Wrong Prescription
Kamala Harris is nothing if not a politician. And she demonstrated that with her politicized handling of the sale of the Daughters of Charity Health System. What should have been a clean transfer of ownership has become an embarrassment for the attorney general. Not to mention it could result in a loss of service to […]
Electric Shock
Is Kevin de León trying to kill off what’s left of California’s manufacturing? He must. The leader of the California Senate a couple of weeks ago introduced a package of bills that call for a 50 percent reduction in petroleum use by cars and trucks and a 50 percent increase in energy efficiency in buildings, […]
Will School Board Ever Learn?
That nutty L.A. school board is at it again. Nearly five years ago, the school board passed a resolution saying local car washes should support any unionizing efforts by their employees. I opined back then that since the Los Angeles Unified School District had such a dismal record of running its own business (the graduation […]
What, Me Divide?
Divide California into six states? Now there’s a dumb idea. I mean, it took a lot of time and effort to make California the biggest, most ungovernable, least responsive state in the nation. And they expect us to give that up? California went from being among the best in education but now ranks 47th in […]
Water Fears All Wet
You may have seen the article last week about how Sacramento now has water cops who patrol neighborhoods issuing tickets to wastrels who are caught “overwatering” their lawns or hosing down their driveways. And be warned: Los Angeles is expected to have four such water cops by this summer. This is the latest overreaction that […]
Up For The Count
Among the most-cited statistics by L.A. business leaders is this: We have fewer jobs right now in Los Angeles County than we did in 1990, even though the population has grown by 1 million people since then. But they may not be able to trot out that line at local luncheon speeches much longer. That’s […]
To Watch or Not to Watch
I hope DirecTV and Charter and all the other non-Time Warner pay-TV carriers don’t buckle. They should hold out. They should not be bludgeoned into paying a huge extra amount just to broadcast the new Dodgers channel. I mean, the whole situation is kind of outrageous. Wait. What am I saying? I’m a customer of […]
Wage Creep
Regardless of where you stand on the living-wage issue in Los Angeles, you’ve got to admit this: Living-wage proponents have a terrific strategy. The eventual goal of labor interests is to impose a citywide living wage (which now stands at more than $15 an hour, almost double the minimum wage). But if they push for […]
Traffic Fix? Nothing Is Easier
What’s the best thing we can do to relieve L.A.’s traffic? I’m starting to think that the answer to that question is to do nothing. Yes, nothing at all. Kick back. Chill out. Wait. The reason: driverless cars are coming. Oh, sure, they’re a few years off at least, but when they do arrive, and […]
Spaced Out in the Open
Walk into one of the startup tech companies in L.A.’s Silicon Beach and you’re likely to see young workers lined up along folding tables where they’re tapping away on laptops and chatting with one another. It’s called the open-plan office, and we’re told that it’s all so wonderfully communal and collaborative, everyone working close together […]