SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Thirty years ago, Willie Cruz was shocked when he learned the Southern California oil refinery where he worked was shutting down.
Cruz, now a 61-year-old living in Arizona, had spent five years working in the environmental department when Powerine Oil Company said it would close the plant in Santa Fe Springs, southeast of Los Angeles.
Cruz feared getting laid off again if he stayed in the industry. He decided to look into respiratory therapy, in part because he’s asthmatic. A federal job training program paid for his schooling…