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Los Angeles Times
Staff writer for the Los Angeles Times covering politics, she writes the “Essential California” newsletter; former City Hall reporter who founded and wrote for the City Maven
PROFILE
Alice Walton
Guest
FROM Alice Walton
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Aliso Canyon gas leak one year later One year ago, an aging natural gas well owned by the Southern California Gas Company sprung a massive leak, kicking off what would eventually become the largest leak of natural gas in U.S. history. In the four months it took to plug the gas leak in Aliso Canyon, near Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, around 100,000 metric tons of methane were released into the atmosphere. That’s the equivalent of about a million cars being driven for a year, and enough to single-handedly torpedo the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. Thousands of people evacuated, and the leak has since put the spotlight on hundreds of other storage facilities.
Which Way, L.A.?
Los Angeles Is a Democracy: Why Do So Few People Care? If low voter turnout is a disaster, it's time to declare an emergency in the City of LA. Yesterday — in City Council and School Board districts containing hundreds of thousands of people -- some candidates won office with totals of five or 6000 votes. Is it time to pay the poor if they go to the polls and fine the rich if they don't? Should you be able to vote on your phone?
Which Way, L.A.?
A Primer on the March 8 Election Seven of 15 Los Angeles city council seats are up for grabs next month, along with 4 of 7 seats on the LA School Board—not to mention 10 ballot measures that are confusing even to the people who put them on the ballot. Tonight we’ll get a survey of the choices voters will have on pension reform, libraries and political contributions. There’s a proposed tax on oil wells—and one on medical marijuana, even though the measure itself points out it’s illegal to sell it.
Recommended
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.