the effort, citing a relatively low failure exit rate of 13% based on numbers reported earlier in the year.

And the first results are striking. With before and after photos of the King Street encampment, JustCare showed that an encampment causing frustration among neighbors can quietly disappear without the usual trauma, chaos, and displacement that can accompany city camp cuts.

But almost a year later, it’s also clear that a significant number of people who have stepped off the streets are likely homeless again. Of the 36 camp residents who participated in the Co-LEAD portion of the JustCare program, 20 had unsuccessful outings – meaning they left voluntarily, were evicted after uttering threats or breaking rules, or did not engage with social workers.

Five people were accommodated permanently via Co-LEAD.

JustCare said it could not provide immediate data on all of the 17 program participants who visited hotel rooms managed by the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, but said a person from that cohort was housed permanently. Four other people visited hotel rooms run by the Chief Seattle Club, which left the partnership due to lack of funding. The four were moved to another accommodation program run by the nonprofit at the King’s Inn, where they remain today.

It is not known what outcomes those remaining inside JustCare hotels will face. One of the residents of the King Street encampment who entered through Co-LEAD said she was told she would have to leave the South Lake Union Civic Hotel at the end of her nine-month stay.

“When we first got here, they said we would be inside indefinitely until they found us in permanent accommodation, that we would not go back to the streets”, Megan Besgrove, 30 years, noted. “Then when six months comes, (they said) it’s a six to nine month program and if you don’t do anything to improve yourself, we have to kick you out. ”

Lisa Daugaard, director of the Public Defender Association, the organization that runs the LEAD and Co-LEAD programs and manages the JustCare partnership, disputes the idea that program participants were told they could stay indefinitely.

“The JustCARE field team would never promise indefinite hotel stays,” Daugaard said via email. “Back then and today, we did not have access to hotels indefinitely, and these are not meant to be permanent accommodation.”

Program participants also sign an accommodation agreement that states that the hotel stay is temporary, Daugaard said.

But the Besgrove case highlights in some ways the issues JustCare shares with other hosting programs.

She completed a housing assessment in March and her case manager told her she should try another housing program, which Besgrove has not explored. She also missed nine appointments with case managers over the summer. Giving Besgrove a date to leave, Daugaard said, was a tool to get him to work with them.

Daugaard added, “If our program is stable (i.e. we don’t close ourselves), we won’t leave participants on the streets if they make an effort to collaborate on a transition plan. , but sometimes a release date is needed. tool to achieve this commitment.

Of the 20 people in Besgrove encampment who obtained hotel rooms through Co-LEAD but left without permanent accommodation, three posed security concerns or were responsible for illegal activities, four chronically raped the ‘hosting agreement, six left voluntarily, five had one of these issues and would not work with case managers, and two would not work with case management, Daugaard said.

The overall figures for Co-LEAD’s hotel accommodation and retention program are better than those of the King Street camp example: of the 183 people that Co-LEAD has placed in hotels, 34, or nearly 19 %, were permanently housed. Yet 84, or nearly 46%, left the program unsuccessfully.

The low rate of movement of people to permanent housing may be more indicative of difficulties within the shelter model and a lack of housing than with JustCare.

Hosting five of the 36 that Co-LEAD has welcomed from the King Street encampment “could actually be a high profile success for those most in need,” said Derrick Belgarde, executive director of the Chief Seattle Club.

At the King’s Inn, a city-funded program run by the Chief Seattle Club that also welcomes people directly from outside, Belgarde said there was a fair amount of turnover – often people leave and don’t are not coming back, and there are people who pose real security risks.

In the Belgarde program, 111 people passed through the hotel, but only two, or less than 2%, left for permanent accommodation. Twenty-six people, or 23%, have left King’s Inn because they chose to, due to safety concerns or issues with the rules. At the Executive Hotel Pacific, another city-funded hotel refuge run by the non-profit Low Income Housing Institute, 209 people participated in the program, 11% were housed and 16% left for safety reasons. , transferred to other shelters or abandoned their place.

Co-LEAD’s permanent housing rate is higher than that of these two programs, as is its 46% exit rate to the street or to unknown places.

Belgarde said he could see Daugaard’s point about using a release date to get someone to work on goals, but added that “the release should be the last approach for any organization.”

