Z Election Gazette 04 – Briefs

It was a tough year for Southern California homebuilders.

As 2019 started, builders found themselves stuck with the largest inventory of unsold residences since the Great Recession. Rising interest rates and economic anxieties cooled house hunting, making the builders’ big bets on higher-priced homes a poor choice. So for much of the year, builders were forced to discount slow-selling homes while retooling plans to create lower-priced product.

Two new rankings of the nation’s fastest-selling “master-planned communities” — neighborhoods carved from large parcels of undeveloped…

The Orange County Human Relations Commission will join the county Department of Education in presenting two public forums this month exploring the impact of hate-driven incidents among students, schools and their communities.

The first meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the department’s headquarters at 200 Kalmus Drive in Costa Mesa and will focus on discussions by parents and students on their experiences with hate on school campuses. Information gathered at the forum will then be used at a second meeting for teachers, counselors and school administrators scheduled for 8 a.m….

Emma Jenson, standing in front of over 200 Bernie Sanders supporters gathered in the parking lot of a Santa Ana office park, asked for a show of hands to see who had knocked on doors for the 2016 election.

Few had.

“Notice that my hand didn’t go up,” the San Clemente resident said. “But things are different now. This is what democracy looks like.”

The ostensible reason for the recent Sunday evening rally was the opening of Sanders’ Orange County campaign office. But Jenson’s remarks about how Democratic people power can beat Republican might resonated with the crowd for reasons…

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) – Asian shares were mostly higher on optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal as regional markets opened the new year’s first day of trading Thursday.

Australia’s S&P ASX 200 gained 0.3% in morning trading to 6,704.00, while South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.8% to 2,179.25. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.2% to 28,516.99, while the Shanghai Composite gained 1.5% to 3,095.00. Tokyo was still closed for the New Year’s holiday.

Regional market sentiment has been on an upswing after President Donald Trump…