Housing Is A Human Right
Selling Out California: Scott Wiener’s Money Ties to Big Real Estate
Patrick Range McDonald exposes California State Sen. Scott Wiener’s troubling financial connections to Big Real Estate. Wiener pushes a harmful “trickle-down” housing agenda that activists say fuels gentrification, but generates billions for his political patrons.
The Garcetti-fication of Los Angeles: A Gentrification Cautionary Tale
McDonald conducts a sweeping investigation about government-sanctioned gentrification in Los Angeles that’s devastating middle- and working-class residents. Mayor Eric Garcetti stands at the center of this largely untold story. It’s a must-read cautionary tale.
Winner of the “Best Activism Journalism” award from the Los Angeles Press Club.
L.A. Weekly
California’s Parent Trigger
In Compton, California, McDonald embeds himself with parents and education reform activists as they attempt a heroic takeover of a failing elementary school through a cutting-edge state law known as the “Parent Trigger.”
Winner of the Los Angeles Press Club’s “Best News Feature” award, and inspired the film “Won’t Back Down,” starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis
City of Airheads: Villaraigosa Dismantles L.A.’s Vaunted Library System
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa executed an unprecedented, and punishing, raid on Los Angeles public library system. McDonald reveals that L.A. joins the dying city of Detroit as the only significant U.S. municipality to close down its libraries twice weekly — and students, senior citizens, immigrants, the unemployed, and young people in crime-plagued neighborhoods suffer the consequences. The eye-popping feature story is credited for restoring funding for L.A.’s public libraries.
Winner of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia’s “Public Service” award
The All-About-Me Mayor: Antonio Villaraigosa’s Frenetic Self-Promotion
From posing for a wax museum sculpture to constantly leaving town to raise campaign cash, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spends the vast majority of his days on things that benefit him, not Angelenos. McDonald’s shocking investigation of the mayor’s daily schedule rocks L.A. City Hall — and outrages the public.
Politico
Who Fixed Los Angeles?
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa considered himself a talented leader. But McDonald explains his real legacy boils down to deep disappointment, unrealized potential, and brazen betrayal.
The Advocate
Field of Dreams
In the fields of central California, LGBT farmworkers face everything from unprovoked violence to unfair pay cuts. McDonald reports about how a grassroots legal project bravely fights for change.