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76% of California’s pandemic pay hikes lost to inflation

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

Inflation has gobbled up three-quarters of the buying power Californians’ got from pandemic-era pay hikes.That’s what my trusty spreadsheet tells me when I compare stats from September’s Consumer Price Index report and recent earnings data for four metro areas – Los Angeles-Orange County, San Francisco, the Inland Empire and San Diego.On average, weekly wages in these four markets rose 24% from the end of 2019 through 2023’s first quarter. Meanwhile, the local cost of living inflated by 19% through September.That adds up to higher prices cutting the value of recent raises by 76%. It’s no wonder why so many folks in the Golden State are grumpy. It may help explain why we’ve seen a rash of labor unrest such as strikes in Hollywood and at Kaiser health care.To be fair, inflation has improved modestly. Look at the most recent rate of California pay hikes of 5.7% pay jumps compared to a 4% bump in the cost of living. So that’s only 71% lost to inflation.Related ArticlesEconomy | ...

From McDonald’s to Wienerschitzel, these fast food giants were born in California

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

Southern California was a hotbed of fast food innovation in the middle of the 20th century.In-N-Out Burger, which opened in 1948 and will mark its 75th anniversary on Oct. 22, is credited with introducing a speaker system that allowed customers to order in advance of reaching the window.RELATED: 75 years of In-N-Out Burger history, year by yearSeveral other famous chains were founded about the same time. Founders either knew each other or watched what the others were doing to find out what worked and what didn’t. Sometimes they helped each other out.This was especially true in San Bernardino, where McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Del Taco all had their roots.Here are six of those chains in chronological order.Carl’s Jr.: Carl Karcher opened a hot dog cart at Florence and Central in Los Angeles in 1941. He opened the first Carl’s Jr. in Anaheim in 1945. The menu has mutated many times and now has burgers and chicken sandwiches, but no hot dogs. Signature burgers include the Famous Star and...

Feds charge Menendez with being unregistered foreign agent

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

By Larry Neumeister | Associated PressNEW YORK — Federal prosecutors have rewritten their indictment against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife to charge them with conspiring to have him act as an agent of Egypt and Egyptian officials.The superseding indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, accuses Menendez of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register with the U.S. government if they are acting as “an agent of a foreign principal.” As a member of Congress, Menendez was prohibited from being an agent of a foreign government, even if he did register as one.Messages left with Menendez’s Senate staff and attorney on Thursday were not immediately answered.The indictment says the conspiracy occurred from January 2018 to June 2022. It alleges that in May 2019, Menendez, his wife and a business associate, Wael Hana, met with an Egyptian intelligence official in Menendez’s Senate office in Washingt...

States hope finding jobs for migrants will help clear shelter overload

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

Tim Henderson | Stateline.org (TNS)NEW YORK — States and cities are taking advantage of expedited work authorizations for a flood of new migrants, seeking to match them with jobs so they can support their families while they wait for asylum hearings.Allowing migrants to work might enable many of them to leave shelters in cities that were already strained by local homeless populations but have been further overwhelmed by the newcomers.New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said this week that the state Labor Department had identified 18,000 potential jobs for migrants around the state. Hochul had already called on National Guard troops to help with work authorization paperwork.“Migrants and asylum seekers came here to work — so let’s put them to work,” Hochul said in a statement. “Right now, we have a migrant crisis and a workforce crisis … we can solve them both.”New York and other states got a big win when the Biden administration announced last month that it would give temporary le...

Three-bedroom home sells in San Ramon for $1.6 million

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

2309 Keats Lane – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 2300 block of Keats Lane in San Ramon was sold on Sept. 19, 2023 for $1,625,000, or $874 per square foot. The house, built in 2006, has an interior space of 1,859 square feet. The layout of this two-story house consists of three bedrooms and three baths. The property is equipped with central A/C. Additionally, the home provides an attached two-car garage, granting ample space for parking and storage purposes.These nearby houses have also recently been sold:On Fenwick Way, San Ramon, in September 2022, a 2,129-square-foot home was sold for $1,705,000, a price per square foot of $801. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In September 2022, a 3,364-square-foot home on Paige Way in San Ramon sold for $2,250,000, a price per square foot of $669. The home has 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.A 2,194-square-foot home on the 2900 block of Enfield Street in San Ramon sold in September 2022, for $1,725,000, a price per square foot o...

