What’s That Crippled Refinery Cost You? $3 Billion … And Counting
A couple of weeks ago, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported that Californians have paid almost $3 billion extra for gasoline since February. Why? Because regulators have balked about allowing a refinery in Torrance, crippled by an explosion, to patch the damage and boost operations. Now, as the Los Angeles Times reportedWednesday, ExxonMobil Corp. has scrapped its […]
Taxis Losing Fare Fight
I totally get how taxi companies and taxi drivers despise Uber, Lyft and the other ridesharing companies. After all, taxi drivers typically must meet training, licensing and other vetting standards while ridesharing drivers are largely excused from all that, other than passing a criminal background check and having the right insurance and a nice car. […]
Coming Clean on Energy Costs
When the Obama administration revealed a plan last week to force power plants to dramatically cut carbon emissions, some Californians gloated. “Climate plan should be a breeze for California,” read a front-page headline in the Los Angeles Times. The thrust: California has been throttling carbon emissions for years. We’re way ahead in all this. Well, […]
States Call ‘Cut’ on Film Credits
In case you hadn’t noticed, all those generous film tax credits that other states lavished on TV and film producers are on the retreat. They haven’t cratered as dramatically as, say, Donald Trump’s presidential prospects, but they’re definitely dwindling. Just three years ago, 40 states extended some form of a gimme to Hollywood producers, but […]
California Still Has Massive Obligations
There’s been a great deal of political puffery lately about how the Golden State’s finances have improved. The state government keeps getting described as “flush with cash.” You’d think Sacramento was suddenly beset with gorillas, what with all the chests being thumped. And that set off a predictable dustup last week over how to spend […]
Suburbs’ Sweet Song
There’s been a big revival downtown. Angelenos know all about it, having seen or read the many stories of it. Yet somehow, the revitalization story is usually told in such a way as to smear the suburbs. And that, to me, has always seemed unjust. After all, L.A.’s suburbs appear to be thriving, for the […]
Trickle Down
My lawn is brown, blotchy and blighted, and my heart wells up with civic pride when I see it. After all, we’re in a severe drought. It’s now our duty to deprive our lawns of hydration until they’re little desiccated deserts. The governor told us that. Having our own little patch of burned-out badlands is […]
City Attorney Has Better Case to Make
City attorneys are supposed to be lawyers to their cities. They advise city officials on legal matters, defend the city against lawsuits, write ordinances, prosecute city code violators. That kind of thing. But that job’s not nearly big enough for L.A.’s city attorney, Mike Feuer. He wants to be a crusading consumer advocate, a local […]
L.A. Rides Chinese Wave
One of L.A.’s most reported stories is also one of its least appreciated or understood. That’s the influx of Chinese to this area. The No. 1 destination for Chinese immigrants to the United States: Los Angeles County, where 31 percent of them choose to land. In all, close to 4 million Chinese now live in […]
Pensions Leaving Cities in Holes
The economy certainly has improved in California. L.A.’s unemployment rate, 7.6 percent last month, was down a full percentage point from a year earlier. Silicon Beach and Silicon Valley continue to burgeon. There’s such a flurry of building in Los Angeles County that construction costs are soaring, as we chronicled in last week’s Business Journal. […]