LOS ANGELES

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA--Palm Springs isn’t just a great place to spend a weekend. It’s one of our last and most fervent defenders of what California really is—not what it pretends to be. 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING-Housing Is A Human Right has compared market-rate rent prices to what residents are earning in several California cities and the findings aren’t surprising: the rent is still too damn high.

GELFAND’S WORLD--The Democrats have 48 votes in the senate plus Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin.

LOS ANGELES-There is nothing more boring than a budget hearing schedule.

PERSPECTIVE-Basically, Derek Chauvin was convicted of enforcing the status quo. Because his behavior was caught on video — his knee on George Floyd’s neck, oh my God, choking him to death — and looked so disturbing to most of the public, official American “justice” had to take some sort of action. 

VIEW FROM HERE--Generally, litigation is between two parties.  After Jack runs a red light smashing into Bette’s car, Bette sues Jack for damages. 

LEANING RIGHT--Well that didn't take long, did it? Attacking the police, who rescue and protect us every day, including and especially black and Latino Americans who live in neighborhood where crime is at its worst? 

GUEST WORDS--The murders by cop go on - the latest, Lymond Moses, was asleep in his car - prompting furious calls for police reform from many weary of the carnage.

NEW GEOGRAPHY--We are here to guide public opinion, not to discuss it. -- Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, 1804. 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING-Through the update of the Hollywood Community Plan, Los Angeles politicians have the opportunity to require the construction of more affordable housing and to protect residents against gentrification.

IN PERSON--Rachael Rose Luckey is a Transgender Activist and President Emeritus of the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council, running for the LA City Council in District 13.

POLITICS-As the country’s most influential voting powers, black women make up less than 5% of all state legislators,

EASTSIDER-If you really think about it, the Skid Row Neighborhood Council Formation Committee’s election in 2017 is actually a story about massive election fraud in Los Angeles.

GELFAND’S WORLD--The State of the Union speech was notable for the modesty of its presentation combined with the audacity of its proposals.

AT LENGTH-I was reminded this week that one of the subtlest yet insidious forms of censorship is just not to be invited to the meeting where you don’t ask uncomfortable questions.

PLANNING WATCH-On Monday I read Judge David Carter’s 110 page legal decision and judicial orders regarding homelessness in Los Angeles, mostly in Downtown LA ‘s (DTLA) Skid Row (LA ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, et al. v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES, et al.).

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA-Dear Joe, I know I should call you Mr. President, but there’s no time for formalities.

PERSPECTIVE-In 2019, I reported in 48 hills that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was using mega-grants to shape California housing law and policy.

LOS ANGELES-Overexertion. Among the various causes of incidents outlined in the 2019-20 Trend Analysis, 15.7 percent of all worker's comp claims at Los Angeles County were due to overexertion. 

GUEST COMMENTARY-Republican-controlled state legislatures have introduced over 361 voter suppression bills in 47 states, and some states, like Georgia, have already enacted them into law. 

VIEW FROM HERE-While most the nation was rural in 1890, those who lived in urban areas were crowded together as walking was the most common form of locomotion.