Yearly Archives: 2017

Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed his strong opposition to the Trump Administration’s illegal attempt to suspend for two years the 2015 Clean Water Rule, which would protect California’s lakes, rivers, and streams from pollutants.

Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) issued the following statement after Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner failed to respond to a letter from Rep. Lieu and 12 Members of Congress about whether he has leveraged his position to acquire financial support for 666 Fifth Avenue.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Granite Rock Company over Clean Water Act violations at three of its road materials manufacturing and recycling facilities in Northern California. The agreement requires the company to pay a $102,051 penalty to address stormwater discharge violations at two of its Redwood City facilities and oil pollution prevention violations at a facility in Aromas. Granite Rock will also complete a watershed cleanup project as part of the settlement.

Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) issued the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs reversed its decision to change the funding scheme for programs that benefit homeless veterans. This reversal comes after Rep. Lieu and 11 Members of Congress sent a letter to VA Secretary David Shulkin urging him to reconsider the decision, which would have jeopardized the VA’s ability to meet the needs of homeless veterans

Global real estate investment and services firm Kennedy Wilson has been named the official broker of record for retail at The Culver Steps, a transformative mixed-use development adjacent to The Culver Studios and Culver Hotel in Downtown Culver City.

Wilson, a global real estate investment and services firm, announced today that it has represented the landlord in one of the largest restaurant leases in Downtown Los Angeles this year, bringing the ground-floor retail space at mixed-use development 1000 Grand by Windsor to 100 percent occupancy. Kennedy Wilson’s Lee Shapiro, executive vice president of brokerage, and Justin Weiss, vice president of brokerage, were the exclusive leasing agents for the retail portion. The duo secured a 10-year, 5,210-square-foot lease with Genwa, a high-end Korean barbeque restaurant with two other locations in Los Angeles

Palm Springs – With solar power on the rise around the country, a national network fossil fuel and utility-backed organizations have joined forces to put the brakes on this fast-growing pollution-free energy resource. Trade groups and think tanks backed by deep-pocketed anti-clean energy ideologues and fossil interests are bankrolling campaigns, promoting model legislation and media campaigns to provide cover for anti-solar campaigns across the country said a new report released by Environment California Research & Policy Center.

Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) and Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) led a group of 78 Members calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to invest in resilient energy infrastructure during Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma recovery efforts. The Members urged FEMA to invest in renewable energy technology in hard hit areas like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where outdated electrical grids have hindered expedited rebuilding efforts

Activists will rally outside the Bank of America Building at noon Monday to oppose President Trump’s expected announcement that he’s making significant cuts to at least two national monuments. Trump is part-owner of the building.

The U.S. Senate is voting on a tax bill that would open America’s unspoiled Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and maintains billion in tax breaks for fossil fuel producers while stifling the growing renewable energy sector. Environment California issued the following statement in response

Two real estate investors were sentenced yesterday for their role in a conspiracy to rig bids at public foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced. Gregory Casorso and Javier Sanchez were charged on Nov. 19, 2014, in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California.

Rep. Ami Bera (D–CA) welcomed Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Director Jason McAlister to Washington last week to help lead a discussion with Members of Congress on jobs, education, and vocational training. As the Co-Chair of the Access to Jobs Task Force, Rep. Bera invited Director McAlister to share his expertise leading SMUD’s premier training program.

Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a nationally-recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, announced today the sale of Lancaster Triangle, a 35,569-square-foot multi-tenant shopping center in Lancaster, California.

A California resident was sentenced to 54 months in prison today for conspiring to file false claims for tax refunds, submitting false claims for tax refunds, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch for the Northern District of California

New data (fact sheet) from a Freedom of Information Act request, released today, indicates that there was a 646% increase in foreclosures last year against seniors with federally insured reverse mortgages as compared to the previous 7 years. In January 2017, the California Reinvestment Coalition and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid submitted