Six years after Hurricane Katrina, a relative of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was found by a federal court to have masterminded a massive fraud against the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the inspection of the legendary trailers that housed storm refugees along the Gulf Coast.
Read More…
More on Haley Barbour
The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has published its quarterly economic forecast, downgrading its prediction for UK GDP growth in 2011 and 2012.
A previous estimate of 1.3 per cent growth in 2011 has been reduced to 1.1 per cent, while prospects for 2012 have been similarly reduced from 2.3 per cent to 2.2 per cent.
Consumer spending is expected to fall by 1.0 per cent in 2011, double that of the previous forecast, while unemployment is now forecast to peak at 2.62 million in Q4 of 2012. The BCC expects interest rates to start rising around the same time.
LOS ANGELES — Rihanna is suing over a hillside home that she claims has such serious structural defects that it was rendered uninhabitable.
The pop singer on Wednesday sued Prudential California Realty and several companies that designed and inspected the home.
Read More…
More on LA Real Estate
SAN FRANCISCO — A U.C. Berkeley law professor whose nomination to a federal appeals court was blocked by Senate Republicans is about to become a member of the California Supreme Court.
The state’s three-member Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously voted to approve Liu’s nomination by Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday. The governor was scheduled to swear Liu in on Thursday.
With paintbrushes, rakes and screwdrivers in hand, a team of volunteers stirred up some dust at New Directions, a veterans residential facility at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center on Aug. 24. The team was hoping to make the facility feel a little more like home with a little help from Home Depot.
The “Wild West” days of medical marijuana dispensaries are now over, courtesy of a new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown.
Bill AB 1300 (PDF), proposed by Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield of Woodland Hills, allows cities to regulate the medical marijuana dispensaries in their area. It also allows cities to file civil or criminal claims against them for violations.
Blumenfield told the Los Angeles Times, “the new law will provide a framework for stability after years of struggling with a Wild West, lawless proliferation of dispensaries across California that sometimes constitute a public nuisance or worse.”
In February 2010, California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents raided San Francisco bar Bourbon and Branch — one of the city’s most upscale and innovative bars. The crime? Serving infused whiskey.
The bar violated an ancient law that was originally crafted to protect drinkers from bad moonshine in the post-Prohibition era. But with the law technically still on the books, the ABC could come down hard on barrel-aged bitters, housemade tonics and carefully crafted tinctures — in a nutshell, everything that makes the Bay Area bar scene one of the most innovative and sophisticated in the world.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS)
Read More…
More on San Francisco Around Town
SAN FRANCISCO — The Justice Department’s rejection of AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile USA will test new federal guidelines on challenging mergers and the companies’ resolve in forming the nation’s largest wireless carrier.
A courtroom battle is likely and could wring out information that the companies would prefer to keep private. Still, AT&T Inc. has a big incentive to fight: If the deal is called off, the company has to pay a $3 billion breakup fee and surrender some of its unused spectrum for wireless communications.
In honor of pending travel plans everywhere, I offer a few fool proof ways to get through airport security faster, happier and almost unmolested.
Read More…
More on Photo Galleries
Using student input to help assess whether new programs or approaches are having their intended impact is not only wise — it’s essential.
Read More…
More on Teachers
