The former governor is set to inaugurate an academic institute at USC, where bipartisan solutions on the environment, economy and political reform will be studied.SACRAMENTO — He's gone from movie star to governor and back again, and now Arnold Schwarzenegger has a message for politicians in Sacramento and Washington: Both capitals could learn a thing or two from Hollywood.

California economists say the presidential candidates have provided few specifics about how to fix the nation's economy. And that's depressing and disturbing.If you weren't already hopelessly cynical about American politics, here's the perfect chance for you to wake up, slowpoke. The presidential campaign is running full bore, meaning there is virtually no chance of hearing constructive conversati...

Unlike much of the state, Bakersfield is adding residents and jobs while attracting companies. But the economy has not fully recovered, and the city is hindered by a variety of weaknesses.BAKERSFIELD — This mid-size city has become the surprise star of the Central Valley.

Capitol's number crunchers wonder if proposed $200 million in subsidies could be used better elsewhere.SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Jerry Brown mulls whether to sign into law another round of subsidies for Hollywood production companies, the question that confronts him is how much each job on a movie set is worth to taxpayers.

Local governments' fiscal crises have many contributing factors, but the systemic issues go way beyond a bad economy, pension liabilities and corruption.SACRAMENTO—San Bernardino, Stockton and Mammoth Lakes all screwed up and became bankrupt. But the rest of us shouldn't get sanctimonious.

Politics, labor and the stalled economy are among factors cited for city's woes.Cash was so tight in San Bernardino that potholes went unfilled, burned-out streetlights were left untouched and ball fields languished unmowed.

President Obama's announcement that deportations of those who came to the U.S. as children would end raises hopes, but some see it as an election-year ploy.For Julio Salgado and many others, the limbo of being an illegal immigrant — the fear of deportation, the hiding in plain sight, the uncertainties of the underground economy — appeared to vanish abruptly Friday.

Students and graduates from several Southland campuses talk of their loans and how paying them off figures into their plans. For some, the path seems secure; for others, uncertainty is the only certainty.College graduation is typically a time to tally accomplishments and to look ahead. But for many graduates, it is also a time to tally student loans and figure out how to repay them.

The state will benefit from the slower but still-healthy growth rate of about 1% annually, a USC report says. The decline will mainly stem from a sharp drop in immigration to California.California's population will grow more slowly in the next few decades than it has in the past — and that is good for the state's still-struggling economy, according to a new USC report.

The most important words for politicians may be the handful they use on the ballot to describe their day jobs. Court fights have erupted over whether a city attorney could use 'prosecutor' and a lawmaker could avoid acknowledging she's in the Legislature.SACRAMENTO — Politicians utter thousands of words — in speeches, debates, advertisements — but the most important may be the ha...

A city initiative had helped to reduce the numbers and clean up the sidewalks, but the weak economy and other factors have reversed the trend.As evening falls, a dazed woman with a gangrenous thumb spreads a blanket over a row of plastic crates to make a bed on the urine-soaked sidewalk.

Employers add 4,000 payroll jobs in February but the state's unemployment rate remains at 10.9%.California is adding more high-paying jobs in affluent coastal areas, but the government and construction sectors remain big drags on the economy as communities inland continue to struggle.

Labor group spent $6.5 million, part of a $286.6-million effort by lobbyists to court legislators. The economy and a new Democratic governor after seven years of a business-friendly Republican are key factors. State Assemblyman Warren Furutani looked out over a sea of red — protesting oil industry workers wearing scarlet T-shirts — and saw trouble for his plan to raise $2.5 billion for...

Difficulties are shaping their decisions about careers, schooling, marriage and parenthood.As the nation climbs slowly out of the Great Recession, young adults appear to be having the toughest time of any age group gaining a foothold in the recovering economy. Those difficulties, in turn, are shaping their decisions about careers, schooling, marriage and parenthood, according to a new report. ...

Unlike other big city airports in the nation, L.A. International hasn't seen foreign flights surpass pre-recession numbers. Among factors cited are the economy, changing travel patterns and the Japanese quake.Los Angeles International Airport is lagging well behind other big city U.S. airports in the contest to attract highly prized foreign travelers after a steep dip in international trips tied t...

