LOS ANGELES

EASTSIDER-In the upcoming May 14 runoff election for LAUSD District 5, it is fascinating how Jackie Goldberg’s (photo above) opponent Heather Repenning and her supporters try to finesse the issue of Heather being another Charter School vote on the Board. Well, good luck with that. She would be. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-American Jews have a Trump problem. When Trump appeared unsteady in support of the State of Israel, it was easier for them to oppose Trump’s vilifying strangers in a strange land, e.g. rousing up hatred of Mexicans from the “three Mexican countries,” per Fox News, by calling the Mexicans, “drug dealers, criminals and rapists.” 

ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS-When I think of Los Angeles County, and this is not a complete map of Los Angeles, I think of everything in our environment that potentially impacts public health.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-As Pesach nears, we Jews have to deal with four sons, three questions, two prongs, and one goal. 

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA--A few months ago, the new mayor of South Pasadena appointed 18 people to the voluntary local commissions that advise the council in the San Gabriel Valley city.

ANTIBIOTIC NIGHTMARE-Public health experts have been warning for decades that overuse of antibiotics reduces the effectiveness of drugs that cure bacterial infections. At least 2,000,000 Americans get antibiotic-resistant infections per year. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--There is NO "binary choice" between appropriate development and OVER-development, but there IS a fundamental choice to ask ourselves: do we want Sacramento to run roughshod over the cities and counties of Los Angeles?  

BCK FILE--On Sunday, President Trump, who seems to have no love for California, tweeted

SPORTS POLITICS--This year’s basketball season, with the collapse of the Lakers and the surprising rise of the Clippers, poses a metaphor for the region.

GELFAND’S WORLD--The last time I wrote about the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), I was musing over the fact that it had spent ten million dollars to move a piece of rock from a hillside to the back lot of the museum. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-A while back I challenged myself to find something undeniably good going on at LA City Council.

DEEGAN ON LA-Dodger Stadium has many sounds -- the cheering of fans, the hawking of hot dogs by vendors, the dramatic exhortations from umpires on close calls, the crack of the bat and, more recently, the crack of a skull. 

NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS--The Pacific Palisades Design Review Board (DRB) has lost members due to term limits. For many months, the DRB has asked Councilman Mike Bonin for replacements, but he has not responded. 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING--Senator Wiener’s transit density bill, SB 50, is touted as a “bold step” to tackle California’s housing crisis.

MY TURN-For anyone who has studied history it is painfully obvious that those individuals who support an agenda of racism and bigotry are never satisfied. In the world of the trumptrolls, this equates to segregating everyone who isn’t “white” and their version of “Christian,” and their hate runs very deep.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-To what extent, if any, did Dem anti-Semitism in the U.S. indirectly impact Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu’s (expected) re-election?  

GUEST COMMENTARY--When Jonathan Kotler applied for a vanity license plate with the acronym COYW — which he said stood for “Come on You Whites” — the California Department of Motor Vehicles rejected his request.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING FIGHT--In a dramatic 9-2 vote against SB 50, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 9 delivered a blow to state Sen. Scott Wiener’s unprecedented law that would reward developers who buy up and demolish as many as 3,000 California neighborhoods.

GUEST COMMENTARY-The most dangerous number in Sacramento these days? 1182. That's the designation of the latest assault on public safety. Assembly Bill 1182, introduced earlier this month by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, would reduce the amount of time even dangerous offenders must spend on parole after being released from prison. 

EASTSIDER-In recent weeks, the notoriously closed California Democratic State Party has seen a number of challenges and exposure in the media, including challenges to their election for Assembly District 51 party delegates, and other instances lacking real transparency. Now they seem to be responding. 

RANTZ & RAVEZ-My column this week reflects the continuation of the high car registration fees and gas tax that California voters failed to modify with Proposition 6 not long ago.