Briefcase

Liberty Lake company offers cloud data service

Liberty Lake’s IT-Lifeline has become the first company to offer a cloud-based disaster recovery option over Amazon Web Services, or AWS.

AWS is Amazon’s rentable online cloud service that gives companies computing capacity on an as-needed basis.

IT-Lifeline will license software from  CommVault as the primary tool behind the service it’s developed.

IT-Lifeline’s cloud service, called BlackCloud Edge, will be marketed to midsize companies that want quick, reliable data rescue and recovery on an as-needed basis, instead of by paying for a fixed-cost system that might only be used once in a while.

BlackCloud Edge is priced at about 75 cents per gigabyte per month.

Tom Sowa

Hertz workers say prayer led to suspension

SEATTLE – Thirty-four Muslim drivers for Hertz claimed they were suspended for praying during work hours, but the company contended they were reprimanded for abusing break times.

Backed by their union, the drivers protested Wednesday outside the Hertz counter at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where they are based.

“This is an outrageous assault on the rights of these workers and appears to be discriminatory based on their religious beliefs,” Tracey A. Thompson, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 117, said in a statement.

Observant Muslims pray five times a day.

Hertz said the workers suspended last week were violating provisions of a collective bargaining agreement and a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached two years ago.

“The breaks were getting extended way beyond prayer time,” said Rich Broome, a spokesman for Hertz Global Holdings Inc. “It’s important to understand that several Muslim employees who are complying were not suspended. It’s not about prayer, it’s not about religion; it’s about reasonable requirements.”

Associated Press

Governor signs bill banning sale of shark fins

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California’s governor announced Friday that he signed a bill banning the sale, trade and possession of shark fins to protect the world’s dwindling shark population.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB376 over objections that the fins are used in a soup considered a delicacy in some Asian cultures.

California joined Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Guam in the ban hailed by environmental and animal rights activists.

The bill had split the Asian delegation in the California Legislature.

Assemblyman Paul Fong, D-Cupertino, who authored the bill, said it was needed to protect endangered shark species, but others called the measure racist because the fins are used in a soup. The fins can sell for $600 a pound, and the soup can cost $80 a bowl.

Associated Press