Betomania & Other Tales: 2018 in Review

1. Beto vs. Democrats: Texas Lawmaker Frequently Voted to Help Trump and GOP

David Sirota: How a rising Democratic star undermined his own party’s efforts to halt the GOP agenda.

Co-published by The Guardian and Newsweek 

Photo: Crockodile

2. The Tests Facing California’s New Governor 

Jessica Goodheart, Bill Raden, Judith Lewis Mernit and Gabriel Thompson: California’s economy is now the fifth-largest in the world, but  merely finding an affordable place to live has become an existential challenge for many.

Co-published by Newsweek

3. Debt of a Salesman: Why the Cost of Living Is Making Retirement a Mirage

Eric Pape: At 62, Bill Ware works as many as 14 hours a day just to make ends meet. Saving for retirement simply isn’t an option.

Co-published by Fast Company

Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. (Photo: Jfc4me)

4. Is a New Toxic Danger Threatening California?

Dan Ross: PFAS compounds have been linked in humans to cancers and hormonal disruption, as well as developmental, reproductive and immune system problems.

5. Los Angeles Renters Fight Back to Keep Their Pets — and Homes

Carol Mithers: Evoking a previously unenforced “no pet” clause is a good way for property owners to push out low-rent tenants in a gentrifying area. Frequently such evictions aren’t legal, but tenants can’t insist on rights if they don’t know they have them. And that’s where attorney Dianne Prado comes in.

Co-published by Beyond Chron

Photo courtesy of Downtown Dog Rescue

6. Energy Giants Choose Nuclear Option in Election’s Biggest Fight Over Fossil Fuel

David Sirota and Chase Woodruff: Fallout from Colorado’s Amendment 74 could land on all states’ efforts to curb pollution and climate change.

Co-published by Westword

Photo: Getty Images

7. How California Public Employees Are Unknowingly Funding an Anti-Rent Control Fight

David Sirota and Andrew Perez: One of the largest donors to the Prop. 10 opposition is the private equity giant Blackstone. The move has been described as the equivalent of mutual fund executives taking money out of customers’ accounts to make political contributions.

Co-published by The Guardian and MapLight

Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

8. Homeland Security Kicks the Ladder from Under Immigrants Seeking Green Cards

Robin Urevich: Immigrants who use Medi-Cal, food stamps, housing assistance or Medicare prescription drug subsidies could be barred from obtaining green cards or visa extensions under a proposed rule from the Trump administration.

Co-published by American Prospect

Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images

9. The Lies That Should Have Sunk Kavanaugh

Bill Raden: Behind six of the main lies Kavanaugh was accused of telling under oath, plus the insights of congressional committee veterans and a former federal prosecutor who have examined Kavanaugh’s September 27 testimony.

Co-published by Newsweek

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

10. Is Tesla a Promise or a Problem for Rebuilding the Middle Class?

Jessica Goodheart: Elon Musk’s labor intransigence could upend a decades-old social contract between employers and workers.

Co-published by Fast Company

Photo: Cindy Chew

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