Fried Beer-the most interesting articles this week- Joe LaGuardia, former State Fair official, dies at 63
- Traveling Amusement Rides In SC Only Require State Inspection Once A Year
- Three children and two adults dead as at least 120 tornadoes batter Midwest ripping through hospitals, homes and tearing apart entire towns leaving dozens injured
- The Flood Won’t Stop the Fair
- Spring Fling: Food, Music and Carnival Fun
- The story of how three donkeys landed two Oswego County families in court
- KISS, MÖTLEY CRÜE confirm Minnesota State Fair appearances Aug. 29
- The 61st Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo is Underway
- Sacto 911: Scandia, crane company cited in Screamer ride accident
- Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival quickly approaching
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Court stops new Nationwide H-2B rules in its tracks.
A federal court judge in the Northern District of Florida Pensacola Division issued a preliminary injunction April 26 against new regulations the U.S. Department of Labor wanted to implement to the H-2B temporary worker program.
The new rules, according to some outdoor amusement industry experts, will make the H-2B program almost unusable for them as well as others that rely heavily on the seasonal workers, such as the landscaping industry.
The rules actually were implemented by the Department of Labor (DOL) on April 23, but were not scheduled to become “operative” until April 27, according to Bob Johnson, president of the Outdoor Amusement Business Association (OABA).
Two lawsuits filed in the federal court in Pensacola against the new regulations by a group of interested parties resulted in the injunction. The sworn statement from CEO Sabeena Hickman of the Professional Landcare Network, PLANET, detailing the serious harm the DOL’s H-2B changes would cause to PLANET members was presented as testimony.
Although the injunction was granted in Florida’s federal court district, it applies nationwide.
U.S. District Court Judge M. Casey Rodgers’ decision is expected to be appealed by the DOL but any legal challenge will likely take months before a final decision.
Johnson sent out a statement that said: “The H-2B program is still under attack by the Administration and DOL. They have unlimited resources and will appeal this decision and will work to promote their big labor and union backed pseudo ‘worker’s rights’ group’s agenda. It is up to all of us, the H-2B stakeholder community, to project this essential program from this attack.”
The law firms of Greenberg Traurig and C.L. Lake head the legal team in the Florida litigation.
Johnson also updated OABA’s Joint Coalition’s litigation over DOL’s H-2B Wage Rule scheduled to take effect Oct. 12, 2012.
“At issue,” Johnson stated in his release, “is whether the DOL must take into account employer hardship and economic concerns when formulating regulations and whether or not DOL has the authority to issue regulations on the H-2B program.”
OABA has joined with seven other associations in this litigation. Wayne Pierce, principal of the Pierce Law Firm and Blank Rome attorneys in Philadelphia, heads the legal team in this matter. Pierce filed his motion in the OABA’s case April 13.
Frank M. Briggs, 1944-2012, dies
Carnival industry legend, ‘a real showman’
Frank M. Briggs’ first job in the carnival business was at age 8, rolling paper cups for snow cones for a neighbor’s South Side amusement company. In his teens, Mr. Briggs ran the rides, made the cotton candy and soaked up as much knowledge as he could. By his mid-20s, he owned his first amusement company.
Over the course of the next four decades, his business grew to a 40-ride operation with a footprint throughout the Midwest and South, working church fundraisers and county fairs in Illinois, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, as well as such high-profile local festivals as the Hoffman Estates Fourth of July and the Feast of Melrose Park.
Mr. Briggs, 68, the owner of Modern Midways Carnival Co., died Tuesday, March 13, at his Steger home, apparently of a heart attack.
"He was a legend in the industry, someone that people just seemed to flock around," said his son, Robert, who along with his two brothers, Edward and Frank Jr., helps run the family business. "He’d show up at an event, and in minutes there’s laughter coming from his direction. I’d have to stand in line just to talk with him."
A longtime member of the board of governors of the Miami Showmen’s Association, a national amusement operators group, Mr. Briggs will be receiving an award posthumously for his contributions to the industry.
"Frank ran the premier amusement company in the Chicago area and one of the top in the country," said Harlan Bast, the association’s president. "No one handed him anything. He and his sons built from scratch a very successful business."
Born and raised in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, Mr. Briggs was a graduate of Marmion Academy in Aurora. He served two years with the Air Force as a member of a flight crew at a military base in Bunker Hill, Ind.
In the mid-1960s, Mr. Briggs started Briggs Amusement Co. in Chicago with just two rides. He eventually closed that business and opened a hot- dog stand, Frankie’s, in Sauk Village.
In 1989, Mr. Briggs returned to the amusement industry and became owner and operator of Midwest Midways in Chicago, which closed in 2005 and reopened a year later as Modern Midways, featuring rides such as the Touch Down, Giant Wheel, Thunder Bolt, Orbiter and Gee Wizz.
"He picked the best rides," said his son. "For him it was like picking the winning horse at the track, only he got to keep the horse."
A few weeks ago, Mr. Briggs worked an event in Florida, where his company helped raise thousands of dollars for a church.
"Frank was an old-school carnival man, a real showman, who you could always depend on to deliver the fun," Bast said.
Other survivors include his wife of 48 years, Charlene; two sisters, Patricia Briggs and Kathleen Kerrigan; and five grandchildren.
Services have been held.
