The union representing West Coast dockworkers has revealed some 20,000 of its members have voted on a tentative contract agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), with early reporting suggesting the contract will be approved with 67% percent of the vote.

The CEO of US footwear and apparel giant VF Corp has praised the company’s early progress in its five-year plan to revamp its supply chain – a move aimed at accelerating speed-to-market and getting closer to its consumers.

First findings from research into how the purchasing practices of fashion buyers can have a knock-on impact on their suppliers suggests that while most buyers are paying their bills on time, some suppliers are incurring big costs on their orders.

Over 80 Bangladesh garment workers working at a factory supplying Japanese casual clothing brand Uniqlo have taken part in a hunger strike, claiming they are still due compensation after being fired in 2015.

Clothing helped drive sales at UK retailers in July, new figures show, exceeding expectations for minimal growth as the warmer weather helped entice shoppers into stores.

Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of a deal in which Paris will hold the 2024 Games, according to sources familiar with negotiations between the city and the International Olympic Committee.
An agreement between Los Angeles and the IOC comes less than a month after the IOC voted unanimously to award two Games in one year for the first time since 1921.
The agreement will be formally announced by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, city council president Herb Wesson, Los Angeles 2024 and U.S. Olympic Committee officials at 5 p.m. today at StubHub Center.
The deal will be approved by the IOC membership Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru.
Under the agreement, Paris will host the 2024 Games.
The IOC’s unanimous vote in Lausanne on July 11 that guaranteed Los Angeles and Paris the opportunity to host a third Olympic Games was characterized by IOC president Thomas Bach and Garcetti as a “golden opportunity” for both cities and an Olympic movement whose future has been jeopardized by a series of corruption, financial and doping scandals that have scared off potential bid cities, younger viewers and sponsors.
The 2028 Games will follow the same general plans as Los Angeles 2024 officials pitched the IOC for the 2024 Games: a privately funded Games relying on existing facilities and revolving around four sports parks — downtown, Long Beach, South Bay, the Valley — with UCLA hosting the Olympic Village.
More to come on this story …

At 12:50 p.m. Monday, Yu Darvish posted a selfie to his Twitter account. In the background was his locker in the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse. The clear implication was that Darvish was still under contract to the Rangers. Ten minutes later, he was not.

The Dodgers acquired Darvish, a four-time All-Star, for a package of three prospects headlined by Triple-A second baseman Willie Calhoun.

In separate deals the Dodgers also acquired two left-handed relievers, Tony Watson from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tony Cingrani from the Cincinnati Reds, without subtracting a player from their major league roster.

Darvish, 30, is a free agent at the end of this season. He is 6-9 with a 4.01 earned-run average this year, his sixth since jumping to the major leagues from Japan. Darvish is 52-39 with a 3.42 ERA in his career with Texas. He missed all of 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Darvish immediately provides the Dodgers with a right-handed complement to Clayton Kershaw, which has been missing since Zack Greinke left as a free agent after the 2015 season. In exchange, the Dodgers sent three minor leaguers — Calhoun, infielder Brendon Davis and A.J. Alexy — to the Rangers, who had heavy interest in several of the Dodgers’ top prospects.

In the end, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was able to hold onto the consensus best pitcher (Walker Buehler) and best hitter (outfielder Alex Verdugo) in the Dodgers’ system. The Rangers had scouted both in the last week.

Watson, 32, was 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 47 appearances out of the Pirates bullpen. He has 25 saves the last two seasons but will slot into a set-up role in Los Angeles. The Dodgers sent minor league infielder Oneil Cruz and pitcher Angel German to Pittsburgh to complete the trade.

Cingrani, 28, had a 5.40 ERA in 25 appearances out of the Reds bullpen. Cincinnati received outfielder Scott Van Slyke and minor league catcher Hendrik Clementina. He is also a free agent at the end of the season.

The day began with one left-handed reliever leaving the board when the Toronto Blue Jays traded Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros. Liriano was a member of the Blue Jays’ rotation, where he had a 5.88 ERA in 18 starts. His extreme splits — left-handers had a .615 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) against him, righties .880 — made him a better fit as a specialized reliever on the Astros’ deep pitching staff.

Just before noon, multiple reports indicated that a coveted starting pitcher had been traded. The Oakland A’s sent right-hander Sonny Gray to the New York Yankees for three minor league prospects. Gray, who is under team control for three more seasons, had a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts.

Some of the biggest names stayed put. The San Diego Padres held onto left-handed reliever Brad Hand. Zach Britton remained a Baltimore Oriole, and Justin Verlander remained a Detroit Tiger.

The ailing taxi industry in Orange County will limp along another year thanks to money cities will pay to support the watchdog agency that regulates it.

