KPCC News In Brief

September 2008 Archives

• Schwarzenegger signs new sprawl-reduction law into effect

  It’s the law in California now: a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by curbing sprawl. KPCC’s Molly Peterson lays it out.

  Molly Peterson: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has approved new guidelines aimed at helping local governments limit global warming. The state’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law requires them to try.

  The law requires regional transit authorities around the state to come up with what’s called a sustainable communities strategy. Local agencies will base strategies on limits the California Air Resources Board sets on greenhouse gases.

  Some small cities had opposed the bill. They contended that local governments, not the state, should set those targets. But the bill found support from environmentalists and from housing developers, who liked another provision in the bill. It relaxes environmental review for projects that plan to lower their carbon footprints, fill in urban areas, or plan more densely.

  Supporters of the so-called anti-sprawl law say it’ll foster development along transit corridors that clusters housing, schools, and shopping.

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  • September 30, 2008 8:01 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• McCain to hold fundraiser in Century City Tuesday

  Arizona Senator John McCain visits Los Angeles tonight for a political fundraiser. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has the details.

  Frank Stoltze: The McCain fundraiser is at the Century Plaza Hyatt Regency in Century City. It’s a favorite venue for political events that attract moneyed business and Hollywood elites. Tickets are $1,000 each – $2500 for donors who want a special McCain-Palin lapel pin.

  Proceeds go to the Republican National Committee, California Republican Party, and McCain-Palin Victory Fund. That last organization disburses money to Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Those states could decide the election.

  It’s a big Southern California week for the Republican ticket. Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin headlines a rally at the Home Depot Center’s tennis stadium in Carson on Saturday.

  She’s also the featured guest at a fundraiser in the Orange County Performing Arts Center Saturday night.

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  • September 30, 2008 5:47 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Congressman Becerra: Administration's bailout proposal was flawed

  Post-mortems on the defeated federal financial bailout continue to swirl as lawmakers and the Bush Administration try to figure out how to salvage the country’s economic pillars.

  Los Angeles Congressman Xavier Becerra was one of 95 Democrats who voted against the $700 billion rescue bill. He spoke with KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.”

  Congressman Xavier Becerra: “What we quickly found was that the Administration was not going to try to craft a bill that I think Democrats would have felt could help the economy, take care of this rescue, necessary, and also provide some protection to the tax payers.”

  Congress is taking a brief recess. U.S. Senate leaders say they’ll try another effort to shore up the financial services industry tomorrow.

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  • September 30, 2008 5:39 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Attorney explains time frame, process for filing claims in Chatsworth train crash

  It could be close to a year before the National Transportation Safety Board finishes its report on the recent Metrolink commuter train crash in Chatsworth. But the clock is ticking for victims and their families to file claims.

  Victor Russo, an attorney who’s represented people in other train collisions, says people have six months from the September 12 accident date to serve Metrolink with written claims. He told reporters in Simi Valley that many court proceedings will hinge on the results of an investigation by the safety board, or NTSB.

  Victor Russo: “When the NTSB report comes out a year from now, the deadline would have expired. So, when you make your claim form, you have to fill it out properly anticipating all the legal theories that may be necessary that you would want to allege later in your lawsuit.”

  Russo’s law firm organized the meeting. Claim forms must include key details, including the names of the injured parties. The forms also must state all legal theories about what may have caused the crash. If claimants don’t file properly, victims may lose their opportunity to proceed through the legal system.

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  • September 30, 2008 5:21 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• New California law requires chain restaurants list nutritional info

  A new California law requires chain restaurants to list calories, fat and salt content, and other nutritional facts on their menus. It’s the first time any state has mandated that kind of disclosure. Fast food and casual dining restaurants resisted the idea at first. Jot Condie, president of the California Restaurant Association, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that some eateries will balk for awhile.

  Jot Condie: “You can’t please all the people all the time, and I suspect a couple of restaurants within our ranks that don’t want to do this for a number of reasons; mostly probably the cost of reprinting of menus or menu boards, or the cost of getting the analysis done.”

  Condie’s organization had opposed local menu information laws in favor of a statewide measure. Backers of the new law say it’ll help people choose healthier options when they eat away from home. Governor Schwarzenegger signed the restaurant rules into law today.

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  • September 30, 2008 4:48 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Dodgers and Angels in postseason together for first time in 4 years

  The Dodgers and the Angels begin post-season play tomorrow. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde says only once before have both local baseball teams been in the playoffs in the same season.

  Kitty Felde: It was four years ago, but the Dodgers and the Angels would just as soon forget about that postseason. In 2004, the Angels were swept by the same team that swept them last year, and will play them this year: the Boston Red Sox.

  The Dodgers did slightly better four years ago. They managed to beat St. Louis once. But the Cardinals won the other three playoff games, and eventually ended up in the World Series against Boston. Dodger owner Frank McCourt is more hopeful this time. He’s looking forward to a “Freeway Series.”

  Frank McCourt: I think it’s great for Southern California to have both clubs in the postseason. It’s very exciting and it just shows how competitive baseball is here now.

  Felde: It’s been 20 years since the Dodgers won the World Series. The Angels’ collective memory of winning it all is a bit fresher. Their one and only World Series title was back in 2002.

  Note: The Dodgers visit the Cubs in Chicago tomorrow afternoon at 3:30. The Angels and the Boston Red Sox play in Anaheim at 7:00. And tonight at 8, KPCC airs Kitty’s one hour Dodger special: Bum’s Rush: How the Dodgers Came to L.A.

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  • September 30, 2008 4:45 PM
  • Categories: History, Sports/Recreation

• State Senator Padilla explains why he supports nutritional information bill

  California’s the first state in the country that requires chain restaurants to list nutritional information on their menus. Governor Schwarzenegger signed the measure into law today. State Senator Alex Padilla sponsored the bill. He told KPCC’s Patt Morrison he doesn’t believe the requirement will burden the restaurant business.

  Alex Padilla: “What this bill does is not tell restaurants what they can and cannot offer, and it doesn’t tell consumers what we can or cannot order. It’s simply providing the information we need if we choose to use it to make healthier eating choices when we’re eating out.”

  The San Fernando Valley Democrat said he backed the bill to address rising rates of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. The restaurant industry had opposed local efforts to include calorie, fat, and salt content on menus, but it eventually supported the statewide measure.

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  • September 30, 2008 4:12 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Congressman Becerra explains what he wants in bailout bill

  Before members of Congress take another run at rescuing the financial sector, many of them are trying to explain the way they voted on the $700 billion federal bailout bill. Los Angeles Democrat Xavier Becerra, who opposed the measure, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison what his ideal bill would include and what it would leave out.

  Xavier Becerra: “I would have more definition. There’s $700 billion. In some case we would, we’re going to have to buy equity in some of these companies by taking all their toxic assets. So we are going to buy the worst of their worst, their loans that are loans that have lost so much value, and we’re going to try to sell that.”

  The U.S. House and Senate have recessed until Thursday. Congressional and economic leaders plan to craft a new attempt to shore up major financial institutions. After a steep sell-off yesterday, markets stabilized and recovered somewhat today.

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  • September 30, 2008 3:22 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Congressman Becerra comments on why he voted against bailout plan

  Post-mortems on the defeated federal financial bailout continue to swirl as lawmakers and the Bush administration try to figure out how to salvage the country’s economic pillars. Los Angeles Congressman Xavier Becerra was one of 95 Democrats who voted against the $700 billion rescue bill. He spoke with KPCC’s Patt Morrison.

  Xavier Becerra: “What we quickly found was that the administration was not going to try to craft a bill that I think Democrats would have felt could help the economy take care of this rescue necessary, and also provide some protection to the taxpayers.”

  Congress is taking a brief recess. U.S. Senate leaders say they’ll try another effort to shore up the financial services industry tomorrow.

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  • September 30, 2008 3:17 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA deploys traffic control officers to 25 busy rush hour areas

  Another city of L.A. Tiger Team is out and towing today. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the gridlock-fighting effort.

  Cheryl Devall: Concentration is the name of the game. Los Angeles is deploying 13 traffic control officers to help maintain the flow at 25 areas most likely to clog during rush hours. That Tiger Team’s charged with scoping out parking violators and ticketing them, fast. The regular peak-hour fines, 70 bucks, double to 140 if the team catches a car stalled in an “Anti-Gridlock Zone.”

  The officers will concentrate on Hill Street and Broadway in downtown L.A., Victory Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, Westwood and Pico Boulevards in West L.A., and La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, among others. Strategically-located license plate recognition cameras will help the Tiger Team do its job. This is the fifth team the city’s moved out to the most congested traffic spots.

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  • September 30, 2008 2:29 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Governor Schwarzenegger signs nutrition bills

  Governor Schwarzenegger today signed into law two bills aimed at Californians’ waistline. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has the skinny.

  Frank Stoltze: Based on department of health statistics, the governor says one in three California children is overweight or at risk of obesity. Second only to tobacco, he says, obesity is the leading cause of preventable deaths for adults. Schwarzenegger says Californians have gained 360 million pounds in the last decade.

  He says that’s why he signed State Senator Alex Padilla’s bill that requires restaurant chains with 20 or more locations to provide nutritional information about their menus. They’ve got to include the number of calories and grams of saturated fat. Padilla says the law will help people make more informed choices.

  The governor also signed a bill that requires vending machines on state property to offer healthier snack choices. It says that at least 35 percent of the food and at least one-third of the beverages they carry must meet government nutritional guidelines within three years.

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  • September 30, 2008 2:03 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Skeptics question LA Mayor Villaraigosa's $5 billion housing plan

  Housing advocates have endorsed a plan by Los Angeles’ mayor to provide 20,000 affordable homes in the city. KPCC’s Steve Julian says skeptics wonder where the $5 billion needed for the plan will come from.

  Steve Julian: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa admits he’ll have to reach far and wide to raise the money, especially amid the nation’s financial meltdown. He already has $1.7 billion committed to the 5 year project and is counting on philanthropists, private lenders, and government grants for the balance.

  Los Angeles is known for its pricey housing; employers often complain they can’t lure job recruits, and that employees they do hire have to commute long distances from more affordable regions. Developers are looking for incentives before they take part. For example, the Central City Association, a business group, says one idea is to permit structures taller than the existing six-story limit, and reduce the number of required parking spaces for residents.

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  • September 30, 2008 10:44 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Mayor Villaraigosa unveils $5 billion housing plan

  The mayor of Los Angeles has unveiled a $5 billion housing plan. KPCC’s Steve Julian says Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa acknowledges the financial crisis will make finding the money difficult.

  Steve Julian: Villaraigosa’s plan would provide 20,000 affordable homes in Los Angeles over the next five years. Los Angeles, the mayor notes, is the least affordable city in the nation, and vows to go as far as China and the Middle East to find the money. He’s already lined up the first investor: the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners has pledged $700 million.

  That’s on top of 1 billion from federal grants, state housing bonds, and local taxes already earmarked for housing. The foreclosure crisis has added a sense of urgency. In 2007, more than 5,200 L.A. families lost their homes; the city also has 44,000 homeless people. Under the mayor’s plan, developers will have to set aside as much as 22 percent of projects with more than 20 units for low- or moderate-income residents.

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  • September 30, 2008 10:41 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA mayor, economist react to financial crisis

  Elected leaders and economists in Southern California are paying close attention to the financial crisis, and to Washington’s reaction. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has the story.

  Frank Stoltze: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gathered reporters to talk about an affordable housing plan. But something else was on his mind.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: As mayor of one of the cities hardest hit by our nation’s foreclosure crisis, I implore Congress to set politics aside and get back to work for the American people.

  Stoltze: Villaraigosa warned that the city’s tax revenues would plummet, and that pension contributions would soar, if Congress doesn’t act and credit markets freeze.

  Nancy Sidhu, an economist with the L.A. Economic Development Corporation, fielded calls from business people much of yesterday.

  Nancy Sidhu: Really the question they’re asking is, “What does this mean for us?”

  Stoltze: Sidhu called the House vote and Wall Street’s reaction “scary.” She said she’s advising business owners to make sure their money is in a safe place.

  Sidhu: Make sure you know your bank, and make sure you’ve got all of your immediate cash needs covered.

  Stoltze: At the same time, Sidhu said, most of the people she’s talked to are deeply concerned, but they’re not panicking.

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  • September 29, 2008 7:10 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA opens new youth center named for Watts jazz great Charles Mingus

  The City of Los Angeles has just cut the ribbon on a new youth center named after a native son who became a jazz giant. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Stand-up bass player Charles Mingus grew up in Watts in the years before World War II. The choir and group singing he heard in his youth inspired him to write orchestral jazz compositions including “Haitian Fight Song.”

  [Music: “Haitian Fight Song”]

  Guzman-Lopez: Before the world clued into his genius, the neighbors knew Mingus as a short-tempered man prone to fighting. Rosie Lee Hooks, director of the new Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center, says Mingus’ musical gifts outweigh his personal failings.

  Rosie Lee Hooks: Who cares about his reputation? Look at what he gave to the community and continues to give to the world.

  Guzman-Lopez: Hooks and other arts advocates will have to compose their own fight songs. Their vision for the Charles Mingus Youth Center remains an unfinished composition. The center next to the Watts Towers needs more money for the string bass and other classes it’s designed to house.

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  • September 29, 2008 6:05 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Education

• Angels host rally tonight; Dodgers overwhelmed by fans at Sunday rally

  The Angels will host a post-season rally tonight at Angels Stadium to celebrate their fourth American League West title in five years. Festivities begin at 6:30. Last night, so many people turned up at Chavez Ravine for the Dodgers’ rally, the team had to turn some fans away at the gate. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: The exact numbers aren’t in, but team owner Frank McCourt says as many as 15,000 people turned up at the Dodger Stadium Sunday night to wait for their boys in blue to return from the last game of the season in San Francisco.

  Frank McCourt: I think it was so helpful to the team to let them know that the fans – not that they didn’t already know that the fans were wholeheartedly behind them – but there’s something very uplifting about a rally like this, particularly when so many people show up. It creates great energy, and it’s just such a positive feeling.
  Felde: You don’t think it was those $2 hot dogs that brought them in?
  McCourt: We’ll have to do some research on that. Who knows? That might be the very reason why.

  Felde: The Dodgers will open their National League playoff series against the Cubs in Chicago Wednesday afternoon. Later that night, the Angels begin postseason play in Anaheim against the Boston Red Sox.

  Note: KPCC will air a one-hour special on the Dodgers Tuesday at 8 p.m.

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  • September 29, 2008 6:01 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• New California law protects teachers who defend students' free speech rights

  Governor Schwarzenegger’s signed into law a measure to prevent public school administrators from punishing instructors who protect students’ free speech rights. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the details.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Say you’re the advisor for a high school newspaper. Your students write a scathing editorial calling for cleaner campus bathrooms. When the principal criticizes it, you defend the writing on First Amendment grounds. Months later, in your evaluation, the principal removes you from newspaper advisor position and reassigns you to another class.

  That’s what happened to Orange County high school teacher Janet Ewell.

  Janet Ewell: There have been so many injustices done in California and across the nation. I’m hopeful that California’s leadership may help some other states pass similar laws.

  Guzman-Lopez: The law’s author, State Senator Leland Yee, documented dozens of similar cases throughout California. The law prohibits school administrators from firing, disciplining, or reassigning any public school or college employee only because that employee tried to protect students’ free speech. The law goes into effect on New Year’s Day.

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  • September 29, 2008 5:56 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Villaraigosa launches plan to attract affordable housing investment

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today introduced a plan to attract $4 billion in private investment to build or preserve 20,000 affordable housing units in the city. Under the plan, the mayor said, Los Angeles would leverage $1 billion it’s already allocated to housing that won’t bust the budgets of working people.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “When you juxtapose the cost of a home or a rental and what people make in this city, this is the least affordable big city in America. Only 11 percent of the city – hear me, 11 percent of the city – can afford to buy a median-priced home.”

  Villaraigosa said the national nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners already has committed $700 million to the effort. Despite the financial crisis, he hopes to raise more from other private and public sources.

  The plan also calls for developers to set aside a percentage of units in new projects for low- and moderate-income people.

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  • September 29, 2008 5:50 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Darryl Issa, Republican congressman, tells why he opposed bailout

  Democratic and Republican representatives mustered the votes today to defeat a Bush administration-backed rescue plan for the country’s financial services industry.

  Congressman Darryl Issa, a Republican who represents areas of Riverside County, told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” why he voted against the $700 billion bill.

  Congressman Darryl Issa: “There are other ways to solve this problem, some of which are much more fiscally conservative. And they rejected them, but then came to us and said, ‘Give us $700 billion to pass around Wall Street.’”

  133 Republicans and 95 Democrats formed the Congressional majority that killed the bailout bill. Its supporters warned that delaying a resolution would freeze credit from Wall Street to Main Street. Lawmakers plan to take another run at the problem on Thursday.

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  • September 29, 2008 5:47 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• California Republican Lungren addresses failed bailout bill

  Supporters and opponents of the federal financial bailout plan are explaining their votes after the U.S. House of Representatives defeated the bill today. Congressman Dan Lungren of Sacramento voted for the measure. He told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that while it included elements he didn’t like, he believed that inaction would be worse.

  Congressman Dan Lungren: “This was a bipartisan, genuine, good faith effort to try and resolve the problem. When that fails, you wonder if you can reconstruct that bipartisanship and that good faith feeling in a way that makes something passable.”

  Lungren, a former California Attorney General, was one of 65 Republican representatives who backed the $700 billion rescue attempt. Another 133 members of his party voted against the bill, despite strong support for it from President Bush. It failed 228 votes to 205. The plan’s critics said it didn’t include enough protections for homeowners, or enough limits on financial executives’ pay and benefits.

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  • September 29, 2008 5:43 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Orange County Congressman says financial market 'carnage' may cause House members to reconsider vote

  After the U.S. House of Representatives defeated the bill today, Orange County Congressman John Campbell tried with KPCC’s Patt Morrison to find a silver lining in Wall Street’s panicked response, including domestic stock markets’ worst single-day point drop in more than 20 years.

  John Campbell: “One other alternative, I suppose, is if the carnage in the financial markets is bad enough, which, I’m not hoping for this, but between now and Thursday that maybe some members will reconsider their vote on the existing bill.”

  The U.S. House of Representatives voted 228 to 205 against the bill. Campbell was one of 65 Republicans who supported it. After a recess for the start of the Jewish High Holy Days, congressional leaders hope to take another run at resolving the crisis that’s roiling markets and tightening credit in the United States and beyond.

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  • September 29, 2008 4:28 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic Congressman Sherman votes against bailout, says Congress should take its time

  Following today’s defeat of a $700 billion federal plan to shore up the country’s financial services sector, elected officials tried to explain a vote result that panicked the markets. The Dow Jones Industrials fell sharply in response to the news from Congress.

  San Fernando Valley Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democrat, voted against the plan. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that lawmakers did not have to yield to pressure from the Bush administration and federal agencies to adopt the plan.

  Brad Sherman: “Four hundred economists wrote us, eminent economists, including three Nobel laureates, and they said, ‘Take your time, don’t rush, hold hearings,’ and that’s what Congress could do. Frankly, if the administration had been more flexible, we would have had a bill on their desk already.”

  The plan’s supporters contend that delaying a rescue will hurt Americans’ ability to borrow for personal and business reasons. Congress is likely to take up the issue again later this week.

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  • September 29, 2008 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Former White House speechwriter says president should speak before joint session of Congress

  Cal State Long Beach communications professor Craig Smith wrote speeches for President Ford and the first President Bush. He says it’s time for the second President Bush to go eye-to-eye with Congressional members who ignored their party leaders and voted down the bailout package.

  Craig Smith: “He has yet to address them directly, in their face, like a joint session of Congress. And I would simply call that emergency meeting right now and get down there.”

  The president spoke to the nation last week about quick action to ease the financial crisis. He later met privately with congressional leaders. But Smith says Mr. Bush needs the right forum for his message.

