San Diego Business Journal articles from June 2003

San Diego Business Journal archives from June 2003

Merchants anticipate ships' return: local economy may not see much movement as Constellation comes home.
June 2, 2003... The return of the USS Constellation and its battle group to a giant harborside rally June 2 means plenty of good things for San Diego. It's relief and exhilaration for military spouses, like the ones Pat Vetere sees outside his business....

No safe harbor for Port District: loss of Lindbergh brings talk of revamping agency.(San Diego Unified Port District)
June 2, 2003... In the past six months, the San Diego Unified Port District has navigated some rough waters. On Jan. 1, the port's biggest moneymaker -- Lindbergh Field, which generated 43 percent of the district's total revenue -- flew off under the...

No safe harbor for Port District: port claims there's little booty in its treasure chest.(San Diego Unified Port District)
June 2, 2003... The San Diego Unified Port District never has been as rich as most people think, port officials argue. The media is responsible for popularizing the myth of a cash-rich Port District, they said. In truth, the agency has more projects on its...

Advertisers heed call of local radio: revenue growth puts S.D. among nation's top markets.
June 2, 2003... Bolstered by a 10.4 percent hike in first-quarter ad revenue, San Diego radio stations are among the top five fastest-growing markets in the country. How big an accomplishment was this? According to Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co., a North...

Tale of two eateries starts with a Hug. (Entrepreneurs Restaurants).(Bertrand Hug runs Bertrand at Mr. A's, Mille Fleurs)
June 2, 2003... Bertrand Hug's restaurants are known for many things. Bertrand at Mr. A's, perched atop a famed Bankers Hill building, offers one of the most dramatic views of the bay and Downtown. And Food and Wine magazine dubbed Mille Fleurs in Rancho...

Building industry airs concerns over prevailing wage issue: offsite pay rates ruling adds to confusion. (Construction).
June 2, 2003... The local building industry is split over the issue of requiring contractors to pay the prevailing wage on construction jobs. Prevailing wage is a pay rate set for different construction trades in each of California's counties, often...

Con Vis slashes jobs as funding cutback looms.(San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau)
June 2, 2003... Facing a $1.4 million budget cut for the upcoming fiscal year, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau eliminated 12 positions and made cuts in operating expenses. As a result, 10 people, employed mostly in the areas of community...

Bond measures shelved. (Week in Review).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... State lawmakers struggling to deal with California's ongoing budget crisis voted May 28 to put on hold any new ballot measures until the budget problems are solved. The Assembly Appropriations Committee voted to reject all new bond...

McMillin buying Bakersfield builder. (Week in Review).(Corky McMillin Cos. to acquire Kyle Carter Homes)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... The Corky McMillin Cos., the National City-based business group that includes homebuilding, real estate agency, and mortgage brokerage companies, is in the process of buying the assets of Kyle Carter Homes in Bakersfield. Terms of the...

Davis allies fighting recall effort. (Week in Review).(recall effort against governor Gray Davis)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Allies of California Gov. Gray Davis have formed a group to not only fight the recall effort against the governor, but also raise money for a petition drive from voters opposing the "abuse of the recall process." The group -- called...

San Diego No. 3 on index. (Week in Review).(retail index)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... San Diego ranked third after Washington, D.C., and Orange County on Encino-based Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co.'s National Retail Index. The index ranks 38 U.S. retail real estate markets based on vacancies, rent...

Calpine still seeks contract for Otay Mesa electricity. (Energy).
June 2, 2003... Calpine Corp. is pushing to get its Otay Mesa Energy Center built by 2005, when San Diego County anticipates needing more electricity. But time is growing short. And the San Jose merchant generator is having a tough time coming up with a...

Wellspring International agrees to deal with french utility. (Energy).(Electricite de France)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Agreement: San Diego-based Wellspring International Inc., which provides metering systems for all types of buildings and utilities, recently entered into an agreement with Electricite de France, the world's largest government-owned electric...

