LOS ANGELES

ALPERN AT LARGE--There is a difference between liberal and being closed-minded.

EDUCATION POLITICS--Don’t squeeze your kids too hard as you send them off to another school year, because the state of California is already squeezing your kids hard enough to hurt their future.

RANTZ & RAVEZ-This summer some of my motorcycle friends and I rode our Harleys and BMWs nearly 5,000 miles during the months of July and August to destination points starting in the west in California and traveling east to Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming and finally, the Grand Daddy of them all, Sturgis, South Dakota.

EASTSIDER-I know it’s hard for anyone to write honestly about race, but as a third generation Californian, I’ll give it a whirl. With a different context. 

Two years from now, California voters may have a chance to touch the third rail of state politics.

ALPERN AT LARGE--A funny thing happened when the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) raised the issue of regular street-sweeping on Centinela Blvd. in West Los Angeles

PLATKIN ON PLANNING-In recent weeks I have written a series of columns exposing another quickly unfolding City Hall real estate scam,

CORRUPTION WATCH-One of the acts of tyranny which prompted Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence was a corrupt judicial system where the whims of men, primarily King George’s, supplanted rule of law.

GELFAND’S WORLD--The idea of Resilience is not inherently a bad idea.

CAL MATTERS--Between the end of last year’s deadly wildfires and the start of this summer’s fatal blazes, utilities and insurers with a huge stake in the aftermath have poured more than $3.2 million into California campaign donations and another $5.2 million into state lobbying—a big spike.

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA--How can Californians rise from horrific local circumstances to national influence?

GUEST WORDS--Expect to hear about folks in the Los Angeles area taking stands on the app-based, pay-by-the-mile electric scooters that seem to be scattered about the City of Angels in greater numbers by the day.

CORRUPTION WATCH-All three of these men have a grandiose sense of entitlement. Whatever they say or do is, by definition, correct. All three appear to suffer from a Narcissistic Personality Disorder as opposed to momentary lapses in judgment. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-We had some fun with the toadies at the Los Angeles Times last week to see whether an embarrassed politician can be prompted to run to the newspaper’s servile reporters for some TLC (Tender Loving Cover) and damage control PR. 

SOUTH OF THE TEN-Has Inglewood Mayor James Butts’ bullying encroached on neighboring city boundaries?

WATER POLITICS-Californians have approved two water bonds in recent years, with another facing voters this November.

FIGHTING FOR TENANTS’ RIGHTS-Since March of this year, a bitter battle that can only be described as a modern-day David and Goliath, has been unfolding in the Westlake Community of Los Angeles.

NEW GEOGRAPHY--One of the last regions settled en masse by Europeans, California’s trajectory long has been linked to its partners across the Pacific.

DEEGAN ON LA-You know the feeling-- that things just aren’t like they used to be, whether it’s housing, zoning, civility or politics, but you may not appreciate the dynamic that is interfering so successfully with a change in the status quo.

GELFAND’S WORLD--Yes We (Still) Canis a recent book that has much to teach us about what it will take to win back the presidency in 2020.

WORLD WATCH--The nearly three months of demonstrations by Palestinians along the Israel-Gaza border under the banner of the “March of Return”, which turned violent and has remained as such as of this writing.