Compared to other more traditional cities, such as New York or Chicago, multi-polar L.A.’s gentrification reflects less organic development than massive real estate speculation, supported by public dollars and policy. In a new report on gentrification nationwide co-authored with Karla Lopez del Rio and Chapman University researcher Kenneth Murphy, released by the Center for Opportunity […]
A Napa Valley veterans home once criticized for building an adventure park on its grounds has been allowing a golf course to offer hot air balloon rides for years without a lease permitting the rides, according to a state auditor’s report released Tuesday. The report draws attention to a mix of leases that the California […]
San Francisco has more drug addicts than it has students enrolled in its public high schools, the city Health Department’s latest estimates conclude. There are about 24,500 injection drug users in San Francisco — that’s about 8,500 more people than the nearly 16,000 students enrolled in San Francisco Unified School District’s 15 high schools and […]
The five states with the highest average combined state and local sales tax rates are Tennessee (9.47 percent), Louisiana (9.45 percent), Arkansas (9.43 percent), Washington (9.17 percent), and Alabama (9.14 percent). The five states with the lowest average combined rates are Alaska (1.43 percent), Hawaii (4.41 percent), Wyoming (5.36 percent), Wisconsin (5.44 percent), and Maine […]
The daily detonations from the White House are diverting our attention from deeper flaws in modern American government. Donald Trump was elected for a reason: many Americans are fed up with Washington. They see Washington as a kind of alien power, dictating policies and behavior without regard to the feelings or needs of real people. […]
The American policy debate is undergoing an important change. Some influential Democrats no longer view welfare benefits as “work supports” as they have done for the past generation. Instead, they increasingly see welfare benefits as ends in themselves, regardless of whether recipients work consistently or even work at all to receive them. Meanwhile, the list […]
From individual state pledges to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to the Green New Deal that promises 100 percent green energy by 2030, the drumbeat for renewables is growing louder with every headline. There’s only one problem: Barring Star Trek-like discoveries of new energy technologies, it’s not possible. Not even remotely. There are […]
California farmers, anchors of a $50 billion industry that represents 13 percent of the nation’s agricultural value and a critical source of its produce and milk, are facing an unprecedented squeeze on their livelihoods that could have repercussions in households from coast to coast. Beyond a decade-in-the-making labor shortage, spurred in part by a lack […]
Implementing a split roll would mean that commercial property would be taxed at market value. That would bring in more revenue to schools and local governments. But supporters of the split roll stop the discussion at that point, and fail to discuss the far-reaching consequences of undoing Proposition 13. High housing costs were a constant […]
The 12th annual Verdexchange Conference kicked off in Los Angeles this week with a discussion on how the recent election results will boost environmental politics and the green economy in California. But in the tradition of the old Rodney Dangerfield joke that, “I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke […]
CBO estimates that the five-week shutdown delayed approximately $18 billion in federal discretionary spending for compensation and purchases of goods and services and suspended some federal services. As a result of reduced economic activity, CBO estimates, real (that is, inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2018 was reduced by $3 billion […]
The lowest priced Model S will now cost $85,000 with software limiting the range of the battery to 310 miles per full charge, while the Model X will start at $88,000 with a range of 270 miles. The “extended range,” “performance” and “performance with ludicrous mode” versions will range from $93,000 to $137,000.
The Sacramento City Unified School District is grappling with a significant budget shortfall — and its bond rating also hit a low point this week. Rating agency Standard and Poor’s dropped the district’s general obligation bond rating to “BBB,” which the district wrote in a statement is “the lowest investment bond rating.” The bottoming-out of […]
Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost told the board investment returns were negative 3.9 percent last year but over the last 10 years averaged 7.9 percent, still above the current earnings target of 7 percent. The new chief investment officer, Ben Meng, who began work this month, told the board the projected funding level was “around […]
The union that represents teachers in the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, is claiming that its six-day strike produced a victory, and local media are echoing that line. It may be, however, a pyrrhic victory because it could drive LA Unified, which is already in a deep financial hole, mostly of its own […]