Pasadena officials provide notice of fast food minimum wage raise

Pasadena officials on Wednesday called attention to the April 1 start of a $20 hourly minimum wage for fast food workers and issued a reminder about this summer’s citywide minimum wage hike. The California minimum wage for fast food restaurant employees supersedes Pasadena’s local minimum wage ordinance, according to a city statement. All other workers who aren’t considered “fast food restaurant employees” remain eligible for Pasadena’s $16.93 hourly minimum wage. Starting July 1, the Pasadena minimum wage will increase to $17.50 hourly for all other occupations regardless of a business’ number of employees. This new wage rate will remain in effect until June 30, 2025, when it will again increase. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1228 on Sept. 28, raising the minimum wage for certain fast food restaurant workers.  To be considered a “fast food restaurant,” the eatery must be a “‘limited-service restaurant’ that offers limited or no table service, where the customer’s order food or beverage items and pay for those items before the items are consumed,” officials said. The restaurant must also be “part of a restaurant chain of at

Person Killed in Traffic Crash in Jefferson Park Area

A person was fatally injured Thursday in a traffic crash in the Jefferson Park area, and a suspect reportedly was taken into custody for allegedly trying to flee the scene. Paramedics sent to West 29th Street and Arlington Avenue about noon pronounced the person dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Information was not immediately available on the identity of the fatally injured person. According to a videographer at the scene, the victim was a pregnant woman, and the suspect was taken into custody nearby after trying to run from the area.

BLM Protesters Settle Part of Suit Against David Lacey Estate

Three Black Lives Matter demonstrators confronted at gunpoint by former Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s late husband in 2020 have settled the part of their lawsuit against the estate of the spouse of the county’s former top prosecutor. The plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit are Melina Abdullah, Dahlia Ferlito and Justin Marks. Last July, all three settled the portion of the case against Jackie Lacey, leaving for trial causes of action against the estate of David Lacey for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. But on Wednesday, the plaintiffs’ attorneys filed court papers with Judge Theresa M. Traber informing her that they were in the process of obtaining signatures finalizing a settlement with the estate and that a request for dismissal will be filed with her once that is done. As with the accord with Jackie Lacey, no terms were divulged. Trial was scheduled to begin Friday. Abdullah is a professor and former chair of the Department of Pan-African Studies at Cal State Los Angeles and a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter. Lacey was

‘Top Chef’ alumnus’ former restaurant space burns in Moorpark

A Moorpark restaurant space once used by a cheftestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef” caught fire Thursday, prompting a response from the Ventura County Fire Department. The former home of Cafe Firenze on 563 Los Angeles Ave. was ablaze midday Thursday, though the fire was put out by 12:45 p.m., the VCFD said on X, formerly Twitter. Until early 2020, Cafe Firenze drew eager local diners and fans of Fabio Viviani, who won the “Top Chef Fan Favorite” award in the fifth season of the culinary competition show with one-liners like “This is ‘Top Chef,’ it’s not ‘Top Scallop.'” The restaurant closed pre-pandemic due to an inability for Viviani and colleagues to negotiate a new lease with the property landlord, according to a report in the Moorpark Acorn. Chef Fabio Viviani visits Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” at Universal Studios Hollywood on Oct. 21, 2019, in Universal City, California. (Paul Archuleta/Getty Images) The space once home to Cafe Firenze is seen after a fire on March 28, 2024. (VCFD) The space once home to Cafe Firenze is seen after a fire on March 28, 2024. (OnScene.TV)

These Easter events have been canceled due to the upcoming spring storm

It’s looking to be a wet Easter weekend for Southern California residents and due to the weather, many cities have canceled their Easter festivities. A spring storm is expected to arrive in SoCal on Friday and stay until Monday, bringing cooler temperatures and the chance of thunderstorms, heavy rain, and hail. This is California’s most ‘popular’ Easter candy, according to DoorDash Due to the forecast, these Easter events have been canceled. Pasadena canceled its Egg Bowl and Bunny Brunch scheduled for Saturday. Guests who purchased the Bunny Brunch and VIP Egg Hunt will be issued a refund. Due to the cancellation, the city is inviting people to its “Hop into Spring” event at the Rose Bowl on April 2. More information can be found here. Santa Anita Park canceled its racing events for Saturday and Sunday and rescheduled an egg hunt due to weather conditions. The popular egg hunt will now occur on April 7 in the infield. The city of Huntington Beach rescheduled its “Easter Hunt Family Fun Day” event, originally slated for March 30, to April 27. Garden Grove’s “Eggscavation,” slated to take

