Steve Cameron, 57, is chief executive of Foremost Companies, a Newport Beach-based developer that owns more than 12,000 residential lots across the Golden State. The Chicago-area native and his team of 23 are currently building two large master planned communities.
Americans could see a lot more drones flying around their communities as the result of a Trump administration test program to increase government and commercial use of the unmanned aircraft. President Trump gave the go-ahead Wednesday, signing a directive intended to increase the number and complexity...
Gravel is cheap to buy, but expensive to move. So why are new L.A. high-rises and the new Rams stadium using gravel shipped all the way from Canada?
In the burgeoning business of streaming television shows, Hulu has long been viewed as the distant runner-up to Netflix. But with Walt Disney Co. poised to take a controlling stake in Hulu, the little 10-year-old streaming service once known solely for airing reruns of broadcast shows online could...
The National Labor Relations Board overturned a landmark Obama-era rule this week that had left companies vulnerable to lawsuits filed by employees of franchisees and contractors over labor violations. Groups representing companies in industries such as restaurants, retail and home construction...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday that it plans to withdraw Obama-era rules that would have made it tougher for large-scale egg farms to earn organic certification. The withdrawal would leave intact a loophole that allowed massive factory farms to claim that a closed-in porch...
Wall Street capped the week with broad gains, propelling the major stock indexes to a new set of milestones Friday. Investors welcomed signs that congressional Republicans were solidifying support for a major overhaul of the nation's tax laws. A vote is expected next week. Technology stocks led...
The bare-bone fares that Delta Air Lines adopted to compete with low-cost airlines just got a bit more expensive. Travelers flying from the U.S. to Europe or North Africa on Delta’s cheapest seats, dubbed basic economy, will have to pay $60 for the first checked bag and $100 for the second. The...
Global income inequality has worsened over the past four decades, a report finds, with the wealthiest 1% of the world's population capturing twice as much income growth as the bottom half. The world's middle class, made up mostly of people in North America and Europe, has by some measures fared...
The scent of beer spills into the brick-walled taproom at Los Angeles Ale Works, a craft brewery that opened earlier this year on a quiet industrial block in Hawthorne. Behind the brewery, a boutique letter press company prints cards, wedding invitations and other stationery, while a woodworking...
Thanks for the memories. The airport on North Hollywood Way in Burbank has officially rebranded itself the Hollywood Burbank Airport, putting an end to the former title that paid tribute to the comedian and showman Bob Hope. Airport officials this week unveiled a new logo and the name Hollywood...
SpaceX used a previously flown rocket and spacecraft to launch supplies for NASA to the International Space Station on Friday morning, marking the first time the space agency — or any U.S. government agency — used one of the Hawthorne company’s used rocket boosters. The first-stage booster used...
Not long after Disneyland opened in Anaheim, creator Walt Disney noticed a cowboy character from Frontierland strolling through the futuristic world of Tomorrowland. The clash of themes bothered Disney so much, according to theme park historians, that the subsequent design of Walt Disney World...
The drug industry really, really doesn’t want you to know that it’s ripping you off with frequent and questionable price increases for prescription meds. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry’s main lobbying group, filed a lawsuit the other day seeking to derail...
When devastating hurricanes pummeled Texas, Florida and several Caribbean islands this summer, vacationers didn’t stay home and mope. Instead, airline data show that many travelers rebooked their vacations in Mexico. From October 2017 through March 2018, U.S. and international airlines have cut...
Green Dot Corp, a Pasadena debit card company that owns RushCard, has removed photos of Simmons from the brand's website following new sexual misconduct allegations this week
Shervin Pishevar, the embattled venture capitalist accused of sexual misconduct, said Thursday that he would step down from the Silicon Valley investment firm he co-founded. The announcement comes weeks after he declared he would take a leave of absence from Sherpa Capital to shield the firm from...
Federal regulators voted on Thursday to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules for internet traffic — a major victory for telecommunications companies and another milestone for the Republican deregulation push under President Trump. The 3-2 party-line vote by the Federal Communications Commission...
Healthcare companies and banks drove U.S. stocks lower Thursday, pulling major indexes below their recent highs. The slide, which erased gains from earlier in the day, came on news that some Republican senators' support for the GOP's proposed tax overhaul bill was faltering. Small-company stocks,...
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world's largest generic drugmaker, said Thursday that it would lay off over a quarter of its workforce as part of a global restructuring meant to salvage its ailing business. The company said 14,000 workers would be let go. The cuts will be scattered across...
The federal Department of Education is refusing to process debt relief claims from tens of thousands of students who had federal loans to attend Corinthian Colleges schools, California’s attorney general said Thursday in the latest lawsuit against the Trump administration. More than 50,000 relief...
New York Times publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., who oversaw the newspaper through triumph and controversy for the past 25 years, will step down at the end of the year and hand the job to his son, Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, the company said Thursday. The transition was expected at the Times, which...
