LOS ANGELES

SEX TRAFFICKING - I was raised not to revel in the misfortune of others, but I can’t think of a better reason to make an exception to that rule than in the case of R&B icon R. Kelly.

LA POLITICS - How does one apply the very campaign tactics of former President Donald Trump on one hand, and claim to be a “progressive” on the other?

GOVERNMENT FUNDING - As lawmakers scramble to finalize a historic jobs and infrastructure package, huge fights are underway to figure out how to fund it.

RICH GETTING RICHER - Professional sports teams, massive luxury-car collections, 216-foot yachts, multi-million-dollar mansions.

THE WORKPLACE - For months, corporate hegemons, real estate brokers and their media acolytes have insisted that a return to “normalcy,” that is, to the office, was imminent.

USPS WOES - Defenders of the U.S. Postal Service are urgently renewing their calls for the ouster of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy as his 10-year plan to overhaul the cherished government institution is set to take effect Friday, ushering in permanently slower mail delivery while hiking prices for consumers.

EASTSIDER - Like Antonio Villaraigosa before him, Kevin De León had a plan. Run for City Council, and two years in become Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Then along came Karen Bass and it all went to hell. 

PLANNING WATCH-My Neighborhood Congress Presentation: In my weekly Planning Watch columns I often debunk shady claims that trickle-down housing policies -- inspired by Reaganomics -- can fix LA’s housing crisis.

THE DOCTOR IS IN - Unfortunately, the lack of balance between Republicans and Democrats in this state, and the rise of the Woke New Generation, is destroying our economy, our environment, and our quality of life,

FIRE WATCH - One year after its aging equipment sparked a wildfire that killed four people in Northern California, Pacific Gas & Electric on Friday was hit with 31 charges, including 11 felonies, by a county prosecutor who cited the formerly bankrupt utility giant's "repeated pattern" of causing such conflagrations.

A VIEW FROM HERE - Lawyers use legalese which confuses most people, but judges use JudicialSpeak which can be harder to understand. 

RECALL POLITICS - For many, DA Gascon’s dangerous directives represent a disregard to the rule of law that he actually swore to uphold, then only to ignore on his first day in office.

COMMENTARY - Trump just unleashed an unhinged, barely coherent rant about the possibility President Biden might reveal what was going on in the White House on January 6th,

CAL MATTERS - California has been grappling with two significant crises: homelessness and extreme weather events, including drought and wildfires.

Independent: Max Huntsman, the Inspector General over the LA County Sheriff's Department dba "the dog who can't hunt" was on KNX announcing that Sheriff Alex Villanueva was planning to be a no-show at another scheduled Civilian Oversight shaming session.

A VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos are like Covid deniers.  No matter how bad things become, they refuse to admit something is wrong. 

PLANNING WATCH - One of the most famous mid-20^th century public intellectuals, sociologist Wright Mills, coined the term, Crackpot Realism. 

ENVIRONMENT - Francisco Diaz remembers when the water piped to his home in the Central Valley community of Monterey Park Tract made everything smell rotten, including himself.

CAL MATTERS - Stakeholders across California participated in a moderated discussion about the state’s digital divide and its effect on small business.

CONNECTING CALIFORNIA - As California starts closing prisons, what might open in their place?

LABOR VIEW - Without the power of the union to stand up for workers, very little progress can be made in pay equality, diversity inclusion, workplace conditions, and so on.