  Smith: “He’s not nearly as good when he speaks from the White House, not nearly as good in a press conference, not nearly as good when the cameras are on him and there’s no audience. But when he has given ‘State of the Union’ addresses and other speeches in front of a joint session of Congress, such as the post-9/11 speech, he’s done a much more persuasive job.”

  Cal State Long Beach’s Craig Smith says if the president speaks before Congress, it’ll be tough for opponents of the bailout package to stand their ground.

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  • September 29, 2008 2:38 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Philanthropists donate $45 million to LACMA; money will be used to build exhibition gallery

  Beverly Hills business owners and arts philanthropists Stewart and Linda Reznick announced today they’re donating $45 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The museum will use the money to build a large exhibition gallery at its Wilshire Boulevard campus. Lynda Reznick said she agreed with museum leaders that the institution needs more space to display art.

  Lynda Reznick: “The reason for the exhibition pavilion is that we will attract great shows, assuming that the world survives after today. It’s pretty hairy watching the stock market tumble, I must say. Especially in these times when people, you know, the arts go first. They just do. And I’m so glad we can still be there for the city.”

  Reznick said she and her husband plan to donate a number of works from their collection valued at about $10 million. She said she hasn’t decided what pieces they’ll be, but they’ll include some 18th century French paintings. Some of that work will be on display in two years when the pavilion opens.

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  • September 29, 2008 2:34 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• San Fernando Valley Congressman Sherman explains why he voted against bailout plan

  Even opponents of the bill to rescue the country’s financial services industry found little comfort in its narrow defeat today. The U.S. House of Representatives rejected the measure 228 votes to 205. San Fernando Valley Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democrat, voted against the plan. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that he’s not particularly happy there’s no resolution to the crisis. But Sherman added that he believes the Bush administration tried to rush through its $700 billion proposal.

  Brad Sherman: “This is the White House /Wall Street fear machine. And it’s working. The image is created, ‘My God, if we don’t give Wall Street everything they want right away, the economy is going to fall apart.’ And the fact is that there are much better and much less expensive ways for us to deal with this financial crisis.”

  Congress is likely to take another run at a bailout plan later this week. Supporters of the failed bill say it would have helped restore confidence in the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 777 points today, the largest single-day point drop in two decades.

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  • September 29, 2008 2:26 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Glendale cosmetologist comments on what her clients think about the presidential race

  As Southland voters watch Washington lawmakers muddle through the failed federal financial bailout plan, they’re also deciding which presidential candidate they’ll vote for five weeks from tomorrow. Glendale cosmetologist Zabil Tifranian says she sees about a dozen clients a day. Most of them are white and well to do, she says, and most favor Democratic Senator Barack Obama.

  Zabil Tifranian: “They like him, but he’s black. They get scared. They say maybe black people, they’re gonna have more power on us. Otherwise, they said he’s very smart. He’s talking very good. Everything is fine with him and he chooses a vice president, he’s very smart. He’s very smart, also.”

  New surveys of likely voters indicate that the presidential race is tightening. A Washington Post/ABC News poll suggests that Obama’s gaining a small lead. But an NPR poll shows that McCain is slightly ahead. Congress this morning rejected the $700 billion plan to shore up major financial institutions. Most House Democrats supported, but fewer than one-third of Congressional Republicans backed it.

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  • September 29, 2008 1:35 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger has until Tuesday to sign or veto remaining bills on his desk

  He’s vetoed more than 250 bills on his desk. One would have sought to prevent deaths from cosmetic-related surgeries and another would have prohibited convictions based on jailhouse informants’ uncorroborated testimony.

  The governor has until tomorrow to sign or veto the remaining 300 bills on his desk, or they automatically become law. KPCC’s Julie Small says the governor’s been using boilerplate language when he’s rejected these bills.

  Julie Small: “He says this has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the years’ legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time. And this is work that he would normally be doing over a three month period, consider hundreds of bills, he’s had to do it in seven days.”

  One of the 200 bills the governor has signed requires owners of assisted living homes to disclose how often they’ve raised rates. Another mandates that those facility owners report to the local district attorney’s office any cases of suspected physical, financial, or sexual abuse on their premises.

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  • September 29, 2008 1:32 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• House Speaker Pelosi vows to keep working on financial bailout plan

  Following this morning’s congressional defeat of the $700 billion federal plan to rescue the financial services industry, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed to keep aiming toward a resolution with other legislative leaders.

  Nancy Pelosi: “The legislation has failed, the crisis has not gone away. We must work in a bipartisan way in order to have another bite at the apple in terms of some legislation.”

  The plan went down to a 228 to 205 vote in the House today. In response, the Dow Jones Industrials tumbled more than 575 points as of 12:30 p.m. Lawmakers may vote on a revised plan later this week, after a brief recess for the Jewish New Year.

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  • September 29, 2008 12:51 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Philanthropists donate $45 million to LACMA

  Two longtime arts philanthropists announced today they’re donating $45 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: It’s one of the largest gifts ever to the L.A. County Art Museum. Business owners Stewart and Lynda Resnick of Beverly Hills donated the money for a one-story exhibition pavilion on Wilshire Boulevard. It’s scheduled to open in about two years.

  It would be a next door neighbor and sibling to the recently opened Broad Contemporary Art Museum. Italian architect Renzo Piano, known for his open, airy buildings, designed the Broad museum and will design the new structure. The new Resnick exhibition pavilion would house traveling and special exhibitions.

  Lynda Resnick told the Los Angeles Times she hopes the building will do more to add a welcoming touch to the sprawling museum campus. The new building’s construction follows five years after LACMA abandoned plans to tear down most of its buildings and build a structure by unconventional Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. The museum was unable to secure enough donations, or to help pass a county tax for that project’s $300 million price tag.

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  • September 29, 2008 12:30 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• Business professor says bailout failure partly due to poor communication by Treasury secretary

  Today’s congressional defeat of the $700 billion federal plan to rescue the country’s financial services sector had to do in part with the Treasury secretary’s poor communication about what it was for, UC Berkeley business professor James Wilcox told KPCC’s AirTalk.

  James Wilcox: “Somehow the Treasury let this come to be known, and even uttered the words, ‘bailout’ and Wall Street basically in the same paragraph. That was a huge mistake.”

  The U.S. House of Representatives voted 228 to 205 against the plan. In response to that vote, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 400 points today. Supporters of the plan maintain that it would have shored up the entire economic infrastructure, from small business loans to the international flow of credit, and not just American financial institutions.

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  • September 29, 2008 12:27 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• House defeats $700B financial markets bailout; stocks plummet

  By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
  Associated Press Writer

  WASHINGTON (AP) - In a stunning vote that shocked the capital and worldwide markets, the House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue for the nation’s financial system, ignoring urgent warnings from President Bush and congressional leaders of both parties that the economy could nosedive without it.

  Stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was officially announced on the House floor.

  As a digital screen in the House chamber recorded a cascade of “no” votes against the bailout, Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley of New York shouted news of the falling Dow Jones industrials. “Six hundred points!” he yelled, jabbing his thumb downward. The decline was about 650 points shortly before the close of the trading day.

  Bush and a host of leading congressional figures had implored the lawmakers to pass the legislation despite howls of protest from their constituents back home. Not enough members were willing to take the political risk just five weeks before an election.

  “No” votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle. More than two-thirds of Republicans and 40 percent of Democrats opposed the bill.

  The overriding question for congressional leaders was what to do next. Congress has been trying to adjourn so that its members can go out and campaign. “We are ready to continue to work on this,” said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

  “The legislation may have failed; the crisis is still with us,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a news conference after the defeat.

  Republicans blamed her scathing speech near the close of the debate - which attacked Bush’s economic policies and a “right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation” of financial markets - for the current turmoil.

  Frank said that was a remarkable accusation by Republicans against Republicans: “because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country.”

  A White House spokesman said Bush was “very disappointed” in the vote.

  The president will be meeting with members of his team later in the day “to determine next steps,” said spokesman Tony Fratto.

  (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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  • September 29, 2008 12:24 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• House of Representatives rejects $700 billion bailout plan

  The U.S. House of Representatives has rejected the $700 billion bailout plan for the financial services industry. Congressional leaders from both major parties thought they’d had the votes to pass the bill, but they came up short. Democrats had wanted more protections for homeowners facing the risk of foreclosures.

  Christopher Thornberg, principal at Beacon Economics, told KPCC’s AirTalk that the federal government shouldn’t help homeowners who’d taken out loans they couldn’t afford. But he concedes that there are differences of opinion on this point.

  Christopher Thornberg: “There’s obviously a lot of folks out there who again have this ideological problem with this idea of funding the banks, but not funding distressed homeowners.”

  The stock market has responded to the news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped almost 500 points. House leaders say they will bring it up for a vote again, but they did not say when, or what changes they intend to make in the bill.

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  • September 29, 2008 12:08 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Historians and baseball fans celebrate 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' author

  At Laguna Beach City Hall tonight, historians and baseball fans will celebrate a longtime resident’s contributions to the game of baseball. Here’s the pitch from KPCC’s Molly Peterson.

  [Dr. John, singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”]

  Molly Peterson: Thirty-two years after writing the lyrics to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” Jack Norworth moved to Laguna Beach. One hundred years ago, the song was a smash on Tin Pan Alley – a vaudeville duet, part sung by a woman who wants her boyfriend to take her not to a show, but to the ballpark.

  [Dr. John, singing “I don’t care if I never get back! Let me root, root, root for the home team…”]

  Peterson: At an event sponsored by Laguna Beach’s Historical Society, locals can hear from Andy Strasberg, one of three authors of a new book on the song’s first 100 years. The book, “Baseball’s Greatest Hit,” includes a CD of different versions of Take Me Out, including this one by Dr. John.

  Historians contend the song wasn’t a staple of the seventh-inning stretch until Cubs announcer Harry Caray made it one in Chicago during the late 1970s. The book and the event also point out Jack Norworth’s contribution to Laguna Beach baseball: he founded the city’s little league 56 years ago.

  Note: The event sponsored by the Laguna Beach Historical Society starts tonight at 7:30 in City Hall.

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  • September 29, 2008 10:50 AM
  • Categories: History, Sports/Recreation

• Obama supporters gather at South LA bar to watch first presidential debate

  Barack Obama and John McCain met last night in Mississippi to discuss their differences in the first of three presidential debates. Obama supporter Amy Brienes joined more than three dozen others at a bar in south L.A. to watch the 90 minute debate on a giant screen. Why?

  Amy Brienes: Our TV is really small. No. We were planning on doing a double date and it was on the night of the debate.
  Kitty Felde: This was your date?
  Brienes: This is our double date.
  Felde: And how’s it going?
  Brienes: It’s great. I’m sure we’ll be talking for hours.

  Thursday, the vice presidential candidates meet for their one and only debate. KPCC will carry NPR’s coverage starting at 6.

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  • September 29, 2008 9:51 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Obama fans gather to watch first presidential debate

  Friday night, John McCain and Barack Obama met for their first face to face debate since becoming their party’s nominees. Political junkies met in living rooms, campaign headquarters… and in a bar off the 10 freeway to watch the debate. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde was at one of those debate parties and has the story.

  Kitty Felde: There is something about watching a political debate in a bar that reminds you of watching a baseball game. For the crowd at the south L.A. bar Fais Do Do, the home team was definitely Barack Obama. If you couldn’t tell by the Obama buttons, you could tell by the noise.

  There were jeers when John McCain proposed a freeze on everything but defense spending, cheers when Obama reminded McCain about singing “bomb, bomb Iran.” Obama supporter Deborah Knighten had no doubt her candidate won the debate.

  Deborah Knighten: They keep saying about his non-experience, he’s done his homework. Totally. Totally. There was nothing he didn’t drop the ball on that he did not know. Even about the surge. Even about the surge.

  Felde: Three dozen spectators watched the debate on a giant screen, downing draft beer and chowing down on red beans and rice. The two toddlers in the crowd were vocal during the debate as well, though they preferred juice and crayons to the beer and the politics.

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  • September 29, 2008 9:48 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger vetoes mortgage regulation bill

  Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill yesterday that would have tightened the reins on mortgage brokers seeking to offer loans in California. The governor claimed that while the state needs the reforms, they’d create an uneven playing field between brokers and conventional lenders. Assemblyman Ted Lieu backed the bill. He told KPCC that during the subprime mortgage boom, state-regulated entities sold or originated 60 percent of those risky loans.

  Assemblyman Ted Lieu: “While this bill would not have covered 100 percent of all loans, we could have taken 60 percent of this problem and fixed it. And it’s exactly the unregulated selling of risky and unsuitable sub prime mortgages that has now led to this $700 billion proposed taxpayer bail out of our hard earned money. And the governor had a change to fix that, and instead he catered to the special interest groups and the mortgage brokers. So, it’s the governor and the mortgage brokers on an island all by themselves.”

  Assemblyman Lieu said the bill had enjoyed wide-ranging support. He vowed to continue to fight for the regulations. Mortgage brokers and the real estate industry opposed the bill.

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  • September 26, 2008 5:04 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County supervisor cautions property owners about fire danger

  Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky says cutting edge equipment is key to helping firefighters control wildfires. But he reminds property owners that the buildings that tend to escape damage are the ones standing clear of dry brush.

  Zev Yaroslavsky: “That didn’t have palm trees hanging over their rooftops or eucalyptus trees draping over their shingle roofs. People who’ve replaced their roofs, who’d cleared their brush, those are the homes that tend to survive fires. While the ones that bite the dust are the ones that weren’t so attentive to their own safety concerns.”

  Yaroslavsky admonished property owners in fire danger zones during a news conference today, where Los Angeles County and city fire departments unveiled the aircraft they plan to use during this year’s fire season.

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  • September 26, 2008 4:14 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Metrolink board votes in favor of automatic train stopping system

  The board of the authority that runs Metrolink voted unanimously today to take a range of steps to improve commuter rail safety. The directors of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority want all Metrolink trains on a system that would stop a train if it ran through a red signal. Board member Richard Katz introduced the motion.

  Richard Katz: “I believe that the automatic train stopping system should be expanded as quickly as possible, because while that doesn’t stop an accident, or eliminate accidents, it makes it safer. It slows cars down. It creates the redundancy in the system that we seem to be lacking right now.”

  Katz also sits on the board of Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. That board passed a similar motion yesterday. The votes follow a Metrolink collision with a freight train that killed 25 people and injured more than 130 others two weeks ago.

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  • September 26, 2008 4:09 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Reaction to overnight takeover by JP Morgan

  Some Washington Mutual customers in the San Fernando Valley did their banking as usual today. KPCC’s Patricia Nazario spoke with some of them outside a branch in Northridge.

  Patricia Nazario:How concerned are you as a bank customer of Washington Mutual?
  Person 1: Oh, I’m not that concerned. I don’t have a lot of assets, so I’m OK. Definitely concerned. There are a lot of unknowns.
  Nazario: What’s your business today? Are you here to take out all your money?
  Person 2: No. Actually I’m here to make a deposit, (laughing) funny enough. Oh, I’ll stay put. I know J.P. Morgan and I’ve known Chase for years. I think they’ll be okay. Oh, I wasn’t concerned.
  Nazario: Were you here today to take out all your money?
  Person 3: No, just regular business. I trust Washington Mutual.

  Federal officials seized Washington Mutual yesterday and immediately sold it to JPMorgan Chase for almost $2 billion. The bank’s failure is the latest in a series of institutional collapses that have shaken Wall Street and the international financial world.

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  • September 26, 2008 4:03 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Bank customers react to WaMu collapse

  It was pretty much business as usual at Washington Mutual banks across the Southland today. There weren’t any long lines of customers anxiously waiting to cash out their savings or checking accounts. A lot of people have already done that. It’s what helped fuel the most expensive bank collapse in U.S. history.

  WaMu was taken over by the federal government last night, which then sold the bank to J.P. Morgan Chase. At WaMu’s main branch in Riverside, Ron and Patti Neff were getting cash from the ATM machine. They say they’ll keep their money just where it is.

  Ron Neff: “Well they’re the biggest bank now, bigger than Bank of America, so…”
  Patti Neff: “I mean what are you gonna do? Can’t sit on your money at home, right?”
  Ron Neff: “If it did crash, the bank, it’d federally insured, so, we’ll be all right.”
  Patti Neff: “Yeah. I’m OK.”
  

  Some Riverside customers say they’re worried about what they’ll do if the local Washington Mutual branch closes. It’s the only one for miles. J.P. Morgan says it will close about 10 percent of the bank branches.

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  • September 26, 2008 2:58 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Clint Eastwood film festival kicks off at USC

  If you’re eager for some old-fashioned movie action, pilgrim, saddle up and ride over to USC for a festival focusing on Trojan standout John Wayne. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the event starting tonight.

  Cheryl Devall: It’s the 100th anniversary of John Wayne’s birthday. The University of Southern California’s paying tribute to the Glendale High graduate who landed a Trojan football scholarship back in the day. His given name was Marion Morrison, but as his tough-guy screen persona evolved, few hombres dared to call him “Marion” to his face.

  The films on the festival schedule range from Saturday matinee serials Wayne made in the early 1930s to the roles that established him as a movie icon: the vengeful Confederate veteran in “The Searchers.” The love-struck ex-boxer in “The Quiet Man.” The do-or-die Marine drill sergeant in “The Sands of Iwo Jima.” And many more.

  The weekend at USC’s Norris Cinema Theatre also includes panel discussions with filmmakers and critics, film scholars, and people who knew the namesake of the Orange County airport up close and personal. Admission is free, but reservations are required.

  Link: University of Southern California Arts and Events Calendar

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  • September 26, 2008 2:55 PM
  • Categories: Arts, History

• UC Berkeley business school professor says Treasury Secretary needed to explain crisis better

  Lawmakers and federal regulators are working a second long day to shore up the nation’s financial services sector. James Wilcox of UC Berkeley’s business school told suggested to KPCC’s AirTalk that the people behind the rescue effort could have done a better job explaining to the rest of us what they’re doing.

  James Wilcox: “The issue is not to bailout those who have made mistakes. The big mistake the Treasury Secretary made was ever using the words ‘bail out.’ This is not designed to be a ‘bailout’ at all and especially not of Wall Street. The Wall Street firms are losing billions of dollars, perhaps deservedly, but this is meant to be a program that’ll get these markets working again and keep the economy working so that all the rest of us can keep our jobs and stay working.”

  President Bush and congressional leaders say they hope to resolve their differences on the $700 billion rescue plan soon.

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  • September 26, 2008 2:06 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• People waiting at Mar Vista Washington Mutual branch as it opens

  When the Washington Mutual branch in Mar Vista opened this morning at 9, about half a dozen people were already waiting. Not all of them knew the bank had failed and that J.P. Morgan Chase had taken over its assets.

  The manager of a nearby restaurant knew, but he went in to make his daily deposit, anyway. He’d only give his first name, Manny, and he said he figured his deposits at the bank were safe, for now.

  Manny: “I’ve never felt really unsecure on where I want to put my money, you know, ‘til now. It’s not a good feeling. Where do you put your money at now? Under your mattress? (laughs) There’s gonna be a lot of robberies if people start doing that.”

  Another person waiting at the branch, who wouldn’t speak on the record, said he was there to withdraw his money and transfer it to another bank.

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  • September 26, 2008 2:03 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Wall Street Journal reporter says Washington Mutual failure happened for 2 reasons

  In the biggest bank failure in American history, federal regulators stepped in last night to rescue savings and loan giant Washington Mutual from financial collapse. The government sold the company to JP Morgan Chase for close to $2 billion. David Enrich of the Wall Street Journal told KPCC’s AirTalk this happened for two reasons.

  David Enrich: “The first is that depositors over the past couple weeks have pulled out something roughly approaching 10 percent of WaMu’s total deposits, about $16 billion. I don’t think there is any indication that was stabilizing. The other problem though is that there were some leaks that were starting to come out in press that this was in the works. And the regulators, that’s their worst nightmare.”

