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Tag: repair

  • How This Mechanic Built an Auto Repair Powerhouse

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    Matt Ebert entered the auto repair industry by accident—literally.

    “I wrecked my car when I was 16,” he says, recalling his youth in small-town central Illinois. Not wanting to lose his insurance, Ebert adds, he needed to fix the car himself—and living in a small town meant he knew pretty much everyone in the area. “There was a gentleman that was an auto body guy that fixed cars at his house at night as well, so I asked him to show me how to fix my car.”

    Thus began a long journey through the automotive world that, these days, finds Ebert at the head of Crash Champions, an auto repair chain with a reported $2.7 billion in annualized revenue and around 650 locations. (The company’s home office is still in Illinois, in the Chicago suburb of Westmont.)

    “I’ve had to learn from mentors; I’ve had to learn from mistakes; I’ve had to learn through reading constantly,” the Crash Champions chief executive says of his career. “If I don’t grow, then the business will be bottlenecked by me. … The company, for example, today, is a $3 billion company. It’ll be a $5 billion company as soon as I’m ready to run one.”

    He adds: “I’ve always looked at things as, it is my job to get myself more capable, more advanced and more ready.”

    But the path to where he is now was a circuitous one. After his teenage car crash, the local mechanic started teaching Ebert how to fix cars, then gave him a job after he graduated high school in 1990. But opening his own auto body shop didn’t seem realistic at the time, so—eager to be an entrepreneur one way or another—Ebert instead became a Subway franchisee.

    But that was a hard business to make money in, he adds—so soon enough, he got another body shop job. By 1999, he and a partner had co-founded their own outfit in New Lenox, Illinois.

    “I remember parking my friends’ and my own cars in the front parking lot to make it look like we had some business going on,” he says. “It starts with just trying to make a living and pay the bills.”

    Ebert spent the next 15 years studying and learning the business—then called New Lenox Auto Body—so that by the time his partner was ready to cash out in 2014, he could hit the ground running and quickly scale up. Within a year of buying out his co-founder’s stake, the company had four locations, Ebert says—scale being a necessity to keep up with more consolidated competitors.

    Hoping to extend his reach beyond Illinois, Ebert started thinking about bringing private equity partners on board to “grow it beyond just a regional player.” A deal came together in summer 2019, at which time the chain, by then rebranded as Crash Champions, had eight locations. The influx of new capital then allowed Ebert to roll up another 23 shops in Southern California, plus three more in Columbus, Ohio.

    When the pandemic first sent everyone home, Ebert saw his revenue cut in half, he says—but the crisis also offered opportunity.

    “It kind of accelerated the shift of more and more work going to direct repair partners of the insurers and bigger national companies,” Ebert says. “That dynamic led to [us] adjusting our thinking to, ‘If we want to meet the business where it’s at and where it’s going to be, we really need to think about creating a national footprint as fast as possible.’ So during COVID, we seized the opportunity to go. When others might have been scared or hesitant to act, we acted quickly and used it as our point in time to grow.”

    Beyond just aggressive M&A, the CEO attributes his success to a few different strategies. Hire people smarter than you are, he recommends; prioritize company culture, since that’s how you keep talented people; and stop waiting for the perfect moment to do what you need to do.

    “You have to take action, not wait for everything to be perfect,” he explains. “You want to get it perfect over time, but it’s a little bit of: ‘Start moving and don’t be paralyzed.’”

    He’s also implemented a policy of transparency at work, under which he shares things like the company’s revenue and profits with his team. Asking people to perform well without knowing those details, he says, is like trying to win a basketball game when you can’t see the scoreboard.

    He also swears by the importance of process when it comes to running a company as large as his.

    “At scale, you just can’t find 100 percent rock stars,” he explains. “It doesn’t exist. So you’re going to … maybe get 30 percent rock stars, but it’s the processes and procedures that get the rest of the 70 percent of non-rock stars doing the right things at the right time.”

    When you’re running a conglomerate with hundreds of locations around the country, that sort of delegation is a must.

