Statewide Region Business, Economy & Jobs Digest

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks department has released images of the restroom that officials expect to install in Noe Valley this spring. At one time set to cost $1.7 million, it’ll be almost 60% cheaper.

The California Fast Food Workers Union gives increased clout to employees scattered across multiple chains.

When Gov. Gavin Newsom launched his landmark effort to shelter homeless residents in hotels during COVID, the state and local governments were relying on FEMA to foot much of the bill.

California teacher apprenticeship program will allow candidates to earn while they learn.

The closure of Madera Community Hospital created a new health care desert in a community that already had fewer doctors per capita than other parts of the state. UCSF and Adventist have a plan to reopen it.

The funds would help California ports expand to handle giant wind turbines and other equipment. California’s first offshore wind farms are on a fast track off Humboldt County and Morro Bay.

As the news media continues to spiral under financial pressures, the obvious solution—preventing internet platforms from profiting from news content without payment—lacks public support.

A state tax agency wants to use generative AI to give business owners tax advice. The state of California calls it an opportunity. Risk assessments are forthcoming.

For Central Valley residents, high-speed rail will be a reality in just a few years. Construction of the rail line is transforming local economies.

State lawmakers grill Cal/OSHA officials, with allegations that employers get tipped off to inspections. The chairperson of the Assembly Labor Committee is seeking an audit.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced consumer tools to help tenants and landlords understand how much rent can rise under a state law.

California’s utility regulators are exploring energy bill reforms that would structure charges based on household income. If done correctly, the change shift the cost for maintaining the grid to higher earners who can afford it.

California voters this spring are considering a $6.4 billion bond to house people with serious mental health conditions. A similar 2018 ballot measure offers lessons about the obstacles that stand in the way of construction.

If educator candidates are paid a living wage and receive plenty of support, they are more likely to remain in the profession.

Downtown Sacramento faces many challenges, but the growing number of small businesses, hotels, homes and other major developments signal its transformation, says the city’s mayor.

States are plowing billions of dollars into a high-stakes health care experiment that’s exploding around the country: using scarce public health insurance money to provide housing for the poorest and sickest Americans.

The financial aid expansion is aimed at making good on a pledge last fall when trustees approve a tuition hike.

Five former California superintendents shared potential solutions for reducing the increasing turnover rate in their profession.

California is removing degree requirements from jobs, but state leaders differ about the right approach.

State Sen. Scott Wiener wants to allow California cities and counties to designate “entertainment zones” where bars and restaurants could serve alcoholic drinks that people can consume on public streets and sidewalks.

A first-in-the-nation council will set work rules in the state’s fast food industry, but can labor and business agree?

Disneyland’s plan to reimagine the theme park into a more “immersive” experience may require up to $2.5 billion and a plan to privatize some Anaheim streets.

A combination of tax credits, revenue sharing and coupons could bring stability, writes Steven Waldman, president of Rebuild Local News.

Families have a lot of questions right now about how much help they’ll get paying for college—questions that financial aid offices can’t yet answer.

For months, the California Department of Food and Agriculture has been waging war on the oriental fruit fly, a voracious pest that can attack hundreds of types of fruits and vegetables.

On Jan. 31, dozens of cities and counties are expected to convert thousands of suburban-style tracts into apartment-ready parcels. Will the state hold them to it?

Fast food lives in a consumer sweet spot: demand, convenience and relative affordability. And this pay hike—equal to minimum wage increases during the past five years—will create grand economic unknowns.

A Cal State systemwide strike secured what more than half a year of negotiations and partial strikes couldn’t: a deal.

The key to not cutting education funding under the proposed budget is finding $8 billion in reductions outside of education in the future.

As the FAIR Plan writes more fire-insurance policies, homeowners complain about poor service, rising costs and threats of getting kicked off.

Locking up a California state prisoner for one year costs nearly twice as much as tuition at the state’s top private universities—due to inmate medical costs and pay boosts for prison guards and other workers.

The swing from a $100 billion surplus to a deficit somewhere between $38 and $68 billion in just two years illustrates the volatility of California’s tax system.