Seattle City Council member Andrew Lewis, a champion of the JustCare and Co-LEAD approach, defended the measures provided by Daugaard. At the time JustCare was working with residents of the King Street encampment, the program did not have access to rental vouchers or even a stable source of funding, Lewis said.

This month, Lewis said, that has changed. The city is now committed to connecting JustCare participants with vouchers that would subsidize rent for up to 12 months, Lewis said, and the program also recently got a year. $ 15 million city and county contract focused on shelter and outreach in downtown Seattle. Uncertainty about the funding and the future of the program, he said, has caused some people to leave the program.

“The bottom line is that JustCARE has done a great job providing immediate street-to-shelter resources at a time when no other program is providing this service,” Lewis said.

King County Council member Jeanne Kohl-Welles, another supporter of the program, said she was prepared to wait longer to see the success of the program, given that it focuses on people facing overlapping barriers to entering and staying in a dwelling, such as mental health problems. health or substance use disorders.

“At first glance, these early numbers are disappointing but not surprising,” Kohl-Welles said in an emailed statement. “It will be understood that engaging people with these lived experiences will require continuous and concerted efforts. ”

Despite the program’s mixed results, the city recently brought in JustCare to work with residents of the controversial City Hall Park encampment outside King County Superior Court.

But Besgrove, whose deadline to leave the hotel was recently extended to September, believes the schedule has left her worse than before as she no longer has a tent.

“They basically postponed our homelessness,” she said.

Correction: The original version of this story misidentified the organizer of JustCare, the collaboration between organizations working to move people inside the camps. The organization that manages the partnership is the Association of Public Defenders.

KELOWNA WEST – As wildfires continue to rage in western Alberta, tourists are urged to postpone any planned visits to British Columbia’s Okanagan region.

West Kelowna Mayor Gord Milsom is asking tourists to be alert and help free up accommodation for potential evacuees.

“We are just asking Okanagan tourists to do all they can to help those in need of hotel rooms,” he said.

“To help [us] even freeing up some of the short-term homes for those who have been or may still be evacuated.

READ MORE: ‘Don’t Go To Fire Affected Areas’: Albertans, Time To Cancel Your Trip To British Columbia

Thousands of people in West Kelowna have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the Mount Law wildfire, which spans approximately 800 hectares.

Milsom recently said that there has been some cooperation from Mother Nature, bringing cooler temperatures and light rains.

“The firefighters from BC Wildfire and our local fire department and other fire departments came together and did a great job fighting the blaze.

Some evacuation orders and alerts have been downgraded or canceled due to the progression of the fire.

British Columbia Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth on Monday urged people to avoid vacationing in places like the Okanagan, to ensure that residents of communities affected by the fires can evacuate if necessary.

“Given the conditions we see in our communities and on our highways, I want to be clear: do not travel to areas affected by fires for non-essential reasons. We want to make sure that people in communities affected by the fires can evacuate if necessary and access the supports they need, ”he said.

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“If you are planning to travel to these areas, now is the time to change your plans. Instead, visit an area of ​​the province where your presence will not strain local resources and have a positive impact, ”added the Minister of Security.

There are currently over 260 wildfires burning in the province, the majority of them in the Kamloops and Southeast fire centers.

These two regions are home to popular travel destinations, such as the Okanagan and the Kootenays.

-with files from NEWS 1130

“Kelowna is at full capacity”

Photo: Cindy White

Evacuees move into West Kelowna Walmart parking lot

Emergency support services are struggling to find a place to house evacuees from the Mount Law and White Rock Lake wildfires, as tourism and fire season end at odds in central l ‘Okanagan.

Central Okanagan EOC director of emergency operations Brian Reardon told reporters on Monday that “Kelowna is at full capacity when it comes to hotel rooms.”

“We are exploring other options, including mass housing, but COVID-19 protocols are hampering our efforts in this regard, so we are looking further south and west of Kelowna,” he added.

The city of Penticton activated an evacuee center on Sunday evening and cots were placed on the ground at Mount Boucherie High School in West Kelowna.

About 1,000 people were displaced by the Mount Law fire in Glenrosa on Sunday night, adding to the thousands already out of their homes due to White Rock Lake along Westside Road.

Last week, the provincial government asked tourists to leave the northern Okanagan to make room for evacuees from large fires in the area.

Castanet News has asked West Kelowna Mayor Gord Milsom and Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran whether they are prepared to make similar statements.

