Happy 4th of July!

It was disappointing and sad to read that the Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 250 workers, a majority from the editorial side of the paper. The Times troubles are reflected in the plight of other newspapers, which are losing advertising revenue to the Internet.

When one participates in the public arena, as I have for 30 years, you can adopt some bitterness to the press if you feel your efforts have been misread or even trashed by the newspapers.

While Thomas Jefferson is often remembered for saying "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter;" he also wrote: "Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this. Divide his paper into four chapters, heading the first Truths; the second, Probabilities; the third, Possibilities, the fourth, Lies."

Soaring fuel and energy costs rank second only to the cost of healthcare among the problems facing small business owners, according to one of several surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business, California’s leading small business association. According to NFIB’s recently-released Small Business Problems and Priorities survey, 42.3 percent of the small business owners nationwide rank the cost of natural gas, propane, gasoline, diesel and fuel oil as a “critical” concern. That’s up from 26.1 percent on the previous survey, conducted in 2004. Both surveys rank the cost of health insurance as the number one issue facing small business owners.

Details of the most recent Small Business Problems and Priorities survey, sponsored by Wells Fargo, are available here. For information on the 2004 survey, click here.

The National Federation of Independent Business represents small businesses in a wide range of industries that are being hurt by higher fuel prices. In addition to the Problems and Priorities survey, the NFIB Research Foundation has published two other national polls - Energy Consumption and Adjusting to Cost Increases -- which are available on NFIB’s small business information Web site, www.411sbfacts.com.

On the heels of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's announcement of his 'potential' run for Governor in 2010, he's facing some trouble back home as a national furor is developing over the City's decision to shield eight illegal immigrant crack dealers from deportation.

Newsom's response? He claims he lacks the authority to intervene.

I don't recall a lack of authority ever stopping him before...

The gang problem in Los Angeles is spreading and civil rights attorney Connie Rice is working against time to implement a long-term strategy to reduce the violence. Rice told Fox and Hounds Daily she feels the solution has perhaps two years to get in place and start producing results or she fears the gang problem could spin out of control.

At the request of the Los Angeles City Council, Rice undertook a massive study to determine the effectiveness of the city’s anti-gang efforts. Eighteen months ago she released the “Gang Activity Reduction Strategy Report” done on behalf of the Advancement Project, which Rice co-directs. The report concluded that too many anti-gang programs were scattered under too many different authorities to have any effect. Further, she argued trying to confront the gang problem simply by relying on police force would fail.

“If you look at this as a public disease it would be the same as looking a malaria epidemic and handing out fly swatters,” she said. “If you have a malaria epidemic and you’re in the malaria zone you have to organize your entire ecosystem to fight that disease or it will wipe your population out. “

Despite working next door to Burger King and being tempted daily with the smell of charbroiled burgers, I only eat there about twice a year. I have a soft spot for Taco Bell, but I hardly ever go there either—unless there are no other options, and I’m desperately in a hurry and hungry. I was raised not to eat fast food, so I normally avoid it.

But a renewed effort at L.A. City Hall to permanently ban any more fast food outlets into South L.A. strikes me to be about as effective as banning chocolate or beer. Neither is particularly good for you when consumed in mass quantities, but many of us will find a way to buy them no matter how expensive or readily available they are.

The effort is being made in the name of fighting obesity, a noble cause. However, I think it is more effective when parents show their kids healthy foods to eat, how to prepare them, and where to buy them. It’s also on the heals of other proposals to ban trans-fats in L.A., but not lard.

A lot of people didn't quite know what to think last week when Senator McCain proposed a $300 million taxpayer-funded cash prize to whomever could develop a battery that would leapfrog the efficiency of currently available technology, providing the same amount of power at 30% of the cost. Reactions from both Republicans and Democrats were mixed, and presidential rival Barack Obama dismissed the idea as a 'gimmick'.

Just about everyone must admit that the same thought had crossed their mind - how serious is the cash prize plan, and does it have a chance of success? The short answer - yes, there's a very good chance that Senator McCain's proposal could result in the development of a new generation of efficient and cost effective battery technology.

I was tempted to just leave it at that, but there is indeed a very good reason for why the aforementioned plan will succeed. By shedding the chains of bureaucracy and special interests that generally accompany funding of this nature, it exits the grey area of the government subsidy and provides a true incentive for innovation -- produce results, get the prize. In adopting this mindset, the McCain plan takes aim in the same direction that technological innovators already have in the recent past, valuing efficiency and demanding results.

It’s a good thing that Tesla Motors has decided to build its electric car factory in California. One of the main reasons executives changed their minds and decided not to build the factory in New Mexico as previously announced is instructive, creative and disconcerting all at once.

A major incentive to produce the cars in California is that the company will not have to pay sales tax on $100 million worth of manufacturing equipment. That will be a savings to the company of about $8 million.

Once again we see companies reacting to tax pressure. While a whole host of legislators and interest groups are clamoring for business to pay more taxes, we see that business paying less in taxes keeps companies, and most importantly, jobs in California. The government will get its share of revenue when those workers pay their taxes and the company pays other taxes.

I just finished another guilt-inducing article on the environment that had two main points. First and foremost, it appears I am personally responsible for the global warming crisis and the resulting, unavoidable death and destruction. Second, no matter what I do, or how I change my lifestyle, it will never be enough.

Much of the “frantic” messaging we are receiving reminds me of the conflicting dietary messages from one decade to the next. Eggs are good for you, eggs will kill you. Drink a glass of milk a day – if you want to cut short your life. Alcohol is bad, except for the glass of wine a day you should drink to live to be over 100 years old. Early on I paid attention, but eventually, I simply tuned out the back-and-forth between competing dietary “experts” and the resulting media hysteria. Not surprisingly, the answer (simply enough) appears to have been moderation, a lesson that would serve us well now.