  Washington Mutual branches opened as usual this morning. They posted signs telling customers that the takeover should not affect their deposits, and its Web site home page included the words: “Welcome to JP Morgan Chase.” The bank’s new owner plans to keep most of its 2,200 branches open. About one-third of those branches are in California.

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  • September 26, 2008 1:52 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Political parties divided over financial bailout

  The back-and-forth over the proposed federal financial bailout is exposing cracks in the facades of both major parties, Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau Chief Doyle McManus told KPCC’s AirTalk.

  Doyle McManus: “In a sense, what you’ve got here is a Republican Party that is divided, a Democratic Party that isn’t happy about this deal and could divide over it. And you have a huge collision between economics and politics.”

  Members of the congressional banking committees are working for a second day to resolve their differences with federal agencies over a $700 billion plan to rescue the nation’s financial services sector.

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  • September 26, 2008 12:20 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Some Washington Mutual customers worried, visit local branches after JP Morgan takeover

  Things seemed pretty calm at many Southland Washington Mutual branches today after yesterday’s government takeover of the huge bank and its sale to J.P. Morgan Chase. Some customers were worried enough to visit their Washington Mutual branches. In Long Beach branch this morning, James Kinstle said the news concerned him because he’d just transferred a large sum of money.

  James Kinstle: “I was over at another branch and I talked to a woman there who was helping explain to the people there what it was all about. And I asked her, what is the new status of the bank. And she said, well, we’re now J.P. Morgan Chase and everything is OK, you don’t have to worry about anything. And so I decided to try to do that.”

  A few customers at this branch said the bank’s recent troubles and yesterday’s sale had convinced them to withdraw their savings. Chase bank officials tell customers that the federal government will continue to insure their accounts up to $100,000, and that little, other than Washington Mutual’s name, will change.

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  • September 26, 2008 12:17 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• UC Berkeley business school professor says bailout plan has to balance Wall Street and Main Street concerns

  Lawmakers in Washington are still trying to hammer out a plan to rescue the country’s financial services industry. James Wilcox, who teaches about financial institutions at UC Berkeley’s business school, told KPCC’s AirTalk that the federal government has to balance the concerns of Wall Street and Main Street.

  James Wilcox: “Make no mistake about it, we are in the midst of a very serious financial crisis. But what we are hoping to do with some astute public policy here is to try to prevent a financial crisis from turning into an economic crisis.”

  Wilcox said he hopes for a resolution sooner than later. He added that Congress can make adjustments in any plan it approves.

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  • September 26, 2008 12:03 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• San Bernardino launches revitalization plan for downtown district

  By now, we all know about how long, and how much, it takes to rescue Wall Street. But how about Main Street? In San Bernardino, it could take another 5 or 10 years. That’s about how long urban planners say it’ll take to revitalize the struggling downtown shopping district.

  San Bernardino is holding a series of public workshops on a plan to transform downtown. One goal is to spruce up a shopping mall that’s filled with vacant shops. Longtime resident Michael Agnew says there’s still hope.

  Michael Agnew: “San Bernardino has gone though a difficult time as many other cities, and now we have new policies and directions for urban design and development of cities where people can have a lot more opportunities. And this is their opportunity to do it right.”

  Urban planners will take nine months or so to sketch out a proposal for downtown revitalization. The weak economy might keep the City of San Bernardino from moving ahead with the proposal. But urban designers say it pays to plan ahead.

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  • September 25, 2008 6:40 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Pastors plan to defy IRS ban on political speech from the pulpit

  For more than 50 years, federal rules have said a tax-exempt group that endorses a political candidate in public endangers its tax-exempt status. This Sunday, more than 30 pastors from around the country plan to challenge those rules. The aim is to force the IRS to enforce those rules so the ministers can get a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

  Among those who’ll preach politics from the pulpit is Wiley Drake, the well-known conservative Christian minister from Buena Park. Drake told KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that it’s wrong to restrict him from saying what he wants say to his congregation.

  Wiley Drake: “The church will not be endorsing anybody. The church can’t endorse. The church is an entity, not someone that can endorse. But when the IRS and the government says they want to restrict what a pastor can say, they are in violation of the constitution.”

  While Drake and other conservative Christian pastors challenge the IRS rules, other religious leaders. including rabbis and imams. have signed a pledge to refrain from political speech.

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  • September 25, 2008 5:57 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Religion/Spirituality, Society/Culture

• Southern California government leaders say state budget cuts will hit harder than expected

  Government leaders in Southern California are warning that the budget Governor Schwarzenegger signed this week will hit them harder than they’d expected. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Last week, Los Angeles County officials estimated they’d lose about $90 million as a result of state budget cuts. Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka has boosted that to 130 million. Fujioka told City News Service the governor’s line item vetoes hit the CalWORKs financial aid program the hardest. L.A. County’s losing almost $18 million for its CalWORKs program.

  L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says the city will suffer too. He told business leaders that state budget cuts, combined with the bad economy, could result in a $400 million deficit next year. This year, L.A. increased fees and eliminated more than 700 jobs to address a similar deficit.

  Governor Schwarzenegger has defended the cuts as necessary to close a $15 billion state budget deficit. He told the League of California Cities meeting in Long Beach that legislators shouldn’t get paid when they fail to pass a budget on time.

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  • September 25, 2008 5:19 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Dodgers clinch National League West title

  The Dodgers are in the playoffs! Manager Joe Torre’s team locked up the National League West title today when second-place Arizona lost to St. Louis. The playoffs start next week. KPCC’s Nick Roman runs down all the scores.

  Nick Roman: The Dodgers’ Greg Maddux could pitch underhanded to the San Diego Padres tonight, and it won’t make any difference. The Dodgers clinched a playoff spot when the Arizona Diamondbacks got hammered by the Cardinals in St. Louis, 12 to 3. Three weeks ago, Arizona came to L.A. in first place by a game-and-a-half over the Dodgers. But L.A. swept three games from the Diamondbacks that weekend to move into first place for good.

  Now Dodger manager Joe Torre can rest his starters a bit before the playoffs begin next Wednesday. In the first round, the Dodgers will face either the Cubs, or the Mets, or the Phillies. The Angels clinched an American League playoff spot weeks ago. They’ll face either Boston or Tampa Bay in the first round. Who plays who gets sorted out this weekend. This is the third time in five seasons that both the Dodgers and the Angels have been in the playoffs at the same time.

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  • September 25, 2008 3:14 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• California sets aside $730 million for 405 carpool lane

  Maybe, just maybe, 10 miles of carpool lane are in the future of the 405 Freeway. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says a state allocation today brought that mirage a bit closer to reality for Los Angeles commuters.

  Cheryl Devall: Anyone who drives the Sepulveda Pass into the San Fernando Valley during rush hours will be excused for cheering at this news: California’s set aside $730 million toward building a high-occupancy vehicle lane along that stretch of the 405. The money comes from Proposition 1B, the statewide transportation bond voters approved a couple of years ago.

  This latest grant provides the bulk of the money L.A. County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority needs to get the 10 mile carpool lane going. It’ll include the stretch that connects the 405 to the 10 and 101 Freeways. Transportation planners say building the lane will also generate about 5,800 construction jobs.

  So far, there’s no word on a start date for the project. The California Transportation Commission also distributed smaller Prop 1B grants to projects in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, and more than 20 other locations throughout the state.

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  • September 25, 2008 3:09 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Metro board votes to find money for 'auto stop' train safety system

  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously today to find the money for an emergency stop system on the local tracks. The decision follows almost two weeks after the Metrolink crash in Chatsworth, but KPCC’s Nick Roman says it might not be as big a move as it seems.

  Nick Roman: Here’s a scorecard so you know the players: Metrolink is the commuter rail line run by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. Five agencies belong to that Authority. The biggest is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro. Four of Metrolink’s 11 directors also serve on the Metro board of directors.

  So even though Metrolink doesn’t answer to the Metro board, it does mean something when the Metro board decides to find the money for an “automatic train stop” system. It would stop a train if it ran through a red signal. That’s apparently what led to the Metrolink crash in Chatsworth that killed 25 people.

  The Metro board wants its staff to check out other safety improvements, too, including upgraded signals and onboard cameras. Metrolink officials this week told a U.S. Senate panel that they might add a second engineer to their trains. So far, that’s the only safety change Metrolink’s talked about.

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  • September 25, 2008 2:11 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Democratic Congressman Sherman says bailout plan doesn't include enough checks and balances

  Key Republicans and Democrats agreed in principle today on the basics of a $700 billion plan to bail out the financial services industry. There are very few details on the accord, but San Fernando Valley Congressman Brad Sherman told KPCC’s AirTalk he’s not happy with it. The Democrat said the plan doesn’t include enough checks and balances.

  Brad Sherman: “There’s a review board that looks at transactions after they’re engaged in, and can issue a press release, but there’s no control on the Bush administration.”

  Sherman is a senior member of the House Financial Services committee. The basic idea of the plan is to let the Treasury buy up financial companies’ bad assets. Democrats have argued that Congress should monitor the plan. They also contend that it should include help for homeowners who are in trouble with their mortgages. Congressional leaders plan to meet with President Bush this afternoon to finalize the details.

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  • September 25, 2008 12:22 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• President of Pasadena Art Center steps down

  The president of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design is leaving the institution effective immediately. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the departure of Richard Koshalek.

  Cheryl Devall: Trustees of the Art Center agreed to release Richard Koshalek from his contract more than a year early. During nine years as president, Koshalek sought to raise the profile of a college known largely for its graduates in automotive, industrial, and entertainment industry design.

  The former director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art also wanted to build. His plans for the college included a $50 million library commission for Disney Hall architect Frank Gehry. But Koshalek’s priorities for the Art Center clashed with those of students, faculty, and alumni, including some board members. On Internet discussion boards and e-mail petitions, many of his critics called for more emphasis on fundraising for scholarships and academic programs.

  In June, the board of trustees decided not to renew Koshalek’s contract. They’ve begun the search for a new president, and they’re planning to appoint an interim president soon.

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  • September 24, 2008 6:53 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, Education

• McCain aides announce plans for Palin rally in the Southland next month

  As Senator John McCain suspended his presidential campaign and returned to Washington, D.C. to help address the financial crisis, his aides announced plans for the Republican candidate’s running mate to headline a Southland rally next month. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: The McCain campaign says it’s scheduled Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to speak at the Tennis Stadium at Home Depot Center in Carson a week from Saturday. The stadium holds 8,000 people. Palin’s energized many Republicans and she’s expected to fill the facility.

  Palin also will appear at a fundraiser that night in the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Strong interest in the event prompted the campaign to move it from a supporter’s home to the larger venue. Palin will hold a second fundraiser in Burlingame, in Northern California.

  The announcements follow a Public Policy Institute poll that indicated half of likely California voters support Barack Obama, and 40 percent support McCain. That matches a similar poll in August, with one big difference: 70 percent of Hispanics favored Obama in August. That number’s dropped to 57 percent. Now, almost one-third say they prefer McCain.

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  • September 24, 2008 5:17 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• New study indicates heightened risk of brain cancer for child and teen cell phone users

  A new scientific study out of Sweden indicates a heightened risk of brain cancer for children and teens who use cell phones. The report follows years of mixed results from similar studies on animals and human cells. Myra Rosenfeld, a neuro-oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, told KPCC’s AirTalk that while she doubts the conclusiveness of the latest study, it’s prudent to limit young peoples’ exposure to the phones.

  Myra Rosenfeld:“It’s not unreasonable to use caution because there could be health risks that we don’t know about. I don’t think that they are cancer. But not knowing, it is a relatively new technology, it’s not unreasonable to use some simple precautions when using a cell phone.”

  She said those precautions include using a hands-free earpiece to distance the phone’s antenna from the user’s head.

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  • September 24, 2008 5:15 PM
  • Categories: Health, Science/Technology

• Clean Trucks program starts next week at San Pedro ports

  A program aimed at cleaning up air pollution from trucks will start on time next week at the San Pedro ports, after a judge rejected a trucking industry challenge against it. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports on that and other speed bumps for the Clean Trucks program.

  Molly Peterson: Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors have decided to ban older, dirtier diesel trucks from working at the ports starting next Wednesday. They’re using legal agreements called “concessions” to enforce the rules. The American Trucking Association had argued the concessions violate federal law and create irreparable harm, but some of the association’s members have signed up for the program.

  And for their part, L.A. and Long Beach port managers are spreading the word to truckers and the public that they plan to enforce as much of the Clean Trucks program as they can come October 1st. Whether the ports’ agreements are legal is still an open question.

  Courts won’t decide the merits of the case for months, and beyond that, a federal commission overseeing port activities has asked pointed questions about how the Clean Trucks program is working. Also this week, the Port of Long Beach announced it would defer one part of the program, fees collected on each container that moves through the port, while it finishes putting the fee collection system in place.

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  • September 24, 2008 5:04 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Politicians, policymakers dispute how to rescue financial sector

  Politicians and policymakers are disputing the best way to rescue the nation’s troubled financial sector. Luigi Zingales, who teaches finance at the University of Chicago business school, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that the proposed federal bailout doesn’t fully addresses the crisis.

  Luigi Zingales: “There are three ways to provide capital to banks. One is to overpay for the assets, that’s what is the Paulson plan; the second is to infuse equity directly; and the third, which is the one I encourage, is a, to do a very simple form of Chapter 11, in which some of the debt is transformed into equity.”

  Zingales is also the Italian correspondent for the Financial Times. He called Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion plan the most expensive and least effective option to save the financial markets.

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  • September 24, 2008 3:39 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• McCain proposes postponing Friday presidential debate; Obama wants debate to take place as scheduled

  In light of the nation’s financial crisis, Republican presidential candidate John McCain today sought to postpone his first scheduled debate with Democratic nominee Barack Obama this Friday. McCain argued that the event might politicize a problem that affects the entire country. Obama countered that it would make sense for the American people to hear both candidates’ perspectives on the economy.

  Barack Obama: “What I’ve told the leadership in Congress is that, if I can be helpful, then I am prepared to be anywhere, anytime. What I think is important, though, is that we don’t suddenly infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics at a time when we are in the middle of some very delicate and difficult negotiations.”

  President Bush plans to address the country on the economic situation tonight. KPCC will carry that speech live at 6 o’clock.

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  • September 24, 2008 2:55 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• President Bush to speak tonight about proposed $700 billion financial industry bailout

  President Bush will speak to the country tonight about the immediate need for a proposed $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. He’s expected to urge Congress to pass a bill quickly. Congressman Mel Watt serves on the House Financial Services Committee.

  The North Carolina Democrat says he believes the warnings from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed chair Ben Bernanke that the U.S. is teetering on the edge of a severe financial crisis. Watt told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that it’s now up to the president to make that same case tonight to the American people.

  Mel Watt: “But if tomorrow after the president speaks, people are still calling, saying, ‘I’m not convinced we ought to do anything,’ then I presume a number of members of Congress will be willing to take the risk and just do nothing.”

  The president speaks tonight at 6 o’clock, and KPCC will air his address live.

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  • September 24, 2008 2:53 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• UCLA's Anderson Forecast says state's economy in 'doldrums'

  Forget the word “recession.” The team that publishes UCLA’s Anderson Forecast says no matter how you describe California’s economy, these are simply tough times. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: The forecast’s co-author, Jerry Nickelsburg, prefers the word “doldrums.” That, he says, could describe the state’s economy for the next year-and-a-half to two years. The construction and financial sectors still have to hit bottom, and retail continues to struggle. But Nickelsburg says he avoids using “the R-word” because it doesn’t really convey a good sense of what’s happening with the economy.

  Jerry Nickelsburg: You know if you say, we are not in a recession, which we are not, it indicates that we are doing fine. But we’re not. We’re in a no-growth period. Substantially below our normal 3 percent growth rate.”

  Watt: California’s economy is like a rock skipping across a pond, Nickelsburg says: it might look like it’s about to sink, but certain sectors will keep it up. He calls the state’s strong exports of goods and services across the water key to staying above it.

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  • September 24, 2008 2:32 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• New study says children and teens who use cell phones 5 times more likely to develop brain cancer

  A new study on the safety of cell phone use is giving parents cause for worry. The Swedish report indicated that children and teens who use cell phones are five times more likely than other kids to develop brain cancer. David Carpenter teaches environmental health sciences at the State University of New York. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that a child’s development factors into the potential for risk.

  David Carpenter: “There’s very strong evidence that the electromagnetic radiation from a cell phone does penetrate a child’s brain.”

  Some neuroscientists dispute the validity of the Swedish study. They claim that prolonged exposure to cell phones is no more harmful than proximity to televisions or microwave ovens.

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  • September 24, 2008 1:28 PM
  • Categories: Health, Science/Technology

• New state budget cuts programs that benefit poorest Californians

  On its way to the governor’s desk, the state’s new budget shed some programs that benefit some of the poorest Californians. They include $191 million in housing assistance grants for renters and homeowners age 62 and older.

  The grants helped about 600,000 renters and owners last year. Hene Kelly, legislative committee chair for the California Alliance for Retired Americans, told KPCC’s AirTalk that her organization won’t forget that budget cut at the ballot box.

  Hene Kelly: “We represent 800,000 seniors. We all vote. That’s one thing that you know the governor, and some other people, don’t realize. We are now becoming less well-to-do seniors, which makes us angrier seniors, which makes us more likely to vote.”

  Although Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is not up for re-election this year, the state prison guards’ union is circulating petitions to recall him in a special election.

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  • September 24, 2008 1:13 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Economic forecasters predict California's economy will remain sluggish, unemployment will rise

  Economic forecasters at UCLA predict California’s economy will remain sluggish over the next 18 to 24 months. The latest UCLA Anderson Forecast does not use the term “recession,” but does say the economy is in the “doldrums.” UCLA economist Jerry Nickelsburg was one of the report’s authors. He predicts the state’s unemployment rate will go up.

  Jerry Nickelsburg: “We’re expecting for the entire year next year an average of, what, about 7.4 percent, and it not to really come down, because California will growing just enough to pick up the growth in the labor force, so the unemployment rate is going to stay pretty high in California as we go out over the next, really two years.”

  The state recently posted a 7.7 percent unemployment rate in August. But Nickelsberg says those monthly numbers can be misleading. Nickelsberg compares the state’s economy to a rock skipping across water. Growth in certain parts of the state’s economy, exports in particular, will provide the momentum to keep the state’s economy from sinking under.

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  • September 24, 2008 1:09 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Governor Schwarzenegger decides on 875 pieces of legislation over next week

  The late passage of the state budget has left Governor Schwarzenegger little time to deal with a giant stack of bills sent over from the state legislature. KPCC’s Julie Small reports.

  Julie Small: The governor’s hand could cramp up as he signs or vetoes bills passed by state lawmakers this year. Schwarzenegger has one week, just seven days, to decide what to do with 875 pieces of legislation. Anything the governor doesn’t veto becomes law automatically at the end of the month.

  Schwarzenegger usually holds signing ceremonies for major bills. That’s what he did for the package of measures that made up the state budget. And for special legislation, the governor sometimes takes the show on the road.

  But with the signing deadline coming up fast, the governor’s media staffers say there’ll be little of that this time around. They expect to dispense with most bills with little more than an e-mail message explaining the governor’s decision to sign or veto.

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  • September 24, 2008 12:57 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• California Congresswoman Harman: Congress should cancel recess and address financial crisis

  The details, and even the timing, of the proposed federal bailout for Wall Street are ruffling feathers on Capitol Hill.

  West Los Angeles Congresswoman Jane Harman told KPCC’s Patt Morrison why she believes the crisis warrants cancelling both houses’ customary October recess.

  Congresswoman Jane Harman: “I don’t think we’re ready yet to take action that is carefully targeted at the people who are really suffering. And those are the families about to lose their home and the people who are about to lose their jobs as banking, investment firms, and other firms are about to go down in a troubled economy.”

