LOS ANGELES

@THE GUSS REPORT-The University of Southern California may be located a few miles south of downtown Los Angeles, but it did the Texas Two Step last week as an infuriating but delicious scandal of fraud, bribery, fame, wealth and privilege in college admissions unfolded at its doorstep. 

MY TURN-The era of the baby boomers is defined as Americans born during the post-WW II period between 1946 and 1964.

NEWSOM DECISION EXPLAINED--The 737 inmates on California’s largest-in-the-nation death row are getting a reprieve from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who plans to sign an executive order Wednesday placing a moratorium on executions. 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-In 2018, Los Angeles, like most California cities, formally opposed SB 827, the YIMBY California/Senator Scott Wiener bill to upzone (i.e., unplanned unappealable increases in the height, size, and density of privately-owned parcels). Because their opposition to SB 827 was carefully supported by detailed studies, the bill went down to quick defeat. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION- Here’s some great dialogue from the 1942 classic film Casablanca: 

Rick: “How can you close me up? On what grounds?” 

Captain Renault: “I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” 

NEW GEOGRAPHY--The Reason Foundation has just published an important review of transit in Los Angeles County, by transportation consultant Thomas A. Rubin and University of Southern California Professor James E. Moore II.

ALPERN AT LARGE--It's one thing to be critical of President Donald Trump's managerial style, and it's another thing to be critical about it and be the same guy...and I'm looking at YOU, Governor Gavin Newsom. 

GUEST WORDS--On Friday, February 22, Sunrise Bay Area, Youth Vs. Apocalypse and Earth Guardians Bay Area Crew gathered together for a rally held outside of Senator Feinstein’s office in San Francisco in an attempt to persuade her to vote yes on the Green New Deal. 

EDUCATION POLITICS--On Tuesday, dozens of parents were among 50 people charged with participation in a widespread college admissions scam.

GUEST COMMENTARY--The bar for higher education just got a lot higher – or lower, if you have a fortune to spare.

EASTSIDER-Now, I’m just a third generation country boy from California, so maybe I don’t understand all the nuances of this big deal Washington debate over who’s anti-Semitic.

LENGTH-Somewhere filed in the archives of this newspaper is a historic picture of the marriage between Ms. San Pedro and Mr. Los Angeles — an arrangement the descendants of Ms. Pedro and her cousins in Wilmington and Harbor City have grumbled about for over 100 years.

MY TURN-Ah yes, nothing like putting a female so-called “progressive” in with white, male slave owners; but this is one of the favorite images of the fauxgressive group.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-From CNN to the right-wing rabid dogs, all agree that Nancy Pelosi is an Identity Politics champion, #Fivewhitemen. Knowing that negativity attracts more voters than being positive, Pelosi is tripling down on her group rights position where Whites are bad, but white men are worse and white Jews are worst of all. 

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA--Los Angeles is a city of more than four million people. And in its next budget, it might—I repeat, might—launch an Office of Civic Engagement to help all residents better participate in their city government. (Representatives of EmpowerLA visited polling places last November to educate voters about their Neighborhood Councils. Courtesy of EmpowerLA.)

NEW GEOGRAPHY--The people who build our homes increasingly can no longer afford them. As the state elite and their academic cheering crew celebrate our progressive boom, even the most skilled, unionized construction workers, notes an upcoming study, cannot afford to live anywhere close to the state’s major job centers.

ALPERN AT LARGE--The controversies swirling around the Venice Blvd. Road Diet, the California High-Speed Rail, and the elimination of city/county/local planning and zoning isn't about me and isn't about thee. The question to be answered is whether "leadership" in the guise of tyranny is acceptable in a democratic society. 

ANIMAL WATCH-Of all the loathsome things that have been done to destroy the reputation, morale and credibility of Los Angeles Animal Services under General Manager Brenda Barnette, her latest attempt to turn LA's  shelters into "puppy mills" -- providing living products from late-term pregnant dogs for “rescuers” to sell in Councilman Paul Koretz' highly profitable "new business-model pet stores" -- is one of the most disturbing. 

DEEGAN ON LA-Zoning issues, not wildlife protection, is what many think about when hearing the name, “LA Department of City Planning.” But the department, as directed by Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD5), may be signaling that it’s time to make room in developers’ dreams for the wellbeing of the Big Cats, commonly called cougars or pumas -- the mountain lions that make their home in the Santa Monica Mountains. 

VOICES-The Neighborhood Council system was created to give the public a voice. The Los Angeles City Charter states that their purpose is, "To promote more citizen participation in government."

GELFAND’S WORLD--A local CBS television outlet defined fake news last Friday when it featured a Trump rant as if it were legitimate.