A Superior Court judge said Thursday that she plans to reject an injunction questioning the legality of a policy that determines auto insurance rates by where a person lives. Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi earlier this year proposed the change, which would force insurers to place less of an importance on a driver’s address and more on his or her driving record, driving experience and number of miles driven. Garamendi said the longstanding policy based on a driver’s ZIP code was unfair and penalized good drivers who lived in certain areas. Three insurance trade groups sought to bar the policy change, a charge that Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster did not accept. Insurance companies have to submit new policy standards by Monday. AAA of Southern California and USAA have already done so.

Healthcare Partners Medical Group will open its new office in West Hills on Aug. 21. The new 8,383-square-foot office at 7301 Medical Center Dr. was designed by enVision Architecture and includes 20 modern exam rooms and two procedure rooms. The office, just across the street from West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, will house five permanent doctors and two part-time specialists. The group had been located across the street.

There’s been a shake-up at Providence Health System. Arnie Schaffer, who had been chief operating officer for the Southern California Region, was named CEO for the area, replacing Michael Madden, who was named vice president of advocacy and development for the entire Providence Health System. “Michael will bring his vast experience in national and state policy relationships, church relationships and philanthropic strategy to our system level,” said Greg Van Pelt, executive vice president of Providence Health System, in a written statement. Madden has been with Providence for 13 years. His office will be in Burbank. In his new position, Schaffer will oversee all of the Providence operations in Southern California, which includes Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, facilites in Torrance and San Pedro and several nursing facilities. All together, Schaffer will be in charge of 1,133 beds and 6,700 workers. Schaffer joined Providence as CEO of the San Fernando Valley Service Area in 2002 and was promoted last year to the regional post. The promotions take effect Oct. 1. Providence has 28 hospitals and 35 non-acute facilities in six Western states.

Electronic equipment rental and leasing company Electro Rent had a nearly 4 percent increase in its net income for the fourth quarter ended May 31. The Van Nuys company had a net income of $5.6 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, on revenue of $25.3 million. That is a slight up tick from the fourth quarter of 2005 when the company had a net income of $5.4 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, on revenue of $20.7 million. For the 12-month period ended May 31, the company had a net income of $22.2 million, or $0.86 per diluted share, on revenue of $90.5 million. That is an 8.5 percent decline from last year’s 12-month period, when there was a net income of $24.2 million, or $0.96 per diluted share, on revenue of $80.2 million. The company achieved its primary goal of a second straight fiscal year of increased revenues, said Chairman and CEO Daniel Greenberg, in a statement. “We also achieved an important strategic objective, which was to establish our test and measurement rental and lease business on a global basis,” Greenberg said. “Results for the new subsidiary we launched in China in the summer of 2005 exceeded our expectations, and we also made important progress in the development of our new European subsidiary.” Data products rental revenue increased 7 percent in fiscal 2006 compared to fiscal 2005, primarily reflecting Electro Rent’s acquisition in January of Rush Computer Rentals, Inc., the company said.

The new Los Angeles County Canoga Park Health Center women’s health annex opened Thursday. The center at 7107 Remmet Ave. in Canoga Park is run by the Northeast Valley Health Corp. and offers check-ups, tests and other medical services. It is expected to care for an additional 600 women a year and free up more space in the main clinic that will house three additional pediatric rooms.

The Burbank City Council Tuesday night approved creating a business improvement district for the Magnolia Park neighborhood. Under the terms of the designation, property owners in the neighborhood will be assessed a special tax that will pay for parking improvements, maintenance, and advocacy to promote business interests, including advertising the area to recruit new businesses. The annual $250,000 budget for the district comes from the assessment based on the square footage of both lot and building size. The district, in effect for the next five years, will be governed by a non-profit board of directors made up of six property owners, two residential representatives, two city representatives, and one business owner. The City Council has oversight of the board. The district’s boundaries are Magnolia Boulevard and Hollywood Way bound by Chandler Boulevard to the north, Clark Avenue to the south, Buena Vista Street to the east and the city limits to the west.

Additional retail and transportation pushed Santa Clarita’s first quarter sales tax figures higher by 8.2 percent over last year, the city announced Wednesday. The increases from the first quarter ended March 31 will generate about $6.5 million for the city. The jump is the product of boosts in sales tax from several sectors, including general retail by 10.2 percent, transportation by 6.3 percent and construction by 13.1 percent. Business-to-business sales and restaurant sales also contributed to the boost. Sales tax contributes about 40 percent of the city’s general fund.

The Walt Disney Co. reported a 39 percent jump in its net income for the quarter ending on June 30 when compared with the same period from 2005. Net income for Burbank-based Disney was $1.1 billion for the third quarter, or $0.53 per diluted share, on revenues of $8.6 billion. That is an increase over the same reporting period in 2005 when Disney had net income of $811 billion, or $0.39 per diluted share, on revenues of $7.7 billion. For the nine months of the fiscal year ending June 30, Disney reported net income of $2.5 billion on revenue of $25.5 billion. For the same time period in 2005, the company reported net income of $2.1 billion on revenues of $24.2 billion. The strong third quarter results demonstrate Disney’s ability to leverage its content across its many business units, President and CEO Robert Iger said in statement. “In recent months, we have released such highly successful creative products as ‘Cars,’ ‘High School Musical,’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,’ all of which are having a positive impact throughout our company, from merchandise sales to the Internet to home video to our theme parks,” Iger said in the statement. Revenues from studio entertainment were $1.7 billion for the third quarter, a 17 percent increase over the same period in 2005. Revenues were also up in the media networks, parks and resorts and consumer products divisions.

Two nursing homes in the San Fernando Valley received recommendations in a study by the magazine “Consumer Reports.” “Nursing Homes: Business as Usual” examined 16,000 facilities across the country to determine which facilities meet certain key standards. The study took into account state inspections, staffing levels and quality indicators. Among the local nursing homes that received recommendations were All Saints Healthcare Subacute Center in North Hollywood, Alameda Care in Burbank and Glendale Memorial Hospital. (Sherman Oaks Hospital also received a recommendation, but its transitional care facility closed in 2005.) The study also pointed to facilities to avoid, including one in the Valley the California Healthcare and Rehab Center in Van Nuys, which tallied more than two dozen violations, the study found. The study appears in the September edition of “Consumer Reports.”

Countrywide Financial Corp. said today that mortgage loan fundings decreased to $36 billion in July, a 19 percent decline compared to the prior July period. Monthly purchase volume fell to $17 billion compared with $21 billion in July, 2005. Countrywide’s mortgage loan servicing portfolio totaled $1.2 trillion as of July 31, reflecting an increase of 22 percent over the portfolio for the same period in 2005. “The decline in purchase activity was consistent with our overall funding volume as the pace of home sales has slowed,” said Stanford L. Kurland, president and COO at Countrywide. “The servicing portfolio continued to grow, adding $14 billion from last month and $220 billion from last year.” Countrywide’s other units, including banking, insurance and its capital markets segments all showed growth, the company said.