Court documents reveal Pac-12 schools to pay well beyond $50 million in Comcast overpayment scandal

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

The future of the Pac-12 hinges, in part, on the two remaining and 10 departing schools gaining clarity on the conference’s assets and liabilities.One of those liabilities has come into focus.The conference is taking a $72 million budget hit as a result of the Comcast overpayment scandal, according to commissioner George Kliavkoff’s court declaration in a lawsuit filed against the conference by two former executives.It’s the first on-the-record confirmation of the financial damage resulting from Pac-12 mismanagement and far exceeds initial presumptions.In January, when the conference terminated CFO Brent Willman and Pac-12 Networks president Mark Shuken for failing to properly report the mistake, it described the amount of overpayments claimed by Comcast as being “more than” $50 million.Kliavkoff’s declaration, viewed by the Hotline, is one of dozens of filings in the wrongful termination lawsuit, which began in April in San Francisco Superior Court and is ongoing....

No longer just “hippie” moms-to-be: More women delivering babies at home with midwives

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

Eileen Fruithandler delivered her second child at home with a midwife in 1992 – an era when she and her late husband faced pushback from loved ones about the decision.“I’m lying to everyone – I had to lie,” said the 66-year-old Denver resident, who splits time between Denver and Palm Beach, Fla. “It wasn’t in vogue when I did it.”In the three decades since Fruithandler’s secretive delivery, more pregnant mothers-to-be — of all ages, backgrounds and income levels — have followed her path of using midwives.The number of women who birthed at home from 2020-21 rose 12%, “the highest level since at least 1990” at more than 51,600 births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And, from 2016-21, more certified midwives — who have faced misconceptions about their educations and care historically — have joined the profession to meet the boost in demand.“We’ve done home births in RVs,” said Jen Anderson-Tarver, a certified professional midwife at New Leaf Midwifery in D...

San Francisco man, 31, identified as driver who rammed vehicle into Chinese consulate

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 31-year-old San Francisco man has been identified as the driver who was shot and killed by police after crashing a car into the Chinese consulate on Monday, drawing condemnation from the White House and Chinese government.The city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified the driver as Zhanyuan Yang on Thursday. The office said in an email it had no additional information to disclose.Zhanyuan Yang rammed a vehicle into the visa office of the consulate. A witness said he was bleeding from the head as he exited the vehicle yelling about the C.C.P., an abbreviation for the Chinese Communist Party. Woman who fell from SF rooftop at Fleet Week Blue Angels party ID’d San Francisco police arrived on the scene and shot the driver, who died later in a hospital.Police have not disclosed how the shooting unfolded or how many officers fired. There were no reports of any injured people inside the building.Police said Monday they did not know why the driver smashe...

SFPD officer dragged while attempting to detain auto burglary suspect

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A San Francisco Police Department officer was dragged by a vehicle Thursday morning while attempting to detain a suspect, according to SFPD. Officers assigned to SFPD Taraval District were dispatched to the area of Irving Street and 43rd Avenue at around 2:13 a.m. Thursday on a report of an auto boost.An unknown male suspect arrived in the vicinity in a sedan, officers were advised. The suspect entered a parked unoccupied vehicle through the sunroof, police said, citing a witness. San Francisco man, 31, identified as driver who rammed vehicle into Chinese consulate Arriving at the scene, officers observed the suspect exiting the parked vehicle with another vehicle stopped in the street nearby. The suspect, police said, ran to the waiting vehicle and got into the driver's seat.Officers attempted to detain the suspect through the open driver door, but the suspect began driving away, dragging an officer for several feet. Police requested medics for the officer...

Oakland's Grand Bakery selling for $1

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:30:33 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) – For the price of just one hundred pennies, you could potentially become the owner of the Bay Area's oldest kosher bakery. Oakland's Grand Bakery’s owner Sam Tobis is specifically selling the bakery to someone passionate about Jewish baking for just $1.Grand Bakery prides itself on 64 years of loyal customers and serving the community. 2 more Oakland restaurants announce closures Tobis brought Grand Bakery seven years ago with no experience, however, he said he felt called to keep the Grand legacy alive for future generations. For two years, Tobis has been operating both Grand Bakery and Saul's Restaurant & Deli in Berkeley. Tobis said he eventually realized he could not be a steward to both entities. “It's time to pass Grand to the next set of loving hands,” said Tobis. “And since I care less about making money off the sale and more about finding the right person, my friend suggested that selling it for $1 would help get the word out.”Not convince...