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    Brian Contreras

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  • I Street Bridge set to close for nearly two weeks for maintenance

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    One of the bridges commuters use between Sacramento and West Sacramento will shut down over several days for maintenance.The I Street Bridge, built in 1911, will close beginning at 6 a.m. on Oct. 6 for Union Pacific Railroad to complete repairs to the exterior siding of a building on the bridge. All travel across the bridge will be paused during the repair period, including drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.”I’m wondering, like, how am I going to get to downtown? How am I going to get into that area? Because that’s where everything is. Everything’s popping in that area. So it’s going to be tricky,” said Oskar Castaneda, a West Sacramento resident.The primary alternate route during the closure will be the Tower Bridge. For drivers traveling on I Street from Sacramento to West Sacramento, turn left on 3rd Street and then take a right on Capitol Mall. For drivers traveling from West Sacramento to Sacramento, take 5th or 3rd streets up to Cabaldon Parkway and turn left to get onto the Tower Bridge. Highway 50 is also an alternate route, but there is construction along that stretch that could contribute to slower traffic.Commuters are being encouraged to plan ahead.”That means I gotta wake up 10-20 minutes earlier. That’s not good,” said Michael Wilson, a Sacramento resident expressing his frustrations about the closure. The closure is expected to last through 6 a.m. on Oct. 16.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

    One of the bridges commuters use between Sacramento and West Sacramento will shut down over several days for maintenance.

    The I Street Bridge, built in 1911, will close beginning at 6 a.m. on Oct. 6 for Union Pacific Railroad to complete repairs to the exterior siding of a building on the bridge.

    All travel across the bridge will be paused during the repair period, including drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

    “I’m wondering, like, how am I going to get to downtown? How am I going to get into that area? Because that’s where everything is. Everything’s popping in that area. So it’s going to be tricky,” said Oskar Castaneda, a West Sacramento resident.

    The primary alternate route during the closure will be the Tower Bridge. For drivers traveling on I Street from Sacramento to West Sacramento, turn left on 3rd Street and then take a right on Capitol Mall. For drivers traveling from West Sacramento to Sacramento, take 5th or 3rd streets up to Cabaldon Parkway and turn left to get onto the Tower Bridge.

    Highway 50 is also an alternate route, but there is construction along that stretch that could contribute to slower traffic.

    Commuters are being encouraged to plan ahead.

    “That means I gotta wake up 10-20 minutes earlier. That’s not good,” said Michael Wilson, a Sacramento resident expressing his frustrations about the closure.

    The closure is expected to last through 6 a.m. on Oct. 16.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Robertson Tunnel Closed, MAX Blue And Red Lines Disrupted – KXL

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    TriMet has closed the Robertson Tunnel for maintenance work until September 14th. Image courtesy TriMet.

    PORTLAND, OR – A weeklong disruption to TriMet’s MAX Blue and Red lines through the Robertson Tunnel is underway and expected to last through September 13th.  The tunnel closure is considered essential, as workers will focus on a part of the MAX system that has been in service for nearly 30 years.

    During the seven-day disruption, crews will complete two major projects. One will replace about a mile of the overhead wire used to power MAX trains, including the installation of a new wire tensioning system just west of the tunnel.  In addition, crews will replace about 700 feet of track between Washington Park and Goose Hollow, will replace some rail ties, and perform deep cleaning inside the tunnel.

    Shuttle buses will replace MAX service, arriving at stops from the Sunset Transit Center and the Providence Park MAX Station about every five minutes on weekdays and every seven minutes during next Saturday, September 13th.

    Some trips may take up to 45 minutes longer than usual, according to TriMet.  They encourage riders traveling to and from Portland International Airport to be aware of the extra travel time and to plan ahead.  In some cases, regularly scheduled bus service may offer a faster or more direct option than using a combination of trains and buses.  Riders can plan ahead for their trips at trimet.org/planner.

    For questions or help planning your trip, contact TriMet’s Customer Support Center at 503-238-RIDE (7433), available Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

    The Robertson Tunnel has been in use since 1998.  TriMet officials say it stretches three miles and contains the deepest transit station in North America, the Washington Park MAX Station, listed at 260 feet below the surface, the equivalent of the length of a football field.

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    Tim Lantz

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  • City buys Griffith Park carousel, where Disney dreamed up a theme park. It could reopen soon

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    The Griffith Park carousel — a “crown jewel” of the park, where Walt Disney first dreamed up Disneyland — is getting a new lease on life just in time for its 2026 centennial. The city of Los Angeles’ Recreation and Parks Commission inked a million-dollar deal to buy the historic amusement ride late last month.

    Beloved by Disney, who snapped up a similar historic wooden ride to serve as the King Arthur Carrousel at his Anaheim theme park, the Griffith Park merry-go-round took its last twirl in 2022.