The Walmart parking lot in West Kelowna is now filled with campers and RVs from Glenrosa residents.

An evacuee from the Sutherland Avenue Evacuee Reception Center told Castanet on Monday that there was a waiting list of more than 100 people for a hotel room in the Kelowna area.

Photo: COSAR

Des Cots installed the Mont Boucherie high school on Sunday evening

Officials in the parish of East Baton Rouge, LA, are open to the idea of ​​taxing the additional rooms that are given to players at L’Auberge Baton Rouge as well as at the Belle of Baton Rouge. The Metro Council, along with local tax advisers Alejandro R. Perkins and Drew M. Talbot, are expected to vote on an emergency contract today.

Ministry of Finance and parish prosecutor’s office want new tax

East Baton Rouge Parish Metropolitan Council will meet with the two lawyers today to discuss the contract, which could be worth up to $ 50,000. Lawyers would be called upon to represent the city-parish whenever there is a problem with collecting tax revenues involving casinos.

Parish city revenue manager Tiffani Delapasse said this article is the product of an earlier case settled this year in which a Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans owed taxes. to the State on the equipped rooms. Harrah’s Casino parent company is Caesars Entertainment, which recently unveiled its most dynamic betting app.

Caesars would owe millions in taxes

With the ruling, Caesars owes the state $ 43 million, but showed some leniency when the legislature passed a bill that settled the case and determined payments. According to the legislature, Caesars will have to pay $ 39 million now and then make annual payments of $ 1.3 million for the next 32 years. These latest payments are part of a restructuring of the operator’s current deal that requires the company to pay state sales, use and occupancy taxes that total approximately $ 1.6 million. per year. This money is donated to two state entities, the Louisiana Stadium and Exhibition District and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

The state is apparently in the process of making a deal with Harrah’s just months after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state. Federal documents show Harrah’s owes the state about $ 43 million in unpaid taxes when challenging the law.

Wade Duty is against taxes on Comped rooms

Delapass added that there is potential for litigation and that all of this is still highly contested. Casino Association of Louisiana executive director Wade Duty said the ruling against Harrah’s was not applicable to hotels connected to riverboats because it was only applicable to physical casinos.

According to Duty, taxing players on rooms booked because they bet at a hotel that has a casino is like taxing customers who continue to book rooms at Marriott or Hilton because they demonstrate loyalty to the brand.

He says the ruling is “a door opening into a room that has no boundaries.” According to Duty, if the parish city has the authority to levy room taxes, this could result in taxes on just about any product or service provided at a certain hotel-casino, as the services and products may be labeled as part of a client. Loyalty program.

Due to the fact that there is a huge gray area where customers can be taxed on countless things, this is an undesirable scenario.

East Baton Rouge Parish officials want to see if they can collect tax on additional rooms offered to players at the Belle of Baton Rouge and L’Auberge Baton Rouge.

The Metro Council is due to vote Wednesday on an emergency contract with two local tax lawyers, Drew M. Talbot and Alejandro R. Perkins. The contract, which is not to exceed $ 50,000, would cover the costs of attorneys representing the parish city in tax revenue collection cases against casinos that end up either in the district court or before the Appeals Board. Louisiana tax.

The point was presented by the Ministry of Finance and the Parish Prosecutor’s Office.

Parish city revenue manager Tiffani Delapasse said the item came from a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that New Orleans’ Harrah’s Casino owed state taxes on the reserved rooms of his hotel. The move made Caesars Entertainment, Harrah’s parent company, pay up to $ 43 million. The legislature passed a bill to settle the case for a one-time payment of $ 39 million and annual payments of $ 1.3 million for the next 32 years.

“This is still highly contested and there is potential for litigation,” she said.

Wade Duty, executive director of the Casino Association of Louisiana, said the Supreme Court’s ruling against Harrah’s was only binding on the land-based casino and did not apply to hotels connected to riverboats.

He compared the payment of room taxes imposed on players as a result of their betting in a casino to hotel operators, such as Marriott and Hilton, who pay taxes on rooms assigned to guests because of their brand loyalty.

If the Parish City can collect sales taxes on free casino hotel rooms, Duty said that would mean sales taxes could be charged on any item or service offered under any loyalty program. customers, such as free meals. “It’s a door that opens into a room that has no borders,” he said.