Residents of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties shared photos on social media early Thursday, Nov. 25, of car hoods smashed by branches and signs toppled by powerful gusts. Winds overnight Wednesday peaked at 74 mph near Irvine Regional Park, 76 mph at Arrowhead springs and 79 mph in the mountains east of Santa Clarita, according to the National Weather Service.
That’s the parting advice of Allan Zaremberg, the retiring California Chamber of Commerce president, after four decades of dealing with lawmakers in Sacramento.
For 23 years as chamber president and chief executive, Zaremberg, 72, has been the most influential business representative in Sacramento, attempting to sway the governor and Legislature."
The “dealer added markup” has drawn particular ire, costing $40,000 on top of the original market-rate price. The other "installed options" on this vehicle, according to the photo, include LoJack vehicle protections, ceramic coating and paint protection.
After first being posted on Reddit over the weekend, with posters calling the markup “beyond the pale” and accusing the dealership of “price gouging,” the image has since circulated onto car enthusiasts’ websites and TikTok."
Police: Luxury stores in Larkspur and Palo Alto targeted by same group of 30-40 alleged burglars
ANDRES PICON, SF Chronicle: "Investigators have linked a group of 30 to 40 suspects to two break-ins Sunday night at different outposts of a luxury consignment chain — one in Larkspur and the other in Palo Alto. The group’s alleged burglaries came during a weekend that saw multiple mass retail crime across the Bay Area.
The group’s night of burglary appears to have begun in Larkspur, where about 40 people arrived at The RealReal store in the Marin Country Mart shopping center around 9:13 p.m. and smashed the front window to gain access to the closed store, Central Marin police said in a news release.
A security guard employed by the store called police, but by the time officers arrived less than three minutes later, police said, the suspects had already left, having cost the store about $250,000 in lost merchandise and damage, officials said."
Flash mob smash-and-grabs continue at high-end stores in Los Angeles
DOUG SMITH, LA Times: "A rash of flash mob thefts continued in Los Angeles as organized groups grabbed expensive merchandise in pre-Thanksgiving raids on stores in the Beverly Center and a Nordstrom in Canoga Park.
A security guard was attacked with bear spray as several people entered the Nordstrom at the Westfield Topanga & The Village shopping center in Canoga Park on Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release.
In interviews with local TV stations, LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said the burglars made off with several high-end purses."
‘Thankful to be together again.’ More than 26,000 come out for Run to Feed the Hungry
PHILLIP REESE, SacBee: "About 26,600 walkers and runners participated in the 28th annual Run to Feed the Hungry, according to event organizers. The event, which was “virtual” last year due to the lockdown, raised more than $900,000 for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.
Thousands of people began streaming through the Sacramento State campus around 7:30 a.m. Thursday on their way to the J Street start line.
It was sunny and clear, with temperatures in the 40s.
Five months later, Shower of Hope had shut down its Glendale operation after being hounded by the city of Glendale for information it said it could not provide. Looking back now, a top city official says it was all a mistake. But some critics see the specter of racism in the bureaucratic standoff."
’Over the edge’: Sacramento retail workers face tough holiday season amid record turnover
JEONG PARK and ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS, SacBee: "A year ago, many front-line workers worried that Black Friday sales at malls and big box stores could become COVID-19 super-spreader events.
This year, things are a bit different. COVID-19 vaccines are readily available, and the rate of cases has slowed. Still, workers getting goods to millions of Californians face a new challenge this upcoming holiday season: intense staffing shortages and historically high levels of job turnover.
More than 3% of workers in trade, transportation and utilities — a category that includes retail workers such as cashiers, stock clerks and delivery truck drivers — quit their job in August, higher than at any point in the last two decades, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Among retail workers specifically, 4.4% quit in September.
Kaiser patients report canceled procedures, long phone waits amid California strike
CATHIE ANDERSON, SacBee: "Members of Kaiser Permanente said they certainly felt the impact of last week’s sympathy strikes, described by one labor union as the largest such job action in the United States in 127 years.
Cancer survivor Bil Paul, a Dixon resident, said he received a call last Thursday canceling a medical procedure aimed at evaluating whether any new tumors had developed in his bladder. San Leandro resident Jessica Bartholow said she got an automated message saying she would be on hold several hours due to a work stoppage when she called Kaiser to cancel her mammogram.
She didn’t want to go to her Thursday appointment, she said, because she would have had to cross a picket line.
As California prepares to raise marijuana tax, a cannabis entrepreneur calls for tax revolt
ANDREW SHEELER, SacBee: "Fresh off of news that California is set to raise the cannabis cultivation tax despite projections of a $31 billion surplus, one marijuana entrepreneur is calling for a potential tax revolt this summer.
Michael “Mikey” Steinmetz, co-founder of the company that makes the Flow Kana cannabis brand, is threatening to withhold his taxes unless Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature adjust state marijuana regulations July 1, 2022.
He is calling on other CEOs to join him in this effort. Steinmetz issued the declaration in an op-ed on Medium, published Monday and co-written by his wife, Flavia Cassani. He criticized the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s plans to increase the cultivation tax this January, writing “We simply reply: We’re not going to pay.”