    Its previous operator, Julio Gosdinski, died suddenly near the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the amusement in limbo just as COVID restrictions were starting to ease. It was reopened briefly in the spring of 2021 but was closed again a year later, in need of repairs and without a clear owner to make them.

    Gosdinski’s stake in the historic amusement remains tied up in Los Angeles County probate court, where Gosdinski’s mother and sister are vying with another owner for control, records show.

    After the parks commission agreement, the stable of hand-carved basswood and poplar horses will spin under city auspices, part of a broader restoration of the section of the park, which is slated to be completed ahead of the Olympic Games in 2028.

    The carousel is one of the oldest wooden merry-go-rounds in California, and one of just a handful designed by the famous Spillman Engineering Corp. and its predecessor that remain in operation in the state.

    Others are operated at the Pike in Long Beach, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Balboa Park in San Diego, and at Tilden Park in Berkeley, where Griffith Park’s original merry-go-round remains the state’s fastest wooden spinner.

    Visitors ride the Griffith Park merry-go-round, a favorite haunt of Walt Disney and his daughters, on Aug. 24, 1951.

    (USC /Corbis via Getty Images)

    The current merry-go-round was built in 1926 and relocated to Griffith Park in the depths of the Great Depression in 1937. Like others of its ilk and era, the carousel includes horses carved by the famous artist Charles Looff, creator of the Santa Monica Pier.

    “Walt Disney regularly frequented the Merry-Go-Round on Saturdays, watching his daughters ride around and daydreaming of one day creating his own theme park,” the city agreement said.

    But the amusement will require significant repairs before it can reopen, document show.

    Today, the merry-go-round cannot even be moved by hand.

    Still, L.A. could be getting the carousel for a song. It is among the dwindling number of four-across merry-go-rounds of its type still in existence, and still retains nearly all its original features, according to appraisals commissioned by the city.

    According to the department’s proposal, the sellers had higher offers but wanted the merry-go-round to keep twirling in its longtime home.

    No reopening date has been announced.

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    Sonja Sharp

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  • Ventura Pier reopens after a year-and-a-half closure caused by storm damage

    Ventura Pier reopens after a year-and-a-half closure caused by storm damage

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    Ventura’s famous pier reopened Saturday after massive waves damaged the landmark last year.

    Social media posts and news video footage showed people striding onto the pier early Saturday, carrying fishing poles, coolers and folding chairs. The pier — the oldest in California — is a popular fishing and sight-seeing spot and draws tourists, families and lovebirds.

    “The Ventura Pier is open!” the city of Ventura announced on its X feed.

    High surf from a winter storm pummeled the boardwalk in January 2023. In December, another storm swept through, causing more damage to the pier’s piles and braces.

    Mary Joyce Ivers, deputy public works director in Ventura, told KTLA that the city had to replace 37 timber piles, which hold up the deck of the pier, as well as 100 pieces of hardware and cross-bracing and 3,000 square feet of deck board.

    “It’s such an important piece of our city,” Ivers told KTLA. “It’s such a great landmark and so many great things happen on this pier for families and our community.”

    The repairs cost at least $3.3 million, with the federal government and the state expected to pick up the tab, according to a city news release.

    The pier, first built in 1872 as a private commercial wharf, has been repaired or rebuilt countless times throughout its history. It closed in 1992 for 13 months after it was clobbered by waves and reopened after a $3.5-million restoration.

    More recently, it closed in 2015 for several months for repairs after another storm.

    Ventura purchased the pier for $7,000 in 1940 but gave it to the state in 1949.

    In 1990, the city moved to take it back after state officials said they were considering demolishing the structure because of the high maintenance costs.

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    Dakota Smith

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  • Section of Maple Avenue in Glenville closed for bridge repairs

    Section of Maple Avenue in Glenville closed for bridge repairs

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    GLENVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Maple Avenue in Glenville is closed as repairs to the bridge are taking place. In December 2023, the rail trail bridge was hit by a tanker truck and then caught on fire.

    Town officials said the repairs should take about a week to be completed. Drivers should follow the signed detours that take them down Route 50 and Freemans Bridge Road.

    Officials said this will not be the final phase of work being done to the bridge, and more phases will need to be completed in the future.

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    Courtney Ward

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  • Fairphone launches easy-to-repair earbuds | TechCrunch

    Fairphone launches easy-to-repair earbuds | TechCrunch

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    The right to repair has been a hot topic for several years now, hitting a kind of critical mass with domestic and international legislation. Advocates note that these proposals give users more control over their own property, while expanding products’ shelf life and reducing e-waste.