Forecast. (Energy).(summer electricity forecast)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Just days after the California Energy Commission released its summer electricity forecast -- stating that supplies should be adequate to meet peak summer demand for the next two years -- California's power grid operator called a Stage 1 energy...

New entity. (Energy).(SeaWest Holdings forms Prasentia division)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... SeaWest Holdings, the parent company of San Diego-based SeaWest WindPower, Inc., has formed a new independent entity named Prasentia. Prasentia is a data services division that serves wind energy project owners, operators, and turbine...

Construction Specifications Institute. (Workshops).
June 2, 2003... The San Diego chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute invites the public to attend its workshop on sustainable and energy-efficient roofs. The seminar will be conducted June 18, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the San Diego Inspection...

SDG&E. (Workshops).
June 2, 2003... SDG&E will conduct a lighting workshop June 17 and June 18 from 8 a.m. to noon. The first seminar will take place at the Four Points Sheraton in Kearny Mesa, and the second will be conducted at The Windmill in Carlsbad. Sign up at...

First International opts to expand board members: troubled bank talking to a number of possible investors. (Finance).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Shareholders of First International Bank, the Chula Vista-based lender, voted to expand its board of directors by five members, but it remains to be seen whether regulators will approve them all. At its annual meeting last month, the bank's...

Genetronics teams with bay area firm for research.(Genetronics Biomedical Corp., Genteric Inc. research agreement)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... San Diego-based biotech firm Genetronics Biomedical Corp. and Alameda-based gene therapy firm Genteric Inc. said May 22 they signed a research agreement covering joint evaluation of gene expression using electroporation-assisted delivery of DNA...

Corrections & Clarifications.(Correction Notice)
June 2, 2003... In the May 26 edition of the San Diego Business Journal, an item in the real estate column reported that Gary Goss of San Diego-based Burnham Capital Markets Group arranged a $12 million loan for the purchase of 8989 Rio San Diego Drive....

Geno's Barbecue has new location but the menu is as flavorful as ever. (What's on the Menu).(Geno's West Coast Style Barbecue)(Restaurant Review)
June 2, 2003... Geno's West Coast Style Barbecue has been an East County fixture for several years, but recently Geno's relocated to the heart of downtown El Cajon. Now the restaurant is housed in a remodeled Taco Bell, which has been transformed into'...

The search for new Aztec athletic director continues. (Sports Biz).(San Diego State)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... The upheaval at San Diego State's athletic department isn't over yet, and more heads may roll as a result of an ongoing investigation into how the department was managed. "All I can say is the investigation is ongoing," said SDSU spokesman...

San Diego seeks chance to host Women's World Cup. (Sports Biz).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Cup Hunt: San Diego is making a bid to host part of this year's Women's World Cup, which was awarded to the United States on May 26 following the decision to move the event out of China because of the continuing SARS crisis. "We called the...

Chargers update. (Sports Biz).(Qualcomm Stadium lease)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Talks between the Chargers and city officials over the team's lease at Qualcomm Stadium have been going on weekly, with parties meeting two to three times for an average of two to three hours per session. Both have been discussing the...

Best of the worst. (Sports Biz).
June 2, 2003... In what is shaping up as their worst season in their 35-year history, the Padres will face the Detroit Tigers, the American League team also contending for the worst record in baseball, for a three-game series June 6 to 8. Perhaps realizing in...

Olympic effort. (Sports Biz).(Science Applications International Corp. wins security contract for Athens Games)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Science Applications International Corp. won part of contract to provide security infrastructure to the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games from the Greek government. As part of the contract, SAIC' s team, which includes Siemens and Nokia, will...

Construction completed for UCSD's bioengineering facility.(Powell-Focht Bioengineering Building)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. of Newport Beach has completed the $30.6 million Powell-Focht Bioengineering Building at the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla. The 110,000-square-foot building was built on a four-acre site for public and private...

