LOS ANGELES

GUEST WORDS--There’s little that LA’s politicians are as good at as shoveling millions of tax dollars into projects with little or no value for the residents of this city (save for those employed as lobbyists). For example, this past August, the Los Angeles City Council pledged to fork over $600 million to build and run a streetcar on a four-mile loop in downtown Los Angeles -- a route already covered by the city’s DASH buses.  

GUEST WORDS--Another day, another camp. The latest vagrant camp has emerged on Inglewood Blvd. under the 90 freeway, by the very upscale Sunkist Park.

NEW GEOGRAPHY--The recent California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco exposed the divide between the state’s progressive and working-class voters.

COUNTING THE HOMELESS--At the June meeting of the Los Angeles Regional Homelessness Advisory Council (RHAC), the Los Angeles Homeless Services authority (LAHSA) presented the 2019 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count.

GELFAND’S WORLD--The Hollywood Fringe is once again in full swing. The following brief reviews (and one little comment on our national politics) are intended to introduce you to some possibilities.

TRANSIT TALK-As I have asked before, “Who is in charge of bus stops?” I ask this because as a regular bus rider in Los Angeles since 1992 I have experienced too many instances of bus stops being closed without advance notice, throwing my transit life into chaos and stress. 

THE BADGE AS A TARGET-"Blue Lives in Jepopardy - When the Badge Becomes the Target," recently released by co-authors Former LA District Attorney Steve Cooley and Los Angeles County career-prosecutor and office historian Robert (Bob) Schirn, is the second in a trilogy of books examining actual line-of-duty events that have ended the lives of law enforcement officers in Los Angeles County.

CALIFORNIA POLITICS-A “cut and gut” technically may be legal but it is not moral or good governance.

ONE MAN’S OPINION-Alex Datig is the person behind the petition to recall our ‘beloved’ Mayor Eric Garcetti.

@THE GUSS REPORT-The saying “a fish rots from the head” certainly applies to LA on Mayor Eric Garcetti’s watch.

SPORTS POLITICS--On the basketball court, Ed O'Bannon never made a huge name for himself.

DEEGAN ON LA-Can you run for re-election to public office in Los Angeles without convincing voters that you’ve done something concrete to solve our deeply rooted homelessness crisis, so evident on sidewalks across the city? 

GUEST COMMENTARY--Let's call the homeless issue what it is. A crime against humanity. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-Some people believe that the world is teleological, that is, that the world is moving toward some pre-set purpose.

FESTIVAL WATCH--First, they claim their name is meaningless. Then they say it means “one thousand cranes. And one of them is always awake.”

ALPERN AT LARGE--We should be as grateful to those who have served us well, while scornful to those who did not. One such person who recently retired is a man who few, outside of neighborhood/civic leadership, knew well ... but those who knew him were grateful to have known him. That man is Mo Blorfroshan. 

SPECIAL REPORT-Housing Is A Human Right has released a sweeping investigative report about government-sanctioned gentrification in Los Angeles. Mayor Eric Garcetti stands at the center of this important exposé.

FIRST PERSON--I first met Danielle by her tent in the spring of 2018 on Fairfax Avenue during my daily walks. She lived with a male partner who was often sitting with her in their tent. Sometimes she sat near Fairfax Avenue panhandling. 

OTHERWORDS--Some brave hetero activists are attempting to organize a “Straight Pride Parade” in Boston.

CLIMATE POLITICS-Permafrost covers 25% of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the world’s largest icebox, and its landmass is 4.5xs larger than Antarctica, 6.5xs larger than the United States.

EDUCATION POLITICS--LIKE MANY SCHOOL DISTRICTS in the post-Columbine era of the late 1990s, Los Angeles’ responded to misbehavior with zero-tolerance toughness.