    Fairphone is, perhaps, the most prominent hardware company to make repairability the foundation of its consumer electronic design ethos, rather than a simple afterthought. To date, the European startup has released several handsets and a pair of over-ear headphones. This week, it’s adding earbuds to that list.

    While Bluetooth buds have rapidly become a commodity, user repairability has been something of a non-starter, owing to their compact size. They’re also relatively cheap to produce, making it easy to toss a pair when it stops working for some reason. If you’re going to make a product like this repairable, you have to make it a foundational feature — which, thankfully, is kind of Fairphone’s whole deal.

    Image Credits: Fairphone (screenshot)

    In this case, the company centered on battery life. Users can easily open the buds and case to remove the batteries once they’ve worn down. The company calls Fairbuds, “the world’s most repairable premium earbuds.” They’re certainly easier to crack open and swap out parts than competitive products from the likes of Apple and Samsung.

    The €149 ($162) price puts them somewhere in the mid-tier of the earbud world. You can, of course, get buds for significantly less these days. And while the company is promoting features like active noise canceling and 11mm titanium drivers, the truth is that repairability and battery longevity need to be high up on your list of requirements to pick these out of an extremely crowded field.

    In the consumer electronics world, right to repair has largely focused on handsets and PCs. Given the lower price point and smaller footprint, it seems unlikely that they’ll find their way into many laws in the near future. But anything that can help reduce e-waste and give users more control over these products is probably a net positive.

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    Brian Heater

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  • Landlord Arnel Management illegally withheld security deposits, attorney general alleges

    Landlord Arnel Management illegally withheld security deposits, attorney general alleges

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    Arnel Management Co. has agreed to settle allegations it illegally withheld security deposits, the California attorney general announced Friday.

    The move came nearly eight years after a Times story detailed reports from tenants who alleged that the major Orange County landlord deducted hundreds of dollars for unneeded cleaning and repairs even when residents left their units spotless.

    “For many renters, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, affording a security deposit entails a great deal of sacrifice,” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said in a statement. “We are holding Arnel accountable.”

    Arnel has 19 apartment complexes in Southern California, with all but one in Orange County. The other is in Los Angeles County.

    In 2016, the company — then owned by billionaire political power broker George Argyros — was the fifth-largest landlord in Orange County.

    It’s unclear what Argyros’ current role is with Arnel. The company and its attorney did not return messages seeking comment.

    Under California law, landlords cannot withhold a deposit to clean an apartment left in the same condition as when a tenant moved in, or to pay for fixing ordinary wear and tear.

    According to the attorney general, Arnel charged for unneeded cleaning and repairs and treated part of its tenant’s security deposit as nonrefundable no matter the condition of the apartment.

    The announcement Friday wasn’t the first time Arnel has faced similar allegations. In addition to tenants The Times spoke with in 2016, Arnel settled allegations it illegally withheld security deposits in 2001.

    The state office took over that case after Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas — who had accepted campaign cash from Arnel — was widely criticized for taking a personal role in his office’s investigation.

    That settlement paved the way for Argyros to become ambassador to Spain, an appointment that had stalled amid the controversy.

    As part of the new settlement, Arnel must pay $1.15 million, with $650,000 going to legal aid organizations in Orange and Los Angeles counties. The attorney general’s office also said Arnel would be “subject to more stringent injunctive terms to deter future misconduct.”

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    Andrew Khouri

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  • Part of Palos Verdes Drive South damaged by landslide will close temporarily for repairs

    Part of Palos Verdes Drive South damaged by landslide will close temporarily for repairs

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    Rancho Palos Verdes officials are preparing to close a section of Palos Verdes Drive South for repairs after the two-lane roadway suffered damage from an accelerating landslide complex that continues to wreak havoc on the coastal city.

    Palos Verdes Drive South is a major two-lane road that spans a 15-mile stretch of the California coast along which 15,000 vehicles pass every day, officials said. At the moment, visible cracks in the asphalt can be seen where the road has fallen into disrepair due to shifting sediment.

    “We’re doing short-term repairs right now,” said City Manager Ara Mihranian. But an “imminent road closure” will take place over the next month to address a “severe drop” in the roadway that locals call “the ski jump,” he said.

