The freeway has been a favorite metaphor for writers trying to fathom L.A. for so long that opinions about this town can be virtually divided into day and night views. Night watchers tend to celebrate its long streams of pale yellow light, flowing over an intricate lacework of streets, as an elegant symbol of human accomplishment. Alas, most writers seem inclined to view us in the less flattering light of day, when those long streams fade to reveal symbols of intractable problems, from isolated cars (separating classes and ethnicities in a city where dynamic public space is increasingly scarce) to snarled traffic (the consequence of a developer-dominated political establishment that has set our collective sight on the short-term).

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Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger implemented many of the fixes suggested in the eight parts of this 2003 L.A. Times editorial series; e.g. replacing Corrections Department Director Edward S. Alameida, known as "Dr. No" for his years of resistance to reforms, with our reform candidate San Quentin Warden Jeannie Woodford. But when Gov. S. vetoed a modest prison reform bill in Dec. 2003, I added a dozen more parts to the series, which helped legislators pass a raft of smart reforms in 2004.

The “Ark Encounter,” a creationist theme park that opened in Williamston, Kentucky in 2016.

Nov. 3 wasn’t Halloween, but it sure came close, at least in D.C. and London.

In Washington, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Montana) introduced “the most anti-Hamas immigration legislation I have ever seen.”

Apparently overbooked by his aides that day, Zinke didn’t have time to actually see the text, titled “Bill to Expel Palestinians from the U.S.” That might help explain why he erroneously equates Hamas—a Gazan