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The news guy in me was humming last week when both the state funeral for President Jimmy Carter, the sentencing on the absurd bookkeeping charges of president-elect Donald Trump that was dwarfed by the firestorm in Los Angeles.
It will be interesting to see if the aftermath of the tragic firestorm and the mismanagement (to be extraordinarily charitable) results in any political changes in this deep blue state. Trump ran better in 2024, particularly with ethnic groups, but the Democrats control everything. Will the party be held accountable?
For instance, LA Mayor Karen Bass has been roundly criticized for cutting the fire department budget by 2% (she debates this) and the fire chief called out the staffing shortage (almost 50% below comparable departments). Left unsaid was the payoff to the firefighters’ union in the form of a four-year, $203 million contract.
Observing retailers trying to adjust to the brave new world of Amazon and other delivery services in the post-pandemic world is fascinating.
Entire chains—Best Buy and specialty retailers (particularly those mall-based) are adjusting and downsizing or have gone out of business. Macys fits into the latter category. It announced last week that it’s closing its Newpark (Newark) and Corte Madera sites. It’s iconic San Francisco flagship on Union Square remains on the market and will close when it’s sold.
Putting Stoneridge Shopping Center in this prism is interesting. Macys and JCPenney remain the only major department stores there and Penney was bailed out of bankruptcy by Simon Co. and another major shopping center owner. What’s intriguing is that Nordstrom shuttered its Pleasanton store, keeping its Walnut Creek and Newpark sites open. Last year, Nordstrom closed its San Francisco Center site when its lease was up.
Presumably, all of this is based on sales and the demographics of the buyers. Macys has sites in highly trafficked Broadway Plaza in downtown Walnut Creek as well as its Sun Valley mall store in Concord, Macys earlier closed its San Leandro store at Bayfair—it has opened in 1957. With the closures, Macy’s shoppers along the I-880 corridor can go online or visit stores in Pleasanton, Walnut Creek or the South Bay.
JCPenney also is involved in a merger that brings it into a new company, Catalyst Brands, which includes Aeropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica. All are mall-based brands so presumably there’s synergy there as malls struggle to find their footing.
Kohl’s joined that crew by announcing 27 stores will close by April, including the Pleasanton site on Rosewood Drive (the center with Walmart). That will be the second big vacancy there because Party City is scheduled to close by the end of February. The only other Tri-Valley location is in East Livermore at First St. and I-580.
“…sentencing on the absurd bookkeeping charges of president-elect Donald Trump…”
He was guilty on all 34 charges as a felon.
Vindication of the Innocent – Devine intervention:
The vindication of the innocent is a recurring theme throughout the Bible, reflecting God’s justice and righteousness in defending those wrongly accused or opposed.
This theme underscores the belief that God is a just judge who ultimately upholds the cause of the innocent and brings justice to those who suffer unjustly.
“…sentencing on the absurd bookkeeping charges of president-elect Donald Trump…”
I looked into these charges and they appeared quite unusual – I was unable to find any other person or corp charged like this. It almost appears to be lawfare, but I could be wrong. Could this be election interference? I guess not as I think he was recently elected to a reasonably high office. Mike – what are your news sources?