KPCC News In Brief

August 2008 Archives

• Nine mile walk for L.A.'s 227th birthday re-enacts city founding

  Happy birthday Los Angeles! The City of Angels turns 227 years old next Thursday, and the big celebration is Monday. More from KPCC’s Debra Baer.

  Debra Baer: A nine-mile walk from the San Gabriel Mission to the city’s birthplace at the Plaza at El Pueblo Historical Monument re-enacts the founding of L.A.

  History buffs are retracing the steps of the 11 families that founded the little pueblo they called “The Town of the Queen of Angels” in 1781. John Kopczynski is a spokesman for El Pueblo.

  John Kopczynski: A lot of people do not realize how the city was founded, how it happened that these 44 individuals, including children, walked from Mexico to the mission, gathered themselves, freshened up, so to speak, and then made it the last nine miles here to form this tiny little dust town, which became today the great metropolitan area of L.A.

  Baer: L.A.’s birthday festivities continue through 1:00 at the El Pueblo Monument on downtown’s Olvera Street. The party includes refreshments, free cake, family activities, and more than 40 professional actors dressed in period costumes.

  Note: The three-hour walk begins/began at 6:00 Monday morning.

  Link: More information at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Web site

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  • August 29, 2008 6:52 PM
  • Categories: History, Society/Culture

• Getty Villa amphitheater provides apt setting for production of "Agamemnon"

  The drama “Agamemnon” begins a month-long run next week at the Getty Villa’s outdoor amphitheater in Malibu.

  Greek playwright Aeschylus wrote the play more than 2,000 years ago. Director Stephen Wadsworth says he doesn’t worry about whether a contemporary audience can relate to its themes.

  Stephen Wadsworth: “‘Agamemnon’ is about a family at the end of the war. It’s also about a family of rulers at the end the war, a royal family. So, ultimately that means that it’s about the sort of nexus of power and family and moral responsibility.”

  Wadsworth says that staging the play at the villa’s outdoor theater will offer the audience an idea of what it might have been like to see the play in ancient Greece. But, he adds, the play’s modern adaptation with its psychological nuances would have been alien to the original audience. For them, plays were a form of ritual.

  The production begins next Thursday 9/4 and runs weekends through the end of the month.

  Link: More information about the production

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  • August 29, 2008 6:44 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• Los Angeles will begin enforcing spay/neuter law October 1

  Here’s something for dog or cat owners in Los Angeles to think about this Labor Day: in exactly one month, on October 1, the city begins enforcing its new spay/neuter regulations. KPCC’s Brian Watt has more.

  Brian Watt: The law is simple: if your dog or cat is four months old or older, get it spayed or neutered. There are exceptions, of course.

  If the pet competes or shows as a breed approved by the Animal Services Commission, it’s off the hook.

  The same goes for service, guide, police, military, and rescue dogs, and those that have earned or are working towards a special title in herding or agility. Licensed vets can certify that an animal should not be spayed or neutered for health reasons.

  The law took effect in April, with a grace period that ends on October 1st. In passing it, the L.A. City Council sought to reduce the number of pets that people abandon and euthanize each year. The fines for violations start at $100 and go up from there.

  Link: Information on L.A. Spay/Neuter Law

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  • August 29, 2008 5:51 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Rancho Los Cerritos offers "living history" tours Sunday

  In the 1800s, Rancho Los Cerritos was a 27,000 acre parcel of a huge Spanish land grant. Now, the territory’s home to Long Beach, Bellflower, Signal Hill, and Paramount.

  But a 164-year-old adobe house and formal gardens still sit on five of those acres in Long Beach. The national historic landmark is offering free “living history” tours Sunday afternoon. Ellen Calomiris is director of Rancho Los Cerritos.

  Ellen Calomiris: “The history of the site really echoes the history of Spanish, Mexican, and American California, and the people who lived and worked here and helped really transform Southern California, from its ranching beginnings to today’s urban society.”

  The free tours begin at the adobe every half hour between 1 and 4 Sunday afternoon. You can find out more online at www.rancholoscerritos.org

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  • August 29, 2008 5:33 PM
  • Categories: History, Society/Culture

• New forensic technology used to attempt to track down "Grim Sleeper"

  Almost a quarter-century ago, the killings of several young black women in South Los Angeles perplexed police. The murderer’s trail went cold for years, until new forensic technology helped establish a link between those homicides and more recent ones. L.A. Weekly reporter Christine Pelisek told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that it took a while for an LAPD task force to make that connection.

  Christine Pelisek: “And it wasn’t until 2004 that the cold case unit started putting in the DNA, they realized– they started looking at the old task force cases back in the ’80s and then they decided to put in the DNA, and that’s when they realized that these two– there was two cases in 2002 and 2003 matched to a case in 1988.”

  Pelisek says that armed with the new forensic methods, detectives are reconsidering thousands of unsolved homicides in the hope they’ll track down the serial killer known as the “Grim Sleeper.”

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  • August 29, 2008 4:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History

• Pasadena Democrats host event to view Obama's acceptance speech

  Not everybody who wanted to be at Denver’s Invesco Field last night to see Barack Obama got to go. KPCC’s Brian Watt went to a gathering in Pasadena of people who stayed home.

  Brian Watt: A sign outside Blair High School read “This is our Denver.” A diverse crowd of close to one thousand people watched the speech on a big screen in the school’s Amphitheatre.

  Barack Obama: Enough! This moment… [Cheers in Pasadena]

  Watt: When the folks in Denver went wild, so did the crowd in Pasadena. At the end of the speech, 57 year old Linda Evans danced her way to her car with her grandkids in tow. She said Obama “blew it out of the water.”

  Linda Evans: … and it’s on the anniversary of Martin Luther King and I think we have two historic speeches years apart, but the same significance to the world.

  Watt: Twenty-seven-year-old Janie Warren is Evans’ niece.

  Janie Warren: As a young person, I feel like everything that my aunt and her generation taught me…the things that I learned from them and Martin Luther King and everyone else who said that you can do whatever you want to do, you just put your mind to it: this is proof.

  Watt: The Pasadena Area United Democratic Headquarters organized the viewing party. It distributed yard signs and signed up volunteers to get out the vote in November.

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  • August 29, 2008 3:39 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Storm runoff rules back in place after Orange County court ruling

  Rules the Regional Water Quality Control Board has made to limit ocean pollution from storm runoff are back in place after an Orange County judge’s ruling today. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: Several inland cities and a building industry advocacy group sued the water board in the spring. The board’s rules about stormwater runoff are meant to cut bacterial contamination at beaches; it can come from city streets, construction, and development.

  Bacteria that runoff water carries to the ocean overwhelmingly causes shutdowns and health risks at public beaches. But the plaintiffs say the board didn’t consider what kinds of rules might work, or their economic effects. In June, an Orange County Superior Court judge agreed, and threw the rules out, while the regional water board went back and did a review.

  That left some builders in limbo. With no runoff limits, the regional water board said polluters couldn’t get necessary permits to continue projects. The court’s most recent decision affirms an appeal by environmental groups that wanted to temporarily put pollution runoff limits back in place, until the water board’s review is complete.

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  • August 29, 2008 3:35 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Senate Republicans vote down Schwarzenegger's budget plan

  Republican State Senators defeated Governor Schwarzenegger’s budget plan today. On a party-line vote, the Senate rejected a plan that would have included a temporary one-cent sales tax hike and a bigger rainy day fund for the state.

  However, unlike the governor’s original proposal, the plan did not include a future cut to the sales tax. Senator and Former GOP Leader Dick Ackerman said everyone knew this measure would fail.

  Senator Dick Ackerman: “It still spends too much money. It doesn’t have any real budget reform measures in it which both the governor and the Republicans said we needed. We’re not there yet.”

  After Republicans made it clear they would not support the proposal, Democratic Senate Leader Don Perata challenged them to come up with their own spending plan.

  Senate Leader Don Perata: “Two months late and with little left to offer, my friends across the aisle, it’s now your turn.”

  Lawmakers have been fighting over how to close a $15 billion budget gap. A few weeks ago, Assembly Republicans rejected a spending plan that would have hiked income taxes.

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  • August 29, 2008 2:48 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Southland residents offer mixed reactions to Palin on Republican ticket

  People in the Southland offered mixed reactions to Senator John McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Republicans and Democrats appeared surprised, but not necessarily displeased, at McCain’s decision to pick Palin. Attorney Elliott McClellan of Los Angeles is a lifelong member of the GOP.

  Elliott McClellan: I think its great; a conservative pro-lifer who’s tenacious. The woman vote will shift over to McCain, I think.

  Stoltze: Democrat Michelle Lipton of Marina Del Rey isn’t so sure of McCain’s strategy.

  Michelle Lipton: To me it looks like he’s just trying to get the Hillary Clinton vote. I mean, I’m a woman so of course I like it when women get more power. But to me she seems really young. Not to be mean, but McCain could die because he is old. And if he dies, we’re going to have a very young woman.

  Stoltze: Lipton says she still plans to vote for Barack Obama. Another Democratic woman said a woman on the GOP ticket makes it more appealing, but added that for now she remains undecided.

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  • August 29, 2008 2:23 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LAX service workers return to work in time for holiday weekend

  The skycaps, airplane cleaners and security workers who went on strike yesterday at Los Angeles International Airport returned to their jobs today. The Service Employees International Union represents 2500 such workers at the airport. Union spokesman Mike Chavez said the strike was brief but effective.

  *Mike Chavez: * “Workers really were able to get their message out to passengers at the airport about the importance of improving service and security. And really showed that, you know, workers are willing to do whatever it takes to make those improvements to service and security and also to the quality of jobs.”

  The union wants higher wages, more training, and expanded health benefits for its workers. But it says those demands aren’t flying with the private companies who employ them. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brokered a three-week cooling off period between the two sides just in time for Labor Day weekend.

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  • August 29, 2008 2:20 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Professor leaves UCLA admissions committee over concerns about racial consideration

  A UCLA political science professor has left the school’s admissions committee over concerns that the Westwood campus is cheating in its efforts to enroll African American students. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has the story.

  Cheryl Devall: The professor, Tim Groseclose, told the Orange County Register that he agrees with the idea of enrolling more black students. But he resigned from UCLA’s admissions committee because he perceives a lack of transparency in the admissions process.

  He’d sought to review that process because he suspected that, while state law forbids public universities from factoring in applicants’ races, UCLA admissions officers were considering it anyway.

  For privacy reasons, the university declined to give Groseclose the data he’d asked for. Groseclose, whose scholarly research focuses on Congress and media bias, maintained that many students reveal their race in their application essays.

  More students apply to UCLA than to any other university. There are 235 African Americans among the 4900 freshmen entering next month.

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  • August 29, 2008 2:13 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Republican National Committee member praises Palin's executive experience

  Republican presidential candidate John McCain surprised just about everyone today by introducing Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

  Some Democrats, including California Senator Barbara Boxer, are criticizing Palin’s lack of experience. Palin’s been governor for less than two years.

  But Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steele told KPCC’s AirTalk that Palin has more “executive” experience than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

  Shawn Steele: “She’s approved budgets. She has vetoed bad spending from her legislature. She’s made appointments. She has a lot more executive experience than in Obama’s entire lifetime.”

  Palin is 44 years old, Alaska’s youngest governor ever, and has gained her reputation as a reformer in her fights over ethics and government spending.

  McCain this morning lauded Palin’s “strong principles.”

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  • August 29, 2008 2:04 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Republican National Committeeman praises Palin's executive experience

  Republican presidential candidate John McCain surprised just about everyone today by introducing Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

  Some Democrats, including California Senator Barbara Boxer, are criticizing Palin’s lack of experience. Palin’s been governor for less than two years.

  But Republican National Committeeman Shawn Steele told KPCC’s AirTalk that Palin has more “executive” experience than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

  Shawn Steele: “She’s approved budgets. She has vetoed bad spending from her legislature. She’s made appointments. She has a lot more executive experience than in Obama’s entire lifetime.”

  Palin is 44 years old, Alaska’s youngest governor ever, and has gained her reputation as a reformer in her fights over ethics and government spending.

  McCain this morning lauded Palin’s “strong principles.”

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  • August 29, 2008 2:04 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• L.A. airport service workers return to work after strike

  Here’s one less headache for people flying out of L.A. International Airport for the long weekend: the service workers who went on strike there yesterday have returned to work today. KPCC’s Brian Watt has more on the story.

  Brian Watt: The airport would have really missed these workers this Labor Day weekend. They handle luggage, help passengers in wheelchairs, and clean the jets between flights. They don’t work directly for major airlines but through private contractors, earning, on average, $10.50 an hour. The Service Employees International Union represents 2500 such workers at LAX.

  Spokesman Mike Chavez says not all of them walked off their jobs, but those that did pleaded their case to passengers, and won their support.

  Mike Chavez: A lot of these passengers are very frustrated with the airlines. They’ve seen ticket prices go up. They’ve seen increase in fees, and yet the security and the service that they receive has been declining.

  Watt: The union called the strike when it determined talks with the contractors weren’t getting any closer to higher wages, more training, and expanded health benefits. Less than 24 hours later, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa got both sides to return to the bargaining table for a three-week cooling off period.

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  • August 29, 2008 1:58 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Transportation

• Private detective Pellicano convicted on wiretapping and conspiracy charges, faces 10 years in federal prison

  A federal jury in Los Angeles today convicted former private eye to the stars Anthony Pellicano and an entertainment lawyer on wiretapping and conspiracy charges. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the two men face up to 10 years in federal prison.

  Cheryl Devall: This was the second wiretapping conviction against Pellicano this year. He’d built a reputation digging dirt on the people his celebrity clientele considered enemies. That included the opposing parties in divorce cases, such as the one between billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and his former wife Lisa Bonder Kerkorian.

  The jury in the trial just concluded convicted Pellicano and lawyer Terry Christensen on charges of recording the ex-Mrs. Kerkorian’s phone calls. Prosecutors say the two men were trying to prove that the 90-year-old investor and casino developer was not the father of his ex-wife’s young daughter.

  Evidence in the trial focused on recorded conversations between Pellicano and Christensen, but it didn’t include recordings of the woman they were investigating. The two men are scheduled for sentencing on November 17th.

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  • August 29, 2008 12:59 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Criminal Justice

• Palin as Republican running mate surprises Alaskans

  Republican Senator John McCain chose Alaska governor Sarah Palin today as his vice-presidential running mate. Lynn Snifka teaches journalism at the University of Alaska. She told KPCC’s AirTalk that McCain’s choice surprises her and other Alaskans.

  Lynn Snifka: “She is so young and so recently she was sort of just the mayor of Wasilla, which is a very small town in Alaska, so to a lot of people, it’s sort of like one of your friends just got the vice presidential nomination.”

  Palin is 44 years old. She’s been governor of Alaska for less than two years. Snifka said that Palin’s election as governor also shocked a lot of people, but that most people in the state approve of her performance on the job.

  Some Democrats, including California Senator Barbara Boxer, are already questioning Palin’s lack of experience. Republicans argue that Alaska’s governor has more “executive” experience than the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama.

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  • August 29, 2008 12:56 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Close to 1,000 Obama fans gather in Pasadena to watch Obama acceptance speech

  A hand painted sign outside Pasadena’s Blair High School last night read “This is our Denver.” Close to 1,000 people showed up to the amphitheatre there to watch Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on a big screen. It reminded 66-year-old teacher Kathy Dorsey of another big speech she’d witnessed in person.

  Kathy Dorsey: “I was at the Coliseum when JFK made his acceptance speech. And this is the first time since Bobby that I’ve felt alive and that there’s hope and that, God willing, we can make changes.”

  Dorsey said she’d attended John F. Kennedy’s acceptance speech simply as an observer, but she watched Obama’s speech as a campaign volunteer.

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  • August 29, 2008 11:35 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA congresswoman downplays Sarah Palin as Republican VP pick

  Democrats checked out of their hotels this morning with the news that Republican presidential candidate John McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde spoke with Congresswoman Diane Watson of Los Angeles, a former Hillary Clinton supporter. Watson says Democrats already broke the glass ceiling.

  Diane Watson: “We’ve already had Geraldine Ferraro vetted. We had Hillary Clinton, who could have been the president. And she still could be. So to come up to say they have youth on their side in a young woman is… I’ll give them credit for finding a non-traditional type to run for vice president, but not just any woman.”
  Kitty Felde: “You don’t think any disgruntled Hillary supporters might say, ‘It is a woman, after all. I’m going to change my vote.’”
  Watson: “I don’t know why they would do that if they believe in the values that a woman brings to the ticket. And if they’re disgruntled and they’re going to go after just any woman, then I don’t think they’re true to their ideas and ideals for having a woman on the ticket.”

  Watson says Governor Palin’s conservative ideology will deter Democratic women from embracing the GOP ticket. KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” and reporter Frank Stoltze will broadcast next week from St. Paul.

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  • August 29, 2008 11:12 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic Party advisor says Sarah Palin as McCain VP is "anticlimactic" for Republicans

  Democrats leaving Denver after their national convention were talking about the Republican pick for Vice President – Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde spoke with Sam Rodriguez, the former political director of the California Democratic Party, and asked whether the Palin choice was good political strategy.

  Sam Rodriguez: “I think for the Republicans it’s anticlimactic because she comes from a small state which Republicans usually win anyway, Alaska. And unfortunately for them, the story of the profile, the biography is the investigation by her influencing a state trooper. And that’s unfortunate. And of course, they now cannot talk about the lack of experience alleged by the Republicans on Barack Obama.”
  Kitty Felde: “Some might say it’s an awfully bold move.”
  Rodriguez: “Well, it depends on how you define bold. If McCain was reaching for change, he fell short. He fell short, given the many qualified Republican women they have in their party.”

  KPCC’s Frank Stoltze and the “Patt Morrison” crew will be on the air for the start of the Republican National Convention on Monday in St. Paul.

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  • August 29, 2008 11:07 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• 1,000 people attend Obama acceptance speech event in Pasadena

  Close to 1,000 people showed up to the amphitheatre at Blair High School in Pasadena to watch Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last night. Twenty-six-year-old graphic designer Misha Birmele said Obama made all the points he needed to.

  Misha Birmele: “One of the best things I thought he said was ‘I have news for you John McCain, we all put our country first,’ because seriously, John McCain does not own that. The next big thing that I really took away from him was how he, how again, he reiterated the fact that this election, this campaign is not about Barack Obama, but it’s about all of us.”

  Birmele said the speech left him feeling inspired. The Pasadena Area United Democratic Headquarters organized the viewing party.

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  • August 29, 2008 11:02 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Superior Court judge overturns LA County ordinance limiting how long taco trucks can stay parked

  A Superior Court judge has overturned the Los Angeles County ordinance limiting how long taco trucks can stay parked in unincorporated parts of the county. Eddie Torres, president of the East L.A. Chamber of Commerce, had supported the county’s restrictions on health and safety grounds, because many of the catering trucks aren’t registered. Torres predicted to KPCC’s Patt Morrison that a higher court will reinstate the ordinance.

  Eddie Torres: “It will be upheld for the right reasons. There has been taco trucks that I have seen with my own eyes, dumping the water from their tanks into the county streets. I have counted, from Garfield Street to Atlantic Street on Whittier Boulevard on any given Friday or Saturday, 16 taco trucks.”

  The ordinance had imposed steep fines on trucks that parked in one location for more than an hour at a time. Restaurant owners had supported the county’s positions, claiming that the mobile caterers were drawing away their business.

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  • August 28, 2008 3:56 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Court rules LA County taco truck ordinance vague and unconstitutional

  Los Angeles County’s ordinance limiting how long taco trucks can park in the same location is vague and unconstitutional, an L.A. Superior Court judge has ruled. The ordinance applied only to unincorporated parts of the county, including East L.A. Eddie Torres, who heads that area’s chamber of commerce, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that the catering trucks are a problem not because they compete with restaurants, but because they jeopardize public health.

  Eddie Torres: “On Atlantic Boulevard, after hours, there’s no restaurants open nearby to give them restrooms. So, some of the people who would be attending that would go into a dark alley, eat, and then defecate there.”

  Torres said that the taco trucks tarnish the image of all businesses in East L.A. More than 9,000 people signed a petition in support of the trucks when L.A. County proposed the ordinance earlier this year. The courts got involved when a mobile taco vendor challenged her ticket from the county.

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  • August 28, 2008 3:50 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Former Marine acquitted of murdering Iraqi detainees

  A jury in federal court in Riverside today acquitted an ex-Marine who’d been accused of killing prisoners while on duty in Iraq. KPCC’s Nick Roman says it was the first time a civilian court has tried a former member of the military for alleged crimes on the battlefield.

  Nick Roman: Jurors needed only six hours of deliberations to find Jose Nazario not guilty. He’d been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the alleged killings of four Iraqi men during the Battle of Fallujah four years ago. Sergeant Nazario’s squad captured the men and seized weapons and ammunition during a raid on a house.

  Prosecutors say that while the men were handcuffed, Nazario killed two, and ordered the other two to be executed. A year later, he left the Marines. Federal law allows ex-military personnel to be charged in civilian court for alleged crimes after their service is through. Prosecutors launched a case against Nazario.

  But during the trial, the government did not present forensic evidence that linked him to the alleged killings, and did not identify the victims. The jury quickly acquitted, and Nazario burst into tears when the verdict was read. He’s been cleared, but two other members of his squad are on trial in military court.

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  • August 28, 2008 3:47 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Annual report by Public Advocates finds more compliance in schools report card

  California school districts are doing a better job of informing people of the progress they’re making to improve the neediest campuses. That’s the finding in an annual report released today by an education advocacy group that sued the state for better classrooms. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: In the Williams versus State of California lawsuit, education advocates argued that thousands of public school students took classes from unqualified teachers, in crumbling classrooms without enough textbooks. Governor Schwarzenegger settled the lawsuit four years ago.

  He agreed to spend more than $1 billion to improve instruction. He also compelled schools to inform the public about improvements. The schools’ compliance with that settlement was spotty, says Guillermo Mayer, a lawyer with the Bay Area’s Public Advocates.

  Guillermo Mayer: When we first looked into this issue in 2005 we were finding that about half of the school districts were not reporting this information by the end of the school year, which is the deadline.

  Guzman-Lopez: His group’s study of more than 1,000 schools found 90 percent compliance. The study, Mayer says, revealed that handful of school districts still isn’t making the information public. These include the Orange Unified School District and Lucerne Valley Unified in San Bernardino. The state doesn’t enforce the reporting requirement, Mayer adds, so his group will send warning letters to administrators at those school districts.

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  • August 28, 2008 1:50 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former California Assembly speaker, explains state's budget impasse

  The state budget impasse in Sacramento is on the minds of California politicians in Denver for the Democratic National Convention. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he’s been speaking with other mayors across the state. He told KPCC Special Correspondent Kitty Felde that lawmakers can’t solve the state’s budget problem by taking away money designated for local governments.

  Antonio Villaraigosa: “They’ve gotta find a middle ground and they’ve gotta resolve this budget without doing it on the backs of cities and counties.”
  Kitty Felde: “But what difference is it this year? You were Assembly speaker. You’ve gone through this kind of an impasse in years past.”
  Villaraigosa: “Let me be clear about this. I was Assembly speaker and we got two budgets on time.”
  Felde: “So what’s different this year?”
  Villaraigosa: “The fact of the matter is, every year it’s difficult. In my two years, I’ll be forthright with you, we had a surplus. This year we don’t have a surplus. What has always been constant and why California is so different from most states around the country is two reasons. One, this two-thirds vote threshold. When a small group of people can hold up the entire state in the way that they’ve done this year and almost every year, including the year that we had a surplus, they held it up for a few days. That’s what’s wrong with the system.”

  Unlike another big city California mayor, Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, Villaraigosa did not say when or if he would form an exploratory committee for a run for governor.

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  • August 28, 2008 1:23 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Young voter turnout between 2000 and 2008 up over 100%; record number of DNC delegates under age 30

  A record number of delegates to the Democratic National Convention are under the age of 30. That includes about 11 percent of the California delegation. The youngest is 18. David Phelps is vice president of the California Young Democrats. He told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that the number of youth voters is way up.

  David Phelps: “The increase in voter turnout amongst young voters between 2000 and 2008 was over a hundred percent. In California alone, youth vote turnout increased by 65 percent from 2004 to 2008. So just that alone speaks volumes.”

  Phelps says more young people are becoming politically active. He says his organization helped more than 50 young candidates run for local and state offices.

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  • August 28, 2008 1:06 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• OC reports second West Nile death this year

  A second person has died from West Nile Virus in Orange County this year. KPCC’s Susan Valot says county health officials made the announcement today.

  Susan Valot: A 64-year-old Garden Grove man was hospitalized and then died earlier this month. Testing confirmed he died of West Nile Virus. He’s the second person to die of West Nile this year in California. Both of those West Nile deaths were in Orange County and both victims have been over the age of 60.

  So far, 36 people in Orange County have come down with the disease this year. That’s the highest number in four years. Vector Control officials blame, in part, abandoned swimming pools at vacant or soon-to-be-foreclosed homes.

  County health officials point out that lots of people spend time outdoors over the long Labor Day weekend… and that many neglect to use mosquito repellent. They suggest slapping on the repellent and staying indoors at dusk and dawn, when the mosquitoes that carry West Nile are most active.

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  • August 28, 2008 12:52 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Health

• Barack Obama to deliver Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech tonight

  U.S. Senator Barack Obama delivers his acceptance speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention. Obama is the first African-American a major political party has nominated for president. Former state assembly speaker Willie Brown told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that he could not have envisioned this would happen in his lifetime.

  Willie Brown: “It has just been frankly far beyond anything in terms of its success and his success… and for African-Americans it’s a moment very well equaled to the “March on Washington,” or some of the other significant occasions that have said we’re continuously on a positive road to freedom.”

  Obama will deliver his speech 45 years to the day after the “March on Washington,” during which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. You can hear Obama’s speech tonight on KPCC. Our convention coverage will start at 5 o’clock.

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  • August 28, 2008 12:50 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Bill to ban electronic bingo machines used by small churches and charities moving through California state legislature

  A bill that would ban the electronic bingo machines small churches and charities use is moving through the state legislature. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports it’s getting a push from tribal gaming interests.

  Molly Peterson: State Senator Gil Cedillo’s bill was about school lunches, until he rewrote it two weeks ago. The Assembly approved it, and now it’s heading to the Senate. It would end the use of electronic bingo in small churches and charities. Indian tribes have contended that these machines violate gaming compacts in which the state has granted them exclusive use of slot machines.

  Small charities that use the machines say that they get as much as 10 percent of their annual revenue from electronic bingo, and that they’re just taking advantage of technology. The machines that generate millions of dollars for charities may be illegal in any case.

  The state ordered the charities to stop using machines last year and an appeal is still in federal court. Cedillo says he wrote the bill to more aggressively protect the tribes’ rights under state existing state agreements. The state also has a stake in the ban: every year, California’s cut from Indian gaming revenues equals $100 million.

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  • August 28, 2008 12:38 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Long Beach considers allowing expanded oil exploration

  Long Beach is considering ways to extract oil and income from the Wilmington Oil Field. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: Occidental Petroleum would get to negotiate a contract with the State Lands Commission for new exploration in the Wilmington Field, under a bill sponsored by Long Beach assemblywoman Betty Karnette. Generally, the city and state contract for drilling rights.

  But proposed legislation would give Oxy a proxy: the company would bear more risk up front, since it might not find oil. On the back end, it would reap a greater reward – a higher percentage of revenues. The state has funded exploration in the past, but the budget standoff makes that harder now.

  The company would explore in the western part of the oil field, where 500 active wells already sit; Oxy says its modeling and analysis indicate that more oil may be there. The city of Long Beach and its port, which owns some of the land under the wells, stand to rake in 120 to 150 million dollars during the next decade. If the legislation enabling the deal passes, site analysis could start early next year.

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  • August 28, 2008 12:04 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• New poll says California voters wouldn't vote to ban gay marriage

  California voters in November will decide whether to make same-sex marriage unconstitutional. KPCC’s Steve Julian says a new poll shows a majority of likely voters would not ban gay marriage.

  Steve Julian: If the election were held today, the measure to undo same-sex marriages would fail. The Public Policy Institute of California found 54 percent of those surveyed do not want to keep gays and lesbians from marrying. Yet there’s a discrepancy: voters in the same poll are evenly split on gay marriage in principal – 47 percent for and against.

  That number hasn’t changed in three years. Mark Baldesarre is president of the PPIC. He believes some voters are simply hesitant to remove a constitutional right. The California State Supreme Court earlier this year found a voter-approved ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. That decision allowed same sex couples to marry.

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  • August 28, 2008 9:42 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Stream behind Rose Bowl cleaned, small fish species returns

  A tiny species of fish has returned to its home near the Rose Bowl. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski says environmentalists are waiting to see whether it’ll stay there.

  Brooke Binkowski: It’s taken a long time and a lot of hard work, but people have reintroduced the arroyo chub to the Central Arroyo Stream. Conservationists and environmentalists are using this project as a model for future watershed cleanups. Tim Brick is director of the Arroyo Seco Foundation. Alongside the small stream behind Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, he says the little fish is a big deal.

  Tim Brick: It’s a minnow, a very small fish, but it’s a very important indicator of the aquatic health of streams and rivers. And so, if we can establish the right conditions for the arroyo chub to renew itself in this area, then a lot of other aquatic species will also do very well.

  Binkowski: The state paid for much of the two-and-a-half-million-dollar project. Crews installed oil runoff and trash filters, removed invasive plant species, and replanted native California trees on more than 20 acres around the stream.

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  • August 28, 2008 9:36 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Actors unions SAG and AFTRA extend commercial contract for 6 months

  Hollywood’s two actors unions and the advertising industry have agreed to extend their contract for commercials by six months. KPCC’s Brian Watt has more.

  Brian Watt: The advertisers and the unions extended the terms of this contract once before. That was in 2006, when the ad bosses agreed to a two-year extension with the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists.

  The extension gave everyone a chance to study new ways to pay actors for commercials that appear on the Internet and on mobile devices.

  But a lot has gone down between SAG and AFTRA since then. In March, they had a nasty split in contract talks with studios over movies and prime time TV shows. AFTRA went on to ratify its own deal with Hollywood producers, over the objections of SAG’s Hollywood leaders. Talks between the Screen Actors Guild and the producers have stalled.

  This new extension of the commercial contract gives the two so-called “sister unions” more time to figure out if they can join together to bargain with the advertisers, or if they’re destined to go their separate ways.

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  • August 27, 2008 6:11 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy

• Day laborers settle suit with OC Sheriff's Department

  Day laborers in Lake Forest have settled their lawsuit against the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. KPCC’s Susan Valot reports.

  Susan Valot: Nearly a year-and-a-half ago, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the city of Lake Forest, the Sheriff, and others on behalf of day laborers. The suit claimed a Lake Forest ordinance that barred laborers from seeking work on street corners denied them their First Amendment free-speech rights.

  The day laborers also claimed they were being harassed by sheriff’s deputies. Soon after they filed the suit, Lake Forest repealed the ordinance. But the day laborers said deputies were still enforcing the repealed city law. Eventually, everyone either settled or was dropped from the suit… except the County of Orange and the Sheriff.

  Now, they’ve settled, too. The settlement says the day laborers can seek work on sidewalks, as long as they’re not jaywalking, double-parking, or littering. The settlement doesn’t award any money. And the sheriff’s department maintains it did nothing wrong.

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  • August 27, 2008 5:12 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• High school football starts before classes do

  School starts next week – but KPCC’s Nick Roman says that for the top high school football teams in Southern California, the season is under way now.

