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SoCal Focus

SoCal Focus is a blog about the people, places, and issues in and around Southern California.

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overfishing-ocean-environment
We all know what happened to New England cod and, before that, the great whales. The oceans are not what they used to be.
The Woman in Blue Reading a Letter isn't about letters or women. It's about the domestication of gazing and the color blue.
A question about a boulevard leads to a memory of a boy encountering some of the meanings of nature in Los Angeles.
Coach Bartee. | Photo: Douglas MuCulloh
"I've come to believe that there are two kinds of us here on earth -- people who stay and people who leave..."
state-of-black-los-angeles
What does it mean to be black in L.A.? Not what it used to mean -- and therein lies the challenge for the future.
Michael Rubio. | Photo: State of California
Following State Senator Michael Rubio's surprise resignation a special election will be held to fill his seat. Many will be watching to see if this coveted seat changes party hands and Democrats lose their supermajority in the state senate.
channel-islands-national-park-ken-mcalpine
On March 5, I will raise my glass to Channel Islands National Park and my friend James, who have both reminded me of a simple but infinitely valuable lesson.
Bugs, bones, birds, and millions upon million more things fill the museum's collections, second only to the Smithsonian's. But there's nothing dusty about this 100-year-old archive of what was and what is Los Angeles.
An alphabet soup of the promoters, players, and policies are shaping Los Angeles. It's not an appetizing mix.
Job seekers at the L.A. Convention Center in December 2010. | Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Jobs are the foundation of home -- and for too many people, the foundation is shaky and getting shakier.
los-angeles-mayoral-debates
I'm curious how voters will decide which candidates to send to the May election. After all, what do we really know about them?
pintobasin-rd-2-18-13-thumb-600x450-45500
In October, I criticized plans to widen a road in Joshua Tree National Park. Not long after, the park's superintendent persuaded me that I might need to reconsider my position. And he did so with one sentence.
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