Which Way, L.A.?

Double-Trouble for the California Housing Market

With low mortgage rates and rising prices, the housing market has been a prop for a sagging economy. Now, that bubble could be ready to spring a leak, but don-t expect any bargains. At the other end of the scale, the Bush Administration wants to reduce federal housing support for low-income families. Some 10,000 families in Los Angeles County could lose their Section 8 federal housing subsidies if the Bush Administration gets its way. Is LA-s housing crunch about to get worse? Warren Olney explores the trouble at both ends of the bubble in a conversation with an economist who directs UCLA's Anderson Forecast and the executive director of the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing. Making News: SBC Communications Sets Strike Date Customers of Southern California-s biggest telephone company could be in for some headaches. Just after midnight tomorrow, unionized workers at SBC Communications are threatening to go out on a four-day strike. Evan Pondel, business reporter for the Daily News, says healthcare concerns recall those of the recent supermarket strike. Reporter's Notebook: Cracking Down on Human Smugglers Discoveries of houses in Watts and Canoga Park stuffed with desperate people have dramatized that immigrant smuggling has shifted from Arizona to Southern California. Federal immigration officials want to borrow the tactics it used in Arizona, but first it-ll have to deal with the LAPD and "Special Order 40." Solomon Moore, who writes about immigration for the LA Times, says that law enforcement strategies may not be so easily transferable.