“The Big Short” was a 2015 film about how some financial whizzes, realizing that the nation’s overheated housing market was on the verge of collapse, made billions of dollars by betting on failure. California played no small role in the housing debacle during the first decade of the century. Housing construction had surpassed 200,000 units…
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On Saturday, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed to cut off several Russian banks from SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Calls continue to extend the ban to all Russian banks. That has been referred to as the last, most devastating of all sanctions. We need to be…
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Anniversaries and birthdays are usually thought of as celebratory events, but on February 16th, California marked an unhappy milestone. It started in November 2020, when voters narrowly passed Proposition 19. While the initiative contained some positive elements, it also repealed an important taxpayer protection from the California Constitution that taxpayers have relied on for nearly…
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Q. I am turning 80 this year and that number is stunning to me. I have bragged for years that I was sure I would make it to 100. Today, that will take enormous courage and I think I am faltering. I am so worn out by the world news and the pandemic that every…
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Q: Is it possible to grow rhubarb in Southern California? A: Most of the rhubarb that is grown commercially in the United States comes from Washington, Oregon, and Michigan – states with considerably more rainfall and cooler temperatures than Southern California. It is possible to grow it in certain parts of California, but it probably…
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A former Orange County Sheriff’s Department deputy has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four months in jail for stealing the credit cards of dead victims he came across while on the job, according to court records. Steve Hortz, 43, of San Dimas, pleaded guilty on Feb. 22 to single felony counts of burglary and…
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A monthly $50 occupancy fee may be implemented in Third Laguna Hills Mutual for each person above two in a household, the board discussed Tuesday, Feb. 15. The operating budget only considers two-person households, so the fee would be used to mitigate expenses from increased utility rates, most particularly water, and wear-and-tear of common areas,…
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Father John Misty‘s new album doesn’t arrive until April, though a pair of singles from it released earlier this year hinted at the lushly cinematic direction of his first new collection in four years. So, yes, it made a lot of sense that for a one-off pre-release show at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los…
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Because he’s such a has-been, I’ve mostly refrained from thinking about — much less commenting on — the Former Guy in recent months. Donald Trump was forced from the White House in an overwhelming electoral loss and the hope was that he would simply disappear into the swamp that is Mar-A-Lago. Well, there are hopes,…
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In the early pages of Kiare Ladner’s debut novel, “Nightshift,” 23-year-old Meggie is a bit of a wallflower, a good girl with a boring job and a nice boyfriend who mostly represses her urges and accepts her lot. Then a new co-worker named Sabine arrives radiating style, sensuality, mystery and, well, life. Meggie feels a…
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