That’s the cot I tried to sleep on Saturday on my assignment to go homeless for a night. I say “try” because I was so nervous around all those strangers at the Lighthouse church and so generally uncomfortable that I couldn’t drift into sleep. Plus, there were distractions through the night as several of the men had to make multiple trips to the bathroom and others snored loudly. One man kept his radio on all night for some reason. The musty, dank smell and the presence of one man’s dog nearby attacked my sinuses so sleep was generally out of the question.

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 Assemblyman Chuck DeVore made a big statement on the proposed California budget deal as state lawmakers worked into the night Saturday to come up with a plan to solve the projected $40-billion hole and stave off massive layoffs.

In practical terms it won’t halt the budget deal or even slow it down any, but symbolically DeVore sent a message when he resigned as chief Republican whip over what he terms the “$14-billion tax increase deal.”

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I took this picture this morning. It’s at the end of 19th Street in Costa Mesa, known among the homeless as “The Jungle,” where they often camp.

Last night I didn’t go home.

Instead, I hit the streets. Homeless for a night. No, I didn’t stay in The Jungle. It was too wet and rainy so I went where many of the homeless go on such a night — the Lighthouse on Anaheim Avenue.

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