SEPTEMBER 22, 2024
By Sunday, three large wildfires had burned 117,628 acres across Southern California, destroying 242 structures and damaging another 55—many of them homes. In the last two years, Southern California received more rainfall than normal, after several years of drought.
Read MoreSETPEMBER 22, 2024
Under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday, “paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California.The environmental nonprofit Oceana applauded Newsom for signing the bill and “safeguarding California’s coastline, marine life, and communities from single-use plastic grocery bags.”
Read MoreSEPTEMBER 20, 2024
Last week, as he signed a package of housing and homelessness bills into law, Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed a message: cities and counties are responsible for failing to get people off the street, despite all the money the state has given them to do so. He also gave an update on the $6.4 billion mental health and housing bond passed earlier this year.
Read MoreSEPTEMBER 12, 2024
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it's ready to begin enforcing the REAL ID requirement on May 7, 2025. Exactly how the phased enforcement approach would work if this rule goes into effect appears to be left to the discretion of individual agencies in coordination with DHS.
Read MoreSEPTEMBER 11, 2024
According to the recently released August 2024 Consumer Price Index (CPI), average airfare prices have ticked up 3.8% since July—the most substantial month-over-month increase in nearly two years. In a statement issued following the release of the CPI report, U.S. Travel Association said the Travel Price Index (TPI) is showing "positive signals" for travelers.
Read MoreAUGUST 27, 2024
Last week, at the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris was officially nominated as President Joe Biden’s successor. Having spent exactly half of his 56 years patiently climbing the political ladder, where will Newsom go after he completes the final 28 months of his governorship?
Read MoreAUGUST 22, 2024
The TSA announced that it expects its officers to screen more than 17 million people during what is expected to be the busiest Labor Day travel period on record. The peak Labor Day weekend travel day is projected to be August 30, when TSA agents expect to screen 2.86 million people.
Read MoreAUGUST 20, 2024
A new report by WalletHub determined—unsurprisingly—that California is one of the most fun states in country. Our Golden State was ranked second in the country, following Florida in first place. We scored highly for our large number of attractions, amusement parks, performing-arts establishments, music festivals, movie theaters, and fitness centers per capita.
Read MoreAUGUST 15, 2024
U.S. Travel is praising a recently-issued bipartisan letter that calls on the Biden Administration to establish a White House Task Force on global sporting events. With those major events on the horizon, U.S. Travel says it will be critical to build a coalition within the White House that’s focused on developing innovative solutions to smooth the traveler experience, prioritize safety, and bolster the nation's economy.
Read MoreAUGUST 14, 2024
In 2016, California enacted a sweeping series of minimum hikes, ensuring the lowest-wage workers would earn at least $15 an hour by 2022. But this year's Prop. 32 wasn’t met with the same fanfare as the last wage hike, and that’s because a lot has changed since 2016.
Read MoreAUGUST 12, 2024
According to new research from Collinson International, sports and music tourism are growing at unprecedented rates and are forecast to represent a $1.5 trillion industry by 2032. Of 8,537 surveyed travelers from 17 countries, more than four in five (83%) have flown to a sporting event, while 71% have boarded a flight for a concert in the past three years, or plan to in the next 12 months.
Read MoreAUGUST 12, 2024
Los Angeles’ portion of the Paris Games’ closing ceremony on Sunday night was a global trailer for what International Olympic Committee and local officials hope is a blockbuster hit in 2028. Dozens of LA 28, Los Angeles city, county, and state officials spent the Games shadowing Paris 2024 in preparation for the 2028 Games, which will have a $6.8 billion budget.
Read MoreAUGUST 12, 2024
California’s Senate Bill 610 seeks to repeal a decades-old wildfire mapping system that classifies state and local lands into "moderate," "high," and "very high" fire hazard severity zones—a process that rates areas based on their probability of burning, which in turn influences development patterns and building safety standards. Supporters say it would create a more consistent standard with one process for approval, while critics argue it threatens to fundamentally reshape the state's fire and housing policies and increase development in fire-prone areas.
Read MoreAUGUST 12, 2024
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom warned counties that he would redirect money if he did not see “demonstrable results” over removing homeless encampments, describing the homelessness crisis as the “biggest scar in the reputation” of California. Some mayors have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, while others argue strategies that move people from one neighborhood to the next don’t work.
Read MoreAUGUST 12, 2024
To better understand why people move to California, the research team at USA TODAY Homefront analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the State of California Department of Finance, and other state resources. California’s natural beauty, culture, cost of living, and threats of natural disasters are a few things being considered by those moving to the Golden State.
Read MoreAUGUST 8, 2024
As part of its ongoing commitment to responsible tourism, Visit Oceanside has proudly announced the launch of Kind Traveler’s Every Stay Gives Back community impact program—becoming the first destination partner in San Diego County to join the initiative. Through this partnership, a portion of every guest stay with participating lodging partners in Oceanside will support local charities dedicated to ocean conservation and healthy food systems in Oceanside and the Greater San Diego area.
Read MoreJULY 25, 2024
At the end of July, the California Supreme Court upheld voter-approved Prop 22, which allows Uber and other gig-work companies to treat their drivers and delivery workers as independent contractors instead of employees—providing them with some benefits but not full worker protections. According to the industry’s latest estimates, more than 1.4 million Californians are app-based gig workers for companies such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart.
Read MoreJULY 22, 2024
As of yesterday, most airlines were returning to nearly normal levels of service disruptions following last week’s worldwide technology outage that stranded tens of thousands of passengers and drew unwanted attention from the federal government. The exception was Delta Air Lines, that said it would take a few more days before the worst is behind them, as they were still trying to restore a vital crew-scheduling program.
Read MoreJULY 22, 2024
Venues for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are approaching the finish line. Los Angeles will host several events in its existing venues, including the Coliseum, convention center, LA Live, Exposition Park, Riviera Country Club, and Crypto Arena.
Read MoreJULY 16, 2024
In order to meet the needs of the seven million electric cars expected on its roads in less than seven years, California will have to build public charging stations at an unprecedented pace. A lot is needed to amp up the pace of new charging stations, including billions of dollars in investments, streamlined city and county permitting processes, major power grid upgrades, and accelerated efforts by utilities to connect chargers to the grid.
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