An investment analysis that looked at how much it would cost water users to build and operate the proposed Temperance Flat Dam northeast of Fresno without government funding was finished earlier this year and quietly passed among water districts, which just as quietly asked the federal government to shelve work...
Walters: ‘Tax Exhaustion’ May Be on the Horizon
California’s local governments — cities especially — and school districts have been packing ballots with tax increase measures in recent years and another batch is on tap for next year. Voters have, more often than not, bought into officials’ pleas for more revenue and promises to spend it on popular...
Why the Fed Has No Choice but to Keep Cutting Interest Rates – if It Wants to Avoid a Financial Crisis
The U.S. Federal Reserve is stuck between an apparently booming economy and a financial crisis that might be right around the corner. That’s why its decision to cut interest rates by another quarter point on Oct. 30 – its third reduction in as many months – seems so odd. Lowering...
Racial Bias in Health Care Software Aids Whites Over Blacks
A widely used software program that helps guide care for millions of patients is flawed by unintentional racial bias that leads to blacks getting passed over for special care, according to a new study. The software predicts costs rather than sickness. It is used by U.S. insurers and hospitals to...
4 Ways to Cover College Costs if Financial Aid Isn't Enough
For 61% of students, college costs more than they expected, according to a recent survey from College Ave Student Loans conducted by Barnes & Noble College Insights. Yoselin Guzman, an 18-year-old UCLA freshman from Compton, California, can see why. "There's like little costs you don't even see," says Guzman, noting...
CA College Students Shell Out $2K a Month for Housing, Books, Food Alone
The price of college has become a hot-button issue at both the state and national level, but data has been scarce about how much, beyond tuition, California students actually spend on the housing, food, textbooks and other non-tuition items that they also need to earn a degree. On Thursday, a state survey offered some...
One Reason Housing Is so Expensive in California? Cities, Counties Charge Developers High Fees
[aggregation-styles] The Los Angeles Times Subscription SACRAMENTO — A long-awaited study detailing how much cities and counties charge developers to build housing in California found that such costs are often hidden, vary widely across the state and have slowed growth. The report, released this week by the state Department of...
One Reason Housing Is so Expensive in California? Cities, Counties Charge Developers High Fees
[aggregation-styles] The Los Angeles Times Subscription SACRAMENTO — A long-awaited study detailing how much cities and counties charge developers to build housing in California found that such costs are often hidden, vary widely across the state and have slowed growth. The report, released this week by the state Department of...
Walters: California’s Two-Tier Society
Thirty-four years ago, two researchers delved into California’s rapidly changing demographic and economic trends and saw “an emerging two-tier economy with Asians and better-educated non-Hispanic whites and blacks competing for the prestigious occupations while poorly educated Hispanics and blacks scramble for the lower status jobs …” The study, titled “Population...
What Would Happen if Hospitals Openly Shared Their Prices?
Imagine there was a store where there were no prices on items, and you never knew what you’d pay until you’d picked out your purchases and were leaving the shop. You might be skeptical that the store would have any incentive to offer reasonable prices. This exact situation has become...