News

Which brings us to Klaus’ major dilemma, which mirrors that of many business owners. The majority of his workers aren’t paid minimum wage. Many have put in years on the job and have specialized skills and training. But if Klaus’ entry-level workers get raises, he’s convinced it’d only be fair to give those who now make just over the eventual minimum wage salary increases, too. . . So he’s estimated resulting wage hikes at the agency’s 31 group homes alone will cost $2.1 million annually.

CEQA is meant to allow opponents to push for project changes that lessen its impact on the environment. But no public announcements were made about environmental wins, compromises with developers or killed projects within the settlements. . . The nonprofits won $17.2 million in settlements from the suits, a number revealed in separate lawsuits filed as part of a dispute between the two groups. Most of the proceeds – roughly $9 million – was to go to the nonprofits and the attorney representing them, according to the lawsuits.

It turns out the land’s new owner wasn’t a public agency or a solar developer. It was the Cox family, one of the most prominent in Imperial County. And they got a killer deal on it. The solar company that once eyed the property – known as the Mayflower plot – paid the irrigation district $2.24 million for the land and then handed it over to the family nine days later. . . All of this was facilitated by the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, the state’s premier environmental law.

Roughly two-thirds of the rate spike came because it’s costing more to buy energy in the first place, especially from renewable sources crucial to meeting the state’s 33 percent mandate, she said. “Renewables are simply more expensive than the traditional power.”

So when we were able to zero in on four issues that frustrate a broad spectrum of businesses, we decided to dub them The Four Horsemen.

Walls’ massive database reveals San Diego region lost a net 3,440 jobs to out-of-state business moves from 1989 to 2011, or about .25 percent of current estimated employment in the area. California as a whole lost a net 231,000 positions, which amounts to about 1.5 percent of the latest statewide employment projections.