Eric Hildebrandt first raised the red flag in an annual report written in 2015 for his bosses overseeing California’s electricity market. He raised the same issue in a 2016 report. And he is raising it again in a recently released 2017 report. The warning to the California Independent System Operator:...
Once 21st Century Fox shareholders swap their holdings for Walt Disney Co. stock, Rupert Murdoch and his family will become the Burbank entertainment giant's second largest shareholders, behind only mutual fund giant Vanguard. The Murdochs’ roughly 4.4% stake would represent the largest position...
That bag of frozen cauliflower sitting inside your freezer likely sprang to life in a vast field north of Salinas, Calif. A crew of men and women here use a machine to drop seedlings into the black soil. Another group follows behind, stooped over, tapping each new plant. It is backbreaking, repetitive...
Walt Disney Co. plans to buy much of the media assets of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. If approved by regulators, the deal would create an entertainment powerhouse and transform the Hollywood landscape. Here is a breakdown of what Disney would acquire.
Wal-Mart is providing workers with an app aimed at helping them budget their money and get paid before payday. The retailer said Wednesday that it teamed up with financial technology start-ups Even and PayActiv to provide an app to 1.4 million Wal-Mart workers. The Even app automatically plans...
Federal Reserve monetary policymakers on Wednesday nudged up their key interest rate again and increased their forecast for the economy's performance in 2018 as Congress neared passage of a large tax cut package. Fed officials forecast 2.5% growth next year with an increase in consumer spending...
Internet service providers and large content providers could see benefits if the FCC repeals regulations governing network neutrality, as is expected Thursday.
The major U.S. stock indexes finished mostly higher Wednesday, with small companies notching big gains as lawmakers in the House and Senate reached a deal on a sweeping tax-overhaul package. The Dow Jones industrial average eked out its third record-high close in as many days, driven by a jump...
Target Corp. plans to boost its same-day delivery capability by paying $550 million for Shipt Inc., its latest move to try to catch up with Amazon.com Inc. Shipt delivers groceries to members who pay $99 a year. Target said Wednesday that it would add more products to the service next year, such...
Jeffrey P. Bezos' Blue Origin got a step closer to flying tourists to space: On Tuesday, the company launched a life-size dummy it named "Mannequin Skywalker" from its remote Texas facility. The updated booster and crew capsule — which Blue Origin hopes to use to fly its first human tourists to...
State regulators want Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to replace three natural gas plants with energy storage, a move that represents another significant step toward a clean energy future. The California Public Utilities Commission will vote Jan. 11 on the proposal that would require PG&E to seek clean...
Twitch made its mark as the place to watch video gamers in action. But over the past two years, the Amazon-owned property has expanded its offerings to include livestreams of artists, musicians and even knitters. Now Twitch is experimenting with live professional sports. On Friday, the video platform...
With federal regulators poised to repeal net neutrality rules this week, your internet service provider would be allowed to speed up delivery of some online content to your home or phone. Whether those fast lanes are coming, and what they ultimately deliver for Americans, is unclear. The concept,...
Of all the proposals in the GOP tax plan, none may be more important to families like Jay and Amy Granzow than an obscure provision on “orphan” drug research. The Granzows, who live in Manhattan Beach, fear that the final tax bill will end up killing or drastically cutting a three-decade-old tax...
The Navajo Nation has sued Wells Fargo, saying its citizens were targeted by workers trying to meet the bank’s aggressive sales quotas. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Albuquerque, alleges many of the same practices that led to last year’s $185-million settlement between Wells Fargo...
Westfield Corp., which operates upscale shopping malls in Los Angeles and in dozens of other U.S. cities and in Britain, agreed to be acquired for nearly $16 billion by French commercial real estate giant Unibail-Rodamco, the companies said Tuesday. The deal underlined how even operators of marquee...
Big-name companies notched gains on Wall Street on Tuesday, bringing the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average to new highs for the second day this week. A slide in technology stocks pulled the Nasdaq down. Small-company stocks also lagged. Banks and other financial stocks...
Canada has ditched a plan to buy 18 Super Hornet jet fighters from U.S.-based Boeing Co. and will instead buy 18 used F-18 fighters from Australia. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had previously warned that Canada would stop doing business with Boeing if the company doesn't drop a trade complaint...
It’s Christmas Eve, you still have gifts to buy and as the hours tick by, your options grow thin. Anything you order online won’t arrive in time. A gift card feels impersonal. You’re skeptical that something picked primarily because it was in stock at a retailer open late on a holiday will be a...
After a Kentucky doctor was dragged off a United Airlines plane in April, the nation’s airlines vowed to reduce the number of passengers who are bumped from overbooked flights. They seem to be making good on the promise. In the July-to-September quarter, the nation’s 12 biggest airlines reported...
If your online orders are arriving later than expected, you're not alone. An influx of online purchases — particularly during Cyber Monday, the busiest online shopping day in U.S. history — is testing the limits of carriers such as UPS and FedEx, despite their heavy investment in new warehouses...
