Posts Tagged: recent

Dynamex decision threatens workers’ flexibility

A California freeway at rush hour, with traffic that includes commuters and rideshare drivers. (Photo: EGD, via Shutterstock)

by ELIZABETH RAYRAY posted 03.15.2019

OPINION: My wife and I are union members working for a union employer in the Sacramento area. As full-time employees, we make a fair living, but not nearly enough for us to be able to live the life we want. In order to supplement our wages, we have chosen to work as independent contractors driving for app-based delivery and rideshare companies that service Sacramento.

Latino economics, political clout linked

A portion of the hundreds of thousands of people who protested federal immigration policies in Los Angeles in 2006. (Photo: Joseph Sohm)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 04.27.2017

California’s growing Latino population is numerically strong but traditionally under-performs at election time – and that may have as much to do with economics as with politics. “The bottom line: If you see a growing Latino middle class, you will see a growing Latino representation in government,” said Mike Madrid, a veteran political strategist and author of a study by the newly formed California Latino Economic Institute.

Road dangers, digital billboards linked

Digital billboards and advertising in downtown Toronto. (Photo: SurangaSL, via Shutterstock)

by PAUL FELDMAN posted 03.30.2016

Digital billboards clearly catch the eye of passing motorists. But what is also increasingly clear is that such distractions can heighten safety risks in heavy traffic and other complex driving conditions, a Berkeley-based roadway researcher says.

Multiple bills have taken aim at Prop. 13, but the most popular among these bills pushes the so-called “split roll” property tax, which would eliminate Prop. 13 protections for job creators but leave them in place for homeowners. But a Pepperdine University study shows that the split roll could trigger the loss of nearly 400,000 jobs and cost California’s economy a total of $71.8 billion in output within the first five years.

Under the radar: Resentencing prison inmates

Inmates in a crowded area at the state prison in Lancaster, Los Angeles County. (Photo: Associated Press)

by DOROTHY MILLS-GREGG posted 11.03.2014

The statewide battle in the airwaves over Tuesday’s ballot propositions has been dominated by health insurance regulation, water works and drug testing doctors, but one measure that would have a far-reaching effect on judicial policy is flying under the radar. Proposition 47 would resentence thousands of California prison inmates imprisoned for nonserious or nonviolent crimes.

Following the city charter, a reluctant San Bernardino city council last week approved a police pay raise costing about $1 million, the second $1 million police salary increase since the city filed for bankruptcy last year. The four council members who voted for the 3 percent pay hike all criticized a city charter provision linking San Bernardino to the average police pay in 10 other cities, most much wealthier with higher per-capita income.