Santa Cruz is California’s least-affordable housing market. Are high-rises a solution?

Santa Cruz is California’s least-affordable housing market. Are high-rises a solution?

SANTA CRUZ —  You can sense it in the ubiquitous “Help Wanted” posters in artsy shops and restaurants, in the ranks of university students living out of their cars and in the outsize percentage of locals camping on the streets. This seaside county known for its windswept beauty and easy living is in the midst of…

Black-trimmed homes, tiny libraries and other signs your neighborhood is about to be gentrified

Black-trimmed homes, tiny libraries and other signs your neighborhood is about to be gentrified

A shift in demographics. Affordable apartments transformed into luxury condos. A coffee shop called something like “Brew Slut.” The signs of gentrification take many forms. A newly opened art gallery can serve both as a communal space and a harbinger of the displacement to come. Remodeled homes might boost a street’s curb appeal but then…

Australia’s Liontown in talks with US Defense Dept on tantalum supply  | Reuters News Agency

Australia’s Liontown in talks with US Defense Dept on tantalum supply  | Reuters News Agency

Business & Finance 07 December 2023, 5:15 am 1 minute Reuters exclusively reported that Miner Liontown Resources (LTR.AX) is speaking with the United States Department of Defense about supplying tantalum from its Australian operations if the U.S. passes a new regulation by year end as expected, its chief executive told Reuters on Thursday. Lining up…

IRS rejects more than 20,000 refund claims for pandemic-related tax credit

IRS rejects more than 20,000 refund claims for pandemic-related tax credit

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel speaks during an IRS event on August 2, 2023 in McLean, Virginia. Alex Wong | Getty Images The IRS is sending more than 20,000 rejection letters to taxpayers who wrongly claimed a pandemic-era tax break as the agency continues its crackdown on “dubious” filings. Created to support small businesses during the…

Supreme Court hears tax case on ‘income’: It may ‘have the biggest fiscal policy effects of any court decision,’ expert says

Supreme Court hears tax case on ‘income’: It may ‘have the biggest fiscal policy effects of any court decision,’ expert says

People exit the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Minh Connors | The Washington Post | Getty Images The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday on a case that could affect broad swaths of the U.S. tax code and federal revenue. The closely watched case, Moore v….

Why Workers Are Frustrated With Amazon, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s Right Now

Why Workers Are Frustrated With Amazon, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s Right Now

Last year, the independent, fledgling union Trader Joe’s United accomplished what had never been done before: It formed the chain’s first unionized store, in Massachusetts, then its second, in Minnesota. Once the celebrations were over, workers got down to the less glamorous business of negotiating a first contract. But Trader Joe’s insisted everyone participate in…

Why Gas Prices Are Likely To Spike — Once Again

Why Gas Prices Are Likely To Spike — Once Again

The world’s oil cartel agreed to slash production of crude by nearly 2 million barrels per day starting in January, a move likely to ratchet up geopolitical tensions with the United States and spike energy costs. At its Thursday meeting, the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its 10 Russia-led allies, which together…

ECB haunted by bond buys in Swedish property crisis | Reuters News Agency

ECB haunted by bond buys in Swedish property crisis | Reuters News Agency

Business & FinanceDeals 30 November 2023, 5:22 am 1 minute Reuters was first to report a debt crunch at Swedish property group SBB has left the European Central Bank at risk of losses and highlighted the 26 billion euro ($29 billion) exposure it built up to Europe’s now stricken real estate sector through its crisis-era…