The meteoric rise of Uber and Lyft has decimated the number of taxicabs in Orange County so substantially that city managers are considering cuts to long-held safety reviews for taxis as the budget runs on empty.

The news is the latest warning that the death of the traditional taxi might be imminent if something doesn’t change soon. There are only 667 drivers registered with the Orange County Taxi Administration Program, down from 1,576 drivers four years ago. Meanwhile, Uber counted more than 8,000 drivers in the county in 2016.

Cab drivers blame their struggles, in part, on the very regulatory program that is threatened by their decline, saying its fees and restrictions have created an unlevel playing field that favors ride-hailing startups.

“It was unfair competition,” said Hossein Nabati, the former owner of A White & Yellow Cab, a Santa Ana taxi company that closed last year after three decades in service. His company, which gave 21,000 rides per week in 2013, was doing less than a quarter of that when it shuttered.

“Everything I have, I lost,” Nabati said. “I worked 40 years in America for this and have to close the doors.”

Cabs vs. Uber

While Uber and Lyft follow statewide rules, taxi companies in Orange County adhere to local standards they say are stricter – requiring cab drivers to take random drug tests, submit to regular vehicle inspections, buy expensive liability insurance and pay for multiple permits for the company, its vehicles and drivers

Nabati sued Uber in 2015 in federal court, contending the company has an unfair, government-created advantage that allows it to act as a “de-facto taxi” company without being regulated like one.

His attorneys blamed the state for choosing in 2013 to assume jurisdiction over ride-hailing companies rather than treating them like taxis. They blamed OCTAP, Anaheim and John Wayne Airport for creating rules they saw as unfriendly to cabs. And they said Uber continues to deliberately undercharge customers specifically with the intent to harm the cab industry.

In March, a federal judge decided Natabi could move forward with his lawsuit if he amended it so it doesn’t blame a state agency for Uber’s success and bolsters allegations of the ride-hailing company’s culpability. In essence, the order has shifted the case’s focus away from the question of what role government might have played in the downfall of the cab industry. Natabi has since filed an amended complaint.

Uber declined to comment on the case or this article, other than saying it has a $1 million insurance policy.

Leveling the field

Several local politicians have said they agree with cab drivers’ assertions that state rules are unfair, and a group of Orange County city managers has been meeting for over a year to brainstorm how to fix the problem.

One plan recently suggested by the Orange County City Managers Association is to reduce local regulations to only “essential services” required to ensure safety – a move that could simultaneously trim costs for taxis and the agency that oversees them.

It’s unclear what services might be cut in the name of cost savings.

State law requires drivers have valid licenses and permits, occasionally be drug tested and follow city-set fare restrictions. But reducing to “essential services” could conceivably cause cuts to numerous, long-held safety reviews, including vehicle inspections, background checks on drivers, checkups on service standards, insurance requirements, and regular searches for DMV violations and unpaid judgments.

Every city and county is required to regulate taxi services. Prior to 1998, each city in Orange County regulated cabs on its own, creating an onerous patchwork of rules for the companies. OCTAP, operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority, was created to solve that problem. Yet, dwindling cab numbers and corresponding revenue shortfalls have caused the self-funded program to spend $638,000 in reserves over the past three years just to stay operational. Those reserves are now exhausted.

In order to continue regulating taxis and adhere to state law, Orange County cities were left with three options: Chip in extra to subsidize the program, raise fees even higher for cabs or go back to enforcing their own local regulations. The latter two choices likely would further burden the struggling industry, so city managers voted to pay to keep the local taxi safety program operational through mid-2018.

Cities voted in May to pay $166,000, or between $312 and nearly $19,000 depending on population, to temporarily prop up OCTAP rather than see it crumble.

But that’s just a stop-gap solution to a long-term problem.

Huntington Beach city manager Fred Wilson, who serves as Orange County City Managers Association president, said he didn’t think the cities should have to pay extra to essentially subsidize a private industry and advocated for lobbying state lawmakers to make regulations more equitable.

“We believe Sacramento has to level the playing field and treat taxis as they do the (ride-hailing companies),” Wilson said.
A bill that would have increased parity between cab and ride-hailing companies – by centralizing control over taxis at the state level and prohibiting local governments from controlling taxi rates – passed the legislature in August, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the measure.

Too little, too late?

Vijay Gurbaxani, a UC Irvine business professor, blamed the declined on taxis in part on cab companies, saying the industry was not meeting consumer needs. But he said taxis still provide a valuable service for people who don’t have smartphones or credit cards, and blamed government regulators for helping kill the cab by giving Uber and Lyft more lenient regulations.

