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Southern California homebuying will have suffered its second-worst year on record when the final tally for 2024 is done.My trusty spreadsheet reviewed 37 years of CoreLogic’s regional transaction data and found 160,585 closed sales of existing and new residences in 2024’s first 11 months. Going back to 1988, that’s the second-slowest sales pace in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties.That’s less homebuying than in the depths of the bubble-bursting Great Recession. That’s fewer sales than the extended lethargic markets of the early-to-mid 1990s.Contemplate the slump at the county level with 2024 being the second-worst sales…

By CHRIS MEGERIANWASHINGTON (AP) — With Donald Trump’s return to the White House only days away, Kamala Harris ‘ staff packed into her ceremonial office to watch her sign the desk, a tradition performed by her predecessors for decades. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, stood behind her to take a photo as she wielded her Sharpie marker.“It is not my nature to go quietly into the night,” Harris said Thursday. “So don’t worry about that.”But what is next for her?“I’ll keep you posted,” she said.Harris hasn’t made any plans for after leaving office Monday, apart from flying home to California. It…

By Eliza Haverstock, NerdWalletWildfires have burned at least 12,000 homes, buildings and other structures in Los Angeles, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s latest estimates. If the L.A. wildfires have displaced or otherwise impacted you, you may qualify for natural disaster financial relief — including relief from student loan bills.Borrowers with federal student loans who live in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-designated disaster ZIP codes can pause their student loan payments for up to 90 days with a natural disaster forbearance. There are additional relief options for private student loan borrowers, current college students and federal…

Martha Rosales, right, talks with migrants mainly from Cuba while they wait for an appointment to apply for asylum in the United States through the CBP One app Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Cuban migrant Dayron Garcia Jr, is bathed in blue light from a streetlight in front of Martha Rosales’ home, where his family is staying while waiting an appointment to apply for asylum in the United States through the CBP One app Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Martha Rosales, right, looks on as Cuban migrants pack their things…

Angel City FC forward Christen Press is returning to the club, signing a one-year contract after coming back from a grueling knee injury and recovery last season.Press, who was the first player signed in Angel City franchise history, made her remarkable return to the field last season after 781 days following an ACL injury suffered in 2022 and four surgeries.She made her return to action in a Summer Cup game in August against San Diego Wave FC.She described her comeback last season as “if I have come back from the dead,” adding that in October that she was starting to…

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, Associated Press Business WriterCapital One is continuing to experience a disruption to its service on Friday, with some customers frustrated that they are unable to see their deposits.As of 8:04 a.m. Eastern, there were nearly 3,400 reports of outages, according to Downdetector. That’s up from around 2,100 reports early Thursday. Most of the complaints appeared to be coming from the eastern half of the U.S., but there are reports of problems as far west as Arizona and California.The company said that 90% of the problems reported by customers related to deposits. Account balances made up 7% of…

Investigators are looking into whether a small blaze was not totally snuffed out and reignited to start the Palisades fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s chief said.“We owe that to you, as a community, to understand where and how this happened, where and how this started,” Chief Kristin Crowley said during a virtual community meeting on Thursday night, Jan 16.Assistant Fire Chief Joe Everett said firefighters patrolled the area following the New Year’s Day fire for more than 36 hours and kept a hose line on the Pacific Palisades hill.“That fire was dead out,” he said. “If it is determined…

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment should be considered a ratified addition to the U.S. Constitution, inserting himself into a long-running legal battle over gender equality.“It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people,” Biden said in a statement. “In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: the 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex.”However, it’s…

U.K.-based oil company BP is cutting 4,700 jobs worldwide and a further 3,000 contractor roles as part of a cost-saving drive.In an email to staff on Thursday that has been seen by The Associated Press, CEO Murray Auchincloss said the job losses “account for much of the anticipated reduction this year.”The reductions amount to just over 5% of BP’s 90,000 worldwide employees. Auchincloss’s memo said that about 2,600 of the contractors involved in the job cuts have already left the business.Last October, the company said it had identified $500 million of cost savings to be delivered this year, a quarter…

President-elect Donald Trump just wants a number.That’s what the incoming president told a group of House Republicans who recently traveled to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to pitch him on the idea of lifting the cap on state and local tax deductions, according to one of the GOP House members in the room.Commonly referred to as SALT, just how to limit deductions for certain state and local taxes has divided Republicans from high-tax states like California, New York and New Jersey. A 2017 Republican-led tax law capped SALT deductions at just $10,000, meaning many taxpayers from those states have had…