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Novelist, teacher and family man Marcos Villatoro shares his personal tale of involvement with the H1N1 flu virus.

Bill Bratton is gone, and a new police chief takes his place. He's LAPD veteran Charlie Beck. The LA Weekly's Jill Stewart has some advice for the new top cop.

Congratulations! The recession is unofficially over.

Still, there are foreclosures on almost every block. Unemployment is at historic highs. The budget deficit is ballooning and the planet is warming. Do we really need a scary holiday, when EVERYDAY is scary enough? Humorist Brian Unger ponders Halloween, during the Great Recession.

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Commentator Marcos Villatoro encouraged his son to come up with some creative ways to raise money for a school trip to Washington, DC. Little did he know his son would soon be the most popular dealer at his junior high.

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We've become a nation of over-communicators, a culture that is excessively accessible. Brian Unger's prescription for our hyperconnectivity syndrome: a collective time-out.

We still have the right to sit back and enjoy a few days of summer…and to show them that they haven’t taken everything.

California, I may want a divorce. From everyone. Voters, the Governor, legislature... splitsville.

The 15 Los Angeles council members earn $178,789 a year - about $80,000 more than their counterparts in more expensive San Francisco and New York. And way more than the Miami City Council whose part-time pay is just $6,000 a year. At nearly $180,000 a year our council members - public servants as they are called - earn 400% more than the average Angeleno. In no other city could we find as big a disparity.

Jill Stewart is the Deputy Editor of News at LA Weekly.

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Marcos Villatoro’s sixteen-year-old daughter wants to move to New York and sell drawings on the street while learning how to survive from the homeless. In this week’s commentary, Villatorro preps himself to allow his children to follow their dreams and passions even if they take them to places he’s not comfortable with.

 Marcos Villatoro shares his fear of baseball and how he overcame it for his children's sake

Brian Frazer thinks ending March Madness pools will help get the economy back on track. He sites employment consultants Challenger, Gray and Christmas who claim that lost productivity due to the 19-day event will cost employers more than 3.8 billion dollars. Or, and Frazer likes this idea better, “we can introduce versions of March Madness pools to other countries that are more productive than us, to bring them down to our level.”

Brian Frazer writes the Hollywoodland column for Los Angeles Magazine.

LA Times columnist, David Lazarus wonders if finding a job you love is even possible in this economy: "A paycheck and a health plan--that's what it comes down to. If you can add passion to the mix, more power to you."

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Novelist and Van Nuys resident Marcos Villatoro has this to say about the economy, “You know things are bad when, in a working class, deal-minded neighborhood like mine, a garage sale can’t make it.”

Do you really expect us to vote again?

With our nation's economy in shambles, it makes me wonder how these tough times will affect our most affluent of celebrations: The Oscars.