Wall Street got its first taste of bitcoin Monday, with the price of the first-ever futures contract for the digital currency jumping 20%. It's a step forward for the bitcoin, which has soared this year despite concerns that the surge of investor interest has transformed it from a new-age currency...
Technology companies led U.S. stocks modestly higher Monday, driving the market to another set of milestones. The Standard & Poor's 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average finished at new highs. Both indexes also set record highs Friday. Solid gains by healthcare companies also helped lift the...
Celebrity chef Mario Batali stepped away from the day-to-day operations of his culinary empire and from the ABC show “The Chew” on Monday, as allegations emerged that he committed sexual misconduct spanning at least two decades. In the investigation by food website Eater, four women — three of...
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and House Republicans have escalated their feud with Patagonia after the outdoor retailer told Americans that President Trump “stole your land” in his move to shrink two sprawling Utah national monuments. The dispute pitting the GOP against a private company raised...
Mattel Inc.’s struggles deepened Monday as the El Segundo toy maker warned of slumping holiday sales and its debt was downgraded by the major credit-rating firms. With only two weeks until Christmas, Mattel said in a securities filing that its fourth-quarter sales would be “negatively impacted”...
Lidar makers must get costs down if driverless vehicles are to enter the mass market.
Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business Section. I'm Business columnist David Lazarus, and here's a rundown of upcoming stories this week and the highlights of last week. Trading will kick off Monday following another week of gains capped off by a jobs report...
Betsy Stover was 17 when her mother asked her to help fax strangers, hawking a service that had the markings of a pyramid scheme. “I always felt like a creep sending unsolicited faxes,” said Stover, who hated the chore, but knew the work required cold calls to succeed. Stover, now a 38-year-old...
Dear Liz: I desperately need your help! My husband, who is 91, is in the early stages of dementia. I just turned 88 and for the first time am responsible for making all the financial decisions. We are deeply in debt and I don’t know the best way to proceed. We owe more than $40,000 on credit cards,...
Troubled Banc of California was a den of iniquity featuring on-premises sex, drugs and strippers, according to a lawsuit filed this week by a former employee. Heather Endresen, who was managing director of the bank’s small-business loan department, has charged that the company terminated her without...
QUESTION: Over the years, the exterior of our HOA development, from the perimeter wall to the public curb, has deteriorated, looking dated and dilapidated. To increase our property values, the board embarked on an ambitious “beautification” project. This consisted of removing large old mature trees...
The ugly Christmas sweater craze hasn’t unraveled yet. If you fly on an Alaska Airlines, Virgin America or Horizon Air flight Dec. 15, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater will get you into the coveted early boarding group, along with active members of the military and passengers with children. As...
Sixty Chinese investors who were promised U.S. permanent resident cards for investing in the SLS Las Vegas hotel and casino have sued the developers of the project, saying they never received the promised green cards. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court last month, claims the...
Stocks rose Friday after a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report, and the strong finish pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index to its third straight weekly gain despite some weakness earlier in the week. The gains were widespread, and telecom and healthcare stocks helped lead the way. Overseas...
Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, who filed a lawsuit this week claiming that Hollywood director and producer Bryan Singer raped him when he was 17 years old in 2003, said in an interview Friday that fear of being outed as gay kept the then-high school student from reporting the attack to police. Sanchez-Guzman,...
Another month of strong job growth showed that the U.S. economy is lifting more workers left out of the recovery and heading into next year with solid momentum, even as there are lingering uncertainties about the outlook for wages and inflation. Employers added 228,000 net new jobs in November,...
President Trump on Friday denied a report that the federal consumer financial watchdog might drop sanctions against Wells Fargo & Co. for alleged mortgage lending abuses, and said the bank could face even tougher penalties. Trump’s comments on Twitter appeared to be in response to a Reuters report...
When one of Cindy Holtzman’s clients told the Woodstock, Ga., health insurance broker he was considering dropping his Affordable Care Act plan because next year’s cost approached $23,000 for his family of four, she suggested a new option: a back-to-back set of four, 90-day short-term plans, which...
An Obama administration proposal that would have required airlines to disclose fees for checked and carry-on bags at the start of a ticket purchase rather than later is being dropped by the Department of Transportation. The department said in a notice posted online Thursday that it is withdrawing...
The holidays are known as the most wonderful time of the year, but they're also a great opportunity for reflection, particularly in a business setting. This is the time of year when you can look back on the last 12 months and appreciate everyone who helped make the year a success for your business....
In business, dreams are easy. Finding the money to make them happen, however, can be difficult. Even established, successful businesses can get turned away for loans at banks. This was the case for Sole Bicycles, a popular maker of stylish, high-performance bikes based in Venice Beach, California....
A generation ago, the notion of a small business owner meant something very different. You pictured a person who owned their own storefront, often named after themselves, and every day they were the first to arrive and the last to leave. They worked tirelessly for their customers, and their reward...