October 11, 2017

Orange County

Voice of OC: Gov. Brown kills OC Supervisors takeover attempt of CalOptima

Last Wednesday, Brown signed Senate Bill 4, which was introduced by State Sen. Tony Mendoza of Artesia and enshrines the existing make-up of the CalOptima board in state law, effectively blocking local attempts to restructure the board.

 

Daily Pilot: Animals evacuated from O.C. wildfire find a temporary home at the fairgrounds

The fairgrounds is fully staffed with volunteers but is accepting donations or loans of stall panels so it can build more holding areas for affected horses, spokeswoman Terry Moore said. The animals are welcome to stay at the fairgrounds until their owners can return home, or in some cases, rebuild their homes, Moore said.

 

OC Register: Wildfires put $25 billion of Southern California housing at extreme risk

Wildfires like Canyon 2 that has scorched parts of Anaheim, Orange and Tustin are why Southern California is home to two of the nation’s riskiest housing markets for wildfires.

 

California

LA Times: Desperate calls to save those trapped by fire, but emergency alert system failed many

The dispatch calls, which began pouring out after 10:30 p.m., less than an hour after the fire was first reported, provide a harrowing narrative of the frantic, confusing efforts to rescue people from the Atlas Peak fire, which by Tuesday had burned 25,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures.

 

OC Register: Why gun sales in California spiked in 2016

2016 was a record-setting year for gun sales in California. More than 1.3 million guns were sold. Handguns had a slight increase but the sale of long guns increased from 397,231 in 2015 to 1.33 million.

 

Labor

NY Times: Why aren’t wages rising faster now that unemployment is lower?

Union membership in the United States, is lower than in most major economies. Unions now represent less than 11 percent of the workforce. Economists see this as a critical factor in weak American wage growth, given that most workers do not bargain collectively.

Publication Date: October 11, 2017