The timber industry has been hurting so long that it seems decades since it was up and healthy, but here's positive sign: A sharp increase in demand for lumber is being felt in the west because of China.
From McClatchy's Rob Hotakainen: "The value and volume of lumber exports from Washington, Oregon, Alaska and northern California jumped by 50 percent during the third quarter of the year, compared to figures from the same period in 2012. And the value of log exports rose by 40 percent, while the volume increased by 25 percent."
"That’s according to the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station."
“Demand from China is the major reason for the increased lumber exports we saw in the third quarter,” said Xiaoping Zhou, a research economist who compiled the data."
The governor is still raking in the dough for his campaign committee, even though he hasn't committed formally to running for reelection next year for an historic fourth term.
From News10's John Myers: "Jerry Brown may not have an official campaign for an unprecedented fourth term as governor, but the veteran Democrat is raising money like a man whose name will undoubtedly be on the ballot in 2014."
"New campaign finance records show Brown's Hollywood fundraising event last week as adding about $1 million in a single night, though one report says as much as double that amount will ultimately be reported."
"Even so, the new filing brings his official 2013 fundraising total to more than $6.7 million, with millions more that were already in the bank. "Raising funds for any potential campaign takes a great deal of time," Brown said last week when asked about his efforts. "And I don't jump into these things lightly."
With the future of California's bullet-train clouded by a court ruling, there is concern in San Francisco about that city's costly Transbay Terminal project.
From the Chronicle's Matier & Ross: "Critics have complained that California's high-speed rail project is shaping up to be the bullet train to nowhere. Now that a judge has thrown the project's future into doubt, San Francisco is left to wonder whether it will be stuck with a $400 million train station connected to nothing."
"With or without a high-speed-rail line, officials have said the underground station is going to be built at the new, $2 billion Transbay Terminal at First and Mission streets. All the money is in place, and the station is due to be finished in 2017."
"But with Judge Michael Kenny having pulled the emergency brake on high-speed rail Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court, the San Francisco station probably will sit empty for some time."
The state's economy is improving and budget surpluses loom, but one entity that uses state money -- the University of California -- has fiscal issues aplenty.
From Capitol Weekly's Alex Matthews: "The increase provided $125 million for the floundering system in 2013-2014 and will given it an additional $142.2 million in 2014-2015. But the universities’ administration says it needs at least an additional $120 million above that to meet basic needs. Optimistic projections by the Legislative Analyst’s Office and the successful outcomes at this year’s budget negotiations prompted UC to seek more funding."
"But Assemblymember Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, compared the situation to a household that must manage its higher income for future investments."
“Our priority is to serve more students and to serve the students we have at an affordable rate,” Williams said. “If they want more investment they do need to continue to look at that, responding to the state’s priorities.”
Serving a Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless on LA's skid row is tradition for many volunteers that goes back generations. But more people have offered to help this year and more meals are getting served in greater numbers since the Great Depression.
From the LAT's Gale Holland: "When shelters hit their holiday volunteer limit, they encourage those they turn away to consider helping at other times of the year."
"New volunteers have been moved by the growing numbers of people without homes in Los Angeles County — more than 57,000 — in the wake of the Great Recession, organizers said. The Midnight Mission is on track to serve more meals in 2013 than in any year since the 1930s, organizers said."
"Then again, Los Angeles loves a good spectacle. And Thanksgiving is skid row's Oscars or Super Bowl — a production that lasts almost a week, drawing a soap opera cast, celebrity chefs and the less famous as well."
And finally from our "Tales of the Hirsute" report, we come across the travails of those with facial hair who want to climb the corporate ladder.
"After two decades of employment persecution and nearly being shaved out of existence forever, the Mustached American is back and prospering in the U.S. workforce. However, as a new survey conducted by the American Mustache Institute and Wahl Trimmers reveals, the freedom to wear facial hair in the workplace may come with a price."
"Nearly 92 percent of the 1,109 people who participated in the Workplace Mustache Survey believe mustaches are appropriate attire for the workplace and 65 percent feel facial hair should be encouraged at work. Despite the overwhelming acceptance of facial hair on the job, only 30 percent of those surveyed said they were supervised by a worker with a mustache, indicating a "facial hair ceiling" in the American workplace."
"It's encouraging to know that nine out of 10 Americans surveyed believe mustaches are appropriate for the workplace," said American Mustache Institute Chief Executive Officer Dr. Adam Paul Causgrove. "But it would appear there is a definitive 'facial hair ceiling,' if you will, presenting Mustached Americans with fewer opportunities for advancement and leadership than their clean-shaven counterparts."