Mission Hospital has received approval to buy South Coast Medical Center but must invest $5 million in capital improvements over the next three years, state officials announced this week. The $35.7 million sale could be completed by July 1, but the attorney general's office, which oversees the sale of nonprofit hospitals, imposed several other conditions: » www.ocregister.com/articles/hosp···-missioncomments?
A profound shift away from California's more transient and migrant-dependent past will soon produce the state's first generation of adults whose majority will be native-born, researchers at USC said in a study released Monday. More than 70% of Californians ages 15 to 24 were born and raised in the state, according to the report, "The New Homegrown Majority in California." By contrast, nearly two-thirds of state residents 45 to 54 years old were born out of state. The change has far-reaching implications for everything from investment in the public education system to who will buy retiring baby boomers' homes and shoulder the burden of future taxes, said Dowell Myers, one of the study's principal authors. MORE: » www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me···28.storycomments?
In November, 2007, Berkeley City Council developed an innovative proposal to encourage residential installations of solar power panels with the city footing the bill for the installation, but with homeowners retaining ownership and paying the city back over 20 years via an annual property assessment. Legislation introduced by State Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland) aims to make it easier for other California cities to follow Berkeley's example. More here: California Chroniclehere: Million Solar Roofs initiativeAnd here: Salon.comcomments?
Bald eagles were once permanent residents of Channel Islands National Park. Historical records indicate that bald eagles bred on all islands within the park, with at least two dozen nesting pairs over the 8 Channel Islands.  story continues..1 comment
The mayor of a small Southern California city has resigned after being criticized for sending an e-mail showing watermelons in front of the White House. Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose faced calls for his resignation when he forwarded an e-mail showing a watermelon patch on the White House lawn under the title: "No Easter egg hunt this year." More here: Long Beach Press Telegramcomments?
Despite strong opposition from Turkey, a Southern California congressman is vowing to introduce another bill blaming the Ottoman Empire for the Armenian genocide of 1915. But Mr. story continues..comments?
Pay no attention to that eerie silence in the nation's most populous county this week; it will simply be the sound of 10 million people not cussing. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to issue a proclamation by Supervisor Michael Antonovich making the first week in March No Cussing Week. More here: » news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090301/ap_···ussing_1comments?
Just before Christmas, detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department pried open a crate outside a warehouse to find something they had been chasing for months: an 840-pound Brazilian emerald that had been reported stolen. On Tuesday, the court will begin hearing the competing claims of ownership. The emerald, however, remains locked up in the sheriff's custody. More here: Wall Street Journalcomments?
Next week Los Angeles voters will vote on an ambitious solar energy plan that would add solar panels on rooftops and parking lots across the city and require the city's energy utility to rapidly increase the amount of solar power it uses. The vote could give a snapshot of public support for renewable energy, just as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says a renewable energy bill will be the Senate's first step in fulfilling President Barack Obama's energy directive. More here: Gristcomments?
California is now the Wile E. Coyote of states. story continues..comments?
Panoramic. That's the word that keeps up coming up when people describe the nearly completed 37-mile-long trans-Santa Catalina Island trail. Catalina Island Conservancy officials expect the trail to be open to the public in early April. But they are already advising prospective hikers to pack water bottles, two-way radios, insect repellent and snake bite kits for the four-day wilderness trek. More here: Los Angeles TimesAnd here: Catalina Island Conservancycomments?
The reduction from the Automobile Club of Southern California will average about $100 per vehicle and become effective April 1. The auto club cited a drop in policyholder loss claims during the last two years as well as its tight controls on operating expenses for creating the flexibility to lower premiums. More here: Los Angeles Timescomments?
In his first interview since taking office last month, the Nobel-prize-winning physicist offered some of the starkest comments yet on how seriously President Obama's cabinet views the threat of climate change, along with a detailed assessment of the administration's plans to combat it. Chu warned of water shortages plaguing the West and Upper Midwest and particularly dire consequences for California, his home state, the nation's leading agricultural producer. More here: Los Angles Timescomments?
A 15-year-old boy and his two pre-teen passengers -- including his 9-year-old brother -- died last night in Fontana while trying to elude a California Highway Patrol officer during a joyride, says the grandmother of two of the boys. "He took the car without his mother's permission," Lillie Green said of one of her grandson, 15-year-old Devon R. Keeten. "Neither of them (previously) had gotten into trouble. They were wonderful boys." More here: The Press-Enterprise1 comment
Members of a California family say they saved an elderly woman from losing her life savings of $10,000 she had hidden in a box of crackers. The Rogoff family of Irvine found the $10,000 in a box of Annie's Sour Cream and Onion Cheddar Bunny crackers. The Rogoffs never heard from the woman and didn't receive a reward, but Rogoff did return to Whole Foods a couple weeks later. More here: » www.breitbart.com/article.php?id···catnum=9comments?
Federal inspectors said Monday they will ratchet up scrutiny of the San Onofre nuclear power plant after discovering that a battery meant to power safety systems had been inoperative for four years. Plant personnel discovered in March that bolts connecting an emergency battery to a circuit breaker were loose, a problem the Nuclear Regulatory Commission attributed to poor maintenance. More here: Los Angeles Timescomments?
Early last year, Laguna Beach city officials set about addressing homelessness in the upscale enclave. They assembled a task force to study the issue, installed parking meters to collect change for social services and assigned a police officer as a liaison for the community's homeless. But on Tuesday, homeless advocates filed suit against the city, saying its real intent was to engage in a campaign of harassment while providing no long-term, city-sponsored shelters. More here: Los Angeles Timescomments?
Federal wildlife officials on Monday released new restrictions on pumping water from Northern California, further tightening the spigot on flows to Southern California cities and San Joaquin Valley farms. The curbs, intended to keep the tiny delta smelt from extinction and stem the ecological collapse of California's water crossroads, could in some years cut state water deliveries by half. More here: Los Angeles Timescomments?
Home foreclosures continued to drag home prices to new lows in November, as the Southern California median sales price slid to $285,000, its first dip below $300,000 since 2003. Falling prices have made homes affordable. A National Association of Home Builders quarterly index showed that at the end of September, about one-fifth of Los Angeles area residents could afford the median-priced home. During the height of the real estate boom in 2005 and 2006, only about 2 percent of Los Angeles area residents could afford a median priced home, the index showed. More here: Mercury News2 comments
California regulators adopted the nation's first comprehensive plan to slash greenhouse gases Thursday and characterized it as a model for President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged an aggressive national and international effort to combat global warming. The ambitious blueprint by the world's eighth-largest economy would cut the state's emissions by 15% from today's level over the next 12 years, bringing them down to 1990 levels. More here: Los Angeles Timescomments?
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