Road Repair Outrage
Bad news for California motorists. They pay more than drivers anywhere else in the nation for car repairs almost $1.2 billion because of poor highway conditions, according to a study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project. The second highest is New York, with $484 million.
In the Los Angeles-Long beach areas alone, bad roads cost drivers $676 million between 1992 and 1996. San Diego motorists paid $155 million for the same period.
The total expenditures California drivers pay out because of poor road conditions, the study disclosed, were six times the amount of money the Federal Highway Administration spends on fixing those same roads.
Using Federal Highway Administration, definitions, the study reported that almost three-fourths of California’s urban highways are “in need of repair immediately or in the near future.”
E3 Returns from Atlanta
The Electronic Entertainment Exposition, which left Los Angeles for Atlanta last year after show organizers complained that the Los Angeles Convention Center was too small, is returning to the Convention Center for a five-year run, starting in May 1999.
Last week, the Interactive Digital Software Association, which puts on the expo known as E3, struck a deal with Convention Center officials to occupy the entire 536,000-square-foot center, making the five-year contract the single largest booking ever for the Convention Center. Convention Center president George Kirkland promised to set up more temporary exhibit space, if necessary.
IDSA president Douglas Lowenstein said the expo returned to be closer to the home turf of the interactive game and entertainment exhibitors, many of whom are based in Los Angeles. Several exhibitors stayed away from last year’s show in Atlanta, in part because of travel costs.
Rand Alert on Immigration
The Rand Corp. warned that the California economy, which is driven by skilled-based employees, cannot continue to absorb the huge influx of poorly educated immigrants who not only pose a strain on public services but also drive U.S.-born workers out of state.
In its report, the Santa-Monica-based think tank called on Congress to reduce legal admissions to between 300,000 and 800,000. Rand also asked Congress to regulate future immigration flows to deal with changing employment needs, especially in times of high or low unemployment. In addition, the think tank asked Congress to add education levels and English proficiency as admission criteria to a preference system now heavily based on family ties.
In recent years, California’s economy has moved away from low-skilled jobs in manufacturing and towards service and high tech industries that need a highly educated work force.
The Rand study said half of the work force of immigrant labor comes from Mexico and Central America. Immigrant advocates called the study elitist.
Salhany’s Successor Selected
Dean Valentine, a 10-year Walt Disney Co. veteran, was chosen to replace Lucie Salhany as president and chief executive of struggling United Paramount Network. Valentine has been credited with such Disney hits as “Home Improvement.” In his new post, Valentine will be in charge of the network’s programming, distribution, affiliate relations, marketing and research. All his efforts will be aimed at bolstering UPN’s battle against the Warner Bros. network.
Golden Times
California’s economy is going to sizzle, according to a UCLA study that predicts the state’s jobless rate will drop below the national average by the millennium, and that home values and migration of new residents will rise faster than previously thought.
In a quarterly report released last week, economists at the UCLA-Anderson Forecast Project predicted that the jobless rate in the state will rise in 1998 but fall to 5.9 percent in 1999.
The UCLA forecasters previously had not expected California to match the national rate of unemployment.
Hiring Forecast Released
Most of Los Angeles’ industrial companies, staying in line with manufacturers nationally, will increase or maintain hiring levels, according to a survey by Grant Thornton LLP, a major accounting and consulting firm.
In a mail survey of 42 Los Angeles companies, Grant Thornton said 55 percent plan to add full-time production jobs this year. Twenty-nine percent plan to stay consistent with hiring levels of 1996 and 36 percent will add full-time management personnel.
Locally, 25 percent of the companies, according to the survey, plan to increase the amount of overtime for workers and 21 percent say they will use temporary employees from agencies.
Academic Standards Set
After a year of haggling publicly and privately, the Academic Standards Commission endorsed requirements for what California students must know in math, reading and writing, from kindergarten through high school graduation. The state Board of Education must endorse the recommendations before it becomes official.
Under the terms of the proposal, which are voluntary, fourth grade students must read a half million words a year outside class and 10th graders must have taken two years of algebra. Some school districts only have one year of algebra.
The commission was established by Gov. Pete Wilson because California students have lagged behind the nation in student performance on reading and math exams.
Compiled by Frank Swertlow and Howard Fine