    Caltrans officials are recommending that this section of roadway be flatted out to some extent, Mihranian said. The section runs about a quarter of a mile between Narcissa and Peppertree drives. Details of the planned road closure and its repairs will be presented to the City Council on April 2.

    The Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex that underlies much of the city has been slowly shifting for decades, but over the last few months, the movement has increased alarmingly. Heavy rains over the past two winters have contributed to the problem.

    The land in some areas is descending towards the Pacific Ocean at a rate of about half an inch per day, according to Michael Phipps, a geologist working for the city. The landslide has already damaged some homes and recently forced the closure of the historic Wayfarer’s Chapel, a popular wedding site perched on a hillside overlooking the ocean.

    In a recent report presented to the City Council, Phipps found that the current pace is three or four times the rate recorded in 2023.

    A particular type of soil makes the Portuguese Bend especially vulnerable to landslides, Phipps said. Millions of years ago a volcanic eruption deposited ash that became bentonite clay. “When [bentonite] gets wet, it becomes even weaker,” said Phipps. “So we’ve really got the worst of all situations.”

    The city is using underground pumps called dewatering wells to drain the water table to help stabilize the land, officials said. The city has also halted development in certain affected areas. So far, Mihranian said, only two damaged homes have been marked as uninhabitable.

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded Rancho Palos Verdes $33 million dollars to help with remediation efforts. Now the city is proposing that $8 million of that money be allocated for emergency hydraugers, drains that would be bored into hillsides to release excess water.

    “There’s other discussions about trying to intercept the water that’s coming down to natural canyons up into the head of the landslide,” Phipps said. But all the city’s measures will at best only slow the landslide to imperceptible movement, not completely stop it, he said.

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    Jireh Deng

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  • Is your rental home flooded? What tenants can do to fix the damage

    Is your rental home flooded? What tenants can do to fix the damage

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    As soon as the floodwaters subside in Southern California, many tenants will start the daunting task of assessing what’s been damaged or lost in their rental homes or apartments.

    As of late Monday, authorities just in Los Angeles County responded to more than 300 mudslides, with 35 homes or buildings damaged by debris flows, including five that were deemed unsafe to enter.

    If you were given evacuation orders, do not return to your home until the order has been lifted by the local authorities or the city.

    Once you’re able to safely return to your rental and assess the damage, there are two things you should know.

    First, damage to the rental property is not your responsibility, it’s the landlord’s. Getting your landlord to fix the damage, though, can be a challenge.

    “Unfortunately, too much of this is a burden of the tenant to hold the landlord accountable,” said Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival.

    Second, although a renters insurance policy can help under certain circumstances, it will not cover flood damage to your personal property.

    Renters insurance reimburses you for damage to your belongings, including losses caused by some — but not all — natural disasters. The natural disasters that are not covered by rental insurance include floods, mudflows, sinkholes and earthquakes.

    Janet Ruiz, communications director for the Insurance Information Institute, said flood damage is defined as losses caused by water that rises from the ground up. However, if water comes into your home from above — for example, when wind damages the roof or a window and rain cascades in — there is a possibility of coverage.

    A water pipe that bursts and floods your dwelling is the other type of water damage that is covered by a renter’s policy, Ruiz said.

    If your furniture, clothes, and computer are floating in a pool of floodwater in your living room, chances are good that you’ll have to pay out of pocket to replace them.

    Your renters policy may still come in handy if you’re forced to move by the storms. Depending on the extent of the damage, a dwelling can be deemed uninhabitable. Your insurance might be able to cover the costs associated with temporary relocation; contact your insurance provider to find out.

    Ruiz said most policies will pay for your additional living expenses when you are displaced from your home by a covered loss (such as damage caused by the wind) and need temporary shelter. Keep all your receipts to document your expenditures.

    How to get your landlord to make repairs

    Landlords have the responsibility to meet the habitability requirement for rental properties, meaning every rental unit must be maintained in a safe living condition. Part of the requirement is to provide “effective waterproofing and weather protection to the roof and exterior walls, including unbroken windows and doors.”

    When a storm has damaged a rental — for example, high winds knock down a tree that lands and caves in a roof or rain has caused a roof leak — the landlord must fix it. State law also requires landlords to make sure their properties are free of dampness and visible mold.

    Because of the legal requirements, it may be easy to get your landlord to fix flood damage right away. But most Californians don’t carry flood insurance, so the costs faced by your landlord could deter a speedy response.

