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Helping families re-establish their roots and transition to a place that they can call home is the objective behind the opening of the City’s second transitional housing project. City leaders in partnership with Elk Grove HART (Homeless Assistance Resource Team) and Sacramento Self-Help Housing celebrated the opening of the Meadow House today in east Elk Grove with a ribbon cutting ceremony and tours of the home.

LOS ANGELES - August 18, 2015 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sustained job and income growth gave home buyers the confidence in July to jump into the California housing market, pushing home sales to their highest level in nearly three years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today. Home sales have risen year over year for six straight months

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Watts riots, Mayor Eric Garcetti spent Friday in neighborhoods where six days of civil unrest drew global attention to issues of racial inequality and a half-century of rebuilding underscored the resilient spirit that defines Los Angeles.

Today the City sold $299 million in bonds to fund its contribution to the construction of the Golden 1 Center in Downtown Sacramento. The amount will be put toward the City’s $255 million share of the Golden 1 Center, nine months after the City and Sacramento Kings broke ground on the new $507 million downtown arena. The center is expected to open in October 2016.

Every region except Kings County posts lower affordability compared to previous quarter. Thirty percent of California households could afford to purchase the $485,100 median-priced home in the second quarter, down from 34 percent in first-quarter 2015 and unchanged from 30 percent in second quarter 2014

A woman is scheduled to be arraigned today for shooting and killing her boyfriend outside their mobile home in Garden Grove. Arlene Kathyrn Bautista, 20, Garden Grove, is charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter by lawful act in an unlawful manner with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a firearm. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison.

A major residential development project, hailed as "the Miracle of Mission Street" for overcoming years of opposition with promised benefits including 360 new apartments designated as rent-controlled, is facing scrutiny over apparently unlawful uses of residential dwellings for short-term tourist accommodations.

A man is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon for the stabbing murder of his stepbrother in their Garden Grove home. Andres Adolfo Serrat, 25, is charged with one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a knife. If convicted, Serrat faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison. The defendant is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned today, Aug. 5, 2015, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined

City and county leaders join MidPen Housing to celebrate the groundbreaking for 6800 Mission, 52 rental apartments for families and retail space along the Mission Corridor. Daly City Mayor Raymond Buenaventura and San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President Carole Groom joined other city and county leaders to celebrate the groundbreaking of 6800 Mission, an affordable, workforce rental apartment community being developed by MidPen Housing.

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) was awarded an $8.2 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to hire 36 additional firefighters.

A monthly online survey found majority of California REALTORS® expect better or similar market conditions over the next year. Similar sentiments were expressed in a confidence survey conducted among REALTORS® nationwide.

Three defendants have been charged for underpaying employees on public works projects. No Sung Pak, 74, Hollywood, and Michael John Ferrin, 40, San Pedro, and Scott Sung Yang, 44, Los Angeles, are each charged with five felony counts of taking and receiving a portion of a worker’s wage on public works and one felony count of recording a false forged instrument.

Two men were convicted today of robbery in concert after breaking into two homes in Orange for the benefit of a criminal street gang. Andre Ricardo Pierson, 25, Inglewood, and Dwight Ladale Stephen, 26, Los Angeles, were found guilty by a jury of seven felony counts of first degree robbery of a dwelling in concert, one felony count of possession of a firearm by a felon with sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity and vicarious use of a firearm by a gang member. Pierson’s prior prison conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon in 2010, and Stephen’s prior conviction for unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm in 2008 were also found to be true

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® is opposing a provision in the highway bill now being considered by the U.S. Senate that taxes home buyers by increasing the fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge on their loans. This provision would extend a tax on homeowners that Congress implemented in 2011, which C.A.R. opposed at the time.

San Jose Downtown Association will expand its Street Life Project—which focuses on bringing more vibrancy to the city’s downtown core, with special events, outdoor activities, creative installations and other initiatives—as a way to engage residents in community life and create incentives for talented people to live and stay in the city. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is providing $625,000 in new funding to support the expansion over the next five years

With the Wragg Fire growing to more than 6,000 acres and impacting Napa and Solano counties, residents should listen to the warnings of local and state officials and seek safety if asked to evacuate. Once evacuated to a safe location, residents should save receipts for expenses and contact their insurance companies through their toll free claims telephone numbers as soon as possible to begin receiving assistance if their home is damaged, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI)

The City of Oakland is violating constitutional protections for property rights and free speech — and unjustly raising costs for home buyers and businesses — by forcing builders of homes and commercial projects to fund art works that have no reasonable connection to any public needs created by their building projects

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®(C.A.R.) applauds Governor Brown for signing into law AB 345, a C.A.R.-sponsored bill that earmarks three hours of a real estate broker's existing mandated continuing education (CE) for a course on the management and supervision of real estate licensed activity. Governor Brown signed the bill into law on Monday, July 13, and the bill becomes effective Jan. 1, 2016.

California pending home sales continued to gain steam in June, registering seven months of continued annual increases and the fifth consecutive month of double-digit increases, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today