Southern California shark warning system in jeopardy

LOS ANGELES – A high-tech system that alerts swimmers when sharks are lurking in Southern California’s coastal waters could be shuttered as funds have begun to run dry, managers warn. The shark warning alert system has been operated by the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach since 2018. Using a system of buoys, tags and monitors that track the local population of white sharks, sending an alert to local lifeguards when the sharks come within 300 yards of the buoys. The Shark Lab’s director, CSULB professor of marine biology Dr. Chris Lowe, said the lifeguards receive links to their cellphones that he likened to baseball cards of the sharks in the area. Their profiles display their size, location and how long they’ve been at that beach. A shark, as captured by Cal State Long Beach. The school’s shark lab is searching for funding in order to keep running its shark warning alert system, which lets lifeguards know when sharks are coming close to local beaches. (CSU Long Beach) The lab received $3.75 million that was supposed to fund the system for five years, though

Los Angeles office skyscraper faces foreclosure sale

Gas Company Tower, a prominent office skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles, faces foreclosure as landlords continue to struggle to keep tenants in their buildings. A notice of trustee’s sale for the high-rise on Bunker Hill was filed March 21 with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, setting the stage for a foreclosure sale as soon as 90 days after the filing. The sale may complicate plans by the city of Los Angeles to lease more than 300,000 square feet in the building. The city has been negotiating with the receiver in control of the property for months to sign what would be one of the region’s largest office leases of the year if it is approved by the City Council. The Gas Company Tower at 555 W. 5th St. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) The foreclosure comes as the value of office buildings has plunged amid higher vacancies. Elevated interest rates have also weighed on prices and made it difficult for building owners to refinance debt. The 52-story Gas Company Tower at 555 W. 5th St. was widely considered one of the city’s

Column: What if Bruce’s Beach was just the start? Why more stolen land is about be returned

With polls continuing to show the public’s deep dislike of reparations, it’s easy to forget that it was only three years ago that elected officials were all in, pointing to what many had quietly thought would be a one-off as a model for righting the wrongs of systemic racism. Easy to forget, that is, unless you are Kavon Ward. The founder of Where Is My Land was present when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill relinquishing government control of Bruce’s Beach — the property that once belonged to Willa and Charles Bruce and had been a popular lodge and dance hall for Black beachgoers in the 1900s before the city of Manhattan Beach seized it through eminent domain. Newsom argued that what California was doing, improbably returning land to the Bruce family to keep or sell, could be — and, indeed, should be — replicated. Many publicly nodded their heads with hope. Many more shook their heads in doubt, privately. But as it turns out, the governor was actually onto something. Last week, the Santa Monica City Council voted to consider giving back land or

California bill could provide reparations for families displaced from site of Dodger Stadium

A bill introduced in the California Legislature seeks to provide reparations for families of people displaced from their Los Angeles homes during the 1950s on land that eventually became the home of Dodger Stadium. The bill, formally known as The Chavez Ravine Accountability Act or AB 1950, would require the city of Los Angeles to form a nine-member task force to provide compensation to the displaced or their descendants. Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D- Los Angeles) introduced the bill after years of calls from organizers who have asked for reparations for land taken from families by the city. California bill could prohibit schools from serving breakfast cereals, baked goods and other foods with artificial dyes The land, located between the San Gabriel Mountains and downtown Los Angeles, is widely known today as Chavez Ravine, but 60 years ago, it was home to the Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop communities. About 1,800 families, many of whom were Mexican American, lived there but were displaced in the 1950s after the city said the land was needed to build affordable housing, known then as the Elysian Park project.

Ex-manager took $300K from Mexican restaurant in Bell: report

A popular Mexican restaurant in Bell is facing financial hardship after a longtime manager embezzled more than $300,000, according to a report. Jorge A. Bejarano stole from La Casita Mexicana over the course of 12 years, nearly half of the restaurant’s existence, reports L.A. Taco. La Casita Mexicana has been featured on KTLA, including in 2022. “It was a lesson learned the hard way on how just one employee can almost break an entire business,” Martin del Campo told the outlet. Bejarano, who was “like family to us,” Del Campo said, was found out when La Casita’s owners congratulated an employee on opening a bank account and starting direct deposit. That employee, however, had no bank account, according to Del Campo. That discovery set off a chain of findings that led to Bejarano, who had left the restaurant by 2021 to open his own business, Xochipilli Taco Bar in Van Nuys. “However, Del Campo strongly believes he kept embezzling money until the following year, even after he was no longer employed at La Casita Mexicana,” L.A. Taco reports. Bejarano was arrested on March 12, according

California man allegedly housed, sexually assaulted underaged teen he met on Reddit

