Jobs

Count the adverbs in the following sentence: Therefore, we should wait outside awhile because the very lovely and kindly family will be there soon to tell us fast whether everyone is well. Would it surprise you to learn there are seven adverbs in that sentence? Would you be even more surprised to learn that neither lovely, family, kindly, nor well is among them? We all learned about adverbs in school. Everyone knows they're those -ly words that modify actions - quickly, slowly, sweetly, bitterly, and on and on. And if we didn't get the message in a classroom, a lot of us had “Schoolhouse Rock” to reinforce it. Yet for reasons I'll never understand, no one tells us - or most of us, at least - that the adverb story doesn't end there.

The Hollywood jobs picture continued to improve last year. Employment in Los Angeles' entertainment industry climbed nearly 4% in 2012, reflecting an upswing in feature film production in the fourth quarter and a surge in commercial shoots, which climbed to a record level last year as major brands spent more money on campaigns to promote their products. The so-called motion picture and sound recording category - including those who work at the major film studios, music labels and post-production houses - employed an average of 129,675 people in 2012, up 3.7% from the average employment in 2011, according to the state Employment Development Department.

If federal lawmakers can't reach a budget agreement by the end of the year to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the Verdugo Jobs Center in Glendale could see an 8.2% funding reduction, a top official at the agency said. Don Nakamoto, executive director of the Verdugo Workforce Investment Board which oversees the Verdugo Jobs Center, said there is a push at the state level to target prominent high-growth industries with vocational training programs. That means for the Verdugo Jobs Center - which services the Glendale-Burbank-La Cañada Flintridge area - officials focus on the entertainment industry, a top employer for the region, followed by healthcare, retail and manufacturing, Nakamoto said.

Roughly 280 Bank of America employees in Glendale will either be transferred or laid off in the wake of the company's decision to close its corporate offices on North Brand Boulevard by the end of the year. The 281 employees who work at 611 N. Brand Blvd. received the notices last month, according to the California Employment Development Department. The departure of the bank, which occupies four floors in the high-rise building, will only add to an abundance of Class A office space available in Glendale.

Glendale Adventist Medical Center laid off 21 employees Thursday in response to federal healthcare payment reform and other industry shifts, hospital officials said. The cuts - which primarily affected non-clinical employees, including several clerical positions - account for less than 2% of the hospital's workforce of more than 2,500 people and won't affect direct patient care, hospital spokeswoman Alicia Gonzalez said. “It doesn't affect bedside patient care at all,” she said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich knows what Republicans in the state Assembly are feeling right now, staring at the prospect of a session where Democrats have a two-thirds majority. Antonovich was Assembly Republican whip during the 1977-78 session, the last time the Democrats held a supermajority in the lower house. He said Republican members face a challenge in such circumstances in getting their voices heard. "I'd encourage them to work harder and smarter," Antonovich said.

The film and television industry in Los Angeles County has lost more than 16,000 jobs since 2004, mostly due to work migrating out of state, a new report revealed. Last year, the entertainment business generated 102,100 jobs in the county, down 14% from its peak of 118,200 jobs in 2004, according to a study released Friday by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. During the same period, L.A.'s share of overall jobs in the motion picture and video category fell to 51% from 60%. (The figures exclude employment in the music and post-production industries.)

Reader Mark Rozett's letter (“ Griem's response was dogmatism ,” Mailbag, Oct. 13) about Pastor Bryan Griem's “In Theory” answer to the question, “Should churches be able to support candidates,” showed a lack of knowledge of American history. The point of intimidating the church using the Internal Revenue System is a moot point, since it is unconstitutional under the 1st Amendment. In regard to the second point made using Luke 20:25, “…render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's,” this is a good illustration and clearly demonstrates that there are two jurisdictions, civil and religious.

The entertainment and construction industries in the greater Glendale-Burbank area took a beating during the recession, but professional and technical services have been mostly shielded from the protracted economic downturn. Jobs in computer programming, legal services and consulting now make up the fourth largest source of employment in the region, according to a Verdugo Workforce Investment Board report on the local economy this week. Legal jobs experienced a big bump, up 18% from before the recession that took hold at the end of 2007, partly due to the firm LegalZoom moving its headquarters to Glendale, said Don Nakamoto, executive director of the workforce investment board, a nonprofit supported by government funding that operates the Verdugo Jobs Center.

Several measures, including one that could make the city treasurer an appointed rather than elected position, have moved closer to being placed on an upcoming ballot. On Tuesday, Glendale City Council members directed the city attorney to bring back specifics on the measures - one of which would also deflate the debate surrounding an annual electricity revenue transfer - before they approve putting them before voters. The measure deciding the fate of the city treasurer position could be part of the April municipal election, while others may take more time to get on a ballot.