  Democrats like Harman, and many Republicans, are criticizing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on their $700 billion plan to rescue major financial institutions.

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  • September 23, 2008 6:18 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Budget passage doesn't guarantee laid-off workers will get jobs back

  Now there’s a state budget. That doesn’t mean that many of the 10,000 state workers laid off during the stalemate will get their jobs back.

  A couple of months ago, Governor Schwarzenegger called for the state to dismiss temporary and part-time employees layoffs in an executive order. That same order also eliminated overtime and some business contracts. California’s finance director, Mike Genest, says things will stay that way for awhile.

  Mike Genest: “Some of those people will not come back. Some of those contracts will not be implemented. Some of that overtime will not resume. Sorting all that out in detail will take a while, but until we do, the Executive Order remains in effect.”

  The state Department of Finance estimates that’ll save California about $340 million. Genest says that next July, the department will consider whether to re-fill jobs on a case-by-case basis.

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  • September 23, 2008 6:11 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Metrolink may add second engineer to commuter trains

  Metrolink Chairman Ron Roberts told a Capitol Hill hearing today that the agency is considering whether to add a second engineer to its commuter trains. His remarks follow the Chatsworth train crash that killed 25 people and injured more than 100. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Roberts disclosed that Metrolink may add an engineer amid accusations it isn’t moving fast enough on safety measures. Investigators say the engineer in the Chatsworth crash missed a red light before slamming into an oncoming freight train. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein said that what passenger rail really needs is automatic braking technology, something the industry has resisted.

  Senator Dianne Feinstein: The thing that bothers me most is the lobbying behind the scenes that we don’t know about to prevent an early date for accomplishment of safe train controls.

  Stoltze: Feinstein wants to require what’s known as “positive train control” technology within four years. At the hearing, representatives of Metrolink, Union Pacific, and the Federal Railway Administration said they supported the technology. In the past, they’ve raised cost and reliability questions as reasons they’ve yet to install it.

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  • September 23, 2008 5:07 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Construction workers sue homebuilding contractor SelectBuild over unpaid wages

  Fourteen construction workers are suing a large homebuilding subcontractor, claiming lost wages. Two of the workers, based in the Southland, spoke with reporters today outside a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. KPCC’s Brian Watt was there.

  Brian Watt: The workers accuse BMHC and its subsidiaries, including SelectBuild, of not paying them for all the overtime they worked. Carpenter Pablo Nunez of Corona started working for SelectBuild in four years ago. He says the company let him go last year.

  Pablo Nunez: Trabajamos cuarenta horas, más diez horas de overtime. Ellos lo convertian en cinco horas de overtime…

  Watt: Nunez said he and others worked 40 hours a week, plus 10 hours of overtime. But the company recorded only five overtime hours. That was typical, he said. Nunez and his brother, another carpenter from Corona, filed the suit with other workers in Nevada and Arizona.

  Their attorney believes thousands of workers could have found themselves in similar circumstances, so he’s seeking class action status for the lawsuit. In a statement, BMHC and SelectBuild said that the lawsuit was without merit and that it appeared to be part of one union’s campaign. The Laborers International Union of North America is trying to organize the workers. It’s released a report about their situation.

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  • September 23, 2008 5:04 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Researchers find way to make fuels from plant waste

  Researchers with support from the National Science Foundation say they’ve found a new way to make fuels from plant waste. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports on the recipe for green gasoline to power passenger jets, SUV’s, and every kind of engine in between.

  Molly Peterson: Popular alternative fuels – ethanol’s the best example – turn sugar into alcohol-based fuel. So far, most scientists have based that recipe on simple sugar, like that found in corn. Chemists have cooked up fuel from switchgrass or other plants, but it’s made of more complicated sugars, so the fuel’s more expensive.

  Now academic researchers and a small company called Virent in Wisconsin say they’ve found a cheaper way to use the complex sugars in agricultural waste and plants. Sugary water made with plant waste goes in one end of their process, passes over a patented catalyst that pulls the oxygen out of the soup, and leaves the carbon and hydrogen behind.

  What comes out is a gasoline made of cellulose, the fibery stuff that usually gets thrown away. The process isn’t new, but the catalyst is. So’s the patent, announced last week – about the same time the online version of Science published the research. Virent says its next goal is to ramp up production and build a full-sized plant near a lot of biomass, like sugar cane fields, within five years.

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  • September 23, 2008 4:39 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Science/Technology

• Senator Feinstein calls for two engineers on Metrolink trains

  Metrolink commuter rail officials today faced tough questioning on Capitol Hill in the wake of the Chatsworth train crash. California’s senior U.S. senator, Dianne Feinstein, criticized the agency for failing to install automatic braking technology. She urged Metrolink to make some short-term and long-term changes.

  Senator Dianne Feinstein: “It is my belief really that, until we have a crash avoidance system, there should be a requirement for two engineers on these single track lines. You can’t afford to miss a signal, just can’t afford it.”

  Metrolink Chairman Ron Roberts disclosed that the agency is considering whether to add a second engineer to its commuter trains. The Chatsworth crash killed 25 people and injured more than 100.

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  • September 23, 2008 4:01 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• College administrators study impact of new G.I. bill's college benefits

  Starting next autumn, military veterans with three years of service under their belts after September 11th, 2001 may ask Uncle Sam to pay for their public college education. With that kind of free college money, the number of veterans at California’s public colleges and universities is expected to nearly double in the next few years. A new report commissioned by the California Postsecondary Education Commission predicts as much in a new report. Murray Haberman is the group’s executive director.

  Murray Haberman: “There are already a lot of efforts being made by the university, the state university, community colleges, and numerous independent institutions to provide the necessary outreach and support for veteran students. So, the basic structures are there; they may become overtaxed, though, if in fact resources are not coming from the state of California to support the institutions.”

  Haberman forecasts that community colleges will feel the student boom the most. The increase could also boost California’s economy. The tuition grants may add up to half a billion dollars in new state income.

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  • September 23, 2008 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Construction workers sue SelectBuild over unpaid overtime

  Fourteen construction workers are suing the homebuilding subcontractor SelectBuild, and some smaller companies, claiming lost wages. They accuse the companies of not paying them for overtime work and forcing them to submit inaccurate timesheets. Two carpenters from Corona have filed the lawsuit with workers from Arizona and Nevada. Their attorney, Glenn Rothner, spoke today with reporters outside the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.

  Glenn Rothner: “Very few workers in this economy and in this industry will say, ‘I’m not gonna work unless you pay me all the wages I earn.’ So, it takes the voice sometimes of litigation, and a union that’s interested and cares about it, to bring these issues to the fore.”

  The union Rothner mentioned is the Laborers’ International Union of North America. It learned of the alleged wage practices during its efforts to organize the workers. In a statement, SelectBuild and its parent company, BMHC, said that the workers’ suit is without merit, and that it appears to be part of the union’s campaign. The company pledged to vigorously defend itself.

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  • September 23, 2008 2:52 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Presidential campaigns discuss $700 billion financial bailout

  The presidential campaigns are weighing in on the federal government’s $700 billion financial rescue plan. Assemblyman Ted Lieu spoke for Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign on KPCC’s AirTalk. Lieu said that Obama supports efforts to find a bipartisan solution to the crisis, with conditions.

  Ted Lieu: “He’s going to make sure that there’s no blank check when the taxpayers are being put on the spot for this. That we shouldn’t be spending any money to reward CEO’s on Wall Street with this bailout. That this plan will help homeowners in the long run stay in their homes.”

  An aide to Republican candidate John McCain told CNN yesterday that the candidate wants to see the final version before deciding how to vote.

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  • September 23, 2008 2:44 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Advocates debate merits of Proposition 7's clean energy requirements

  Supporters of Proposition 7 imagine California as a world leader in clean energy. The ballot measure would require every electric utility in the state to generate half their power with solar and other clean energy technologies in the next 17 years. Former L.A. Department of Water and Power chief S. David Freeman advocated the “Yes on 7” campaign on KPCC’s AirTalk.

  S. David Freeman: “This is a real opportunity to kind of put our money where our mouth is on this issue. Right now, we know that the danger is there, but there is not a sufficient sense of urgency.”

  But some high-profile environmental groups oppose Prop 7, said Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

  Ralph Cavanagh: “This initiative will slow renewable energy development, not speed it up, and we think the pro-renewable vote is ‘no.’”

  If voters pass it in November, the ballot measure would expand existing renewable energy requirements for privately-held utilities to all the state’s electrical power utilities… including publicly-owned ones like Los Angeles’ DWP.

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  • September 23, 2008 2:40 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• Colleges prepare for changes caused by new GI Bill

  Community college and public university administrators in California are bracing themselves for a big change on campuses in the fall of next year. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the details.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The number of military veterans enrolled at California colleges is expected to nearly double in the next few years. That’s because the 21st Century G.I. Bill goes into effect next August. It covers veterans’ public college tuition and fees.

  In California that’ll be just over $22,000, enough to enroll at a UC or Cal State campus. Existing vets’ benefits only cover much cheaper community college costs. Murray Haberman of the California Postsecondary Education Commission says the bigger benefit package will improve the job prospects for thousands of men and women.

  Murray Haberman: As you increase your level of educational attainment, there’s a direct correlation between improved educational attainment and working income.

  Guzman-Lopez: Haberman says colleges need more state money to make sure there are enough classes and college advisors for all the new students. The benefits are expected to inject more than a half a billion dollars a year into the state economy.

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  • September 23, 2008 2:04 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Los Angeles County prepares to open new USC Medical Center

  It’s been five years in the making. In just a few more weeks, the new Los Angeles County USC Medical Center is scheduled to open. KPCC’s Patricia Nazario joined other reporters for a behind-the-scenes tour today.

  Patricia Nazario: Three buildings make up the facility: The Inpatient Tower, the Clinic Tower, and Diagnostics and Treatment.

  The 600-bed medical center includes a psychiatric ward for patients with medical conditions, a dedicated floor for jail inmates, and an emergency room with a state-of-the-art resuscitation wing.

  Dr. Ed Newton: There’s a certain spirit that we have in the old building.

  Nazario: Dr. Ed Newton, who supervises student physicians working at the county hospital’s ER, says he hopes that cooperative spirit will infuse the new facility. For years, he says, County-USC has run smoothly because caregivers, clerks, and janitors work together.

  Newton: We all get along so well for such a big enterprise, and I hope that transfers down here successfully.

  Nazario: The new hospital’s emergency room is about three times the size of the one in the old building. Hospital officials plan to refer less critically ill patients to a network of outpatient clinics for primary care services.

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  • September 22, 2008 6:40 PM
  • Categories: Health

• Martian rover Opportunity heads off to explore a new crater

  The Martian rover “Opportunity” is on the move on the Red Planet. It’s left Victoria Crater, where it’s stayed for two years, and it’s headed to a much bigger crater. KPCC’s Nick Roman has the rover’s itinerary.

  Nick Roman: It’s driving to Endeavour Crater, 14 miles in diameter. Victoria Crater, where “Opportunity” spent two years, is only a half-mile wide. Endeavour Crater is a seven-mile trip. That might take you about, oh, seven minutes. It’ll take “Opportunity” about two years. The rover only covers about 110 yards a day.

  On the plus side… The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is aiming its high-resolution cameras along the path. It’s looking for smooth Martian terrain that’ll save time and wear-and-tear on the rover.

  Even with that help, “Opportunity” might not make it. The twin rovers “Spirit” and “Opportunity” were supposed to last 90 days. Instead, they’ve been on the Red Planet enduring daily temperature swings of 180 degrees for almost five years. Now the scientists are trying to nurse “Opportunity” through its longest trip ever.

  Even if it doesn’t make it, there are tons of interesting rocks along the way. It’s always smart to take the scenic route.

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  • September 22, 2008 5:59 PM
  • Categories: Science/Technology, Transportation

• Commerce Department holds toll road hearing

  A federal panel will spend a few more hours at the Del Mar Fairgrounds today. The members are collecting comments on the plan to build a South Orange County toll road through a section of the San Onofre State Park. KPCC’s Nick Roman says toll road backers are trying to save the project that the California Coastal Commission killed last February.

  Nick Roman: After that decision, the agency behind the toll road appealed to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He has some authority here because the road cuts through federal land. When he agreed to hear the appeal, toll road opponents asked for the public hearing – and got it.

  Toll road backers spoke first. As they had in February, they testified the project will clear up the traffic jams that slow down Interstate 5 through San Clemente on most mornings and weekends. But in this hearing in front of federal officials, they also pushed the toll road’s “national security” benefits.

  They say it’s another evacuation route in case of brushfires, or an accident at the San Onofre nuclear plant. Local officials, environmentalists, and lots of surfers say the toll road won’t move traffic faster, but it will ruin Trestles, the famous surfing spot at San Onofre. The Commerce Secretary will listen to both sides, and announce a decision in January.

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  • September 22, 2008 5:16 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Toll road supporters and opponents debate whether to run it through beachfront state park

  The federal Commerce Department heard 10 hours of testimony today on plans for a 16-mile toll road through San Onofre State Park. The proposed six-lane highway would connect southern Orange County to northern San Diego County via Interstate 5.

  Santa Monica City Councilman and former state parks commissioner Bobby Shriver told KPCC that relieving traffic congestion is the wrong reason to route the toll road through a state park. He noted that the California Coastal Commission rejected the plan earlier this year.

  Bobby Shriver: “Using a state park for that is a big mistake. That’s why the parks commission, Democrats and Republicans were unanimously against it, that’s why the coastal commission voted 8-2 against it.”

  About 1,000 people attended today’s hearing; 650 of them testified. For the next 10 days the Commerce Department is accepting written public comment on the toll road plan.

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  • September 22, 2008 4:17 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Transportation

• Commerce Department hears testimony on potential 6-lane toll road through San Onofre State Park

  The federal Commerce Department heard 10 hours of testimony today on whether to allow a six-lane toll road to run through San Onofre State Park. The 16-mile road would connect southern Orange County to northern San Diego County via Interstate 5. Supporters including Governor Arnold Swarzenegger, say the Southland needs the toll road to fight congestion.

  Surfers, environmentalists, and other opponents contend that it will destroy the park and wreck the beach. Tustin Mayor Jerry Amante, who supports the road, told KPCC that the Commerce Department can overturn the decision if the road improves national security.

  Mayor Jerry Amante: “One only has to look back to our recent experience in northern San Diego County when the fires erupted and I-5 became a parking lot and then you recognize that having an alternative route for escape for people coming north out of San Diego in that instance would be critical.”

  The California Coastal Commission rejected the toll road plan in February. The Commerce Department can overturn that if it determines that the road serves the national interest and that its benefits outweigh its negative effects. Commerce will accept public comment on the issue for another 10 days.

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  • September 22, 2008 3:35 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Proposition 4 advocates debate the parental notification/abortion waiting period prop

  One of the hot-button measures on this year’s statewide ballot is Proposition 4. It would require a waiting period and parental notification before doctors could perform abortions on girls younger than 18. Grace Delaney with the “Yes on 4” campaign told KPCC that parents and guardians have the right to know if their daughters are getting abortions.

  Grace Delaney: “To give permission to things that seem innocuous compared to the seriousness of a chemical or surgical abortion, we just feel that it’s common that they should be aware that their minor daughter is scheduled to go in for this procedure that has long-term ramifications.”

  Planned Parenthood spokesman Vince Hall from the “No on 4” campaign characterized the ballot measure as extreme.

  Vince Hall: “Proposition 4 says not only can you not talk to your parent, but now you cannot seek medical care either. And that puts these teens in real danger, because they might go over the border, they might travel to a different state, they might try to self-induce abortion, or even contemplate suicide.”

  California voters have twice defeated earlier parental notification measures – most recently, three years ago.

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  • September 22, 2008 3:28 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Department of Transportation targets 50 intersections to reduce wait times

  The Los Angeles Department of Transportation is targeting 50 intersections where officials hope to reduce peak-hour wait times at traffic lights. KPCC’s Brian Watt heard the rundown at L.A. City Hall.

  Brian Watt: Devonshire Street at Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Chatsworth. Adams Boulevard at the Harbor Freeway near downtown L.A. These are two of the intersections up for improvement in the latest phase of Operation Bottleneck Relief.

  For three years, the transportation department has checked out 217 problem intersections using traffic sensors, cameras, and field engineers. At about half those places, the staff has tweaked the timing of the stop light, or installed a turn lane. General Manager Rita Robinson says that’s trimmed the wait time at those stoplights by about 8 seconds.

  Rita Robinson: We are the traffic. We can’t build our way out of it, so each small step, even though it seems like only seconds, it is another step in getting us to get to work safely, and most importantly, to get home safely.

  Watt: If eight seconds doesn’t sound like much, I’ll be back in about half that time…

  [3 seconds of silence]

  Watt: If you’re still waiting at a red light now, you’re probably ready to roll. The Transportation Department says those 8 idle seconds add up to 4,000 hours of bottleneck delays every day in L.A.

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  • September 22, 2008 3:16 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• San Fernando Valley Congressman Sherman criticizes Bush administration's bailout plan

  Perhaps it was predictable that lawmakers would go partisan when they reacted to the proposed federal bailout of financial institutions. San Fernando Valley Democratic congressman Brad Sherman characterized his view of the plan on KPCC’s AirTalk.

  Brad Sherman: “Right now it’s the Republican administration goes up to Wall Street and passes out the money to whoever they want to give it to, in return for toxic assets. No standards on how much you pay for an asset; no standards on choosing your friends, excluding your enemies. Just here’s 700 billion, give it to the bald guy, let him do what he wants with it.”

  Republican lawmakers have expressed concern that Democrats want to impose too many conditions on the economic rescue plan. The nation’s treasury secretary is urging its fast approval with minimal partisan bickering.

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  • September 22, 2008 2:23 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Democrats push to add provisions to President Bush's $700 billion bailout plan

  Democratic members of Congress are saying “not so fast” to President Bush’s $700 billion bailout plan for major financial institutions. They want to add a few provisions, including one to help homeowners who are facing the risk of foreclosure.

  California Senator Barbara Boxer told KPCC’s Air Talk that there are more foreclosures in California than in any other state. Last month, she said, 100,000 Californians received foreclosure notices and more than 33,000 lost their homes.

  Senator Barbara Boxer: “So, we need to make sure that we get to the root cause which means that some of these funds will be used to aggressively refinance some these mortgages so that people can pay but stay in their homes and we put a floor under this crises.”

  Boxer said her fellow Democratic lawmakers also want to give taxpayers some equity in the companies the federal government plans to assist.

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  • September 22, 2008 1:41 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA mayor and transportation planners announce 50 intersections to be targeted in Operation Bottleneck Relief

  L.A.’s mayor and transportation planners announced today they’re targeting 50 intersections in the latest phase of Operation Bottleneck Relief. Their goal is to reduce wait times at traffic signals where cars back up during peak hours. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that in its first three years, the effort has reduced delays at more than 100 intersections, and has cut traffic bottlenecks by about one-third.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “Operation Bottleneck demonstrates that you can address the big problems by sweating the small details. This traffic congestion relief effort will target the most highly trafficked intersections across the city, identify the optimal adjustments that need to be made in order to reduce congestion.”

  The adjustments can include tweaking the duration of a stop light or adding a left turn lane. The intersections on the target list include Franklin and Highland Avenues, and Adams Boulevard and the Harbor Freeway.

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  • September 22, 2008 1:37 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Congressional Dems look to add provisions to $700 billion Wall Street bailout

  While Republicans push for quick action on the federal government’s $700 billion bailout of financial institutions, Congressional Democrats want to add some provisions, including more oversight and help for homeowners facing foreclosure. San Fernando Valley congressman Brad Sherman told KPCC’s AirTalk that his fellow Democrats can use their larger numbers to enact the reforms they want.

