{"id":14790,"date":"2021-08-30T14:15:01","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T18:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/covid19\/?p=14790"},"modified":"2021-08-30T14:20:37","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T18:20:37","slug":"augustine-band-of-cahuilla-indians-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/2021\/08\/30\/augustine-band-of-cahuilla-indians-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians (California)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive  embed-responsive-16by9\"><div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   title=\"Augustine Casino Reopening\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OAlM_d-uYhw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br \/>\n<\/strong>August 30, 2021<\/p>\n<h2><strong>LOCAL TRIBE REWARDS ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEES WITH \u201cHERO PAY\u201d FOR DEDICATION DURING COVID PANDEMIC<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>COACHELLA, California&nbsp;<\/strong>\u2014 More than 70 tribal government and casino employees were presented with a surprise <em>Hero Pay<\/em> lump-sum payment last week. The employees \u2014 deemed by the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians as essential workers \u2014 continued to work for the tribe throughout the Covid pandemic while many Americans stayed home and collected enhanced unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n<p>The one-time incremental paycheck represented retroactive pay for hours these workers logged during the initial 12 months of the pandemic. The monies used to make the payments came from the Coronavirus State &amp; Tribal Fiscal Recovery Fund, which was part of the American Rescue Plan Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in March.<\/p>\n<p>The Augustine Tribal Council voted to give its essential workers $10 additional pay for each hour worked during one of the most difficult years in recent memory. Checks presented ranged from several hundred dollars to $19,000. Tears and hugs ensued after the shock wore off for what could amount to more than half a year\u2019s salary for some team members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur team members were on the front lines for us, working hard to keep us all safe, to keep the business running and to protect our guests,\u201d said Amanda Vance, chairperson of Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians. \u201cThey deserve our deepest gratitude, and we are thrilled to be able to compensate them for their dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AugustineCasino\/posts\/4686765304689780<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the pandemic, Augustine Casino has focused on the safety of its guests and workers. The casino was the first in Coachella Valley to close its doors in March 2020 and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OAlM_d-uYhw\">last to open in June 2020<\/a>. In order to reopen safely, the casino enacted extensive health and sanitization guidelines, including requiring face masks, temperature checks, nightly closure for deep cleaning and no smoking indoors. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians\u2019 reservation is nestled in the shadows of the beautiful San Jacinto Mountains, only three miles east of PGA West, in Coachella. The tribe opened Augustine Casino in 2002 and today, in addition to the casino, operates an organic farm; a three megawatt solar power plant; and Synergy Blue, a gaming manufacturing company. For more information on the tribe, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.augustinetribe-nsn.gov\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.augustinetribe-nsn.gov&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630427780458000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEAWGV4_T4NhY8AtlR8qDD4UxGLEg\">www.augustinetribe-nsn.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"invisible alignnone wp-image-14794\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/30\/augustinecasino.jpg\" alt=\"augustinecasino\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" srcset=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/30\/augustinecasino.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/30\/augustinecasino-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/30\/augustinecasino-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/30\/augustinecasino-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/30\/augustinecasino-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1365px) 100vw, 1365px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cOur team members were on the front lines for us, working hard to keep us all safe, to keep the business running and to protect our guests,\u201d said Chairperson Amanda Vance of the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[824,63,95],"class_list":["post-14790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tribes","tag-augustine","tag-california","tag-employment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/30\/augustinecasino.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14790"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14795,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14790\/revisions\/14795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}