“We give startups an unfair leg up and then others can’t compete. The same is true here,” Gurbaxani said. “They get away with less enforcement and fewer regulations. They had an unfair advantage for many years. Uber was very aggressive about ignoring local regulations and then rallying consumers when cities came down on them.”

The success of Uber and Lyft hasn’t harmed all taxi operators equally. Yellow Cab of Greater Orange County, started in 1945 in Anaheim, has been motivated by the new competition to launch its own app and solidify its customer base. The company has increased its number of drivers by 40 percent since Uber launched, according to company president Larry Slagle.

“We’ve been more aggressive, done more corporate contacts and do work other than casual calls,” Slagle said. “We’ve set up stands at hotels and set up contracts with companies to give regular transportation… Having Uber and Lyft is more complications and is making us provide better service and be more aware of customers concerns.”

But Slagle also echoed accusations in Natabi’s lawsuit, suggesting Uber is undercharging for their service in a deliberate attempt to drive competitors out of business, with the intention of raising its prices once it has done so.

Natabi, the out-of-work cab driver who once oversaw a fleet of 350 vehicles, said he doesn’t have much faith lawmakers will fix the problem.
“Taxi companies aren’t going to be able to come back,” Nabati said. “The competition is unfair.”

As for Nabati’s former drivers? Some bought their cars and are now driving for Uber.

DANA POINT  A local family out for a three-quarter day of fishing Sunday, July 30 had some reel fun and the time of their lives.

The group of 10 were aboard the San Mateo, a private fishing charter from Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching looking for yellow fin and dorado about 18 miles out from Dana Point harbor when a 500-pound mako shark took the line.

“The shark swam by the side of the boat and took the live mackerel bait,” said Capt. Bo Daniel. “It took off screaming and crashed around in front of the boat. Then it started jumping right next to the boat. My deckhand, Steve LaSange, was splashed like he was at SeaWorld with Shamu.”

LaSange held on to the rod and let Ron Smith and his family take turns holding the rod.

“It was just insane,” Smith, 52, of Capistrano Beach said. “It was live-action Shark Week.”

“I was tugging on it and in my peripheral vision I saw a giant fish jump out on the other side of the boat,” Smith said. “I didn’t realize how fast they move from the front to the back of the boat. It was incredible seeing it in the air, upside down and twisting.”

After about 30 minutes, the shark cut the line with its tail and swam off, Daniel, 36, of San Clemente said.

“I had planned to release him anyway,” Daniel said “But he ended up saving himself.”

Though it’s legal to catch mako sharks, Daniel and other fishermen from Dana Wharf don’t target them but catch them sometimes to give their fishing clients a chance to see what holding a big fish like this is like. After the hook the sharks are released.

“Mako’s are definite apex predators, they’re right up there with a great white,” he said. “They’re one of the fastest fish in the ocean and can swim up to 60 miles-per-hour.”

While hooking a mako isn’t entirely uncommon, Daniel said it was the proximity to shore that made it super unusual.

“Having it this up close was amazing.” he said. “Two feet closer it would have been dangerous.”

For Smith, the experience was unique in many ways. While he said he would have loved to land the shark, he recognized that something that large could have damaged the boat significantly.

“I think karma balances out,” the local landscaper said. ” We left the creature at sea to do his job at the top of the food chain.”

And at the top of food chain was where Daniel saw a mako shark in June.

He was out on a fishing trip and spotted a mako with a freshly caught 250-pound opah.

“We stole the fish from the shark and pulled it out of the water,” he said. “Opahs are one of the prettiest fish in the ocean. They are really colorful.”

The Angels traded reliever David Hernandez to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a minor league pitcher on Monday, completing the deal minutes before the 1 p.m. PT deadline.

Luis Madero, a 20-year-old right-hander who has not yet pitched in a full season league, is coming back to the Angels. He was not listed among Arizona’s top 30 prospects by MLB.com.

Bud Norris and Yusmeiro Petit, the other Angels relievers who are on expiring contracts the season, were still with the club as the deadline passed.

The Angels got four months and a prospect out of Hernandez after acquiring him in April for cash from the Atlanta Braves. The Angels picked him up to fortify their injury-ravaged bullpen, and he enjoyed a career revival.

Hernandez, 32, posted a 2.23 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with the Angels. He allowed 29 hits, and had 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

A veteran of parts of eight big league seasons, Hernandez spent most of his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, including briefly closing for them in 2011.

Madero has a career 4.13 ERA in 233 minor league innings over four seasons, including 35 starts in 49 games.

He began this season in the rookie-level Pioneer League and then moved up to the short-season-A Northwest League. He had a 3.99 ERA in the Pioneer League and an 8.24 ERA in the Northwest League.

A native of Venezuela, Madero is listed at 6-3, 175 pounds.