WASHINGTON — Sales of new homes rose a sharp 13,8% in June, the second straight increase after two months when sales plunged as the country went into lockdown because of the coronavirus. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the June gain pushed sales of new homes to a seasonally adjusted...
The Hidden Toll of California’s Black Exodus
In a quiet corner of Elk Grove, where the maze of subdivisions and shopping centers gives way to open fields, Sharie Wilson has spent the last three years building her dream home. It’s nothing like the neighborhood where she grew up in South Central L.A. But in this Sacramento suburb,...
Need Help With Rent Because of COVID? Fresno Grants Available
Seeking to help Fresno residents stay in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the city started taking applications for its housing retention program. Fresnans can apply for the $1.5 million first round of funding starting today. While it will be on a first-come, first-serve basis, more money is in the...
Seniors, Others at Risk Encouraged to Stay Home Under New Plan To Open Fresno Economy
There could be two plans to fully reopen Fresno presented at this week's city council meeting. As he promised a week ago, Councilman Garry Bredefeld is proposing a resolution to immediately repeal all 16 emergency orders made during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also in Politics 101: Will any councilmember second Bredefeld's...
Latest State ‘Green’ Edict Discriminates Against Minorities: Lawsuit
A new law set to take effect in California on July 1st will drive housing prices way up. Some estimates put the number at hundreds of thousands of dollars per home. A statewide coalition of community leaders, opinion-makers, and minority advocates says the law — SB 743 — targets people who...
California Cities Project 2-Year Losses of $6.7 Billion
SACRAMENTO — California's 482 cities say they will collectively lose $6.7 billion over the next two years because of the coronavirus pandemic, prompting layoffs and furloughs for public workers and potential cuts to basic services such as sanitation, public safety and housing. But that estimate, compiled by the League of...
California Bill Would Seal 2 Million Criminal Records
SACRAMENTO — The California Legislature will consider a bill that would wipe the low-level criminal records of about 2 million people going back decades. It's the author's second attempt to remove barriers to finding work or housing. The measure is part of a provision that was removed from a bill...
Walters: Two Crises Should Not Be Wasted
A crisis, it’s been said, is a terrible thing to waste. Stanford economist Paul Romer coined the phrase in 2004 in referring to the nation’s waning education levels and it’s since been adopted and adapted by others. If exploited adroitly, crises spark needed societal changes that might not otherwise occur,...
Walters: Housing Construction Drops Are Wake-up Call
Gavin Newsom came into the governorship a year ago having made many promises to accomplish great things, or as he put it, “big hairy, audacious goals.” Perhaps the most audacious was to solve California’s ever-growing shortage of housing by building 3.5 million more units by 2025. Specifically, he pledged in...
At the Oscars, 'The Cave' Aims to Provide Hope to Syria
NEW YORK — Home is a complicated notion for Feras Fayyad, the director of the Oscar-nominated Syrian documentary “The Cave.” His family home in Syria is believed to have been taken just weeks ago as President’s Bashar al-Assad’s Russian-backed forces seized the area. His family is living in temporary housing...