Recently in Top News Category

From The Press-Enterprise: With foreclosures representing a smaller portion of home sales, median home prices in Southern California rose slightly in May, showing the first month-to month price increase since July 2007.

The one-month gain was not reflected in Inland Southern California, and analysts hesitated to say prices wouldn't fall further. In Riverside County the median home price -- where half sold for more and half for less -- was unchanged from April at $180,000, while in San Bernardino County the median price slid by $1,500, from $138,500 in April to $137,000.

More sales of expensive homes in coastal counties and fewer sales of cut-priced foreclosures in the Inland counties caused the price elevation in Southern California, according to MDA DataQuick, which on Wednesday released its May housing report.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: A national analysis of how metropolitan areas are weathering the recession showed the Inland region lags other communities, but it offered clues as to how western Riverside and San Bernardino counties can recuperate.

The report, released Wednesday by the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank that studies metropolitan policy and other subjects, found the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area ranked 81st among the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S. when it comes to job creation and retention, housing prices and regional business production.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: As the fortunes of most chain retailers dwindle amid a spending downturn, Los Angeles-headquartered Forever 21 is taking advantage of relatively cheap real estate -- including spaces emptied by the bankrupt Mervyns and Gottschalks -- to grow its footprint and expand its merchandise offerings.

Later this year, and as early as next month, the youth-oriented clothing chain will have new stores set up in 15 spaces now occupied by Gottschalks, which is in the final weeks of store liquidations.

Larger-format Forever 21 stores at Riverside Plaza and Hemet Valley Mall will bring the retailer's Inland total to nine locations.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: People hammered by the recession have learned their lessons and are thinking more about saving their money than spending it.

Saving for a rainy day might have a nice Norman Rockwell feel to it, but it will also slow the recovery from this recession, and Californians will probably feel the effects longer than the rest of the country, a pair of regional economists said in a quarterly forecast released today.

Consumer spending accounts for a huge chunk of economic output because every item sold means someone else was paid to manufacture, transport and sell it.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: Ontario International Airport, already a costly alternative for airlines looking to do business in Southern California, will propose raising its airline landing fees by nine cents to $2.79 starting July 1.

The airport has already increased parking rates and cut costs, but airport spokeswoman Maria Tesoro-Fermin said the fee increase is expected to offset the airport's revenue losses -- a result of airline cutbacks. As of April, the airport has had nearly 30 percent fewer passengers in the first four months of the year compared to the same time a year prior.

Officials will propose the increase at the next meeting of the Los Angeles World Airport's board of airport commissioners June 22. The airport's fiscal year starts July 1.

Read the full story here 

From The Press-Enterprise: Saturn's white knight has brought home more than a few winners in his day, both on the race track and in the business world. Now Roger Penske has a chance for another win, one that would salvage a popular automotive brand.

General Motors Corp. announced Friday it has reached a tentative agreement to sell the Saturn brand to Penske Automotive Group, according to a statement released Friday by both parties.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: Shrinking nest eggs have retirees searching for ways to stretch their money. Some are discovering a new mortgage tool that can make buying a house cheaper than renting.

'It is unbelievable. I call it a miracle myself,' said Betty Swayngim, 69, of Asheville, N.C.

Swayngim said after her husband died two years ago she sold their house and rented a condominium. But, she said, the $800 a month rent was more than half her income and to make ends meet she continued to dip into her savings.

Fearful for her future, Swayngim talked to a Wells Fargo mortgage consultant in February who told her about a way for her to buy a townhouse next door to the one she was renting. She could stop paying rent and also would not have to make a monthly mortgage payment on the new place.

She used a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage for Purchase that became available in January through the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: The struggling parent of Temecula Valley Bank may have saved itself from the fate of other now-defunct institutions, including the Inland-based PFF Bank & Trust and 1st Centennial Bank.

But the price may be steep, as a deal announced late Monday calls for control of the Temecula company, and the bulk of its stock ownership, to shift to outside investors.

Temecula Valley Bancorp said it has entered into a nonbinding letter of intent with Bancroft Capital and institutional investors, including Orient Property Group LLC, to give the Temecula-based company a $210 million cash infusion.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: Economists say the job market is the last thing to come back at the end of a recession, and they're right. It could be another year before employers in the Inland area, where 12.6 percent of the work force is unemployed, start hiring again.

But at least it isn't getting much worse. A survey conducted in May by the national outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas found that the number of firms instituting layoffs declined from the January survey, from 56 percent to 43 percent.

