CPUC approves fat rate hike for SDG&E
Typical bill will jump 12.2%. Decision was unanimous
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today (May 9) approved a rate hike for San Diego Gas & Electric customers that will come to almost $10 a month for the average electric ratepayer. The vote of the commission was unanimous. …
Levi Strauss pays big bucks to get 49ers' stadium naming rights
The $220 million for Levi's Stadium probably 4th highest in NFL history
Levi Strauss & Co. has signed a deal to pay $220.3 million to the city of Santa Clara and the San Francisco 49ers for naming rights at the new stadium, now under construction, in Santa Clara, according to MercuryNews.com. The …
Penny Pritzker's La Jolla adventure
Commerce nominee's company paid money to settle suit by retirees
Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker, nominated by President Obama to be Secretary of Commerce, faces a grilling confirmation process. As media are pointing out (and I noted in a 2007 Reader piece), the Pritzker family has a background of consorting with …
UCAN wants Shames's suit thrown out, amplifies answers
Watchdog also slices pay of remaining workers in bid to keep going
Troubled watchdog Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) yesterday (May 6) filed a suit asking that the lawsuit earlier filed by its former executive director, Michael Shames, be thrown out on the ground that it is a "strategic lawsuit against public …
Economist regrets remarks about Keynes's sex life
Slurs made at presentation in Carlsbad
Harvard professor and economist Niall Ferguson, a stern critic of Keynesian economics, has apologized profusely for linking the late economist's alleged sex life to his economic ideas, according to today's (May 7) New York Times. At a Strategic Investment Conference …
UC hospital workers overwhelmingly authorize strike
But date and duration of possible strike not yet determined
More than 97% of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 3299 members working at all ten University of California (UC) medical and student health centers have voted to authorize a strike. The union says it represents …
PG&E could get stiffest fine ever for San Bruno blast negligence
Safety division recommends shareholders pick up tab, not ratepayers
The state agency investigating the 2010 horrific San Bruno blast recommended today (May 6) that Pacific Gas & Electric pay $2.25 billion for its negligence and spend $2.25 billion to make its gas transmission system safe. "This penalty will be …
Copley Mission Beach home sells for $3.85 million
3,492 square foot home had been listed for $4.495 million
An architecturally innovative home at 702 Jersey Court, Mission Beach, formerly owned by the late Union-Tribune owner David Copley, has sold for $3.85 million, according to county and Redfin.com records. It had been listed at $4.495 million. The home is …
Papa Doug's Austin hotel faces drainage problems
Needs variances from city council before construction can begin
Manchester Texas Financial Group is having troubles beginning a planned 50-story, 1000-room hotel in Austin. According to the Austin Business Journal, the proposed Fairmont Austin Hotel is located in an area undergoing dramatic change because construction of a large underground …
Peevey ducks legislative hearing to guzzle wine in Napa
Embattled CPUC president stiffs state senators, reports NBC
Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), on April 25 ducked a meeting of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review subcommittee so he could imbibe with utility company representatives at an upscale Napa winery, according to the …
Nation creates 165,000 April jobs, topping estimates
Unemployment rate drops to 7.5% and previous months revised upward
The U.S. created 165,000 jobs in April, beating forecasts of 135,000, as the unemployment rate dropped to 7.5% from 7.6% the prior month. An additional 114,000 jobs were created in March and February than previously reported. The labor force increased, …
UCAN files cross-complaint against Shames
Ailing watchdog asks for punitive damages
The financially-strapped watchdog Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) filed suit this week against its former executive director, Michael Shames, who had earlier sued UCAN for libel, wrongful termination, privacy invasion, and other alleged offenses. In a suit that was filed …
ResMed staying, but could reconsider a move
However, bribing businesses to move or stay is a shell game
Medical equipment maker ResMed, which in November said it might move to a tax-friendlier and regulation-lighter state such as Texas, last month decided to keep its headquarters in San Diego, according to the publication Medbill. The company decided it would …
U-T reports circulation gains, some dips, but...
Company has sold papers for a penny, which counts as paid circulation
According to data released this morning by the Alliance for Audited Media (formerly called the Audit Bureau of Circulations), the Union-Tribune's total average Sunday circulation for the six months ended March 31 rose to 409,796 from 364,454 in the same …
Carlsbad underwriting firm charged with fraud
Investors defrauded in municipal bond offering, says SEC
The federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today (April 29) charged the Carlsbad finance firm of Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDios (KND) with making false statements in a 2008 bond offering by the Victorville Airport Authority. The commission also charged that …
SD trade rises sharply, but deficit remains
Mexico accounts for 86% of county's two-way trade
The value of two-way trade through San Diego topped $56.5 billion last year, 7.2% over 2011, according to economist Kelly Cunningham of the National University System Institute for Policy Research. The value of trade dropped 18% in 2009, then rebounded …
Former Wells Fargo banker charged with embezzlement
He stole and laundered $750,000, says U.S. Attorney's office
Former Chula Vista Wells Fargo banker Ricardo Adolfo Benavente III has been charged with defrauding the bank and its customers by stealing and laundering $750,000 from customer accounts. An indictment was unsealed today (April 25). According to that indictment, Benavente …
Housing values in Western metro areas soaring
Fed's low rate policies the catalyst; but is this too far, too fast?
Housing values in Western markets continue to soar, according to data released this morning (April 25) by Zillow.com. Year-over-year prices for the period ended in this year's first quarter zoomed in Phoenix (up 24%), Las Vegas (22.3%), San Jose (22.1%), …
Man charged with smuggling bladders of endangered fish
U.S. Attorney has made seven similar arrests since February
Song Shen Zhen of Calexico has been charged with smuggling swim bladders of the endangered Totoaba across the border. Zhen became the seventh person charged by the U.S. Attorney's office for such an offense since February. Swim bladders of Totoaba …
Economy hops: thank craft brewers
They create jobs, contribute much more impact than Comic-Con
Craft brewers and brewpubs created $299.5 million in economic impact in the county in 2011, according to a study by the National University System Institute for Policy Research. That's 1.5 times the impact of Comic-Con. That year, there were an …