California lawmakers want to curb retail theft, but say it’s not as easy as it sounds

California lawmakers want to curb retail theft, but say it’s not as easy as it sounds

While California lawmakers feel pressure to address concerns about crime, the murky and sometimes contradictory evidence of an increase in lawlessness has put legislators in a bind. Recent studies show that retail theft has increased in some of California’s big cities — with shoplifting rates jumping nearly 50% in San Francisco since 2019 — while…

Ignacio E. Lozano Jr., longtime La Opinión publisher, dies at 96

Ignacio E. Lozano Jr., longtime La Opinión publisher, dies at 96

Ignacio E. Lozano Jr. loved to tell the story about arriving in Los Angeles in 1948 from the University of Notre Dame with a journalism degree, taking a look at his family’s business — and immediately fearing it was doomed. His father, Ignacio E. Lozano Sr., was a pioneering publisher who founded a Spanish-language daily…

Record deals and tax-avoidance maneuvers: Southern California’s priciest sales of 2023

Record deals and tax-avoidance maneuvers: Southern California’s priciest sales of 2023

Southern California’s luxury real estate market never sleeps. But this past year, it collectively caught its breath. Luxury sales slowed down in 2023 — a combination of soaring interest rates, a newly introduced “mansion tax” and an inevitable drop-off from a pandemic market when megamansions flipped like hotcakes. In 2022, there were 17 home sales…

California Pizza Hut franchises to lay off more than 1,100 delivery drivers ahead of wage hike

California Pizza Hut franchises to lay off more than 1,100 delivery drivers ahead of wage hike

Ahead of statewide minimum wage increases for fast-food workers, hundreds of California Pizza Hut franchises announced cuts in their delivery services, laying off more than 1,100 drivers, according to federal and state filings. The Pizza Hut locations, run by two different franchise operators, reported the change to their business models for restaurants from Orange to…

Column: Mickey Mouse and ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ enter the public domain on Jan. 1, a reminder of our crazy copyright laws

Column: Mickey Mouse and ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ enter the public domain on Jan. 1, a reminder of our crazy copyright laws

It might be unusual to find Mickey Mouse and “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” mentioned in the same breath. But you can chalk up their momentary fellowship to America’s copyright laws, under which both are entering the public domain on Jan. 1. That’s because both Mickey and Mellors, the Chatterley estate gamekeeper, made their first published appearance…