  Nick Roman: The Rivals.com sports Web site lists the top 100 teams in America. Eleven are from Southern California, including three – Orange Lutheran, Santa Ana’s Mater Dei, and Anaheim’s Servite High – that play in the same league.

  Even in high school, when you’re good enough to rank among the best in the country, you play football before classes begin. Take Edison High in Huntington Beach. The Chargers made the Top 100 – and they opened their season last weekend in Maui with a win over a team from Lahaina. On Friday night, it’s Mission Viejo’s turn to play in Maui against a team from Wailuku.

  The top Southern California team in the Rivals Top 100 is Long Beach Poly. They’re number 10. The Jackrabbits will spend Saturday night in Miami for a game against a Florida team. How can a public high school afford to fly its football team across the country? It can when Nike sponsors the game and picks up the tab.

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  • August 27, 2008 5:02 PM
  • Categories: Education, Sports/Recreation

• New memorial to Robert F. Kennedy in LA's Mid-Wilshire district

  In L.A.’s Mid-Wilshire district, a groundbreaking ceremony today made way for a memorial to the late Robert F. Kennedy. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has the story.

  Cheryl Devall: The Ambassador Hotel never overcame its notoriety as the site where the Democratic presidential candidate was assassinated 40 years ago, the night he won the California primary. Now that the hotel’s been torn down, three L.A. Unified public schools are under construction on that property. Planners are also setting aside one-third of an acre for a park in Bobby Kennedy’s honor.

  It’ll include a granite plaque with a portrait of the late U.S. senator who was also the nation’s attorney general during the administration of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. The groundbreaking ceremony included Korean drummers and Latino dancers representing the multicultural stretch of Wilshire Boulevard that’ll contain the as-yet-unnamed park.

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  • August 27, 2008 4:24 PM
  • Categories: History, Politics/Public Affairs

• Santa Barbara County Supervisors vote in favor of offshore oil drilling

  The county that fought hard against offshore oil drilling says it’s changed its mind. Santa Barbara County Supervisors want to reverse California’s policy against more oil exploration drilling along the coast.

  Santa Barbara became the center for the anti-drilling movement after the big oil platform blowout off the coast almost 40 years ago. But Supervisor Joni Gray told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that with gas prices sky-high, it’s time to change.

  Joni Gray: “I represent people that are working people, and they’re very, very dependent upon the price of gas, natural gas, and diesel. They work in the farms, they drive to work, they feed their families, and they need that price of gas to stabilize.”

  Gray says oil safety technology is better, so a repeat of the Santa Barbara spill won’t happen. But Supervisor Janet Wolfe says oil industry experts still see a risk.

  Janet Wolfe: “Certainly, technology has improved. But you can never negate the impact of human error. And, in fact, in many of the recent oil spills, human error has accounted for, I believe they said, in 85 to 90 percent of the spills.”

  The Santa Barbara County supervisors’ 3-to-2 vote in favor of more drilling is little more than symbolism. The governor can clear the way for more oil exploration in state waters – but he’s strongly against it.

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  • August 27, 2008 3:58 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• AAA predicts less travel this Labor Day weekend

  AAA predicts that fewer Californians will take to the skies and highways this Labor Day weekend. The auto club’s latest survey says just over four million Californians will travel 50 miles or more. That’s down one-and-a-half percent from last year. AAA’s Cynthia Harris says people are staying closer to home because of high gas prices and a struggling economy.

  Cynthia Harris: “People are spending at least 20 percent of their expense money for the weekend on gas alone. So it’s become definitely an issue for most families. People have decided to drive less. Maybe instead of taking long road trips, maybe just going to the beach.”

  Lines at the airport will be a little shorter. The number of Californians planning to fly this weekend is down three-and-a-half percent from last year.

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  • August 27, 2008 3:13 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Society/Culture, Transportation

• One half of first lesbian couple to marry in California dies today

  One half of the first lesbian couple to legally marry in California died today in San Francisco. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the life of Del Martin.

  Cheryl Devall: With her partner Phyllis Lyon, Del Martin founded one of the first national lesbian organizations, the Daughters of Bilitis, 53 years ago. Well before the feminist movement of the 1960s and ’70s, the organization that began as a social club lobbied to change social attitudes against women who love women.

  That by itself might have placed Martin and Lyon first in line to legalize their union when the time came. The two assumed that place twice – four years ago when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proclaimed same-sex marriages legal in his city, and again this June, after the state Supreme Court declared a voter referendum against those marriages was unconstitutional.

  Del Martin wrote several books about sexuality and power dynamics within relationships. Health problems were already slowing her down when she broke her arm two weeks ago. Phyllis Lyon was by Martin’s side when she died. Del Martin was 87 years old.

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  • August 27, 2008 2:20 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture

• Governor Schwarzenegger pushes for end to budget deadlock

  Two months into a budget deadlock, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to plead for a legislative compromise. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: With a shortfall of more than $15 billion, the governor wants to spend bond money faster, authorize new revenue bonds, and raise sales taxes for the next three years.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: We have to fix the problem. I think this is the number one promise I’ve made to the people, is that I will go to Sacramento and I will fix the problems permanently, and not be just one of another politician that tries to kick that can down the road. I think the people of California recognize the fact that we have a $15 billion deficit, that you can’t do it all with just cuts.

  Peterson: Republican legislators continue to push deep cuts to state spending. Democrats want more bonds. Schwarzenegger is supposed to speak the first night of the GOP convention. He’s pledged to stay home if the budget impasse continues.

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  • August 27, 2008 2:15 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic National Convention roll call vote not in primetime

  The Democrats have pushed one of the most colorful parts of their political convention out of the evening schedule. The roll call vote for the party’s nominee for President will start at 3 o’clock this afternoon. Democratic Party bosses asked delegates to cast their ballots with their own delegations at breakfast this morning. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde asked former state Controller Steve Westley why.

  Kitty Felde: “Now some might say, ‘Everybody’s trying to seal it up before primetime starts tonight. That’s why we’re all voting early.’”
  Steve Westley: “Look, I’ve been a whip on the floor for the delegation. We’ve got 4,000 people there. They’re all sitting in different delegations. We’ve got all sorts of people wandering in and out. It’s very, very hard to conduct a vote there. And both sides, Clinton and Obama, said, ‘You know what? Let’s make it easy. Let’s give people the chance to vote.’ Again, I have to say this because this is my eighth convention. Getting conventioneers in their seats at 3 o’clock is nearly impossible.”

  Political veterans say the last time they can remember a controversy over the roll call was in 1980. That’s when Ted Kennedy took his battle against President Jimmy Carter to the convention floor.

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  • August 27, 2008 12:58 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• California Democratic Party chair praises Hillary Clinton convention speech

  New York Senator Hillary Clinton last night called for the Democratic Party to unite behind presumptive nominee Barack Obama. Clinton told delegates that whether they backed her or Obama, the time had come to unite as a single party with a single purpose. California Democratic Party chair Art Torres praised the speech.

  Art Torres: “She said all the right things, had all the right phrases, and I thought that some of the phrases – we couldn’t even believe she came up with.”

  Clinton’s husband, former president Bill Clinton, is addressing the convention tonight. So is Democratic running mate Joe Biden.

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  • August 27, 2008 12:46 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Hillary Clinton convention delegate responds to Clinton speech, media coverage

  Hillary Clinton declared herself a “proud supporter of Barack Obama” last night at the Democratic National Convention. The former contender did her best to convince her supporters to follow suit and unite behind her former rival. Angela Ramirez Holmes is a Clinton delegate from northern California. She downplayed the division in the party.

  Angela Ramirez Holmes: “You know, the thing that gets left out and what the media wants to portray as non-unity is really just the culmination of work that we’ve done for years for Hillary. But more than for Hillary, for all women in America. And today of all days for her to speak, it’s a very emotional time.”

  Clinton’s speech marked the 88th anniversary of the constitutional amendment that gave American women the right to vote. Former President Bill Clinton and Obama’s pick for vice president, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, will speak to the convention tonight.

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  • August 27, 2008 12:42 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger pushes spending plan to solve budget crisis

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined local government leaders in Los Angeles this morning to drum up support for his spending plan. The state’s budget is two months late and more than $15 billion short. Schwarzenegger says the legislature’s proposals rely on borrowing money – something legislators did in the last big budget crisis 5 years ago.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “They then went out and borrowed. And they grabbed money from local government. They grabbed money from the pension funds. They grabbed money from transportation. And look what we’re doing now? We’re still paying off the debt. And we haven’t paid it off yet. And now they want to borrow more money so we will never make that mistake again.”

  The governor’s pushing a short-term sales tax, along with an economic stimulus package. He had pledged not to raise any taxes when elected. Local officials say that without a spending plan, and money from the state, public safety services and education are at risk.

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  • August 27, 2008 12:26 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Santa Barbara Supervisors push governor to push Congress to lift federal offshore oil drilling ban

  The idea of offshore oil drilling pleases leaders in Santa Barbara. Supervisors there have agreed to urge Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to push Congress to lift a federal ban. KPCC’s Steve Julian has more.

  Steve Julian:The Santa Barbara County coastline was all but wiped out in 1969. That’s when an oil platform accident sent 3 million gallons of oil into the sea, killing thousands of birds, fish, and marine mammals. It also spawned the Clean Water Act. Santa Barbara County Supervisors now say technology has improved so much that offshore drilling is safe; they voted yesterday to send the governor a letter, asking him to push for federal permission.

  A federal ban has been in place for nearly three decades, but record oil and gas prices have focused more attention on lifting the ban. In April, one of the conservation groups that formed after the 1969 spill, “Get Oil Out,” agreed not to oppose drilling in exchange for money, land, and a promise that drilling would end in 14 years.

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  • August 27, 2008 12:22 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal jury awards toymaker Mattel $100 million in damages in Bratz doll lawsuit

  A federal jury in Riverside has awarded toymaker Mattel $100 million in damages in a legal dispute over rights to the popular Bratz doll. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the judgment follows Mattel’s settlement last month with the dolls’ designer.

  Cheryl Devall: The conflict began years ago when Mattel sued a former employee and the company that later hired him, MGA Entertainment. Mattel claimed that while the ex-employee was still on its payroll, he had designed the Bratz, but gave the concept to MGA.

  Bratz is a sassier, sultrier fashion doll line that’s challenged Mattel’s mainstay Barbie for market share. While MGA’s chief executive has said in a statement that he did not know the designer briefly worked for both toy companies, Mattel continued to claim in court that MGA fraudulently obtained the Bratz designs.

  After three months of testimony, the jury awarded Mattel damages for copyright infringement and what the company’s lead attorney called illegal business practices. The award did not include punitive damages against MGA – and even at $100 million, it’s far less than the nearly $2 billion Mattel had asked for.

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  • August 27, 2008 11:51 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• New study looks at growth and diversity of Latino students in public schools

  A new national study of the nation’s Latino student population sheds light on its rapid growth and diversity. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the details.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Almost one in five students in the United States, the Pew Hispanic Center found, is Hispanic. That’s about double the proportion 18 years ago. Researchers found that the vast majority of Latino students are U.S.-born Mexican Americans with smaller proportions of Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, and Dominican Americans. Pew researcher Richard Fry says the study examined Latino students’ household income, English competency, and the educational backgrounds of their parents.

  Richard Fry: One out of twenty white public school students have parents that haven’t finished high school. Comparatively, one out of three Latino public school students have parents that haven’t at least finished high school.

  Guzman-Lopez: This places many Hispanic students at a disadvantage as they finish high school. Fry hopes the study will help educators better understand the students in their school systems.

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  • August 26, 2008 4:39 PM
  • Categories: Education

• UCLA professor Kleinrock to receive National Medal of Science for major role in creating the Internet

  Debate who invented the internet all you want – the National Science Foundation is recognizing a UCLA computer science professor who played a major role. Leonard Kleinrock will receive the National Medal of Science.

  His computer was one of the first nodes on the Internet – indeed, Kleinrock sent one of the very first e-mails. He told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that about 29 years ago, he knew the Internet would be ubiquitous when it grew up.

  Leonard Kleinrock: “Anybody with any device could get on at any location. And it would be invisible. What I missed was that my 99-year-old mother would be on the Internet, and she was until she passed away a year ago. I missed the social side of it.”

  Kleinrock gets credit for developing the mathematical theory of data networks. He’ll pick up the National Medal of Science, the country’s highest honor in its field, at a White House ceremony on September 29th.

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  • August 26, 2008 3:23 PM
  • Categories: Science/Technology

• Former Westland Meat employee to cooperate with federal investigators

  One of the Chino slaughterhouse workers implicated in that massive national beef recall earlier this year is going to testify against his former bosses. Daniel Navarro says he was just following orders when he prodded and kicked sick cows to slaughter at the Westland Hallmark meat company. KPCC’s Inland Empire reporter Steven Cuevas has more.

  Steven Cuevas: Navarro’s sentencing on felony animal cruelty charges was postponed Monday so he could speak with federal investigators looking into unfair business practices and other allegations at Westland. Navarro was a pen worker there.

  He was seen on an undercover animal rights video that triggered the largest beef recall in U.S. history. It shows workers using forklifts and electric prods to force hobbled cows to slaughter. Slaughtering such cows for meat increases the risk of food-borne diseases.

  Navarro says he didn’t know he was doing anything wrong. He claims Westland management routinely bought ailing cows from dairies across the country. Westland Hallmark went out of business shortly after the alleged animal abuse came to light. The 5-acre facility was purchased by an Arizona-based meat company. It’s expected to reopen under another name later this year.

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  • August 26, 2008 3:19 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• New study about growth, profile of Latino public school students nationwide

  The Pew Hispanic Center has released what it calls the most comprehensive national profile of Latino public school students. Researchers found that the Latino student population nearly doubled between 1990 and 2006, and will continue to grow.

  Latinos account for about 20 percent of the nation’s public school students. More than 8 in 10 Latino students are U.S. citizens. And almost three-fourths claim Mexican roots, with a small but growing number claiming Salvadoran and Dominican heritage. Pew researcher Richard Fry helped to write the study.

  Richard Fry: “California, Texas, Florida, L.A. Unified, you’ve been educating Latino students for many, many decades, in fact in some cases, centuries, if we refer to, you know, the Texas border. But as the report shows, California educates many, many Latino students, but increasingly states in the deep south, schools in the Midwest, schools in the Northwest, Hispanic population and Hispanic students are dispersing, they’re spreading out.

  That, Fry said, means these regions should look to California for lessons about proven and effective ways to address Latino students’ educational needs.

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  • August 26, 2008 3:17 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Fresno police chief talks medical marijuana abuse

  Medical marijuana occupies a legal gray zone in California, where voters have approved its use but law enforcement casts a skeptical eye. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer told KPCC’s Patt Morrison he doubts whether many dispensary customers really need medical marijuana.

  Jerry Dyer: “We have doctors that are also abusing this law by not doing their job and ensuring that they’re doing the proper procedures or examinations prior to providing recommendations to those individuals coming to see them.”

  This week, state attorney general Jerry Brown issued guidelines for the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. Those rules mandate that the businesses should run as non-profit cooperatives or collectives, with strict limits on who’s eligible to buy their products. Federal law prohibits the sale of marijuana for any reason.

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  • August 26, 2008 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• California attorney general releases guidelines for medical marijuana dispensaries

  California’s attorney general Jerry Brown has released guidelines for the operators of medical marijuana dispensaries. The new rules say the owners of these businesses must organize them as cooperatives or collectives.

  They cannot sell pot to non-members, or sell pot grown by non-members. Chief Jerry Dyer of the Fresno Police Department told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that many customers use the dispensaries to abuse medical marijuana.

  Jerry Dyer: “Individuals that clearly do not have a medical need, although maybe law enforcement’s not in a position to determine that. But, those individuals are possessing marijuana, and in many cases flaunting them in the presence of law enforcement.”

  Dyer suggested that more than a few customers are hiding behind the medical marijuana law to further their addiction to the drug. He added that he doesn’t think California voters who approved medicinal pot anticipated widespread abuse from patients, doctors, and dispensaries.

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  • August 26, 2008 2:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• California attorney general says for-profit medical marijuana dispensaries probably not legal

  For-profit medical marijuana dispensaries are probably not legal, California Attorney General Jerry Brown has concluded. That opens the way for local police to join federal agents in shutting down those businesses. Brown told KPCC’s Patt Morrison why the state needs guidelines for the operation of for-profit dispensaries.

  Jerry Brown: “There are a number of people who exploit the medicinal marijuana law to operate as though marijuana were legal, which it isn’t. It’s just a defense to a criminal prosecution when a patient, with the recommendation of a doctor, is in possession or using, or transporting limited quantities of marijuana.”

  To legally cultivate and sell marijuana, Brown said, the dispensary must function as a cooperative or a collective. That means it cannot sell marijuana to non-members, and it can’t sell marijuana grown by non-members.

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  • August 26, 2008 1:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA Mayor says Latinos will back Obama in November

  The Democrats’ presumptive nominee Barack Obama has been trying to attract Latino voters who’d rallied around his rival in the primaries, Senator Hillary Clinton. But Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told KPCC’s Larry Mantle he thinks Latinos will back Obama in November.

  Antonio Villaraigosa: “Latinos are going to vote in support of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. They are because they know our party, and our presumptive nominee represents that American dream, represents that big tent that our party’s always been about.”

  A poll by the Pew Hispanic Center last month suggested that Latino voters favored Obama over Republican John McCain by a margin of almost 3-to-1. McCain is hoping to try and hang onto some of the Latino voters that supported the current President. Four years ago, 40 percent of Latino voters cast ballots for President Bush.

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  • August 26, 2008 1:10 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Some Latino Democrats counter criticism about Obama's Latino outreach

  Some Latino Democrats are countering criticism that Barack Obama isn’t doing enough to court Latino voters. Ed Espinoza is a Democratic National Committee member from Southern California. He told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that polls indicate growing numbers of Latinos are backing Obama.

  Ed Espinoza: “Barack Obama just committed $20 million to Latino outreach in the past month. It’s going to focus on five swing states: Florida, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada in there.”

  Espinoza says a major issue for Latinos is an economy he characterized as “horrible.” Yesterday, Orange County congresswoman Loretta Sanchez told KPCC that she and others felt that Obama hasn’t placed enough Latinos on his team of advisors.

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  • August 26, 2008 12:57 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa talks about supporting Obama

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week. Villaraigosa was a national chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the primaries. But the mayor told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that he’s thrown his support behind the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, Barack Obama.

  Antonio Villaraigosa: “I’m not going to look back to the why I made a decision in support of Hillary Clinton. I’m going to look forward. And I can tell you that I’m excited. I’m going to work hard, as hard as I did for Hillary Clinton, because there’s too much at stake.”

  Some Clinton supporters have told KPCC they are not yet ready to back Obama. Clinton speaks at the convention tonight.

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  • August 26, 2008 12:55 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Budget impasse may mean many alternate delegates get to vote

  Some Democratic lawmakers are still in Sacramento wrestling with Republicans over a state budget. That means a lot of Democratic delegates will be missing in action this week in Denver – and a lot of alternates will get a chance to fill in. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde asked alternate delegate Elizabeth Johnson from Los Angeles about sitting with the rest of the California delegation on the floor of the convention.

  Elizabeth Johnson: You know what? I’ll tell you what. We’ve got some problems up in Sacramento. But they’re working it out. Some of our lawmakers stayed behind so they could work out our budget situation.
  Kitty Felde: That could mean a seat for you on the floor.
  Johnson: Well, who knows? It might work out. I’m not encouraging that, but that might be great.

  This morning, state party chairman Art Torres chided the one or two state lawmakers who did come to Denver for the convention. He told them they should be back in Sacramento, working out a budget deal.

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  • August 26, 2008 12:53 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Congresswoman Waters says party members have unfair expectations of Hillary Clinton

  Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of Los Angeles was an early supporter of Hillary Clinton. Now she says she’s firmly in the Barack Obama camp. Tonight, Clinton will speak at the Democratic National Convention to try to unify the party. But Waters says many in the party are putting unfair expectations on Senator Clinton.

  Maxine Waters: “Hillary’s gonna do the right thing. But I hear all of these folks talking about ‘Hillary should be the– she’s the one that should do the attack on McCain. She’s the one that should do the healing.’ No. Hillary is the one who should get up there and present herself and what she cares about. Outreach to the Obama supporters. But she can’t be the attack dog in everything. I don’t think it’s fair. She’ll do her job, but everybody else has got to do their job.”

  Waters suggested that some of the men pick up the slack in attacking McCain, such as tonight’s keynote speaker, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner.

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  • August 26, 2008 12:51 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Some state lawmakers ignore Governor Schwarzenegger's request to skip convention until California has budget

  Governor Schwarzenegger had urged state lawmakers to skip their party’s conventions while the state was still without a budget. But KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde reports from Denver that some California Democrats apparently didn’t heed that message.

  Kitty Felde: “Every once in a while you’ll see a state assemblyman or a state senator sneaking in and sneaking out. And I think sneaking is the word. Even Art Torres, who’s the head of the Democratic Party, always recognizes all of the officials in the audience at breakfast, and he pointed out a couple of state lawmakers, and they stood up. And then he said, ‘What are you doing here, you should be back in Sacramento getting the budget balanced.’”

  State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass was an early supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. She was also supposed to go to the convention, but she decided to stay in Sacramento. Schwarzenegger is supposed to speak at the Republican Convention next week. He says he’ll skip it if there’s still no deal on a budget.

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  • August 26, 2008 11:10 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Judge sides with Metropolitan Transportation Authority in higher fare challenge

  A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has stopped a challenge to higher fares on Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: Usually when there’s a fare hike on a bus system, the number of riders dips a little. So it’s been on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority system since last year. That’s when the MTA’s board decided to hike fares. Day passes have risen to five dollars from three; monthly passes are $62, 10 dollars higher than last year.

  System users protested the board’s decision, complaining that funds would pay for new rail lines, not keeping buses on the road. The Bus Riders Union sued. It argued that the MTA had to consider the environmental effects of raising fares, since the decision could send more people back to their cars and the freeways.

  But the agency argued it’s exempt from environmental review because the fare hikes are paying for operating expenses. Now a judge has sided with the MTA. The Natural Resources Defense Council and bus riders will challenge the decision in appellate court.

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  • August 26, 2008 10:08 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment, Transportation

• US Commerce Department sets toll road hearing

  You’re going to have another chance to weigh in on the proposed toll road extension in South Orange County. The U.S. commerce secretary is planning a hearing next month. KPCC’s Susan Valot reports.

  Susan Valot: Earlier this year, the California Coastal Commission held a day-long public hearing on the proposed extension of the 241 Toll Road from Rancho Santa Margarita to Interstate 5 near San Clemente. The commission then shot down the toll road plans.

  The route runs through a state park and nature reserve. The Coastal Commission agreed it would harm the environment. But supporters say the extension is needed to relieve the traffic headache on I-5. They appealed to the secretary of commerce, who can overrule the California Coastal Commission.

  Now, the Commerce Department says it’ll hold its own hearing September 22nd at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego County. If you want to talk at the hearing, you have to submit a written request by September 12th. The California Coastal Commission didn’t do that… and toll road supporters say that hearing turned into a circus.

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  • August 26, 2008 9:45 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Phoenix Lander staying on Mars for another mission

  The Mars Phoenix Lander finishes its first mission tomorrow. But KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski says it’s not coming back to Earth just yet.

  Brooke Binkowski: The Phoenix touched down on Mars May 25th. The mission was supposed to end after 90 sols, or Martian days; they’re slightly longer than Earth days. Now, Phoenix is staying for another mission because its exploration is going so well.

  The spacecraft, led by a science team through NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, will continue its mission through next month. During that last phase of the mission it’s digging deeper than ever. The Phoenix is scooping out and testing soil from a 7-inch deep trench on the surface of the Red Planet.

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  • August 26, 2008 9:40 AM
  • Categories: Science/Technology

• OC sheriff clarifies why she's taking away certain volunteer badges

  So far, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has collected only about 200 of the 470 badges issued to a squad of volunteers. New Sheriff Sandra Hutchens wants them all back, but KPCC’s Susan Valot says she’s not issuing a deadline to get them in.

  Susan Valot: Professional Service Responders do all sorts of things for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, from patrolling John Wayne Airport to helping with search and rescue operations. Former Sheriff Mike Carona created the program.

  Some critics say he gave out badges to his buddies. Sheriff Hutchens says PSR’s, as she calls them, save the department loads of money. But she also says they don’t need a badge to do the job, so she’s asked the volunteers to return their honorary badges.

  Sandra Hutchens: The badges that were issued to the PSR’s, if I saw it around someone’s neck or I saw it on their belt, I would assume, and I’ve been in law enforcement for 30 years, I would assume that that is a police officer. And I think the public would ask even fewer questions. Do I think that they’re going to do anything inappropriate? No, I don’t. But if that badge became lost or stolen and is used, I’m the one who issued it.

  Valot:Hutchens says she decided to take the badges back after the state attorney general said an honorary badge that looks real is a violation of state law. Hutchens says she’s not disbanding the Professional Service Responders program, but simply retooling it.

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  • August 26, 2008 9:37 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• OC woman is first Californian to die of West Nile Virus this year

  An Orange County woman has become the first person to die of West Nile Virus in California this year. KPCC’s Susan Valot reports.

  Susan Valot: The 72-year-old woman from Buena Park died earlier this month after being hospitalized with the mosquito-borne disease. She’s the first person in Orange County to die of West Nile Virus in four years. So far this year, more than 100 cases of West Nile have been reported statewide. More than a quarter of those cases have been in Orange County. Deanne Thompson is with the Orange County Health Care Agency.

  Deanne Thompson: This is not a disease that only affects people over age 50. A lot of the reported cases this year are in individuals under age 50. And that’s the important thing. Everyone needs to take precautions against mosquito bites.

  Valot: That means dumping standing water in your yard, keeping window screens repaired and wearing mosquito repellent – particularly at dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are especially blood-thirsty. Officials say this year’s West Nile season is more active than normal, possibly because of stagnant swimming pools at properties in foreclosure – or about to be.

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  • August 26, 2008 9:32 AM
  • Categories: Health

• Orange County superdelegate says Obama doesn't have enough Latinos as advisors

  Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is a superdelegate for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention. She told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that many Latinos believe presumptive nominee Barack Obama hasn’t placed enough Latinos on his team of advisors.

  Loretta Sanchez: “If he is doing something, then he needs to change the perception out there that he’s pretty disengaged. And, if he’s not doing something, then he better get some people on board.”

  In published reports, Sanchez has said that she plans to cast a vote for Clinton when her name is placed in nomination, and that she hasn’t endorsed Obama because he hasn’t asked her to.

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  • August 26, 2008 9:29 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic Congresswoman says neither party is taking Latino vote for granted

  The fast-growing Latino vote this presidential election year defies easy categorization. That’s why neither major party is taking that constituency for granted, Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez told KPCC’s Larry Mantle.

  Loretta Sanchez: “The majority of Latinos across the nation are registered Democrats. And they sit in some of the most important states, California, swing states for a presidential, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, just some of the names of these states would tell you, Texas, in fact, Florida, would tell you that they’re important. They’re swaying, and they’re Latino.”

  The Orange County representative is a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention. To hear the entire conversation, and more of KPCC’s convention coverage, go online to KPCC.org.

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  • August 25, 2008 5:27 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County has new video targeting voters with special needs

  Voter interest in November’s election is pretty high, and Los Angeles County election officials hope to accommodate all kinds of voters. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski has details on a free video the county’s produced to help ensure that’ll happen.

  Brooke Binkowski: The registrar-recorder’s office will distribute the “Voters with Specific Needs” video across L.A. County. The short film is for voters who speak limited English or have disabilities that need to be accommodated. Its original audience was poll workers.

  But the county’s making it available to more people so voters will have a better idea what to expect at the polls. The video is available in seven languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and English. Interested voters may pick it up from the County Clerk’s office, and at public libraries.

  L.A. County’s Community Voter Outreach Committee, a subcommittee of the office that runs elections, helped produce the video. Voters can find out where to get a free copy by visiting LACounty.gov.

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  • August 25, 2008 4:13 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Department of Water and Power urges customers to watch electricity use through tomorrow

  It’s not too late in the summer for a heat wave. As temperatures climb, L.A.’s Department of Water and Power is urging customers to watch their electricity use through tomorrow. More on the power advisory from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: Utility managers expect high electricity demand through midweek as temperatures in the San Fernando Valley graze the 100-degree mark. So the Department of Water and Power is urging some common-sense measures to cut consumption: don’t use major appliances like washing machines and dishwashers during the hottest part of the day.

  Don’t cook then, either – that’ll just heat up the kitchen and require more energy to keep it cool. Instead of air conditioning, rely on ceiling fans or open windows at night to cool your place down. Turn off the lights and other electrical equipment when you’re not using them. To find out more about saving energy now and for the long haul, go online to LADWP.com.

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  • August 25, 2008 3:31 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr sees opportunity for third party caused by Bush administration

  Most presidential campaign coverage focuses on senators Barack Obama and John McCain. But there are other candidates. Former Republican congressman Bob Barr is the Libertarian candidate for president. Barr told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that he finds opportunity with most Americans’ dissatisfaction with politics as usual.

  Bob Barr: “That’s largely the result, but not exclusively the result, of the way the Bush administration has botched pretty much everything it touches. People are, about 85 percent of the American public believe the country is really going in the wrong direction; that’s a historically high number, and provides a real opportunity for a positive change, a new option, and that is the Libertarian Party.”

  Under a Libertarian president, Barr predicted, the United States would pull its troops out of Iraq. He also said that a Libertarian administration would not allow warrantless surveillance of American citizens, and would ensure that the attorney general and Justice Department protect the government, rather than help the president evade the law.

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  • August 25, 2008 2:32 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic National Convention organizers eager to communicate unity and change message to national audience

  It won’t top the Beijing Olympics for spectacle or TV ratings, but the organizers of this week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver are entering the week with high hopes. Chris Lopez, a spokesman for the convention host committee, told KPCC’s AirTalk that Democrats are eager to communicate their messages of unity and change to a national audience.

  Chris Loepz: “They will execute this convention inside the Pepsi Center, inside Invesco, very well. It will go well. It will show well. As long as we do our job outside of these halls, and let, and Denver shines that way, then I think this will go down as an A-plus convention.”

  Tonight’s convention events include a tribute to the party’s elder statesman, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy… and a keynote address from Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive nominee Senator Barack Obama. He’s scheduled to accept the nomination Thursday before a crowd of 75,000 people in Denver’s Invesco Field ballpark.

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  • August 25, 2008 1:19 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA City Councilman Garcetti praises choice of Joe Biden as Obama running mate

  Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti is joining other L.A. city officials in Denver this week at the Democratic National Convention. Garcetti is the Southern California chair for Barack Obama’s campaign. In an interview with KPCC’s AirTalk, Garcetti praised the choice of Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate.

  Eric Garcetti: “Across this country, I think he hits that kind of common man thread that people want to hear and feel, and know that the Democrats are going to fight for them. And he’s exactly what we need to get that contract between John McCain and some of the things we need to get out there, so people know that they have a real clear choice here in this election.”

  Garcetti said Biden could help Obama in swing states like Pennsylvania. That’s Biden’s home turf; now he represents neighboring Delaware in the U.S. Senate. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel are also convention delegates. City Councilwoman Jan Perry will serve as acting mayor during the convention.

