A majority of Kaiser Permanente’s 50,000 workers have signed a petition to disaffiliate with United Healthcare Workers West and instead join the newly formed National Union of Healthcare Workers, officials said.
The bargaining unit is one of the largest among the nation’s private-sector employers, and taking it over would be a significant coup for NUHW, officials said.
The new group was created last month by former leaders of UHW after the Oakland-based local was taken over by its parent organization, the Service Employees International Union, the culmination of a long fight over organizing and bargaining methods.
One of the new group’s stated goals was to win the right to represent UHW’s 150,000 members.
Within days of its creation, the fledgling group began filing requests with the National Labor Relations Board for elections at UHW-represented workplaces, saying a majority of workers signed petitions asking to disaffiliate with UHW and join NUHW.
Read on »
 Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said today he is considering closing at least one jail and possibly a second to cope with a $72-million budget gap.
Baca said his plans are still preliminary because he’s not sure exactly how much the Sheriff’s Department budget is will be cut.
But he said the facility most likely to close would be the aging Men’s Central Jail, which over the years has been hit by unrest and several murders by inmates. Jailers have long said the facility is outdated and extremely difficult to patrol.
Such a move would probably require the department to release some inmates earlier than they do now, because the capacity of the county jail system would drop. Baca said he is trying to avoid any cuts in sheriff street patrols, leaving jails the only place to trim.
Read on »
Where to go to talk about your troubles? In this economy, maybe it's your local pub, which the Daily News reports is becoming a forum for folks to talk about getting by:
It's a quarter to three. There's no one in the place who isn't feeling the effects of the economic crisis. Duck into any watering hole in any of the San Fernando Valley communities hit hard by business failures, worker layoffs and the stock-market dives. The bar conversation these days is likely to be as somber as the inevitable Frank Sinatra tunes on the jukebox. At Pickwick's Pub, in Woodland Hills, construction contractors gather to talk about where there's work. At Monty's Steakhouse, just up Ventura Boulevard from Pickwick's, a largely conservative crowd worries that the new president will raise taxes. At the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant next to Van Nuys Airport -- blocks from Superior Industries, the wheel-maker whose closing was announced in January -- bar regulars wonder where all their drinking buddies went. Everywhere, they've got a little story they think you should know.
While wading through this year’s budget problems, Los Angeles city officials have generally avoided significant changes to city services. But the city’s parks department is circulating a list of dramatic cuts they say may be necessary to cover its $6-million budget shortfall this year and expected reductions in next year’s budget.
The City Council is expected to discuss the list today. With possible shuttering of some recreation centers on the horizon, the memo from parks officials warns that the cutbacks will affect residents across the city. Maintenance at scores of sports courts and fields would be scaled back to once or twice a month instead of once a week. Some fields would be refurbished every two years instead of annually, and there will be less money for rodent control at athletic fields, such as those in Griffith Park.
At many city pools, officials are looking at slicing daily operations by two hours daily and closing some year-round pools on Sundays. Underused preschool and afterschool programs at sites such as the Pueblo del Rio Recreation Center in South Los Angeles and the Wilmington Recreation Center near the harbor could be cut back or eliminated entirely. Children’s playground equipment at some parks would be steam-cleaned less often and there would be less screening of sandboxes for dangerous objects.
Read on »
 Grappling with a state budget stalemate that has left them $105.6 million in the hole this month, Los Angeles County supervisors this morning threatened to withhold tax revenues from the state to pay for local social services.
“We’re declaring our own Boston tea party,” Supervisor Gloria Molina said at this morning’s board meeting, adding that withholding money from the state would send a message to state legislators to take immediate action and "make their pain more acute.”
Supervisors directed the county's auditor controller, its CEO, William T Fujioka, and county counsel to explore the legality of withholding money -- including reimbursements and property and sales tax revenue -- from the state. The board plans to reconsider the option during closed session next week.
Read on »
 Times were so tough for Redlands window repairman Timothy Carl Klenke, police say, that he decided to take proactive measures. So he armed himself with a slingshot and began cruising around the city, shattering at least five windows and car windshields as he went.
