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Five SoCal Must-Reads: Foreign Wasps to be Released in L.A.

By Zach Behrens
January 9, 2012
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Surfing in Malibu | Photo by rappensuncle via KCET's Southern California Flickr Pool on Flickr

A big picture look at the region:

  • A public records and transparency brouhaha continues in Anaheim after officials told employees to purge certain government documents. It all started with a request from the Voice of OC, and Adam Elmahrek has the story.

  • Longreads.com points to the Los Angeles Times' January 1st issue where David Ulin remembers mystery writer James M. Cain's essay, Paradise, on the promise of California.

  • Bob Pool's deck at the LA Times says it all: "Long-abandoned wells on the Los Angeles City Oil Field, which sparked Southern California's oil boom 120 years ago, are being sealed to make way for a 45-unit affordable housing project."

  • The Asian citrus psyllid, an insect that is a major threat to California's citrus industry, will soon be facing a familiar enemy, a wasp called Tamarixia radiata. These predators will first be released in Los Angeles, says Rachael Myrow at KQED.

  • Can high-speed rail be a solution for California's transportation problem? It certainly can, says Peter Calthorpe, the founder of his namesake urban design and planning firm. Kaid Benfield at The Atlantic Cities does some analysis.

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