New and soon-to-be parents working for Los Angeles businesses would be guaranteed up to 18 weeks of paid leave — at as much as 100% of their usual wages — under a new proposal at City Hall. City Councilwoman Nury Martinez and Councilman David Ryu, who introduced the plan Tuesday, argued that it would support […]
Among the hurdles Gov. Gavin Newsom will face in his goal to see 3.5 million new homes built across California over the next seven years is that the state hasn’t set aside enough land for that development, a forthcoming report by UCLA concludes. Cities and counties have zoned land to allow for the construction of […]
Is a robot coming for your job? That is more likely if you live in Riverside, San Bernardino, Merced or Modesto, according to a report released Thursday by the Brookings Institution. If you’re in San Francisco or San Jose, you have a better chance of weathering a coming onslaught of automation and artificial intelligence. The […]
California State University is poised to enroll thousands more Californians and step up support to help them graduate sooner, thanks to a hefty increase in state funding proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Cal State trustees will take their first collective look at the governor’s 2019-20 budget proposal and discuss plans to improve student success at […]
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling clearing the way for drivers to sue trucking companies could have a major impact on the labor battle that has raged for years at Southern California’s ports, according to worker advocates. Trucking firms may not block workers from filing class-action lawsuits, even if they consider them to be independent contractors […]
Tesla needs more cash. To help keep what it’s got from flying out the door, Chief Executive Elon Musk on Wednesday announced the end of a customer referral program that offers free Supercharging to new buyers. “It’s adding too much cost to the cars, especially the Model 3,” Musk said in a tweet late Wednesday. […]
Climate change helped fuel the deadly fires that prompted California’s largest power company to announce Monday that it would file for bankruptcy in the face of $30 billion in potential liabilities. In a grim twist, the bankruptcy of PG&E Corp. could now slow California’s efforts to fight climate change. The Golden State has dramatically reduced […]
Then, in his budget proposal last week, new Gov. Gavin Newsom asked lawmakers to set in motion plans to add even more to the fund — a total of $4.1 billion more over the next four years. To those who would suggest that that’s more than Proposition 2 says the account can hold, Newsom pointed […]
California’s job market finished 2018 on a strong note, as payrolls continued to expand despite concerns over a volatile stock market, a continuing trade war with China and fears of a possible U.S. recession. The state added 24,500 net new positions in December for a total of about 17.28 million, according to the California Employment […]
A Los Angeles real estate developer has filed a lawsuit accusing two labor unions of violating federal racketeering and antitrust laws as they attempted to block the approval of a mixed-use complex in the San Fernando Valley. The Icon Co., which is seeking to build a $150-million project in Panorama City, said in its lawsuit […]
For 50 years, California has required cities and counties to plan for enough new housing so that residents can live affordably. But many local governments fail to approve new development, contributing to the state’s housing crunch. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing a radical new step: punishing communities that block homebuilding by withholding state tax […]
For the first time in five years, violent crime was down in Los Angeles in 2018, with the number of homicides on track to be among the lowest in more than 50 years. The data mirror an overall drop in crime this year in the parts of L.A. County patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department, as […]
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is leaning toward spending billions of dollars to rebuild three aging gas-fired power plants, even as California aims to eliminate fossil fuels, a goal endorsed by Mayor Eric Garcetti. Consultants hired by the utility say the city should invest those ratepayer dollars in continuing to burn natural […]
Dozens of retired Los Angeles employees are collecting such generous retirement pay that they exceed pension fund limits set by the Internal Revenue Service, saddling taxpayers with additional costs, a Times data analysis has found. Their lavish pensions forced the city to establish an “Excess Benefit Plan” to pay what the pension system cannot legally […]
California is failing to meet its goals to reduce vehicle travel, imperiling efforts to achieve ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, according to a state report released Monday. The report by the California Air Resources Board, the state’s climate change regulator, found that carbon emissions per capita from vehicle travel in California were increasing. That’s despite […]