“The statements he gave to officers led them to believe he was out to drum up business and was prepared to go out and do some more damage,” Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker said this morning.
Witnesses reported seeing Klenke, 50, driving around in his Honda in the areas where the vandalism occurred. When police arrived at his Redlands home, they said, they found a slingshot in his car along with projectiles that matched those used to smash the windows and windshields.
Baker said Klenke, who was arrested Monday, planned to contact the victims later and offer to repair the windows for a fee.
“I’m sure it has something to do with the economy,” Baker said. “Everybody is hurting now.”
-- David Kelly
Photo: Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles County supervisors voted this morning to transfer $29.1 million from county reserves to cover an upsurge in welfare and construction costs, saying they still may have to cut services and jobs next month if state leaders follow through on plans to defer health and social services payments.
Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to approve the proposal by County CEO William T. Fujioka after removing $5 million in proposed spending for solar energy and other construction projects. Supervisor Gloria Molina voted against the plan after questioning several expenses, including $2 million earmarked for a county television channel.
“I just can’t support a whole series of budget adjustments that do not make sense to me at a time when a whole lot of people might miss out on services because of issues that are not of our doing from the state,” Molina said.
Read on »
Anyone looking for a bit of economic good news today will be disappointed by the new jobless numbers. From the Associated Press: State officials say California’s unemployment rate jumped to 9.3 percent in December, capping a tumultuous year of massive job losses and a housing slump that has struck most of the country. The jobless rate announced Friday by the state Employment Development Department represents a jump from the 8.4 percent figure in November 2008. Excluding farm workers, California lost 78,200 jobs in December as employers sliced payrolls to deal with the slowing economy.
Read Marc Lifsher's story from Sacramento: California unemployment rate jumps to 9.3%
Photo: Job seekers scour the postings. Credit: Matthew Staver / Bloomberg News
Here's another sign of the economic times in Duarte, where a woman known for helping others now needs help herself. From the Star-News: For Sandy Patterson, the old adage, "no good deed goes unpunished," rings painfully true.
The former Duarte businesswoman had spent the past four years trying to keep at-risk youths off the streets by giving them a free education in auto mechanics at her "Sirius Gearheads" auto shop.
But after money problems caused her to lose the shop in late November, she and her family -- which includes three grandchildren -- have fallen into the trap she was trying to help the teens avoid. They are homeless.
"For the past six weeks now we have been homeless. (Being) the bag lady has become a fear of tomorrow for us," Patterson said.
--Shelby Grad
Photo: A woman feeds her granddaughter during a Thanksgiving meal at a homeless shelter. Sandy Duarte, a long-time community volunteer who helped keep youths off the streets through education, is now homeless herself. Credit: John Moore / Getty Images
The Queen Mary hit a financial iceberg a few years ago, and then it seemed that things were getting better. But it looks as if the recession is hitting the boat again, according to the Press-Telegram: Save the Queen LLC, the development company that took over the Queen Mary's lease in November 2007, is facing financial difficulties and could be forced to relinquish its stake in the ship.
An advertisement for a sale of Save the Queen's interest in the iconic ship's lease was placed Friday in the Wall Street Journal by the company's primary partner, Garrison Investment Group. The sale is scheduled to take place Jan. 28 in New York City.
Save the Queen managing partner Jeff Klein said Friday that his company hadn't been able to hold up its end of the investment partnership because his partner in Save the Queen, Mountain Valley residential developer Tom Hix, had financial issues.
The situation is an internal matter among the companies that partnered to buy the Queen Mary's lease, primarily Save the Queen and Garrison, Klein said.
The Queen Mary was hailed as the answer to downtown Long Beach's problems when it arrived decades ago. But it struggled to survive as a tourist attraction (though "Titanic" helped). One idea has been to develop the land around the boat. The new financial woes could end up being another headache for city officials.
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: L.A. Times file
Police and affordable-housing advocates dealt with large crowds today as the Hollywood Community Housing Corporation prepared to hand out applications for affordable apartments.
Housing advocates were worried about crowd control, as hundreds showed up to apply for apartments in the faltering economy. The applications were handed out at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood.