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  • August 25, 2008 1:15 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic Convention Host Committee spokesman says Denver as host city helps Democrats make gains

  On this first day of the Democratic National Convention, the party’s concentrating on unity – and strategy. Chris Lopez, a spokesman for the Democratic Convention Host Committee, told KPCC’s AirTalk that the Mile-High City offers more than a gorgeous scenic backdrop; it’s a way to focus on changing voter patterns in a longtime Republican stronghold.

  Chris Lopez: “So I think the Democratic party very strategically picked Denver as the host city for its convention because it felt like, not just in Denver but throughout the interior west, it could make some gains here and start to pick up some votes come November.”

  This convention takes place 100 years after the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president in Denver. That year, Republican William Howard Taft won the contest.

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  • August 25, 2008 1:10 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA City Council President Eric Garcetti says California Democrats can help in swing states

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and city council president Eric Garcetti are in Denver this week for the Democratic National Convention. Garcetti is the Southern California chair for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that California Democrats can play a critical role in the effort to elect Obama at home and in swing states.

  Eric Garcetti: “We’re having sometimes 2,000 people a night meet up in different counties sometimes to call into not just neighboring states, but if it’s Ohio Night, we’re calling Ohio. If it’s New Mexico night, we’re going into New Mexico. You can call friends, relatives that you know in those swing states, so even if you can’t travel to Nevada or someplace else, we can make sure that we have that impact in those states that are needed.”

  L.A. City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel is also in Denver this week, along with Mayor Villaraigosa and Garcetti. That leaves City Councilwoman Jan Perry to serve as acting mayor during the convention. KPCC’s Kitty Felde and the AirTalk staff are covering the convention in Denver all this week.

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  • August 25, 2008 1:01 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• McCain campaign sees Democratic VP selection as opportunity for Republicans

  Democrats are holding their nominating convention in Denver this week, but Republicans are also there. The Republican National Committee has set up a war room about a mile from the Pepsi Center, where Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his party are meeting.

  Brian Rogers is a spokesman for Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s campaign. He told KPCC’s AirTalk the choice of Senator Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate presents an “opportunity” for Republicans.

  Brian Rogers: “If you look at the Democratic primaries, what Senator Biden made clear was that Senator Obama is not ready to be president. He said it on several occasions, and you know we think that that reinforces our message that Senator Obama just frankly doesn’t have the experience, is prepared to take on the job.”

  Biden said over the weekend he was convinced that Obama had the judgment and intelligence to run the nation. McCain has yet to name a running mate. The Republicans convene in Minnesota next week.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:59 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• State lawmakers propose broad chemical policy legislation

  California lawmakers are reviving an effort to identify the chemicals in consumer products more clearly, and to eliminate the most toxic ones. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a Green Chemistry initiative last year. The idea is to find a systemic way to manage toxic and hazardous chemicals usually regulated one by one. But recommendations the initiative was supposed to issue last month still aren’t out, and Sacramento watchers have feared the chemical industry has slowed them.

  Two state lawmakers are proposing broad chemical policy legislation. A bill from L.A. Assemblyman Mike Feuer would give California the power to regulate chemicals in consumer products for the first time, and it would require state regulators to identify problem chemicals through a scientific process.

  Palo Alto Assemblyman Joe Simitian has proposed that the state create a Web site where consumers can search chemical hazards in products they buy. As for the state’s Green Chemistry Initiative, the program’s leaders are saying they’ll probably issue recommendations next month.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:57 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Gay marriage ban proposition supporters believe Latino support may give them an edge

  While the major political parties are focusing on their presidential candidates, Californians are organizing around ballot measures on November’s statewide ballot. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the effort to rally Latinos to vote for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages in the state.

  Cheryl Devall: To the people behind Proposition 8, Latino voters and the concept of traditional marriage are a perfect fit. They hope those voters will give them an edge in the campaign to overturn a May state Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. Thousands of gay and lesbian couples have tied the knot this summer, anticipating that the voters might counteract the court’s decision with a constitutional amendment that would outlaw such marriages in the future.

  A spokeswoman for the Yes on Prop 8 campaign told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin that her organization’s counting on a large turnout of Latino voters, whom she described as “very committed to upholding the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.” In a statewide Field poll, almost half the state’s Latino voters said they’d support the amendment. Groups on both sides of the issue pledge to spend 10 to 15 million dollars promoting their take on Prop 8.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:49 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• OC city considers limiting what colors homes can be painted

  Officials in one Orange County city will be talking to neighbors tomorrow night about a touchy matter of taste. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the La Palma City Council is responding to complaints that some homeowners are choosing from the bolder shades on the spectrum.

  Susan Valot: Some neighbors call the gold house with red trim in their La Palma neighborhood “the McDonald’s house.” Another homeowner added an eggplant-colored trim to a tan home. The neighbors don’t like that, either. They want everyone on the block to stick with earth tones, because they say the gaudy colors drive down their property values.

  But one person’s “gaudy” is another’s “pretty,” and some people contend that if you own the house, you ought to be able to paint it whatever color you want. That’s why La Palma officials are hosting a workshop tomorrow night to talk about paint colors on single-family homes.

  They want to ask people who live there whether a local ordinance should ban certain colors. If La Palma does that, it’d be the first city in Orange County to pass such a law. It’d likely be similar to the exterior-color rules that homeowners’ associations enforce.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:44 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Hillary Clinton speaks to New York delegates, criticizes McCain ad

  It’s the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Senator Hillary Clinton was supposed to speak to California’s delegates this morning, but she cancelled. Nobody’s saying why. Clinton did speak to the delegates of the state she represents, New York. Clinton criticized an ad that Republican candidate John McCain’s camp is running. It features a former Clinton supporter who’s decided to vote for McCain.

  Hillary Clinton: “Now I understand that the McCain campaign is running ads trying to divide us. And let me state what I think about their tactics, and these ads. I’m Hillary Clinton and I do not approve that message.”

  California’s delegates did hear from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. KPCC’s Kitty Felde is in Denver. You can hear her reports throughout the day.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:37 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Activist worries about election integrity

  Not everyone coming to the Democratic National Convention is a delegate. Labor leaders, health care advocates, and anti-war activists are also coming to Denver to promote their own agendas. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde found one activist who’s worried about what happens after the polls close on November 4th.

  Kitty Felde: Michael Jay is co-chair of the Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles. He’s in Denver to help organize Progressive Central, a weeklong gathering in a Presbyterian church near the convention center.

  Fellow progressives can attend panels on immigration reform and AIDS in Africa. Jay is most interested in another panel topic: election integrity. He’s worried the Republicans will try to steal this election.

  Michael Jay: Above all, I don’t want to see the party concede, as they did in the last two presidential cycles – once after six weeks, once at 3 a.m. after election night while they were still counting votes in Ohio, and I’m pushing a program to all election integrity groups to advance the slogan, or the concept, “no concessions until every vote is counted. Obama, do not concede.”

  Election integrity is a topic outside of Progressive Central. On Monday, the Pew Center will host a seminar in Denver on voting technology and ballot counting issues.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:31 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• First time delegate, long time labor organizer going to Denver

  The Democratic National Convention is attracting both political newcomers and political veterans to Denver. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde talked to a first time delegate with a long history of labor organizing.

  Kitty Felde: Yvonne Wheeler got so excited about Barack Obama’s presidential run, she decided to run herself – as an Obama delegate. This is Wheeler’s first convention. But she’s no stranger to political activism. Wheeler is a Senior Field Representative for the AFL/CIO, which will be working hard for Obama this fall.

  Yvonne Wheeler: What we’ve committed to do statewide is to assist in Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico in contacting over 500,000 voters.
  Felde: By phone?
  Wheeler: Yes, and in addition to that, turning out the vote here, working and knocking on doors, and phoning all voters and telling them how important this election is.

  Felde: Wheeler is an Obama delegate from Long Beach, one of 441 California delegates who will cast their votes this week in Denver.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:29 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Brain conference underway this week at UCLA

  Neuroscientists and brain surgeons are converging in Westwood this week. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski has more about what’s up.

  Brooke Binkowski: It’s the annual World Congress of the International Brain Mapping and Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society. UCLA’s Nanosystems Institute is hosting the conference. It will focus on finding new technologies to improve brain mapping and spinal work.

  The forum, now in its fifth year, brings scientists and neurosurgeons from all over the world to discuss and share medical advances and ideas. The agenda will include medical issues related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – especially veterans’ post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

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  • August 25, 2008 12:22 PM
  • Categories: Science/Technology

• LA Daily News has 2 new editors

  Two of the new editors at the Los Angeles Daily News share the same last name, but that’s just a coincidence. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the appointments may signal changes ahead at the San Fernando Valley-based newspaper.

  Cheryl Devall: Editorial writer Mariel Garza becomes the editorial page editor at the Daily News. The paper’s LA.com blog lists her long experience at newspapers including the Riverside Press-Enterprise, the Inland Valley Bulletin, and the old Los Angeles Times San Gabriel Valley edition.

  Oscar Garza has edited the L.A. Times Sunday magazine and calendar section. He was editor-in-chief of the recently shuttered Tu Ciudad monthly magazine and a frequent contributor to the Zocalo radio program on KPCC. He’s the new senior editor for content at the Daily News.

  The two Garzas on the masthead are not related to one another. They are part of a re-organization at a paper that, like many others, has cut staff and lost circulation in recent years. In a staff memo, Daily News top editor Carolina Garcia said she hopes these and other changes at the top will revitalize the paper – and deliver some good news amid the gloom pervading the industry.

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  • August 25, 2008 10:14 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Text messaging while driving may soon be illegal

  If Governor Schwarzenegger signs a bill heading to his desk, it may be illegal soon to text message while driving. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The governor’s already signed a law that makes it illegal to drive and talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device. That law also prohibits teens driving from using a cell phone in any way.

  Tania Shaw of North San Diego County urges the governor to ban text messaging while driving. She’s experienced how dangerous it can be. Not long ago, Shaw says, a friend who gave her a ride was getting too close to the car ahead.

  Tania Shaw: She was more interested in what she was doing in her text than driving on the freeway. So I said, can you not do that while I’m in the car. And she says, I do that all the time.

  Guzman-Lopez: The bill by San Jose Senator Joe Simitian is headed to the governor. The budget stalemate may hold it up. Schwarzenegger’s said he will sign no bills until Sacramento Democrats and Republicans pass a budget.

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  • August 25, 2008 9:58 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Rodeos come to Southern California this weekend

  It’s “cowboy up!” at a couple of Southland rodeos this weekend. KPCC’s Susan Valot goes along for the ride.

  Susan Valot: The Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo in San Juan Capistrano calls itself the “richest two-day rodeo in the nation.” Top riders, ropers, and steer wrestlers take home a total of $200,000. The proceeds from the rodeo in South Orange County go to local charities. About an hour to the north, the state’s top 100 professional rodeo contestants are saddling up.

  They’re competing at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Rodeo in Norco. This is its 24th year. Cowboys and cowgirls take part in bareback riding, tie-down roping, and barrel racing. The top competitors in this rodeo will advance to the national finals. Both contests wrap up Sunday.

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  • August 22, 2008 4:46 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• Major pharmaceutical company pulls out of Southland

  Abbott Laboratories is slashing jobs in California. The Chicago-based pharmaceutical and medical supply company says it plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs in three years. Eighty of those jobs will be at a chemical plant in South Pasadena. Company spokesman Don Braakman says Abbott’s outsourcing some of its manufacturing to save money.

  Don Braakman: “It’s just a thing that we had to do. It’s difficult because some employees will be impacted, primarily over the next three-and-a-half years, but it’s something we had to do to further, to strengthen the business, so that we can continue to provide these important tests for our customers in the U.S. and in the international markets.”

  Abbott makes medical supplies and prescription drugs including the painkiller Vicodin.The company said in a regulatory filing that it will spend $370 million to restructure, in the hope of saving $150 million a year.

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  • August 22, 2008 4:37 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Southland residents respond to plan to ban text messaging while driving

  When he gets around to signing bills again, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to decide whether to enact a ban on text-messaging while driving. Pam Larson of Long Beach is behind the Sacramento bill. But she wonders how police would enforce it.

  Pam Larson: “How are they going to notice the difference between, apparently there’s no law as far as I know, of looking, or dialing your phone, versus text messaging. So I think that’s kind of funny. But, uh, yeah it’s common sense, you know, safety. Your mind should be on the road, not on texting your friends.”

  Last month, a new law banned driving while talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device. The law also forbids teen drivers from text messaging while driving.

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  • August 22, 2008 4:07 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology

• Santa Ana police team with churches to combat violence

  Santa Ana police are teaming up with five local churches to try to combat crime and violence in a neighborhood near the Civic Center. Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters says church volunteers went along on a three-day crackdown on gang members and other criminals. “Operation Restore Peace” netted more than five-dozen arrests. Walters says involving the churches helps to develop trust.

  Paul Walters: “When the people are afraid, the gang members can do anything they want – when they’re afraid to report and be involved. So we want to go in and have people that are non-police, go in along with police support people, to help them. How do you get involved? What can I do? How can I make the neighborhood safe and not be fearful? Because once that fear sets in and the gangsters intimidate people, then they have free rein.”

  The church volunteers work and talk with neighbors, and offer support with food banks and tutoring. They also act as go-betweens with police, reporting crimes that people are scared to tell officers about. Church leaders say they hope to reduce crime by generating hope.

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  • August 22, 2008 3:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Religion/Spirituality

• LAPD chief plans to ask City Council to only allow off-duty LAPD officers to work as film shoot security

  LAPD Chief Bill Bratton says he’s unhappy with the retired motorcycle cops who hire themselves out as security for film shoots on the streets of Los Angeles. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Bratton says it’s not that the retired cops aren’t up to the task.

  Chief Bill Bratton: These people have been doing a good job. We’ve received very few complaints about them. But the reality is the liability potential is phenomenal.

  Stoltze: The chief told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that the retired officers wear their old LAPD uniforms and badges, and carry guns as they serve as security for film crews on location in the city. But he says the department doesn’t regulate them.

  Bratton: Many of these people live out of state. The come in with their trailers. They work 16, 24, 36 hours in a row. How are you going to be able to perform in a police capacity when you’re working those types of hours in an unregulated fashion?

  Stoltze: Bratton wants the City Council to allow only off-duty LAPD officers to work as security for film crews. He says he plans to present a formal proposal in the coming months.

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  • August 22, 2008 3:04 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LAPD chief vows to end practice of retired cops serving as security for film shoots

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton this week vowed to end the practice of retired LAPD motorcycle officers serving as security for film crews shooting on location.

  Bill Bratton: “As we’ve gotten into looking much more closely at this issue, there are a lot of concerns that I have: the lack of training of these personnel, they don’t get routinely trained on firearms, etc. They’re not regulated by us by any extensive rules and regulations. So its one of these things that’s been around for a number of years and we started looking at it, and the more we looked at it the more concerned we were with it.”

  Bratton told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that he plans to propose a set of regulations to the City Council that would allow only off-duty LAPD officers to work as security guards at production sites.

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  • August 22, 2008 3:00 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Criminal Justice

• Bill to ban texting while driving passes both houses in Legislature

  Drivers face too many distractions. That’s the reasoning behind a bill in Sacramento that would ban motorists from text messaging while they drive. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez gauged reaction in the Southland.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The bill’s a good idea, says Dennis Hutton of Valencia.

  Dennis Hutton: I think text messaging while you’re driving is crazy. I mean you’re going to cause an accident. You’re going to hurt yourself and probably some other people. If you’re going to do it you ought to do it in really gridlock traffic. When you’re just driving along and you’re texting it’s pretty dangerous.
  Guzman-Lopez: Have you ever tried it?
  Hutton: Of course, of course I do!

  Guzman-Lopez: San Jose Senator Joe Simitian’s behind the ban on texting while driving. The bill’s passed both houses in the state legislature. It’s headed to Governor Schwarzenegger for his signature or veto.

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  • August 22, 2008 2:55 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology

• 2 Marines refuse to testify against former squad leader

  Two Camp Pendleton Marines refused to testify today in the civilian trial of former squad leader Jose Nazario. He’s charged with killing two Iraqi detainees four years ago in Fallujah. The trial in Riverside federal district court is in its second day.

  Ryan Weemer and Jermaine Nelson were with Nazario when he allegedly executed two unarmed detainees, then ordered the execution of two other Iraqi prisoners. No forensic evidence was ever recovered, so today’s development could be a big setback for the prosecution.

  The U.S. Attorney’s office won’t comment on the case. But Nazario’s defense attorney Kevin McDermott says the Marines who declined to go on the stand made the right choice.

  Kevin McDermott: “Two of the men had originally made comments to investigators. They’ve I think recognized that some of the comments they made did not fit the circumstances or the facts as they’ve unfolded. These are the same two individuals that would not testify in front of the grand jury.”

  Authorities had already jailed Weemer and Nelson once for refusing to cooperate in a grand jury probe. The judge in the case said it was unlikely that more jail time would compel the men to testify now.

  Jose Nazario is the first person to be tried in civilian court under a federal law that allows former military enlistees to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes. He could spend 30 years in prison if a jury convicts him of all charges.

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  • August 22, 2008 2:52 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• California lands commission considers Carlsbad desalination project

  The State Lands Commission is considering whether to greenlight a desalination project in Carlsbad that would be the largest in the country. KPCC’s Molly Peterson has more.

  Molly Peterson: A company called Poseidon Resources has been pushing for the plant’s construction for close to 10 years. Poseidon’s been seeking lease approval from the State Lands Commission; it already got approval from the Coastal Commission.

  That agency studied the plant’s carbon footprint and possible effects on sea life. The desalination plant will suck in about 100 million gallons of water a day, along with fish larva, plankton, and small numbers of adult fish. A spokesman for the company says that Poseidon could break ground on the plant early next year and deliver drinkable water to San Diego County two years after that.

  Plant managers expect the Carlsbad facility to produce enough water for 300,000 people. State regulators’ decisions are setting examples for about 20 other desalination projects in the pipeline. Environmentalists have said they are considering trying to block Poseidon’s project in court.

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  • August 22, 2008 2:47 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Emancipation Proclamation displayed at Reagan Library

  A rare opportunity to see the Emancipation Proclamation in the Southland begins today at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. Details on the exhibit from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: The document in which Abraham Lincoln declared enslaved Africans “forever free,” at the height of the Civil War, is the centerpiece of the new exhibit. It’s one of three signed copies known to exist. Other artifacts in the exhibit include some of the 16th president’s authentic letters and manuscripts related to his role in leading the Union during the bitterest war in the nation’s history.

  A timeline in the exhibit traces the history of slavery from the ancient Babylonian code of Hammurabi to the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution abolishing the practice in this country. In the early days of the Republican Party, opposition to slavery was central to its ideology.

  For decades after the Civil War, many blacks who could vote cast their ballots for the “party of Lincoln.” The exhibit on Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation continues at the Reagan Library through late October. For more information, go online to ReaganLibrary.com.

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  • August 22, 2008 2:25 PM
  • Categories: History

• Governor Schwarzenegger won't speak at GOP convention if there's no state budget

  Republicans announced this week that Governor Schwarzenegger would speak on the first night of the GOP Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. The governor said he’d be glad to, with one exception.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I made it very clear to Senator McCain that I am honored to be asked to speak at the convention and that I will be honored to do anything to help him win the presidency, but that the state of California and the budget is the most important thing, so that if I don’t have a budget, I cannot speak at the convention. I will be here.”

  The two-month-old stalemate over the state budget is also derailing Democrats’ plan to attend their national convention next week in Denver. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said she’d stay in Sacramento until there’s a budget deal, but added that she might drop into Denver late Thursday to hear Barack Obama’s acceptance speech.

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  • August 22, 2008 12:36 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Abbott Laboratories pulls out of South Pasadena

  A major pharmaceutical and medical supply company is scaling back its operations in the Southland. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski has details.

  Brooke Binkowski: Abbott Laboratories has announced plans to cut 1,000 jobs in the next three years. One hundred of those are in California. The company says it wants to reduce its costs. Its plan to close a clinical chemistry plant in South Pasadena would eliminate about 80 jobs.

  Abbott also will cut staff in Santa Clara in Northern California. The company also plans to shift its manufacturing out of the United States to save costs, because much of its customer base is in Europe.

  It manufactures medical supplies, prescription drugs, and consumer products, including the dietary supplement Glucerna for people with diabetes. The Chicago-based company said in a regulatory filing that it plans to spend $370 million to restructure. When that’s done, Abbott Labs says it should save $150 million a year.

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  • August 22, 2008 11:59 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• US Immigrations department cancels voluntary deportation program

  Federal immigration officials are pulling the plug on a voluntary self-deportation program. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the three-week pilot effort didn’t attract many willing participants.

  Cheryl Devall: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conceded that its “scheduled departure” program was a bust. Last week, the agency had logged six voluntary deportees in five pilot cities. This week yielded only two more. The pilot phase had been scheduled to end today, but the immigration agency had hoped to expand it beyond Santa Ana, San Diego, Phoenix, Chicago, and Charlotte – if it had caught on.

  Earlier this month the federal government announced the plan to allow illegal immigrants with court orders 90 days to report to officials, settle their affairs, and leave the country without penalty. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman told the Associated Press that other tactics, including surprise visits to immigrants’ homes and workplaces, have been more effective than voluntary self-deportation.

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  • August 22, 2008 9:45 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Montebello mayor raising concerns over trash contract

  The mayor of Montebello is raising concerns about his city’s decision to award an exclusive trash contract to a private waste hauler. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports he’s leading an effort to overturn the decision.

  Frank Stoltze: Montebello Mayor William Molinari says the new deal threatens to throw a dozen of the city’s local trash haulers out of business.

  William Molinari: They buy all their repairs parts here. They buy their fuel here. They patronize local businesses for office supplies. Many of them live in the community, so they shop and patronize our local businesses. So this ripples far beyond the trash contract.

  Stoltze: Molinari lost a 3-2 City Council vote that handed Athens Services an exclusive contract to haul trash in Montebello. City Administrator Richard Torres says Athens offered the city in East L.A. County half a million dollars and a bigger percentage of the gross profits.

  Richard Torres: In the first year the estimate was in the neighborhood of 135,000. Over the next seven years it would be significantly more.

  Stoltze: Torres concedes that because the deal amended an existing contract, other trash haulers never got opportunities to bid. The fight isn’t over. Independent haulers, led by the mayor, have collected 6,000 signatures to place the issue before voters.

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  • August 22, 2008 9:42 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• FDIC offers modified mortgages to IndyMac borrowers

  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is offering to help homeowners with loans from IndyMac Bank. Federal regulators seized the Pasadena-based bank last month and put the FDIC in charge of its operations. Now the agency is offering modified mortgages to IndyMac borrowers. Michel Krimminger, an advisor to the federal agency, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison about the program.

  Michel Krimminger: “We’ve done modifications on mortgages and other types of loans in the past, because from our history, and our experience, we recover a much greater amount of money on a performing loan when we sell it to other buyers than we do for one that’s delinquent and non-performing.”

  But Joseph Mason of Louisiana State University’s business school doubted whether the program can succeed.

  Joseph Mason: “Moody’s reported back in 2005 that, based on data up until then, modified loan programs only had, at best, a 40 percent re-default rate, and that could go up to a 70 percent re-default rate in less well managed programs.”

  Mason said some borrowers would be better off walking away than staying with modified mortgages.

  Link: Full Patt Morrison segment

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  • August 21, 2008 4:52 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• FDIC offers more affordable mortgages to IndyMac customers

  Troubled homeowners with IndyMac Bank loans may get a break from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency that assumed control of the bank last month. To reduce potential defaults, the FDIC is offering more affordable mortgages to IndyMac customers. Michael Krimminger is a special advisor to the federal agency. He told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that only certain customers qualify for the modified mortgage.

  Michael Krimminger: “We are going to require verification of your income to establish that you qualify for the modification we’re provided. We don’t want to give someone a modification if they can’t afford that payment because that won’t do us any good, it won’t do the borrower any good. We also want to make sure that if someone who has much more income than they’ve identified, that they get a modification that fits their actual income.”

  Joseph Mason, who teaches finance at Louisiana State University, wonders whether those borrowers can afford even a modified mortgage. He suggested that the bank insurer should do more to help borrowers.

  Joseph Mason: “There are some community groups such as MACA out of Boston, which is a national group that helps with modifying loans. But they take the borrower and teach them a) how to budget, b) how to manage their finances, and then make them prove themselves in a modification arrangement test run before finalizing the modification.”

  Link: Full Patt Morrison segment

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  • August 21, 2008 4:50 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Cal State Northridge receives $5 million anonymous donation

  Cal State Northridge would like to thank the source of a $5 million gift. But, says KPCC’s Cheryl Devall, the university doesn’t know who the benefactor is.

  Cheryl Devall: Northridge does know what the money’s for. The anonymous giver specified that it’s for scholarships and other student aid, a university representative said. The school will call it the Scottsdale Endowment, because the cashier’s check for $5 million arrived from a bank in Scottsdale, Arizona. That seed money could allow some students who couldn’t afford college to attend, Northridge’s development chief said. The gift coincides with the San Fernando Valley school’s 50th anniversary.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:45 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Brea-based nursing home company settles lawsuit

  A company that operates more than a dozen nursing homes in Los Angeles and Orange counties will pay millions of dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit. KPCC’s Susan Valot says past and present clients of the Orange County-based company accused it of skimping on staffing and training.

  Susan Valot: A man who used to live at the Anaheim Healthcare Center initially filed the lawsuit against Brea-based Sun Mar. It operates that facility. The man claimed he developed pressure sores while he was there because of understaffing.

  Several other people joined the suit. It alleges that Sun Mar promised elderly clients and their families quality care, but purposely kept budgets so tight that the nursing homes couldn’t provide enough staff or training. The lawsuit claims that the California Department of Health cited the homes dozens of times for various deficiencies.

  Sun Mar says it agreed to settle the suit for $2 million so it can keep its attention focused on the people who live in its nursing homes. The company says it doesn’t admit any liability. One stipulation of the lawsuit is that any unclaimed money goes back to Sun Mar, to be used only to improve staffing levels at its nursing homes.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:31 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• State budget deadlock puts pressure on companies with government contracts

  The state budget deadlock is putting a big squeeze on companies that do business with California. Uptown Studios, a Web site and brochure design company in Sacramento, relies on the state for about 30 percent of its revenue. Owner Tina Reynolds says she expected a budget impasse, but not for two months.

  Tina Reynolds: “This one is going to run a little big longer than the past ones though, so that’s where the pain to our pocketbooks come. We will run out of money that we have stashed away. And then we have to figure out how we’re going to make this all affordable for all of our employees and meet the commitments.”

  The state pays about $9 billion a year to contractors, from large corporations to small business. Under California law, the state controller is prohibited from cutting checks to most contractors for goods and services provided after July 1st, when the state’s new fiscal year begins.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:25 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Needy families get help from local coalition of nonprofits and volunteers

  A San Gabriel Valley nonprofit is making sure that kids in need get a good start on the new school year. Foothill Unity Center held its 10th annual back to school event today at Santa Anita Racetrack. Kids from low income and homeless families picked up backpacks and school uniforms. They were also treated to manicures and haircuts. Dajanai Sims says she’s about to enter her senior year at Duarte High School. She didn’t get a haircut, but she did pick up some clothes.

  Dajanai Sims: “I just came from picking up socks and stuff. But I’m pretty much done now with everything. So, yeah. I’ve done it before. It’s nice.”

  This year’s event was significantly bigger than last year’s. Organizers say about 1,400 families turned out, compared to a thousand last year.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:23 PM
  • Categories: Education, Society/Culture

• Catholic university rejects petition to appoint feminist theologian, due to abortion stance

  A Catholic university in San Diego today rejected a faculty petition to appoint a feminist theologian. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the appointment foundered because the professor sits on the board of an abortion rights organization.

  Cheryl Devall: Last spring, the University of San Diego appointed Rosemary Radford Reuther to an endowed chair in theology for the fall semester. But it withdrew the offer last month after finding out that Reuther is on the board of Catholics for Choice, an organization that challenges the Roman Catholic position that abortion is a sin.

  Faculty at the university presented its administration with a petition bearing more than 2,000 signatures in support of Reuther, who’s a visiting professor of theology at Claremont Graduate School. The petition did not sway the San Diego institution.

  Anti-abortion activists had criticized the appointment of Reuther, the author of several books and a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter. Reuther and her advocates say the controversy reflects the tension between academic freedom and conformity with church doctrine on Catholic campuses.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:19 PM
  • Categories: Education, Religion/Spirituality

• Trial underway in Riverside of Marine accused of killing Iraqi detainees

  In Riverside, a trial has begun for a former Marine sergeant charged in the deaths of four Iraqi detainees. The alleged killings took place four years ago, during combat operations in Fallujah. It’s the first time the federal government has tried a former serviceman for an alleged crime committed while he was in uniform. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas reports.

  Steven Cuevas: Prosecutors charged Jose Nazario under a federal law that allows former enlisted personnel to be prosecuted for war crimes. That’s why a civilian federal district court in Riverside is hearing the case. Prosecutors argued that Nazario shot and killed two unarmed Iraqi detainees during combat operations, then ordered the killings of two other prisoners.

  The 28-year-old ex-Marine is charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter. If a jury convicts him, he could spend more than 10 years in prison. Lead defense attorney Kevin McDermott says his client is not guilty. He says the government has failed to produce any physical evidence implicating Nazario.

  Kevin McDermott: “If you’re gonna convict someone of murder, let’s hope you can produce a body and some evidence that a death actually occurred. And in this particular case we don’t believe they’ll be able to do that.”

  Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office declined comment. Their case largely hinges on two Marines who were under Nazario’s command in Fallujah. They’ve given statements linking their former sergeant to the alleged killings. The government’s subpoenaed them to testify. But they’re expected to refuse, even if they have to go to jail. If that happens, it could deal a fatal blow to the case against Nazario.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Low-income northeast LA County families get ready for school to start

  More than a thousand low-income and homeless children from the San Gabriel Valley received free clothes and school supplies today. A coalition of nonprofits and volunteers called Foothill Unity Center organized the annual Back to School Distribution event at the Santa Anita Racetrack. Director Joan Whitenack says this year’s event almost didn’t come together in time, because so many people need help.

  Joan Whitenack: “This is about 40 percent bigger than last year’s. The economy has had a huge impact on our center, and, uh, we’ve seen more families that we’ve ever seen before.”

  The kids received backpacks, shoes and socks, and even manicures. This is the tenth year Foothill Unity Center has held its back to school event.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:08 PM
  • Categories: Education, Society/Culture

• Long-time Irvine-based nursery declares bankruptcy

  A nearly 90-year-old nursery in Orange County has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the company provides plants to some major retailers.

  Susan Valot: Hines Horticulture in Irvine is one of the largest commercial nursery operations in North America. It operates a nursery in Irvine, plus six others in California, Arizona, Oregon, and Texas.

  The company supplies thousands of retail stores, including the Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Wal-Mart. But Hines says its revenues have dropped more than expected this year, in part because of the slow economy and the stagnant housing market. People are spending less on landscaping.

  The company says the price of producing and distributing the plants has also gone up. Once the courts approve the bankruptcy, Hines Horticulture plans to sell most or all of its assets. It’s the latest of several retailers that have recently declared bankruptcy. Hines has been in business since 1920.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:05 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Trial underway for Marine charged with killing Iraqi detainees

  This is the first day of a civilian trial for a former U.S. Marine sergeant charged in the deaths of four Iraqi detainees. The alleged murders took place in Fallujah four years ago. Prosecutors have charged Jose Nazario with one count of voluntary manslaughter. He says he’s not guilty.

