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A new record for Southern California employment masks some worrisome hiring trends. My trusty spreadsheet, filled with newly released state job figures that are not seasonally adjusted, found an all-time high 8.11 million people at work in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in November. However, there’s a “but” in the upswing. November’s hiring pace was 47% below the region’s pre-pandemic job growth for the month. The 34,000 added jobs from October was far below the average 64,100 hires in November between 2015-19. To be fair, the local job market is still growing. The past year’s job growth of…

If you stacked up all of Donald Trump’s legal bills since his election in 2016, they’d reach Mars before Elon Musk does.He’s paying teams of attorneys to defend against the various civil and criminal charges that a majority of voters in seven swing states just dismissed as irrelevant, and he’s suing a bunch of media heavyweights over what he famously calls “Fake News.”Trump sued ABC, ABC News and anchor George Stephanopolous, who said on his March 10 program that Trump was “found liable for rape.” He wasn’t, and a settlement of the case was just announced.  ABC News agreed to…

A person, or perhaps a person of a certain age, can be forgiven for thinking that her or his job is to do the work, do it well, hit deadlines. Shouting to the rooftops about it, mounting it on all available platforms? That’s for the corporate comms department, right? If you are a journalist, the answer in 2024 would be instead “wrong.” In an age of dwindling readership, viewership, listenership, part of your job after you write and edit stories is to social them out: to X, to Threads, to Bluesky, to, heaven help us, Facebook. Beyond the extra work…

By Natalie Demaree, Miami Herald (TNS)People of faith are not more generous than non-religious people — except in one case, a new study found.A study by researchers at Linköping University in Sweden found that religious people are more generous than non-religious people when they know the recipients’ religious beliefs — otherwise there is no difference.The research includes three studies of Christians, Muslims and atheists in different countries, including Sweden, the United States and a combined study in Egypt and Lebanon. About 1,700 people were included in the study published in September by Cambridge University Press.The results are slightly surprising as…

We are embroiled in a lease negotiation currently. Discussions can vary on the size of the building being leased, the complexity of the terms, and the sophistication of the parties.Sometimes known as the “second negotiation,” the process can be mind-numbing.What is the first negotiation, you may be wondering? Typically, it’s the agreement upon business points such as the amount of rent that the tenant will pay, how the rent will escalate throughout the lease, abated rent, the length of commitment, and the condition in which the premises will be when the lease commences and expires. As brokers, we do this…

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports WriterSAN FRANCISCO — Kiki Rice scored 20 points and the top-ranked UCLA women’s basketball team raced to a big lead on the way to a 70-41 victory over Creighton on Friday night in the Bay Area Women’s Classic, winning without best player Lauren Betts.Angela Dugalic added 13 points and 14 rebounds for her second double-double for the Bruins (12-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten), whose stingy defense made Creighton’s top shooters uncomfortable.Morgan Maly scored 15 points to lead the Bluejays (9-3, 1-0 Big East), whose eight-game winning streak was snapped.The 6-foot-7 Betts sat out a second…

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports WriterSOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jeremiyah Love tied the Notre Dame record with a 98-yard touchdown run, Riley Leonard added two more scores and the Fighting Irish shut down the highest-scoring team in the College Football Playoff, overwhelming Indiana, 27-17, on Friday night.The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (12-1) won their 11th straight – and their first playoff victory. They will face second-seeded Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman got the biggest win of his three-year career by extending his Irish record to 12 victories over ranked teams in three seasons.Tenth-seeded…

Angel City Football Club’s roster makeover continued on Friday with the team trading Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez to Kansas City and forward Katie Johnson announcing her retirement.Rodriguez, who arrived before last season in a trade with the Portland Thorns, will join the KC Current, with Angel City receiving $100,000 in intra-league transfer funds.“After speaking with Rocky, it was decided that this trade was a desired outcome,” ACFC technical director Mark Wilson said. “We are grateful for her contributions to our season and wish her the best.”Rodriguez appeared in 20 games last season with Angel City.“Rocky is a player with great experience…

Here are the IE Varsity second-team selections for the 2024 high school football season.Chino Hills Cameron Bateman, right, pushes off Damien’s Gavin Williams during the first half of a Baseline League prep football game at Damien High School in La Verne, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)SECOND TEAM, OFFENSEQB: Isaiah Arriaza, Damien, Jr.QB: Evan Powell, Cajon, Sr.RB: Josiah Felix, Patriot, Sr.RB: Zander Lewis, Ontario Christian, Jr.RB: Tatum Ortiz, Rim of the World, Jr.RB-WR: Fabian Bolanos, Vista del Lago, Sr.WR: Cameron Bateman, Chino Hills, Sr.WR: Cameron Holzendorf, Canyon Springs, Sr.WR: Mike Lawson, Perris, Sr.OL:…

By Anne D’Innocenzio | The Associated PressDiscount chain Big Lots is conducting going–out-of-business sales at its remaining locations after a sale of the company didn’t materialize.The Columbus, Ohio-based retailer, which sells furniture, home decor and other items, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early September and said private equity firm Nexus Capital Management LP had agreed to acquire “substantially all of the company’s assets.”Also see: Party City closing all stores nationwide, at least 80 of them in CaliforniaBut on Thursday, the chain said it didn’t anticipate completing the purchase agreement. It said it continues to work toward completing an alternative…