February 2015 | Page 2 of 11

Archive

The economics of football stadiums

CalWatchdog.com has run several stories on the National Football League’s maneuvers with the Los Angeles market, which currently doesn’t have a team. It’s worthwhile to step back a little and consider the economics of sports stadiums, which has been studied thoroughly

Villaraigosa will not pursue 2016 Senate seat

John February 25, 2015

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he won’t challenge state Attorney General Kamala Harris for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Barbara Boxer in 2016. That boosts the prospects of fellow Democrat Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Garden

Covered CA deadline extended to April 30

John Seiler February 25, 2015

Originally the deadline to sign up was Feb. 15. But Covered California, the state’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act, now is extending the deadline to April 30. According to the program’s website: SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Covered California is offering a

Teams call audibles in L.A. NFL game

James Poulos February 25, 2015

NFL fans in Los Angeles have gained a new reason to cheer. Despite strong signals just months ago that pro football wouldn’t come to L.A., some of the most important players circling the project have made bold new moves to pull it off. Foremost

Prop. 13’s influence on NFL stadium game

Joel Fox February 25, 2015

A major component in the fight to keep professional football in Oakland and San Diego or move a team to Los Angeles is taxes: Will taxes be necessary to build a stadium? Team owners want a public subsidy to

Dock strife boosted political spending

Steve Miller February 25, 2015

The work dispute between West Coast longshore workers and the major shipping companies may be headed for peace. But the most recent chapter of acrimony between the parties included generous political spending in Washington. The labor contract between the International

Will 49ers stadium be last one subsidized in CA?

Chris Reed February 24, 2015

The San Diego Chargers’ and Oakland Raiders’ announcement that they had taken steps toward jointly building a privately financed $1.7 billion stadium in Carson may have been done at least partly with the intent of persuading their home cities to

Silicon Valley’s vanishing middle class

John Seiler February 24, 2015

When you read the biographies of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and other early Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, one thing to note is their middle-class origins. Jobs’ father, Paul, was a mechanic and carpenter. Wozniak’s father was an engineer. They went to

CalSTRS bailout cost: Pension tsunami laps at CA shores

Chris Reed February 24, 2015

Gov. Jerry Brown’s relative stinginess in seeking to hold the line on social services spending and in demanding an end to the practice of state education bonds paying for local districts’ construction dumbfounds some Democrats, who cite a healthier economy

Leg Analyst: Fix CA lost-and-found program

John February 24, 2015

California needs to find ways to improve its lost-and-found program. That’s the conclusion of a new report by Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor. He reviewed the state program for returning unclaimed property to its rightful owners. At the end of 2014, the state