October 16, 2017
Labor
Sacramento Bee: A pending Supreme Court case threatens to silence workers’ voices
The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board hits the nail on the head: "Janus v. AFSCME is about speech, but not the speech Janus’ lawyers describe. The oligarchs behind Janus’ lawsuit know they’d have a much easier time winning at the polls if only they could stifle the collective voice of organized labor.
Orange County
Voice of OC: Amid court battle, South County Wastewater faces audit
Wastewater Authority audit reports from the past three fiscal years show problems with internal controls in the agency. The reports found the agency needs to tighten its controls over payroll, inventory, contract compliance and department communication.
OC Register 8 scary trends for Orange County’s economy and job market
Disruptive new forces — along with some longstanding weaknesses — pose serious threats, as outlined in a 100-page Workforce Indicators Report, issued this week by the Orange County Development Board, a government agency, and the Orange County Business Council, a trade group of large companies.
OC Register: Santa Ana developer unveils bid for Amazon’s second headquarters
If developer Michael Harrah gets his way, Santa Ana will become home to Amazon’s enormous new second headquarters, repurposing three proposed development sites in the city into a 10 million-square-foot, high-tech hub.
OC Register: Here’s one Santa Ana family’s story of generational gang violence. Can the city’s latest efforts break the cycle?
Hugo Secundino picked up his 10-year-old granddaughter for a recent afternoon visit to the sprawling Santa Ana Cemetery and the grave of her father. A little more than a decade ago, Secundino’s son was gunned down in gang warfare at the age of 14, eight months before his daughter was born.
OC Register: Southern California housing takes nation’s largest bite of local paychecks
The average Southern Californian “consumer unit” — as this study dubs households — spent $23,393 annually in 2015-16 on housing out of a typical $77,062 household income. Housing’s 30 percent bite out of local incomes was the largest slice out of 22 major U.S. markets tracked.
California
LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown sides with local governments, vetoes state rules for installing 5G cellular equipment
The bill would have downsized the role played by city and county officials in setting limits on where the equipment for new 5G cellular service would be placed. Local governments would have had less power to unilaterally block the installation of the devices, which Brown said in his veto message was a problem.
Publication Date: October 16, 2017