-- Jessica Garrison
Photo: More than 500 people are in line at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Santa Monica Boulevard to apply for low-income housing under construction nearby. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
in2
Gov. Schwarzenegger will ask lawmakers this morning in his State of the State address in Sacramento to forgo their salaries if they fail to pass a budget on time. Read more about the State of the State address and excerpts from his speech.
Listen to the speech here.
-- Michael Rothfeld
Photo: In his address, the governor asks lawmakers to resolve California's fiscal crisis, calling the deficit a 'rock upon our chest.' He asks lawmakers to forgo pay if they fail to pass a budget on time. Photographer: Ken James/Bloomberg News
You could probably tell this story from many streets in Southern California. Dana Bartholomew of the Daily News picks Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks for an eye-opening if not surprising look at merchants struggling in the recession. It's about eateries that can't sell appetizers, salons that feel empty and more. Even the upscale are cutting back: For mom-and-pop storekeepers along Ventura Boulevard, the gulf between success and failure can be the 10 feet from shop to curb.
That's 10 feet of sidewalk from the cafe to a hungry diner. Ten feet from the hairstylist to an unkempt mop. Ten feet from the tailor to a baggy suit.
But during a year-long recession when clients have put off spending, the stretch of concrete leading up to any business can seem as vast as a barren desert.
"I haven't seen it this slow in 20 years," said Gail Eisemann, manager of La Frite Cafe, who on one recent Monday had only seen one customer step off the sidewalk into her longtime patio bistro before noon. "Monday used to be one of our busiest days."
--Shelby Grad
Photo: Sherman Oaks Antique Mall. Credit: Los Angeles Times
Even in fashion-obsessed L.A., hair salons and nail salons are hurting in these bad economic times. The Times' Monica Corcoran reports: "The weave is gone. Forget about it," says Rebecca Opong, as she leans on the counter of African Image Beauty Supply & Salon on Western Avenue. She sighs. "The economy is bad. Now, they all want half-wigs."
On this recent Saturday afternoon, the chairs in the corner hair salon of Opong's shop are empty, but a steady flow of customers slip in and head for a wall of Black Pearl and Magic Touch synthetic wigs and ponytails that run from $9.99 to $23.99. (A weave -- a process in which human or synthetic tresses are woven into natural hair -- usually costs upward of $200 and lasts about three months.) A teenage girl wearing a Fendi scarf on her head browses wigs with her mom. Both closely compare price tags. "See?" Opong says. "She's not getting a weave anymore."
Costly weaves aren't the only beauty fixes on the endangered treatments list in this bedraggled economy. Women who pruned and primped their appearances as precisely as orchid growers are suddenly overlooking their overgrowth. Bikini waxes? Ha. Weekly mani-pedis? The latest do-it-yourself hobby.
Photo: Irfan Khan/ Los Angeles Times (Beckielou Brown, left, and Nadia El Kholti Pettigreen pick out nail polish at Larchmont Beauty Center.)
The Legislature opened another extraordinary session on the budget crisis today. That's the technical term for a special session, and this is the third one in three months. To many in Sacramento, the extraordinary sessions are beginning to feel routine.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the latest one after the Legislature did not meet his budget demands during two previous extraordinary sessions.
There is constant talk of a deal to wipe out some of the nearly $42-billion deficit, followed by talk about a deal being nowhere in sight. A cash crisis looms. Lobbyists scurry to protect their turf. And the cycle continues.
--Patrick McGreevy
Some people are so distrustful of banks they are putting money in ... cracker boxes. Which gets us to the story of a good deed in Irvine. The Associated Press reports: Debra Rogoff was more curious than ecstatic when her daughter found $10,000 in a cracker box. After all, who would leave money in such a place?
"We just thought, 'This is someone's money,' " she said. "We would never feel good about spending it."
Rather than go on a shopping spree, the Irvine woman went to police and was initially told that the money could be a drug drop. Police later heard from store managers at Whole Foods in Tustin that an elderly woman had come in a few days earlier, hysterical because she had mistakenly returned a box of crackers with her life savings inside.
The Lake Forest woman, whose identity was not released, had lost faith in her bank and decided the box would be a safer place for the $10,000.