Cultural travelers offer appealing figures to tour officials. (Tourism & Hospitality).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Arts and cultural attractions continue to draw lots of tourists to San Diego. According to an economic impact report released by the city, 85 city-funded arts organizations sold 1.66 million admissions to out-of-town visitors last year....

Marine Room inducted into magazine's Hall of Fame. (Tourism & Hospitality).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Hall Of Fame Restaurant: The Marine Room of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club was inducted into Nation's Restaurant News Hall of Fame in May. Executive chef Bernard Guillas received the award at an event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Chicago. ...

Card park. (Tourism & Hospitality).(Legoland California, Upper Deck Co. sponsorship agreement)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Legoland California and the Upper Deck Co. of Carlsbad have entered into a multiyear agreement making the latter the title sponsor of the theme park's new, full-service restaurant -- the Upper Deck Sports Cafe. The agreement calls for...

Museum unveils turquoise. (Tourism & Hospitality).(San Diego Museum of Man)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Javier Guerrero, San Diego Museum of Man's curator of Southwest Collections, says that while turquoise currently enjoys tremendous popularity, many who wear it have no idea where it comes from or how it has been valued over time. A new...

Firm building toll road settles suit, gets funding.(California Transportation Ventures)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... A private company building a toll road in San Diego cleared two major hurdles last month. First, a lawsuit seeking to prevent California Transportation Ventures from building a portion of state Route 125 was settled May 13. The...

New scanner seen as the cat's meow: though a costly procedure, PET imaging technique can detect cancers earlier. (Technology).
June 2, 2003... Four years ago, sophisticated medical-imaging tools such as PET Scanners were still a rarity in San Diego's hospitals. Since 2001, when Medicare started to reimburse the costly scans to detect and evaluate cancers, PET technology has gotten...

Company among the dot-com survivors. (Cyberbucks).(Global Solutions)
June 2, 2003... Launched at the height of the dot-coin boom in 1999, eAssist Global Solutions is among a handful of local Internet companies that are still around and indeed growing, despite a lingering tech wreck. The firm, which attracted $72 million in...

Sorrento Networks finally finds enough shareholders to OK restructuring plan. (Cyberbucks).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Sorrento's Deal OK'd: Sorrento Networks, the local maker of optical networking equipment used by large telecoms such as Cox Communications, finally got enough shareholders to pony up their proxies and approve its restructuring plan. But it...

Merger slows. (Cyberbucks).(SYS Technologies)(AP Labs)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... A merger of like-sized, locally based defense contractors, SYS Technologies and AP Labs, which was announced in December, has slowed to the point that SYS appears to be throwing in the towel. In the company's recent SEC filing, it listed...

RF Industries repurchases stock. (Cyberbucks).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... RF Industries, a local maker of coaxial connectors and cables, repurchased 752,167 shares of its common stock at $3 per share, which reduced the total amount of outstanding shares to 2,650,000. RFI's action raises the per share earnings by...

Rack Saver gets $14 million. (Cyberbucks).(in first round of equity financing)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... San Diego-based Rack Saver, a provider of high-density rack computer servers, said it closed a first round equity financing of $14 million led by Voyager Capital and Celerity Partners. The company plans to use the funds for research and...

Tracking investments. (Cyberbucks).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Capital Hunter is the latest firm tracking the flows of capital and financial investment into companies. Headed up by Dante Fichera, the local firm tracks debt and equity funding events on public and private firms regionally, nationally, and...

SAIC secures NASA Space Plane project: General Atomics inks deal with Army for spy aircraft. (High-Tech).(Science Applications International Corp.)(United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Science Applications International Corp. says it has snagged $48 million in work on the spacecraft system that will follow the space shuttle. It's NASA's Orbital Space Plane project. San Diego-based SAIC will be the prime contractor on a...