  Brad Sherman: “Democratic leadership has to decide whether to roll over. And, obviously if they put this or anything else in the bill that the Republicans don’t like, there will be an enormous Wall Street cacophony of, ‘no, you have to pass our bill, otherwise we will shoot your 401K.’”

  Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has urged lawmakers not to delay the relief package with partisan squabbling.

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  • September 22, 2008 1:33 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• $1 billion LA County-USC Medical Center planned to open soon

  The new Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center is just a few weeks away from its scheduled opening. Hospital officials plan to relocate inpatients on October 17th and 18th. The facility’s “go to” guy Pete Delgado says there’s still a lot of work to do before the move.

  Pete Delgado: “People are in and out making sure the equipment is working, making sure that our major systems are working. They’re kicking the tires, looking under the hood, making sure that it’s ready to take out for our patients. That it’s safe and ready.”

  Relocating the most critically ill patients is a delicate process. Dozens of volunteers, including first responders and members of the U.S. Air Force, have signed up to help. The facility’s outpatient clinic opened last week.

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  • September 22, 2008 12:57 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Health

• Nancy Maynard, journalism pioneer, dies at age 61

  Journalists throughout the country are remembering a pioneer who helped open doors for many others in her field. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Nancy Maynard died in Los Angeles yesterday.

  Cheryl Devall: If not for black women like Nancy Hicks Maynard, this journalist might be doing something else for a living. From childhood, Maynard cultivated an interest in newspapers &nash; and in whose stories they weren’t telling. By the time she was 23, she was the first black woman on the metro reporting staff of the New York Times.

  Her contributions to the field extended beyond reporting, into media ownership and training. With her late husband Robert Maynard, she purchased the Oakland Tribune in the early 1980s. To this day, it remains the country’s only major metropolitan daily to have operated under black ownership.

  Thirty years ago, the Maynards also launched the Institute for Journalism Education, an organization that’s trained and helped advance the careers of thousands of people from the internship level to upper management. In recent years, from her base in Santa Monica, Nancy Maynard continued to write, speak, and consult widely, always promoting the importance of newsroom diversity. She was 61 years old when she died.

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  • September 22, 2008 12:48 PM
  • Categories: History, Society/Culture

• Democrats respond to financial rescue plan with their own proposals

  Congressional Democrats have introduced their own proposals in response to the government’s financial rescue plan. The $700 billion plan gives the treasury secretary the authority to take bad mortgage-related assets off the hands of financial companies. But Democrats say that Congress should maintain oversight over the rescue plan. Senator Barbara Boxer spoke with KPCC’s AirTalk.

  Senator Barbara Boxer: “There’s talk about a select committee, because several committees have oversight. A select committee in each of the houses, House and Senate, which could oversee this. This is something I’m very interested in seeing happen because, again, you’ve gotta say, OK, you use this first, say, hundred billion, or 200 billion. Now come in and tell us what did you do? How did you do it?”

  A proposal by Democratic Senator Chris Dodd also would allow judges to rewrite mortgages for homeowners who are having trouble making their monthly payments. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has voiced concern about adding too much to the proposal. During the weekend, he said it needs to be “clean and be quick.”

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  • September 22, 2008 12:21 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Congressman Waxman plans hearings to investigate Wall Street crisis

  L.A. Congressman Henry Waxman plans to convene hearings to investigate how the country’s financial crisis started. Waxman leads the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Jack Shaw of Market News International says Waxman has scheduled the hearings for next week.

  Jack Shaw: “He has one day set aside to probe the events surrounding Lehman Brothers with Lehman’s CEO. And the next day with the former leadership of AIG, the big insurance company. So Waxman really wants to sort of lay out what’s happened. I mean clearly he’s also going to try to focus on what the administration, Bush administration, has done in terms of deregulation.”

  Lehman Brothers investment bank filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week. Later in the week the Fed saved AIG from bankruptcy with an $85 billion loan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Waxman to look into the crisis. Some Republicans say they’re concerned that next week’s hearings will turn political.

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  • September 22, 2008 12:08 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• DWP's Nahai: L.A. needs to recycle and treat more wastewater

  Water managers for the city of Los Angeles are pushing a new blueprint for a sustainable water supply. At a meeting in Van Nuys with neighborhood leaders today, the General Manager of the Department of Water and Power, David Nahai, said L.A. needs to recycle and treat more wastewater to keep up with growing demand.

  David Nahai: “There is no pristine water supply anymore. Water is the most managed consumer product there is. Even our water that comes down from the aqueduct, it has to be cleaned. It’s the same thing with recycled water.”

  L.A. recycles about one percent of its water now. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s goal is to increase that to six percent. Nahai said that developing wastewater recycling projects like those in Orange County could help Los Angeles do the job.

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  • September 19, 2008 7:46 PM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology

• Disturbance breaks out at Santa Clarita jail facility

  Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials say as many as 150 inmates were involved in a disturbance at a jail facility in Santa Clarita today. Authorities say one inmate was hospitalized for chest pains and a sheriff’s deputy suffered minor injuries. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: The Pitchess Detention Center is a sprawling facility in northern L.A. County that houses 4,000 jail inmates. Authorities say the disturbance broke out in one of the dormitories around two in the afternoon. They’re investigating the cause.

  L.A.’s jails have a history of racial violence. Two years ago, the Pitchess facility erupted in what L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca called a full scale riot among 2,000 Latino and black inmates. Dozens were injured. An African American was killed. Baca has said that while gangs play a role in jail violence, much of it is caused by racial animus.

  Inmates often self-segregate, following the racial rules imposed by gangs like the Mexican Mafia in the California state prison system. Jail authorities also have resorted to segregation as a means to keep the peace.

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  • September 19, 2008 7:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Dead and wounded pelicans found on beach; abuse suspected

  Lifeguards and beachgoers found eleven dead and wounded pelicans suffering from broken wings this week at Bolsa Chica State Beach. Lisa Birkle with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center says only one survived the injuries.

  Lisa Birkle: “They appear to be intentionally inflicted. They don’t appear to be natural causes. They are all in the same location. The ten birds that didn’t survive were all less than a year old, so really didn’t have a really good fear of human beings. They were all found on the same beach within the same time period, and that has not ever happened in my experience as a wildlife rehabilitator.”

  Birkle says the federal Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the apparent abuse. The Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever’s responsible.

  LINK: Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center of Orange County

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  • September 19, 2008 6:14 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Environment

• Burbank ballet company holds "Nutcracker" auditions Sunday

  At this time of year, ballet schools and companies are getting ready for their biggest annual production: “The Nutcracker.” KPCC’s Hettie Lynne Hurtes has word about one of those companies in the Southland.

  Hettie Lynne Hurtes: Media City Ballet in Burbank is holding open-call auditions for a female dancer to portray Clara, one of the leads in this holiday favorite. The company’s looking for dancers between 16 and 22 years old, 5 feet 4 inches and under, with classical training. Dancers who pass the solo portion of the audition may be asked to stay to partner with another dancer and remain for callbacks.

  Media City Ballet has been a cultural staple in Burbank for 7 years. The company mounts three major productions a year, including the Nutcracker.

  Auditions are Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Performances are scheduled for December 6 and 7 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.

  LINK: www.mediacityballet.org

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  • September 19, 2008 6:04 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• Statewide beach cleanup set for Saturday

  Tomorrow, thousands of people all over California are expected to help clean up beaches and waterways for the annual Coastal Cleanup Day. Last year, volunteers picked up nearly a million pounds of trash in just three hours.

  Eben Schwartz with the California Coastal Commission says the cleanup isn’t just about the beaches. He says it’s also about cleaning up the trash that’s accumulated around rivers and streams.

  Eben Schwartz: “If we don’t pick it up now, that stuff is all going to wash out to the ocean and end up on our beaches, where it can harm marine wildlife, it can damage our economy. We want to get that trash before it hits the ocean in our inland waterways.”

  The 24th annual Coastal Cleanup Day runs from 9 a.m. to noon tomorrow at sites throughout the state. Last year, more than 60,000 volunteers took part. For more information, you can call 1-800-COAST-4-U.

  Link: California Coastal Cleanup Day

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  • September 19, 2008 5:31 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Sound of Music Singalong returns to the Hollywood Bowl

  Warm up your singing voice, and get that nun’s habit or Nazi uniform out of the closet. Tonight’s the night for the “Sound of Music” Singalong at the Hollywood Bowl. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde spoke with the actress who played Liesl in the original movie.

  Kitty Felde: Charmian Carr is a little older than she was when she played the oldest Von Trapp daughter in the 1965 film. These days, she’s an interior designer who specializes in medical facilities. But for the past eight years, she’s been leading the singing, and judging the costumes, at “Sound of Music” sing-alongs around the world. Carr says the costumes have gotten more elaborate.

  Charmian Carr: This person, because I couldn’t tell if it was a male or a female, came on stage with little tiny black balloons. They were blown up really small and they were glued to her entire body, or his entire body. And I pride myself on being able to guess so many costumes ‘cause I’ve done so many sing-alongs. I didn’t have a clue. And so I said, “Who are you?” “I’m the lonely goat turd.”

  [“The Lonely Goatherd” song plays]

  Felde: This is the sixth go-round for the singalong at the Bowl, and there are still a few tickets left. The costume parade begins at six, the movie at 7:30.

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  • September 19, 2008 5:18 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• Governor Schwarzenegger expected to sign $143 billion spending plan before Monday

  Looks as if California will finally get a budget after a stalemate that lasted more than 11 weeks. Governor Schwarzenegger is expected to sign off on the $143 billion spending plan before Monday. But KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde says some lawmakers are worried about next year’s budget.

  Kitty Felde: Some critics blame the logjam in Sacramento on the two-thirds vote the state requires to pass a budget. Democratic Assemblyman Mike Feuer is one of those critics. He’s working to craft a ballot proposal that would change the rule.

  Democratic Assemblyman Mike Feuer: “There’s going to have to be, I think, a very careful process which is done with some urgency at the same time, because we do need to make these changes in time for the next budget cycle. None of us wants to see 80 days of budget debate.”

  Felde: Feuer says California has other options besides a simple majority vote and the current two-thirds requirement. Illinois, for example, allows lawmakers to pass the budget with a simple majority – if they do it on time. After that, the budget requires a three-fifths vote.

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  • September 19, 2008 5:14 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Director of Ziman Center for Real Estate says there's not much help on the way for California economy

  The economy has put the entire country through the spin cycle this week, and that’s left California feeling especially dizzy. Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA’s Anderson School, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that there’s not much help on the way – at least not in the short run.

  Stuart Gabriel: “International trade will not be as strong as we had anticipated; consumer spending will not be as strong as we anticipated. Clearly the residential sector is weak across the board, so there are really few props, few sectors that we can turn to and look to in the current context that will be supportive of our California economy.”

  Residential construction and related industries are in a slump throughout the Southland, Ziman said – especially in Orange County and the Inland Empire.

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  • September 19, 2008 5:08 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Credit crisis hits Southland especially hard, according to real estate analyst

  The country’s credit crisis is trickling down into every sector of the economy – employment, retail and real estate. That’s hitting the Southland particularly hard, Stuart Gabriel of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA’s Anderson School told KPCC’s Patt Morrison.

  Stuart Gabriel: “Twenty-five percent of the nation’s housing market is in California. We’ve seen an implosion not only in construction activity – everything related to it, and of course we have major lenders here that have gone by the wayside as well. In particular Orange County and the Inland Empire have been very hard hit relative to either L.A. County, or the Bay Area, or other parts of California.”

  Two other pillars of the state’s economy, consumer spending and international trade, are also soft, Ziman said.

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  • September 19, 2008 5:05 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Thousands expected to participate in 24th annual Coastal Cleanup Day

  Expect big crowds at Southland beaches tomorrow morning – not to soak up rays and hit the waves, but for the 24th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day. Mike Schaadt with the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro is coordinating volunteers at Cabrillo Beach.

  Mike Schaadt: “We have beach cleanups, as we call them, many times during the year, but this particular day, tomorrow in the morning, we’re joining thousands of Californians and other citizens in the United States to help clean up our waterways.”

  Schaadt says that last year in California more than 60,000 volunteers picked up nearly 1 million pounds of trash. Organizers have scheduled cleanups from 9 to noon at beaches, bays, rivers, creeks, and lakes. It’s free and you don’t have to pre-register.

  Link: California Coastal Cleanup Day

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  • September 19, 2008 4:59 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Lawmakers return to Sacramento to vote on revised budget

  Lawmakers all over California are boarding planes this afternoon to return to Sacramento to vote on a revised budget. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has set the vote for 5 this afternoon. Democratic Assemblyman Mike Feuer from Los Angeles was one Southland lawmaker heading for a flight.

  Mike Feuer: I think at this point, today is the day when the budget finally gets ratified. At about 2 in the morning a couple of mornings ago, we were in the Capitol. And we thought the budget was done then. We returned to learn that the governor intended to veto the budget without some tweaks that he insisted on. And so now we’re going to come back in, do a budget that’s mildly amended, and we’re going to enable nursing homes, and daycare centers, and medical operators to function again.”

  The governor insisted that the legislature keep its hands off the so-called rainy day fund. He also objected to lawmakers’ proposal to accelerate the collection of state income taxes. This afternoon, lawmakers plan to vote on two bills. One would increase fines for businesses that underreport taxes. The other would place the state’s rainy day fund off-limits unless state revenues fall below projected spending.

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  • September 19, 2008 4:15 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Democratic Congressman Sherman criticizes Wall Street bailout

  Federal intervention in the country’s financial sector energized the stock markets today and sparked reaction among elected officials. Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman of the San Fernando Valley is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services. He told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the Bush administration aren’t exactly trying to rebuild Wall Street from scratch.

  Brad Sherman: “What the president is trying to get us to do is to, trying to do with Paulson acting as his front man, is to just give half a trillion to a trillion dollars to Wall Street in return for the worst investment securities they can find in the back of their closets.”

  Sherman said that money will come from taxpayers. The Treasury also has guaranteed money market investments up to $50 billion and the Securities and Exchange Commission has prohibited short-selling on hundreds of stocks. Both measures are temporary.

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  • September 19, 2008 4:12 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger to sign compromise budget deal

  Governor Schwarzenegger will sign a compromise budget deal after lawmakers gave in to his demands for budget reform. The governor had threatened to veto the $143 billion spending plan if they didn’t make the changes he wanted. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the budget deal today in Sacramento. H.D. Palmer with the Department of Finance told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that the compromise budget is better than it looks.

  H.D. Palmer: “Future governors and future legislatures will look back on this and say, ‘Y’know, they didn’t realize how important it was maybe when they passed the budget in September 2008.’ But the fact that we have a ‘rainy day fund’ that is being built up and can only be drawn down in economic bad times to help tide the state over ‘til good times, people will look back and say, ‘Well, that was a pretty significant accomplishment.’”

  Once the governor signs the budget, state money can begin flowing to schools, hospitals, and other institutions. The state budget is 81 days late.

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

• Head of Unite for Strength faction of SAG calls for unity after winning majority of board seats at stake

  In an election for the Screen Actors Guild board, a faction dissatisfied with the Guild’s Hollywood leaders has won a majority of the seats up for grabs. The “Unite for Strength” slate campaigned on the idea of patching up the damaged relationship with SAG’s sister union the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists. Unite For Strength’s leader Ned Vaughn spoke today with KPCC’s AirTalk.

  Ned Vaughn: “We have our two unions that represent actors now essentially competing, and that competition is something that only serves our employers; it’s very, very damaging to actors.”

  Vaughn ultimately wants the two unions to merge. SAG’s “Membership First” faction opposes that idea. It lost its majority in the board elections completed this week. The union’s next board meeting is October 18th. Before then it’s unlikely there’ll be much movement in talks between SAG and the TV and movie producers that stalled after their contract expired at the end of June.

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  • September 19, 2008 2:50 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy

• Federal government's financial market intervention serves psychological function, according to analyst

  The federal government’s intervention in the financial markets today serve an important psychological function, Marketplace Money’s economic editor Chris Farrell told KPCC’s AirTalk.

  Chris Farrell: “It’s like your house is burning down and the firemen come, and they put out the fire, and then you worry about other issues later on. That’s what they are trying to do, put out the fire, calm people down, bring back confidence, the trust that is so important to lending and borrowing institutions.”

  The emergency measures President Bush described this morning as “warranted and essential” included putting a temporary stop to short-selling stocks and guaranteeing the safety of money-market funds where many Americans invest their retirement money. Stock markets around the world rallied on news of the federal intervention.

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  • September 19, 2008 2:48 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Federal grand jury indicts 8 Ralphs managers over employee lockout

  A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted eight current and former Ralphs managers today in connection with the employee lockout that began five years ago. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says the indictments echo the country’s longest and larger labor dispute in the grocery business.

  Cheryl Devall: Three major Southland supermarket chains – Ralphs, Albertson’s, and Vons – locked out about 70,000 workers after their union launched a walkout over failed contract talks. The indictments allege that managers at Ralphs rehired hundreds of those workers using false names and Social Security numbers during the lockout.

  The idea was to keep the stores staffed and avert losing market share to other stores. The grand jury also claims that the managers lied to investigators about the hires. The indictments follow Ralphs’ guilty plea two years ago to charges that it had shared profits with the other two companies in the labor dispute.

  The company paid $70 million in fines to settle that case. A spokeswoman for Ralphs’ parent company, Kroger, said the grocery chain has been cooperating with the U.S. attorney and that the latest indictments do not change the terms of Ralphs’ earlier settlement.

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  • September 19, 2008 2:05 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Emergency economic measures reassure markets, but could cost up to $1 trillion

  Emergency measures the federal government took today to shore up the economy – halting short-selling of stock, guaranteeing money market funds, and other actions – may have reassured the markets. But analyst Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute told KPCC’s AirTalk that those measures, and the recent government bailout of major financial institutions, will come with a big price tag.

  Lakshman Achuthan: “First we should just pause for a second – a trillion dollars. That’s the number being tossed around, because quite frankly they don’t know, but it could easily go that high. And that is our money – that’s taxpayers’ money.”

  At the White House today, President Bush said federal intervention to calm the markets was warranted and essential. Stock markets around the world surged upward in response.

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  • September 19, 2008 1:55 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Metro blue line train crashes into Metro bus south of downtown LA, 15 suffer minor injuries

  A Metro blue line train crashed into a Metro bus south of downtown Los Angeles this morning. The front cars of the train derailed. 15 people suffered minor injuries. Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Rick Jager said the bus was mostly empty at the time of the crash.

  Rick Jager: “The bus was out of service – it had no passengers. A mechanic was taking it for a test ride following repairs to the bus when the accident occurred.”

  Jager said the mechanic was not hurt, but the operator of the Blue Line train was taken to a hospital. The crash happened at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Griffith Avenue, just south of the 10 Freewsay. Another Metro spokesman said earlier this morning that it appeared the bus had turned in front of the train. But it was not clear who had the right of way.

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  • September 19, 2008 11:22 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Insurance Commissioner: AIG's failure should not worry Californians

  With the near failure of insurance giant AIG, Californians may be worried about their own insurance. AIG owns 25 firms in California, including 21st Century, which merged with AIG last year. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner says he supports the federal bailout of American International Group. And he says California consumers shouldn’t worry.

  Steve Poizner: “The good news is that there’s insurance protection laws already in place … that require each insurance company doing business in California to put aside cash reserves to pay off all legitimate claims that might come up …”

  Poizner, who’s running for governor, says the $85 billion federal loan AIG has received won’t require any liens on its California companies.

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  • September 19, 2008 8:24 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• USC students react to university's text message alert after stabbing

  The LAPD hasn’t made any arrests in the early morning fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old University of Southern California student. Police are now accepting tips by text message. As KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports, that’s how USC got the word out about the tragedy.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Third-year biology student Scott Greenberg reads the text message beamed to his cell phone by USC at about six in the morning.

  Scott Greenberg (reading text message): “Student Bryan Richard Frost died after stab wounds after two a.m. altercation in the area of 28th and Orchard Street.”

