The Los Angeles Dodgers currently hold a narrow lead in the National League West over the San Francisco Giants, but many Dodgers fans can’t watch their favorite team play because Time Warner Cable hates everyone who doesn’t have Time Warner Cable and has been unwilling to share the SportsNet LA network it co-owns with the team. That is until today, when Charter and its well-heeled backers lobbed $55 billion their way. [More]
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A Few More Dodgers Fans Will Finally Get To Watch Them On TV Thanks To Charter/TWC Merger
By 5.26.15
L.A. City Council Votes To Raise Minimum Wage To $15/Hour By 2020
By 5.19.15
At $9/hour, the current minimum wage in Los Angeles is already well above the $7.25/hour federal minimum. But today the L.A. City Council voted for a plan that will increase that wage to $15/hour by 2020. [More]
Class Action Suit Filed In California Over Wells Fargo’s Alleged Customer Account Abuses
By 5.14.15
A lawsuit filed earlier this month by the city of Los Angeles accuses Wells Fargo of pushing employees to engage in fraudulent conduct with regard to consumer accounts in order to meet the bank’s sales quotas. Now, one of those customers has filed his own lawsuit against the San Francisco-based bank alleging the same misconduct deceived and defrauded consumers across the country. [More]
Los Angeles Sues Wells Fargo Over Unfair Customer Account Conduct
By 5.5.15 — Updated: 9.30.16
The City of Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against the largest bank based in the state, accusing Wells Fargo of a plethora of unfair practices including encouraging employees to open unauthorized consumer accounts and then charging those accounts phony fees. [More]
Uber Expands Food Delivery Service UberEATS To Chicago, New York City
By 4.28.15
Since opening for business, ride-sharing company Uber hasn’t been content with simply giving customers rides from point A to point B. After dabbling in all kinds of pilot programs including on-demand drop-offs of everyday essentials and courier services, the company seems to have found a second niche: food delivery. And so, Uber plans to expand UberEATS to Chicago and New York this week.
Alaska Airlines Flight Forced To Make Emergency Landing After Employee Fell Asleep In Cargo Hold
By 4.14.15
In the last year, a number of people have attempted – sometimes successfully – to stow away in different areas of airplanes to catch a free ride. On Monday, a ramp agent for Alaska Airlines inadvertently became a stowaway when he fell asleep in the plane’s cargo hold, causing the plane to initiate an emergency landing after just 14 minutes in the air. [More]
Time Warner Cable Hates Dodgers Fans, Tells Them To Switch To Cable Companies They Can’t Get
By 3.31.15
Baseball season is only days away, and the L.A. Dodgers are fresh off a 94-win division title season. Yet a large number of Dodgers fans can’t watch the games on TV because the cable sports channel owned by the team and Time Warner Cable has yet to reach deals that would let other pay-TV operators in the region carry the station. And TWC’s answer to these fans is mind-bogglingly idiotic. [More]
Shuttered Restaurant Lashes Out At Former “Incompetent” Staff In Yelp Farewell
By 2.26.15
Yelp is usually a place for restaurant diners to vent about bad service and food — and occasionally for restaurants to start ill-advised social media wars with those who complain. But it’s rarely the place for a restaurant to publicly point the finger at its own employees. [More]
New MLB Commissioner Won’t Do Anything To Get Dodgers Back On L.A. TV
By 2.13.15
With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training in the coming week, and the start of the 2015 Major League Baseball season fewer than eight weeks away, the overwhelming majority of Dodgers fans in Los Angeles are still unable to watch their hometown team on TV. And even though now-former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had said during his final months that the league would do “everything we can to break the impasse,” those words now ring hollow as Selig’s replacement has confirmed he wants nothing to do with getting baseball back on TV in L.A. [More]
Los Angeles Mulling Idea Of Uber-Like App To Make Taxi Industry More Competitive
By 12.23.14
Two weeks after Los Angeles and San Francisco sued Uber for an array of issues, one of the cities is mulling the idea of making their own taxi system more like the ride-sharing service with a mobile app that would allow customers to hail and pay their fare with the press of a button. [More]
Appeals Court: Forcing Porn Stars To Wear Condoms Doesn’t Violate First Amendment
By 12.16.14
Even though many adults in non-monogamous relationships are using condoms, the porn industry has long held that using the prophylactic devices in sex scenes is a buzzkill. And in recent years porn auteurs have argued that laws mandating the use of condoms on XXX sets is a violation of the First Amendment. But yesterday, a federal appeals court said a rubber requirement isn’t enough to claim restriction of free expression. [More]
San Francisco, L.A. Sue Uber For Allegedly Misleading Consumers On Drivers’ Safety, Other Issues
By 12.10.14
After hearing several tales of consumers being mistreated or accosted by Uber drivers, one might begin to question the company’s “industry-leading” practices when it comes to screening drivers. It appears two California district attorneys are doing just that by filing a civil suit against the company for a number of issues including allegedly misleading consumers on its background checks for drivers. [More]
4.5 Years Later, Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty To Serving Whale Meat
By 11.18.14
Way back in March 2010, we brought you the story of The Hump, a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles charged with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act by serving the meat of the Sei Whale. The eatery has since closed, but the case against its owner has lingered, until yesterday, when he entered a guilty plea in federal court. [More]
Man Says Delta Airlines Lost His Dog At LAX
By 11.10.14
Over the years we’ve told you about several instances in which consumers’ pets have been lost or escaped while in the care of an airline. Sadly some of those stories end tragically, but here’s to hoping the most recent issue involving a missing bull terrier in Los Angeles ends on a happy note. [More]
Café Reduces Waste, Serves Espresso Drinks In Ice Cream Cones
By 9.16.14
If you went out for your morning coffee today, whether you paid for it or got a freebie from McDonald’s, did you think to yourself, “this disposable paper cup is nice, but it’s so wasteful”? That is probably a common thought, but other than re-using a mug, what can you do about it? One cafe owner is blazing a path forward…with chocolate-dipped ice cream cones. [More]
Dodgers Fans In L.A. May Get To Watch Team On TV This Season
By 9.15.14
It’s no secret that Time Warner Cable hates Dodgers fans. If they liked them, the cable company would figure out a way that more than 30% of people in L.A. could actually watch the games on TV. But with the team doing so well right now (and, more importantly, with regulators in D.C. asking questions about how the Dodgers disaster relates to the Comcast merger), TWC has decided that the final few games of the season will be available to anyone with an antenna. [More]
L.A. Warning Airbnb Hosts About Their Tax-Collecting Obligations
By 9.10.14
Subletting one’s home or renting out space on your own property has long been a way for some Los Angeles residents to earn some extra income without telling the taxman. And the rise of home-sharing services like Airbnb and VRBO has only encouraged more people to make money off their unused rooms. But the city of Los Angeles is now sending stern reminders to people who list properties on these sites that they have to pay taxes similar to those paid by hotel operators. [More]
This Starbucks Is Boring, Making Everyone Sad
By 8.13.14
You’ve heard of “Dumb Starbucks,” but what about the Ugly Starbucks? A former burger stand has re-opened as a Starbucks, and residents are not happy. There’s no seating outside, they complain there isn’t enough parking, and the exterior is uninspired and hideous. [More]
