LOS ANGELES

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA--This is a tale of two new skyscrapers—and of two cities that have more in common than they care to admit.(Photo above: Wilshire Grand tower in Downtown LA.)

ADVOCATING FOR YOU-I am often asked why people are so disengaged when it comes to their local government. And I always have a simple answer: "They hate spinning their wheels." People get involved, put their time, effort and heart into something and then feel like they’ve accomplished nothing when it’s over. In my short time within the Neighborhood Council System, I’ve seen this over and over. 

GELFAND’S WORLD--Perhaps it's coincidence that the Elysium Conservatory Theatre is opening its production of Anton Chekhov's 1901 masterpiece Three Sisters over this Thanksgiving holiday period, but of such coincidences are insights (and reviews) made. 

EASTSIDER--Did you ever start a project to find that it takes on a life of its own?  The tenants at 3212 Verdugo Road in Glassell Park (photo below right), and the owners desire to bulldoze them over into 10 small lot subdivision homes, has turned into one of those issues for me. 

RANTZ & RAVEZ---I begin this Thanksgiving edition of RantZ and RaveZ with a few RaveZ’s.

EPPERHART EXPRESS--At the final White House briefing before Thanksgiving, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked reporters to say what they’re grateful for prior to asking their questions. One, at least, remembered to be thankful for the First Amendment. For the most part, the reporters were good natured about Sanders’ question, responding with the usual family, friends, and so on. I don’t think anyone mentioned Donald Trump as a source of gratitude. 

CORRUPTION WATCH-The hypocrisy about sexual predators must stop -- at least in Los Angeles where it all began anew with Harvey Weinstein. For decades the Los Angeles District Attorney Office has viciously attacked the most famous victims of child rape -- Lyle and Erik Menendez. Even with the current documentaries and TV dramas, the viciously corrupt DA’s Office denies that Lyle and Erik were raped. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--Forever we'll debate the differences and similarities of men and women, and forever we'll debate whether treating women differently than men is empowering or demeaning to either gender.  But at least we're on our way as a society to one common conclusion: that treating other human beings like chattel or sexual objects is in no way acceptable or appropriate in a civilized society. 

PLATKIN ON PLANNING--For those who care about the planet’s future, it has not been a good week.  There are no shortages of public officials who have dropped the ball, despite their power and bully pulpit to do good. (Graphic above: Maps of planet earth documenting observed global warming.) 

TOMORROWLAND--If Eric Garcetti runs for president, what will it mean for Hispanics not only in his hometown but beyond? 

PREVEN REPORT--The County of Los Angeles owns twenty golf courses—why not turn one or more of them into a park? 

EDUCATION WATCH-What is most personal is most universal. These words from Carl Rogers came to mind when I read this letter from the parents of Los Angeles public school students in response to an annual survey. The letter serves to be a report on the state of public education. It is posted here with their permission and with identifying names partially redacted.

PREVEN REPORT--Why not use one or more docked decommissioned cruise ships as a stop-gap measure to provide temporary housing to homeless people in Los Angeles County?

IF ONLY THE BOX OFFICE WERE DOING THIS WELL--The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating nearly two dozen cases of possible sexual misconduct after a wave of complaints about sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood, sources tell NBC News. 

POLITICS--Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Pacoima, announced Monday that he would not seek re-election and immediately resign from his leadership position of Assembly Whip.

@THE GUSS REPORT-LA journalists will soon blindly trumpet that Mayor Garcetti’s animal shelters are “No Kill” when there is no such thing as a genuine no kill big city anywhere in the country. When they do this, those journalists own that lie. 

JUSTICE WATCH--A wealthy, white Southern California teen, accused of murder and premeditated murder in an Oct. 1 gang-related killing in South LA was released from jail after his parents posted the $5 million in bail. (Exclusive Jasmyne Cannick video here.) 

REVEALED—(Editor’s Note: The Los Angeles Times reported this weekend that Democratic Donor Ed Buck’s home was found littered with drug paraphernalia when the sheriffs answered a call to check on a dead body found there the night of July 27. Here’s what the Times reported on Saturday. Here’s what CityWatch and Jasmyne Cannick exposed way back on August 28.)The silence from LA’s Democratic community on the recent death of a 26-year-old Black gay male escort in the West Hollywood apartment of 63-year-old prominent Democratic political donor Ed Buck has been astounding. 

ALPERN AT LARGE--Some of us are too quick to accuse others as evil, and both sides of the political spectrum are too quick to decry the other as "Nazis" or "fascists" or "racists".  And then there's the real deal:  Charles Manson, a man who lived by far too long, is dead at 83. 

BCK FILE--Another week has passed with yet more women coming forward with sexual harassment allegations against a who’s who of Hollywood and politics, including Sen. Al Franken, former SNL cast member, Roy Moore, the candidate to replace Attorney Jeff Sessions senate seat, Roy Moore, actor Jeffrey Tambor, and Russell Simmons, among others. 

CAL MATTERS--With a declaration that “public servants best serve the citizenry when they can be candid and honest without reservation in conducting the people’s business,” lawmakers passed the California Whistleblower Protection Act in 1999.