The Craziest Ballot Proposals of 2016 California voters could be in for a bumper crop of ballot measures in November. One quippy Democratic campaign strategist said, “The voters pamphlet is going to look like the Encyclopaedia Britannica.” There are initiatives on gun control, minimum wage, taxes on cigarettes, and shrinking public pensions. Also, millions of dollars will be spent on a measure to legalize pot. The pharmaceutical industry has already put $40 million into defeating an initiative that would limit how much the state can pay for prescription drugs, and the plastic bag industry is spending millions to defeat a bag ban. But for every measure that makes it onto the ballot, there are many that never get that far. We get a rundown on the craziest proposals of 2016.

High LA Rents; Are Wages Keeping Up? As cities go across the country, LA isn’t the most expensive - it’s not San Francisco or New York - but it’s pricey enough. And that has people in town scrambling for cheaper areas of town in which to live.

Will a New LAUSD Board President Shake Things Up? Los Angeles Unified School Board meetings aren't always occasions for high political drama. Yesterday's saw a change in leadership with implications for the reform movement, Superintendent John Deasy and LA's new Mayor, Eric Garcetti.  Hillel Aron reports for the website LA School Report .

Could the Koch Brothers Buy the LA Times? The Tribune Company, which owns the Los Angeles Times, is up for sale, and rumors are flying — the latest possible buyers being the billionaire Koch brothers, who've been spending big money on right-wing political causes. Hillel Aron broke the story for the LA Weekly .

Is the 'Parent Trigger' Finally Being Given a Chance? When parents in Compton tried out the so-called "parent trigger," their petition was thrown out in court. But two weeks ago, the school board in the high-desert town of Adelanto turned over control of Desert Trails Elementary to an outside operator. Last week, a crowd of parents from 24th Street Elementary in South LA showed up to demand immediate, significant change from LA Unified.