  Guzman-Lopez: It’s tragic, Greenberg says, but he’s happy he signed up for Trojans Alert after last year’s deadly Virginia Tech campus shootings.

  About half of USC’s employees and students have not given the university their cell numbers for the service. Junior Bryant Trent is one of them.

  Bryant Trent: The university should kind of let more students know about it. Because when I first started here I didn’t really know about that system until recently, actually. So, I’m probably going to sign up for it really soon.

  Guzman-Lopez: Lots of other universities use text message alerts. Many sent alerts after July’s earthquake. USC officials say they’ve put a priority on text messaging because, for the time being, it’s the technology that gets students’ attention.

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  • September 18, 2008 7:00 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• USC officials use text message for first time to alert about student homicide

  Police are still looking for suspects in the fatal stabbing of a student near the University of Southern California campus early today. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez reports tens of thousands of people found out about the death of the 23-year-old man through a USC text message.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: USC, UCLA, and other Southland universities set up text message alert systems after the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech a year ago. USC has sent alerts this year after a chemical spill and after the July earthquake. Officials say the fatal stabbing was tragic and the USC community needed to know about it right away. David Carlisle of USC’s Department of Public Safety says text is the most reliable way to get a message to students.

  Davidi Carlisle: What our experience has been here in the last few years has been that students tend no longer to look at their email but they are very cognizant of text messages. They use them much more than email.

  Guzman-Lopez: But the voluntary Trojans Alert system doesn’t reach most USC students and employees. Carlisle’s urging more people to sign up. Meanwhile, the LAPD’s investigating the fatal stabbing, and text messaging could help find a suspect. Police this week launched Text-A-Tip, a way to send an anonymous tip by text message.

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  • September 18, 2008 4:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• Factions debate over SAG board elections, idea of merging with AFTRA

  Hollywood is waiting for the Screen Actors Guild to announce the results of its national board elections. Representatives of two rival factions fighting for a majority of the board sparred this afternoon on KPCC’s “Patt Morrison.” One subject that divides them is whether SAG should merge with its sister union, AFTRA. Actor Googy Gress of the “Unite for Strength” faction believes one union should represent all actors.

  Googy Gress: “That will be the way in which we’ll be the strongest and the most united, and be able to get that which we most need, and that is a way to make a living in these very rapidly changing times.”

  Anne Marie Johnson of the “Membership First” group currently holding the majority on the SAG Board sees things differently.

  Anne Marie Johnson: We believe that merging with another union that has a lot of financial concerns, that has had a habit for the past, oh, since 2006, of undercutting contracts just to gain jurisdiction is not the appropriate party to be in bed with.”

  About a third of the seats are up for grabs in an election that could change the tone of the Guild’s contract negotiations with film and TV producers. Those talks are stalled right now, and the Guild’s members continue to work under their old contract.

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  • September 18, 2008 4:49 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy

• USC officials use text message to alert students and employees about student homicide

  A University of Southern California film student was stabbed to death near the campus early this morning. Within hours, USC officials had notified tens of thousands of students and employees of the homicide, using a year-old text message notification system. David Carlisle of USC’s Department of Public Safety says the system was used after July’s earthquake and to warn of a chemical spill. But he says this was the first time used in a case like this.

  David Carlisle: “The death of a student in these circumstances is a rare and extraordinary event. And many people would hear rumors of what occurred, rumors would fly, parents would be unnecessarily upset. We felt that it was important to let the campus community know because this is such a rare occurrence here.”

  Carlisle says a campus-wide e-mail followed the text. But he says the priority was the text message because students don’t pay as much attention to e-mails. The LAPD hasn’t announced any arrests in the death.

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  • September 18, 2008 4:46 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education, Science/Technology

• Kaiser releases two-time train crash survivor Richard Myles

  He’ll use a wheelchair and wear a neck brace for a few months, but two-time train crash survivor Richard Myles is out of the hospital. Myles was injured in last Friday’s head-on collision between a Metrolink train and a locomotive pulling a long string of freight cars. He also survived the Glendale train crash nearly four years ago. Before going home, the Los Angeles City worker told reporters the Glendale accident did less physical harm.

  Richard Myles: “During the first accident, I was able to provide assistance to other people. I didn’t realize how therapeutic that is for the people that are rendering the assistance. We probably get more out of it than the people that we’re helping. This time around I was pretty unable to do that, so there’s a lot of guilt there, because I unable to be useful or do anything.”

  At times during the news conference, Myles choked back tears and said he feels guilty that he wasn’t able to do more to help other hurt passengers. Myles broke his collar bone in the wreck, and suffered other fractures. Surgeons were concerned about nerve injury, but they’re predicting Myles will make a complete recovery.

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  • September 18, 2008 4:44 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Cadiz Company leases private land for water pipeline under private desert land

  A plan to store Southern California water under private desert land has gotten a boost. The Cadiz Company has leased private land next to railroad tracks for a pipeline. L.A.-based Cadiz has long wanted to pump excess Colorado River water into an underground storage bank in the Mojave Desert, but environmentalists blocked the project from crossing federal lands. Cadiz CEO Rick Stoddard says putting a pipeline next to train tracks solves the problem.

  Rick Stoddard: “The right of way is an active railroad right of way so that it is previously disturbed, so that part of the project will have very little environmental effect.”

  Cadiz plans to charge fees to users for pumping water into and out of the underground bank. Stoddard says new rainfall data will help the company avoid damaging the environment with pumping operations. The plan still needs approval from San Bernardino County.

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  • September 18, 2008 4:31 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Groups call on Governor Schwarzenegger to sign bill to provide civil court interpreters

  Legal aid and Latino and Asian advocacy groups called on Governor Schwarzenegger today to sign legislation that would provide court interpreters when needed in civil cases. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: California law mandates court interpreters in criminal cases involving non-English speakers, but not in a lot of civil ones. For example, says Karin Wang of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, a woman trying to escape an abusive husband might obtain a court interpreter when she seeks a restraining order. But then, says Wang, she’s on her own.

  Karin Wang: The reality of the situation is the abused woman may then have related divorce proceedings, a child custody battle, and because she can not get an interpreter guaranteed, she could very well lose her child to her abuser. Because she could not communicate with the court.

  Watt: Wang says this happens a lot to women who seek legal assistance at her center. Assembly Bill 3050 proposes providing interpreters in cases involving non-English speakers who can’t afford them. The measure would pay for the interpreters’ services with a fee of about $15 charged to lawyers when they appear in court by telephone.

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  • September 18, 2008 2:59 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Metrolink leaves letters for passengers on this morning's trains

  Metrolink passengers got mail this morning. The rail agency tried to reassure “loyal” members of the “Metrolink Family” of the safety and reliability of its trains over the past 15 years. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: Thursday morning riders on Metrolink found a letter on each seat on the train… the first message the rail service directed at all its passengers since last Friday’s crash. It said Metrolink “will work tirelessly to determine the cause” of the crash so something similar “will never happen again.”

  The letter went on to say that “personal safety continues to be” Metrolink’s “top priority.” The letter’s signed by the rail service’s chief executive officer and the board chair. Metrolink isn’t alone in talking to train commuters. A self-described “Metrolink Accident Injury Lawyer” put an ad in the LA Times asking crash survivors to call so he can talk to them about their “rights.”

  The Metrolink board has voted to create a $200,000 temporary assistance fund to help the families of those killed or injured in the September 12th crash. The board also voted to give refunds to passengers on the Ventura County Line who’ve decided to quit riding the train.

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  • September 18, 2008 2:51 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Groups back legislation to provide court interpreters in civil cases

  A bill to provide court interpreters for non-English speakers in civil cases is on its way to the governor’s desk. Legal aid and Latino and Asian advocacy groups want him to sign it into law. Democratic Assemblyman Dave Jones of Sacramento wrote the measure. He told a downtown L.A. news conference that judges often make do with any interpreter they can find.

  Dave Jones: “Two adults are engaged in a dispute over very, very important sensitive family matters. Sometimes the courts will have to have the children interpret for their parents. I’ve talked to judges across the state and heard stories of judges who grabbed someone in the hallway, a total stranger, to interpret for a family in a dispute.”

  The legislation would provide interpreters only for low-income non-English speakers. It proposes paying for the interpreters with a small fee charged to lawyers when they appear in court by telephone.

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  • September 18, 2008 2:46 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Prison guards union re-elects president

  The state’s powerful prison guards union re-elected its president today. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: The vote is significant because union president Mike Jimenez wants prison guards to support a recall campaign against Governor Schwarzenegger. At the Las Vegas meeting to re-elect Jimenez union president, giant signs read “Get ready for the ride of your life – Total Recall,” a reference to Schwarzenegger’s 1990 movie.

  But guards appear split over the issue. Many guards are angry over Schwarzenegger’s refusal to approve pay raises and his move to reduce the union’s influence over prisons. One told the Associated Press the union “needs to send the governor a message.”

  But another guard questioned whether the union was prepared to spend up to $3 million collecting enough signatures to force a recall election. He said “nobody’s that mad at this governor.” Schwarzenegger has called the recall threat an “intimidation tactic.”

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  • September 18, 2008 12:16 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger's budget veto strategy may be working

  Governor Schwarzenegger’s threat to veto the budget and most other legislation appears to be working. Yesterday, legislative leaders offered to make changes the governor wants to the state’s rainy day fund. But now, as KPCC Julie Small reports, the Governor’s pressing for more changes.

  Julie Small: Democrats offered to meet Schwarzenegger’s demands to make it harder to dip into the state’s rainy day fund. They did that to avoid the governor’s veto and the difficulty of coming up with the votes needed for an override. But the Governor then demanded Democrats dump a plan to withhold 10 percent more in state taxes from Californians’ paychecks.

  And he might succeed: the Democrats passed that bill , which would raise $4 billion through accelerated tax collection, without Republican support. So it would be a lot tougher to get the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. Republicans would now have to support it, and that’s what’s in question.

  One thing the Governor hasn’t talked about: Schwarzenegger himself proposed $3 billion in tax accelerations in that bill, like compelling quarterly tax filers to pay more tax earlier in the year and suspending corporate net operating losses.

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  • September 18, 2008 11:34 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Hospitals, Red Cross, and other organizations host blood drives in response to Metrolink crash

  In response to Friday’s Metrolink crash, hospitals, the American Red Cross, and other organizations have hosted blood donation drives. KPCC’s Brian Watt stopped by one Thursday at Los Angeles Police headquarters downtown.

  Brian Watt: After the train crash, the Red Cross shipped 400 pints of blood to Southland hospitals. The non-profit had collected that blood days if not weeks before. The organization’s Cliff Numark expected more than 1,000 people to roll up their sleeves in response to the latest call for donors.

  Cliff Numark: We hope that we can sustain this level of giving every day throughout the year because that’s what it takes to have a five- to seven-day supply of blood on hand to be prepared when the next disaster strikes.

  Watt: Like many of the people who showed up at Parker Center, Camille Dudley of Alta Dena is a veteran donor. She’s made it a habit for 10 years.

  Camille Dudley: I just hope that others will also come in and donate blood. Not just when we have a tragedy, but just on a regular basis, because there’s always a need.

  Watt: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials also stopped in to make their donations.

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  • September 18, 2008 11:12 AM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Red Cross and LA mayor's crisis response team hold blood drive in response to Metrolink crash

  In response to Friday’s Metrolink train crash, the American Red Cross and the Los Angeles Mayor’s crisis response team held a blood drive yesterday at the LAPD’s downtown headquarters. There and across the region, coordinated blood drives aimed to collect 1,000 pints of blood. Dozens of donors ensured a healthy response. Donor recruiter Cliff Numark says the Red Cross and Southland hospitals could really use it.

  Cliff Numark:” The patients who were injured in that train crash were benefited by folks who had donated blood days if not weeks before. We need to have an ongoing supply of blood to prepare for the next disaster, as well as the daily disasters, such as organ transplants, car accident victims, gunshot victims, cancer patients.”

  Numark says the Red Cross sent 400 pints of blood to area hospitals after the crash. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was among the city officials who rolled up their sleeves to give blood.

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  • September 18, 2008 10:03 AM
  • Categories: Health, Transportation

• UCI launches new institute to study how the poor use money

  UC Irvine is launching a new institute that will study how people with little money use what money they have. Maybe that sounds pointless, but KPCC’s Nick Roman says there’s a very important point to the research.

  Nick Roman: UCI’s new Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion will study how the world’s “last billion,” the poorest of the poor, spend and save money. The aim is to help the “last billion” do something they’ve never done before: use banks to grow their money, and grow out of poverty.

  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is paying for the research center. Its focus will be on developing financial products for poor people, like “M-banking.” That stands for “mobile banking.” In parts of the world, there aren’t many banks, but there are lots of cell phones.

  In Africa, the telecommunications firm Safaricom offers an M-banking service to transfer money securely by text message. The new institute at UCI will study it. Irvine anthropologist Bill Maurer is the institute’s founding director. He says M-banking has exploded thanks to computer and phone innovations, but there’s been little research into how people actually use it. That’s his job now.

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  • September 18, 2008 9:59 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Science/Technology, Society/Culture

• Motown writer-producer Norman Whitfield dies at 67

  Bet you’re wondering how we knew. The producer and co-writer of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and other Motown hits died Tuesday in Los Angeles. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Norman Whitfield was 67 years old.

  [” I Heard it Through the Grapevine” plays]

  Cheryl Devall: The sound was unmistakable. The production, the right combination of elements to make the record work, was Norman Whitfield’s. With “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “Just My Imagination,” Whitfield moved Detroit-based Motown from its roots in romantic pop and toward social relevance during the volatile 1960s and ’70s.

  He won two Grammy Awards – one for producing and co-writing the Temptations’ breakout hit “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” and another for the Rose Royce theme to the movie “Car Wash.” Troubles tinged Whitfield’s success. Three years ago he pleaded guilty to tax evasion for failing to report more than $4 million dollars in income. The court fined him $25,000 and sentenced him to home detention, an acknowledgment of the diabetes and other health problems that shortened Norman Whitfield’s life.

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  • September 18, 2008 9:55 AM
  • Categories: Arts

• Police raid Orange County swap meet

  A raid on one of Orange County’s most popular swap meets has turned up a bumper crop of pirated compact discs, music videos, and designer fashions. More on the story from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: Knockoffs at swap meets aren’t a new problem, but it looks as if law enforcement’s cracking down. Huntington Beach police and investigators from the Recording Industry Association of America targeted the Golden West College Swap Meet on Sunday.

  A police spokesman says they turned up about $34,000 worth of bootleg music and videos, and another $45,000 of fake designer sunglasses, handbags, and clothing. Seven people are likely to face criminal charges. The open-air market sets up every weekend in the parking lot of Golden West College in Huntington Beach.

  The swap meet’s Web site explicitly warns vendors that it’s illegal to sell counterfeit items. The Recording Industry Association, the group that sponsors the Grammy Awards, estimates that the music business loses more than $12 billion a year on illegal downloads and pirated tunes.

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  • September 17, 2008 5:16 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• LAPD launches system for sending tips via text message

  If you have a tip that might help Los Angeles Police solve a crime, you can send it to the cops in a text message. The LAPD briefed KPCC’s Brian Watt today on its new “text to tip” system.

  Brian Watt: Here’s how it works: a cell phone user sends a text message to the numbers on the keypad that spell the word “CRIMES.” The message must begin with the letters “LAPD,” followed by the tip. A third-party software program captures the tip, routes it to the police, and assigns the tipster a code. That code allows the tipster to remain anonymous, and to text in more information.

  Charlie Beck: We have three cases that we think will be very well served by this text to tip line.

  Watt: That’s LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck. He’s asking for the public’s help in solving the serial killings in South Los Angeles, a recent string of robberies in the Newton area, and the slaying of L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Escalante.

  Beck: We believe that there are people in the public that have information that have not come forward for various factors. And we are hoping that somebody will, because of their assurance of anonymity, be able to text us, or give us information via our Web site that will lead to an arrest here.

  Watt: The LAPD’s using a similar system to handle tips via e-mail.

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  • September 17, 2008 5:03 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Governor Schwarzenegger formally responds to prison guards union recall effort

  Governor Schwarzenegger today formally responded to the prison guards union nascent effort to recall him from office. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze has more.

  Frank Stoltze: Schwarzenegger labeled the recall effort “special interest politics at its worst.” He accused the prison guards’ union of trying to pressure him to pay its members bigger salaries. The governor filed his response with California Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

  In its recall petition, the union accused Schwarzenegger of “leadership failings and inept management.” A union spokesman pointed to the budget deficit as an example. He denied that the union was using the recall to obtain a better contract.

  The union must submit recall language to the secretary of state before it circulates petitions. More than 1 million registered voters would need to sign it to force a recall election. Analysts say that such a petition drive could cost up to $3 million. The guards’ union, one of the biggest political spenders in the state, hasn’t said what it’s willing to spend on the recall effort.

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  • September 17, 2008 5:00 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LAPD chief recommends changes in how LAPD deals with crowd control

  Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has recommended some changes in the way his department deals with crowd control. Those changes follow another Bratton recommendation: that the LAPD fire four police officers involved in the violent aftermath of an immigration march on May Day last year. The department has disciplined 11 officers, and that’s not all, Bratton told KPCC’s Patt Morrison.

  Chief William Bratton: “We put every member of the Los Angeles police department through a full day of training in the protocols relative to crowd control and crowd management based on the new training. Every two years we are already designing the next training regimen which will be given the year after next. Every two years we will be putting every officer through that training.”

  Bratton also said that all officers involved in tactical operations will wear helmets that clearly display their identification numbers. Many people who were in MacArthur Park the day of the melee said officers had covered those numbers on their badges.

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  • September 17, 2008 4:56 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• State air board argues greenhouse gas reduction will save Californians money, strengthen economy

  A new report from the state’s air board argues that greenhouse gas reduction efforts will save Californians money and make the state’s economy stronger. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports.

  Molly Peterson: The state law that requires greenhouse gasses cut down to the level they were at 18 years ago also requires analysis about what that will do to the economy. Both the reduction and the analysis are overseen by the California Air Resources Board, and regulators have now released the first of what will be several economic forecasts about new laws in this area.

  The analysis concludes that if the state continued business as usual, California’s economy would grow by about 43 percent over the dozen years. But the report’s authors think greenhouse gas reduction will make the economy slightly stronger.

  They point to savings from energy efficiency measures as a good push to economic growth. And they say that under the “business as usual” model, the state would remain at greater risk economically because of its dependence on petroleum and other fossil fuels.

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  • September 17, 2008 4:23 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• LAPD Chief Bratton recommends firing 4 officers involved in May Day melee

  Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton explained why he’s recommended firing four officers involved in last year’s “May Day” melee in MacArthur Park. Bratton told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that he’s forwarding those officers’ cases to the Board of Rights, a disciplinary panel, over their alleged conduct toward immigrants’ rights demonstrators and journalists.

  Chief William Bratton: “We are not scapegoating these officers. I’m going where the truth takes me. We are doing this in a very fair, very transparent process. And I think it’s generally understood that in the history of this department there’s never been a more self-critical report than the one we issued.”

  The Board of Rights, two LAPD command officers and a civilian, will review the officers’ cases. In the meantime, the four officers will keep their jobs.

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  • September 17, 2008 4:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• $8 billion trailer bill to improve prison medical care defeated

  With all the hoopla over the governor’s threat to veto the state budget, the defeat of a trailer bill that would have improved prison medical care has garnered little attention. KPCC’s Julie Small reports that the demise of the $8 billion plan could hold severe consequences for California and the deficit.

  Julie Small: A federal court appointed Clark Kelso to improve inmates’ medical care. Months ago Kelso tried to get a bill passed to construct new prison hospitals and improve existing ones. The price tag was $8 billion. But because the plan used borrowed money it wouldn’t deepen this year’s deficit.