VACIS milestone. (High-Tech).(Science Applications International Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... SAIC also celebrated the delivery of its 100th mobile trailer-scanner May 30. The VACIS unit (pronounced "vak-ISS"), which SAIC builds in Escondido, uses gamma rays to get an idea of what is on the inside of sealed cargo containers, The U.S....

Open me, heh heh. (High-Tech).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... By now, many Windows-based computer users realize emails from "support@microsoft.com" are bad news. They contain attachments that, when opened, infect a computer with malicious code. The culprit has a name. It's the Palyh Worm. Microsoft,...

New digs. (High-Tech).(Batelle Memorial Institute)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Ohio-based Batelle Memorial Institute, a technology developer that operates several Department of Energy labs, holds an open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. June 3 at its new office at 3990 Old Town Ave.

Construction owners receive jail for tax, insurance fraud.(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... The owners of various Southern California construction companies were sentenced May 20 after pleading guilty to felony charges of state income tax evasion, payroll tax evasion, and insurance fraud. In a negotiated plea agreement, Angel M....

Big pay raises ahead for Palomar Pomerado nurses: new contract will increase salaries up to 30 percent over 3 years. (Health Care).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Nurses at the Palomar Pomerado Health district signed a three-year contract that calls for 30 percent salary raises in place of the current "merit" pay scale, as well as a new defined pension plan, staffing gains, and a ban on mandatory...

Vaccine hopes. (Health Care).(Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute believe they have solved the structures of a key protein involved in causing cholera, a major health problem in developing countries. The findings appeared in the May 23 issue of the medical...

Transplant program. (Health Care).(Scripps Clinic)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Dr. Christopher Marsh, chief of transplant surgery at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, has added kidney and pancreas transplants to existing liver transplants. Marsh performed the three procedures at the University of Washington Medical Center...

San Diego Public Stocks. (Marketplace).(Illustration)
June 2, 2003... Marketplace SAN DIEGO PUBLIC STOCKS Data as of 05/23/03 STOCK PRICE Price Performance % Chg. ...

Invitrogen Corp. (Proxy).(financial and other information on company)(Company Profile)
June 2, 2003... NASD--IVGN Invitrogen is a biotechnology company that makes kits to simplify and speed up gene cloning, expression, and analysis. Its TOPO TA Cloning Kit reduces one step in the cloning process that once took 12 hours to five minutes....

San Diego Technology & Biotech 15.(Illustration)
June 2, 2003... San Diego Technology 15 As of May 23, 2003 52 week Company Ticker Close High Low Qualcomm, Inc. QCOM $30.90 $42.89 $23.21 Gateway, Inc. ...

Hispanic Chamber head leaves for bank title. (Tips & Trends).(Robert Villarreal of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber)
June 2, 2003... The head of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is stepping down after three years on the job. Robert Villarreal has been president and chief executive officer of the chamber since June 2000. He leaves June 1.1 to take a job...

Scheduling mix-up nixes Davis, Gore attendance at Asian Entrepreneur event. (Tips & Trends).(Davis, Gray)(Al Gore)(National Asian Entrepreneur of the Year Awards)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Now You See 'Em...: An early press release for the National Asian Entrepreneur of the Year Awards stated Gov. Gray Davis would be the keynote speaker, and Al Gore was also scheduled to attend. Neither was there. Len Navarro, a spokesman...

It's not too late. (Tips & Trends).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Small firms that lost employees to service in Iraq can still get aid from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Small businesses can apply for a Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan if the owner or an essential employee was...

Small business. (Spotlight).(Summers Past Farms)
June 2, 2003... Marshall and Sheryl Lozier are the co-owners of Summers Past Farms, an herb garden, nursery, soap shop, and boutique in Flinn Springs, near Alpine. The five-acre farm, in Marshall's family for about 50 years, offers workshops on growing...

Paying your taxes when you're self-employed. (Small Business Help Line).(related article included)
June 2, 2003... Question: I'm self-employed. What do I need to do to be sure that I'm taking care of my income tax obligations? Answer: The United States and California have a "pay-as-you-go" system of paying your tax liability. For most individuals this...

