Southern California Professional Magazine » California

Brown To Build Electric Car Charging Network

Jerri Hemsworth — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:56:27 +0000

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced a $120 million dollar settlement with NRG Energy Inc. that will fund the construction of a statewide network of charging stations for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), including at least 200 public fast-charging stations and another 10,000 plug-in units at 1,000 locations across the state. The Governor also announced that he has signed an executive order laying the foundation for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on California’s roadways by 2025.

“This executive order strengthens California’s position as a national leader in zero-emission vehicles,” said Governor Brown, “and the settlement will dramatically expand California’s electric vehicle infrastructure, helping to clean our air and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

The network of charging stations funded by the settlement will be installed in the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles Basin and San Diego County. This new infrastructure network is a breakthrough in encouraging consumer adoption of electric vehicles and will contribute significantly to achieving California’s clean car goals. •

Print This Article

California in Recovery—Slowly But Surely

Jerri Hemsworth — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:10:33 +0000

California ended the quarter on a slightly upbeat note. The state added more than 18,000 non-farm jobs in March 2012, according to the Employment Development Department of California. While the unemployment rate rose one tenth to 11%, pundits believe this is part of a trend of more people coming back to the job market, so media consensus is that California is continuing to recover, albeit slowly.

In year-over-year performance, the state added 181,000 jobs. Eight categories posted job gains over the year, including construction; trade, transportation and utilities; information; financial activities; professional and business services; educational and health service; leisure and hospitality; and mining and logging. Government jobs went down in year-over-year comparison, losing about 46,000 jobs. •

Print This Article

Who’s Buying Our Stuff?

Jerri Hemsworth — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:26:30 +0000

Outside of California, who buys the stuff that we make? Southern California Professional recently reviewed statistics from the Kryser Center for Economic Research in their 2011 International Trade Report. The leading export destination from the Los Angeles Customs District is China, which currently receives more California exports than the next two countries combined (Japan and South Korea). Rounding out the top five are Australia and Taiwan. The first EU country is Germany, coming in 11th on the list. •

Print This Article

Entertainment Employment Up, Box Office Down

Jerri Hemsworth — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:43:35 +0000

Employment in the entertainment industry is up by nearly ten percent in California over the past year, as reported by Reuters according to a report by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

More than 10,000 employees were hired as the amount of on-location filming in the state also increased. With the good comes some bad news Domestic box office receipts fell last year by 3.7 percent (to $10.2 billion). Attendance was down 4.6 percent to hit its lowest level since 1995. In the recent Otis Report from Otis College of Art & Design, it’s estimated that one in eight Southern California jobs are in the creative and entertainment industries, and amount to more than a $200 billion impact on the Southern California economy. •

Print This Article

Frivolous Lawsuits Alive And Well In CA

Jerri Hemsworth — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:34:53 +0000

One Huntington Beach resident filed 47 lawsuits last year. One of these is a lawsuit against Tom Hanks, alleging he harassed her. Another OC resident has racked up 22 lawsuits in the past few years. And according to a recent piece in the Orange County Register (Tripping? Beach injury? Debate heated on frivolous lawsuits, Feb. 7, 2012), more than 77 people in Orange Country have multiple lawsuits such as these.

It turns out more than 1.4 million lawsuits are filed in the state each year. The article highlights the “drive-by” lawsuits: where people sue just to get money, and not to fix a probem or serve justice. “Vexatious litigants,” those who suit just to harass, are part of a growing problem in California, according to Maryann Marino, regional director of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA). For those interested in combating frivolous lawsuits, we suggest a click to their website at http://www.cala.com/. The non-partisan group is a grassroots effort that serves as a watchdog over the abuse of our civil justice system. •

Print This Article