LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council is repealing a law requiring companies that want city contracts to disclose whether they have ties to the National Rifle Association, weeks after a federal judge blocked the city from enforcing the ordinance. Council members voted 12-0 without discussion Tuesday to roll...
Environmentalists Oppose Westlands' Bid to Secure Water
WASHINGTON — The Interior Department proposes to award one of the first contracts for federal water in perpetuity to a powerful rural California water district that had long employed Secretary David Bernhardt as a lobbyist. Conservation groups are demanding fuller disclosure of financial terms and an environmental review of the...
Pending Home Sales Reached a 21-Month High in September
WASHINGTON — More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in September, a sign that the housing market is still benefiting from lower mortgage rates. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that its pending home sales index rose 1.5% from August to September to 108.7, its highest level since December...
Firm Sues California Over Ban on Private Prisons
SAN DIEGO — A private prison firm that just won multibillion-dollar contracts to run federal immigration detention centers in California sued the state on Monday, claiming that a new ban on for-profit lockups in California is unconstitutional. The GEO Group, Inc., argued in the federal suit that Assembly Bill 32,...