The dispute centered on a risky method of extraction. California's governor has sued oil companies throughout his career, but he now talks of tossing cumbersome regulations to revive the economy.Late last year, Gov. Jerry Brown pushed for a top state regulator to ease key requirements for companies seeking to tap California's oil. The official balked.

At a time when government officials from San Diego to Santa Cruz are eager to tap much-needed revenue by considering logos on almost everything, the sluggish economy has taken the sparkle out of the seashore.This place used to sell itself.

There were thousands fewer crimes reported in 2011 than 2010 in areas the LAPD and Sheriff's Department patrol. The trend puzzles some but reinforces a common police view that other factors are at play.Even since the economy began stalling several years ago, there have been dire warnings that crime would rise.

For seniors who arrived in the Sierra Nevada foothills with retirement plans and enough money to buy homes, a dreary economy has turned everything upside-down. Now many are scraping by on a fixed income, a tough task in a place so isolated.It was a dream to retire here — in a quaint little town atop a hillside, among the pines and the quail and the Main Street shops. When Kate Hamon arrived ...

Many are sold for far less than they originally cost. Some are abandoned to fend for themselves.Black as night and 18 hands high, Clemente trotted up and down the pen as the auctioneer at Mike's Livestock rattled off bids machine-gun style.

More people are moving out of the state than are moving in. It's the economy, of course, especially housing costs.For a clue to why California is losing its allure as a place to settle down, just ask Jennifer McCluer, who moved out of California in 2007 after she obtained her license in skin care.

Tax advocates point to recent elections and surveys that suggest voters are receptive to tax hikes for education and programs they deem worthwhile.As various California power players develop an array of tax initiatives to propose for next year's ballot, they are reading the political tea leaves, hoping to discern how receptive voters might be in a sluggish economy.

The nonpartisan report says the closure of San Onofre and Diablo Canyon would disrupt one of the state's most reliable power sources and have profound effects on the economy. Sponsor Ben Davis Jr. needs 504,760 signatures to qualify the Nuclear Waste Act of 2012 for the ballot.A state ballot initiative proposed for next fall would force California's two nuclear power plants to immediately shut dow...

Even in tough economic times, 64% in a USC Dornsife/L.A. Times Poll say they would shell out more for taxes to boost public-school funding.A strong majority of California voters is willing to pay higher taxes to boost funding for public schools even in a grim economy, a new poll has found.

At least five will retire soon. Filling the raft of vacancies will be a challenge in the new fiscal era.San Francisco State President Robert Corrigan decided this summer that at 76, he could not outlast a battered state economy that has forced deep cuts in programs and faculty at his and other Cal State campuses.

Obama administration representatives hear from people upset about the region's grim economy and the failure to change the U.S. immigration system.Obama administration officials ventured to the Inland Empire on Saturday for a policy summit with Latinos, getting an earful from residents stung by the region's flattened economy and critical of Washington's failure to reform the nation's immigration sy...

The production was set to open in early 2012 before transferring to Broadway. The weak economy has made it difficult to raise money for the show, lead producer Bob Boyett said.The revival of the musical "Funny Girl" that was set to open in early 2012 at the Ahmanson Theatre before transferring to Broadway in April has been put on indefinite hold, organizers announced late Thursday.

The strike, planned for Wednesday, has gained nationwide support from activists and philosophical backing of labor unions. But city business leaders fear the city's strained economy could suffer further.Reporting from San Francisco -- The revived Occupy Oakland movement has called for a citywide general strike Wednesday that has garnered nationwide support from activists and the philosophical back...

Keeline Wilcox Nurseries, the nation's largest grower of Kentia palms, is closing next year, the victim of a wilted economy and lack of a successor in the family business that took root in 1919. Pity the poor potted palms.

Brown needs to unleash a public works blitz to create jobs and boost the economy.Don Perata remembers the mood and expectations when the Legislature passed a massive $37-billion public works program in 2006.