LOS ANGELES

WHY CALIFORNIA IS ON FIRE---Record setting fires burn in the Western U.S. These fires of recent years are the largest in the California history, and to date 3.2 million acres have burned, tragically taking lives, homes and structures, and property.

GELFAND’S WORLD--Donald Trump believes that if the ballot count comes up against him, then the election must have been rigged. He refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. 

PLANNING WATCH-The South Pacific cargo cults are gone, but we have plenty of modern cults, and the one I regularly encounter is the Supply-and-Demand cult.

GUEST WORDS-Can you access your bank account online? Are you able to refill your prescriptions online? Do you have children trying to keep up with their school classes using the Internet?

EASTSIDER-Right by an elementary school, across from the restaurant that was formerly Mom’s Tamales, the troubled Avenue 34 Luxury Project wants to use old, outdated data to gentrify Lincoln Heights and cycle out the mostly low-income largely Latino and Asian folks who actually live in the area. 

LEANING RIGHT-Liberals and conservatives, young and old, and renters and homeowners need to come together in each community and neighborhood council to address the following "laundry lists" for their Community Plan Updates. 

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT-As the battle over California’s Proposition 21 heats up, Steve Maviglio, the contentious political consultant based in Sacramento, is taking center stage as spokesman for the No on Prop 21 campaign.

HOUSING POLITICS-The shortage of affordable housing in LA County and across the state has meant that many families who live here cannot afford the cost of an apartment or single-family home—causing some families to share homes instead. 

PERSPECTIVE--Although this is mainly a piece in honor of the life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, there is an important personal caveat. 

PERSPECTIVE--The City of Los Angeles is in dire financial condition.  It was in bad condition before Covid 19; things have gotten worse since the pandemic. 

CLIMATE POLITICS-The World Wildlife Foundation, in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, recently issued an eye-popping description of the forces of humanity versus life in nature,

GELFAND’S WORLD--The sudden vacancy on the United States Supreme Court (aka Scotus) following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg will ultimately lead to severe changes in American government.

COMMENTARY-If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Incivility has become the hallmark of our current regime. 

@THE GUSS REPORT-Like a child denying to his mom that he ate the cookie despite cookie crumbs around the perimeter of his mouth, the LAPD once again denies the undeniable. 

THE LA ELECTION-As a summer of unrest draws to a close, the contest to lead the nation’s largest district attorney’s office is heating up.

SOUTH OF THE 10--Inglewood residents are no longer enamored with Mayor James T. Butts and how he “gets shit done“.  

KPPC RADIO- Jack Humphreville, CityWatch columnist, appears on the highly respected Air Talk with Larry Mantle on KPPC radio.

SUPREME COURT POLITICS-As mourners left flowers and signs outside the U.S. Supreme Court building overnight following Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death Friday evening, President Donald Trump and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to force through her replacement with just weeks until the November election while progressive lawmakers and organizers promised to fight the GOP's hypocritical effort to shift the court right.

OTHER WORDS-Today, I attended online classes all day and then curled up with the new Bob Woodward book, Rage.

DISINFORMATION ALERT-Sitting, as I do most early mornings, drinking coffee on my back porch, I can hear the distant barking of harbor seals from the main channel.

GENDER POLITICS-The Georgia sun beat down on my uncle Dennis’s front yard the day he cut my hair.