Daily Business Report: July 2, 2026
By Staff & Wire Reports | Times of San Diego
The lead defendant in the prosecution of a national elder fraud ring to scam around $65 million from victims across the country pleaded guilty Tuesday in San Diego federal court.
Prosecutors say the scheme involved conspirators posing as tech support, government officials or bank employees who instructed victims to withdraw money in cash, then send it in packages to locations provided by members of the fraud ring.
The addresses where victims mailed their packages were short-term rentals, which prosecutors say allowed conspirators to quickly relocate and continue the scheme at new properties.
An Apprentice Program for Commercial Fishing
By Voice of San Diego
Despite San Diego’s abundant marine life, the region’s commercial fishing industry is in decline.
In 2020, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography started an apprentice program to help reverse the trend — but the program has had mixed results, reports Deborah Brennan at our partner CalMatters.
Globalization is partly to blame for the busted economics of San Diego’s fishing industry. Higher wages and stricter regulations in the U.S. mean that fish caught in other countries are often cheaper. A 2016 report found that just 10 percent of seafood consumed in San Diego is caught locally.
by Brain W. Jones
Today, California Senate Democrats approved a 250% tax increase on employers when they voted to kill Senate Joint Resolution 15 (SJR 15) in the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee. The resolution, introduced by Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) and co-authored by all members of the Senate Republican Caucus, asked Congress to stop the looming federal tax hike on California businesses caused by Governor Newsom’s decision not to repay the state’s federal unemployment insurance (UI) debt.
“Newsom is once again making Californians pay for his mistakes and his friends in the legislature unsurprisingly continue to kowtow to his damaging agenda,” said Jones. “The government failed the people when it mandated arbitrary shutdowns, hurt businesses, and allowed billions of taxpayer dollars to be lost to fraud. Instead of doing everything in their power to protect more jobs from being lost, the majority party doubled down on failure by rejecting this simple solution.”
