GUEST WORDS--Every fourth year, when there’s a national election, Americans contemplate our collective navel without shame or restraint.
LOS ANGELES
Designs for LA’s Pershing Square: ‘Different’, ‘Overwhelming’ but, Look Out for the Well Worn ‘X’
WESTWATER’S DOWNDOWN--A few years ago, four finalists were telling Downtown LA & Boyle Heights residents why they were qualified to design and build the replacement for the fabled 6th Bridge that had long connected the two communities.
Mayor Garcetti OK’s $800,000 for Feral Cat Report While the City’s Homeless Struggle
ANIMAL WATCH-On April 20, Mayor Garcetti released his proposed budget for 2016-2017, which includes over $800,000 for a report on the estimated 3 million feral cats roaming Los Angeles and whether they have an impact on public health, wildlife and the environment.
Something’s Rotten in the New Hollywood Community ‘Plan’
LEGAL AMNESIA-We hear that a lot of people in Hollywood are upset over the proposed high rise construction planned in their neighborhoods. We also know that tall buildings with rotten foundations fall down. The same is true with the law.
A Park Over the 101! Dreaming Big in Hollywood
OVER THE RAINBOW-Hollywood leaders have a history of dreaming BIG and making things happen that might not happen elsewhere. The Hollywood Sign is a perfect example. Hollywood entrepreneurs put it up on the hillside, and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce rescued it when it was falling down in 1948. It has become the symbol of Southern California.
Hard to Tell the Extremists from … Well, the Extremists
PROTESTS AND POLITICS--Welcome again to Upside-Down World, where every day is "opposite" day and when, after repeated promises that crazy stuff will neeeeeeever happen suddenly--and whadaya know--DOES happen!
Millennials: The New Urban Pioneers
AT LENGTH-San Pedro is once again waiting at the threshold of another round of redevelopment and speculation, based upon the Port of Los Angeles’ commitment to waterfront development and the “about-to-be-signed” lease on Ports O’ Call Village, newly minted as the “San Pedro Public Market.”
Ten Billion Dollar Bob: a New Strategy?
PERSPECTIVE-When State Senator Bob Hertzberg announced his tax proposal, SB8, in late 2014, he made no secret of using it as a tool to raise taxes by a net $10 billion – that is, per year.
The senator tried to pass it off as “tax modernization.”
Anybody Wonder Why the Homelessness Discussion is Missing from the 2016 Presidential Campaign?
SKID ROW- Since 2016 is an “election year” for all levels of government -- from neighborhood councils to the White House – it’s usual for the topic of “homelessness” to come up freely and often, with empty rhetoric abounding aplenty.
LA Supes Have Once-in-A-Generation Opportunity to Break Inequality Barrier for Parks and Playgrounds
COUNTY WATCH--On Tuesday, May 3, LA County’s Supervisors will consider a ballot measure that could create parks and recreation options for communities that need them most. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve a long-standing injustice against low-income communities of color, which have been left behind in the allocation of these resources.
‘No Kill’: LA’s Big Lie
ANIMAL POLITICS--Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus is a Latin phrase most familiar in legal circles meaning if a witness lies about one thing, you may assume that he lies about everything.
ExxonMobil Still Polluting! Refinery Safety Network Files Suit Against SoCal Air Quality District
THIS IS WHAT I KNOW--Few film buffs can forget Howard Beale’s rant in Network (1976.) – “Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad! You’ve got to say, I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”