  It’s the first time the federal government has tried a former serviceman for an alleged war crime. Prosecutors say Nazario shot and killed two Iraqi detainees, then ordered the execution of two others. Nazario’s attorney Kevin McDermott says the government has no physical evidence to convict his client.

  Kevin McDermott: “If you’re gonna convict someone of murder, let’s hope you can produce a body and some evidence that a death actually occurred. This boils down to young men in the trenches having to decide whether to pull the trigger, or if they can identify if someone is a good guy or a bad guy. Fallujah was a case where there were very few good guys.”

  Two Marines who allegedly took part in the Fallujah murders have given prior statements supporting the government’s case. The government’s subpoenaed them to testify, but they may refuse. Jose Nazario faces more than 10 years in prison if a jury convicts him.

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  • August 21, 2008 4:03 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA and Long Beach ports defend Clean Trucks program against trucking industry

  The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex is defending its Clean Trucks program against trucking industry charges that the ports can’t legally require it. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports on new developments in the lawsuit.

  Molly Peterson: The American Trucking Association had threatened to sue while the ports were developing the program. It’s to start banning older, dirtier diesel trucks from the harbors in October. So when the trucking association did file suit last month, claiming that the ports can’t legally require signups, it wasn’t a surprise.

  The key area of dispute is the agreements truckers must sign in order to pick up cargo under the Clean Trucks plan. In the response just filed, L.A. and Long Beach ports argue that federal law allows a city or its agency to make rules that affect a market when it’s a participant in that market.

  The ports say they can step in where human health is at stake: cancer risk near the harbor is 60 percent higher than in the rest of the L.A. basin. The ports pointed to trucking companies that say the clean trucks program won’t be as disruptive as the industry group claims. A judge will hear arguments about the lawsuit early next month.

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  • August 21, 2008 3:55 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Environment

• New state bill targets urban sprawl and climate change

  Urban sprawl and climate change in California are the targets of a bill the state assembly expects to pass this week. State Senator Darrel Steinberg of Sacramento sponsored the bill. He told KPCC’s AirTalk it will encourage regional planners to adopt what he called “smart growth policies.”

  Darrel Steinberg: “Making sure that you develop in ways that are more compact, where housing is located closer to commercial and to retail, and so that as people drive they are in their cars for less time and we reduce the amount of vehicles miles traveled.”

  Transportation projects that meet those goals would get first dibs at state transportation money under Steinberg’s bill. The bill would also fast-track housing projects that meet the bill’s goals. Builders had initially opposed the measure, but they struck a deal with environmentalists on a compromise measure. Steinberg says the legislation is a key part of meeting the state’s landmark global warming law California’s legislature passed two years ago.

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  • August 21, 2008 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Bill to curb urban sprawl may pass state Assembly this week

  A bill that aims to curb urban sprawl may pass the state Assembly this week. The legislation offers incentives to transportation and housing projects that meet its goals of encouraging more compact development and fighting climate change. State Senator Darrell Steinberg sponsored the bill. He told KPCC’s AirTalk it’s the first bill of its kind in the nation.

  Darrell Steinberg: “As much as we focus rightfully on alternative vehicles and alternative fuels, we will never reach the ambitious goals in AB 32 unless we address land use and transportation head on, so it’s really not an option.”

  AB 32 is the state’s landmark global warming law Governor Schwarzenegger signed two years ago. Steinberg said transportation projects that meet the bill’s climate goals would get first dibs at state transportation money. The bill also streamlines the approval process for housing projects that meet its goals. Governor Schwarzenegger hasn’t taken a position on the measure.

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  • August 21, 2008 3:48 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Charter schools advocacy group head leaves to join educational services company

  The head of an influential charter schools advocacy group is leaving the job to join a Southland educational services company. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has the story.

  Cheryl Devall: The country’s largest concentration of charter schools – independent, usually small learning centers that operate within public school districts – is in the Los Angeles Unified School District; it’ll include 150 charters when classes start this fall.

  That reflects the advocacy of Caprice Young, a former L.A. Unified board member. During the five years she led the California Charter Schools Association, Young re-shifted the organization’s focus from suburban public districts to urban schools. Young is leaving the charter schools non-profit to join Knowledge Universe, a training and curriculum development company owned by the Milken Family Foundation.

  Former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, a political ally of Young’s, told the Los Angeles Times that he regrets her departure from the charter school organization. Young, he said, raised the profile of charters, and “opened up the door for all schools to challenge and help each other.”

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  • August 21, 2008 11:26 AM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• LAX employees' labor union gives leaders authority to call strike

  Members of a labor union have given their leaders authority to call a strike at Los Angeles International Airport. KPCC’s Steve Julian has more.

  Steve Julian: These are skycaps, baggage handlers, jet cabin cleaners, and security guards. The 2,500 workers belong to the SEIU, Service Employees International Union, and are hired by subcontractors and airlines.

  Local 1877 officials say employees earn, on average, $19,000 a year, don’t have the equipment or training they need to do their jobs well, and don’t have adequate health care. The union leadership is in the midst of negotiating separate contracts with several different subcontractors.

  A strike date has not yet been set. While the agency that runs the airport doesn’t pay these workers’ salaries, it is facing a loss of revenue: domestic and international carriers are cutting flights out of LAX.

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  • August 21, 2008 10:34 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Marine on trial for killing 4 unarmed detainees in Iraq

  A former Marine is scheduled to appear in a federal court today in Riverside to answer accusations he killed four civilians in Iraq. KPCC’s Steve Julian reports.

  Steve Julian: Jose Luis Nazario, Junior, will appear in a civilian court under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. The law allows the prosecution of civilian contractors accused of crimes while working overseas.

  It applies to Nazario because he was charged after leaving the military. The killings in Fallujah came to light when Nazario’s former squadmate, Sergeant Ryan Weemer, volunteered details during a job-screening polygraph exam.

  Weemer and another Marine were jailed in June for refusing to testify against Nazario before a federal grand jury. Both have been released. Nazario faces a count of voluntary manslaughter in the deaths of four unarmed detainees in November 2004. He could face more than 10 years in prison if he’s convicted

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  • August 21, 2008 10:31 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LAPD chief dismisses allegations of lying officers

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton yesterday dismissed concerns that LAPD officers are not being entirely truthful when they testify against suspects. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports that the chief was responding to the results of two recent court cases.

  Frank Stoltze: Twice this year, Los Angeles County prosecutors asked judges to drop charges against criminal suspects because LAPD officers appeared to contradict recordings of the incidents.

  Bill Bratton: I’m concerned with each of the individual incidents. I have no concern that this is a problem within the LAPD.

  Stoltze: LAPD Chief Bill Bratton told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that he’s most concerned with an incident in which surveillance video at a Hollywood apartment contradicted officers’ testimony in a drug case. Bratton said he has no concern about another case involving a man accused of attempted murder.

  Prosecutors dropped that case this week. It involved a detective who’d said he could positively identify the suspect, but police radio traffic indicates he never did. Bratton thinks the officer just had a hard time remembering the facts of the three-year-old case.

  Bratton: This is something I think would have been better off, let it go forward, let it get into the hands of the jury, let them make the decision.

  Stoltze: Bratton said he thinks prosecutors moved precipitously in asking a judge to dismiss the charges.

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  • August 21, 2008 10:28 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• L.A. Harbor Commission to discuss changes to Clean Trucks program

  Changes to the ports’ Clean Trucks program are on the agenda of the Los Angeles Harbor Commission meeting Thursday. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that the moves are aimed at getting more companies to take part.

  Molly Peterson: The program calls for trucking companies to sign agreements with the port so they may gain access to cargo… and to money for less-polluting trucks. It’s ambitious – and complicated.

  Harbor commissioners will consider several small modifications, including a day pass for trucks that infrequently service the port. Harbor Commission President David Freeman says the changes could make the program work for more truck operators.

  David Freeman: We’ve been listening to people, and we’re tweaking the program a bit to make it more attractive for folks that have never served the port to come in; companies that already have a lot of cleaner trucks. And employee drivers that help fill the gap.

  Peterson: A national trucking association sued the Ports of L.A. and Long Beach last month, challenging the validity of the agreements. Port officials believe that’s one reason relatively few truckers have signed up for the program. Freeman says the ports are doing everything they can to be ready for October 1… the day the Clean Trucks program is supposed to take effect.

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  • August 20, 2008 6:26 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Schwarzenegger asks legislators to consider temporary sales tax increase, pass budget

  For the first time, Governor Schwarzenegger said publicly today that he’d be willing to raise taxes to address the $15 billion budget deficit, and to end a two month stalemate over a state spending plan. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: After pledging he’d never raise taxes, the governor proposed raising the sales tax by one percentage point, to eight-and-a-quarter percent, for three years.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: This budget will only get done if we all make tough choices that we maybe thought we never would have made.

  Stoltze: Under his plan, the sales tax would drop a quarter percentage point below its current rate in three years. Schwarzenegger implored Republicans opposed to raising taxes to consider his proposal.

  Schwarzenegger: Don’t come to the table with the same stubborn position.

  Stoltze: Steve Maviglio is a spokesman for Democratic State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass. He said the moderate Republican governor has had little luck convincing conservative Republicans to do much.

  Steve Maviglio: The problem, ultimately, is the governor can’t get a single vote for anything, so we’re left with no one to bring us together.

  Stoltze: Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines walked out of budget talks earlier this week, saying he was frustrated over calls for tax increases. The governor’s latest plan also includes almost $10 billion in spending cuts.

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  • August 20, 2008 6:18 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Schwarzenegger proposes temporary sales tax increase to reduce deficit

  Governor Schwarzenegger today proposed hiking the state sales tax one percentage point for three years to help erase the $15 billion budget deficit. The governor, who has opposed raising taxes, said the move would raise $4 billion in revenue.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “This is basically saying, ‘Here is an idea of how we can solve this where everyone gives.’ Because the only way we can solve this budget crisis is by everyone – the Republicans giving and the Democrats giving. And that’s why I say they have to step out of their ideological corners.”

  Republican legislators have staunchly opposed raising taxes. Democrats support that idea, but they differ with the governor over spending cuts. The governor’s latest proposal includes $10 billion in cuts. The state budget is almost two months overdue.

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  • August 20, 2008 5:46 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LAX Service and Security Workers vote on whether to strike

  Service and security workers at L.A. International Airport are voting today whether to walk off the job for higher pay and more medical benefits. More on the story from KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski.

  Brooke Binkowski: Skycaps and baggage handlers, cabin cleaners, and security personnel at Los Angeles International Airport say they’re not making enough money to survive. Jose Hernandez is a wheelchair attendant at the airport. He told reporters there’s plenty of money going into the airport - it’s just not trickling down to workers.

  Jose Hernandez: If they cannot afford to give us quality pay, quality service, training, and all that, the city can cut the expenses for the renovation and stuff like that and pass it directly to the employee.

  Binkowski: Mike Chavez with the Service Employees’ International Union Local 1877 said most non-government workers at the airport make about $19,000 a year. He added that many of them don’t get the training and tools they need.

  Mike Chavez: There’s a lot of people that check planes for dangerous items that get, like, 20 minutes of training, and they don’t know what they’re looking for. And they really feel bad when they’re asked to sign off that this plane is secure, because they don’t feel that they really, you know, are able to do a good job with that.

  Binkowski: The labor tension arises during a tough year for the airport. Domestic and foreign airlines are slashing flights as they feel the effects of rising fuel costs and declining air travel.

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  • August 20, 2008 5:40 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Public Policy Institute of California suggests ways to thin crowds at emergency rooms

  Here’s a big surprise: a new study says hospital emergency rooms in California are more crowded today than ever. You probably figured that out yourself – but did you think about how to fix the problem? KPCC’s Nick Roman says the Public Policy Institute of California did.

  Nick Roman: A decade ago, a typical hospital emergency room in California would get about 24,000 visits a year. It’s now up to 30,000. The Public Policy Institute says, to thin out the crowd, look at patients with “non-urgent conditions.” Emergency rooms are for serious stuff.

  Treat the coughs, colds, sprained ankles, or earaches at urgent care clinics or a doctor’s office. Think about this: children account for about a quarter of all ER visits. Mom or dad take ‘em there – but usually not for critical care. The peak time for kids at the ER is between 7 o’clock and 8 o’clock at night… a couple of hours after most doctors have closed their offices.

  What if those docs stayed open later, or staggered their hours? How about more urgent care centers? Or maybe “fast track” systems at ER’s that’ll treat the minor stuff, and free emergency medical staff to tackle the big stuff? The Public Policy Institute suggests those ideas are all worth a try.

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  • August 20, 2008 4:31 PM
  • Categories: Health

• Schwarzenegger proposes temporary sales tax increase to help close budget gap

  The governor’s hatched another plan to solve the state’s budget impasse. It includes raising the state sales tax one cent for three years. After that, California would lower the tax by one and a quarter cents. Governor Schwarzenegger also calls for additional spending cuts beyond those the Democrat-controlled budget conference committee’s already approved. He says it’s a shame the budget is almost two months overdue.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “And it has already imposed very difficult hardships on Californians across our state. Many Medi-Cal hospitals are not getting paid. Neither are nursing homes and child care centers.”

  In a statement, Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines said the proposal looks like the one the governor’s office has been negotiating with Democrats for weeks – not like a bipartisan compromise. Sacramento lawmakers are at odds over how to eliminate a $15 billion budget deficit.

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  • August 20, 2008 4:28 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LAX workers may go on strike for better wages, health care, training

  Service and security workers at Los Angeles International Airport want higher wages and more health care benefits. Their union is voting today over whether to go on strike. Mike Chavez with the Service Employees International Union says the average airport worker makes $19,000 a year. Chavez says that results in a high turnover rate that, in turn, affects passenger security.

  Mike Chavez: “That really affects the quality of service and security here, because if you’re talking about people that are providing security for the planes and the terminals, you know, if you have a turnover rate like 50 percent, you don’t have a stable workforce that’s going to provide good security.”

  Union service workers at the airport also say they’re getting inadequate training and tools to do their jobs.

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  • August 20, 2008 4:24 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• College presidents want drinking age reconsidered

  During the 1980s, Congress passed a law that set the minimum legal drinking age at 21. Now the presidents of more than 100 colleges and universities are urging policymakers to reconsider the effectiveness of that law.

  The presidents have signed onto what they call the Amethyst Initiative to try and re-ignite a public debate over young adults and alcohol. Occidental College President Robert Skotheim told KPCC’s Patt Morrison why he supports the initiative.

  Robert Skotheim: “Deans of students are very worried that students away from home for the first time in this country seem extremely vulnerable, the first year, especially, to binge drinking.”

  April Smook of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers told KPCC there’s no easy solution to the issue.

  April Smook: “It’s not to just automatically say ‘let’s lower the drinking age to 18.’ The reality is, that’s not going to eliminate, necessarily, your binge drinking problem. Not to mention, you’re just pushing that problem down onto high school campuses. If you’re lowering the drinking age to 18, what is to say you’re not going to have the same problem on high school campuses with binge drinkers at 16.”

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  • August 20, 2008 3:56 PM
  • Categories: Education, Society/Culture

• LAX workers prepare to go on strike

  Custodial, food service, baggage-handling and other workers at L.A. International Airport are threatening to walk off the job for more pay and benefits. Many non-government workers at the airport earn less than $19,000 a year.

  During a news conference today, members of the Service Employees International Union said they’re frustrated with incomplete training and shoddy equipment. Robin Wilson is a door guard at the airport. She said she’s asking for what amounts to a few more cents an hour.

  Robin Wilson: “It’s not like we’re saying “give us 10 dollars!” It’s nothing outrageous, you know. One company put out that they would give, I think, four cents, as long as they could lay off 20 percent of their workers.”

  Workers are voting today on whether to authorize a strike. Airport officials have been looking for ways to cut costs as airlines continue to decrease the number of flights they route through Los Angeles.

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  • August 20, 2008 3:25 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Transportation

• Orange County judge blocks state from banning nude sunbathing at San Onofre State Beach

  An Orange County judge has blocked the state from banning nude sunbathing at San Onofre State Beach. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: California law prohibits nudity at state beaches. But for three decades, the state has left nudists alone along a section of San Onofre State Beach in South Orange County. Officials say people are now having sex on the sand, and that it’s time to enforce the law.

  Nudists are not happy. They say they’ve cooperated with authorities to deter sexual activity. The Naturist Action Committee sued. Calling it an issue of freedom, the national group argued the state must hold public hearings on the issue first. Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell agreed. She issued a tentative ruling ordering the state to delay its plan to begin enforcing anti-nudity laws on September 2nd.

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  • August 20, 2008 3:22 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Man who caused Glendale train crash sentenced to 11 life terms

  A Los Angeles judge today handed down a sentence of 11 consecutive life terms to the man who caused the deadly Glendale train crash. KPCC’s Nick Roman has the details.

  Nick Roman: The sentence for 29-year-old Juan Alvarez ends the legal proceedings surrounding the deadliest commuter train crash in Southern California history. In June, an L.A. jury convicted Alvarez of 11 counts of first-degree murder… one for each person killed in the crash.

  It happened three-and-a-half years ago. Alvarez parked his SUV on the tracks in Glendale just before a Metrolink train barreled through. It struck the vehicle and derailed, and moments later, a second Metrolink train slammed into the debris.

  Defense attorneys argued Alvarez meant to kill only himself – that he was mentally unstable after years of abuse as a child, and emotionally unstable over a failing marriage. Jurors didn’t buy it, but they didn’t go for the death penalty, either. They opted for life without parole, and now Judge William Pounders has made it final: 11 consecutive life terms for Juan Alvarez.

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  • August 20, 2008 3:20 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Water agency completes tunnel for Inland water project

  A massive boring machine burst from beneath the earth’s crust near Cal State San Bernardino today. A drill that’s 19 feet across carved the final leg of the Metropolitan Water District’s 44-mile network of tunnels known as the “Inland Feeder Project.” It’ll carry water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the Diamond Valley Lake reservoir in Hemet. But MWD general manager Jeff Kightlinger says it’s not about taking as much water as possible.

  Jeff Kightlinger: “This kind of project is really about planning to get water when its available. To show the foresight of our board, building projects like this in this era of climate change, as we get rainfall, when we only have short windows to capture water. That’s what this project is really about; planning for the future, capturing and moving water quickly when it’s available.”

  Water was supposed to start moving through the pipeline last year, but floods and fires delayed project. The tunnel needs to be lined with concrete and steel, and the MWD says that’ll take two years.

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  • August 20, 2008 3:17 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Governor Schwarzenegger proposes temporary sales tax increase to deal with budget crisis

  After pledging he wouldn’t raise taxes, Governor Schwarzenegger today proposed raising the state sales tax to close a $15 billion deficit and end the two-month old budget stalemate.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “In exchange for permanent reform and a budget system that really will work, I am willing to compromise on a temporary 1 percent increase in the state sales tax followed by a permanent cut, which means then it will go, after three years, below the level it is now by a quarter percent.”

  Republican leaders in the state legislature have said they oppose any tax increase. Schwarzenegger also wants budget reforms that would allow governors to unilaterally cut spending by $3 billion during lean years.

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  • August 20, 2008 3:13 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County Fire installs first black second-in-command

  In a year in which two major-party presidential contenders were a woman and an African-American, L.A. County’s fire department has shown a similar trend in promotions to its highest ranks. Details from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: Los Angeles County Fire has installed its first black second-in-command. Daryl Osby, a 24-year veteran of the department, is the new chief deputy for emergency operations. Before his promotion, he supervised 76 fire stations in eastern L.A. County.

  Osby told reporters that he felt blessed to have achieved a new milestone in his career. He added, “That’s not to take away from the fact that I’ve worked my tail off.” Last month, L.A. County Fire promoted Helen Jo to run the financial management division. She’s the department’s first woman and its first Asian-American to earn the rank of deputy chief.

  The county’s diversity record stands in contrast to the city of L.A.’s fire department. During the last year and a half, under its first African-American chief, the city department has tried to overcome a series of incidents, audits, and lawsuits that indicated a pattern of discrimination and harassment against female and black firefighters.

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  • August 20, 2008 3:09 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment, Society/Culture

• UC Berkeley co-publishes batch of studies on public schools

  The results of November’s elections, educators say, should jump-start the debate in Congress over how to change the education reforms President Bush signed into law seven years ago. The authors of a set of education studies released today hope their findings will influence the discussion. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the details.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The research concludes, broadly, that the federal reforms are pushing teachers to raise student achievement. But success is haphazard among school districts and individual schools in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. And federal reforms haven’t closed the pervasive gap, especially in California, between the achievement of black and Latino students compared to their white classmates. UC Berkeley education professor Bruce Fuller, an editor of the studies, says principals play a key role in closing this achievement gap.

  Bruce Fuller: Mainly, it’s through their charisma. It’s in part through their sustained focus, working on the front lines, sitting inside classrooms. These are principals not just roaming the halls with their walkie-talkies and their big ball of keys, they’re actually in classrooms collaborating with teachers to create more stimulating classroom settings for kids.

  Guzman-Lopez: The studies are collected under the title “Strong States, Weak Schools” in the journal Research in the Sociology of Education.

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  • August 20, 2008 2:53 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Education researchers release studies criticizing No Child Left Behind

  Education researchers in California and Pennsylvania released a batch of studies today that criticize a 7-year-old federal education law. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The federal No Child Left Behind act imposed test result and teacher training requirements at public schools across the land. UC Berkeley education professor Bruce Fuller, who helped edit the research studies, says the federal law has damaged teacher morale.

  Bruce Fuller: Like other professionals, teachers welcome clear objectives. They seem to welcome the state setting clear objectives, what should be covered at each grade level and in each subject area. On the other hand, they realize that if a subject is not covered on the test, like social studies or music, they are forced to ignore it.

  Guzman-Lopez: It’s a vicious circle, Fuller says. Teachers drag their feet to meet the new standards. That leads to lower test scores, and that marks schools as low-performing under the law. Fuller hopes the findings will inform the national debate over how to reform the No Child Left Behind act.

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  • August 20, 2008 1:37 PM
  • Categories: Education

• New study says Medi-Cal patients are heaviest users of emergency rooms

  Medi-Cal patients are the heaviest users of emergency rooms in California, followed by Medicare patients, says a study out today. Shannon McConville is a researcher with the organization that released the report, the Public Policy Institute of California. She says many of the Medi-Cal patients who visit emergency rooms may have nowhere else to go for care.

  Shannon McConville: “Some other studies looked at the providers and provider participation in the Medi-Cal program, and found that only just over half of physicians in California participate in Medi-Cal. So I do think that might be some piece of that puzzle of why they are using the ER.”

  Doctors have complained that the state doesn’t reimburse them enough for treating Medi-Cal patients. The state recently enacted a 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal reimbursements, but yesterday a federal judge temporary halted the cut.

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  • August 20, 2008 12:31 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Public comment period on Baldwill Hills oil drilling over, some residents want more discussion

  The public comment period for Los Angeles County’s environmental review of future drilling plans in the Baldwin Hills has ended. But KPCC’s Molly Peterson says people who live near the oil field still want more time to talk.

  Molly Peterson: L.A. County planners are considering new conditions on when and how Plains Exploration can extract more oil from the Baldwin Hills with minimal environmental and health effects. Two months ago the county released an environmental impact report studying rules the oil company had drafted. Last week the county released new rules informed by meetings planners had held in surrounding neighborhoods. Public comment on the report is over; county planners say people may weigh in on all proposed rules until next month.

  But some people living in Culver Crest, View Park, Windsor, and Baldwin Hills are lobbying federal officials and the county to delay deciding on the rules until after more study of health and environmental risks. L.A. County says it’s given oil field neighbors ample time to comment. Plains Exploration has not drilled in the area since last summer, but the oil company says it could apply for new wells starting in October.

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  • August 20, 2008 12:25 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Customs agency intercepts haul of counterfeit goods at Port of L.A.

  Quite a haul of name-brand shoes and handbags turned up at the Port of Los Angeles yesterday. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says it was an illegal haul.

  Cheryl Devall: Imagine half a dozen giant shipping containers of Nike athletic shoes and designer purses, all intended to sell way below retail. Federal Customs and Border Protection officials say the goods would’ve been worth $32 million or more… if they’d been good.

  Turns out they were all counterfeits shipped from China. The customs agency inspected, and intercepted, the containers on Monday. Three of them were headed to Los Angeles County, and three were destined for Orange County. That’s all the information the federal government’s giving up for now.

  Customs authorities have tried to refute the claim that trafficking in fake goods is a victimless crime. They say the factories that turn out counterfeits promote substandard working conditions, erode the value of legitimate brands, and generate money for other illegal activities, including terrorism.

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  • August 19, 2008 6:09 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Schwarzenegger orders state lawmakers not to go to conventions until budget is passed

  Governor Schwarzenegger’s ordering state lawmakers to stay put. After a budget discussion with legislative leaders today, he said he doesn’t want them to go anywhere, including next week’s Democratic National Convention, until they pass a spending plan.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I think the key thing here is to stay here and come up with a compromise, and I know that’s very difficult for them, and I know that many times they have been in that situation in the past, but I think the key thing is to stay here – I don’t want them to leave until the job is done.”

  As part of the deal, the governor wants changes to the budget process. Voters will have to approve those, and the governor wants the changes on the November ballot. His spokesman said the governor thinks lawmakers have until Sunday to pull together a budget deal and still make the ballot deadline.

  For more than two months since the budget deadline, lawmakers have been grappling with a $15 billion budget gap. Democrats favor tax increases to fix it. Republican say they won’t vote for a budget with new taxes.

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  • August 19, 2008 5:09 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• City Controller Laura Chick says new spay-neuter ordinance needs more planning and public outreach

  The city of L.A.’s spay and neuter program is spinning its wheels. That’s what the city controller’s office says in the results of an audit it released today. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski has details.

  Brooke Binkowski: The city council passed the ordinance in February; it goes into effect this October. Under the new law, owners must spay or neuter their cats and dogs older than four months. City Controller Laura Chick says the animal services department hasn’t done enough planning or public outreach. Without that, she says, the ordinance lacks teeth.

  Laura Chick: It’s all about lowering the unwanted pet population, and achieving a no-kill policy and practice in the city of L.A. It’s the right thing to do, it’s the humane thing to do, it’s about public health, but the public doesn’t know. And it’s time that we get the ordinance together with effective implementation, otherwise we’ve got sound-bite solutions and feel-good legislation.

  Binkowski: Animal Services chief Ed Boks says Chick’s absolutely right.

  Ed Boks: The Department is very committed to spay-neuter, we embrace the ordinance that the City Council enacted. The fact of the matter is, is, that no budget came with that.

  Binkowski: Boks says his department will rely heavily on pro bono and volunteer services to get the word out about the spay-neuter program.

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  • August 19, 2008 4:49 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County Board of Supervisors approves fines on graffiti taggers and their families

  Los Angeles County wants taggers under 18 years old and their parents or guardians to take responsibility for graffiti damage. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance today that imposes fines and other penalties to help pay for cleanup. Supervisor Gloria Molina pushed for the ordinance after a woman was killed last year when she tried to stop a graffiti vandal near her home. She wasn’t the only casualty, Molina told KPCC’s Patt Morrison.

  Supervisor Gloria Molina: “We have had three deaths that have been pegged to people trying to intervene and stop graffiti taggers and it’s been a real problem for us. Now it’s gotten very serious. These kids are just not artists as some people claim to be. They carry guns and can become very deadly.”

  The new law results from a six-month pilot program. Molina says that during that time, an anti-graffiti team arrested 168 taggers who caused more than $300,000 in damage.

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  • August 19, 2008 3:50 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• New ordinance imposes fines on graffiti taggers and their families

  Graffiti taggers and their parents will be obliged to pay for the damage to buildings and other surfaces, Los Angeles County supervisors decided today. Supervisor Gloria Molina, who sponsored the ordinance, explained to KPCC’s Patt Morrison why she wants the county to collect fines for graffiti cleanup.

  Supervisor Gloria Molina: “Well, very frankly, because it’s costing us millions and millions of dollars to remove graffiti from throughout the community. And this is dollars that can go into the very needy programs that we have throughout L.A. County.”

  The county estimates that it spent $30 million last year to clean up after taggers. The new ordinance imposes fines up to $1,000. It also carries the power to issue liens for civil damages against the property of taggers and their families. The ordinance goes into effect in 30 days.

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  • August 19, 2008 3:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA mayor supports sales tax increase for state transportation projects

  It would raise $40 billion for state transportation projects, but voters would need to approve a half-cent increase in the sales tax in November. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has thrown his support behind the idea. He told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that California desperately needs the money, even though taxes are never an easy sell.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “I think the fact that the city’s so gridlocked, so congested. I think people understand that we need to make serious investments. That goes to our favor. And ultimately, it’s going to be a very close election.”

  The state legislature and the governor also would have to sign off on the sales tax increase before they can place it on the ballot.

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  • August 19, 2008 3:38 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic National Convention gives only 300 Obama acceptance speech tickets to California delegates

  California Democratic Party officials are unhappy with organizers of the Democratic National Convention. The state party requested 1500 extra tickets to Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in the football stadium where the Denver Broncos play. The convention offered a mere 300 to California Democrats. One state party official complained, “They’re treating us like Idaho.”

  Lydia Thomas of L.A. doesn’t have tickets. She isn’t even a delegate. But she and her sisters-in-law wanted to be in Denver to witness an African American accept a major party’s nomination for President.

  Lydia Thomas: “We’ve registered on the Web site to try to get tickets for the stadium, and I’ve also called many of the local politicians here in Los Angeles, trying to see if they have extra tickets. But if we don’t, we said we’ll just watch it on a big screen somewhere in Denver.”

  Democratic Convention officials say they moved Obama’s speech to the 75,000-seat stadium so more Coloradans could attend. That’s because Colorado, unlike California, is a battleground state.

  Note: KPCC’s convention coverage begins Monday morning, live from the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and continues the following week from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Full election coverage

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  • August 19, 2008 3:11 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• City Controller predicts LA spay and neuter program will lose money

  The city of L.A.’s mandatory spay and neuter program won’t thrive without an overhaul. That’s what City Controller Laura Chick concludes in her audit of the Department of Animal Services program. Starting in October, pet owners in Los Angeles must spay or neuter their dogs and cats older than four months. Chick says she agrees with the idea – but she adds that it’s not working in practice.

  Laura Chick: “I would say we don’t have a vision, because plans have to fit into the vision. But the department does not have a strategic plan for how it’s going to achieve the city council’s and mayor’s goal that’s expressed in a new ordinance in the city that mandates pet owners to spay and neuter their dogs and cats.”

  Chick says the city hasn’t done enough to educate pet owners about the new ordinance. Animal Services will lose a lot of money, she says, if it doesn’t enforce the new law.

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  • August 19, 2008 2:38 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal authorities announce Internet child pornography arrests

  Fifty-five men who used peer-to-peer Internet networks to exchange child pornography are in custody today. Authorities said the arrests resulted from their most sweeping effort to date targeting that method of sharing illegal content. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Federal authorities said the men they arrested include a number of sex offenders, and also a San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Deputy and a San Bernardino County attorney. Most of the men live in Los Angeles County.

  Thomas O’Brien: Child pornography is a tremendous problem. It appears to be an epidemic.

  Stoltze: U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien said the men shared graphic images of children using software programs such as LimeWire. It allows users to anonymously share photos and videos. O’Brien said the images included sexually explicit photos of infants.

  O’Brien: I’ve told my lawyers in the past that I think there’s a special place in Hell for people that exploit our children. And my job as U.S. attorney is to keep them in federal prison until they get to Hell.

  Stoltze: Federal authorities say they’ve developed new software to identify users of peer-to-peer networks. O’Brien would not comment on whether he plans to prosecute the operators of networks used for the exchange of child pornography.