    Also, when a storm of this magnitude barrels through the state, contractors are usually overwhelmed with requests for repairs. A landlord who is trying in good faith to fix a rental might be stuck waiting until they can get a professional to do the work.

    “Unfortunately,” Gross said, “there are too many [situations] where it’s not [repaired quickly] and of course it also depends on the severity of the situation.”

    If a landlord doesn’t repair the damage in a reasonable time frame, a renter in the city of Los Angeles can file a complaint with the city’s housing department. This will prompt a visit by a code enforcement officer.

    Landlords are also responsible when damage to the rental causes harm to the renter’s personal property. If your landlord won’t comply with your request for repairs, replacement or reimbursement, that can be a case for small claims court as well.

    Gross doesn’t advise withholding your rent to try to get the landlord to fix damage to your rental, although you have that option. Doing so, Gross said, could lead the landlord to seek to evict you.

    The Coalition for Economic Survival is one of several local organizations that can help renters understand their rights and advise them what can be done if a prickly landlord isn’t helpful. Here’s a list of some of the others.

    • Tenants Together is a statewide coalition of local tenant organizations, that offers resources and a directory to find an organization near you.
    • Basta, which has offices in Los Angeles and Long Beach, helps residents with habitability problems, among other services.
    • The Housing Rights Center serves Los Angeles County and has a housing rights hotline — 800-477-5977 — available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    • The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles has an online tenant small claims resource library.
    • Tenants of California‘s members can advise renters on habitability issues.
    • Stay Housed LA can provide free legal help to certain Los Angeles County residents. Check the group’s website for a list of eligible ZIP Codes.
    • Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights has volunteers who can answer questions or offer a referral to a resource who can help.

    What if my car has been damaged?

    Flood damage to cars, including flooding from a storm surge, is covered if you have “comprehensive coverage,” also known as “other than collision” coverage, as part of your auto insurance. Comprehensive coverage is optional with a standard auto policy.

    Ruiz said most people who took out a car loan to buy their vehicle will have comprehensive coverage because loan companies require it.

    Some people with older cars do not elect to have the coverage, however. That’s because, “at the end of the day, you only get the value of the vehicle,” she said.

    What else can renters with flood damage do?

    You might not be able to get reimbursed for your lost items at the moment, but you can deduct the amount you lost on your state and federal tax returns.

    To help in the future, renters can apply for flood insurance to protect their personal belongings through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance program. For renters, the program covers up to $100,000 in damage to the contents of a unit.

    The National Flood Insurance Program is available to anyone living in one of the 24,000 participating U.S. communities or in a flood-prone area. You can see whether your community is part of the program by checking the “community status report” on the program website.

    If your community is in the program, you can obtain a flood policy from a participating insurer. The National Flood Insurance program offers a list on its website.

    The policy won’t go into effect, however, until 30 days after it’s purchased.

    You can also reach out to private insurers to see if they offer their own version of flood insurance. But there aren’t many that do, Ruiz said, so your best bet is to stick with the National Flood Insurance Program.

    Staff writer Grace Toohey contributed to this report.

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    Karen Garcia

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  • Queen Mary, once a sinking white elephant, shows signs of remarkable revival

    Queen Mary, once a sinking white elephant, shows signs of remarkable revival

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    The Queen Mary has for years been a landmark for the city of Long Beach, an iconic ocean liner that acted as a majestic sentry at the port and a popular attraction for both tourists and locals.

    But the aging ship has in recent years become more of a white elephant in need of millions of dollars in repairs just to stay afloat.

    Years of mounting financial woes, a pandemic shutdown and much-needed repairs made for an uncertain future for the Queen Mary. Financial audits showed the ship was running a deficit, and at least one report warned that it was at risk of sinking if it didn’t get millions of dollars in repairs.

    But now, the 90-year-old ship seems to be headed for smoother sailing, with financial records showing it is finally turning a profit for the city of Long Beach.

    On the ocean liner that has been turned into a hotel and tourist attraction, rooms are being booked, visitors are touring the ship, and the Queen Mary’s operator said the number of visitors has been outpacing the figures from before the COVID pandemic, signaling a new, hopefully better, era for the famous ship docked in the Long Beach Harbor.

    But the recent financial turnaround will do little in the short term to address the hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs needed to keep the ship afloat and open to the public.

