Stories for June 2004

Monday, June 28

Developers Poised for Battle Against Inclusionary Zoning

Tribune and IRS Head to Court on Times Mirror Bill

For all the hand wringing over Tribune Co.'s disappointing advertising revenues, cited in the decision by the Los Angeles Times to cut about 190 jobs, a much bigger shoe could drop sometime next year.

LABJ's LA STORIES / OUT OF THE PAST

Weekly Columns; More news and talk from around the town, behind the scenes. Plus, a long look back at past stories, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Business Journal.

Review & Preview

Review of this week's other top news; Preview of upcoming stories and events.

BANKRUPTCIES

Weekly List of recent L.A. bankruptcies

FDIC Exam Finds "Deficiencies" In Cathay Bancorp's Safeguards

FDIC Exam Finds 'Deficiencies' In Cathay Bancorp's Safeguards

LABJ FORUM - Time Off

The Business Journal asks: How will you spend your summer vacation?

THE LABJ STOCK INDEX

Tracking 200 selected Los Angeles County-based companies; Market Diary, Market indexes, Industry analysis, 52-week performance, weekly top Gainers & Losers, Market summary, weekly profile

THE LIST - Environmental Firms

The L.A. Business Journal's list of top 15 Environmental Firms, ranked by number of L.A. County employees

Appeal Panel Revives Lawsuit Over Record Label Royalties

The Port of Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners is considering doubling the amount of work set aside for small businesses, with the goal of increasing the number of contracts it awards to women- and minority-owned enterprises.

Bankers Report Rise in Demand For Loans From Business Clients

Local bankers are reporting evidence of a robust increase in commercial lending over the past few months, a sign that business borrowers may be picking up the baton from the homeowners who have kept the economy afloat with cash-out refinancings over the p

Insurance Company Hitting Zenith as Workers' Comp Reform Takes Effect

Zenith National Insurance Corp. has posted five consecutive quarters of double-digit earnings increases while its stock has jumped more than 70 percent over the past year.

Stem Cell Research Initiative Would Bring Benefits to L.A.

Think aid, not cure-all. That's the potential benefit to the lagging L.A.-area biotech industry should a proposed $3 billion ballot initiative that would fund embryonic stem cell research be approved by state voters in November.

Rand Corp.'s Role in Airport Study Moving Into Different Flight Path

When L.A. Mayor James Hahn last month announced that the city would hire Rand Corp. to conduct a comprehensive review of the security issues surrounding his proposed airport renovation, he said the study would be done in time for the City Council to consi

CALENDAR

Calendar of L.A. business events, conventions, and announcements

ECONOWATCH L.A. COUNTY

Charts of Economic Indicators, Real Estate, Tourism...

Monday, June 21

THE LIST - Largest Technology Firms

The L.A. Business Journal's list of the 25 Largest technology firms, ranked by 2003 Revenues

LABJ's LA Stories / The Roving Eye

Weekly Columns; More news and talk from around the town, behind the scenes; looking back.

Multiple Hurdles Must Be Cleared

The compromise plan to overhaul Los Angeles International Airport that made its way through the airport and planning commissions last week has a long way to go before the shovels hit the ground.

CORRECTION

In the June 14 law column item '"Ladies Night' Litigants Rack Up Another Courthouse Loss," Marc Angelucci's role in the suit was misstated. He sued Charles Billiard as an individual.

ECONOWATCH L.A. COUNTY

Charts of Economic Indicators, Real Estate, Tourism...

CALENDAR

Calendar of L.A. business events, conventions, and announcements

Business Journal Receives Press Club Awards

The Business Journal was recognized last week by the Los Angeles Press Club's annual awards competition.

THE LABJ STOCK INDEX

Tracking 200 selected Los Angeles County-based companies; Market Diary, Market indexes, Industry analysis, 52-week performance, weekly top Gainers & Losers, Market summary, weekly profile

Producing Home-Grown Shows Brings New Prosperity to KCET

When the board of KCET, L.A.'s public television station, ventured north to Santa Barbara earlier this month to consider the proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, it faced a dilemma other public stations might envy.

Tight Budget Impeding Redevelopment

Local redevelopment agencies are postponing projects as they scramble to deal with state budget cuts.

Mixed-Use Project Is Planned For Sears' Boyle Heights Site

A decaying warehouse complex in Boyle Heights may soon be home to one of L.A. County's largest single redevelopment projects.

LABJ FORUM - Opportunities Wanted

The Business Journal asks: Do you have a job yet?

Far East National Bank Sets Plan For Branch in Ho Chi Minh City

WALL STREET WEST - Far East National Bank is set to open a new branch in Vietnam this fall, becoming only the third U.S. bank with an outpost in the Communist country.

Home Prices May Expose Economy to Credit Peril

L.A. continues to defy the pressures of skyrocketing home prices and massive consumer debt, according to several economists whose mid-year forecasts project increasing job growth for the rest of the year and into 2005.

Review & Preview

Review of this week's other top news; Preview of upcoming stories and events.

Prices Climb as Supply of Off-Lease Vehicles Dwindles

Shoppers kicking tires in used car lots around Los Angeles may be experiencing the equivalent of sticker shock these days.

BANKRUPTCIES

Weekly List of recent L.A. bankruptcies

Monday, June 14

Labor Litigation Landslide Hits L.A. Entertainment Companies

Television and movie producers have found themselves defending a spate of litigation resulting from an amendment to the state's employment code that enables employees to seek damages for workplace violations.