  Senate Republicans twice defeated the bill; they said it was too expensive. That’s when Kelso demanded that the governor order the state controller to provide the money. When that failed, Kelso asked the federal court to order California to pay the $8 billion. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for early next month.

  Democratic legislators had hoped to avoid that showdown by passing a budget trailer bill. Again it would have paid for prison hospital construction with bonds. Republicans defeated it again. Now the federal government may order the state to pay the money out of the general fund. That could blow a crater-sized hole in the deficit lawmakers just patched up.

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  • September 17, 2008 3:50 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• LAPD accepts crime tips via text messaging

  It’s easy, starting today, to tip off the Los Angeles Police Department about crimes with a text message. To use the “text to tip” system, a cell phone user sends a text message to the numbers on the keypad that spell the word “CRIMES.” Police Captain Joel Justice says the sender must also begin the message with the letters “LAPD.”

  Joel Justice: “The tipster will immediately receive a message back stating that if this is an emergency to call 911, along with an alias. That alias allows us to communicate with the tipster to get additional information should they choose to do so.”

  The alias also allows the tipster to remain anonymous. The LAPD’s using a similar system to handle tips via e-mail.

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  • September 17, 2008 3:37 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Science/Technology

• LA Times employees file class action lawsuit against Sam Zell and Tribune Company for destroying Times' value

  Some former and current employees of the Los Angeles Times have filed a class-action lawsuit against Sam Zell and Tribune Company, the Times’ corporate parent. They claim that Zell, who’s been Tribune’s CEO for less than a year, has mismanaged funds and destroyed the company’s value.

  On Zell’s watch, the Times and other Tribune media outlets have eliminated hundreds of jobs and the company is more than $12 billion in debt. Phil Gregory is the plaintiffs’ attorney. He told KPCC’s Larry Mantle that Zell has misused Tribune’s employee stock ownership plan to pay off some of that debt.

  Phil Gregory: “What you had before Sam Zell came along is a number of people who were being paid out of their pensions and their pensions were secure. Sam Zell has been in charge for a little over a year but he’s playing with the lives at hearts of Angelenos and put their pensions at risk.”

  Gregory said he wants a full investigation into Zell’s handling of the pension and employee stock ownership plans. In a statement issued today, Zell characterized the lawsuit as “filled with frivolous and unfounded allegations.”

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  • September 17, 2008 3:35 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Present and former LA Times employees file lawsuit against Times' parent company and CEO Zell

  Present and former employees of the Los Angeles Times filed suit against Tribune Company and its chief executive Sam Zell yesterday in a federal court in Los Angeles. They allege that Zell has mismanaged the Times’ parent company and has destroyed its value, putting employee pensions at risk. The only plaintiff who’s still working at the paper is Pulitzer Prize-winning auto writer Dan Neil. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that he had no moral qualms about suing Zell.

  Dan Neil: “I just watched in horror as the office that I work in was gradually populated by more and more empty desks. And it wasn’t just the people who had taken the ‘buy out’ or who had been laid off. It was this miasma of bad moral that drove off some of the most talented people we had in the building and I just couldn’t sit by and watch the institution suffer like that.”

  Since Zell became chairman and chief executive of Tribune Company last December he has eliminated more than 1,000 jobs at its various properties. In a statement about the lawsuit, Zell wrote: “I hope every partner in this company is as outraged as I am at having to spend the time and money required to defend ourselves against it.”

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  • September 17, 2008 3:31 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Former LA Republican mayor Riordan explains why he supports Obama and doesn't respect McCain

  It was a lovely evening, if you had the $28,500 per plate for dinner outside historic Greystone Mansion. Guests included studio executives, lawyers such as Paul Keesel, who is representing the family of one of the people killed in the Metrolink train wreck, and a prominent local Republican, former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan. The mayor says he’s had zero contact with Barack Obama until now. But his lack of respect for John McCain dates back to Riordan’s days in City Hall.

  Richard Riordan: “He took the airlines’ side in some fights I had over the airport. And then wrote some letters that were inaccurate, but would not take my calls to try to correct them. I soured totally on him.”

  Riordan says despite his support for Obama, he’s still a Republican and supports Republican candidates for statewide office.

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  • September 17, 2008 12:17 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Former LA Republian mayor Riordan supports Obama

  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was in southern California last night, attending a pair of fundraisers in Beverly Hills. In attendance was the usual crop of Hollywood political activists, but also former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan. He told KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde why he’s not supporting fellow Republican John McCain.

  Richard Riordan: “We want the best person to be president of the United States, whether they’re Republican or Democrat, and now I think clearly Obama is the best candidate. But I’m still basically a Republican, I’m supporting Republicans in the Senate and Assembly, everywhere else.”
  Kitty Felde: “Well, it surprises me, Mr. Mayor. When I think about a maverick Republican, yours is the name that comes to mind. It surprises me that you’re not supporting Mr. McCain.”
  Riordan: “When I was mayor I had dealings with McCain where I didn’t respect him.”

  Riordan says McCain never returned his phone calls about an airport matter. The Beverly Hills fundraisers, an outdoor dinner at Greystone Mansion and a concert with Barbra Streisan, were expected to break the one day political fundraising record.

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  • September 17, 2008 12:14 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger threatens to veto hundreds of bills

  Governor Schwarzenegger says hundreds of bills will be in jeopardy if the legislature overrides his veto of the state budget. The governor’s spokesman, Aaron McLear, spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle.

  Aaron McLear: “The way he put it yesterday was he’s gonna be very busy with the veto pen. He’s gonna analyze every bill that comes to his desk just like he always does. But, however, as he warned the legislatures yesterday, if they override the veto, he’s going to use that veto pen much more heavily and send back hundreds and hundreds of bills without his signature.”

  Lawmakers approved the budget early yesterday morning. But Schwarzenegger said he’ll veto it when it hits his desk this week. The governor said the spending plan doesn’t include enough measures to restrain spending in the future. He also was concerned that the plan would push big deficits into next fiscal year.

  Legislative leaders responded by saying they will work to override the veto. Two-thirds of lawmakers in both legislative bodies would have to approve an override. That’s the same proportion of votes they needed to approve the budget in the first place.

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  • September 17, 2008 11:35 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LAPD chief and LA County sheriff endorse Proposition A

  Two of the region’s top law enforcement officers yesterday endorsed Proposition “A” on the November ballot in the city of Los Angeles. The proposed parcel tax would provide money to gang prevention programs. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Prop A would place a $3-a-month tax on all residential and commercial property in the city. It would raise $30 million a year for gang prevention and intervention programs.

  Bill Bratton: We have repeatedly indicated that we cannot arrest our way out of the gang problems that are so pernicious in this city and in this county.

  Stoltze: LAPD Chief Bill Bratton joined L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca in supporting A.

  Lee Baca: The voters cannot afford to not vote for this initiative. Either we address the problem where it can be changed, or we do business as usual.

  Stoltze: Proposition “A” faces likely opposition from anti-tax groups. It requires approval from two-thirds of the city’s voters to become law.

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  • September 17, 2008 11:32 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Investigators plan to interview 2 people from the freight train involved in Metrolink crash

  Today, federal investigators plan to interview two people who were on the freight train that collided with a Metrolink train last Friday. Twenty-five people died and more than 100 people were injured on the commuter train. KPCC’s Steve Julian says every day seems to bring more questions.

  Steve Julian: Investigators said yesterday that the engineer of the freight train applied his emergency brakes in the seconds before the crash, but Metrolink engineer Robert Sanchez did not. Investigators want to know why. The crash happened after the Metrolink train failed to stop for a red light, went through a closed switch, bending it like a banana, and crashed head on into the Union Pacific freight train.

  Investigators determined earlier this week that the signal that should have displayed the red light did work. Investigators also are looking at the split shift that Sanchez worked last Friday. He started at 6, worked for three hours, and then was back on the clock at 2. The crash happened about two hours later.

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  • September 17, 2008 9:36 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• LAPD Chief Bratton Recommends Officers be Fired for May Day Actions

  LAPD Chief Bill Bratton today recommended that his department fire four officers for their role in last year’s clash between police and demonstrators on May Day. Videotape shows police officers clubbing and firing rubber bullets at peaceful immigrants’ rights marchers and journalists. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: Bratton says he’s ordered the four officers to appear before an LAPD Board of Rights panel of two commanders and one civilian.

  Chief Bill Bratton: When I send someone to the board of rights, it is my belief that if the allegations made against the officers are determined to be accurate and can be proven, that the officers be terminated.

  Stoltze: Bratton recommended that another 11 officers face discipline ranging from a reprimand to a ten-day suspension. Initially, the chief said 29 officers may have been involved in misconduct. But investigators scanning video footage could not clearly identify some of those officers in their riot helmets. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said it can be hard to prove allegations of police misconduct.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: Our system of justice has never pretended to be always fair in every instance.

  Stoltze: The city faces more than 300 lawsuits from people who claim they were injured in the clash with police. The union that represents officers issued a statement that said the department’s planning and training practices – not officers – are to blame for last year’s May Day incident.

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  • September 16, 2008 6:04 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Section of track where Metrolink train crash happened reopens

  Trains are running again on the section of track where last Friday’s deadly Metrolink train crash happened. KPCC’s Nick Roman says repairs are finished, and so are the track tests to help investigators figure out why the crash happened.

  Nick Roman: The first passenger train to travel through the crash site was the Amtrak Surfliner to Santa Barbara. A Metrolink commuter train followed soon after. But the first trains that actually rolled over the repaired section of track were part of a National Transportation Safety Board test.

  Crash investigators wanted to get an idea about what the engineers saw moments before Friday’s crash. The Metrolink train that night was traveling at about 40 miles an hour. So was the Union Pacific freight train, and it was coming out of a tunnel. A safety board spokeswoman says the Metrolink engineer never hit the brakes, but the Union Pacific engineer did.

  She said she was told he had only four seconds from the time he saw the Metrolink train until the collision, not nearly enough time for the brakes to do any good. Metrolink’s Web page is also back. For three days, the page included only statements about the crash, but no links to train schedules for thousands of commuters who ride Metrolink’s other lines.

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  • September 16, 2008 5:19 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• LAPD chief announces discipline of May Day officers

  LAPD Chief Bill Bratton today said that four officers involved in last year’s clash with immigrant rights marchers should be fired. An LAPD Board of Rights panel will determine whether there’s enough evidence to support their termination. The chief recommended discipline for a total of 15 officers involved in the MacArthur Park melee.

  Chief Bill Bratton: “I believe there were about 29 officers who were captured on video whose actions initially looked like it might be misconduct. But after extensive review of the videos, it was determined by the panel that was reviewing it that 15 members of the Los Angeles Police Department had in fact engaged in some form of misconduct.”

  All the officers Bratton mentioned are with the department’s elite Metropolitan Division. Video cameras recorded the officers clubbing and firing rubber bullets at peaceful immigrants’ rights marchers on May 1st, 2007. More than 200 people have filed lawsuits against the police department alleging that officers violated their civil rights.

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  • September 16, 2008 5:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Governor Schwarzenegger pledges to veto spending plan

  Governor Schwarzenegger is pledging to veto a spending plan lawmakers approved earlier today. That’s because it doesn’t include budget reforms Schwarzenegger said the state needs to fix its long-standing fiscal problems. The governor said he knows that the long stalemate is hurting Californians.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “People aren’t getting paid and hospitals are in danger of closing, nursing homes, daycare centers, and schools have been hurt also, but I will not sign a get out of town budget that punishes taxpayers, pushes the problem into the next year, and includes fake budget reform.”

  State lawmakers have said they’ll override the governor’s veto. Schwarzenegger initially said that if they do he’ll veto the legislation that’s on his desk. He’s revised that to say he’d carefully examine each measure. The governor could still veto hundreds of bills. Lawmakers approved a spending plan early this morning with enough Republican votes for the two-thirds super majority required to pass a budget.

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  • September 16, 2008 5:14 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• New study finds common plastics chemical BPA carries high risk of heart and liver disease

  A new study finds that a chemical widely used in baby bottles and other plastics carries a high risk of heart and liver disease. KPCC’s Molly Peterson says this research on people confirms earlier tests on animals.

  Molly Peterson: A group of British doctors looked at a chemical called BPA. Sunglasses, plastic bottles, and DVD’s contain BPA; it’s widespread in people, too. The federal Centers for Disease Control report that 93 percent of Americans have some amount of it in their blood.

  Most earlier studies had focused on rodents; this is the first large-scale study of how humans respond to higher levels of the chemical. People who had the highest levels of BPA in their blood were twice as likely to risk heart and liver disease as people who had just a little, the study found.

  The research is published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It’s timed to coincide with a federal Food and Drug Administration hearing about BPA. Federal regulators stand by their position that present rules about BPA levels that don’t ban the chemical are good enough to protect consumers.

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  • September 16, 2008 5:00 PM
  • Categories: Health, Science/Technology

• LA Times journalists sue Zell, head of parent company Tribune

  A group of well-known “Los Angeles Times” journalists, past and present, are suing Tribune Company boss Sam Zell. They say he’s ruined a once-great newspaper. KPCC’s Nick Roman has more.

  Nick Roman: The Times reporters filed the lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles. They claim that Sam Zell and his management team have stripped the newspaper of talented journalists who built a respected daily and a valuable media asset. They say Zell’s repeated cost-cutting has damaged the value of their stock options and retirement plans.

  Dan Neil, the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning auto writer, is among the plaintiffs. So is Henry Weinstein, the legal affairs writer who left the paper to take a job at the new UC Irvine law school. They say Zell’s $8 billion purchase last year of the Tribune Company, the “LA Times” corporate parent, was a scam to make the real estate investor even richer.

  Their suit says Zell paid millions of dollars to members of the Tribune board of directors to get them to sell the company to him so he could break it up, sell off the parts, and make billions. Tribune officials, saying they have not read the lawsuit, have declined to comment.

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  • September 16, 2008 3:49 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice

• Popular restaurant critic Elmer Dills dies at 82

  In the days before you could Google “best Thai restaurant in Glendale,” the man to ask about restaurants was Elmer Dills. The longtime radio and TV critic has died. He was 82. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: Long before food writer Jonathan Gold won a Pulitzer Prize for his restaurant critiques, Los Angeles had Elmer Dills. For more than three decades, Dills dispensed restaurant reviews and recommendations on his KABC radio show and on Channel 7. He usually featured inexpensive and unusual restaurants that gave value for the dollar.

  Elmer Dills: The ribs, the brisket, the chicken, the sausage, slowly smoked with pecan and hickory wood and spices…

  Felde: Dills later broadcast his show on KIEV radio. For more than a decade, wrote a weekly column for the “PennySaver.” He finally retired this year. Dills reportedly developed his love for wining and dining during his 20 years with the CIA. He’s not the only spy with a passion for food: Julia Child worked for the CIA’s predecessor, the OSS, during World War II.

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  • September 16, 2008 3:46 PM
  • Categories: History, Society/Culture

• Public education officials wary of tentative state budget

  Public education officials are wary of the tentative state budget deal lawmakers approved early today. Ramon Cortines, senior deputy superintendent of the L.A. Unified School District, told KPCC’s AirTalk that the schools will lose out in this budget.

  Ramon Cortines: “It will have major negative impact partly because it is holding to us to the ‘07, ‘08 levels without sufficient inflation adjustments. But what complicates it for the L.A. Unified School District is that, is it has not had a salary increase for several years for its employees.”

  Cortines said that teachers in the district are already earning less than their counterparts elsewhere, and he fears that many will leave L.A. Unified for higher-paying jobs.

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  • September 16, 2008 3:06 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• State appeals court rules California can't charge illegal immigrant students in-state tuition

  A state appeals court has ruled that California can’t charge undocumented college students cheaper in-state tuition unless it offers the same benefit to any U.S. citizen from out of state. More on the story from KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: California lawmakers enacted that in-state tuition change six years ago. The University of California supported the legislation, says spokesman Ricardo Vasquez.

  Ricardo Vasquez: Because through their hard work and perseverance, these California high school students had earned the opportunity to attend UC and out of state tuition had become a barrier to their access to higher education.

  Guzman-Lopez: Two-and-a-half years ago, 42 out of state college students, backed by a conservative legal group, sued to overturn the law. They argued that federal law clearly prohibits such public benefits to undocumented people unless the benefit’s also available to any U.S. citizen. A judge upheld the state law.

  But a Sacramento appeals judge has ruled that the federal law preempts the state law. He sent the case back to trial court for resolution. If it stands, the ruling would affect tens of thousands of illegal immigrants enrolled at California’s community colleges and in the Cal State and UC systems. UC’s spokesman says its lawyers haven’t decided whether to appeal.

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  • September 16, 2008 2:57 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Education

• Family of Metrolink victim who died at crash files first legal claim

  The family of a Metrolink rider who died at the crash in Chatsworth has filed the first legal claim about the accident. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that the legal picture will get more complicated.

  Molly Peterson: The family of 19-year-old crash victim Aida Magdaleno has said that California law may require more safety controls on trains to override human error or medical emergencies. That’s why they’re filing a claim. Federal law also governs passenger train crashes. Eleven years ago, in a bill that re-authorized Amtrak, Congress passed some provisions that determine how liability works for passenger train accidents.

  That law caps damages at $200 million for all claims resulting from any one incident. It sets a tougher standard for the way people who sue a rail line must prove their claims. They must, for example, prove the defendants’ conscious flagrant indifference for riders’ safety.

  An author of the bill told Bloomberg News that he believes the rules will come into play if the Chatsworth crash goes to federal court. Legal experts say lawsuits out of this case could test the federal rail law and its limits. No passenger train collision with this many deaths and injuries has happened in this country during the last decade, so nobody knows exactly how plaintiffs’ lawyers, rail companies, or judges will interpret it.

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  • September 16, 2008 1:55 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Governor Schwarzenegger wants changes to budget, threatens veto

  Governor Schwarzenegger wants several changes to the $145 billion budget that lawmakers approved early this morning. The governor’s asking lawmakers to place more restrictions on how much money the state may transfer out of its “rainy day fund.” Assembly Speaker Karen Bass told KPCC’s AirTalk that she’s concerned those limits would tie lawmakers’ hands in future budget years.

  Karen Bass: “One of the concerns that we have is that, in years where you do deep cuts like we’ve done over the last three years, we want to be able to restore funding to those programs. And so if our hands are tied so tight, we make cuts one year, we can’t restore it the next year, and what you really have is a permanent shrinkage of government.”

  Schwarzenegger says that without the restrictions, the rainy day savings would become nothing more than a “slush fund.” The governor is threatening to veto the measure if lawmakers don’t make the fixes he’s requesting. Lawmakers in both houses approved the budget by a two-thirds majority early this morning. That’s the same proportion of votes they’d need to override the governor’s veto.

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  • September 16, 2008 12:23 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Shares of world's largest insurer AIG fall as they try to stay in business

  Shares of insurance company American International Group, AIG, fell this morning. The company is trying to come up with more money to stay in business. AIG is the world’s largest insurer. One of its companies is 21st Century Group. It claims a huge share of the auto insurance market in Southern California. KPCC Business analyst Mark Lacter says that if AIG does go bankrupt, other entities would cover its policyholders.

  Mark Lacter: “The various AIG subsidiaries appear to have adequate financial reserves and should be able to pay claims. If the company doesn’t survive, the state Department of Insurance would get involved; and there’s something called the National Conference of Insurance Guaranty Funds. It works a little like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in that it guarantees coverage up to certain limits.”

  Lacter says that AIG needs a cash infusion of $40 billion or more to stay afloat. There are reports that the Federal Reserve is considering whether to provide financing to the company.

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  • September 16, 2008 11:42 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Metrolink investigators subpoena engineer's cell phone records

  Federal investigators have subpoenaed the cell phone records of a commuter train engineer who crashed into a freight train last Friday near Los Angeles. KPCC’s Steve Julian reports.