-- Shelby Grad
Port traffic has been down because of the recession -- but it's not out. China Shipping feels bullish enough to start a major expansion in Long Beach. Art Marroquin of the Press-Telegram reports: After six years of delays and legal wrangling, China Shipping Holding Co. will finally undergo a massive $85 million expansion at the Port of Los Angeles under a plan approved Thursday by the Board of Harbor Commissioners.
The shipping terminal will be able to process nearly 70 percent more cargo containers while producing fewer diesel emissions over the next two decades, according to the project's environmental impact report.
If the plan was denied, China Shipping likely would have pulled operations out of the Port of Angeles, officials told the harbor commission.
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times
More downbeat news from the arts-during-recession front:
The Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena and the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana are cutting their budgets --20% and 10%, respectively -- by laying off employees and canceling or delaying exhibitions. The Pacific Asia Museum also plans to hike its $7 admission fee -- it remains undecided whether by $1 or $2 -- and begin charging for lectures and workshops that previously were free.
The museums share an interest in Asian and Pacific Island culture (and both were raided in January as part of a federal investigation into alleged looting of ancient Ban Chiang artifacts that is ongoing, according to a Justice Department spokesman), although the Bowers is less specialized. Executive directors of both institutions said Friday that they are not caught in an immediate fiscal emergency but, foreseeing more bad economic weather ahead, are trying to trim their sails in hopes of keeping their budgets afloat.
Read the rest of this article here.
--Mike Boehm
At a time when many cities are hurting during this economic downturn, economic powerhouse Cerritos is about to collect more money. Macerich Co., the company now remaking the Santa Monica Place with high-end shops, is also planning a big makeover of the Los Cerritos Center, again with a nod to the upscale. More from the Press-Telegram: A $95-million renovation project that began on the Los Cerritos Center mall this month will include a new Nordstrom, an upscale restaurant and from 10 to 12 new shops, officials said. A spokesman for Macerich Co., which owns the mall at the San Gabriel (605) Freeway and South Street, has not yet confirmed what shops will be added, but said the merchandising will be consistent with the mall's current retail. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2010. Cerritos Mayor Jim Edwards said the renovations should bring an additional $360,000 in annual sales tax revenue and about $1.1 million in property taxes. That's on top of the
$3.4 million the mall generates for the city each year. Macerich Co. and Nordstrom have partnered to invest the nearly $100 million for the project, Edwards added. "In these tough times, it's good to see that people believe in Cerritos and have confidence in our city," Edwards said.
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: LAT file
Does Vanity Fair's annual Oscar bash feel right during a time of tough economic times? Well, the show must go on — to the relief of some in West Hollywood, who see the annual party as a nice calling card for the city's entertainment venues. But there is still some angst — namely over a new, smaller location. WeHo News has the details:
"Announcing that the party would go on as usual (the 2008 bash got cancelled due to the writers’ strike), although would be 'more intimate' than in years past, said Vanity Fair chief Graydon Carter. Therein lies the anxiety; will there be room for the lower tier A-listers? Morton’s, the longtime spot for the 'A' list crowd’s Oscar soiree, has been vacated by the ownership and the new location — the historic Sunset Tower Hotel — can hold fewer people for an event, meaning entry to the party got that much harder."
Ryan Gierach notes that Vanity Fair is making a nod to the tough times: The magazine will "recycle decor from past years to save expenses."
—Shelby Grad
Photo: Actor Forest Whitaker and his wife, Keisha, at Vanity Fair's Oscar party in 2007. Credit: Los Angeles Times.
Here's another sign of the fading fortunes of upscale California "food concepts." Copia opened with much fanfare during the height of the Napa food craze (our paper called it a "monument to the good life in Napa" in 2001). But the New York Times is now reporting the operation is bankrupt:
Copia, the ambitious food, wine and art museum in Napa, Calif., today filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In addition to the bankruptcy filing, Copia announced that it had secured a $2-million line of credit to fund its day-to-day operations while it looks for other ways out of a financial crisis that had been mounting for years. Copia closed without notice on Nov. 21, sending employees home and cancelling several scheduled events. Although an initial statement from the nonprofit organization said that it would reopen today, Dec. 1, doors remained shut. Copia has struggled to find its footing since opening in November 2001, and has been laboring to meet costs since restructuring its considerable debt in 2007.
