Newsletter: California Inc.: Ideas wanted for regulating medical weed
Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business section.
I’m Business columnist David Lazarus, and here’s a rundown of upcoming stories this week and the highlights of last week.
Drug companies aren’t the only ones reaching deeper into customers’ pockets. Two years after Disneyland discontinued an annual pass for SoCal residents, the theme park is bringing the pass back — with a price increase. Disneyland officials suspended new sales of the Southern California Annual Passport in 2014, in part to help address surging attendance that led to long lines and frustration, especially on Sundays. Apparently those issues have been resolved. The pass previously sold for $359. The new pass will run you $459.
LOOKING AHEAD
Presidential debate: Economic issues will be one of the central themes when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face off Monday in the first of three presidential debates. Lester Holt, the NBC anchor who is moderating the debate, will ask the candidates about three topics: “achieving prosperity,” “securing America” and “America’s direction.” Additional topics could be included based on news developments, according to the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. The debate begins at 6 p.m. PDT at Hofstra University in New York.
The way of weed: California health officials will be soliciting the public’s opinion on state regulation of medical marijuana during public meetings this week and next. The meetings are an outgrowth of a 2015 law that created the Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation to dictate how cannabis is grown and sold in the state, and to set fees and licensing standards for marijuana-related businesses. Meetings will be held Monday in Oakland, Tuesday in Fresno, on Oct. 4 in Los Angeles and on Oct. 5 in San Diego.
Colonizing Mars: On Tuesday, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk is scheduled to give a speech that will describe his company’s plans to build infrastructure for an eventual human colony on Mars. Musk will talk about “Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species” at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico. Hawthorne-based SpaceX has said it will send a Dragon 2 spacecraft to Mars as early as 2018. That mission is intended to demonstrate a way to land large payloads on Mars without parachutes or other aerodynamic decelerators.
Stumpf redux: Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will be on the hot seat again when he appears Thursday before the House Financial Services Committee to discuss revelations that thousands of that bank’s workers opened as many as 2 million accounts for customers without their knowledge. Last week, Stumpf was told during an incendiary Senate hearing that he should resign and face a criminal inquiry. Wells Fargo on Sept. 8 agreed to pay $185 million to settle a lawsuit from the Los Angeles city attorney’s office and to end investigations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and another federal bank regulator. House committee members are also expected to grill regulators on their response to the scandal.
Gamers gather: Twitch, a 4-year-old website popular among video gamers, will hold its annual fan convention in Southern California for the first time. TwitchCon, which is set to run Friday through Sunday at the San Diego Convention Center, features numerous panels with gaming experts, exhibitions of new games and competitions. For the first time, the convention will also have an “Industry Track” of events aimed at those who work in the video game business. Twitch is owned by Amazon.com, which bought the company in late 2014.
THE AGENDA
Monday’s Business section notes that with the impending arrival of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Tesla Model 3, affordable long-range battery electric vehicles are an option for increasing numbers of American drivers. But most prospective owners are confused about how they’ll charge their electric vehicles, and where, and how long it will take, and how much range they’ll need, and how much the electricity is going to cost them. Their confusion is about more than a lack of familiarity with new technology.
STORYLINES
Here are some of the other stories that ran in the Times Business section in recent days that we’re continuing to follow:
Bank scandal: Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf has resigned from a Federal Reserve advisory panel, the latest fallout from the banking giant’s fake-accounts scandal. Stumpf’s move came after five senators called for him not to be reappointed to the Federal Advisory Council, a 12-member body that meets four times a year. Meanwhile, the unwanted accounts have already forced the bank to provide about 100,000 customers with refunds averaging $25 for fees and other expenses.
No rate hike: Federal Reserve policymakers held off on an interest rate hike with a rare level of dissent amid some lackluster economic data and the political uncertainty posed by the presidential election. The 7-3 vote to hold the benchmark federal funds rate steady at between 0.25% and 0.5% showed growing divisions within the Federal Open Market Committee about the economy. But the official statement after the Fed’s meeting indicated that a small interest rate hike is coming later this year.
Data breach: Yahoo suffered a data breach in 2014 that affected at least 500 million user accounts, the company announced. The Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet firm said the hacker is believed to be a “state-sponsored actor” and may have gained access to user information such as names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, scrambled passwords, and some encrypted and unencrypted security questions and answers.
Driverless cars: To fast-track to a future where cars drive themselves, the freewheeling tech world and the historically buttoned-up auto industry joined forces to develop autonomous vehicles. Now the federal government is joining the party. The Department of Transportation marked a milestone when it issued far-reaching — yet flexible — guidelines that pave the way for self-driving cars to hit the roads without much red tape.
Viacom turmoil: Management upheaval continues at media company Viacom Inc., as its interim chief executive, Thomas Dooley, is leaving the company and a proposed sale of a piece of Hollywood movie studio Paramount Pictures is being abandoned. The moves follow last month’s ouster of longtime chief executive Philippe Dauman as part of a settlement with Sumner Redstone and his daughter, Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholders of the media company.
WHAT WE’RE READING
And some recent stories from other publications that caught our eye:
Not so smart: The New York Times says Americans aren’t getting any smarter about money since the Great Recession. A survey of financial literacy finds that “misplaced self-confidence is putting millions of people at risk.”
Hear hear: As Fast Company tells it, San Francisco’s Doppler Labs cares about what you hear. The company’s ear buds “will also be capable of remixing your world’s audio in a variety of subtle and sophisticated ways, muting specific sounds … and using cues such as your location to suggest appropriate filter settings.”
Bad taste: Bloomberg explores how Hampton Creek sold Silicon Valley on a fake-mayo miracle. “In August the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department launched probes of Hampton Creek for possible securities violations and criminal fraud.”
A healthier tomorrow: Quartz looks at a commitment from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to spend $3 billion curing disease. “By investing in science today,” Chan said, “we hope to build a future in which all of our children can live long and rewarding lives.”
You look marvelous: Call it the anti-troll. The Atlantic tells of a Connecticut service that posts anonymous compliments to residents of a small Connecticut town. “But for Facebook, anonymity is a big no-no.” And that means trouble.
SPARE CHANGE
Speaking of the lost art of positive reinforcement, what’s the best compliment ever given in the movies? I’ve always thought it was especially sweet in “The Graduate” when Benjamin says to Mrs. Robinson that “you’re the most attractive of all my parents’ friends.” There’s also that nice scene from “As Good As It Gets.” But if there’s any one line I wish I’d delivered, it would be this one from “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”
For the latest money news, go to www.latimes.com/business. Until next time, I’ll see you in the Business section.
David Lazarus also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
