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The Intermountain Commercial Record & Salt Lake Times A-10 / Thursday, December 3, 2015 some of those activities were definitely dan- gerous for those young women.” Salazar currently works as a Trafficking in Persons Case Manager at the Immigrant and Refugee Center of the Asian Association of Utah and no longer goes out to the shelters or the streets. She says Rep. Hollins’ group got the Volunteers of America Homeless Youth Outreach Team involved because the girls they found around the shelter were so young. She adds: “We also connected with the Utah Attor- ney General’s Task Force for Human Traffick- ing and the Utah Coalition Against Sexual As- sault. We mobilized and trained community services. Fernando Rivera of the Unified Fire Authority, Allana Kindness and Elizabeth Hendrix worked with first responders, social workers and other community partner asso- Legislator, outreach workers seek to help young Salt Lake City women at risk Continued from page A-1 ciations. They taught them what to look for– the signs that meant a young woman might be at risk for human trafficking. That training is ongoing.” Salazar says she is still interested in the problem the VOA team uncovered in her cur- rent position: “I tend to work more with do- mestic cases now. But we have a federal grant to help victims of sex and labor trafficking, so that means we can still be involved to some extent.” Rep. Hollins, a licensed clinical social worker, says, “I talked to Ed Snoddy in the VOA office. For a number of years he has been helping sex workers find shelter, housing and a new start. We had been working to set up some type of shelter for the older women, but now we’re looking at helping the young ones as well.” According to Rep. Hollins, the effort is at the grassroots level right now, but she is hop- ing to spur action on the legislative side. She sits on the House Health and Human Services Committee and the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee. She also serves on the Child Welfare Legislative Over- sight Panel and the Social Services Appropria- tions Subcommittee. “Right now we’re still gathering informa- tion,” Rep. Hollins says. “But we need to pro- vide services soon for these young ladies and their families. A lot of them are not in school but should be. Many are in families that are not functional. A lot of the families have prob- lems, too; many of them are at their wits’ end and don’t know what to do. Some need men- tal-health help as well. So this needs to be a wrap-around effort–help for the young ladies and also for their families. When it comes to sex workers, we can’t arrest our way out of the problem. A lot of older women in the sex trade now started when they were in their teens. So if we can help these young women now, pos- sibly they can change their lives and stay out of the trade. And that’s good for the state.” Salazar says the Social Services Appropria- tions Subcommittee may eventually provide new help or at least set the stage for more state involvement. In the meantime, she adds, “We try to make contact with these young women, engage, build rapport and help them feel safe. We hope that if that happens, they can get into our case management program and on the road to a better life.” amid a broader debate about the future of the company and that of high-profile Mayer. Yahoo’s stock closed at $15.64 when Mayer was appointed president and chief executive on July 16, 2012. The gains to Tuesday’s close, of more than 115 percent, widely outperform gains in the S&P 500, up 55 percent since, the Nasdaq 100 , up 83 percent and even Apple Inc, which has gained 35 percent in the same period. The company’s market capitalization, how- ever, has grown about 66 percent under Mayer. The difference is attributable to a decline in shares outstanding as Yahoo has bought back roughly $8.3 billion worth of its stock since the third quarter of 2012, according to Reuters data. Despite the share price doubling under her With buyback help, Yahoo stock has soared under Mayer Continued from page A-1 tenure, the current level, around $35 was hit in November 2013, less than a year and a half after Mayer took over. “It is clear that time is running out for the current management and they are trying to come up with an alternative. They still haven’t resolved the long-term issue of what Yahoo will be going forward,” said Skip Aylesworth, portfolio manager of the Henessy Technology fund. Aylesworth, who does not currently own shares of Yahoo, sold his fund’s stake in the company approximately a year and a half into Mayer’s tenure as chief executive after the company’s revenue and earnings metrics did not significantly improve, he said. The rally during Mayer’s tenure got support The company’s stake in Yahoo Japan is held at a 30 percent discount off its actual market value, while its Alibaba stake is held at about a 59 percent discount. “This is an undervalued company if you do a sum of the parts sort of thing, it doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to see what could be coming,” said Kim Forrest, senior equity re- search analyst, Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pitts- burgh. Yahoo plans to spin off its Alibaba stake into a public company along with Yahoo Small Business that provides domain names and lo- cal marketing. Yahoo’s stock was up 6.9 percent at $36.04 in early afternoon trading on Wednesday. from the stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. But less than half of its market cap is attribut- able to Yahoo’s own business, according to a Thomson Reuters Breakingviews calculator. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. labor market tightened modestly in recent weeks with some upward pressure on wages as employers found it increasingly difficult to fill jobs across skill levels, the Federal Reserve said on Wednes- day. U.S. economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace in most regions from early- October through mid-November, the Fed said in its Beige Book report of anecdotal informa- tion on business activity collected from con- tacts nationwide. Most districts said such wage pressures in- creased only for skilled occupations and work- ers in short supply but a few saw broader pres- sures. Overall wage pressures were “generally stable to increasing,” the Fed said. For example, the Cleveland Fed reported wage pressures were “widespread” and Atlanta said there were signs of emerging pressure to raise starting pay, even among low-skilled jobs. Atlanta was joined by the Minneapolis, Kan- sas City and San Francisco districts in report- ing difficulties finding hires for lower-skilled and entry-level positions. Fed policymakers are widely seen raising interest rates for the first time in almost a de- cade at their next meeting on Dec. 15-16, but continue to parse data and trends carefully given the uneven nature of the U.S. recovery. Many districts indicated increased hiring was “driven by temporary and entry-level po- U.S. labor market shows hints of broader wage pressures sitions that were being fulfilled by staffing firms,” the Beige Book noted. The Fed said consumer spending increased in nearly all districts. Manufacturing remained mixed, the Fed added, with exports continuing to fall on the strong dollar, low commodity prices and weak global demand. However, manufacturers in most districts said they looked for improved business conditions over the next six months. The report was compiled by the Federal Re- serve Bank of Richmond with information col- lected before Nov. 20, 2015. (Reporting by Lind- say Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci) Time to order your 2016 Utah Professionals Directory Call Now - 801-972-5642
