ELECTION WATCH-According to a WalletHub survey on 2018’s Most and Least Politically Engaged States, California ranked #50 in percentage of registered voters in the 2016 presidential election. Using ten key metrics, the state ranked #24 in political engagement.

URBAN FORREST POLITICS--Our trees are disappearing.  For a number of reasons our urban forest is declining, at the time we need it most.

CORRUPTION WATCH-The Dems are certain that all Trump supporters are vile White racists and the GOP is convinced that all Dems are snowflakes who would turn the country into a Socialist nightmare.

PERSPECTIVE--The unfriendly skies over the Southeast Valley got a little unfriendlier on October 18^th.

@THE GUSS REPORT-Should Justin Wesson, (photo above, left) the son of LA City Council president Herb Wesson, ever run for his dad’s elected office (a rumor floated solely by the LA Times), the first question any opponent should publicly pose to him is this: Is it true that you lived with your parents between the ages of 26 and 36, despite having a six-figure salary as Floor Director of the LA City Council? 

WHAT TO EXPECT--To get a better idea of how and when consumers plan to shop this holiday season and on Cyber Week, BlackFriday.com surveyed over 1,500 Americans to find out the biggest trends.

PRISON POLITICS--In a reversal of a controversial rule that disproportionately sentenced mentally ill and African-American inmates to life in prison for petty crimes, California will allow all non-violent prisoners under the Three Strikes Act to seek parole.

ALPERN AT LARGE--Come November, YOU decide. As for me, I'm just so very conflicted about Proposition 6 that I cannot recommend either a "pro" or "con" position.

ANIMAL WATCH-Mayor Eric Garcetti's approval of an $800,000 expenditure of tax funds -- requested by Councilman Paul Koretz and L.A. Animal Services GM Brenda Barnette -- for the City to produce an environmental report (EIR) indicating there will be no negative impact from releasing thousands of feral cats through trap/neuter/release (TNR) programs in LA may come back to bite him in other politically sensitive areas--public health, homelessness, and an outbreak of typhus.

EASTSIDER-All the mainstream media seems to agree that President Trump tweets and talks to give us new bright and shiny objects to obsess about, mostly as a method of taking attention away from what he is really doing.

MY TURN--The destruction of a power never happens all at once. Rome wasn’t conquering other cultures one day and then the next day finding themselves falling apart.

DONE WATCH-The Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) administratively and illegally has removed a board member from the Van Nuys Neighborhood Council (VNNC).

BELL VIEW--The other day, walking through my residential neighborhood with my wife and two kids on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I forced down a rage eruption at the driver of a car who mistook our quiet street for a stretch of the 101 Freeway.

LEANING RIGHT-The sharp uptick in public shaming over the past several years, and specifically since the 2016 election, has sparked a heated discussion about whether the perceived righteousness of the practice overshadows possible damage and likely fallout.

EDUCATION POLITICS-Business banker Marshall Tuck is running for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction again. He’s backed by the same ideologically charged billionaires as the last time — several of whom supported reactionary measures like Proposition 8.