 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the new Legislature into work on its first day, declaring a fiscal emergency in response to the state's deteriorating finances.
"Without immediate action, our state is headed for a fiscal disaster where everyone will be hurt," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference this afternoon in his Los Angeles office. He urged Californians to press lawmakers to "get off their rigid ideologies."
The state projects a $28-billion deficit by mid-2010, but at the current rate is on track to run out of cash by February or March.
Schwarzenegger called lawmakers back to Sacramento after they adjourned in August to deal with the same set of issues. But that emergency session ended unsuccessfully last Tuesday when a Democratic proposal to cut billions of dollars from schools, healthcare, welfare and other state services and triple vehicle license fees failed to win Republican votes necessary for passage.
Read the rest of the story here.
--Jordan Rau and Patrick McGreevy
Photo: Nick Ut/Associated Press
When Heritage Lincoln Mercury closed in August, the city of Tustin felt the pain.
For decades, the dealership had operated out of the Tustin Auto Center -- which has 17 other franchises -- and it was once among the largest Lincoln Mercury dealers in California.
It was also a crucial source of revenue for the city, which relies heavily on taxes from automobile sales to keep afloat. Of the city's $20-million annual budget, about $5 million comes from the auto center, said the city's director of finance, Ronald Nault.
But with sales of Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks down by nearly a quarter nationwide through October compared with last year, the dealership was forced to fold. Meanwhile, many of the other dealerships in the auto center, although still in business, are seeing severe sales declines, spelling further reductions in sales taxes.
Read on »
Catholic Charities of Orange County assembled Thanksgiving dinners for 500 families this week, filling plastic bags with frozen turkeys, cranberry sauce and other fixings. But word of the free food attracted 920 families, many of whom left empty-handed when the Santa Ana agency doled out the goods.
"There were tears in our eyes as we had to turn people away," said executive director Terrie Montminy, who referred families elsewhere for food or invited them back the next day for smaller packages.
Charities across the country are facing the same stress this year as their busiest season approaches. Aid organizations are hobbled by dwindling resources and soaring demands for food, clothing, money and other necessities.
And it's not only the desperately poor who are banging on their doors.
The web of poverty is expanding into the white-collar workforce, with the souring economy upending professionals who were once considered reliable contributors. The director of one Phoenix charity, for instance, says that some of his donors have become his clients.
Read the rest of the story here.
--Duke Helfand
Joel Kotkin, the guru of L.A. economics, says the recession isn't hitting some ethnic enclaves in Southern California so hard. He cites wealthy Indian, Chinese and Korean communities but also less affluent Latinos as an example of area groups bucking the downturn. Why? It's partly because the groups have access to overseas money and partly because people in these enclaves are more likely to have cash on hand. An excerpt from his essay: Dr. Alethea Hsu has a strange-seeming prescription for terrible times: She is opening a new shopping center on Saturday. In addition, more amazingly, the 114,000 square foot Irvine, Calif., retail complex, the third for the Taiwan native's Diamond Development Group, is just about fully leased. How can this be in the midst of a consumer crack-up, with credit card defaults and big players like General Growth struggling for their existence? The answer is simple: Hsu's mostly Asian customers –- Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese –- still have cash. "These are people who have savings and money to spend," she explains. "Asians in Orange County are mostly professionals and don't have the subprime business." To Hsu, culture explains the growing divergence between ethnic markets and that of the general population. Asians, she notes, whether in their native lands or here in California, tend to be big savers. In tough times, they still have the cash to buy goods, while others stay home or go way down-market.
By contrast, The Times' David Pierson and Roger Vincent found that the shopping mall scene in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond is hurting.
