May 2, 2018
Orange County
OC Register: Unions turn in signatures on petition to put living wage initiative on Anaheim ballot
Sponsored by a coalition of 11 unions, the initiative could go before Anaheim voters in November. At least 13,185 signatures – from about 10 percent of Anaheim’s registered voters – were required by Thursday, May 4. The process to verify the signatures now starts.
Voice of OC: Irvine voters to decide location of county’s first veterans cemetery
Irvine voters will decide June 5 whether Orange County’s first veterans cemetery will be near the heart of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro or on the edge of the onetime base near the interchange of the 5 and 405 freeways.
Rebuild SoCal: Six of nation's worst truck bottlenecks are in SoCal
The state has already outlined a series of projects that will ease truck congestion along major CA freight corridors over the next 10 years. Caltrans says most of the projects are made possible through the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB 1), which devotes $54 billion for infrastructure improvements throughout the state.
OC Register: Where in Irvine did home prices double while sales were nearly halved?
Prices rose in 63 out of 83 Orange County ZIPs and sales were up in 28 out of 83. For March, real estate tracker CoreLogic found these 14 trends in 11 Orange County ZIP codes covered by the Orange County Register’s Irvine World News weekly.
Labor
NY Times: Gig economy business model dealt a blow in California ruling
The decision could eventually require companies like Uber, many of which are based in California, to follow minimum-wage and overtime laws and to pay workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance and payroll taxes, potentially upending their business models.
LA Times: Teachers union gains a foothold in L.A.'s largest charter school group
Teachers at three charter schools operated by the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools network submitted paperwork to form a union and begin bargaining collectively. Their actions represented a partial victory in the union's campaign to organize charter schools.
Nation
CBS News: Guess where the corporate tax cut money is flowing
With public companies on track to shower a record $1 trillion on investors through dividend increases and share buybacks, Sen. Marco Rubio's recent suggestion that workers weren't getting much benefit from corporate tax cuts may sound truer than ever.
Publication Date: May 2, 2018