Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times

Bill Boyarsky / Truthdig Nov 3, 2009 The Chandler family's L.A. Times practically invented one of the great American cities. This is the story of the paper's fall toward mediocrity. Dig deeper ( 13 Min. Read )

Going to Jail for Health Care

Staff / Truthdig Oct 25, 2009 Dissent is alive and well in Los Angeles, with actions like sit-ins against health insurance companies showing a growing disapproval of the sorry state of the health care debate. Some activists are choosing to stay in jail in protest of insurers' denial-of-coverage policies and in support of universal health care. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

A Campus Is Born on Spot Where RFK Was Shot

Staff / Truthdig Oct 14, 2009 If things had worked out a little differently, the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where Robert Kennedy was gunned down in 1968, might have become a Wal-Mart or one of Donald Trump's gaudy creations. Instead, it is now a center of education, home to two elementary schools and, next year, the new Robert F. Kennedy High School. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bring Polanski to Justice

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Sep 29, 2009 Hasn't Roman Polanski suffered enough? Didn't he endure all those cool, gray, rainy Paris winters? Didn't he also drug and rape a 13-year-old girl? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Warhol Portraits Stolen From L.A. Home

Staff / Truthdig Sep 12, 2009 A series of silk-screen paintings, made by Andy Warhol and mainly depicting ’70s-era athletes such as Dorothy Hamill and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, has allegedly been stolen from collector Richard L. Weisman's home on Los Angeles' Westside. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Steve Oney on John Buntin’s ‘L.A. Noir’

BLANK Sep 4, 2009 A rare combination of bravura storytelling and social history, “LA Noir” will delight fans of hard-boiled film and fiction even as it challenges the myths of 20th century Los AngelesThis new book will delight fans of hard-boiled film and fiction even as it challenges L myths. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Arson Sparked L.A. Inferno

Staff / Truthdig Sep 4, 2009 It's been over a week since the latest and biggest fire to scorch large parts of the Greater Los Angeles region began, and according to U.S. Forest Service officials it's now known that the blaze was caused by deliberate human intervention -- otherwise known as arson. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Good Idea, Up in Flames

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Sep 1, 2009 Los Angeles seemed like a good idea at the time. So did New Orleans. Will we ever learn? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Brown Is the New Green in Trendy Los Angeles

Staff / Truthdig Aug 27, 2009 It takes a lot of someone else's water to keep L.A.’s palm trees growing and its Jacuzzis bubbling, but Angelenos are defying their moochy reputation and conserving like nobody's business. The city's mayor thanked his citizens for their double-digit cuts in water and power consumption last month -- in the thick of summer no less. Update Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

L.A. Tagged as the City Meanest to the Homeless

Staff / Truthdig Jul 15, 2009 True, the weather hardly ever departs from the ideal range, and the mountain and oceanside vistas (when visible through the smog) can make for picturesque living in Los Angeles provided you have somewhere to live For the homeless, as two advocacy agencies have noted, LA seems downright mean. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

L.A. Taxpayers Hit With MJ Memorial Bill

Staff / Truthdig Jul 10, 2009 When the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship in June, the team and private donors paid the $2 million tab for the victory celebration The same can't be said for Michael Jackson's July 7 public memorial at Staples Center, unfortunately. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

New, Softer Approach to Illegal Workers

Staff / Truthdig Jul 3, 2009 The immigration raids of the Bush years that have carried over into the Obama administration may be changing. The era of federal agents busting into shops and rounding up undocumented workers for deportation is being replaced by a new effort to use fines and civil sanctions, making employers responsible, rather than the workers themselves. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )