Los Angeles County

A detailed look of scaffolding that sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier e of an apartment complex under construction.

Commentary

Santa Monica project points the way to easing California’s housing shortage

If wealthy Santa Monica can do it, will less well-heeled CA communities begin accommodating modular home and apartment construction?

By

Dan Walters

• March 31, 2026

A white train in makes it's way down train tracks towards a station with a person waiting. The San Francisco skyline can be seen in the background.

Commentary

Los Angeles and Bay Area voters will decide whether to hike already high sales taxes

San Franciscans will consider a percentage point increase in the sales tax while Bay Area and LA-area voters will be asked for a half a percentage point.

By

Dan Walters

• March 3, 2026

Four people face an audience as they sit on chairs set up on a stage inside an auditorium with mahogany walls. A projector set up behind the four speakers displays a graphic titled "The Evolution of Crime and Punishment in California: What's Next?."

Justice

Newsom changed California prisons. What will the justice system look like after he leaves?

Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed California's prison system to embrace rehabilitation for incarcerated people. Will it be a lasting shift?

By

Adam Ashton

• February 26, 2026

A person wearing sunglasses and a light shawl walks beside another person in a suit outside a courthouse, surrounded by reporters and TV crews holding microphones and cameras.

Commentary

California can’t shed a history of persistent government corruption

Prosecutions, referenda, recalls and regulatory agencies have, over the years, curbed some of California's government corruption, but not all of it.

By

Dan Walters

• February 6, 2026

Semi-trucks line up near Pier J to retrieve shipping containers at the Port of Long Beach on April 4, 2018. Photo by Bob Riha Jr., REUTERS

Commentary

Huge trucks would decimate California’s roads and bridges, endanger drivers

Congress is considering bills allowing trucks to exceed 80,000 pounds. That would further damage California’s aging bridges and congested roads.

By Jorgel Chavez • January 27, 2026

A landscaped residential walkway with gravel ground cover leads past a stone-and-stucco building toward a small patio with modern chairs, young trees, and low hills in the background under a clear sky.

Economy

Fires burn swiftly, but insurance battles linger: New bills propose consumer-friendly regulations

As fire survivors continue to navigate life after disaster, California lawmakers roll out new bills attempting to further regulate insurance companies like State Farm.

By

Levi Sumagaysay

• January 22, 2026

A gas gathering plant on a hilltop at the Southern California Gas Company's Aliso Canyon storage facility near the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles in 2017. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Commentary

Suspicion looms over Aliso Canyon storage facility a decade after massive gas leak

Residents are angry that the natural gas storage site still operates. Its methane gas leak in 2015-16 displaced 10,000 families and caused illness.

By Madison Kerbeck • January 20, 2026

Burned remains of a hillside home reduced to rubble, with concrete walls, twisted metal, and ash in the foreground, while two scorched palm trees stand beside a railing overlooking a hazy valley in the distance under a partly cloudy sky.

Commentary

Candidate comment: Private insurers are holding California homeowners hostage

As the insurance industry threatens to leave the state unless they get less regulation and higher rates, politicians make consumers pay.

By Eduardo Vargas • January 16, 2026

Cars drive through an intersection as they pass a donut shop with a giant donut structure on top of the building.

Commentary

Californian mourns a childhood friend lost in a changing community

The Inglewood that raised Mike and Joshua has been gentrified. But a cemetery preserves Mike's grave and the memories of their childhood together.

By Joshua Hernandez • January 15, 2026

A nighttime view of a hillside engulfed in flames near powerline towers. Over the fire and smoke from the top of the hill, a helicopter is flying with a water hose hanging off the bottom.

Commentary

Here’s how we can stop LA firestorms from happening again

To avoid repeating last year’s urban blaze, we should fund fire-safe homes and neighborhoods, but politicians often are paying to thin out forests far from urban settings.

By Chad Hanson • January 13, 2026