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  • August 19, 2008 2:35 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA mayor sets goals for the 10 under-performing schools under his control

  As students prepare to return to school, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is setting some goals for the 10 under-performing L.A. Unified schools under his control.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “We’re going to be accountable for raising the API scores. We’re going to be accountable for safety. We’re going to be accountable and responsible for attendance rates. We’re going to be accountable and responsible for lowering the dropout rate and increasing graduation rates.”

  The mayor spoke with KPCC’s Patt Morrison. Villaraigosa said he expects to see progress each year, and to enact significant changes by the time his five-year mandate runs out.

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  • August 19, 2008 2:33 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Mayor's Partnership for LA Schools hires 7 new principals

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced the hiring of seven new principals for many of the L.A. Unified schools under his stewardship. Four of those principals will work at middle schools, the other three at elementary schools. The mayor told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that the principals will assume hands-on leadership in their schools.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “Our principals have to commit to being in the classroom three hours a day, supervising teachers. It’s a novel concept, but many principals don’t go in a classroom anymore. They’re so busy running the school, if you will, the physical plant of the school, and forget that the key to every school is the education.”

  About 18,000 students are enrolled in the 10 schools that belong to the mayor’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.

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  • August 19, 2008 2:23 PM
  • Categories: Education

• FBI reportedly investigating LA city attorney

  L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo argued today that there’s no substance to reports the FBI’s opened a criminal investigation against him. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports that city hall insiders have known about it for some time.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that FBI investigators recently interviewed people in Los Angeles in a wide probe of the city attorney. An FBI spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny that his office is investigating Delgadillo.

  The city attorney came under fire last year after news reports that he’d used city workers to run personal errands, and that his wife had no business license and paid no state taxes for her consulting firm. Delgadillo spokesman Nick Velasquez said the FBI hasn’t told his boss about any investigation. He blamed the reports on political opponents.

  Nick Velasquez: The city attorney and his wife acknowledge that they made mistakes in the past. Some of the things his wife did in the past, some of the things that his wife did, she recognizes that she screwed up in some of those ways. She acknowledges that and she apologized for that. And the city attorney has spent the last year and a half working to protect the people of the city of Los Angeles and the people of the state of California.

  Guzman-Lopez: A source in L.A. city hall confirms that the FBI is investigating, and that some people in city government have known about that for at least a year. The source requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the federal investigation.

  Note: The office of L.A. City Controller Laura Chick confirms that the FBI met with Chick for about half an hour two weeks ago. Federal investigators wanted to know about Chick’s efforts to audit the city attorney’s programs and Delgadillo’s efforts to block that audit.

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  • August 19, 2008 1:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA mayor Villaraigosa not speaking at Democratic convention

  The week before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, the party’s determined who the prominent speakers will be. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won’t be one of them. The mayor, a former national co-chair of Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that he assumes convention planners wanted to focus on political players from the swing states.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “I’m a team player. I’m here in support of Senator Barack Obama and I’m going to work as hard for him as I did for Hillary Clinton; and going to the convention because I’m a delegate. And I want to play a part of history and elect Barack Obama.”

  Villaraigosa said he couldn’t offer more insights into the convention organizers’ decisions. Another high-profile Californian, Senator Dianne Feinstein, announced today that she’s skipping the convention because she’s broken her ankle. She also was a big Clinton supporter.

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  • August 19, 2008 1:15 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal authorities announce child pornography bust

  Federal authorities in Los Angeles today announced the arrest of more than 50 men who allegedly swapped child pornography over the Internet. Robert Schock runs special investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said the men used peer-to-peer networks to exchange graphic images.

  Robert Schock: “Its easy, its free, user-friendly – and most of the individuals using it believe they cannot be traced, it cannot be traced back to them. This operation clearly demonstrates that that’s where they are mistaken. Law enforcement has now developed new techniques and ways to find them.”

  Schock said federal authorities developed software to identify people who exchange child pornography over peer-to-peer networks. U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien called child pornography an “epidemic,” and promised more aggressive prosecution of people who traffic in it.

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  • August 19, 2008 12:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• San Onofre nuclear power plant "dead last" in industrial safety

  Injury rates at the San Onofre nuclear power plant are reportedly several times higher than the average at similar plants in this country. The Los Angeles Times reports that the plant is “dead last” in industrial safety when compared to other U.S. plants. Russ Ridenour is chief nuclear officer at San Onofre. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that the power plant industry maintains uniquely high standards.

  Russ Ridenour: “If I compare our injury rate to that of, let’s say, the automobile manufacturing average. Automobile manufacturing is about 11 to 12 times higher than our injury rate here at San Onofre. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, we want to drive that down to where we don’t have any injuries.”

  Ridenour said some of the injuries were so minor they wouldn’t be recorded in other industries. An influential industry group assembled the injury statistics and reported them to employees in a company newsletter. Federal regulators insist that San Onofre is safe.

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  • August 19, 2008 12:53 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Screen Actors Guild board election begins

  It’s election time – not just for Republicans and Democrats, but for members of the Screen Actors Guild. Ballots for the SAG board election are going into the mail today. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the union’s strained relationship with TV and radio producers factors into the vote.

  Cheryl Devall: The tensions surfaced most recently this week, when board members of the union’s New York branch urged the leadership to call in a federal mediator by next Monday if there’s no progress in SAG’s talks with producers. The actors’ union has worked without a contract since June 30th, and movie and TV production has slowed to a crawl.

  SAG wants union contracts and residual pay in projects for distribution over new media platforms, including the Internet and mobile phones. The producers’ final offer does not meet actors’ needs in those areas, the union’s leadership says.

  But SAG’s president maintains that there have been substantive talks between the union and the producers, and that there’s no reason to call in a mediator. Among the candidates for about one-third of the union’s board is a slate that’s trying to unseat the present leadership over its handling of the contract dispute. Return ballots have to be in by September 18th.

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  • August 19, 2008 12:06 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy

• Mount Saint Mary's grads receive scholarships for black, Latino teachers

  Some schools develop reputations for winning sports teams or distinguished faculty. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez says one Southland college is garnering praise for graduating blacks and Latinos who go on to teach in public schools.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: For 16 years, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has awarded scholarships through its Fellowships for Aspiring Teachers of Color program. The aim is to direct more black and Latino teachers into public schools. In California, educators say, that’s a big deal because nearly half of all students are Latino and one out of seven is African American. The vast majority of public school teachers are white.

  Shelly Tochluk is chair of the Education Department at the private Mount Saint Mary’s College, south of Downtown Los Angeles.

  Shelly Tochluk: “Many young people, when being able to better see themselves within the face of their teacher – there’s often an easier relationship or more connection made.”

  Guzman-Lopez: Thirty Mount Saint Mary’s graduates received Rockefeller Brothers fellowships. That’s the most the fund has granted to the graduates of any institution. Those alumni embarked on teaching careers and stayed in the field longer than fellows from other colleges.

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  • August 18, 2008 7:19 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Democratic leader recalls women's excitement at 1984 convention

  Next Tuesday is “Ladies Night” at the Democratic National Convention. New York Senator Hillary Clinton will lead a list of women headliners. A quarter-century ago, women danced in the aisles at another Democratic Convention. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde has the story.

  Kitty Felde: In 1984, Roz Wyman became the first woman, Democrat or Republican, to serve as chair of a national political convention. It was an election in which women played a prominent role.

  Roz Wyman: “When I ran the ‘84 convention, our nominees were Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, which was an exciting night when Gerry was nominated in that convention hall. I’ll never forget it. Women were standing on chairs, just going wild. I remember playing ‘I Am Woman,’ Helen Reddy’s song. The delegates, especially the women – [it] was so meaningful to them.”

  Felde: Democrats lost that election, though Wyman attributes the loss less to having a woman on the ticket and more to Mondale’s speech, where he said, “Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won’t tell you. I just did.”

  Note: KPCC’s convention coverage begins Monday morning, live from the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and continues the following week from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Full election coverage

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  • August 18, 2008 6:08 PM
  • Categories: History, Politics/Public Affairs

• Southern California home sales rise and prices fall, largely in Riverside Country

  There’s some positive news in the housing market. Dataquick, the La Jolla-based real estate info firm, says the number of Southern California homes sold in July was up almost 14 percent from the same month a year ago. KPCC’s Nick Roman says that reflects the highest sales in a year-and-a-half.

  Nick Roman: The jump in home sales is good news for the housing market, but it doesn’t mean the market has turned around. It means it’s turning around. The market is loaded with foreclosed properties financed with mortgages that went bad. The owners split and the banks are stuck with ‘em. Those are the homes that are going fast. Dataquick calls it a “fire sale.”

  That also explains why the median price for Southland homes is down… down a quarter to a third from a year ago. The Riverside County house that would have cost you about $400,000 last summer runs about $260,000 now.

  And although Dataquick says July home sales were up, there’s more to it than that. Home sales in L.A. County were actually down a few percentage points this July from a year ago. But in Riverside County, where you’ll find lots of those foreclosures, last month’s sales were up by half from where they’d been a year before.

  Link: Dataquick

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  • August 18, 2008 5:50 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Ace soccer coach Bruce Arena takes charge of LA Galaxy

  The Dodgers have Joe Torre, the Lakers have Phil Jackson, and now soccer’s LA Galaxy has a big-name coach of its own. The team today hired the top coach in American soccer history. KPCC’s Nick Roman has more on Bruce Arena.

  Nick Roman: When the Galaxy and hometown rival Chivas USA played to a tie last Thursday, Bruce Arena watched from one of the Home Depot Center skyboxes. He’ll get a sideline view next Thursday when he takes over as the Galaxy’s new coach. Arena succeeds Ruud Gullit, who left as coach for personal reasons - and who’d feuded over personnel with former Galaxy general manager Alexei Lalas.

  Arena won’t argue with the general manager because he’s the coach AND the general manager. On his resume are two titles with DC United during the first two seasons of Major League Soccer more than a decade ago. Arena later coached the U.S. national team to the World Cup quarterfinals two years ago. He takes over a Galaxy squad that has superstar David Beckham - but doesn’t have much talent on defense.

  Arena doesn’t have much time, either. He has only ten games to turn the Galaxy into winners - or they’ll miss the playoffs for a second straight year.

  Link: Los Angeles Galaxy

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  • August 18, 2008 5:37 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• Temecula cyclist Sarah Hammer crashes out of 2008 Olympics

  American Olympian Sarah Hammer was considered a favorite in the women’s cycling completion at the Beijing Games. But those dreams were dashed earlier today when the 25-year-old athlete from Temecula got caught up in nasty racetrack pileup. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has more.

  Steven Cuevas: Sarah Hammer was in a pack of riders, about a quarter of the way through the 100-lap women’s cycling points race. A French cyclist apparently clipped the wheel of another rider – and both careened out of control. Hammer, who was just a couple feet behind, had little time to avoid the pile-up. She tumbled off her bike, took a hard fall to the wooden track – and broke her collarbone.

  This was Hammer’s first Olympics. She started riding when she was 8. She went pro just a few years later – and she’s now won 20 national and international titles. In a recent interview with the Web site MouthpieceSports.com, Hammer talked about “going for the gold.”

  Sarah Hammer: “You know, I’m excited to just, I’ve never been to the Olympics. This’ll be my first time, so I’m excited to be able to say I’m an Olympian and just be with a bunch of great athletes, so it’ll be great.”

  Hammer quit professional cycling in 2003, but returned a year later after watching the women’s cycling team compete in the Olympic Games in Athens. Through 11 cycling events, the American team has won a gold medal and a bronze medal. There are seven bike events left.

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  • August 18, 2008 5:33 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• California Department of Public Health fines several hospitals for medical mistakes

  California’s Department of Public Health has slapped hospitals in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties with fines for medical mistakes. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says each violation carries a $25,000 penalty.

  Cheryl Devall: The list state regulators turned out reads like a litany of medical mishaps you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Santa Ana’s Coastal Communities Hospital over-medicated a patient, who later died.

  Anaheim General Hospital failed to ensure that the refrigerator in its pharmacy was keeping drugs cold enough. Surgeons at Fountain Valley Regional left a sponge in a patient; at Newport Beach’s Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, the stray item was a surgical instrument.

  A patient died after falling out of an improperly fastened wheelchair at Los Alamitos Medical Center.Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance inaccurately labeled tissue specimens. That led to unnecessary surgery for one patient and delayed another’s treatment.

  L.A. County USC Medical Center didn’t assign enough nurses to a patient on suicide watch. The state named 18 hospitals, including San Gorgonio and Kaiser hospitals in Riverside and Loma Linda University Medical Center in San Bernardino. The hospitals have the right to appeal within 10 days.

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  • August 18, 2008 4:13 PM
  • Categories: Health

• LA County Board of Supervisors considers charging parents of graffiti taggers for clean-up

  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is considering tagging parents with the cost of removing graffiti. More on the story from KPCC’s Shirley Jahad.

  Shirley Jahad: The proposed ordinance would hold parents responsible for the damages their kids inflict on property with spray cans or fat markers. The supervisors tentatively approved it last week. The ordinance would allow the county to recover the costs of cleaning up graffiti from the taggers or their guardians.

  Law enforcement would treat graffiti violations like traffic violations – with penalties that include a base fine and clean-up costs. All of that would happen in a special administrative hearing that resembles traffic court.

  Supervisor Gloria Molina says that would ensure faster processing of these cases. Officials tried the program in a six-month pilot project last year. They launched it after taggers allegedly gunned down a grandmother in Pico Rivera when she tried to stop a graffiti vandal from spraying a wall near her home.

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  • August 18, 2008 2:02 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• CA high court bars doctors from withholding care to gays and lesbians based on religion

  The state Supreme Court today ruled that doctors cannot, based on their religious beliefs, withhold medical care to gays and lesbians. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more on the story.

  Frank Stoltze: The justices ruled in the case of 36-year-old Guadalupe Benitez of Oceanside. Two Christian fertility doctors agreed to treat her with fertility drugs, but they told her that their religious beliefs prevented them from artificially inseminating Benitez because she’s a lesbian.

  In a unanimous ruling, the justices said the doctors can claim neither a free speech right nor a religious exemption from a California law that prohibits businesses from arbitrarily discriminating against clients. The law was originally designed to prevent discrimination based on race, but it’s been expanded to include age and sexual orientation.

  Attorney General Jerry Brown backed Benitez. So did the California Medical Association, but only after heavy lobbying from gay rights groups. Capitol Resource Family Impact, a Sacramento-based lobbying group, called the ruling “another shocking decision favoring the radical homosexual movement.”

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  • August 18, 2008 1:50 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• California Assembly Republicans block Democratic spending proposal

  Weeks into a state budget impasse, California Assembly Republicans blocked a Democratic-backed spending proposal plan yesterday. It would have raised taxes for corporations and the state’s wealthiest citizens to close a $15 billion budget gap. Economist Stephen Levy supports the Democratic plan. He spoke with KPCC’s AirTalk.

  Stephen Levy: “Right now we’re talking about taking perhaps 6 to 8 billion dollars, that’s about a penny out of every two dollars that we earn every year, and shifting it from private consumption to spending on education, and college, and transportation, and other programs. That money stays in the economy.”

  The tax hikes would have brought in about $8 billion in revenue – enough to cover half the budget shortfall. The majority Democrats proposed raising the rest of the money with program cuts, borrowing, and shifts in accounting.

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  • August 18, 2008 1:47 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• State analyst says California needs to get budget priorities right, invest in education, transportation

  As California’s budget impasse approaches the 50-day mark, one analyst argues that the state doesn’t just need to pass a spending plan – it needs to get its budget priorities right. Stephen Levy heads the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto.

  Stephen Levy: “We have a very innovative, cutting edge economy here. We’re competing for the best and the brightest, and if we cannot offer them a well-educated workforce, people going to college, transportation investments that make our ports and our highways, that make our public transportation, world class, we’re losing the economic battle.”

  Levy supports Sacramento Democrats’ plan to raise $8 billion in new tax revenues. He spoke with KPCC this morning.

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  • August 18, 2008 1:43 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• New overlay area code in Orange County

  This is the final week of 714 standing alone in central and northern Orange County. KPCC’s Susan Valot says a new overlay area code kicks in this Saturday.

  Susan Valot: The California Public Utilities Commission last year approved adding the 657 area code over the 714 because it says the 714’s running out of numbers. For that, you can blame new cell phones, fax machines, and other pieces of equipment that gobble up phone numbers.

  If you’ve already got a 714 phone number, the biggest change will be dialing a one, plus the area code, plus the number for all calls – even if you’re just calling next door. If you don’t, starting Saturday, you’ll get a message that tells you to hang up and try again.

  Phone companies won’t start handing out the new 657 numbers for another month. Orange County is only the second area in California to receive an overlay area code. The South Bay and Westside was the first. It now shares its 310 area code with the 424. The 657 will be the fourth area code in Orange County.

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  • August 18, 2008 1:40 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture

• International airlines plan to cut at least 10 percent of flights to and from LAX

  As early as November, international airlines plan to cut back at least 10 percent of their flights to and from Los Angeles International Airport. They say fuel prices fueled the decision. Los Angeles World Airports chief Gina Marie Lindsey told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that the airlines’ diminished schedules won’t impede expansion projects like the one underway at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

  Gina Marie Lindsey: “The best thing we can do at this point is continue on with the modernization projects at LAX because we are, as we can see, in a very competitive market. It’s not only airlines that are in competition. Airports are now in competition. So we’ve got to have the appropriate facilities to give the right customer service to the passengers and the airlines that continue to fly here.”

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  • August 18, 2008 1:33 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Transportation

• LA Times hires new publisher

  As circulation and advertising revenues fall, the Los Angeles Times is bringing on a new publisher from the world of satellite TV. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says he starts the job today.

  Cheryl Devall: The new man at the top of the Times says he’s not taking the job with blinders on. Eddy Hartenstein, former chief executive at DirecTV, will be the fourth publisher since Chicago-based Tribune took over the Times eight years ago. He’s a Caltech alumnus and a native of Alhambra who grew up reading the paper.

  Engineering and cable TV colleagues regard him as the father the satellite TV business – an innovator who knows a lot about building a customer base. Previous publishers from within the newspaper industry clashed with Tribune chief Sam Zell over the company’s direction amid turbulence in the media business.

  Its stock price is lower than shareholders would like, and the company’s deep in debt. Along with subscribers and advertisers, the Times is also losing staff. In the latest round of job cuts, about 150 journalists are on their way out by the end of this month.

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  • August 18, 2008 1:29 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Firefighters tackle five brush fires in Griffith Park Saturday

  Five separate brush fires broke out in the northeast area of Griffth Park Saturday afternoon, starting shortly after 2:00 p.m.

  Approximately 300 firefighters from various agencies have been battling the fires since. The Los Angeles Fire Department reports that as of 6:00 p.m. Saturday, the blazes had burned approximately 30 to 50 acres and were 60-75% contained. Travel Town Museum was evacuated; one firefighter was reported injured.

  Fire crews will remain on-site overnight, and expect the fires to be 100% contained by midday Sunday.

  The cause of the fires has not been determined. This was the fourth fire in Griffith Park in the past month.

  Link: LAFD article, photos, and video on today’s fires

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  • August 17, 2008 12:31 AM
  • Categories: Environment

• Monday arraignment scheduled for hospital exec in alleged fraud scheme

  The alleged scheme to bilk Medicare and Medi-CAL using homeless people is back on the federal court docket Monday. KPCC’s Brian Watt says a hospital executive accused of paying illegal kickbacks in the scheme is scheduled for arraignment.

  Brian Watt: A federal indictment names Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam as an owner of City of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles. It alleges that Sabaratnam paid thousands of dollars a month for referrals of homeless people from Skid Row to fill beds in his hospital. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Farhat says the hospital made lots of money while the homeless “patients” received 20 to 30 bucks and a maybe a few days off the street.

  Vince Farhat: “They would be admitted under various diagnosis codes, including chronic chest pain and things like that. And they would be kept at the hospital, and then Medicare would be billed for services rendered during their stay. Many of the services were not medically necessary.”

  Watt: Last week, Estill Mitts pleaded not guilty in the same case. He’s the man the indictment claims received the illegal kickbacks for recruiting the homeless people and moving them through an assessment center on Skid Row. In a larger case, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has also taken action against Mitts, Sabaratnam, City of Angels, and two other Southland hospitals.

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  • August 15, 2008 11:31 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Hospital executive in alleged fraud scheme to be arraigned Monday

  An executive accused of paying kickbacks for homeless “patients” to fill beds in his hospital is scheduled for arraignment Monday in federal court.

  An indictment alleges that Dr. Rudra Sabaratnam signed checks amounting to thousands of dollars a month to Estill Mitts. Mitts recruited homeless “patients” on Downtown L.A.’s Skid Row, then referred them to the City of Angels Medical Center. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Farhat said the hospital could bill Medicare or Medi-Cal and make lots of money.

  Vince Farhat: “The vast majority of the homeless people that were recruited didn’t need the services that Medical and Medicare were billed for. So it’s not just a conspiracy to pay and receive illegal kickbacks, It’s also a conspiracy to defraud the health care program.”

  Last week, Estill Mitts pleaded not guilty to charges he’d received the kickbacks.

  In a larger case, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has also sued Mitts, Sabaratnam, City of Angels, and two other Southland hospitals… and the ambulance company that allegedly transported the homeless people from Skid Row to the hospitals and back.

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  • August 15, 2008 10:08 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Shy cake decorator grapples with TV fame

  It’s not everyday that bakers become rock stars. The aces of Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes” are in Anaheim this weekend to meet their fans, and decorate a cake. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde says fame is tough on the shyest member of the “Ace of Cakes” team.

  Kitty Felde: Geoff Manthorn used to make architectural models. Now he builds baseball stadiums, carriages, and guitars out of pastry at a Baltimore bakery called “Charm City Cakes.”

  The show is a hit among Food Network junkies. But Manthorn says it’s also quite stressful.

  Geoff Manthorn: “There are times when I would just like to concentrate and work, but there’s the pressure to be putting on a performance while working. When you have a camera on you, you’re trying to make a good TV show.”

  Felde: Geoff Manthorn joins fellow Aces Duff Goldman and Mary Alice Yeskey at the Anaheim Hilton for a live show at 11:30 Sunday. Then it’s back to Baltimore for the next challenge in cake.

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  • August 15, 2008 10:04 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Society/Culture

• Food Network cake decorators attend Orange County food show

  About the only thing more boring than watching paint dry is watching somebody decorate a cake. Not so, if the decorator is Food Network’s Duff Goldman. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde says Goldman and his crew are in Orange County this weekend for a celebrity food show.

  Kitty Felde: For the uninitiated, “Ace of Cakes” is a half-hour reality show set in Baltimore where a crew of off-beat designers makes cakes. That’s it. But over the past 3 seasons, it’s become one of the most popular shows on the Food Network. Duff Goldman is owner of the cake shop Charm City Cakes. Even he can’t believe anyone watches a show about people decorating cakes.

  Duff Goldman: “It’s a show about amazing art that we produce, but it’s also about our relationships with each other and a bunch of friends getting along and making cakes and trying to make something awesome.”

  Felde: Goldman is joined by his fellow cake aces Mary Alice Yeskey and Geoff Manthorn, talking and decorating a giant cake at the Anaheim Hilton this weekend.

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  • August 15, 2008 9:59 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Society/Culture

• Planners hold public hearing on proposed rules for Inglewood oil field

  Proposed rules for the Inglewood oil field drew about 300 people to a public hearing in Baldwin Hills last night. L.A. County planners are considering new restrictions aimed at monitoring and limiting the health and environmental effects of oil drilling on the site. But some oil field neighbors, like Culver Crest’s Ron Ostrin, want the county to conduct that review more slowly.

  Ron Ostrin (at hearing): “What you are doing now is the regulation that’s going to be in effect and affect the public’s health, safety, welfare, the economy, and the quality of life for the next 100 years. So take your gosh darn time doing it! Do it right or it’s going to be a do over.”

  A company called Plains Exploration holds leases in the oil field. Its employees said they’re convinced the Baldwin Hills operations are safe. And landowners who get royalties for leasing oil rights to Plains Exploration said they’re satisfied with the current schedule for environmental review.

  L.A. County planners are scheduled to vote on the proposed rules next month, and county supervisors will take up the issue in October.

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  • August 15, 2008 9:54 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Music producer Jerry Wexler dies at age 91

  The music world is remembering the many contributions of producer Jerry Wexler. He died early today at age 91. One of the artists he helped propel to superstardom, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, called Wexler “truly one of the great record men of all time.” The originator of the term “rhythm and blues” was about more than just records, Rolling Stone magazine’s Anthony DeCurtis told KPCC’s Patt Morrison:

  Anthony DeCurtis: “He could allude just as quickly to a Shakespeare play as he could to a jazz solo as he could to a great soul singer. That was all part of his bag of tricks.”

  Wexler played a pivotal role in the careers of Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson. and Dusty Springfield… among others.

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  • August 15, 2008 5:32 PM
  • Categories: Arts, History

• LA County planning department holding public hearings on Inglewood Oil Field

  Los Angeles County planners are studying ways to monitor and minimize the environmental effects of drilling at the Inglewood Oil Field. The county’s planning department is convening public hearings. KPCC’s Molly Peterson listened in on one last night in Baldwin Hills.

  Molly Peterson: Some people living near the oil field voiced concerns that Plains Exploration, the company drilling in the Baldwin Hills, has not and will not fully study the pollution and nuisance risks from up to 1,000 new wells in 20 years. Plains Exploration employees and contractors who also live nearby spoke up to defend drilling operations. Austin Bleile was one of them.

  Austin Bleile: I stay in this community, and I’ve been stayin’ in this community for my whole life, you know, and I have a daughter that plays outside every day just like everybody else’s kids. We preach safety, and that’s what we’re about out there, because we live in the community too.

  Peterson: County planners have called more hearings about new restrictions on Plains Exploration’s drilling plans. Next month, they’ll decide whether to forward the proposed rules to the county Board of Supervisors. Whether L.A. County passes rules or not, Plains Exploration is free to apply for new wells starting two months from now.

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  • August 15, 2008 4:48 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Libertarian candidate Barr asks judge to order his inclusion in church forum with McCain and Obama

  The Libertarian Party candidate for president doesn’t want to be on the outside looking in at Saddleback Church tomorrow. KPCC’s Nick Roman says he’s asked a judge to get him into the Orange County church’s candidates event.

  Nick Roman: It’s interesting to watch a less-government-interference-is-better libertarian try to get a federal judge to tell a church what to do. But Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr is giving it a shot. He’s asked a federal judge in Santa Ana to order Saddleback Church to include him in its Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion.

  The church’s well-known pastor, Rick Warren, will interview Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain separately. They’ll answer the same questions while a few thousand people inside the church listen and a few million TV viewers tune in.

  That’s an attractive audience for a minor party candidate like Barr, but it’s hard to see how the former Georgia congressman-turned-Libertarian Party standard bearer can convince a judge to let him in. It’s not a debate. And the event is organized by Saddleback Church, not by a political party or a government-appointed or funded commission.

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  • August 15, 2008 4:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs, Religion/Spirituality

• Native American alleges Riverside County deputies harassed him due to Soboba dispute, race

  A 19-year-old Coachella Valley man says he was harassed by authorities who mistook him for a member of the Soboba Indian tribe. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas reports it’s another skirmish in an ongoing dispute between the tribe and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

  Steven Cuevas: Nineteen-year-old Michael Malone says he was walking along Temecula road near Hemet last Friday night. When he stopped to get a soda from a vending machine, Malone says he was surrounded by Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies. They were apparently responding to calls about burglary nearby.

  Michael Malone: They started telling me to ‘get the F on the ground.’ I was like, ‘Well, what did I do?’ I was just sittin’ there. They started threatening me telling me they were gonna taser me, or shoot me!

  Cuevas: Malone, who’s a member of the Torres Martinez tribe, told his story during a recent law enforcement forum hosted by the Soboba tribe. It’s locked in a bitter dispute with Riverside County authorities over policing of the Soboba reservation. Malone believes he was singled out by deputies because of the ongoing dispute and because of his race.

  Malone: Just goin’ around talkin’ like they were cowboys from the old days. ‘We caught a Soboba Indian, boys! Yee hee!’ I’m not sure if they’re trying to put a hit on the Indians, but that’s what I felt.

  Cuevas: The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department says it’s investigating Malone’s allegations. If the department decides the deputies were out of line, they could face disciplinary action that ranges from reprimands to termination.

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  • August 15, 2008 4:06 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Proposed San Bernardino County elected official drug test deemed unconstitutional

  Rumors that the San Bernardino County Assessor might be hooked on drugs sparked an idea in the mind of one top county official: why not require all elected county officials to undergo drug tests? KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says, for one thing, it’s against the law.

  Steven Cuevas: This week, San Bernardino County Treasurer Dick Larsen called on executive staff and elected officials to “set an example” and submit to random mandatory drug screening. The move came after allegations that county assessor Bill Postmus concealed addictions to methamphetamine and prescription drugs.

  Several officials confirm Postmus has done at least two stints in rehab. Postmus went on medical leave last month after a grand jury alleged that his office misused public resources for political purposes. The county counsel looked into drug tests for San Bernardino County officials, and issued his opinion: you can’t do it.

  County employees, elected or otherwise, are protected against unlawful search. That means mandatory drug tests are illegal unless the employee is a new hire, or there’s reasonable suspicion of drug use. And San Bernardino County already has a drug policy that covers both.

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  • August 15, 2008 4:02 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA African Marketplace and Cultural Faire begins this weekend

  L.A.’s African Marketplace and Cultural Faire launches tomorrow for its 23rd year. Thousands of visitors experience the music, food, culture, and crafts of the African Diaspora. James Burks created the annual event after the 1984 Olympics. He wanted African-Americans in L.A. to connect with global cultures and business opportunities.

  James Burks: “When you come in, you have sort of a commercial walkway, but you also have an African Region, a Caribbean Region, a Youth Village. You have a whole food court; you have several pavilions like Literary, Health, Fine Arts pavilions. Then you have a number of independent craft vendors and exhibitors from different parts of the world that are in there as well.”

  The African Marketplace continues for the next three weekends, including Labor Day, at Rancho Cienega Park, across from Dorsey High School, off La Brea Avenue. For directions and more information, go online to africanmarketplace.org.

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  • August 15, 2008 3:54 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Society/Culture

• Border governors meet with counterparts from Mexican states

  The governors of California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas met at Universal City this week with their counterparts from several Mexican states. Their annual conference ends today. On the U.S. side of the border, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano told KPCC’s Patt Morrison, none of the governors has staked out a formal position of a fence limiting access to and from Mexico.

  Janet Napolitano: “We do work very closely together and with our colleagues in Mexico on cross border law enforcement and the need to work with our relevant federal governments – theirs in Mexico City, ours in Washington, D.C., on the need to just plain put more boots on the ground, more law enforcement on both sides of the border, from San Diego through Brownsville.”

  In addition to border security, the conference focused on tourism, trade, and commerce. Napolitano said these help increase wealth and job growth throughout the region. The governor’s signed an agreement today to clean up piles of rubber tires along the border region. They’re also expected to sign an agreement on climate change.

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  • August 15, 2008 3:37 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Tall ships to spend weekend at Port of LA

  Pirates and buccaneers will take over the Port of Los Angeles this weekend. So will battleships and frigates arriving for the Festival of Sail. Theresa Lopez-Adams with the Port says this is the third year the tall ships have set sail for L.A.