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
Remember all the concern from the Glendale Galleria that the opening of the Americana at Brand -- Rick Caruso's upscale mall next door -- would hurt business. Well, going into the holiday season, the Daily News' Gregory J. Wilcox says both malls seem to be co-existing just fine, thanks to foot traffic between them: They're encouraged by the foot traffic drawn by the malls' proximity and their central location in a thriving city of nearly 200,000 people. "We're running a modest (sales) increase going into the fourth quarter," said Janet Lafevre, senior marketing director at the Galleria, where bankrupt Mervyn's will close a store by the end of the year. Rick Caruso, who developed upscale Americana at Brand across the street, has similar high hopes as his outdoor complex enters its first holiday shopping season. "We are ahead of projections," said Caruso, CEO of Caruso Affiliated. "Our retailers are holding up remarkably well."
Other, smaller shopping malls aren't doing so hot, according to The Times' Roger Vincent and David Pierson: Life Plaza Center in San Gabriel used to teem with diners heading to Green Village, a Chinese restaurant in the middle of the horseshoe-shaped mall on Valley Boulevard. But after the eatery closed five months ago, the 7,500-square-foot space remained vacant. With no tenants stepping forward and fewer customers clogging the parking lot, the plaza is quiet, with a curiously dark core. It's a scene repeated in various forms throughout the region, as the economic crash that started rolling through single-family housing more than a year ago begins to hit shopping centers, turning what had been a residential phenomenon into one that threatens commercial real estate as well.
-- Shelby Grad
Photo: Shoppers at the Glendale Galleria. Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times.
Back before the economic downturn — when the downtown L.A. boom was still really a boom — the idea seemed really cool. Build a modern movie theater showing mostly trendy Asian movies. The experiment didn't work. And now, the ImaginAsian movie theater in Little Tokyo is closed. The address was formerly the site of the famed — and long dormant — Linda Lea Japanese movie theater. Now, according to Angelenic, an indie theater is to operate there: In its place comes the Downtown Independent, an indie film group owned by Dylan Reynolds and Jim Kirst, which began operating in October. The transition, including a branding switchover, is set to be complete by the end of the month. With a focus on local Los Angeles-based filmmakers, upcoming programming includes Toots, the story of New York’s famous Toots Shor saloon (preview the film after the jump) and the Zero Film Festival. Downtown Independent inherits a modern venue with glassy Main Street frontage and cushioned, reclining chairs in front of the big screen. A swank rooftop lounge won’t be lost on the new operator, which hopes to utilize the space often.
The Times' David Pierson wrote about the story of the Linda Lea last year.
Photo: The lobby of the theater (pictured in December, 2007). Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times.
In a sign of how strained families are just to put food on the table, more than 1,000 people are lined up today for bags of groceries at Montebello Park. (See photos here.) The single-file line is about a quarter-mile long, and some families have been waiting since 7 a.m.
At the end of the line, families are given a shopping cart and can select groceries for their Thanksgiving dinner.
As the holiday approaches, numerous food giveaways and food collections are taking place throughout the Los Angeles area today. The Los Angeles Regional Foodbank reports a 41% increase in food demand. The problem is, the organization has been able to boost food distribution by only 33%.
On downtown's Skid Row, the Union Rescue Mission has begun to serve 4,000 Thanksgiving dinners, an annual event that draws so many people that San Pedro Street is closed off between 5th and 7th streets.
In South Pasadena, Boy Scouts are going door to door to collect canned goods, and in Alhambra, high school students are seeking food donations from neighbors. In Pasadena, leaders from local organizations planning to help 400 needy families showed up at the Rose Bowl to collect frozen turkeys and grocery bags full of dinner trimmings.
-- Ruben Vives
Federal regulators seized Downey Savings & Loan and PFF Bank & Trust late Friday, saying that hundreds of millions of dollars in bad loans from the housing bubble had rendered the Southern California banking fixtures unsound.
Government officials said the banks’ branches would continue operating as usual under the ownership of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, one of the country’s largest banks. No depositors will lose any money because of the failures, regulators said.
Newport Beach-based Downey lost $547.7 million in first nine months of 2008, largely because of risky “option ARM” mortgages -- adjustable-rate loans that included teaser rates so low that the loan balance rose. PFF, short for Pomona First Federal, specialized in loans to developers and home builders in the Inland Empire, between Los Angeles and the desert to the east, running up $289.5 million in losses from January to September.
