Latest news with #Elex
Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The cookies that unite California's politicians, no matter their party
Fox 11 anchor Elex Michaelson is one of the nice guys in L.A. media. His tough-but-fair-and-especially-polite lines of questioning made him a natural to help moderate debates for the L.A. mayoral and sheriff's races three years ago. The 38-year-old Agoura Hills native is so nice that he's known not just for his work but also … his mom's cookies and brownies. Michaelson gifts every guest who treks up to Fox 11's West L.A. studios for his weekly public affairs show 'The Issue Is' a box of the desserts. We're talking former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, billionaire Rick Caruso, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi and dozens of other political heavyweights on both sides of the proverbial aisle. U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) once brought a bag of Porto's to Michaelson's team in gratitude for all the cookies and brownies he had received over the years. Former Congress member and current California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter sent Elex's mom, Crystal, a handwritten thank-you note. 'Every single time I see [L.A. County Sheriff] Robert Luna, he brings them up without fail,' Michaelson said with pride in a phone interview. One not-so-famous person who has been lucky enough to enjoy them? Me. Elex recently gave me a box when I appeared on 'The Issue Is' just after U.S. Border Patrol sector chief Gregory Bovino, who took time off from bloviating about the border to accept the goodies because even la migra gets sweets, I guess. Crystal Michaelson's cookies and brownies are worthy of a stall at the Hollywood farmers market, and I'm not saying that just so I can appear on 'The Issue Is' again soon. The cookies last time around were blondies studded with chocolate chips and M&Ms. Slightly toasted on the outside, chewy on the inside, thick yet airy and spiked with an extra dash of vanilla, the blondies were beautiful. Just as delicious were the brownies, all about the firm, dark-chocolate-derived fudge that crackled with each bite. Both featured a generous sprinkling of sea salt, the crystals perfectly cutting through all the sugar and butter. They didn't last the drive back to Orange County. When Elex took his mom to a holiday party hosted by then-Vice President Kamala Harris some years back, most of the movers and shakers greeted her with the same enthusiasm they showed her son because of what she bakes. 'I'm not really a baker!' insisted Crystal, an artist by trade. She makes the goodies every Thursday afternoon, the day before 'The Issue Is' tapes, with an occasional assist by Elex. 'But it's turned into a whole thing!' The tradition dates back to elementary school, when Crystal treated Elex's teachers and classmates to them as 'a thank you.' Elex took some to the first and last day of his college internship for Fox 11 to hand out to the newsroom, then repeated the gesture when he worked at XETV in San Diego and ABC 7 in Los Angeles before returning to Fox 11. 'Their first and last impression of me,' he said, 'were these cookies.' Michaelson repeated the move every day for the first week of 'The Issue Is.' The inaugural guests were Newsom, then-Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (now California's junior U.S. senator), and commentator Areva Martin. 'Everyone loved the cookies so much that they joked, 'We won't return unless we get more cookies,'' Michaelson said. The crew insisted they get treated to them one more week, 'and my mom just never really stopped since then,' even baking and shipping them to regular guests during the COVID era as a Christmas gift. 'One of the only things that seems to unite Republicans and Democrats [in California] is these cookies and brownies,' Elex said. 'There's nothing like the unifying power of food to bring people together to not just talk, but listen to each other.' Crystal gets a shout-out in the show's closing credits for 'cookies, brownies and moral support.' She learned the recipes as a teen, from a family friend. They're baked in a Pyrex baking dish, sliced into squares, then put in cardboard boxes that she decorates by writing, 'The Issue Is ... ' People have suggested Crystal sell them, but she declines: 'I'm not a baker.' For now, she's flattered by all the attention — Newsom once wrote a letter on his official letterhead raving about them. The only issue she sees with them …is Elex. 'He eats them too much,' Crystal said. 'I've said before that maybe I should make them a little bit healthier. And everyone said, 'No, don't do that!'' Today's photo of the day is from photographer Tyler Matthew Oyer of a 200-person literary reading inside of a pool at the Korean Spa. Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
New York Post
18-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Biden brain lie hurts Dems, stratospheric school spending and other commentary
Elex desk: Biden Brain Lie Hurts Dems 'Joe Biden may have cost Democrats the White House in 2024'; their inability to admit it might 'hobble them in 2028,' note Politico's Adam Wren and Holly Otterbein. 'Potential presidential contenders have mostly dodged questions about his condition while in office. They've also sidestepped whether the party should have more forcefully called on him to abandon his reelection bid earlier.' With Biden out of office and getting media-dragged daily, 'there would seem to be little political imperative to stick beside him. But there is also an obvious downside to addressing him at all — inviting comparisons to the party's boosting of the former president in the past.' Yet 'some Democrats think a willingness to break from the field on Biden could open the door to an outsider candidate.' Eye on NY: Stratospheric School Spending The Empire State plans 'to spend an average of $35,012 per student, up 4.6% from the current school year,' reports the Empire Center. 'More than half of districts plan to spend at least $35,000 and 48 districts plan to spend more than $50,000' versus the national average of $16,526. Per-pupil spending 'will exceed $26,000 in all 57 counties outside New York City.' Although the new state budget hikes school aid by $1.7 billion, 'more than half of the school districts (385) plan to also hike their property tax levies faster than inflation.' For the upcoming school year, 'nearly half of districts plan to increase property taxes by exactly as much as New York's [2%] property tax cap allows.' Foreign beat: Bet on America, not Beijing 'Taking the risk on China paid off handsomely for many years, while businesses avoiding it likely faced higher costs,' argues Oren Cass at Commonplace. Yet 'the bet that free trade would liberalize China and convert it into a responsible trading partner' was likely 'bad from the start.' Yes, only after granting China permanent favorable trade treatment lifted investment uncertainty 'did the floodgates open.' But that's not an argument for repeating the past error by 'subjecting workers and communities to sudden, value-destroying disruption.' 'A more gradual and predictable transition' from dependence on a Chinese supply chain 'would be best for the American economy, for business owners, and for workers and their communities.' 'Congress should pass legislation locking the trajectory of the US-China relationship into law.' From the right: The GOP's 'Corleone' Option Some 'good advice for House Speaker Mike Johnson' if Republican Congress members keep pushing for a higher SALT cap can be found in 'The Godfather Part II,' quip The Wall Street Journal's editors. Specifically, when Michael Corleone offers nothing to a greedy senator. 'The limit of $10,000 in SALT was one of the great victories in the 2017 tax reform'; but now 'the SALT lobby won't even take yes for an answer' and insists that a tripling of that cap isn't enough. 'If that isn't enough for holdouts, Speaker Johnson should consider the Michael Corleone option: nothing. No SALT increase. Then let's see if the SALT Republicans would really kill the budget bill and raise taxes on everyone in their districts.' Libertarian: End the War on Appliances 'It's no secret the federal government has been trying to make our household appliances greener for many years,' with an 'unfortunate effect on performance,' gripes Reason's J.D. Tuccille. Now, 'the Trump administration and members of Congress are rolling back red tape and liberating appliances.' An order signed by President Trump directs the energy secretary to get rid of or roll back 'rules that limit water use' in toilets, tubs and washing machines. And 'Congress sent to the White House, and Trump signed, laws repealing [the] Biden administration's energy conservation standards for' fridges, freezers, water heaters and other appliances. This combo 'is exactly what's needed to trim back a federal government that has intruded too far into our choices and our homes.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
