LOS ANGELES

@THE GUSS REPORT-As the Tuesday morning celebration for City Council’s new president Nury Martinez died-down, she walked up the steps to the raised podium where the most influential lawmaker in the City of LA sits during meetings.

PLANNING WATCH-It almost seems normal that most of our national political leaders are marching us over a cliff to fossil fuel driven extinction. So no one should be too surprised when state and local leaders respond to immediate issues, like housing, with similar self-defeating approaches.

OTHER WORDS-As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., it’s natural to remember his courageous advocacy for racial equity. But before he was assassinated, King had also begun to broaden his efforts to unify around economic justice. 

FOSSIL FUEL POLITICS-Late last year, The Washington Post reported a remarkable poll finding: Nearly half of American adults — 46 percent — believe the U.S. needs to “drastically reduce” fossil fuel use in the near future to address the climate crisis. Another 41 percent favor a more gradual reduction.

EASTSIDER-Remember those Monsters Commercials for Spectrum? At one time there were something like 13 of them, and they live on in YouTube.

ALPERN AT LARGE-Since many who read and write for CityWatch are caught up in the President's actions or antics, and blame President Trump for the killing of Iran's General Soleimani, and as well for the downing of the passenger jet to Ukraine, the question of "who is to blame" for violence is a good one.

RANTZ & RAVEZ-Most of the honest, law-abiding Los Angeles residents have run out of patience, understanding and compassion when dealing with the expanding homeless population.

HOUSING POLITICS--Housing Is A Human Right has released today a special report about Big Tech, California YIMBY, and State Sen. Scott Wiener, all of whom push a troubling “trickle-down” housing agenda that fuels gentrification. That includes SB 50 — California’s controversial, land-use deregulation bill. As the SB 50 battle unfolds, this revealing investigation connects the dots about the relationships and money ties between Big Tech, California YIMBY, and Wiener. 

GUEST COMMENTARY--Why is Los Angeles City Cannabis policy and implementation the largest most bungled failure in the United States? 

DEEGAN ON LA---In the mid-sixties movie “The Graduate”, a confused recent graduate, played by Dustin Horrman as Ben, is pulled into the corner by a family friend to be ordained with the secret of the future: “It’s plastics”, the man confidentially whispers into Ben’s ear.  

VOICES-The mainstream press is filled with stories about violent “anti-Semitic” (i.e. anti-Jewish) incidents in the United States, as well as a large march against anti-Semitism in New York City.

GELFAND’S WORLD--To give you an idea of how uninterested I am in the British royal family, I had to look up how to spell Meghan Markle’s name, and, in addition, make sure that her husband is, indeed, Prince Harry.

VOICES--A Los Feliz homeowner who claims nearby homeless facilities will make his property “less desirable” is trying to thwart a planned homeless shelter at the base of Griffith Park. 

NEW GEOGRAPHY--Perhaps nothing so animates the progressive Left today as the notion of an increasingly race-conscious society, segregated by ethnic identity and dismissive of the traditional ideal of assimilation.

ALPERN AT LARGE--You would think that the only person willing to turn California into a sewer sump is a chump.

CLIMATE POLITICS-Throughout the world, mega droughts are hitting hard with a ferocity not seen in decades and in some cases not seen in centuries.

AT LENGTH-California Gov. Gavin Newsom just announced a bold initiative to add some $1.4 billion to the budget to address the homeless crisis on the local level. He has called for an all-hands-on-deck approach from state agencies.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-From its outset, mankind has been plagued by bad governance.

ALPERN AT LARGE-No matter how indisputably hated, no matter how universally despised, and no matter how ubiquitously decried and defeated, Senate Bill 50 (SB 50) is again being pushed  by our own "woke" anti-environmental actor, State Senator Scott Wiener, (photo above) after multiple outcries from cities, counties, and grassroots activists. 

VOICES-La Brea Willoughby Coalition continues its fight to protect the quality of life, as well as the character and scale of the La Brea-Willoughby neighborhood in Hollywood by focusing on clarifying and enforcing all zoning laws. 

SOUTH OF THE 10-The Los Angeles County Office of Education has denied a controversial charter school renewal to remain open.