Author: admin

“It’s a dark news day,” a family member told me on Wednesday.What could she have been referring to? I thought maybe she was referring to the confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, but when dealing with Trump-era news cycles, you can never assume you know what anyone is talking about.It’s a minefield. If I guess wrong, I could be inserting a new topic into a conversation about politics that I already don’t want to have. So I played dumb.“Trump is firing the whole federal workforce,” she told me. “He wants…

It happened again.I have obtained an audio recording of another secret meeting of the people who run California behind the scenes. The membership of the group, divulged nowhere else but here, is made up of 10 environmentalists, three teachers, two bond underwriters, eight  plaintiffs’ attorneys, six professionally certified lunatics, the CEO of a candle company, 231 union leaders and one California business leader, calling in from his home in Toronto.The meeting was convened to discuss the latest disaster to befall the state, the loss of the Biden White House.“I don’t see how we recover from this,” one of the union…

By Gayle SatoIf your planned holiday budget now seems like a quaint—and unrealistic—memory, you’re not alone. With well-honored traditions of gift giving, festivities and holiday travel, the urge to splurge is understandable. In fact, in a recent Experian holiday spending survey, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they believe they spend too much during the holidays.Unfortunately, you may still be dealing with the financial aftermath well after you’ve packed away your holiday decorations and set your intentions for the new year. To get back on track once the holidays are past, Experian shares 10 ways to help trim back spending, bring…

People who like everything the current president does long ago — out of necessity — invented a critical term for people like me who like almost nothing the current president does.It’s really the weakest riposte that they could have created, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Anytime a critic like me lays into another boneheaded — or globally dangerous — thing he says or does, they say that we are merely infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome. That we continue to point out the problems when we see them means, by this very weak logic, that we have been driven…

By Aaron Leibowitz, Miami HeraldMIAMI — A Dubai-based developer has unveiled the details of an ultra-luxury project on the Surfside property where a building collapse in 2021 left 98 people dead and shattered a community.In a press release, DAMAC said construction has begun on what it’s calling The Delmore, featuring 37 “mansions in the sky” starting at $15 million apiece, a “meditation garden” and the availability of “residential butlers.” The release makes no mention of the collapse.On Tuesday morning, dozens of top Miami brokers were set to gather in Surfside to learn more about the condo project, which will be…

Today marks a milestone I never imagined when I wrote my first column 10 years ago for the Southern California News Group.Back then, I approached commercial real estate as a puzzle: complex, fascinating and full of moving parts.Ten years later, that hasn’t changed, but the pieces themselves certainly have.Writing this column has given me a front-row seat to some of the most dramatic transformations in the industry, many of which have touched not just buildings and businesses but the way we live, work, and shop. To mark this anniversary, I’ve reflected on the 10 biggest events and trends that have…

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football WriterJalen Hurts flashed a rare smile when Nick Sirianni screamed on the podium after the Philadelphia Eagles won the NFC championship game: “All he does is win.”Hurts has been criticized throughout his career but numbers don’t lie and his head coach is right. Hurts is a winner. He’s 89-27 as a starting quarterback in college and the NFL.All he’s missing is a Super Bowl ring.Hurts has another chance to get one when the Eagles (17-3) face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (17-2) on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.Hurts had a spectacular game against the Chiefs…

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports WriterKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes felt as though he needed to apologize after he helped the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game, punching their ticket to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season.Not for the outcome, but for quite possibly the worst spike in NFL history.In a back-and-forth tussle between two of the NFL’s top teams, the Chiefs were driving early in the fourth quarter last weekend for the go-ahead score. Mahomes took off to the right and powered into the end zone and, with his adrenaline…

By YOLANDA MAGAÑA, Associated PressSAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The Trump administration said Friday it was in talks with El Salvador to revive an agreement that could allow the United States to send non-Salvadoran migrants to the Central American country.This time, though, the government would also aim to send members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to Salvadoran prisons, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, the State Department’s special envoy for Latin America, in a call with media outlets.It comes after a harsh crackdown on the country’s gangs by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. Bukele suspended key constitutional rights in 2022…

Concerned residents protest the use of the former Topanga Motel site on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu near Topanga Canyon Boulevard as a staging area for hazardous materials removed from the recent Palisades fire area on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Concerned residents talk to Rusty Harris-Bishop, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency public information officer, about the use of the former Topanga Motel site on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu near Topanga Canyon Boulevard as a staging area for hazardous materials removed from the recent Palisades fire area on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (Photo…