Read the full blog entry here

From The Press-Enterprise: Thirteen Inland-area companies received Small Business of the Year honors from California lawmakers at a recent luncheon in Fontana.

Recognized were Gosney Construction of Bloomington; JLM's Towing Services Inc. of Muscoy; Café Montclair of Montclair; Los Portales Grill and Seafood in Montclair; Daniel's Electrical Construction Co. of Fontana; Brickley Environmental of San Bernardino; Brother's Pizza in Rialto; Mommie Helen's Bakery in Colton; Complete Health Store in Rialto; Darafeev Furniture of Chino; Cagle's Appliance Center of Ontario; Edward Jones Investments of Chino; and The UPS Store in Pomona.

"Businesses were selected because of their resilience in the face of today's tough economic times," said event host Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, in a statement.

Read the full story here 

From The Press-Enterprise: The index that measures Inland Southern California's manufacturing sector showed growth in May for the first time in more than a year, economists from Cal State San Bernardino reported today.

The Purchasing Managers Index soared to 50.7 for April from 44.5 the previous month, indicating a change for the Inland area's factories. An index over 50 considers growth, although economists look for three straight months of change before they consider it a trend.

Data indicates that Inland manufacturers might be starting to pick up the pace for future increases in consumer buying.

Purchasing members, however, are not bullish about the overall economy, with only 14 percent an improvement in the next three months.

From The Press-Enterprise: Seventy years ago, America's recovery from the Great Depression coincided with the start of the biggest growth in union membership the country has ever seen.

Labor leaders believe those two events -- an economy that underwent a severe beating and employees coming out of it who sought the clout of a union -- can happen once again.

Unions that have been losing membership for decades may be entering an era of aggressiveness birthed by recession. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 13.7 million people were unemployed in April, including more than 227,000 people in Inland Southern California. Millions more are underemployed, working at low-paying or part-time jobs.

A piece of an aggressive labor movement is being played out in the Inland area in several very public demonstrations.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: Consumers are feeling better about their economic situations than they did six months ago and seem to believe the recession will not get markedly worse in the coming months, a poll released Friday revealed.

The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment for May rose to 68.7, its third consecutive monthly increase. However, shoppers said they're still worried about declining home values and the security of their jobs. More than one-third said their incomes had declined in the last six months.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: The answers to California's ongoing drought lie in stepped-up conservation at home and a new system for transferring water around the ecologically troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, water experts said Thursday.

"We clearly are at a critical juncture in California. It is important to develop aggressive water policy strategies," said Michael Chrisman, California's secretary for natural resources, who oversees the state water system.

He was the keynote speaker at the Riverside County Water Symposium in Palm Springs, an event that drew hundreds of water agency officials, lawyers and business owners.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: Tens of thousands of children across Riverside and San Bernardino counties would lose their health insurance.

State assistance for more than 170,000 of the region's poor would be cut off.

Thousands of college-bound Inland students could no longer apply for tuition help through a state-sponsored grant program.

In ways large and small, from schools and welfare to parks and prisons, the potential toll of California's major financial problems is looming over the Inland area.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: Fleetwood Enterprises Inc., the RV-maker which sought bankruptcy protection on March 10, has filed a complaint against its own debt-holders hoping to undo a deal it made with them in December.

Officials with the Riverside-based manufacturer have said that they intentionally timed their Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing within 90 days of their December exchange offer. That would allow them to argue against giving preferential treatment to this group of creditors. The bankruptcy code doesn't allow a company to give its creditors preferential treatment such as paying them part of what they're owed in order to keep them happy, while not doing the same for other creditors, within 90 days before filing for bankruptcy.

Fleetwood filed the complaint against Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, the trustee for the debt-holders this week.

Read the full story here

From The Press-Enterprise: A deluge of freight expected to roll through Riverside and San Bernardino counties in the coming years will either mean local drivers see new roads and rail crossings built at a feverish pace, or they'll see a lot of brake lights in front of them in continuously gridlocked traffic.

The dichotomy doesn't stop there, local business and transportation officials said. With logistics jobs representing the biggest growth market in the Inland area, billions could be spent building warehouses and bringing workers to the region, if local economists' predictions hold true.

A gathering in downtown Riverside on Tuesday was meant to offer solutions to deal with too many projects and too little funding, so residents can reap the benefits of jobs closer to home without sitting in traffic. But officials said more worries remain more than 15 years after they started stressing the Inland area needed major road and rail investments.

Read the full story here