LOS ANGELES

CAL MATTERS-As the capital of the nation’s most complex and populous state, Sacramento is no stranger to protest marches and other forms of political expression. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--SB 827--you know, the Wiener Bill from Sacramento that proposes ending city oversight over zoning and environmental law near rail lines, bus lines, bus stops, and anything resembling transit because, you know ... affordable housing and pro-transit and the homeless crisis, and all that.  Right? 

EASTSIDER-Wow! This is far from the acquiescent Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council I was part of back in the day, quietly controlled by USC’s David Galaviz as Council President. No sir, this NC and Community is spunky, calling out the bait and switch of Measure HHH, a so-called $1.2 billion dollar “Homeless” Measure. 

BELL VIEW-An assassin took the 39-year-old Martin Luther King 50 years ago this week. King came to Memphis to support a garbage-workers’ strike – the one where strikers carried signs proclaiming, "I AM A MAN" – a simple, seemingly uncontroversial message reminiscent of “Black Lives Matter.” 

CORRUPTIONISM-Answer: for the same reason that so many people are fat. There is a lot of junk information and it makes us feel good. 

FIRST PERSON--Amy Wax.began dealing with- or if you will- stubbornly failing to deal with, what remains the intractable issue of racism in the United States, that continues unabated to negate any possibility of a more perfect and fully integrated union, we might now beatify a dead Martin Luther King 50 years after he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennesee, but I have no doubt that his life might be just as much- if not more- be in danger in a 2018 America as it was back in April 1968. 

CAL BUZZ--According to the New York Times, “President Trump said on Tuesday that he planned to order the military to guard parts of the southern border until he can build a wall and tighten immigration restrictions, proposing a remarkable escalation of his efforts to crack down on migrants entering the country illegally.” In light of this, we offer here our report from February 2017 predicting exactly this.

For a man who cannot stop talking on Twitter about every single thought that pops into his head, Donald Trump's silence on the killing of Stephon Clark in Sacramento says all you need to know about how the President of the United States of America views the death of young black men. 

GELFAND’S WORLD--From a political standpoint, the Chinese are right to counterattack in the trade war by going after soybeans. That is a direct message to Trump supporters. (Darn! I was intending to write a piece without mentioning this particular president, and there I go right from the outset.)

NEW GEOGRAPHY-For much of the past century, Southern California has been driven by ever increasing population growth. That era has now ended as the region’s demographics stagnate, a trend that, according to the latest Census numbers, is, if anything, accelerating. This follows a distinct national trend, notes demographer Wendell Cox, where the largest metropolitan areas are losing domestic migrants and growing far more slowly than smaller, often less expensive regions.

SKID ROW, DTLA-For well over a decade, Downtown’s revitalization efforts, which include luxury housing, high-end hotels, and expensive bars and restaurants -- some with celebrity Top Chefs in their kitchens -- have been deemed a success in all places except Skid Row, aka, “the homeless capitol of America.” A map of development projects in DTLA looks like a well-glazed donut -- a whole lotta sweet stuff all around but Skid Row is stuck in the hole in the center with no donut and definitely no glaze! 

Everyone in L.A. knows homelessness is one of the biggest challenges facing our region and last year voters delivered a clear mandate: Help people come off the streets and into homes. An overwhelming majority supported ballot measures to raise nearly $5 billion to tackle the issue. The funds will build housing and provide services to the more than 50,000 people in L.A. who have nowhere to sleep at night.