Under the hot sun, Phillip Perez, a 19-year-old temporary grocery clerk, roams the Westwood Ralphs parking lot looking for abandoned grocery carts. Wearing his personal attire under a bright orange safety vest, Perez comments about the uncertainty of his future at the supermarket. Read more...

A stunted national economy and improvements in labor productivity have kept California and national unemployment high, economic experts said. But many insist advancements in productivity will not have a long-term effect on the number of available jobs, and that future college graduates will find a friendly job market in California. Read more...

Youth voter turnout for the California recall election on Oct. 7 barely increased over turnout for last year’s gubernatorial election, but still remained lower than numbers set in the 2000 presidential election, according to two different exit polls. Read more...

The University of California posted performance data for its $2.1 billion private-equity portfolio online Thursday, becoming the latest public institution to disclose this sensitive data. The posting comes after months of legal wrangling and an appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, its highest legal body. Read more...

Walking into Muriel Chastanet’s Fine Jewelry is like stumbling into a pirate’s treasure trove. Muriel Chastanet has kept an atelier in Westwood for 40 years, and produces handmade jewelry using an ancient technique. Read more...

A “fresh start” is what author and nationally syndicated columnist Matthew Miller wants for politics in the United States. “We need to reframe the debate between political parties to build a better common purpose and eliminate the solutions gap,” he said in the UCLA Public Policy Building on Thursday. Read more...

The results of a UCLA study released Tuesday show that the number of admissions to drug treatment centers and programs increased significantly in four California counties during the first year following the implementation of Proposition 36. Read more...