    The Queen Mary closed for more than three years because of the pandemic, and stayed closed due to much-needed repairs. But once the ship reopened in April — this time under the city’s direction instead of a leaseholder — visitors began to return in greater numbers. The ship has about 200 rooms and several large halls that can be booked for weddings and other gatherings.

    “Even though it’s been here since 1967, it was kind of a relaunch — a new Queen Mary if you will,” said Steve Caloca, managing director of the ship under the contracted operator, Evolution.

    It was a slow reopening, with just over a dozen rooms booked in the Queen Mary in all of April. But financial records obtained by The Times show the number of bookings quickly multiplied in the coming weeks.

    By July, more than 4,300 room nights were booked in the Queen Mary, and the ship’s operator has seen at least 3,730 bookings a month since.

    “We reopened after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus, which is nice, and we’re making money, which is nice,” Caloca said.

    The Queen Mary was still operating in a deficit during the first two months it reopened, according to financial information provided by the city. By June, however, the ship’s revenue began to outpace its expenses.

    According to city records, between June and October of last year, the ship generated more than $12.6 million in revenue and more than $3 million in profits.

    It’s not just rooms in the ship’s hotel that are bringing in visitors and their cash either, Caloca said.

    “We were getting the word out that there are things to do here,” he said. “It’s not just a beautiful ship.”

    The Queen Mary began to offer old and new tours of the 1,019.5-foot ship, and hosting events to draw in locals, like $10 entry fees on Tuesdays, he said.

    A game room and revamped observation bar are there for overnight and day guests, and the ship also rolled out the commodore’s office, where officers are available to answer guests’ questions about the ship.

    “We asked, what can guests do now that they’re staying at the Queen Mary, what kind of content can we provide?” Caloca said. “We’re able to create things for people to do here in Long Beach.”

    But the ship has also needed, and continues to need, repairs and maintenance, he said.

    Much of the work done on the ship has centered on keeping the ship safe for visitors, as well as regular upkeep like painting, new flooring and lighting, and replacing new boilers and electrical transformers on the ship.

    For the Queen Mary, which has been in dire need of repairs and work for years, turning a profit in 2023 is a significant turnabout in its recent history.

    Financial audits of the ship obtained by The Times shows that from 2007 to 2009, the Queen Mary continued to see losses of more than $31 million.

    A profit could mean the ship could get some much-needed TLC to keep it financially, and literally, afloat.

    “When we get excited about the money, it’s not that we made a profit,” Caloca said. “It’s that we made money, but now we can put it back on the ship that we love so much.”

    The city of Long Beach took over the Queen Mary in 2021, after worries that the aging ship was not being maintained. One 2017 study of the ship found that it needed up to $289 million in upgrades and renovations, including much-needed work to keep parts of it from flooding.

    Court documents and inspection reports also found that it needed $23 million to keep it from capsizing.

    Making the ship a profit center for the city has been a challenge for several lease operators — including the Walt Disney Co. — that have been hired to operate the ship over the last few decades.

    In 2005, Queen’s Seaport Development Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and was found by Long Beach to owe $3.4 million in back rent. In 2009, the hotel was also at about a 50% occupancy rate.

    Now, the profits coming in can also be geared toward new activities and entertainment to keep attracting guests into the Queen Mary, Caloca said.

    This summer, operators hope to reopen a movie theater at the ship, which can also double as a lecture hall and host other events, Caloca said. Another 100 rooms are expected to open by April.

    “It’s not just, ‘Let’s fix it so it doesn’t break,” Caloca said. “It’s also, ‘Let’s fix it and make it so people want to come.’”

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    Salvador Hernandez

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  • The long road ahead to fix the fire-damaged 10 Freeway

    The long road ahead to fix the fire-damaged 10 Freeway

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    With traffic again flowing above, construction crews in hard hats and high-visibility vests are busy surveying the scene: the belly of the 10 Freeway in downtown L.A.

    Here, where earlier this month a massive fire scorched the roadway, large timber and steel structures have been erected to take the weight off seven rows of damaged concrete columns.

    But what is actually going on under the freeway?

    For all the accolades officials gave for reopening the 10 in days rather than weeks, state leaders have publicly said little about the precise damage caused by the fire, exactly how Caltrans plans to make fixes and how much the repairs will cost.

    Though the shored-up freeway is safe for drivers again, repairs for the damaged overpass will take months, officials said. None of the damaged columns that hold up the overpass east of Alameda Street have been repaired yet, according to Caltrans spokesperson Michael Comeaux.

