Five SoCal Must-Reads: Foreign Wasps to be Released in L.A.

A big picture look at the region:

• A public records and transparency brouhaha continues in Anaheim after officials told employees to purge certain government documents. It all started with a request from the Voice of OC, and Adam Elmahrek has the story.

• Longreads.com points to the Los Angeles Times' January 1st issue where David Ulin remembers mystery writer James M. Cain's essay, Paradise, on the promise of California.

• Bob Pool's deck at the LA Times says it all: "Long-abandoned wells on the Los Angeles City Oil Field, which sparked Southern California's oil boom 120 years ago, are being sealed to make way for a 45-unit affordable housing project."

• The Asian citrus psyllid, an insect that is a major threat to California's citrus industry, will soon be facing a familiar enemy, a wasp called Tamarixia radiata. These predators will first be released in Los Angeles, says Rachael Myrow at KQED.

• Can high-speed rail be a solution for California's transportation problem? It certainly can, says Peter Calthorpe, the founder of his namesake urban design and planning firm. Kaid Benfield at The Atlantic Cities does some analysis.