LOS ANGELES

PERSPECTIVE--As a species, we seem to be in a period of considerable uncertainty, where familiar features of the political landscape are disappearing, and it is not clear what will replace them. Will NATO and the European Union be around in five or 10 years, and in anything like their present form?

DEEGAN ON LA-The Mayor, City Hall politicos, and land use developers have a serious “Not in My Charter City” threat breathing down their necks -- a looming problem in their own backyard and it includes all of LA.

MY TURN-If you have the stomach for it, you need only visit a few of the pro-trump social media sites to get an idea of how far gone these people are.

DISABILITY PERSPECTIVE-Side gigs have become increasingly popular ways for many Americans to make extra money, and they’re perfect for parents who need something that will fit around their schedules.

ALPERN AT LARGE--First things first: Thank you LA City Council for unanimously rejecting SB 50 (the Wiener Bill). 

But ... what's next? 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-Time to debunk the five tall tales crammed into the two short sentences below to lobby for Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 50, legislation whose not-so-well-hidden-agenda is to boost profits from commercial and residential real estate. 

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.