Tourist Attractions.
June 2, 2003... TOURIST ATTRACTIONS Ranked by 2002 attendance figures Attendance: 2002 Rank Atraction ...

San Diego Tourist Attractions are holding their own: attendance figures remain healthy despite slow economy.
June 2, 2003... This year's San Diego Business Journal List of Tourist Attractions is ranked on 2002 attendance figures. Out of 25 attractions, 10 had an increase in attendance, nine had a decrease, and six had about the same number of attendants. ...

San Diego: the perfect family getaway. (Advertisement).
June 2, 2003... San Diego is the ideal destination for families with children of all ages, offering a variety of family-friendly activities, world-class attractions and special events throughout the year. There are many reasons why San Diego is...

Chula Vista, Port District debate future of parcel. (News & Trends).(Chula Vista, California)(San Diego Unified Port District)
June 2, 2003... The San Diego Unified Port District and the city of Chula Vista are carefully plotting out redevelopment of the last large parcel of land along San Diego Bay, which will occur over the next 20 to 50 years. The port-owned, 300-acre parcel is...

Vacancy rates appear healthy across county. (News & Trends).(San Diego County, California)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Industrial Market Report: Vacancy appears to be pretty healthy in the San Diego County industrial and R&D market, according to the San Diego office of Boston-based Colliers International. Vacancy rested at 6.56 percent at the end of the...

Retail sale. (News & Trends).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Bosc Group, a private investment group, sold its 121,000-square-foot Rancho San Marcos Village for $17.5 million. The shopping center, anchored by a Vons grocery store, is located at 62 1-625 Rancho Santa Fe Rd. in San Marcos. The property...

$16.7 million in financing. (News & Trends).(Pacific Coast Capital Partners LLC finances loan through its affiliate Redwood Capital Finance Co.)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Pacific Coast Capital Partners LLC, an El Segundo-based real estate investment firm and lender, financed a $16.7 million loan through its affiliate Redwood Capital Finance Co. for the refinance of Escondido Village. The 255,000-square-foot...

Downtown apartments open. (News & Trends).(St. Vincent de Paul Village opens Villa Harvey Mandel)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... St. Vincent de Paul Village has opened Villa Harvey Mandel. The 90-unit apartment building for elderly, disabled, mentally ill, and other individuals on fixed incomes is located at 17th Street and Imperial Avenue in Downtown San Diego. ...

Quality assurance. (News & Trends).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Quality Built, a Poway-based quality assurance provider for the homebuilding industry, has been selected by the Olson Co. of Seal Beach to provide a quality assurance program for projects amounting to 600 homes in California, including...

Carlsbad footwear firm acquires Montana boot company.(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... A footwear company that recently moved its headquarters to Carlsbad has announced its plans to purchase a Montana-based shoe company. Phoenix Footwear Group, Inc., which trades on the American Stock Exchange as PXG, announced May 22 that it...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 2, 2003... If you would like your business event that costs less than $75 to attend included in the calendar section, make sure your press release arrives at our offices at least 15 working days before the event. Send requests to: Calendar ...

Linda Dunfee. (Executive Profile).
June 2, 2003... One of the very few women executives in local commercial real estate, Linda Dunfee has been a broker in San Diego County for 25 years. Working for the Irvin Kahn Organization selling the investor's properties in the 1970s, Dunfee was...

Awards and Recognition. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(Robin Fiorelli)(Fary Moini)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Robin Fiorelli has been named' the recipient of the national President's Award for Outstanding Service for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, Fiorelli is the director of bereavement and volunteer services of VITAS San Diego. Fary Moini has received...

Banking and Finance. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Darr L. Woods has been hired at San Diego National Bank as vice president in credit administration. Woods will be responsible for credit administration functions, including special assets, credit review, and loan approval for each or the bank's...

