LOS ANGELES

MY TURN--Are you there yet?

By “there,” I mean have you at last become a 1 percenter?

NEW GEOGRAPHY-The recent rash of fires, like the drought that preceded it, has sparked a new wave of pessimism about the state’s future.

EL CHAPO WATCH--Just as the post-mortem analyses of the botched capture and release of El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzman, was dying down, Mexico suffered another atypical act of violence.

GELFAND’S WORLD--A new article in Talking Points Memo explains the genesis of the Ukraine extortion scandal.

ALPERN AT LARGE-This is the City of the Angels, but the Road to Hell is, as always, paved with good intentions. 

EASTSIDER-Recently at the HHPNC (Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council) , something weird even by Northeast LA Standards happened.

PLANNING WATCH-Top-down, trickle-down proposals to build our way out of worsening climate, traffic, and homeless crises are metastasizing right-before our eyes.

GUEST WORDS-It is not easy driving a taxi in Los Angeles. The city is expensive to live in, our gas prices continue to increase, and we all know how difficult it is to get around. But what makes it even harder for taxi drivers is that the city government is acting like they want our industry to die. 

DEEGAN ON LA-The liberal left likes to call us a “sanctuary city,” but everyone, no matter where they sit on the political spectrum, can see what we really are starting to look like: a third-class city.

AT LENGTH-I was at the Little Italy fandango put on by Councilman Joe Buscaino when one of our newest civic leaders engaged me in some repartee about my latest article on the Bukowski bronze. 

ONE MAN’S OPINION-The California Supreme Court case of American Philatelic Soc. v. Claibourne (1935) 3 Cal.2d 689, 698-699 says, “When a scheme is evolved which on its face violates the fundamental rules of honesty and fair dealing, a court of equity is not impotent to frustrate its consummation because the scheme is an original one.

HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT-A year away from Election Day, the real estate industry is already gearing up for a pitched battle against the housing justice movement in California.

ALPERN AT LARGE--As aforestated in a previous and recent CityWatch article, we're in a cultural and educational "Denaissance", and in a world increasingly rife with blind faith and false narratives that seek to confuse, confound, and ultimately divide us. 

GUEST WORDS--Despite the upbeat words from America’s billionaire president about the “economic miracle” he has produced, economic inequality in the United States is on the rise. 

THE CITY--Homelessness in LA has run rampant. The blight has moved way beyond Skid Row to neighborhoods in every council district, affecting the quality of life for hard-working, tax-paying Angelenos in a sad and profound way.

@THE GUSS REPORT-The next time that someone – regardless of race, gender, identity and sexual orientation – sues the City of Los Angeles over a hostile workplace environment, sexual harassment or whistleblower claim, today’s column may wind up in the lawsuit’s discovery process. 

PERSPECTIVE--Valley Glen and NoHo, along with parts of Van Nuys, could be in for a rude awakening. Valley Village, would also be in the mix. 

TRANSIT LA-In the glossy Metro pamphlet, there is the lead article: “Metro Board’s New Maverick Leader / Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Brings a Practical Vision to Transit Agency.”

GELFAND’S WORLD--Considering that it's going to be next to impossible to remove Trump from the presidency through an impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, people are entitled to ask why the Democrats in the House are even bothering.

VIEW FROM HERE-I am the whistleblower. Here, Mr. President, take me. I am the one who sounded the alarm.

CLIMATE POLITICS--The planet is coming apart at the seams right before the eyes of scientists at work in remote fringe areas of the North where permafrost crumbles and collapses.