    “Columns damaged by the fire will need to be repaired. The repair strategy may vary between individual columns depending on the extent of damage. The repairs will include the removal of any damaged concrete, patching of the damage, and wrapping the columns with steel casings,” Comeaux said in an email.

    Emergency crews raced to clear debris and hazardous materials after the Nov. 11 fire, which arson investigators believe was started intentionally on Caltrans property leased to a company that was subleasing it to a handful of small businesses. There, piles of wooden pallets were stored alongside combustible liquids, which was in violation of state regulations.

    In the following days, construction crews erected the shoring structures and road crews repaired damaged electrical systems, lane striping and signs on the freeway, and some damage to the freeway deck. Currently, engineers are developing a repair plan for the overpass, Comeaux said.

    But Caltrans has declined requests for an interview about the work involved to repair the stretch of freeway, which carries roughly 300,000 daily commuters.

    An engineer with Caltrans who was not authorized to speak publicly said forty-five columns show clear evidence of spalling, the technical term for the cracking and disintegration of concrete when it is exposed to extremely high temperatures. The heat evaporates water molecules inside the concrete, which makes the material weak and brittle.

    Construction crews will have to remove the damaged concrete from each column. In many cases, the engineer said, that damage extends to the reinforcing metal known as rebar that is embedded inside the concrete and spirals around vertical lengths extending from the foundation to the freeway overhead.

    Engineers have identified eight columns where the heat of the fire reached far deeper into the concrete. For those columns, crews will have to remove not only the compromised concrete but also the spiral of rebar, the engineer said.

    Once the damaged concrete and steel have been removed, the columns will be rebuilt, most likely with steel jackets similar to those used in seismic retrofits of bridge columns (an earthquake review in the 1990s did not lead to jackets being placed around the columns at this location). Grout or concrete will then be injected between the jacket and column.

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    Nathan Solis, Thomas Curwen, Ashley Ahn

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  • Commonwealth Credit Solutions Launches a Practical, Effective Course on Understanding and Building Credit

    Commonwealth Credit Solutions Launches a Practical, Effective Course on Understanding and Building Credit

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    Expected August 2020, Commonwealth Credit Solutions is launching its interactive video learning course on diycrediteducation.com to help people understand the world of credit and how to build their own.

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jul 31, 2020


    LOUISVILLE, Ky., July 31, 2020 (Newswire.com)
    –
    ​Commonwealth Credit Solutions is launching an interactive video learning course, available on diycrediteducation.com in August 2020, to help educate those who were never taught fundamental personal finance concepts, specifically regarding the world of credit. The course highlights ideas like how to build positive credit, how to dispute inaccuracies on one’s credit file, how to access the in-house credit attorney for additional support, and to invest in oneself by learning skills that will benefit long-term success.

    “It’s our job and passion to teach everyone about credit; it’s what you weren’t taught in high school,” says Matt Bratcher, Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Credit Solutions. “With the proper education, the ins and outs of credit can easily be grasped. Unfortunately, credit and personal finances are rarely a large focus of education for many schools in our nation. It is our duty to educate as many people as possible to ensure consumers have the lifelong skills necessary to confidently make buying decisions, save as much money as possible, understand their rights when it comes to credit reporting and debt collection, and how to protect their identity.”

    The course was designed for everyone who felt they were never properly taught about the world of credit, everyone who wants a better understanding of the credit system and how to use the system to their advantage without creating debt, anyone that has been turned down for a loan, credit card, insurance, or an apartment, and everyone interested in legally removing inaccurate, erroneous, or outdated negative items from their credit reports.

    Featured in a number of trusted financial outlets including Forbes, Reuters, Bloomberg, Business News, and more, Commonwealth Credit Solutions is one of the only companies in the industry with an A+ rating with the BBB and is powered by In-House Counsel. Lead attorney David Hemminger, PSC, was named one of the top attorneys of North America for 2018-2019 by Who’s Who and has helped clients recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements for violations committed by the credit bureaus and collection agencies.

    About Commonwealth Credit Solutions

    Commonwealth Credit Solutions is a credit education and counseling company with an A+ rating from the BBB that has helped thousands of clients reach their goals of homeownership, purchase their dream car, or simply sleep better at night because of better credit.

    Media Contact: 

    Matt Bratcher

    ​Phone: 502-917-0077

    Email: info@diycrediteducation.com

    Source: Commonwealth Credit Solutions LLP

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