Construction and Design. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Stephanie Serur has been hired at SGPA Architecture and Planning as marketing coordinator. Serur is responsible for assisting in the marketing and business development activities for the San Diego and San Francisco offices. Jeff Haack has been...

Government and Nonprofit. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(change on the board of directors at the Museum of Contemporary Art (San Diego))(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has announced board member changes: Charles G. Cochrane, Nora D. Sargent, and Victor Vilaplana are back on the board after a year's hiatus; Mary Bear, Barbara Bloom, Ronald L. Busick, Carolyn P. Farris,...

Health Care and Biotech. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(executive appoints at Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Nanogen Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Dwayne M. Elwood has been added as senior vice president, marketing, and Craig Eberhard has been added as vice president, sales, at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Elwood has more than 25 years of experience and Eberhard has more than 21 years of...

High-Tech and Manufacturing. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(Elgar Corp. executive appointment)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Philip Joosten has been appointed director of international sales and business development at Elgar Electronics Corp. Joosten has more than 18 years of experience in international sales and business development. Erik Suhonen has been appointed...

Law. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Margaret M. Mann has been added as a shareholder for Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP's San Diego office. Previously, Mann was chair of the Commercial, Finance & Insolvency Practice at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP. van A. Tengberg...

Miscellaneous. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Barbara V. Galagusz has been appointed general manager of Toner Cartridge Recycling Services, Inc. Galagusz has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Real Estate. (People: Key Hires and Promotions).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Bill Fleck has been promoted to managing principal of the San Diego office of The Staubach Co. West, Inc. Fleck joined the company in 1998 and has served as principal of the firm since 2001.

Joleen Schultz. (Executive Spotlight).(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Joleen Schultz has rejoined Mentus Life Science, an integrated marketing communications firm specializing in the life sciences industry, as partner and national practice leader. Schultz began her life sciences marketing career at Mentus and...

Camaraderie only goes so far: tough talking politicians need to take a hard line on white collar crimes too. (Our View).
June 2, 2003... Taking a hard line on crime is a savvy politician's bread and butter when they're on the campaign trail. So it's frustrating to see several politicians and well-known community leaders attempting to soft-peddle the crimes committed by...

Legacy.
June 2, 2003... A look back at one of the issues being discussed on the Opinion pages of the San Diego Business Journal five years ago this week: "Every time the cyclical price of gasoline starts back up, we hear cries that it is time for elected officials...

Shove 1,200 fliers in Gates' face and voila, free publicity. (Editor's Notebook).(Bill Gates)
June 2, 2003... Last week, I had a flashback. Call it dot-cam deja vu. There at UC San Diego, before an appearance by Bill Gates, was the CEO of a San Diego-based software company with a dot-com-like name, passing out fliers criticizing both the Microsoft...

How to fix state's Kafka-esque workers' comp system. (Opinion).(workers compensation )
June 2, 2003... By day, Franz Kafka revolutionized industrial safety from his office in Prague; by night, he wrote definitive fiction on the nightmares of modern life. Even now, his name evokes helpless wretches trapped in vast, bureaucratic labyrinths....

How L.A. is attacking workers' comp. (Commentary).(Los Angeles, California)(Brief Article)
June 2, 2003... Los Angeles is getting on the workers' compensation reform bandwagon. Several weeks back, Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn joined the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce in its drive to reform workers' comp, urging businesses in the city to write...

Game of musical ships begins on San Diego Bay.(USS Constellation)
June 9, 2003... The USS Constellation returned from the war in Iraq June 2 amid fog and considerable fan fare. Yet the aircraft carrier's last stay on San Diego Bay is going to be brief. The Navy will decommission the 41-year-old Constellation on Aug....

Spiraling workers' comp costs have businesses steaming.
June 9, 2003... Local employers are telling state legislators they're not going to take it anymore. Many companies in San Diego County don't think they can take another annual double-digit increase in workers' compensation costs. Sheffield Platers...