August 2013 Archives
Where We Are:
The click-click-click-click of a sprinkler on the hottest morning of summer tolls passages into September.
Transpacific Routes:
Perhaps one of the solutions to Los Angeles' illegal street vending problem lies in an example set over four decades ago in a city some 9,000 miles away.
LA as Subject:
In its early years, scented lemon groves surrounded a crossroads destined for fame but bearing an unfamiliar name.
Cakewalk:
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington -- and despite some memorable words from notable figures in the capitol, it was a day in L.A. like any other.
West Is Eden:
Such memories might seem small and inconsequential, but anyone who has traveled knows they are not inconsequential at all.
Where We Are:
I'm not - to myself - an authentic Angeleño. But my status as a tourist in the country of wheels does allow me to be dispassionate about those who are drivers.
East CA:
The state's public health agency has proposed a maximum safe level of the drinking water contaminant made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich, and if they're enacted, some drinking water providers in the desert are going to have to work to clean up their water.
Where We Are:
The investigation is widening to include grand jury testimony by several state legislators. More records of contractors have been subpoenaed. Behind the corruption probe are the ties between small time politicians and big city political operatives.
Cakewalk:
A half century after the March on Washington and King's galvanizing speech about American possibility, we have not realized nearly enough of it. Lost in the mists of time, but still very alive, is the crisis of black employment.
LA as Subject:
Remnants of the incline railway, which helped turn Avalon into a destination resort, still await adventurous explorers on Catalina's hillsides.
SoCal Focus is a blog about the people, places, and issues in and around Southern California.
