There have been several 3.0-7.1 earthquakes that have shook Los Angeles since last Summer, which has officials re-examining soft story retrofits in the area. What are soft story retrofits? A soft story building is a multi-story structure built with a first floor that is much less rigid (soft) than the floors above, such as in an apartment with tuck-under parking. The skinny poles propping up parking at the ground level are not strong enough to withstand the shaking in signifi

You may have heard that the Federal Reserve just cut interest rates from 1.75-1.25 percent (50 basis points), to bolster our economy and counter the effects from the coronavirus scare. This is the first time this emergency action by the Federal Reserve has occurred since the 2008 crisis. The Fed is hoping the rate cut will boost consumer confidence after U.S. stocks plummeted last week. A measure of real estate stocks called the SNL U.S. REIT Equity index fell about 12.3 perc