  Theresa Lopez-Adams: “The other times, in 2002 and in 2005, it’s on a cycle of every 3 years. And this year we’re very pleased to have the U.S. Coast Guard Eagle as one of the participating ships. So that’s a big deal. It’s come from Connecticut to be in this Festival of Sail so it’s very exciting.”

  The Eagle is a three-masted cutter the Coast Guard uses to train students in its academy. It’s the only active commissioned sail-powered ship in the country’s maritime services. Fifteen vessels in all will dock at San Pedro through Sunday evening. For more information about the free Festival of Sail, visit online at portoflosangeles.org.

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  • August 15, 2008 3:25 PM
  • Categories: History, Society/Culture

• Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff gives LAX good grades

  During his visit to Los Angeles this week, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff spoke at USC about identity theft. He also did a walk-through at L.A. International Airport to inspect how one of the country’s busiest transit points has prepared for a potential terrorist attack.

  Michael Chertoff: “I’d give LAX very good grades. It is an older airport, so it has to live with the architecture of a different era when people were worried about these kinds of problems, but within that constraint, they’ve put fencing up, they’ve put security measures up, they’ve got patrols going around. And I think they’ve got some additional things in mind which will reduce the risk.”

  Chertoff spoke with KPCC’s Patt Morrison. The Homeland Security secretary said that no airport can be as heavily guarded as Fort Knox – and that it would be difficult to completely eliminate the risks to commercial airports.

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  • August 15, 2008 3:18 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• UCLA restores 1950s docudrama on LA urban Native Americans

  A film set in downtown L.A.’s long-gone Bunker Hill bars and flophouses is returning to a Southland theater today, almost 50 years after it was finished. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Director Kent Mackenzie’s film “The Exiles” is a docudrama about American Indians in their twenties and thirties straddling life and love beyond the reservation.

  Clip from “The Exiles:” I don’t think I want to take the baby back to San Carlos. I’d rather have him raised out here. I want him to speak English and try maybe go to college and become something.

  Guzman-Lopez: The backdrop is downtown L.A. in the late 1950s – its packed sidewalks, liquor stores, and bars booming with jukebox rock and roll, where the Native American protagonists while away the hours.

  Clip from “The Exiles:” Give me a swig. Gracias amigo. [Speaking in Native American language.]

  Guzman-Lopez: UCLA’s Film and Television Archive has restored the film. It’s organized a week-long run at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood.

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  • August 15, 2008 3:04 PM
  • Categories: Arts, History, Society/Culture

• Legislators will vote on modified budget proposal Sunday

  State lawmakers plan to vote on a modified budget proposal on Sunday, but KPCC’s Julie Small reports that without more compromises, it probably won’t end the long budget stalemate.

  Julie Small: Assembly Speaker Karen Bass plans to put the Democrats’ budget compromise up for a vote before Monday. That’s the deadline to place a budget reform proposal on the November ballot. It’s also the deadline for a ballot measure that would allow the state to borrow against future lottery revenue as a way to close the budget deficit.

  Bass says the Democrats’ revised plan includes both budget reform and lottery borrowing. It also cuts spending more and calls for fewer tax hikes than the Democrats’ previous budget proposal. That one called for $8 billion in additional taxes on corporations and wealthy Californians.

  But even with the changes, Republicans legislators probably won’t vote for the Democrats’ new budget plan. They’ve said they won’t raise taxes – period – and they won’t vote for a budget unless it puts a tight cap on state spending. The Republicans say what the Democrats propose falls short on both counts.

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  • August 15, 2008 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Infant given up to Safe Surrender program in South Pasadena

  A baby boy in South Pasadena is the sixth infant this year recovered in Los Angeles County’s Safe Surrender program. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the handover happened yesterday.

  Cheryl Devall: Someone left the newborn at a fire station, where personnel took him to a local hospital. He’s reportedly doing fine.

  After the baby leaves the hospital, he’ll be in protective custody until L.A. County’s children and family services places him with a family for adoption.

  The county allows adults to surrender infants no more than three days old to hospitals, law enforcement, and fire stations. There’s no punishment for the caretakers, provided the child shows no signs of abuse. Since Safe Surrender began seven years ago, parents or other adults have entrusted 68 babies to the program.

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  • August 15, 2008 2:38 PM
  • Categories: Health, Society/Culture

• Local TV kids show host dies

  Local TV host William Stulla has died. For more than a decade, he was “Engineer Bill” each afternoon on KHJ Channel 9. You probably watched “Engineer Bill” – and so did KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde.

  Kitty Felde: William Stulla had a lot of careers… stockbroker, radio announcer, host of a show called “Parlor Party.” But kids who grew up in Southern California 50 years ago knew him best as “Engineer Bill.” From 1954 to 1966, Stulla donned overalls and a grey-and-white striped railroad engineer’s cap for his “Cartoon Express” show.

  Two children would usually join “Engineer Bill” in studio to watch cartoons and play games – and when I was five, I was one of those kids. We played “Red Light, Green Light,” where you gulp an enormous glass of milk when they’d shout “Green Light!”

  There was also “Name It and You Can Have It.” The kids competed for toys by shouting the complete name of each item first. It may not surprise you that I took home a car full of toys that night. I still feel bad for that other shy kid. William Stulla, “Engineer Bill,” died Tuesday night at his home in Westlake Village. He was 97.

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  • August 15, 2008 1:22 PM
  • Categories: Arts, History, Society/Culture

• Public hearing held in Baldwin Hills over Inglewood oil field rules

  Proposed rules for the Inglewood oil field drew about 300 people to a public hearing in Baldwin Hills last night. L.A. County planners are considering new restrictions aimed at monitoring and limiting the health and environmental effects of oil drilling on the site. But some oil field neighbors, like Culver Crest’s Ron Ostrin, want the county to conduct that review more slowly.

  Ron Ostrin: “What you are doing now is the regulation that’s going to be in effect and affect the public’s health safety welfare, the economy, and the quality of life for the next 100 years. So take your gosh darn time doing it! Do it right or it’s going to be a do over.”

  A company called Plains Exploration holds leases in the oil field. Its employees said they’re convinced the Baldwin Hills operations are safe. And landowners who get royalties for leasing oil rights to Plains Exploration said they’re satisfied with the current schedule for environmental review. L.A. County planners are scheduled to vote on the proposed rules next month, and county supervisors will take up the issue in October.

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  • August 15, 2008 1:19 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Saddleback Church hosts forum tomorrow with McCain and Obama

  Saddleback Church in Lake Forest will host a forum tomorrow night with presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. Mark Affleck is executive director of the Peace Plan, a ministry of the Saddleback Church. He told KPCC’s AirTalk the purpose of the forum is to learn more about the two men beyond the campaign trail.

  Mark Affleck: “I believe that the best possible outcome would be that, at the end of this, we would know who they are as men, and who they are and would be as leaders.”

  Saddleback pastor Rick Warren is expected to interview the two candidates separately for about an hour. They’ll discuss issues like global poverty, the presidency and the Constitution, and the United State’s role in the world. McCain and Obama will share the stage briefly, but will not debate. It starts at 5 o’clock. All three major cable news stations are expected to air the forum live.

  Link: Saddleback Civil Forum

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  • August 15, 2008 11:56 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Religion/Spirituality

• UCLA unveils restored 47-year-old docudrama on LA urban Indians

  For the next week, UCLA’s Film and Television Archive is screening a groundbreaking but rarely seen film about American Indians living in downtown Los Angeles. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has details on the film opening today.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The film’s called “The Exiles.” Director Kent Mackenzie finished it in 1961, but he never secured wide release. The black-and-white film is both drama and documentary.

  Film voiceover: What follows is the authentic account of 12 hours in the lives of a group of Indians who have come to Los Angeles, California.

  Guzman-Lopez: Chris Horak runs UCLA’s Film and Television Archive.

  Chris Horak: The first really striking thing about this film is to see how this group of Native Americans, who are at the lower end of the social, economic scale, are trying to survive in this intensely urban environment of downtown Los Angeles.

  Guzman-Lopez: Mackenzie’s camera follows the Native Americans, all in their twenties and thirties, from rundown apartments and grimy late-night bars to reckless speeding through downtown L.A.’s tunnels – past neon signs, liquor stores, and streetscapes long lost to redevelopment.

  Link: UCLA Film & Television Archive

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  • August 15, 2008 10:33 AM
  • Categories: Arts, History, Society/Culture

• Few participating so far in voluntary deportation program

  Federal immigration officials offered undocumented people in five cities the option of deporting themselves, with minimal fuss. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says very few of them stepped forward during the first week of the pilot program.

  Cheryl Devall: The combined total – in San Diego, Phoenix, Chicago, and Charlotte – came to six. They included a married couple from India, an Estonian, a Guatemalan, a Salvadoran, and a Mexican.

  This might sound like the setup to a joke. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement was serious earlier this month when it invited almost half a million people illegally in this country to participate in what it calls “scheduled departure.” The fledgling program allows immigrants three months to settle their affairs and clear out of the United States. In return, ICE promises no arrests or raids to those who sign up.

  The agency plans to continue the pilot phase through next Friday. Then it’ll determine whether to extend the program. By the way, nobody in the fifth pilot city, Santa Ana, responded to the call for voluntary self-deportation.

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  • August 14, 2008 5:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Rampart scandal figure arrested after leading cops on hour-long car chase

  His name isn’t as well known as Rodney King’s, but Javier Ovando’s effect on the L.A. Police Department is almost as profound. Twelve years ago, officers shot and paralyzed him, and then framed him. That’s what sparked the Rampart scandal. Ovando later settled with the City of L.A. for $15 million –and KPCC’s Nick Roman says he’s back in the news.

  Nick Roman: That’s because he’s back in trouble with the cops. Glendale police say Ovando led them on an hour-long car chase in June after an illegal U-turn. He faces a felony count for evading police, and a misdemeanor count for allegedly spitting at an officer after the chase.

  He’s up on one felony count in another incident. The L.A. County District Attorney says Ovando threatened the couple buying his Topanga Canyon home when they moved in early. They say he gave them permission to do it. He’s scheduled for arraignment next week. There’s more court time, too.

  Years ago, Ovando sued L.A. County and his deputy public defender in that Rampart frame-up case. Ovando says the defender didn’t call witnesses that could have cleared him. He was sentenced to 23 years, but was freed when the Rampart scandal broke. In his suit against his public defender, Ovando won 6-and-a-half-million dollars. A court overturned that award, but the judge ordered a retrial for next year.

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  • August 14, 2008 5:09 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA and Long Beach port business slowing down

  The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handle more cargo than almost any other ports in the country – but KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says that’s slowing down.

  Cheryl Devall: The latest traffic figures from the Southland ports show a drop of almost 13 percent at Long Beach last month. Los Angeles was down just about 3 percent in July compared to the same month last year. Plenty of containers are moving out; the weak dollar is making American products cheaper overseas. But the faltering economy on these shores means that fewer loaded containers are arriving from abroad.

  KPCC business commentator Marc Lacter blogs on the LA Observed Web page, and he observes that import demand is down because Americans aren’t buying as much as they did before high prices for gas, food, and just about everything else. Lacter notes that the L.A. Economic Development Corporation projects a 4-and-a-half percent decline in port activity for the year. Last month’s statistics are right in keeping with that forecast.

  Link: LA Biz Observed (Mark Lacter’s business blog)

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  • August 14, 2008 4:37 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Fresno mayor happy with port fee bill changes

  Money meant to reduce pollution in cities near the ports of L.A., Long Beach, and Oakland may be headed to California’s Central Valley instead. Lawmakers are making changes to a bill in Sacramento that its author intended to charge fees to container shippers. Fresno mayor Alan Autry is happy about those changes.

  Alan Autry: “These trucks that are loaded up, the vast majority of them come through the San Joachim Valley and service Northern California, spewing out the dirtiest fumes this side of refinery oil. All we’re asking is, give us a little smidgen of that, so we can mitigate that.”

  The bill’s author, state senator Alan Lowenthal, says he’d prefer a veto to an amendment.

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  • August 14, 2008 4:28 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Musician Jackson Browne sues Republicans for using song without license

  Jackson Browne grew up in the Republican heartland of Orange County, but that doesn’t mean the singer-songwriter is a GOP man. He’s not, and he’s suing the Republican Party for suggesting that he is. KPCC’s Nick Roman explains.

  Nick Roman: Anyone who’s a fan of Jackson Browne knows he’s a longtime Democrat. So it’s no surprise that the man who wrote and sang the hit “Running on Empty” ran a little hot when he heard his song in an Ohio TV ad for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

  The song plays while the ad needles Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s suggestion that drivers could get better gas mileage if they make sure to properly inflate their tires. The GOP ad says that’s no energy policy. Jackson Browne says that’s no way to use his song, especially if the party doesn’t have a license to use it.

  He says that’s copyright infringement, and he’s suing John McCain, the Ohio GOP, and the Republican National Committee in federal court. Browne wants a permanent injunction that blocks the Republicans from using “Running on Empty” again. Back in February, rocker John Mellencamp asked the McCain campaign to stop using his music at rallies – and McCain complied.

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  • August 14, 2008 3:54 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Politics/Public Affairs

• STAR tests highlight racial achievement gap

  The latest standardized test scores for California students indicate they’re doing a little better in school – but there’s still a lot of room for improvement. KPCC’s Nick Roman says the state’s new STAR tests also highlight a nagging “achievement gap.”

  Nick Roman: Since the STAR tests began five years ago, California students have pushed their scores up point by point. In English and language arts, the score for all students from second grade to junior year in high school is up 11 points from those first tests.

  Generally speaking, middle school kids improved the most. Math scores are up, too, but it’s a little tougher to tell. Elementary and middle school students have moved their scores up, but scores for high schoolers in algebra, geometry, and advanced math courses are flat.

  Here’s another problem: even as scores go up, the majority of school children in California still do not test as “proficient” in English and language arts, or in math, and there’s still a nagging “achievement gap” that separates white and Asian students from their black and Latino classmates. It’s about a 30 point gap, give or take a few points – and it has not budged at all in six rounds of STAR tests.

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  • August 14, 2008 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Education

• State senator objects to port fee amendments Governor Schwarzenegger wants

  The author of a bill that would collect fees from shippers at California’s ports is objecting to changes Governor Schwarzenegger wants to make in the legislation. State Senator Alan Lowenthal intended the money to help cities near the ports with pollution control efforts. He told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that now, the governor wants to spread that money throughout the state.

  Alan Lowenthal: “The governor’s office now sees this as an opportunity to fund other projects that are far removed from the ports and those communities that are immediately impacted. And so we’re not really prepared to take those amendments.”

  Fresno mayor Alan Autry pushed for the changes to the bill. He maintains that vehicles from the ports also pollute the air in the Central Valley.

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  • August 14, 2008 3:18 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA institutes mandatory water conservation

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has signed an ordinance cracking down on water wasters. From now on, the mayor said, water saving will be more than just a good idea.

  Antonio Villaraigosa: “The city of Los Angeles, after a year of the voluntary effort to conserve, that did produce some improvement , about 4 percent over the last year, are now moving to mandatory conservation efforts.”

  That means if you hose down your sidewalks or leave your lawn sprinklers on in the rain, L.A.’s Department of Water and Power could tack a fat fine onto your bill. City officials say it’s crucial to conserve now. They predict water demand will be up 15 percent in the next 20 years.

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  • August 14, 2008 3:16 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA mayor signs new water use restrictions into law

  If you water your lawn in the rain, it could cost you. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today signed that and other water use restrictions into city law. So it’ll be illegal to hose down sidewalks or driveways unless it’s a matter of public health.

  Restaurants won’t serve glasses of water unless customers order them. L.A. Department of Water and Power employees will enforce the new rules and investigate water waste complaints, says the utility’s General Manager, David Nahai.

  David Nahi: The Droughtbusters have a dedicated email address. It’s droughtbusters@ladwp.com. And already, even before this water conservation ordinance has gone into effect, already they have received something like 3,000 calls and e-mails about water waste around the city.

  First-time water waste offenders just get a warning. The fine for a second offense: $100. It’ll be 200 bucks the third time around. The fines will show up as a fee on L.A. water bills.

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  • August 14, 2008 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Money from port container fees meant for environmental cleanup may be used for other purposes

  State lawmakers are seeking to change a bill that would direct fees from port containers toward environmental cleanup. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says the resulting legislation could use that money for other purposes.

  Molly Peterson: State Senator Alan Lowenthal sponsored the bill to collect $60 from each average-sized container that comes into the ports of L.A., Long Beach, and Oakland. California’s assembly and state senate approved a plan that would spend half that money on traffic reduction measures, and half in harbor communities to minimize the effects of cargo ship and truck pollution.

  But Central Valley lawmakers lobbied hard for, and scored, new language in the bill. It would divert some of the environmental money to the state air board’s transportation fund. That means container fees could pay for environmental projects in the Central Valley, where diesel trucks also dirty the air.

  Aides to the governor requested the change. Lowenthal’s worked on this fee for four years. Last year the governor asked him to pull the bill – and to consult more with retailers about alternatives. Lowenthal says he’ll fight the changes.

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  • August 14, 2008 1:39 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• African-American and Latino students still scoring significantly below white students on STAR tests

  California students continued to make slight progress on English and math standardized tests last year. But more than half failed to meet the state achievement goals. State public instruction superintendent Jack O’Connell this morning released the results of the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program. O’Connell told KPCC’s AirTalk that African-American and Latino students are still scoring significantly below their white classmates on the tests.

  Jack O’Connell: “We still have an achievement gap. And the achievement gap is real, it’s dark, it’s persistent, it’s glaring, and absolutely must be addressed.”

  O’Connell said he was particularly concerned that only one-third of African-American students scored proficient or above in English. That’s just one percentage point more than Latino students, a group that includes many English learners. Forty-six percent of all California students scored “advanced” or “proficient” in English.

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  • August 14, 2008 12:34 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Homeland Security's Chertoff suggests high-tech ways to protect against identity theft

  Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says the country needs to bring its fight against identity theft into the 21st century. In a lecture at the University of Southern California, Chertoff described some possible ways to secure everyone’s identity.

  Michael Chertoff: “To take the ability to use some descriptive information, like a PIN or some private information, a device like a card or perhaps a cell phone or other electronic device, perhaps with a token, and a biometric, like a digit which is easily used and can currently be captured on a whole host of mobile devices: to combine these together.”

  Chertoff said that right now, government agencies and businesses are using these solutions separately. He said the system that combines them could originate in the private sector.

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  • August 13, 2008 6:40 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• City of Los Angeles plans to allow for more mixed-income housing

  The City of Los Angeles has approved a blueprint to foster more mixed-income housing. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski reports.

  Brooke Binkowski: There’s still a long way to go, but housing activist say cheaper places to live are in the works. The L.A. City Council’s updated its housing plan for the next six years.

  Beth Steckler is with the nonprofit Housing LA coalition. It’s been pushing for ways to make it more affordable to live in L.A.

  Beth Steckler: One of the things that we’re really excited about is that it really brings limiting condo conversions and demolitions back to the forefront. And we lost so much rent-controlled housing in the last building boom, through the conversions and demolitions, and we really need a strategy to discourage that while we tell developers where to build.

  Binkowski: Steckler said the plan will also eventually require new private developments in the City of Los Angeles to include housing units for buyers and renters at all income levels. L.A. officials say the city needs more than 110,000 new units of housing within the next decade to keep up with rising demand.

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  • August 13, 2008 6:34 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Homeland Security chief addresses multiple dangers of identity theft

  The country’s Homeland Security secretary spoke about a particular kind of threat today at the University of Southern California. KPCC’s Brian Watt has more on what Michael Chertoff had to say.

  Brian Watt: Chertoff said identity theft poses a threat to national security when potentially dangerous people gain access to planes and buildings they shouldn’t get close to. He added it can also take a financial toll on ordinary people.

  Michael Chertoff: Some of these costs are not obvious to individual citizens. For example, credit cards routinely absorb fraud-related charges as “acceptable losses.”

  Watt: But, Chertoff said, all cardholders pay for it when transaction costs and store prices rise. Chertoff also described I.D. theft as a major “enabler” of undocumented workers.

  Chertoff: More and more of these people working illegally are using genuine identities that have been stolen from real people.

  Watt: He referred to a recent news report about a Californian the Internal Revenue Service went after over $18,000 in unreported income. Chertoff said the person actually earning the money turned out to be an illegal immigrant in North Carolina.

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  • August 13, 2008 6:02 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• L.A. City Council pledges to pursue more mixed-income housing

  The Los Angeles City Council approved an update to the city’s housing plan today. It includes a pledge to pursue mixed-income housing. That means new private developments within the city of Los Angeles will have to include housing for all income levels. Beth Steckler is with the nonprofit Housing LA coalition.

  Beth Steckler: “There was a study last year – in the areas that have mixed-income requirements, about half of the affordable housing they built was through this mixed-income requirement. So think about that; we could double our affordable housing production. That’s very exciting to us. It doesn’t solve it. We need a lot more production, we need a lot more preservation. But we’re starting to point ourselves in the right direction.”

  The updated housing plan will also limit condo conversions of apartments and demolitions of affordable homes.

  Link: Housing LA (Southern California Association of NonProfit Housing)

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  • August 13, 2008 5:50 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Study indicates many Latinos rely on media instead of doctors for health information

  Many Latinos rely on TV and radio advertising and news reports, instead of on doctors, for their health information, a new study indicates. The report from the Pew Hispanic Center says 83 percent of survey respondents said they got their health information from television and other media sources. UCLA family medicine professor Dr. Glen Lopez says that reliance can leave people vulnerable to advertising claims of “miracle cures.”

  Dr. Glen Lopez: “I am of course concerned that those who are receiving health information from the media, that it be from an objective source. And I think we have to distinguish between health information coming from advertisements or info-commercials versus those coming from the newscasts.”

  About 64 percent of the people who responded to the survey said they changed the way they thought about diet and exercise because of something they saw on TV.

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  • August 13, 2008 4:35 PM
  • Categories: Health

• LA City Council mandates secure spaces for day laborers to solicit work

  L.A.’s City Council today mandated, depending on how you look at it, secure spaces for day laborers to solicit work, or an added expense for home improvement stores. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the story.

  Cheryl Devall: The ordinance applies to big-box stores of 100,000 square feet or more within the city of Los Angeles. It’ll require them to set aside areas with seating, restrooms, drinking water, and trash cans for the day laborers who congregate outside the stores.

  A Home Depot representative and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network regard the ordinance as a humane solution to the problems these workers have caused. Store managers and neighbors have long claimed that the men drink beer, leave trash, and urinate on the street.

  In some Southland cities, people have protested spaces like this for day laborers – most of whom are undocumented men from Central America and Mexico. Opponents say the facilities help to depress wages for American-born workers and encourage illegal immigration. That kind of objection did not surface before the L.A. City Council approved the ordinance. It’ll take effect 30 days after the mayor signs it.

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  • August 13, 2008 4:22 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA City Council approves updated Housing Element plan

  The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an update to the city’s housing plan today. It’s a roadmap for the way L.A. will deal with condominium conversions and apartment demolitions for the next six years. Beth Steckler with the nonprofit Housing Los Angeles says the plan also includes a promise from the city to foster more mixed-income housing.

  Beth Steckler: “Every new development of condominiums or apartments include a certain number of units that are affordable. And we do this all over the country and all over the state. We do it in San Francisco, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Pasadena, Irvine, Sacramento, Sacramento County, San Diego… just all over the place. But we don’t do it in L.A.”

  Steckler’s organization and others will work out details of the plan with the city over the next several months. L.A. officials estimate they must build more than 110,000 units of housing during the next eight years to keep up with rising demand.

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  • August 13, 2008 4:13 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• State Controller Chiang says California should be able to recover cost of prison health care upgrades

  The man charged with improving state prison health care is dragging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Controller John Chiang into court. Court-appointed receiver Clark Kelso is demanding $8 billion to construct new medical facilities for inmates. Chiang told KPCC’s Patt Morrison the state should be able to cover the cost.

  John Chiang: “We don’t have strenuous objections. I just need to make sure I follow the laws provided in the California constitution. So I either need a budget authorization or I need a court order. Clark and I aren’t at strong ends. I just need the legal authority to do what he is requesting.”

  Kelso is threatening to ask the judge to hold Schwarzenegger and Chiang in contempt of court for failing to release the money.

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  • August 13, 2008 4:03 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Los Angeles modifies teen curfew to keep more kids in school

  The Southland’s largest city today took a cue from smaller municipalities to reduce teen truancy. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Los Angeles councilwoman Jan Perry praised Long Beach’s and Monrovia’s efforts to help police make sure that teens are in school. The Los Angeles city council has approved Perry’s proposed change to city law inspired by those cities.

  Los Angeles had prohibited students under 18 from going out unexcused between 8:30 in the morning and 1:30 in the afternoon. Perry’s change extends the prohibition to the hours school’s in session. So, if classes don’t get out until 3 o’clock, students can’t be on the streets before that time.

  Police could hit violators with up to $250, up to 20 hours of community service, or both. The truancy rate in L.A. County schools has gone up slightly in recent years. It’s declined a bit in San Bernardino and Riverside county schools, but it’s significantly higher there than in L.A. and Orange counties.

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  • August 13, 2008 3:42 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Secretary of Homeland Security focuses on identity theft in USC lecture

  The country’s Homeland Security secretary spoke today at the University of Southern California. Michael Chertoff focused his presentation on the importance of combating identity theft.

  Michael Chertoff: “In the 21st century, the most important aspect that we have to protect is individuals, and, as part of our nation, is the control of our identity. Who we are. How we identify ourselves. Whether other people are permitted to masquerade and pretend to be us, and thereby damage our livelihood, damage our assets, damage our reputation, damage our standing in our community.”

  Chertoff said the federal government is working on more comprehensive ways of verifying people’s identities. He added that the private sector can help.

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  • August 13, 2008 3:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal receiver asks federal court to order California to fund $8 billion prison health care upgrades

  The man in charge of medical care at state prisons is asking a federal court to order California to pay up. Federal receiver Clark Kelso says the state has refused to fund his $8 billion construction project to bring prison care up to constitutional standards.

  Kelso filed a motion asking the court to hold Governor Schwarzenegger and Controller John Chiang in contempt. Kelso needs the money to build seven new facilities with a total of 10,000 medical beds.

  Clark Kelso: “The timing of this, though, is dictated by the fact that I’m running out of money, and I actually have hundreds of planners working now on the seven long-term care facilities, and I simply no longer can wait.”

  Kelso says he needs $3 billion this fiscal year. That would add to the state’s $15 billion deficit. Kelso pushed for lawmakers to approve a plan to borrow the money, but Senate Republicans rejected that idea.

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  • August 13, 2008 3:35 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Former deputy at center of high profile shooting files for bankruptcy

  A former San Bernardino County deputy acquitted last year in a high-profile shooting says he’s broke. Ivory Webb filed for bankruptcy as he gets ready to defend himself in a civil lawsuit. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has that.

  Steven Cuevas: In his Chapter 7 filing, Webb listed assets that total nearly $700,000. But the ex-deputy says he owes a million dollars. Bankruptcy might shield Webb from paying civil damages in the federal lawsuit brought by Elio Carrion. He’s the U.S. airman Webb shot three times after a high-speed car chase in Chino.

  A bystander captured the late night incident on grainy home video. It shows a tense standoff between Webb and Carrion after the chase ended. Carrion had been a passenger in the car. The video shows him flat on the pavement as Webb stood above him with a gun.

  Webb ordered Carrion to stand – then shot him as he did. A jury in Webb’s criminal trial decided the deputy was defending himself against a suspect who might have had a weapon. Carrion was unarmed. The San Bernardino County sheriff’s department is also named in the federal lawsuit. Opening arguments in the case are set for December in Los Angeles federal court.

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  • August 13, 2008 3:31 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Assessor refuses to step down amid allegations of corruption, drug abuse

  San Bernardino County’s beleaguered tax assessor refuses to step down amid mounting allegations of corruption and drug abuse. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has details.

  Steven Cuevas: Bill Postmus won a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors when he was 30. The darling of the GOP in the Inland Empire, he vowed to root out corruption. Now, sources tell two newspapers that Postmus is struggling with an addiction to methamphetamine and prescription painkillers.

  Postmus went on medical leave after the grand jury alleged he’d used his office for political purposes. An assistant county assessor is facing felony corruption charges. The San Bernardino County district attorney is still investigating and has not charged Postmus.

  In an e-mail sent to newspapers, Postmus wrote that he won’t comment on private matters – but he accused Supervisor Paul Biane of leading a political witch hunt against him. He wrote that Biane pushed the grand jury to launch a corruption investigation against him. In his e-mail, Postmus also says he will not resign, though many of his once most ardent supporters are demanding he do just that.

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  • August 13, 2008 2:57 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Getty Foundation awards more grants to New Orleans arts

  Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina stuck the Gulf Coast, the Los Angeles-based Getty Foundation has awarded a third round of grants to arts, humanities, and preservation projects in New Orleans. Details from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: The Crescent City’s recovering slowly, and the Getty grants are intended to help restore New Orleans’ once-vibrant cultural scene. More than $1 million will go to the historic Cathedral of St. Louis in Jackson Square, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, and the Prospect 1 U.S. Biennial art exhibition.

  Additional Getty money is headed to eight arts organizations surveying who their audiences are, and whether they’re returning to New Orleans. Three years ago, the Getty Foundation established a Fund for New Orleans. So far, that fund has contributed close to $3 million to cultural institutions there.

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  • August 13, 2008 1:31 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• Federal receiver demands California turn over $8 billion for prison health care

  Court-appointed receiver Clark Kelso has demanded that the state turn over billions of dollars so he can build new medical units in state prisons. State lawmakers have twice defeated a bill to pay for construction, so Kelso’s asking a federal judge to order the state to turn over the money. Republican legislators have argued that they’ve already approved a prison plan. Kelso told KPCC’s AirTalk that plan doesn’t go far enough.

  Clark Kelso: “It simply doesn’t do the job. It would build a lot more prison beds, but building prison beds by itself doesn’t help with health care. So they’ve got it exactly backwards.”

  Kelso is demanding $8 billion over the next five years. At the same time, the state is trying to figure out how to close a $15 billion deficit. Governor Schwarzenegger’s office says the governor will keep working with Kelso and lawmakers to try and pay for improvements to prison medical care.

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  • August 13, 2008 12:53 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal receiver sues to get state money for prison health care

  The federal receiver in charge of prison healthcare in California wants the governor hauled into court. He wants the $8 billion he needs to build new prison hospitals as ordered by a federal judge – and he says the state government is standing in his way. KPCC’s Julie Small reports.

  Julie Small: Federal receiver Clark Kelso filed a motion in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to hold the governor and the state controller in contempt of court for failing to fund his prison medical plan. Kelso asked the judge to fine the state government $2 million for every day it fails to pay up.

  Clark Kelso: We have fully explored and exhausted every avenue for securing this funding in a manner that least affects California’s budget and immediate cash needs. But the state’s leaders have failed to act.

  Small: If it seems like bad timing, it is – for the state. Lawmakers can’t agree on how to close a $15 billion budget deficit. California might have to borrow billions to pay its bills. Kelso, who was appointed by a federal judge to fix prison medical care in California, says he can’t wait any longer. He says he’ll run out of money by October. The court is expected to hear Kelso’s motion in September. It’s possible that the budget will be in place by then.

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  • August 13, 2008 12:25 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal labor regulators claim El Picante withheld overtime pay from its workers

  Federal labor regulators have turned up the heat on a Southland spice wholesaler. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says authorities claim the company withheld overtime pay from its workers.

