In the News
Do We Have to Choose Between Trees and Sidewalks?
If we don't find a way to stop the decline, Los Angeles will be facing a major environmental crisis.
Last week the City Council's Public Works & Gang Reduction Committee denied appeals for tree removals in three locations, includin…
California Will Offer Parole for 4,000 'Three-Strike' Prisoners Facing Life Sentences
PRISON POLITICS--In a reversal of a controversial rule that disproportionately sentenced mentally ill and African-American inmates to life…
California, Dead Last in Voter Registration?
ELECTION WATCH-According to a WalletHub survey on 2018’s Most and Least Politically Engaged States, California ranked #50 in percentage of…
Air Wars Over the Valley
PERSPECTIVE--The unfriendly skies over the Southeast Valley got a little unfriendlier on October 18th.
Shining Some Daylight on Drip-Down-Democracy
DEEGAN ON LA-Here’s an unfortunate example of “indirect democracy” coming up on California’s November 6 ballot: Proposition 7, which asks v…
Why Local Residents Turn Blue Over the Purple Line Up-zoning Scheme?
PLATKIN ON PLANNING-LA’s Council District 5 requested that a large group of its constituents – representing the neighborhood councils, resi…
So What if Donald Trump IS the Bright, Shiny Object?
EASTSIDER-All the mainstream media seems to agree that President Trump tweets and talks to give us new bright and shiny objects to obsess a…
Rage On
BELL VIEW--The other day, walking through my residential neighborhood with my wife and two kids on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I forced down…
It Is Vital That Prop 10 Pass!
CORRUPTION WATCH--Prop 10 represents that weird situation where “You cannot get there from here.”
How LAUSD Lost Over a Half Billion Dollars of Taxpayer’s Money … without Being Reported
EDUCATION POLITICS--Since my July 12 CityWatchLA article entitled LAUSD’s Malfunctioning Payroll Debacle: Still targeting Former Teachers w…
Having the Conversation: Arranging for Disabled Care Later in Life
DISABILITY PERSPECTIVE-People with disabilities and their family members are often too busy managing their disability to give much thought…
Feinstein and de Leon: The Sound of One Man Debating
CAL MATTERS--What’s the sound of one man debating? California voters got an idea today at the first and only scheduled candidate forum in t…
“Don’t They Know I am in Charge? Off with Their Heads!”
DONE WATCH-The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) administratively and illegally has removed a board member from the Van Nuys Ne…
Conservatives Just Aren’t Smart Enough to Know the Difference!
MY TURN--This statement may sound like I am using a broad paintbrush, and indeed I am.
Word from Insiders: Californian on the 2020 Presidential Ticket
CAL MATTERS-The latest conventional wisdom among state political insiders: There’s a good chance a Californian will be on the presidential…
Voter Suppression, a Reality in the Midterms
BCK FILE--Since his election in 2016, Donald J. Trump has been alleging massive voter fraud by millions of votes in California and other bl…
Two Words Explain LA’s Woes “Beyond Build-out!”
CORRUPTION WATCH-“Build-out” is the term that means any increase in population density will exceed the infrastructure to support it.
Inglewood Mayor Gets a Pass on New House Code Violations
INSIDE INGLEWOOD--Is Inglewood Mayor James Butts continuing to intimidate city employees to suit his own needs?
Fool Me Once …
ALPERN AT LARGE--One of my life's greatest adventures was the fight to create an Expo Line, which is now one of the most ridden light rail…
City Council Shoots Self in Foot Trying to Kill Free Speech
@THE GUSS REPORT-Just when you think a story has reached its conclusion, something remarkable happens.
