California’s fiscal woes largely of its own making

SACRAMENTO—As Californians brace for big reductions in government services, the possibility of tax hikes and a long summer of budget bickering, they may be under the impression that everyone else is slogging through the same financial misery.

Not so.

Although the nation’s sluggish economy and mortgage crisis have put the squeeze on a number of states, many are humming along fine, without dramatic measures to keep them in the black. Some even have multibillion-dollar surpluses. And almost none of the states that do have fiscal difficulties face shortfalls on the scale of California’s. . .

Without a name, former ‘South Central’ L.A. has become almost invisible

Vivian Bowers works in a neighborhood that has gone undercover.

“Are there still businesses over there?” people ask when she mentions her dry-cleaning shop on South Central Avenue near East Adams Boulevard.

Five years ago, the city expunged the name “South Central” from its maps and replaced it with the more general “South Los Angeles.” The change was meant to erase the stigma of riots and blight that marred an area south of the 10 Freeway and along Central Avenue, a place renowned in the 1940s for its thriving black culture—restaurants, jazz clubs and businesses. . .