  Cheryl Devall: A lot of overtime pay, it turns out – more than $73,000 in back wages to a dozen employees of the El Picante chili and spice company in Los Angeles and South El Monte. Federal investigators say those workers put in as many as 58 hours a week, and sometimes didn’t even take home the federal minimum wage for their work.

  That violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a labor department spokesman said. Before matters got any hotter, the owner of the company agreed with the government to pay up. El Picante imports its goods from Mexico, Peru, and China for distribution to grocery stores and restaurants.

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  • August 13, 2008 12:21 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Judge orders California to pay federal receiver $8 billion for prison health care improvements

  The man in charge of fixing health care in California prisons wants the state to pay him $8 billion over the next five years. Clark Kelso asked a judge this morning to order the state to turn over the money. Kelso says he needs it to build new medical units. State lawmakers have turned that request down twice. Kelso told KPCC’s AirTalk he thinks the judge will view his request favorably.

  Clark Kelso: “The judge previously has approved our turn-around plan of action. And one of the major components of the plan of action is precisely the construction programs that I’m seeking funding for today.”

  Lawmakers have argued that they’ve already approved a plan to fix California prisons. Kelso said that plan doesn’t go far enough. Kelso also asked the judge to hold Governor Schwarzenegger and state controller John Chiang in contempt of court if they don’t allocate the money soon. Kelso said he’ll keep working with both state officials to try and resolve the matter out of court.

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  • August 13, 2008 12:06 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Bureau of Sanitation plans new recycling pilot program

  A lot of food scraps could end up in L.A. green waste bins if a pilot program takes off. Starting next month, the city of Los Angeles wants some people in selected neighborhoods to recycle those scraps, the better to turn them into compost. City councilwoman Jan Perry told KPCC it’s an old fashioned, and inexpensive, way to ease the burden on landfills.

  Jan Perry: “At this point it’s a demonstration project. We’ll see what the response is. And whether people embrace the program. And then if it does well, then this could work for the entire city.”

  L.A.’s Bureau of Sanitation will distribute two-gallon bins to homeowners in five city council districts. People can toss away food scraps like eggshells, tea bags, cucumber skins, and also “food soiled” paper items, including paper towels and pizza boxes. Los Angeles officials predict that if the program is made available to everyone in the city, Los Angeles could divert as much as 600 tons of unwanted food a year from landfills.

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  • August 13, 2008 11:25 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Assemblyman Huffman introduces bill to encourage mileage based insurance

  Imagine basing your auto insurance rates on how much , or how little, you drive. California assemblyman Jared Huffman has introduced a bill that would encourage insurers to try it. Huffman outlined his reasons to KPCC’s Patt Morrison.

  Jared Huffman: “One is to give consumers a chance to save money if they drive less. Another is to send an important public policy message to encourage folks to drive less as we try to reduce greenhouse gas emission and combat global warming.”

  But some Californians fear that pay-as-you-drive insurance would infringe on their privacy. The bill would rely on drivers to verify their mileage with the Department of Motor Vehicles, insurance agents, or global positioning devices.

  Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi calls the bill unnecessary because insurance companies may already adjust some premiums based on mileage and driving habits. The bill has passed the State Assembly, and now it’s on the Senate floor for consideration.

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  • August 12, 2008 4:56 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• LA County Board of Supervisors votes to put sales tax increase on November ballot

  The proposed half-cent sales tax increase supervisors kept off L.A. County’s November ballot last week is on the ballot now for sure. The County Board of Supervisors today voted 3 to 2 to add the tax that’ll raise money for transit projects. KPCC’s Nick Roman says a majority of the board still doesn’t like the tax hike.

  Nick Roman: That’s because supervisors Antonovich, Molina, and Knabe said the half-cent sales tax hike steered too much money toward West L.A.’s “Subway to the Sea” – and not enough to transit projects elsewhere. Antonovich wondered why there wasn’t more money to run the Green Line to L.A. International Airport, or the Gold Line east to Ontario.

  He and the other supervisors blamed backroom dealing by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would fight to get the sales tax hike on the ballot, even if it meant paying for a separate ballot. That would cost taxpayers more – so Supervisor Don Knabe decided to switch his vote.

  The sales tax increase is now on L.A. County’s November 4th ballot – but Knabe and two other county supervisors will campaign against it. It’ll be an interesting election season, with Mayor Villaraigosa urging L.A. to vote for the tax hike – and three supervisors urging the rest of L.A. County to vote it down.

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  • August 12, 2008 4:20 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Peacemaking organization founder Bo Taylor dies

  The founder of a peacemaking organization that originated after the Los Angeles riots 16 years ago died yesterday. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the life and work of Bo Taylor.

  Cheryl Devall: Personal and civil crises – his own escapes from gang gunfire, and later the riots – set Darren “Bo” Taylor on the path of promoting peace. With supporters including actors Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover, civil rights attorney Connie Rice and USC football coach Pete Carroll, Taylor founded the organization Unity One.

  It helped maintain truces between L.A. gangs in the aftermath of the riots, and developed training programs in life skills like nonviolent conflict resolution and creative problem solving. In recent years, Unity One focused its efforts on inmates at L.A. County’s Pitchess Detention Center.

  The organization’s website says more than 3,000 people at the facility have graduated from the training, and that fewer than 1 percent faced disciplinary action after that point. Bo Taylor was 42 years old when he died of cancer in Los Angeles. Trojan coach Carroll said Taylor “motivated me, inspired me, and taught me. I’m going to miss him dearly.”

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  • August 12, 2008 4:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Federal receiver likely to order state to pay $2.5 billion for prison hospital system

  The man in charge of improving medical care in California’s prisons is poised to make a major announcement tomorrow. KPCC’s Julie Small reports the court-appointed federal receiver is likely to order the state to pay two-and-a-half billion dollars to build new prison hospitals and upgrade existing ones.

  Julie Small: Earlier this year, federal receiver Clark Kelso unveiled a $7 billion plan to improve prison medical care. He needs two-and-a-half billion to start construction and renovation. But twice the State Senate defeated a bill to pay for it. Kelso has threatened to ask a federal judge to order California to pay up. State Controller John Chiang says that would cut a big hole in California’s cash supply.

  State Controller John Chiang: That’s part of the considerations. Frankly, that’s part of discussions.

  Small: Chiang has been anticipating the federal receiver’s request as he negotiates with lenders to borrow cash to pay the state’s bills during the budget impasse.

  Chiang: Last thing we want to do is go out for borrowing and it all gets taken for consequences it wasn’t originally designed for, and we’re back to square one.

  Small: Depending on the timing of a federal court order to pay, the Controller could be forced to borrow money sooner than anticipated.

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  • August 12, 2008 3:58 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA City Council addresses domestic abuse in gay, lesbian, and transgender relationships

  The Los Angeles City Council’s addressing domestic abuse in lesbian and gay households. Today the council created a subcommittee on the city’s Domestic Violence Task Force. Councilman Richard Alarcon says the subcommittee will deliver an initial report on partner violence among lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered people by January 1st.

  Richard Alarcon: “It is a very complex issue and it has to be addressed differently in each community. And so there’s many different ramifications. When you’re talking about the service provision, when you’re talking about policing, when you’re talking about grantsmanship, when you’re talking about federal guidelines… that’s a lot for the task force to take.”

  The subcommittee will consider solutions to problems same-sex couples encounter when they report domestic violence to police. It will also focus on outreach and educational programs.

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  • August 12, 2008 3:51 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA City Council votes to address gay and lesbian domestic violence

  Agreeing that domestic violence is as common in gay and lesbian relationships as in heterosexual ones, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted today to address the issue. It’s created a subcommittee within the City of L.A.’s Domestic Violence Task Force. Terra Slavin is the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center’s lead attorney.

  Terra Slavin: “We’ve actually had people who have gone to the hospital, but because their partner’s of the same gender, that partner’s not asked to leave the room. And so no report is being taken on domestic violence. So there are times when absolutely, many of the law enforcement out there is doing an amazing job. But there is still too numerous of incidences where the interaction is inappropriate.”

  The subcommittee’s assigned to compile information about domestic abuse among gays, lesbians, and transsexuals, and deliver it to the L.A. City Council by the end of the year.

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  • August 12, 2008 2:47 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County supervisors approve menu nutritional information ordinance

  Coming soon to a chain restaurant menu near you: calorie counts, and more. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Los Angeles County supervisors today approved drafting an ordinance that would require eateries to serve up nutritional information along with the shakes and fries.

  Cheryl Devall: The point, ordinance sponsors say, is to let customers know how much fat and salt they’re getting so they can make informed choices at the fast-food counter. The nutrition facts would show up right next to the prices on chain restaurant menus in unincorporated areas of L.A. County.

  Public health staff will draft the ordinance and present it to the supervisors for review within the next 30 days. A spokesman for industry lobby the California Restaurant Association says the organization likes the idea of full disclosure, but it would prefer a single, uniform standard for the entire state.

  Los Angeles’ experience with hydrogenated trans fats may offer a preview of coming attractions for the menu labeling requirement. Last year, the county supervisors approved restrictions on the use of trans fats in restaurants and institutional food service. The state of California adopted a similar trans fat ban last month.

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  • August 12, 2008 2:34 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Elementary school students learn about water policy

  Elementary school students from Atwater Village got a lesson in water policy today at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Ten-year-old Leslie Castillo and 9-year-old Acacia Shaw are fifth graders at the 75th Street school. Castillo says she learned that water comes over mountains and through pipes to get to her tap.

  Leslie Castillo: “They told us that water is not easy to get to L.A. and they have to dig. They have to make pipes that could, so that water could go through and go to L.A., and so people could drink water and…”

  Acacia Shaw: “… And he told us not to use a lot of water because it would kill our Earth.”

  Historic L.A. water engineer William Mulholland is depicted in the play “Thirsty City.” It tells how water travels to the Southland through aqueducts and pipes. The play’s creators, the nonprofit educational group Theater of Will, plan to perform “Thirsty City” at other schools and youth groups through the fall.

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  • August 12, 2008 1:49 PM
  • Categories: Education, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Los Angeles taxi fares going up 10 percent

  Last month, the city of Los Angeles made it easier for riders in some areas to hail a taxi from the curb. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says that today, L.A.’s cab commissioners added to the cost of the fare.

  By the end of this week, the ride from Downtown Los Angeles to L.A. International Airport will bump up from $42 to $46.50. That’s just one indicator of the many ways a 10 percent increase will affect taxi fares, from the distance charge to the cost of idling in traffic.

  You can probably guess the reason: fuel prices. L.A.’s Board of Taxicab Commissioners justified the higher fares by saying drivers have to be able to cover their costs and make a living, too.

  The fare increase is the first the board’s approved in two years. It goes into effect at about the same time people in Downtown L.A. and Hollywood will be able to do what cab customers in other cities have long taken for granted – wave an arm, yell “taxi!” and have a driver actually pull over for a pick-up.

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  • August 11, 2008 6:37 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• U.S. Interior Department proposes new rules that would limit environmental reviews

  A proposal to limit use of the federal Endangered Species Act may take effect without lawmaker approval before year’s end. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: A leak – informational, not toxic – led to a discovery about the emphasis federal agencies may place on greenhouse gases in the future. Draft rules would authorize limited reviews by federal agencies planning projects from dams to highways. Some government wildlife scientists presently analyze how increases in greenhouse gas may affect habitat.

  These rules, if adopted, could essentially end that. Interior Department officials say government agencies without wildlife scientists on staff have developed enough expertise to decide for themselves the effects of built projects.

  Interior officials say the goal of the draft rules is to prevent any regulation of greenhouse gas emissions through existing laws aimed at protecting about 1600 threatened and endangered species. The department plans to officially circulate the rules soon. After a 60-day public comment period, they could take effect.

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  • August 11, 2008 6:26 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Department of Personnel Administration sues Controller Chiang over pay cuts

  The Schwarzenegger Administration is making good on its threat to sue Controller John Chiang. Lynelle Jolley with the Department of Personnel Administration says the governor’s filing suit today in Sacramento Superior Court.

  Chiang refuses to follow Governor Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order to cut close to $200,000 state employees’ pay. Jolley says a five-year-old state Supreme Court ruling requires the governor to cut most salaries to the federal minimum wage when he doesn’t have a budget to work with.

  Lynelle Jolley: “We’re not asking the Controller to comply with Executive Order. We’re asking the Controller to comply with the State Supreme Court and the State Constitution.”

  Chiang says the governor is misinterpreting the court decision. He says that the state has enough money to pay its bills through October, and that Schwarzenegger’s true motive is political.

  John Chaing: “We have sufficient cash. I really now think the governor is doing this because he can’t get the legislature to move on the budget. It’s not a cash situation.”

  The state budget is 42 days late and $15 billion out of whack. Jolley says the Administration will ask for a hearing on the suit right away.

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  • August 11, 2008 5:43 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Golf tournament raises $100,000 for wounded veterans

  A golf tournament in Brentwood today raised $100,000 to help injured war veterans through the Wounded Warrior Project. The nonprofit provides services for soldiers injured in combat.

  The blast from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan cost U.S. Army Sergeant Neil Duncan his legs three years ago. Now, with help from the Wounded Warrior Project, he’s training fellow veterans in Aspen, Colorado.

  Sergeant Neil Duncan: “We sponsor some events that teach guys that are recently injured how to ski again. If it requires special equipment, then they have the equipment there. And if it just requires the practice, you know, to get out on the snow and regain your balance, that’s what it’s there for. But the veterans that are out there are sponsored by Wounded Warrior Project, so we get a grant every year to cover our expenses and things like that.”

  The Wounded Warrior Project lobbies on behalf of permanently disabled soldiers and helps them re-integrate into civilian life. It’s also known for its backpack program. The organization sends to hospitalized soldiers packs filled with playing cards, clean T-shirts, CD players, and other morale-boosting items.

  Link: Wounded Warrior Project

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  • August 11, 2008 5:34 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture, Sports/Recreation

• Judge orders train crossings out of LA County Metro Expo Line plans

  Los Angeles County Metro’s proposed Expo Line may have hit a snag today. The agencies building the light rail line want to move forward with a plan to place the tracks at street level at two crossings, near two public schools in South L.A.

  But shortly after hearings began, a judge with the California Public Utilities Commission reportedly ordered the train crossings out of Metro’s plan. Damien Goodmon of the United Communities Association has opposed the light rail crossings from the beginning. He called them unsafe for the students at Foshay Learning Center and Dorsey High School.

  Damien Goodmon: “If they’re willing to close the street and build a pedestrian bridge, we’ll bring it back to the community. We’ll talk about it. If they’re willing to build an overpass or an underpass, we’ll bring it back to the community. Because for us, it just comes down to having to know that if this train is built as it is, children are gonna die at the doorsteps of Dorsey High School.”

  At today’s hearing the Expo Line’s builders maintained their proposed design was safe, with pedestrian and vehicle gates that descend 21 seconds before a train arrives. Also today, a Metro Gold Line train in Pasadena struck a car and seriously injured its driver. Authorities say the gates were down when the collision happened.

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  • August 11, 2008 4:19 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• LA County Museum of Art purchases large photo collection

  The L.A. County Museum of Art announced today that a major photography collection a wealthy Los Angeles couple had assembled will stay in the Southland. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: LACMA’s bought more than 3,500 prints in the Marjorie and Leonard Vernon Collection. LACMA photography curator Charlotte Cotton says the Vernons, now deceased, spent decades amassing a collection second to none.

  Charlotte Cotton: The collection’s very rich in 19th century, European photography, where many of the innovations and risks were taken. And then its holdings of early 20th century classic American photography, a lot of which was produced in the American West, is outstanding.

  Guzman-Lopez: The collection includes 80 Edward Weston prints and others by Ansel Adams and Edward Steichen. With the purchase, LACMA’s photo holdings increase twofold. Some of the new holdings will go on display in October. Museum trustee Wallis Annenberg gave the money for the purchase, but museum officials wouldn’t say how much she contributed or how much the collection cost.

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  • August 11, 2008 2:21 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• Wounded Warrior Project holds charity golf tournament in Brentwood

  Soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan are the focus of a golf tournament in Brentwood today. Event chairman Elliot Dix says the Wounded Warrior Project tournament includes all kinds of players – professional golfers, hobbyists, and soldiers…

  Elliot Dix: “We have approximately eight Wounded Warriors playing in the golf tournament with prosthetic legs and arms, and they keep up, they have a great time. I had the honor of playing with a young man who lost his right arm in Iraq about three years ago, and I was proud to be his caddy for the day.”

  Dix says last year’s inaugural tournament raised $83,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project. This year, it’s brought in about a hundred-thousand dollars.

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  • August 11, 2008 2:17 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture, Sports/Recreation

• Charity golf tournament for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan held in LA

  A golf tournament to benefit combat survivors teed off today at L.A.’s Mountaingate Country Club. Military veterans, some with prosthetic limbs, are among the players in this fundraiser. Event chairman Elliot Dix says all the tournament’s proceeds will go to help soldiers injured during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  Elliot Dix: “We have 216 golfers playing on 27 holes of golf. This is our second year. In our first year we raised $83,000. At last count, we had already raised a hundred-thousand dollars for the Wounded Warrior Project.”

  The nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project, Dix says, offers help for veterans returning from combat zones, and aims to raise awareness of their needs.

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  • August 11, 2008 1:46 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture, Sports/Recreation

• Chino Hills earthquake may have affected San Andreas Fault

  Sixteen years ago, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Yucca Valley. Three hours later, a magnitude 6.5 quake shook up Big Bear. Seismologists worried that the quakes might trigger a much bigger one on the San Andreas Fault. That didn’t happen. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde examines just how close last month’s Chino Hills quake was to California’s most famous fault.

  Kitty Felde: The Chino Hills quake occurred where a trio of faults merges. Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey says they’re the Whittier fault, the Chino Fault, and the Elsinore Fault.

  Lucy Jones: The Elsinore is part of the San Andreas system. It’s parallel to the San Andreas and has about one-sixth the rate of motion that the San Andreas has.

  Felde: The rest of the San Andreas lies about 50 miles to the east. On November 18th, the USGS and emergency teams across the region will participate in the Great Southern California Shakeout, a massive earthquake drill that’ll simulate the response to a major jolt on the San Andreas.

  Jones says the Chino Hills quake released 1 percent of the energy of the Northridge quake. Northridge carried only 2 percent of the energy of the quake seismologists expect someday on the San Andreas.

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  • August 11, 2008 1:16 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• Earthquake expert says increased earthquake rate may have returned

  Scientists discount the notion of earthquake weather. But the idea of “earthquake season” hasn’t quite gone away. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde sat down with seismologist Lucy Jones for a look into her crystal ball.

  Kitty Felde: The Chino Hills quake late last month was the first earthquake for many people in the Southland.

  Lucy Jones: We haven’t had a damaging earthquake in L.A. for the last 15 years, since Northridge happened. By comparison, the decade before Northridge, we had a damaging earthquake almost every year.

  Felde: Lucy Jones is a quake expert with the U.S. Geological Survey. She says the pattern could just be random fluctuation. Or it could mean more shaking ahead.

  Jones: Between Landers and Northridge, there was a lot of energy removed from the crust by the occurrence of those two earthquakes. And it relaxed a bit. And the rate of all earthquakes large and small went down after those two earthquakes.

  Felde: Seismic activity has picked up in the last couple of years, with swarms of small quakes in the Imperial Valley and the San Bernardino mountains. Jones says she and her colleagues will have to study a year of data before they’ll know whether we’ve returned to the higher rate of quakes we saw back in the 1980s.

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  • August 11, 2008 1:11 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa urges state lawmakers to pass bill to allow sales tax measure on ballot

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is urging state lawmakers to pass a bill that would let Los Angeles County place a sales tax measure on its ballot. The measure would raise the county sales tax by a half-cent to help pay for transportation projects. Villaraigosa told KPCC’s AirTalk the ballot measure is necessary to the fund the “subway to the sea” – the subway line he’d like to extend to Santa Monica.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “There’s no, no line anywhere. No project anywhere in the region that would have… the cost-effectiveness… the number of riders that the subway to the sea would because, as I said earlier, it would connect the two biggest job centers not just in the region, but in the county.”

  But Supervisor Mike Antonovich says the measure gives too much to the “subway to the sea,” at the expense of other projects across the region. The sales tax measure hit a speed bump last week when supervisors couldn’t muster the votes to include the measure on the consolidated November ballot. But Supervisor Don Knabe says he will vote to put it on the ballot, although he still opposes it.

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  • August 11, 2008 1:07 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Police arrest two suspects in bus theft

  After a pre-dawn chase between LAPD officers and a stolen bus, police have arrested two men they suspect of giving them the runaround. More on the story from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: This wasn’t the movie Speed, with a booby-trapped public transit bus careening through the streets of Los Angeles. The bus in this instance belonged to a private company that shuttled workers in the downtown area. Police say two armed men stole the vehicle around 4 in the morning.

  Whoever got behind the wheel led officers on a chase that ended in an alley near 23rd and San Pedro Streets. Shortly after the bus stopped, LAPD officers took one of the men into custody. The other got away on foot for a few hours. Police dogs eventually sniffed him out. Both men have been booked on suspicion of grand theft auto.

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  • August 11, 2008 12:42 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• LA County supervisors vote this week on November sales tax measure

  Los Angeles County supervisors could vote this week to put a sales tax measure on the November ballot. The measure would raise the sales tax by a half cent for L.A. County transportation projects. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich opposes the measure. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that too much of the money would go toward a subway to Santa Monica – that wouldn’t leave enough, he said, for other projects in the region.

  Mike Antonovich: “Right now all you have is a ballot proposition that’s going to go down in flames, because all of the community taxpayers know that we’re not going to put money into a subway to the sea when we ignore our own communities. And then we’re going to have to go back to the voters with a common sense solution.”

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he thinks county voters will support it. Last week, supervisors couldn’t muster enough votes to place the measure on the November ballot. But Supervisor Don Knabe says that now he’ll let voters have their say on the tax, although he personally opposes it. The measure faces another hurdle: State lawmakers still need to pass a bill that would let L.A. County put the measure on the ballot.

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  • August 11, 2008 12:33 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• LAUSD high schoolers complete educational research study at UCLA

  For three weeks, twenty-six L.A. Unified high schoolers studied full time at UCLA and conducted interviews with student and civic leaders. They presented their findings at Los Angeles City Hall today. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: It’s the ninth year UCLA’s organized this summer research seminar for high school students.

  Sixteen-year-old Haemin Jee attends Cleveland High School in the San Fernando Valley. Her research group studied how caring adults help to motivate students. Conducting the research, she said, dissolved some of her cynicism.

  Haemin Jee: I’ve learned that adults will listen. They might need a kick in the butt, but they will eventually listen to us. And that it’s all on us as the youth to demand our rights. To demand help.

  Guzman-Lopez: Students presented their findings at L.A. City Hall’s marble-clad top floor. UCLA education professor John Rogers pointed students toward a quote carved near the ceiling and paraphrased its meaning.

  John Rogers: Our city should exist to nurture, sustain, and develop its youth.

  Guzman-Lopez: Research sponsors said they’re organizing follow up sessions at high schools to cultivate the students’ learning and enthusiasm.

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  • August 8, 2008 6:24 PM
  • Categories: Education

• High school students deliver results of UCLA summer research study

  Twenty-six high school students finished a UCLA summer research project today. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez listened as they delivered their findings in the packed top floor ballroom of Los Angeles city hall.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: No summer lounging for these students. For three weeks, from Monday through Friday, nine to five, they took classes at UCLA and researched what young people like themselves have to say. Manual Arts High student Maurice McCoy explored how their ideas might improve high schools.

  Maurice McCoy: “One out of four students don’t feel they could talk to their administration if they don’t feel safe, and that simply isn’t acceptable.”

  UCLA education professor Ernest Morrell supervised the project. He hopes adults also pay attention to its findings.

  Ernest Morrell: “I’m most confident in the impact of the program on the young people and I’m also confident that there will be some changes and they will feel themselves heard on their school campuses.”

  UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access sponsored the project.

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  • August 8, 2008 6:05 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Long Beach lawmaker writes bill to allow people to donate catered food

  Don’t toss out your tiramisu – a Long Beach lawmaker wants people to donate uneaten food from their catered parties to the hungry. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski reports.

  Brooke Binowski: State senator Jenny Oropeza says food shouldn’t rot in landfills while there are people who can’t afford to eat. She’s written a bill that would allow patrons of catering companies to specify where they want to send unused food.

  Jenny Oropeza: It’s for any kind of restaurants – or any kind of facility, licensed facility, that does food preparation and serving to groups of people. When you sign a contract to cater for food, that’s where you would actually be notified, the customer would be notified in the contract, that they had the right to ask the food to be donated.

  Binkowski: Oropeza calls the bill a matter of common sense. She says state landfills take in up to six million tons of uneaten food every year. John Knapp with the Food Bank of Southern California says his organization feeds more and more working families who can’t buy groceries.

  John Knapp: Hunger is increasing at a dramatic rate as we know, especially in children and the elderly, and this food could be multiplied by 10 or 100 if this bill passes.

  Binkowski: California’s senate has already approved Oropeza’s bill. The state assembly plans to vote on it later this month.

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  • August 8, 2008 5:37 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• DMV cancels Saturday hours for August

  If you’re thinking of going to the Department of Motor Vehicles on Saturday this month, think again. KPCC’s Julie Small reports.

  Julie Small: The Department of Motor Vehicles used to employ a thousand temporary workers. Almost all of them worked on Saturdays. That way, busy DMV offices could stay open a few hours on the weekend. But the DMV lost those employees when Governor Schwarzenegger signed his cost-cutting executive order.

  It cut state workers’ pay and overtime – and laid off 10,000 temporary workers statewide. That wiped out the temps and the fulltime workers on overtime that kept some DMV offices open on Saturday. That’s why Department of Motor Vehicles offices have ended Saturday hours – at least, for August.

  That includes the two dozen or so DMV offices from Santa Barbara to San Diego. One DMV office will keep its Saturday schedule. It’s the one next to the state capitol – but that hidden facility serves legislators and their staff only.

  Link: DMV offices that will close on Saturdays

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  • August 8, 2008 5:29 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• LAPD detectives continue to investigate murder of Deputy Juan Escalante

  On the same day colleagues, friends, and family paid their final respects to slain Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Escalante, the investigation into his shooting continued. KPCC’s Brian Watt has this status report.

  Brian Watt: Robbery homicide detectives from the L.A. Police Department are leading the probe, with assistance from the L.A. County Sheriff’s homicide bureau. They’re exploring the possibility that Escalante’s work at the Men’s Central Jail, where he guarded some of the area’s most dangerous criminals, may have something to do with his killing. Detectives have interviewed several inmates who said they knew and respected Escalante. After Escalante’s funeral, L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca spoke briefly with reporters.

  Sheriff Lee Baca: The 24-7 work that we’re doing will continue until the suspect’s caught.

  Watt: Investigators are also looking into the gang activity that plagues the Cypress Park neighborhood where Escalante lived with his parents, wife, and children. Someone shot the 27-year-old U.S. Army reservist outside their home around 5:40 last Saturday morning. The reward for information leading to the capture of his killer stands at $95,000.

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  • August 8, 2008 5:02 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• State bill provides guidelines to donate uneaten food to local food banks

  When people cater a big event, they usually throw away the unused food. State senator Jenny Oropeza says that’s unconscionable because so many other people go hungry. That’s why she wrote a bill that offers guidelines for patrons of restaurants and caterers who want to donate uneaten meals to local food banks.

  Jenny Oropeza: “There was an incident that we became aware of where someone asked the catering entity if they could personally take the food and donate it. And the restaurant refused. And so, that got us thinking about the need for this legislation.”

  Oropeza says Californians dump up to six million tons of food into state landfills each year. The state Senate’s approved the bill. It goes to the Assembly for a vote later this month.

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  • August 8, 2008 4:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Memorial bronze surfer statue stolen from Redondo Beach Pier

  The next time you visit the Redondo Beach Pier, don’t bother looking for that bronze statue of surfing pioneer George Freeth. KPCC’s Debra Baer says someone’s made off with it.

  Debra Baer: The bronze bust memorializing the man known as “the father of modern surfing” was a fixture at the Redondo pier for 31 years. The city’s chamber of commerce boasted that surfers visiting from around the world frequently adorned the statue with Hawaiian leis.

  Sergeant Phil Keenan with Redondo Beach police says the statue was stolen sometime Thursday. He thinks he knows why: copper. Bronze, Keenan says, is 88 percent copper. That makes it a hot property.

  George Freeth moved from Hawaii to Redondo Beach in the early 1900s. Land baron Henry Huntington hired him to demonstrate the new sport of surfing to vacationers. Freeth became the region’s first lifeguard. He died when he was only 36 – a victim of the great influenza epidemic of 1919. Redondo Beach police want to find the thief and the statue… and they’re asking anyone with information to give them a call.

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  • August 8, 2008 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History, Sports/Recreation

• State bill provides guidelines to donate left-over food

  Don’t throw away those leftovers from your big party – a Long Beach lawmaker wants you to donate them instead. State senator Jenny Oropeza has written a bill that would allow customers of catering companies to specify where they want to send the food they don’t use.

  Jenny Oropez: “You’ve got wasted food and burgeoning landfills, filled with this perfectly good food. Well, our goal is to connect those and put that food with those needy people. And the way that we want to do that is through our Feed the Hungry, Save the Planet Act.”

  The bill would not require caterers to re-distribute unused eats to food banks – but it would allow customers to choose that option. California’s senate has already approved it, and the state assembly is scheduled to vote on the bill later this month. Oropeza says that even as many people go hungry, state landfills handle up to six million tons of discarded food every year.

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  • August 8, 2008 3:37 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Numerous couples wed on 8/8/08 in Palm Springs

  More than two dozen couples tied the knot at Palm Springs City Hall today. That’s the most ever performed there in one day. Most of those wed were gay couples. But as KPCC’s Steven Cuevas reports, all the couples may have chosen this wedding day for the same reason.

  Steven Cuevas: No, not love. That’s a given, or so one hopes. It’s not money, either. Well, probably not. What really drew everyone to City Hall was the date: August 8th, 2008 – 8-8-08.

  Palm Springs City Clerk James Thompson figures couples – well, the guys anyway – like the date because anniversaries will be easy to remember. And in Chinese culture, “eight” is considered a very lucky number. In Cantonese, it sounds like the word “prosperity.” That’s apparently why the Beijing Olympics kicked off on 8-8-08 – and why lots of other couples, gay and straight, were awed all over the globe.

  It’s just the start of a marriage deluge for Palm Springs. Hundreds of same-sex marriages are scheduled from now until Election Day in November. That’s when California voters will cast ballots on Proposition 8, the initiative that aims to stop same-sex marriage in the state.

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  • August 8, 2008 3:27 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture

• CA appeals court rules that parents without teaching credentials may home school kids

  Parents without teaching credentials may home school their children, a state appeals court decided today. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the ruling reverses the court’s earlier stand on the issue.

  Cheryl Devall: In February, the Second District Court of Appeal declared that parents who home school their children must obtain teaching credentials. The ruling sent tens of thousands of households into a frenzy. No other state required that of parents, and home-schoolers and their advocates feared the ruling in the most populous state might set a precedent for the nation.

  An estimated 166,000 California kids get their education at home. In response to the decision, dozens of teaching organizations petitioned the court. So did California’s governor, attorney general, and education officials. The court re-heard the case in March, and backed off the credential requirement for home-schoolers.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called the reversal a victory that confirms every California child’s right to a quality education, and every parent’s right to decide what’s best for his or her children.

