State Watch

COMMENTARY - With this month’s U.N. climate conference failing to achieve key agreements that will limit global heating to the crucial 1.5° C goal, it’s vital that California step up our climate leadership. 

EDUCATION POLITICS  - Then-Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature overhauled California’s public school financing in 2013 with the stated goal of closing the “achievement gap” separating poor and English-learner students from more privileged children.

ENVIRONMENT WATCH - Deep in the oil fields of western Kern County, a little northwest of the century-old town of McKittrick, hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil and wastewater filled with toxic chemicals have been seeping out of the ground for two years, in an area where companies operate hundreds of wells.

CALIFORNIA WATCH - When it comes to California departures, I have no problem with the number of Californians moving out.

JOB FORCE - Officially, California has 1.4 million unemployed residents, but a new study that takes into account people who can’t find jobs that pay above poverty level says the number of “functionally unemployed” is three times higher at 4.8 million.

CALIF JOB FORECAST - Each month, federal and state officials release employment data for the preceding month, basically telling us how many Californians are employed and how many aren’t.

POLITICS - “I just took [my son] to our local Walgreens to buy him a toy. While there, a man shoved past me so firmly that he sent me into the shelving. Then he proceeded to fill a brown paper bag with Halloween candy and waltzed out of the store. This is one of five Walgreens stores in SF that will be closing in the next two months, in part because of rampant theft. And our city leaders all keep insisting crime is down.”

HOUSING CRISIS - The California Apartment Association, the landlord lobbying group, is one of the most powerful organizations in California.

CLIMATE WATCH - Nations convening at the United Nations climate conference pledged today to end the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in major markets by 2035 and globally by 2040, mirroring California’s plans. 

REDISTRICTING - A congressional map that splits Long Beach into two.

STATE OF THE UNIONS - Shirley Reyes tucked herself next to her 17-year-old son on the couch, peppering him with questions about unions as he googled the cost and benefits of collective bargaining on his phone.

CLIMATE CHANGE - Officials warn that next year’s cuts in water supply could go even deeper as severe drought grips nearly 90% of California.

LA RECALLS-In at least two appearances in front of Judge Michael Convey, he continued to state on the record (only in my case) that anyone audio recording the proceedings would be held in contempt. 

LA RECALLS-In my condo-rental-related lawsuit we ended up having five judges who heard the case.

LA RECALL-In 2016 I responded to an advertisement for a condo in Westlake Village. At the time, I had no idea that the homeowners had renovated it to the tune of over $113,000 (at least that’s what they paid the contractors) without one permit or county inspection.

LA RECALL-I never imagined when I responded to a listing in 2016 from realtor Dawn Messineo at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services of CA for a “recently renovated” 3-bedroom condo in Westlake Village, that one year later, I would be entering into the Los Angeles Superior Court  as a self-represented litigant.