(2) Urbanization and Crime Rates in a Rapidly Urbanizing Area

This paper summarizes the numbers of crimes and crime rates per 1,000 residents in two small but growing cities located in the Inland Empire area of California: Beaumont (2008 population 34,286) and Banning (2008 population 29,816). These communities are of interest not only in themselves but also because as growing cities, they illustrate some of the prospects and challenges that small cities experience with rapid urbanization. 
     In 2006, Beaumont was the fastest growing city in the state of California, growing at least 21% that year, and the growth spurt accelerated even more in 2007. And, over the past seven years Banning’s population also has increased by 18%. The cities border one another and are located in the San Gorgonio pass area, between Riverside and Palm Springs. Because of their overlapping boundaries and mutually shared, close-by services and commercial establishments, from the standpoint of the residents, they constitute a single community. However this analysis also breaks out the two cities because they have different histories, populations, and economies.
     Between 2001 and 2007, as the population in the area exploded by 70%, the number of crimes reported in the two cities combined also soared 46%. But this loose connection between population growth and crime did not occur uniformly in the two cities. Banning reported more crimes during this period, including nearly three times more aggravated assaults, 2.5 times more burglaries and twice the number of robberies and rapes, and 27% more vehicle thefts. However, crime accelerated faster in Beaumont, rising 56% between 2001 and 2007 (compared 40% in Banning). In Beaumont, the volume of crime tended to follow annual increases in the population, some years lagging behind and other years out-pacing growth. But in Banning, where population grew much more slowly, the number of crimes raced ahead of population by 2 to 1. 
     Crime rates per 1,000 residents (distinguished from the sheer number of crimes) displayed a different pattern. In recent years, they have been trending downward in both cities. However, in Banning there have been notable exceptions to this pattern, and in any case, Banning's crime rates remain relatively high. In particular, robbery rates have not declined there and vehicle theft rates have gone up. Larceny is the most prevalent crime in both cities. Beaumont's larceny rate peaked in 2005 and has been sharply declining since. Banning's larceny rate dropped in 2007 after a spike in 2005, but it remains high. Burglary and assault have trended downward in both cities in recent years, but Banning's rates remain high. In 2007, the likelihood of being assaulted was about five times higher in Banning than in Beaumont.
    In 2008, in Banning, the likelihood of being assaulted was higher than in 13 other selected cities in the immediate region, and the city's overall violent crime rate was also moderately high. However, the risk of being a victim of property crime was reatively low.

               (3) The Real Estate Ethics-Hearing Charade

This article describes the Real Estate Ethics Hearing process as practiced in California. The complaint process is shown to be a thinly disguised vehicle to cover up the mistakes of errant realtors and silence their critics. With the possible exception of realtors who have been suspended or expelled from an association, the public has no way to identify realtors who have been the subject of complaints—even realtors who have been reprimanded or fined. Once they have been let off by their comrades, all evidence of the complaint is expunged from the record. Moreover, except in extreme cases involving suspension or expulsion, all findings, recommendations and decisions related to a disciplinary hearing are hidden behind confidential agreements. This code of secrecy extends to all parties to the proceedings. Thus unless a wrong-doer has been suspended or expelled, he or she actually stands to benefit from the disciplinary process, since it serves to silence complainants who otherwise would remain free to express their grievances.

(4) Sociological Issues Relating to the Mold Wars

There are abundant reasons for believing that exposure to some types of mold is positively linked to human disease, even though the causal chains cannot be fully explained. Yet, mold advocates and other skeptics—among them some prominent scientists and health officials, as well as steadfast special interests—continue to question that there is a scientifically proven link between mold and illness, or at least serious illness, in otherwise healthy people.  In this paper, you will find a story about scientific uncertainty and contests among researchers for methodological dominance. You will discern conflicts of interest, bias, political pressures, and wrangling over the validity of different kinds of legal proof. Then you will see that the outcomes of law suits have been random and learn about a recent backlash against mold victims. And finally, you will discover that the biggest allergic reaction of all is coming from business interests standing to lose billions of dollars from mold suits.