LOS ANGELES

ENVIRONMENT - A little more than a year before an underwater pipeline leaked 144,480 gallons of crude oil, tarring Southern California beaches and killing fish and wildlife, the city of Long Beach signed a lease with Houston-based Amplify Energy that could extend the pipeline’s life through 2040, according to government records.

ERIC PREVEN’S NOTEBOOK - It's hard to know what to think sometimes out in Studio City, as people from all over the city come to town, play golf on the local par nine golf course at Weddington on Whitsett and then try to adjust our community's narrative.  

CAPITAL AND MAIN-As actress and opera singer Janice Lynde returned to her West Hollywood apartment after back-to-back lung surgeries, construction in her building was shaking her rent-controlled unit so vigorously that pictures jumped from walls, statues toppled and lost their limbs, and crystal and china shattered inside her cupboards. 

PLANNING WATCH-My Neighborhood Congress Presentation: In my weekly Planning Watch columns I often debunk shady claims that trickle-down housing policies -- inspired by Reaganomics -- can fix LA’s housing crisis.

PLANNING WATCH-In recent decades LA’s economy has been in the doldrums. According to Zocalo Public Square commentator Joe Mathews: 

THE VIEW FROM HERE - City of Los Angeles councilmembers are as financially dependent upon never-ending construction as Afghan war lords are on the opium production.

AT LENGTH-The Arizona recount is over eight months after it started, and bizarrely enough, the ex-president lost by even a larger margin with the advantage going to President Joe Biden.

EASTSIDER - Like Antonio Villaraigosa before him, Kevin De León had a plan. Run for City Council, and two years in become Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Then along came Karen Bass and it all went to hell. 

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Yes, you and I get these e-mails and public statements from Mike Bonin and his cronies--er, allies--about how those "right wingers" are trying to get him just like they tried to get Gavin Newsom. 

TOXIC LAW SUIT - Sued last year by the state for its role as an owner and operator during the 1970s of a notoriously dirty lead-acid battery recycling facility in Vernon, east of Los Angeles, NL Industries has filed a counterclaim arguing that property owners and other parties, including businesses, are to blame for area lead levels that have triggered one of the largest toxic cleanups in the state’s history. 

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Unfortunately, the lack of balance between Republicans and Democrats in this state, and the rise of the Woke New Generation, is destroying our economy, our environment, and our quality of life,

USPS WOES - Defenders of the U.S. Postal Service are urgently renewing their calls for the ouster of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy as his 10-year plan to overhaul the cherished government institution is set to take effect Friday, ushering in permanently slower mail delivery while hiking prices for consumers.