Earthquake Safety Standards Must Be Enforced

Extended Hours Will Help Ease Traffic Problems at L.A. Ports

THE LABJ STOCK INDEX

Tracking 200 selected Los Angeles County-based companies; Market Diary, Market indexes, Industry analysis, 52-week performance, weekly top Gainers & Losers, Market summary, weekly profile

THE LIST - Colleges & Universities

The L.A. Business Journal's list of the top 25 Colleges & Universities, ranked by full-time student equivalents enrolled in fall 2003

ECONOWATCH L.A. COUNTY

Charts of Economic Indicators, Real Estate, Tourism...

LABJ's LA Stories / The Roving Eye

Weekly Columns; More news and talk from around the town, behind the scenes.

Review & Preview

Review of this week's other top news; Preview of upcoming stories and events.

Resolve Lawsuits and Cooperate With EPA to Clean Beaches

Hotels Finally See Heads Returning to Beds

After sputtering along for nearly three years, local hotels are eyeing the coming summer months as a comeback season.

Borough System Would Invigorate Civic Participation

Make the Park Atop Bunker Hill a Redevelopment Priority

Making a Mark

Goodwill in WellPoint Merger Gets Thumbs Down From S

WALL STREET WEST

Employ Existing Financing to Ring L.A. With a Green Necklace

Technology Will Allow LAPD To Protect and Serve Efficiently

Public Safety Hinges on Communications

A Football Team Belongs at the Coliseum

Reduced Business Tax Rates Will Create Jobs, Enterprise

Online Newspaper Could Thrive in This Market

New Wave of Offerings Tests Investor Demand

After a three-year slump, the IPO market has finally awoken from its slumber, and a handful of Los Angeles firms are lining up to tap the public markets.

Paid Family Leave Law Raising Questions

Funding, Job Security, Taxes at Issue

Surveys of Gas Prices Designed To Track Both Trends and Cents

What's the real cost of an average gallon of gasoline in Los Angeles? It all depends on whom you ask.

Funding Better Foster Oversight Will Save Lives, Money

Cut Back on Landfill Trash Flow By Targeting Mass of Packaging

Happy Anniversary

Just as L.A. Has Done, the Business Journal Has Taken Significant Strides in Itss 25 Years

Don't Believe All the Hybrid Mileage Ratings

How good is the gas mileage for Toyota's hot-selling Prius or the Honda Civic hybrid? Not as good as advertised, it turns out.

Angeleno Publisher's Expansion Plans Bank on Affluence

Modern Luxury Publishing Inc., publisher of glossy luxury lifestyle magazines, is planning an expansion that could solidify its West Coast operations and also involve a risky eastern push.

Variety of Reforms Needed to Fix Broken Court System

Banks Offer Incentives to Move Online

Ask Not for Whom the 101 Tolls It Tolls for Construction

Ad Slump Hits Hard at Times As Cuts Loom

A slowdown in retail advertising is at the center of poor results at the Los Angeles Times, which has prompted the newspaper's parent company, Tribune Co., to institute cost-cutting measures over the next few weeks that include voluntary buyouts and perha

To Increase Accountability, Add Supervisors to Board

LAX-Green Line Link Will Be Key to Commute

Watermarke Apartments Now Are Marked for Sale

Videogame Companies Deserve Enterprise Zone

Public Transportation Should Get You There From Here

Resistance to Recycling of Water Will Wear Down Drop by Drop

Time to Tear Down City's Commission System

Personal Agendas

GOALS Four Angelenos discuss their personal agendas for the future.

Health Authority Could Best Address Hospitals

Immigration Problems Require Multi-Pronged Approach

IRS Settles Tax Case With Card Player in $8.6 Million Shuffle

Poker player George Chang had raked in more than $8.5 million in tax savings when the Internal Revenue Service folded its hand.

BANKRUPTCIES

Weekly List of recent L.A. bankruptcies

CALENDAR

Calendar of L.A. business events, conventions, and announcements

Give Principals More Authority, Greater Accountability

Monday, June 7

Energy Costs May Stunt Economy

Former Fed. Chairman Alan Greenspan on Wednesday offered a grim view of the world's rising vulnerability to high crude oil prices, saying he was skeptical that oil producers can pump enough crude to meet future demand.

AEG Courts Disney, Viacom for Complex

Anschutz Entertainment Group is negotiating with both Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc. to anchor a planned 200,000-square-foot media and entertainment facility next to Staples Center.

Review & Preview

Review of this week's other top news; Preview of upcoming stories and events.

THE LABJ STOCK INDEX

Tracking 200 selected Los Angeles County-based companies; Market Diary, Market indexes, Industry analysis, 52-week performance, weekly top Gainers & Losers, Market summary, weekly profile

LABJ's LA Stories / The Roving Eye

Weekly Columns; More news and talk from around the town, behind the scenes.

Manchester Square, LAX's Money Pit

Manchester Square is ground zero in L.A. Mayor James Hahn's $9 billion plan to modernize Los Angeles International Airport

Federal Court Project Downsized as Squeeze On Dollars Intensifies

Plans for a new federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles are being scaled back and the timeline pushed out, apparent results of the deepening federal budget deficit.

NEWSMAKERS

Businesspeople and businesses in the news, on the move...

CALENDAR

Calendar of L.A. business events, conventions, and announcements

... As Profitable Infinity Radio Unit Told to Stay the Course

The chain of command at Infinity Broadcasting Corp., the Viacom Inc. unit that formed one leg of departed President Mel Karmazin's power base, has been sending out reassuring signals to the troops.

Pollo Loco Sued Over Labor Issue

In a potential test case for a new California law allowing workers to sue their employers over labor law violations, three managers of El Pollo Loco Inc. charge that they were misclassified as exempt from overtime and are seeking back pay and other compen

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