A 32-year-old Southern California man is accused of housing and engaging in sexual relations with an Arizona teenager who ran away from home after the two spoke online, according to federal prosecutors. Trevon Nathaniel Langstaff was arrested in his Long Beach apartment on Wednesday after a missing 14-year-old girl was found at the home. The girl’s family realized she was missing on Tuesday morning, according to the office of United States Attorney Martin Estrada. When searching their neighborhood and speaking to her friends, her family learned that she’d talked about running away from home the week prior and that she’d talked to a man online who “harbored” teenagers. Prosecutors said she told the friend that the man was hosting two other teens at the time and that he’d provide her with a room to stay in and a cell phone. Langstaff and the young girl met on an online Reddit forum for runaways, prosecutors said. Phone records showed that the pair had been in communication. The Reddit app icon is seen on a smartphone, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Marple Township, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

3 smart HELOC refinancing strategies, according to experts

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. MoneyWatch: Managing Your Money By Matt Richardson Edited By Angelica Leicht March 28, 2024 / 4:09 PM EDT / CBS News Homeowners have multiple reasons to consider refinancing a HELOC now. Getty Images/iStockphoto After the pandemic hit and the Fed dropped the fed funds rate to zero, homebuyers flooded the housing market. Partially as a result, the median sale price of U.S. homes spiked from $329,000 at the start of 2020 to $479,500 by the end of 2022, according to data analyzed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.  While interest rates have gone back up, home prices haven’t returned to their previous levels. As of the end of 2023, the median home sale price was still at $417,700 — $88,700 higher than four years prior. Home equity can give you access to a large chunk of money at a relatively low interest rate. That can be helpful if, for example, you want to invest in real estate , take on a large home

5 easy ways to earn big returns after your CD matures

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. MoneyWatch: Managing Your Money By Angelica Leicht Edited By Matt Richardson March 28, 2024 / 3:29 PM EDT / CBS News Reinvesting with the right strategy could help your money grow quickly after your CD matures. S Froebe/Getty Images Opening a certificate of deposit (CD) can be a smart move right now. Not only are CD rates higher than they’ve been in recent years, but putting your money in a CD is also a safe, guaranteed way to earn interest on your funds. That’s because, by agreeing to leave your money in the CD account for the specified term, you receive a fixed rate of interest , one that can be as high as 5.5% or more right now, depending on the account. What happens after your CD term is over, though? Once your CD account reaches maturity , you have a critical decision to make. You’ll need to decide whether you should reinvest the funds from the account into a new CD or explore

3 big reasons to invest in gold this April

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. MoneyWatch: Managing Your Money By Matt Richardson Edited By Angelica Leicht March 28, 2024 / 3:22 PM EDT / CBS News By investing in gold this April, investors can secure some protection against still-elevated inflation. Getty Images It’s never a bad idea to spend some time reviewing your investments. And with inflation still persistent, if significantly cooled, and interest rates stuck at their highest point in decades, now is as good a time as any to take a closer look at where your money is invested. While stocks and bonds can be smart to have, particularly after recent stock market performance levels, they’re not the only investment to consider this spring.  In recent years, investors have also turned to gold . Investing in the precious metal hit an 11-year high last September and the price of the precious metal has broken multiple records in the last year. As March concludes and with a new inflation report and Federal Reserve meeting on the books for April

Airstrip being build on Yemeni island next to ‘I LOVE UAE’ sign

By Jon Gambrell | Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — As Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to target ships in a Mideast waterway, satellite pictures analyzed by The Associated Press show what appears to be a new airstrip being built at an entrance to that crucial maritime route. No country has publicly claimed the construction taking place on Abd al-Kuri Island, a stretch of land rising out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. However, satellite images shot for the AP appear to show workers have spelled out “I LOVE UAE” with piles of dirt next to the runway, using an abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates. Both the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea to which it leads have become a battleground between the Houthis and U.S.-led forces in the region as Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip rages — potentially allowing a nation to project its power into the area. The construction comes as the presence of troops from the Emirates in the Socotra island chain to which Abd al-Kuri belongs — and that of the

Best home deals in Fremont: In the week of March 18 top 10 list

A condo in Fremont that sold for $455,000 tops the list of the most affordable real estate sales in Fremont in the past week. For comparison, the overall average price of real estate in the area during that time was $1.5 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $971. A total of 35 home sales were recorded for the period with an average square footage of 1,519 square feet, 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. The top 10 list below includes the best deals on real estate priced between $10-$10,000,000. Please note that the prices in the list below are for real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of March 18, even if the property may have been sold earlier. 10. $1.2 million, townhouse in the 41000 block of Cornac Terrace The sale of the townhouse in the 41000 block of Cornac Terrace in Fremont has been finalized. The price was $1,236,000, and the new owners took over the house in February. The house was built in 1972 and has a living area of 1,328 square feet. The price