Downey was founded in 1957 by developer Maurice McAlister, a bass fisherman and nickelodeon collector who built shopping centers that included Downey branches. Co-founder Gerald McQuarrie died 15 years ago. McAlister remained chairman until July, when Downey’s problems were apparent.
--E. Scott Reckard and Tiffany Hsu
Photo: Lori Shepler/Los Angeles Times
State lawmakers began moving toward a deal this week to close California's deficit with the help of steeper car fees that would cost many drivers hundreds of dollars annually, according to people involved in budget talks.
Under the plan, GOP lawmakers -- most of whom have signed anti-tax pledges -- would vote to triple the vehicle license fee that owners pay when they register their cars every year in exchange for a ballot measure that would impose rigid limits on future state spending. Motorists' annual license fees would rise from 0.65% of the value of their vehicles to 2%. For a car or truck valued at $25,000, the increase would be $336.
The higher fees would generate $6 billion annually, helping to fill a budget gap that is projected to reach nearly $28 billion over the next year and a half.
The proposal is being championed by incoming state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). Democrats and advocates for the poor have opposed strict state spending limits, saying they would cripple government services.
Read the rest of the story here.
--Evan Halper
A cute cartoon character named Sid has kids all over America glued to the tube, but he has also become a controversial figure in the heated debate over California’s budget crisis.
 With the state Legislature huddling to find ways to close a $28-billion budget gap during the next 20 months, some lawmakers are questioning a decision to use $4 million in voter-approved tobacco tax money to put "Sid the Science Kid" on public broadcast stations across the United States.
Kris Perry, the head of First Five, the agency that spends the tobacco tax money, said helping to pay for the cartoon "is completely within our mandate" to extend early childhood education to as many children as possible.
"It is reaching preschool age children who do not have access to preschool," she said. "It is a high quality educational program that helps kids understand scientific concepts."
But Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) says that the state should not be funding the filming of cartoons when healthcare programs for children are under threat. He told The Times that he has written legislation to reappropriate the $4 million.
"Clearly, healthcare for low-income California children should be a higher priority than the development of a cartoon show," he said.
-- Patrick McGreevy
Photo credit: pbskids.org
Three hundred members of state regulatory boards and 200 state staffers have descended on Los Angeles for four days of meetings aimed at raising the profile consumer affairs programs in the state.
But some participants are grumbling that having hundreds of people flying and driving to the conference is a stunt to promote the department that the state, with its budget in far the red, cannot afford.
"Why are we doing this when the state has a deficit? It’s wasteful," said a member of one state board, speaking on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak for the board.. Carrie Lopez, director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, said the Consumer Trust Summit that ends Saturday at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel provides consumers access to the boards, and has members of different boards working together with law enforcement.
"We’ve been able to leverage a lot of the work we do and take it to a new level," she said.
Meetings today are being held by the Board of Registered Nursing, Veterinary Medical Board, Board of Accountancy, Acupuncture Board, Board of Pharmacy and Board of Optometry. Department spokesman Luis Farias argued that the conference is saving taxpayers money. All state boards are required to meet at least once in Northern California and once in Southern California each year, something that normally costs $70,000 annually, while having them all use one meeting space this week is costing $20,000, Farias said. However, many of the panels, including the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, the Athletic Commission and the Acupuncture Board have already held at least one Southern California meeting this year. Farias could not say how much the board members and staff are spending on flights and hotels.
-- Patrick McGreevy
The expensive cost of fighting the wildfires over the last week could not have come at a worse time for the state, which is suffering from a major financial crisis. Consider: California has spent $305 million on emergency firefighting when only $236 million was allocated. You know what happens next (from AP): That budget, which the governor signed in September, also projected a $1.7 billion reserve by the end of the fiscal year, some of which could have been used to help pay extraordinary firefighting costs. Since then, revenues have fallen so dramatically that the state is now projected to end the year with a double-digit deficit that is projected to grow to nearly $28 billion by June 2009. Schwarzenegger called the Legislature into a special session to address the deficit and has proposed filling the gap with $4.5 billion in spending cuts and a 1.5 percentage point increase in the state’s sales tax over three years. So far, Democrats and Republicans have failed to agree to a compromise. They must take action by the end of the month, when several members will be termed out of office.
