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Sea of Optimism: The Time to Clean Up Our Coast is Now
September 17, 2013 5:15 PM
by Ken McAlpine
West Is Eden:
It is true that picking up trash for a few hours won't realign the Earth's axis. But it is also true that it is a fine place to start.
Drive-in Megachurch to Catholic Cathedral: Sacred Spaces in Transition
September 16, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
Where We Are:
The friendly docent who chatted with me seemed a little dazed at what it will require to take the Crystal Cathedral and turn it into a Catholic church.
Ghosts and Shadows: An Unconventional Conversation at Rancho Los Alamitos
September 13, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
Where We Are:
Southern California is being refigured by the imaginations of all of its interpreters. "Ghost" inhabitants are making their historical claims. Shadows are being illuminated by a new generation of authors, academics, and cultural critics.
Thy Neighbor, Thyself: You Never Really Know Everything About Your Neighborhood
September 13, 2013 12:40 PM
The New Job Creators: Lift Brings the 'Third Wave of Coffee' to Riverside
September 12, 2013 4:45 PM
Notes of a Native Daughter:
The intensity required to open your own business in 2013, when large corporations are still sitting on millions and billions of dollars, hesitant to give out loans, forces you to think creatively.
A Tough Year for an Inglewood Block Party
September 9, 2013 4:00 PM
Doomsday Architecture: Shelter for Your Deepest Fears
September 9, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
Where We Are:
Shelter took on a new meaning under the threat of global thermonuclear war. Decades of uneasy peace have followed. "Shelterists" are sure that it won't last.
The Remaking of Long Beach: How a Breakwater is Like a River
September 6, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
Where We Are:
Remaking the Los Angeles landscape balances risks and benefits. That balance has been part of the Los Angeles River revitalization plan. Can it be achieved for the Long Beach breakwater?
Let There Be Dark: Why Ojai's Dark-Sky Ordinance is Important
September 3, 2013 1:46 PM
by Ken McAlpine
West Is Eden:
Poor lighting threatens astronomy, disrupts ecosystems (nocturnal bird migrations, bat behavior and sea turtle movements), and disrupts teenage necking.
Where We Are:
Stone and glass. Anchored and slipping away. Wayfaring and rest, on a Palos Verdes bluff.
Where We Are:
The click-click-click-click of a sprinkler on the hottest morning of summer tolls passages into September.
Observing the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington from L.A.
August 29, 2013 4:30 PM
West Is Eden:
Such memories might seem small and inconsequential, but anyone who has traveled knows they are not inconsequential at all.
Rolling Stop: A Short Meditation on the City's Momentum
August 26, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
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.
What Lies Below: FBI Deepens Its Water District Probe
August 23, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
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.
Heads Down: Is Technology Distracting us From Nature?
August 21, 2013 12:25 PM
by Ken McAlpine
West Is Eden:
When I closed my eyes to the animal-shaped clouds I could hear wing beats and the zipper-quick whine of a passing bee. Little things, but perhaps not so little.
Why is a California Politician Targeting Transgender Kids?
August 20, 2013 3:38 PM
by Chris Clarke
Powerless: We're Still Paying for the Energy Crisis of 2000-2001
August 19, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
Where We Are:
The makers of California's disastrous electrical deregulation scheme were convinced that the market they constructed was infallible. That corrupting belief led them blindly into the hands of market manipulators.
The Door That Shuts Out 'Citizen Politicians' in Los Angeles
August 16, 2013 2:00 PM
by D. J. Waldie
Where We Are:
Termed-out state legislators fill city council seats that would have been filled in the past by crusaders, activists, and community organizers. Conflict is muted in a body that has begun to look like an adjunct to Sacramento. And that's not a good thing.
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I Am Los Angeles: Strings of Success
Sasha is content just to be living his life on his own terms, doing something he thoroughly enjoys: building and playing guitars.
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