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  • August 8, 2008 2:34 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Funeral held for L.A. deputy sheriff Juan Escalante

  Southern California’s law enforcement personnel are mourning the death of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Juan Escalante. His funeral took place this morning in Downtown L.A.

  Sheriff’s Department Spokesman Steve Whitmore described Escalante as a true success story.

  Steve Whitmore: “An Army Reservist. Grew up in the town Cypress Park; heinously gunned down. He believed in serving his country as an Army Reservist and believed in serving the county.”

  The 27-year-old joined the Sheriff’s Department two-and-half-years ago. He worked guarding inmates in the Men’s Central Jail.

  Someone – investigators are trying to pin down just who – shot Escalante in front of his family’s home last Saturday morning while he was on his way to work. He left a wife and three young children. Los Angeles city and county officials are offering a $95,000 reward for any information about who killed Escalante.

  Video from the funeral:

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  • August 8, 2008 12:44 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Investigators look into Northern California helicopter crash

  Investigators from The National Transportation Safety Board are on the scene of a helicopter crash in Northern California.

  Nine people died when the helicopter went down Tuesday night in the Shasta Trinity National Forest. The dead included seven firefighters and a pilot. Firefighter Jonathan Frohreich was one of four people who survived.

  Frohreich’s aunt, Cathy Brown, spoke with the California Report. She described her nephew’s injuries:

  Cathy Brown: “From what I understand, a broken back in two places. His lungs are damaged, and he had burns to his face and pretty bad on his ear.”

  Doctors upgraded Frohreich to good condition yesterday afternoon.

  Investigators expect to announce their initial findings later today, including whether crews were able to retrieve the helicopter’s data recorder.

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  • August 8, 2008 12:20 PM

• LA area groups pressure China to end violence in Darfur

  Just as it did during this year’s Rose Parade on New Year’s Day, China faces harsh criticism for its role in violence and humanitarian crises as the Summer Olympics begin. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski says some of the pressure comes from Los Angeles.

  Brooke Binkowski: One organization’s urging China to end the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region. Janice Kamenir-Reznick with Jewish World Watch says the West can’t ignore China’s role as Sudan’s principal investor and weapons supplier.

  Janice Kamenir-Reznick: We’ve giving China more and more attention as we come to the Olympics because on the one hand, they want the world to recognize what an incredible country it is, and all the beauty and all the potential and sort of the power that China has. And on the other hand it expects to be able to hide all of its human-rights abuses that it’s propounding against its own people, and against people the world over.

  Binkowski: Kamenir-Reznick says hundreds of people joined her organization’s rally yesterday at the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles.

  Kamenir-Reznick: Our objective in targeting China and shining a light on China right now is saying, you really can’t have it both ways; if you want to be part of the civilized world and plan an international global front, you get to show all your blemishes together with all of your beauty marks.

  Binkowski: Later today, Tibetans plan to demonstrate outside the Chinese Consulate. They’re protesting China’s occupation of their native country.

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  • August 8, 2008 9:45 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Sports/Recreation

• On eve of Olympic Games, Southland groups protest Chinese policies

  As the Summer Olympic Games ramp up in Beijing, so do the demonstrations against China’s human rights practices. One group rallied in Los Angeles today to pressure China to help stop the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region. Janice Kamenir-Reznick with Jewish World Watch says at least 300 people showed up at today’s demonstration outside the Chinese consulate.

  Janice Kamenir-Reznick: “Seventy percent of the entire Sudanese economy comes from funds that China pays Sudan for oil. Ninety percent of Sudan’s weapons are sold to Sudan from China. So our feeling is that if China wanted to help stop the genocide, China could stop the genocide.”

  China faces harsh criticism on many fronts. Tomorrow afternoon, Tibetans in the Southland plan to march front of the Chinese Consulate against China’s occupation of their home country.

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  • August 7, 2008 5:37 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Sports/Recreation

• Orange County DA's office drops investigation of treasurer-tax collector Street

  The Orange County District Attorney’s office has dropped its investigations of the county treasurer-tax collector. KPCC’s Susan Valot says prosecutors made the announcement in a letter this week to the county executive officer.

  Susan Valot: For the past year, the District Attorney’s office has been checking into whether county Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street broke the law. Street was accused of signing a memo with false information during the bidding process to spruce up the outside of the treasurer’s building in Santa Ana.

  The DA’s office didn’t find enough evidence to prove Street knew that memo had incorrect info when he signed it. The DA also says Street didn’t break the law when he split down the remodel of the treasurer-tax collector offices into several smaller jobs. Separated, they were small enough so they didn’t require competitive bidding. But together, the overall project cost more than the $125,000 trigger for the competitive bidding process.

  Prosecutors also cleared Street of two allegations of misappropriation of public funds. A spokesman for Street called the investigations “politically-driven,” and says the Treasurer-Tax Collector is glad they’re over.

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  • August 7, 2008 4:54 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Minority populations becoming more widely dispersed geographically

  Across the United States, white populations are growing slowly, while others are gaining ground. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says that portends a demographic reversal for some counties in the Southland.

  Cheryl Devall: So-called “majority minority” counties used to cluster in big cities and border areas. No more, demographer William Frey told the Associated Press. Rapid growth and dispersal among Latinos and Asian Americans is changing the map, he said, so that counties where non-whites are in the majority are popping up all over the place.

  Since the last U.S. Census, that’s happened in Riverside County, where the white population decreased from almost 52 percent to 43 percent. Newly released Census estimates show that 150,000 of the 160,000 people San Diego County gained in the first seven years of this decade are Latino.

  Demographers say immigration is responsible for only some of the trend. Latinos and Asians in this country tend to be younger than the general population, so their families are growing faster than those of an aging white majority. As of July 1, the Census estimates, 66 percent of the U.S. population is white.

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  • August 7, 2008 3:09 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture

• L.A. County wants fast food restaurants to provide nutritional info

  If you’ve ever wondered just how many calories are in that burger and fries, you might find out soon if you live in Los Angeles County. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors wants to make nutritional information labeling mandatory for fast food restaurants.

  County public health director Jon Fielding says some restaurant chains have resisted because they fear they’ll lose customers.

  Jon Fielding: “They’re still going to eat at fast food restaurants. But they’ll make some different choices. And I hope over time that will also lead to some different offerings. In the past, fast food restaurants, a lot of them had, they said, “Well you know, the salads don’t sell,” or the veggie burgers or whatever, but if you don’t have the caloric information up, you know, people don’t understand some of the trade-offs they’re making.”

  Dr. Fielding contends that most people in L.A. County are either overweight or obese. A typical fast-food order – a double cheeseburger, soda, and fries – adds up to more than 1,000 calories.

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  • August 7, 2008 2:13 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Study: patients focus more on bad cholesterol than good

  Not all cholesterol is created equal. And a new study shows heart patients pay more attention to “bad” cholesterol than they do “good” cholesterol. KPCC’s Susan Valot reports.

  Susan Valot: UC Irvine researchers looked at nearly 3,000 patients in a government health tracking survey a few years ago. They found nearly 40 percent of patients with heart disease got their levels of “bad” cholesterol, or LDL-C, under control, often by using anti-cholesterol drugs.

  But the researchers say only 17 percent had a handle on all types of lipids in the blood, including “good” cholesterol and triglycerides. In case you didn’t pay attention at the doctor’s office, lipids are fatty substances, both good and bad. Too many of the bad ones can put you at risk for heart disease and other problems. The UCI researchers say doctors nationwide aggressively use drugs to get down those bad cholesterol levels.

  But many heart patients apparently aren’t eating right, exercising, and using other therapies to control the other cholesterol and lipid levels. The study appears in the “American Heart Journal.”

  Link: UCI Press Release about Study

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  • August 7, 2008 1:54 PM
  • Categories: Health, Science/Technology

• LA County restaurants may soon display more nutritional information

  Soon, Los Angeles County restaurants may have a slew of new information on display – about calories, fat content, and other nutritional facts. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors wants to make restaurants include that kind of labeling on menus. County supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky co-wrote the proposed ordinance.

  Zev Yaroslavsky: “It would require restaurants in Los Angeles County to label their menus with nutritional information – calorie information, salt content, other nutritional information. So that people when they go to restaurants, fast food restaurants in the county, will be empowered with information upon which they can base an informed decision about what they’re going to eat.”

  Yaroslavsky said a typical fast-food order – double cheeseburger, medium fries, and medium soda – averages more than one-thousand calories. The ordinance would only apply to restaurants in unincorporated areas of L.A. county. The board of supervisors and public health officials are encouraging cities within the county to adopt similar measures.

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  • August 7, 2008 1:00 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Bus Riders Union says it is against proposed half-cent sales tax

  A proposed half-cent sales tax increase to fund Los Angeles County transportation projects may be dead in the water. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski has the story.

  Brooke Binkowski: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted down the measure that proponents wanted on November’s ballot. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials hoped the tax would generate up to $40 billion in revenue. Manuel Criollo with the Bus Riders Union called it a flawed proposal.

  Manuel Criollo: MTA already has a $3 billion annual budget. It’s a pretty robust agency. And we really think what it needs to do is a reprioritization of its projects.

  Binkowski: He said that the prospect of an extensive rail system dazzles policymakers – and that bus riders would have to pay for it.

  Criollo: MTA’s long range transit plan already calls for fare increases for the next 30 years. They call for the shrinking of that actual bus system instead of an expansion. So we think there is a pretty deliberate plan when you look at MTA’s plan and where it wants to go, and bus riders don’t fit in that.

  Binkowski: A spokesman says the transit agency plans to sue to keep the proposed sales tax on November’s ballot.

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  • August 6, 2008 5:24 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Governor will veto all bills until state budget is completed

  Governor Schwarzenegger says he won’t sign any bills until lawmakers send him a budget. Schwarzenegger used a Sacramento news conference today to deliver that message – and to vent his frustration over stalled negotiations. KPCC’s Julie Small has more.

  Julie Small: The governor complained that since lawmakers returned to Sacramento this week from summer recess, they’ve passed a flurry of bills – but none of them remotely as important as the budget bill. Schwarzenegger said he won’t sign any legislation on his desk until he has a budget – and if there’s still no budget 12 days after a bill reaches his desk…

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: I will veto anything that is on my desk, I will just veto. From now there will be nothing signed and nothing dealt with.

  Small: It’s another maneuver to pressure lawmakers to pass a state budget. Schwarzenegger said the budget must include reforms to the process itself. In 20 years, lawmakers have passed a state budget on time only four times. Schwarzenegger said it’s time to stop kicking that can down the street.

  Schwarzenegger: This is the worst budget system in the United States. We are the only state in the union right now that has a fiscal year starting in July – on July 1 and we don’t have a budget.

  Small: The governor blamed the Legislature for failing to compromise. He said he’d bet that if lawmakers lost pay for every day the budget’s late, they’d get the job done on time.

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  • August 6, 2008 5:04 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• City Attorney and US Attorney target scheme to use homeless people to defraud Medicare and Medi-Cal

  Federal and local prosecutors say a network of hospitals, doctors, ambulance companies, and others conspired to use homeless people to bilk Medicaid and Medi-Cal out of millions of dollars. Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has sued three Southland hospitals, an ambulance company – and other parties, including a man named Estal Mitts.

  Rocky Delgadillo: “The defendants developed an elaborate scheme in which L.A. Metropolitan Hospital, Tustin Hospital, and City of Angels would employ Estal Mitts and his team of runners to search for, identify, and recruit Skid Row homeless persons eligible for Medicare or Medi-Cal.”

  Delgadillo said Mitts ran a Skid Row processing center that provided the homeless recruits with bogus medical diagnoses and referred them to the hospitals for unnecessary treatments. Federal authorities arrested Mitts and the owner-operator of City of Angels Medical Center this morning.

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  • August 6, 2008 3:33 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Bus Riders Union is against proposed half-cent sales tax

  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has nixed a half-cent sales tax for transportation projects. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had hoped the tax would generate up to $40 billion in revenue. Manuel Criollo with the Bus Riders Union says his organization’s against the tax hike.

  Manuel Criollo: “Ultimately, the bus system is going to be the one that is being bankrupt from what we consider a very unsustainable plan that MTA has. MTA has over – you know, only’s going to raise $40 billion out of a whole package that might cost $80 billion. Ultimately we think that bus riders would be the ones that would be holding the foot bill to pay for this pretty extravagant set of projects.”

  But the proposed measure isn’t off the table yet. Transit agency officials say they plan to sue to keep it on November’s ballot. The issue also may come up in a special election.

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  • August 6, 2008 3:26 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Governor, controller continue stand-off over layoffs and pay cuts

  The war over the state controller’s refusal to cut state workers pay has escalated. The Department of Personnel Administration sent a letter to controller John Chiang late yesterday that instructed him to cut workers wages. KPCC’s Julie Small says if he still won’t do it, the governor plans to sue.

  Small: The governor insists that without a budget, the state government is running out of cash. He says his pay cut order will save a billion dollars a month.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: This is really the only way out at this point.

  Small: Most employees would earn $6.55 an hour. Supervisors would get $11.80. The pay cuts would be temporary – and most firefighters, cops, emergency, and mental health workers would be exempt. But the state controller John Chiang says he won’t cut anyone’s pay. The governor’s press secretary Aaron McLear says that leaves one choice.

  Aaron McLear: The next step for us is to file a lawsuit to compel the controller to comply with the law and work with us on the executive order.

  Small: A spokeswoman for the Controller says Chiang will meet with the Governor’s staff one more time. If he’s asked to comply with the executive order, Chiang says once again he’ll say “no.”

  John Chiang: This executive order was signed unnecessarily. And if they choose to pursue a course of litigation, unfortunately I think that’s going to further waste taxpayers’ dollars.

  Small: No meeting’s scheduled yet. That could delay the filing of the governor’s lawsuit and give the legislature a little longer to pass a budget. That way everyone in the standoff could save face – and California could save on legal fees.

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  • August 6, 2008 2:56 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Higher education administrators discuss poor and minority enrollment problems

  College and university administrators around the country say admissions policies are not attracting significantly larger proportions of poor or minority students now than when many such students first entered higher education three decades ago. More than a hundred administrators concluded a three-day conference on the topic today at the University of Southern California. Jerry Lucido is vice provost there.

  Jerry Lucido: “As colleges and universities, we really have to understand the students who are coming to us and who will be coming to us in the future. That means we have to understand their background. We have to understand how well they’re prepared and be ready to meet them where they are, at the same time that we let them know that a college education is possible, a college education is affordable, far more affordable than they may realize.”

  Retention’s also important. The president of Williams College in Massachusetts told conference participants that schools like his need to do a better job of tracking individual students’ achievement on the way to graduation.

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  • August 6, 2008 2:32 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Bus Riders Union says proposed half-cent sales tax should not be on November ballot

  One Southland transit agency’s bid for a half-cent sales tax has hit a snag. L.A. County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority had hoped for up to $40 billion in revenue from the money. Now the tax proposal may not make the November ballot. At least one group considers that a victory. Manuel Criollo with the Bus Riders Union says the increase would be unfair to people who are already struggling.

  Manuel Criollo: “Proponents of this sales tax are going to say well, there is money for buses, so we don’t understand why the BRU is opposing it. But when you look at the actual language of the funding that’s being set for bus operation, it’s completely vague, and I think it was drawn a certain way to be vague, because there was no real plans or intentions to really expand. You know, we’ve gotten verbal commitments that there will be some expansion, but very small.”

  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to keep the sales tax proposal off November’s ballot. Transit agency officials say they plan to sue to keep it on. It also may surface in a special election.

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  • August 6, 2008 1:51 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Governor plans to sue if state controller will not cut state worker pay

  The war over the state controller’s refusal to cut state workers’ pay has escalated. The Department of Personnel Administration sent a letter to Controller John Chiang late yesterday that instructed him to cut workers’ wages. KPCC’s Julie Small says, if he still won’t do it, the governor plans to sue.

  Julie Small: The governor insists that without a budget, the state government is running out of cash. He says his pay cut order will save a billion dollars a month.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: This is really the only way out at this point.

  Small: Most employees would earn $6.55 an hour. Supervisors would get $11.80. The paycuts would be temporary – and most firefighters, cops, emergency, and mental health workers would be exempt. But the state controller John Chiang says he won’t cut anyone’s pay. The governor’s press secretary Aaron McLear says that leaves one choice.

  Aaron McLear: The next step for us is to file a lawsuit to compel the controller to comply with the law and work with us on the executive order.

  Small: A spokeswoman for the controller says Chiang will meet with the governor’s staff one more time. If he’s asked to comply with the executive order, Chiang says once again he’ll say “no.”

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  • August 6, 2008 1:39 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• State Controller says California has enough cash to pay bills into October

  California’s State Controller said today that new figures show the state government will have enough cash on hand to pay its bills through September and into October, even without a budget in place. KPCC’s Julie Small reports that means California can wait to borrow money for at least another month.

  Julie Small: State Controller John Chiang reported increased revenue and reductions in state spending will leave California with $4.2 billion in cash at the end of September. That’s well above the state’s normal cash cushion of 2-and-a-half billion. In a statement, Chiang says that’s more reason why the governor should reconsider his executive order to cut state workers’ pay to save cash.

  He says “not to do so would needlessly subject hundreds of thousands of hard-working public servants to financial harm and add more strain to our already fragile economy.” The cash cushion also takes some pressure off legislators to pass a state budget soon. Given the slow pace of negotiation, that might not be a good thing

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  • August 6, 2008 1:33 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• ER waiting times increase, largely due to nurse shortage

  More and more people are visiting emergency rooms across the United States, even as the number of emergency rooms has declined. A report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that’s led to longer waiting times in emergency rooms. John Bibb is an emergency doctor at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that a shortage of nurses is the biggest reason for crowded facilities.

  John Bibb: “Nationwide, we’re short well over 100,000 nurses, so many hospitals may have a bed to put a patient in upstairs but they don’t have the nurses to staff those beds.”

  Bibb says that leads to a phenomenon hospitals call “boarding” – some patients are forced to stay for days in the emergency room. The federal report found that about one-third more people visited ER’s during the 10 years that ended in 2006. At the same time, the number of emergency rooms across the country fell by 300.

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  • August 6, 2008 12:56 PM
  • Categories: Health

• ER visits up almost a third over past decade; non-emergency waiting time more than doubles

  Public health officials say the number of Americans visiting emergency rooms increased by almost a third in a decade. While the demand has increased, the number of emergency rooms has decreased. The numbers are in a report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jim Lott with the Hospital Association of Southern California told KPCC’s AirTalk that he’s not surprised about the national picture.

  Jim Lott: “We’re right there with them. We’re dovetailed right into that report. We’ve seen a 29 percent increase in the need for emergency room care over the last 10 years in Southern California.”

  Lott says emergency room capacity has remained essentially flat in Southern California, so patients are waiting longer for treatment. He says the average wait time for someone with a non-emergency condition in an L.A. County emergency room is seven hours.

  Ten years ago, that time averaged fewer than three hours. Lott says many Southern California hospitals are creating “fast track” systems in which nurses quickly determine whether someone belongs in the ER or in another part of the hospital.

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  • August 6, 2008 12:28 PM
  • Categories: Health

• Downtown LA sees increase in tourism

  New venues, and some still under construction, are contributing to a jump in downtown Los Angeles convention business. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the story.

  Cheryl Devall: The agency that promotes L.A. as a convention site says that tourism is the region’s number two industry. More of that business appears to be heading downtown, convention bureau officials told the Los Angeles Times.

  They’ve booked almost 30 percent more conventions in the last fiscal year than during the same period the year before, and downtown hotel reservations are up, too. Contributing factors include the debut of the Nokia Theatre performance venue adjacent to Staples Center. In the same neighborhood on the southern fringe of downtown, hundreds of hotel rooms are going up.

  All of that, plus new residential high-rises, could help reverse L.A.’s longstanding reputation as a dead-end location for big conventions. Eight years ago, after the Democrats held their national nominating convention at Staples, post-convention surveys indicated that those visitors spent the most money in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, not in downtown Los Angeles.

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  • August 6, 2008 12:09 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• $95,000 reward offered for info on sheriff's deputy shooting

  There’s a $95,000 reward for information related to the shooting death of an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy last weekend. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the Los Angeles City Council and county supervisors approved the allocation today.

  Cheryl Devall: As Los Angeles police and sheriffs investigate the killing of deputy Juan Escalante, politicians voted to demonstrate support for the 27-year-old father of three. Someone shot the two-year department veteran early Saturday.

  Escalante was on his way to work guarding inmates at L.A. County’s Men’s Central Jail. So far, detectives haven’t uncovered much beyond witness descriptions of a light-colored sedan that rolled up in front of the house Escalante, his wife and children shared with his parents in Cypress Park.

  The L.A. City Council offered $75,000, and county supervisors quickly added 20,000 more to the reward. It’s likely that most of those lawmakers will join thousands of law enforcement personnel at Escalante’s funeral. It’s scheduled for Friday morning at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles.

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  • August 5, 2008 5:09 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Southland airports raise airlines' fees to land planes

  Add this to the fees airlines might pass along to passengers: it’s costing them more to land at L.A. International and Ontario airports. Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, says the airlines knew they were in for an increase.

  Gina Marie Lindsey: “It’s one thing to be expecting something and understand why you got there. It’s another thing to be really excited about writing a different check, and a bigger check. They’re not excited about the fact that it’s a bigger check, but they absolutely expected it.”

  Lindsay’s agency boosted fees, based on aircraft weight, by less than a dollar per each 1,000 pounds. L.A. World Airports expects to charge an average plane about $2,000 to land.

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  • August 5, 2008 4:50 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Transportation

• Southland airports increase fees charged to airlines

  Two Southland airports are charging airlines more to touch down on their runways. The economic slump is one reason. Last week, airport commissioners voted unanimously to raise landing fees at L.A. International and Ontario Airports. Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of L.A. World Airports, describes the fee hikes as a necessary evil.

  Gina Marie Lindsey: “The way the airport works is that it’s a closed cash register. So whatever our costs are on the airfield side need to be divided by the landed weight of aircraft coming in. So every year those costs are different, and therefore the landing fee rate is adjusted accordingly.”

  Lindsey’s agency is charging planes $2,000, on average, based on weight. The fees are retroactive to July 1st.

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  • August 5, 2008 4:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Transportation

• Emirates Airlines will launch daily service between LAX and Dubai

  For the third time, a giant Airbus 380 landed at L.A. International Airport. What distinguished today’s was the first landing of the double-decker jet outfitted for commercial passenger service. Starting Friday, Emirates Airlines plans to begin operating 3 weekly flights on the Airbus between Dubai and New York’s JFK Airport.

  In late October, the carrier will begin daily Boeing 777-200 flights between Dubai and LAX. Qantas, the Australian airline, is scheduled to operate the first regular Airbus 380 flights out of LAX, also in late October. Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of the agency that runs the airport, says it’ll be ready come fall.

  Gina Marie Lindsey: “We’re working very hard, actually, to provide initially four new A380 gates on the west side of the Bradley Terminal. You know that there are two A380 gates now on the extreme north end and on the extreme south end. Should be at least four more open in January of 2012.”

  The emergency landing of an American Airlines flight bound for Honolulu delayed this morning’s Airbus 380 landing by about 45 minutes. By the way, here’s the price of a first class round-trip ticket between LAX and Dubai on Emirates Airlines: $18,000.

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  • August 5, 2008 4:38 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Transportation

• LAPD reports lowest monthly number of homicides in 38 years

  The LAPD last month recorded the lowest monthly number of homicides in more than 38 years. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has details.

  Cheryl Devall: The 19 murders during July reflected a general decrease in the homicide rate for the city of Los Angeles. LAPD chief William Bratton said the monthly tally is the smallest since March of 1970. The police chief linked the trend to better policing in light of factors many people tie to an increase in crime – unemployment, economic hardship, and hot weather. Rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults were also down within the city limits in July.

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attributed the slump in violent crimes to his effort to add more cops to the force. He’s about 580 shy of his goal of more than 10,000 LAPD officers. Even as city officials offered some good news about crime, they noted that seven of the 19 homicides were gang-related… and that 146 people in the city survived gunshot wounds in July.

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  • August 5, 2008 4:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Schwarzenegger considering temporary sales tax increase to close deficit

  The state capitol corridors are abuzz today with rumors that Governor Schwarzenegger wants to raise the state sales tax by one cent for the next few years. State Senate Democratic leader Don Perata says that would help close the state’s $15 billion deficit.

  Senator Don Perata: “I’m glad the governor has come around to saying publicly what we’ve known all along: We have to have a tax in order to correct the problem that we’re in right now. So I say it’s a start.”

  A start that could stall pretty quickly, Perata says. Republican legislators have denounced the idea of a sales tax increase. Unless the governor can persuade them to support it, Perata says, the budget deadlock will drag on.

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  • August 5, 2008 12:05 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• UCLA, first responders, and volunteers perform campus shooting drill

  UCLA hosted a big emergency training exercise this morning. The LAPD and several other agencies were practicing how to respond to a campus shooting. The scenario for the exercise involved gunmen shooting and wounding several students in a residence hall. Volunteers pretended to be gunshot victims.

  Phil Hampton is a UCLA spokesman.

  Phil Hampton: “The planning for the training has been going on for several months. It’s a very complex exercise involving multiple agencies and many moving parts.”

  The FBI, the Los Angeles City Fire Department, and UCLA’s police department also participated in the exercise. About 100 student and staff volunteers joined the first responders.

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  • August 5, 2008 11:59 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• Southern Californians receive transplants via UCLA kidney program

  Three Southern Californians have received kidneys from three strangers, including one from New York. They got them through Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s new kidney exchange program. It matches waiting patients with living organ donors.

  Dr. Jeffrey Veale is a transplant surgeon and director of UCLA’s kidney match program. He says the surgery’s pretty straightforward but can be challenging if the patients are unhealthy or obese.

  Dr. Jeffrey Veale: In this case though, I transplanted two of the three patients. They were nice and thin.They were very straightforward, I must say, straightforward recipients to transplant. And that was helpful, because one of the kidneys I put in came from New York. And you don’t know what kind of kidney you’re getting, but the surgeon who removed the kidney in New York, Dr. Del Pizzo, did a beautiful job. I had a nice long artery, vein, and ureter.

  Veale says the new practice of shipping living-donor kidneys across the country for transplant has the potential of helping thousands of patients who otherwise would have to remain on dialysis.

  Nearly 79,000 people are on the national kidney transplant waiting list. Of those, more than 16,000 are in California.

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  • August 4, 2008 6:34 PM
  • Categories: Health

• JPL scientists report possible high levels of perchlorate in Mars soil

  Martian soil may not be as friendly to life as scientists believed just a few months ago. Details from KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski.

  Brooke Binkowski: Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena say the Phoenix spacecraft has found high levels of what could be perchlorate. On Earth, chemists mix that substance into explosives. The state of California also limited dry cleaners’ use of perchlorate after scientists linked it to thyroid problems in humans.

  That means the soil of Mars is far less Earth-like than it appeared in May, when the Phoenix Lander first touched down there. The chemicals in Martian dirt could hinder the development of life there.

  But the substance may not come from the planet itself – JPL scientists are investigating whether the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft might have delivered the perchlorate to the planet’s surface.

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  • August 4, 2008 6:29 PM
  • Categories: Science/Technology

• Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman injured in car accident

  Oscar-winning Actor Morgan Freeman is being treated at a Memphis hospital after being seriously injured today in a car accident not far from his home in Charleston, Mississippi. More from KPCC’s Debra Baer.

  Debra Baer: Morgan Freeman’s publicist said doctors are treating the actor for a broken arm and elbow, and a minor shoulder injury. He’s scheduled for surgery to correct the damage. Freeman was airlifted to Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center in Memphis after crashing the Nissan Maxima he was driving on a rural highway near Tupelo, Mississippi. A female passenger who owned the car was also injured.

  Investigators ruled out drugs and alcohol, and said Freeman may have fallen asleep at the wheel when he careened off the road and flipped the car several times. Publicist Donna Lee said the 71-year-old actor is in good spirits and is looking forward to a full recovery. Freeman appears in the new Batman movie “the Dark Knight.” He won a supporting actor Oscar for his role in Million Dollar Baby.

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  • August 4, 2008 4:36 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• Man who threatened OC supervisors sentenced to nearly 1 year in jail

  It’ll be nearly a year in jail for a Huntington Beach man accused of threatening the Orange County Board of Supervisors. KPCC’s Susan Valot says a county Superior Court judge sentenced the man today.

  Susan Valot: Prosecutors say Steve Van Arroyo e-mailed Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach in January. The message said he would have Moorlach and his family “incinerated.” In the e-mail, Arroyo also said he intended to “kill dead all 5 supervisors.” Authorities were able to track down the 51-year-old at his Huntington Beach home by using his computer’s numeric address. That was imprinted on the e-mail.

  Arroyo pleaded guilty to a felony charge of threatening a public official and a misdemeanor charge of criminal threats. A judge sentenced him to almost 10 months in jail and three years probation. The judge also ordered Arroyo into a mental health program – and ordered him to stay away from Supervisor Moorlach and his family.

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  • August 4, 2008 4:23 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Fire hydrants stolen in Glendale

  First, it was copper wiring… then manhole covers. Now thieves are making off with one Southland city’s fire hydrants. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has the story.

  Cheryl Devall: A spokesman for the city of Glendale says that within a week, two of its fire hydrants have gone missing. It seems the heavier the metal, the bigger the draw for thieves eager to sell to scrap dealers. These hydrants, cast in bronze or iron, are heavy – 80 to 150 pounds each. They’re expensive, too: 1,100 to 1,500 dollars each.

  They’re in place for a reason – they help maintain water pressure for firefighting. Although nobody’s been hurt during a theft, they could be. Pressurized parts of the hydrants have a tendency to fly off.

  And, the city spokesman points out, first responders run into a real problem when the hydrants they need aren’t there. Glendale’s Water and Power Department is asking anyone with information about the thefts to call a police tip line – 818-507-STOP.

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  • August 4, 2008 3:34 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• UCLA matches 3 people with kidney donors in new donor program

  Three Southern Californians have received kidneys from three strangers, including an anonymous donor in New York. It’s part of a new program through UCLA Medical Center that matches waiting patients with compatible organs. Dr. Jeffrey Veale is a transplant surgeon. He also directs UCLA’s kidney chain program. Veale says this is the fourth such exchange of its kind in the country.

  Jeffrey Veale: “What makes ours unique was that this kidney was actually removed in New York, put on ice, and shipped to Los Angeles, where I put the kidney in and started the chain. Usually living donors, their kidneys are removed in the operating room next door, in the same hospital. They’re not removed across the country.”

  He says that kidneys from living, healthy donors can last a little longer when they’re packed on ice

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  • August 4, 2008 3:17 PM
  • Categories: Health

• Mourners of Juan Abel Escalante set up make-shift memorial in Cypress Park

  Mourners have set up a make-shift memorial to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Abel Escalante. Someone gunned him down early Saturday morning outside his parents’ home in Cypress Park. Across the street, neighbors and friends have placed flowers, religious candles, and American flags. A woman who identified herself only as “Maria” said she’s lived near the Escalante family for 15 years. She said she heard the gunshots.

  Maria: “It’s kind of hard, you know, to think, in that ‘Why? Why always have to hit the good people, you know?’ Good people. They don’t do anything bad to nobody.”

  Mourners have scheduled a prayer vigil for 6 o’clock tonight at the intersection of Aragon and Thorpe Avenues. Detectives from the homicide divisions of the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department are investigating the shooting.

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  • August 4, 2008 1:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Lawmakers hold hearing on executive order to cut state worker pay, jobs

  The governor’s executive order to cut thousands of state workers’ pay and jobs pr