Also: The Orange County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency in the fire zones.
-- Shelby Grad
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority released their statistics for October ridership: With the exception of the subway, ridership fell slightly from September as gas prices began their free-fall. The agency puts a different spin on the numbers, pointing out accurately that ridership overall is up over a year ago. So, it depends on how you look at it. Quickly, here are the September and October numbers:
MTA buses: From 1,253,620 in September to 1,222,589 in October.
Subway: From 149,699 in Sept. to 154,935 in Oct.
Blue Line: From 84,917 in Sept. to 80,577 in Oct.
Green Line: From 45,346 in Sept. to 41,746 in Oct.
Gold Line: From 25,511 in Sept. to 24,004 in Oct.
Orange Line: From 27,987 in Sept. to 25,428 in Oct.
Read the rest of on the Bottleneck Blog.
-- Steve Hymon
Photo: Los Angeles Times
At the private New Roads School in Santa Monica, 20 families decided not to re-enroll in the fall because of financial nervousness.
At Loyola High School near downtown, 40 families have come forward since the beginning of the school year seeking financial aid to help cover tuition costs, even as the school's endowment -- heavily invested in equities -- has taken a battering in the financial market.
Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood is creating flexible payment schedules for some families and is tightening its own belt with an eye toward more tough times ahead.
The economic meltdown that has ravaged many banks and homeowners is also affecting private schools in Los Angeles and nationwide, forcing educators to revise budgets, plan extra fundraising appeals and brace for possible lower enrollments next year.
Read the rest of the story here.
--Carla Rivera
Photo: Loyola High School
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to unveil a plan today for a steep sales tax increase and deep cuts in services to wipe out a budget shortfall that is expected to swell to more than $24 billion by the middle of 2010, according to Capitol staffers with knowledge of the proposal.
The linchpin of the governor's plan is the sales tax increase of 1 1/2 cents on the dollar, which could raise more than $10 billion through fiscal 2009-10. Such a tax is likely to face resistance from Republicans, who blocked a smaller increase proposed by the governor last summer and have vowed to continue to do so.
Sales tax in Los Angeles would shoot up to 10.25% if the governor's newest plan were to be approved. That would include a half-cent sales tax hike that Los Angeles voters apparently passed on Tuesday to fund transit projects. The statewide sales tax rate is 7.25%.
The governor's proposal also includes cuts of several billion dollars to schools, healthcare programs and law enforcement.
Read more on the story here.
-- Evan Halper
Photo: Los Angeles Times
 
Our own Peter Viles has been tracking the price of a gallon of gas at his local Mobil station. How much time transpired between the photo on the left and the one on the right?
A disheartening answer (and a few more pix) at his fine blog, LA Land.
--Veronique de Turenne
Photos: Peter Viles
 These are busy times for the Repo Man. Growing numbers of car and truck owners are losing their vehicles as jobs become harder to find and many face higher mortgage payments on adjustable, subprime home loans, reports the Riverside Press-Enterprise. One auto auction company says that the repossessions it handles are up 15% from last year. Not helping matters is that many cars now come fully loaded -- with debt.
Many car owners decide they would rather keep their house than their vehicle, said Tom Kontos, who works for an auto auction company. "There are cases where people say the lesser of the two evils is [to default on] the car."
The number of repossessed autos has grown as Americans have taken on huge amounts of auto loans, in many cases combining unpaid car debt with a new car loan. The result: more than a quarter of cars traded in have "negative equity," or the debt exceeds the vehicle's value. An L.A. Times story last December by Ken Bensinger found that nearly 45% of consumer auto loans are written for longer than six years and the average loan amount has topped $30,000, up nearly 40% in the last decade.
Along with more jobs for repo men and women, the rise in car and truck repossession is also likely to trigger more demand for the On Time car device, says USA Today. Made by a Murietta company, the On Time flashes a light when a car payment is due. If the owner fails to make a payment, On Time won't let the car start.
-- Jesus Sanchez
Photo: Associated Press
« Previous Posts
|
|