  Steve Julian: Two teenage train buffs told a local television station that they were trading text messages with Robert Sanchez, until about a minute before the wreck. Investigators already have determined Sanchez failed to stop for a red light along the tracks and, in doing so, forced his Metrolink commuter train onto a single track.

  A Union Pacific freight train was coming around a curve and collided head-on, killing Sanchez and 24 others. In 2002, a freight train engineer’s cell phone use contributed to a head-on crash with another freight train in Texas. While Metrolink doesn’t let rail workers use cell phones on the job, there are no federal prohibitions. California U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer has called for an emergency meeting of the Commerce Committee.

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  • September 16, 2008 10:21 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Federal investigators investigate potential text messaging by Metrolink engineer

  Federal investigators determined yesterday that traffic signals were working along the tracks where 25 people died on Friday in one of the nation’s worst train crashes. KPCC’s Steve Julian says the investigation now turns to whether the passenger train’s engineer was sending text messages just before colliding with a freight train.

  Steve Julian: Investigators say they could not find Robert Sanchez’s cell phone in the wreckage. But two teenage train buffs told a local TV station they were trading text messages with the train’s engineer until about a minute before the crash.

  Metrolink, which operates the commuter rail service, doesn’t allow rail workers to use cell phones on the job, but there is no existing federal regulation. The National Transportation Safety Board has given Verizon five days to provide Sanchez’s cell phone records. Friday’s crash renewed calls in Washington for greater railway safety.

  A bill in the Senate would require what’s called Positive Control Measures within 10 years – a technology that could take over for an errant engineer. California U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer meanwhile has called on the Commerce Committee for an emergency hearing.

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  • September 16, 2008 10:14 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Federal investigators test Metrolink tracks, signals, and visibility

  For a third day, federal investigators are testing the tracks, signals, and visibility at the site of last week’s deadly collision between commuter and freight trains in Chatsworth. Yesterday’s preliminary results indicated that those systems were working properly. National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Kitty Higgins told reporters that means Metrolink’s engineer would have felt resistance as he drove the passenger train’s locomotive.

  Kitty Higgins: “What we know is the train went through a signal at Topanga that, we believe, was a red signal. We’re trying to confirm in every way we can that the signal was red. What we don’t know is why he did do that.”

  Higgins said that an audio box retrieved from the wreckage of the commuter train recorded the engineer and conductor calling out signals, but that there was silence in the moments leading up to the crash. At a press briefing in Woodland Hills, Higgins refused to attribute the crash to human error. Investigators could take up to a year to complete their report.

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  • September 16, 2008 9:54 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Metrolink investigators conduct tests on signals and tracks

  Federal investigators in Chatsworth plan to conduct more site tests this morning. They’re examining whether the signals and tracks were working as intended at the time of last Friday’s commuter train crash. Metrolink engineer Robert Sanchez was among the 25 people killed in the head-on collision. National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Kitty Higgins told reporters that authorities have completed an autopsy on Sanchez.

  Kitty Higgins: “… but it’ll be two to three weeks before we hope to have a verbal report of any significant information from that autopsy. And the final written report probably won’t be available for two months.”

  Higgins said investigators are waiting for Sanchez’s cell phone records to determine whether text messaging played a role in the crash. She added that Metrolink has already given the safety board its engineer’s and conductor’s personnel and medical records.

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  • September 16, 2008 9:52 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Obama Beverly Hills fundraiser could set 1 day political fundraising record

  Beverly Hills is the place to be tonight for Barack Obama supporters… at least the ones with enough cash to spend time with the candidate. A pair of events could raise $9 million for the Obama campaign – a one day record for political fundraising. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde reports.

  Kitty Felde: Barbra Streisand is the headliner for the Obama event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Tickets priced at $2,500 sold out quickly. Dinner at Greystone Mansion cost more than ten times that amount: $28,500, with checks made out to the Democratic Party. Massie Ritsch is with the Center for Responsive Politics, the D.C. non-profit that tracks campaign money.

  Massie Ritch: The maximum contribution really depends on how the event is structured, because both campaigns are using what are called joint fundraising committees, where one check is written by the donor. But it then gets split up among the candidate campaign, the national parties, and some state parties even. It’ll definitely be a five figure donation at the top end.

  Felde: Next Thursday, Republicans will have the opportunity to get their picture taken with vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin at a fundraiser in Newport Beach. Twenty-five-thousand will get you six tickets to the reception and three photo ops with the candidate.

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  • September 16, 2008 9:49 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Metrolink passenger's family plans to file lawsuit

  The family of one Metrolink passenger says it will file a claim about the young woman’s death. Nineteen-year-old Aida Magdaleno took the train most Wednesdays and Fridays. A lawyer for her family, Paul Kiesel, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that a claim is the first step toward suing a public agency, and that he expects other claims to follow.

  Paul Kiesel: “Each one of the 25 families that lost a loved one, or the scores of individuals that’s suffered an injury, will have their own discrete claim. It’s likely that they’ll be coordinated in front of one court in the end, but it’s likely that each claim will be individually evaluated and assessed.”

  Kiesel said Metrolink failed to protect its riders from the possibility of a crash like the one Friday in Chatsworth. He added that the agency should have used more effective technology to protect against human failure or error. Federal investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accident.

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  • September 16, 2008 9:45 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• LA rail probe seeks cell info as commute resumes

  By DAISY NGUYEN
  Associated Press Writer

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - Federal rail investigators said Monday they would go to court to get an engineer’s cell phone records to determine if he was text messaging when his commuter train slammed head-on into a freight locomotive, killing 25 people.

  The investigation into Friday’s fatal Metrolink crash was also focusing on whether signal lights worked properly and were synchronized with a control center where a dispatcher was warned of a problem apparently only after the collision had occurred.

  As workers continued to clear the tracks to restore full service, a smaller number of commuters - many wary and emotional - returned to the rail line, where Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tried to reassure them the trains are safe.

  “I want to dispel any fears about taking the train,” he said. “Safety has to be our No. 1 concern, and while accidents can and do happen, taking the train is still one of the safest and fastest options for commuters.”

  About a dozen bouquets were strung the length of the loading platform at the Simi Valley station as passengers boarded buses and were shuttled to the Chatsworth station, bypassing the tracks still being cleared of wreckage.

  Regular commuters said the train load was much lighter than usual.

  The National Transportation and Safety Board said the commuter train, which carried 220 people Friday, rolled past stop signals at 42 mph and forced its way onto a track where a Union Pacific freight was barreling toward it. NTSB board member Kitty Higgins said the commuter train engineer, who was among the 25 dead, had failed to stop at the final red signal. The crash also injured 138 people.

  The collision occurred at a curve in the track just short of where a 500-foot-long tunnel separates the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Chatsworth from Simi Valley in Ventura County.

  Higgins said investigators will subpoena the cell phone records of engineer Robert Sanchez after two teenage train buffs who befriended him told KCBS-TV that they received a text message from him a minute before the crash.

  Investigators did not find a cell phone belonging to Sanchez in the wreckage. The boys’ families have been cooperating with investigators, but Higgins declined to characterize their conversations.

  “Today we are subpoenaing the phone records of the engineer to determine whether in fact that might have been happening,” Higgins told KTTV-TV. Higgins did not return messages from The Associated Press. The NTSB scheduled a 7 p.m. (10 p.m. EDT) news conference.

  Jerry Romero, who normally takes Metrolink 111 home but skipped it Friday to pick up a bicycle, said he was disturbed by texting reports.

  “That would be pretty disturbing in respect to what we’re going through as a society, this fascination we have with gizmos,” he said.

  In 2003, the NTSB recommended that the Federal Railroad Administration regulate the use of cell phones by railroad employees on duty after finding that a coal train engineer’s phone use contributed to a May 2002 accident in which two freight trains collided head-on near Clarendon, Texas. The coal train engineer was killed and the conductor and engineer of the other train were critically injured.

  Metrolink prohibits rail workers from using cell phones on the job, but there is no existing federal regulation regarding the use of cell phones by railroad employees on the job, FRA spokesman Steven Kulm said.

  The California Legislature last month sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that would outlaw texting while driving. According to the Governors’ Highway Safety Association, four states have banned texting while driving - Alaska, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington - and similar laws are under consideration in 16 other states.

  Audio recordings of contact between Sanchez and conductor on Metrolink 111 show they were regularly communicating verbal safety checks about signals along the track until a period of radio silence as the train passed the final two signals before the wreck. The tapes captured Sanchez confirming a flashing yellow light after pulling out of the Chatsworth station.

  The train may have entered a dead zone where the recording was interrupted. Investigators planned to interview the injured conductor about the lapse, Higgins said.

  A computer indicated the last signal before the collision displayed a red light, and experts were to test the signals to determine if they worked properly and were in the engineer’s line of sight.

  “It’s really a process of elimination. That’s why we’re out testing the signals, we’re looking at the track, we’re examining the equipment, we’re looking at what issues that might have been with the engineer and the other crew members,” Higgins said.

  Investigators will also look at the toxicology report of the engineer, his medical history and his personnel record.

  Also Monday, Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell resigned after the railroad’s board said her Saturday announcement that the engineer’s mistake likely caused the crash was “premature.”

  Passenger Art Reis expressed concern as he rode the train to work that authorities might not be completely candid with the public after the investigation is done. He said he was concerned that Tyrrell resigned almost immediately after announcing that the agency was responsible for the crash.

  “It’s all image and politics, and that’s what concerns me,” said Reis, 70.

  Metrolink declined to comment about the resignation.

  —

  Associated Press writers Jeff Wilson, Christina Hoag and John Rogers contributed to this report.

  (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

  LINK: Slideshow of crash wreckage
  (Photos: Steven Cuevas/KPCC)

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  • September 15, 2008 7:40 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Metrolink passenger's family plans to file claim

  The family of one Metrolink passenger says it will file a claim about the young woman’s death. Nineteen-year-old Aida Magdaleno took the train most Wednesdays and Fridays.

  A lawyer for her family, Paul Kiesel, told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that a claim is the first step toward suing a public agency, and that he expects other claims to follow.

  Paul Kiesel: “Each one of the 25 families that lost a loved one, or the scores of individuals that suffered an injury, will have their own discrete claim. It’s likely that they’ll be coordinated in front of one court in the end, but it’s likely that each claim will be individually evaluated and assessed.”

  Kiesel said Metrolink failed to protect its riders from the possibility of a crash like the one Friday in Chatsworth. He added that the agency should have used more effective technology to protect against human failure or error.

  Federal investigators have not yet determined the cause of the accident.

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  • September 15, 2008 6:21 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Transportation

• Screen Actors Guild focuses on internal election

  The Screen Actors Guild’s contract talks with Film and Television Producers have stalled for weeks. But this week, the Guild’s focusing on an internal election. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: About one-third of the seats on SAG’s national board are up for grabs. The “Membership First” faction of the Guild holds a slim majority on the board. Another group known as “Unite for Strength” is backing a slate of candidates to change that.

  “Membership First” maintains that it’s holding firm at the bargaining table with the producers, and fighting to make SAG’s contract the first one to cover all productions for the Internet. It lists Martin Sheen and Sean Penn among its backers.

  Sally Field and Tom Hanks endorse the “Unite for Strength” slate. It blames the “Membership First” faction for mismanaging contract talks and insulting SAG’s sister union AFTRA until it bolted from the two unions’ bargaining partnership earlier this year. Guild officials plan to count the votes on Thursday. Meanwhile, SAG actors continue to work under the terms of a contract that expired July 1st.

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  • September 15, 2008 4:31 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy

• National Transportation Safety Board investigates Metrolink crash, engineer potentially text messaging

  Federal officials are exploring whether the engineer on the Metrolink train was sending and receiving text messages before Friday’s fatal collision. National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Kitty Higgins said investigators have interviewed at least one of the two teens who came forward with a text message they said was from the engineer.

  Kitty Higgins: “They’re being totally cooperative. We have asked for the cell phone records of the engineer. Verizon is working with us to make sure we get all that information. And we’ll make sure we put all the pieces together, and we’ll take a look at it.”

  Engineer Robert Sanchez died in the crash. Higgins from the transportation safety board said the wreckage from Friday’s collision will remain in place for at least a few more days. It’ll take about a year to complete a full investigation report, she said.

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  • September 15, 2008 4:17 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• National Transportation Safety Board investigates Metrolink crash

  Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board believe that Friday’s train collision could have been averted. Board spokeswoman Kitty Higgins said a $1 billion emergency railway braking system is working or being tested in other parts of the country.

  Kitty Higgins: “We’ve made recommendations for about 30 years, so the technology’s evolved over time. There have been demonstration projects going on, I believe, since the late ’90s, so about 10 years, where they’ve actually been doing test, pilot, projects if you will, to understand how this would work.”

  Higgins said the technology connects to the signal system. Emergency brakes automatically stop a train that’s out of sync with the system. Higgins said the mechanism is especially useful when passengers and freight trains share the same tracks. The system is not in use, or in the testing stages, in the Southland.

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  • September 15, 2008 4:05 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Metrolink victim's family takes first step toward lawsuit

  The Los Angeles county coroner’s office confirms 25 deaths resulting from the Chatsworth train crash. One casualty was Aida Magdaleno, a 19-year-old Cal State Northridge student. Attorney Paul Kiesel told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that Magdaleno’s family is filing a claim against Metrolink. That’s the first step toward suing a public agency.

  Paul Kiesel: “Not only does it allege that Metrolink failed to protect its riders, but more importantly it alleges that the system has failed to keep up with technology that could easily have prevented this tragic loss from happening in the first place.”

  Magdaleno rode Metrolink regularly on Wednesdays and Fridays. Her family’s claim is the first to result from the accident. Federal investigators have not yet identified the cause of the crash between the passenger and freight trains in Chatsworth.

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  • September 15, 2008 3:21 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• National Transportation Safety Board investigators look at range of issues in Metrolink crash

  Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board continue to examine which factors may have caused Friday’s Metrolink train crash that killed 25 people and injured more than 100 in Chatsworth. The focus remains the possibility that the engineer of a Metrolink train ran a red light. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Kitty Higgins says data recordings from the trains indicate that the engineer and his conductor called out a flashing yellow signal shortly before the crash.

  Kitty Higgins: There were two more signals, a solid yellow signal and a red signal. We don’t have audio confirmation that the callouts were made and confirmed. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t; there apparently are dead zones along the system and the recordings don’t capture the conversation.

  Stoltze: Investigators are studying where those dead zones lie. Higgins says they’re also investigating reports that the engineer was using his cell phone to text train aficionados shortly before the crash.

  Higgins: We are subpoenaing the cell phone records of the engineer, and we’ve also been in touch with the young men who are the train aficionados and their families, and they’ve offered their full cooperation.

  Stoltze: Investigators are also reviewing the medical records of the engineer, who died in the crash. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer has called for an emergency hearing on the crash, the nation’s deadliest in 15 years.

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  • September 15, 2008 3:17 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Proposed state budget includes $1 billion in cuts to public schools

  Sacramento lawmakers wouldn’t reveal details yesterday or today about the budget deal they’ve reached. California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell, says he’s been told that the deal includes a $1 billion cut to public schools and community colleges. He says most of that will come from cost-of- living increases for school employees.

  Jack O’Connell: “Certainly the price of fuel, as we’re all experiencing, for our school buses, the energy costs, the food costs for our kids, health care costs, and benefits for our employees, and salary adjustments, and to receive less than the full COLA, it’s going to be very problematic for the education community.”

  State legislators are expected to vote on the proposed budget today. Governor Schwarzenegger has not signaled whether he supports the deal.

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  • September 15, 2008 3:04 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Makeshift memorial created where Metrolink train tracks cross Chatsworth Street

  A makeshift memorial to the victims of Friday’s commuter rail crash has sprouted where the train tracks cross Chatsworth Street. Neighbors like Teri Renty have stopped by the crossing to leave flowers, candles, and handwritten notes. Renty spoke with KPCC’s Brian Watt.

  Teri Renty: “My husband would have been on this train, and he was late from work. So, it touches my heart very deeply.  Not only knowing that there was a possibility that he could have been on that train, but also for others who have lost loved ones. So I’m here to bring some flowers and be of prayerful support and hope that God is comforting these families.”

  Renty’s husband Anthony commutes to downtown Los Angeles from Chatsworth to work at the federal Internal Revenue Service. He worked late on Friday and missed boarding the Metrolink that collided with a freight train.

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  • September 15, 2008 2:37 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Investigators look at range of issues in Metrolink train crash

  National Transportation Safety Board investigators are focusing on the possibility that the engineer of a Metrolink commuter train missed a red light just before he crashed into a freight train coming in the opposite direction in Chatsworth. The crash Friday killed 26 people and injured more than 100. Safety board spokeswoman Kitty Higgins told KPCC’s AirTalk that investigators are also considering a range of other issues.

  Kitty Higgins: “We look at the track. Were there any anomalies in the track? Were there any mechanical problems with the equipment? Were the brakes functioning the way they were supposed to? Was the signaling system working the way it is intended? We look at the history of the crews for both trains. What was their training? What was their work experience? Were there any medical issues? What were they doing in the previous 72 hours before the accident?”

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  • September 15, 2008 2:35 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Metrolink train crash mourners create makeshift memorial at Chatsworth Street

  Where the train tracks cross Chatsworth Street, neighbors and passers-by have been leaving flowers, candles, and burning sticks of incense. The makeshift memorial started in the middle of the train tracks where Friday’s collision killed 26 people and injured more than 130 others. As crews worked to restart rail service along that stretch today, 47-year-old Teri Renty said two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies wanted to relocate it to a safer spot – off to the side.

  Teri Renty: “I was bringing flowers. I brought the flowers that you see here. And they came shortly after that and said they were gonna be moving this so I asked if I could help the, move it, rather than just destroy it. I wanted to be helpful however I could. Because I know it’s very heartfelt in the community right now. I really feel like we’re in a sense of mourning.”

  Renty’s husband Anthony commutes from Chatsworth to downtown L.A.’s Union Station to work at the Internal Revenue Service. She said he was supposed to be on the Metrolink train that crashed, but he got out of work late that day.

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  • September 15, 2008 2:31 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Anti-same-sex marriage proposition gathers enough signatures to be on November ballot

  Californians will have another opportunity on a statewide ballot to decide who can legally marry. Opponents of a recent state Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage have gathered enough signatures to place Proposition 8 before voters this November. The measure would amend the state constitution to define marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman.

  Its backers contend that the court overrode the will of voters who’d approved a previous proposition banning same-sex marriages in the state. Dale Kelly Bankhead, manager of the “No on Prop 8” campaign, told KPCC’s AirTalk that she worries about the kind of precedent voters may set this time.

  Kelly Bankhead: “Prop 8 would eliminate the fundamental right to marry for same-sex couples. It would be the first time in our state’s history that a ballot measure would amend the constitution to actually take away rights from a group of people.”

  If the measure passes, Bankhead said, it may jeopardize the legal status of same-sex marriages in California from mid-June through Election Day.

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  • September 15, 2008 2:23 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Lanes to be closed at John Wayne Airport for demolition

  If you’re heading to John Wayne Airport in Orange County tonight through tomorrow night, leave a little extra time for maneuvering through the airport. KPCC’s Susan Valot explains why.

  Susan Valot: Crews are closing down a couple of lanes through the airport, both on the departure level and the arrival level. They’re getting ready to tear down the B-1 parking structure on the south side of the terminal. It’s part of the John Wayne Airport Improvement Program to expand the terminal.

  The actual demolition of the parking structure isn’t expected until next month. The terminal expansion’s scheduled to be completed in three years. Last year, nearly 10 million travelers passed through John Wayne Airport.

  Officials say that’s a couple million more than the airport was designed to handle. The new terminal will add six gates, plus additional security checkpoints, more baggage screening, and a couple thousand parking spaces.

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  • September 15, 2008 2:21 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Federal investigators look into reports that Metrolink engineer was text messaging

  Federal investigators are looking into reports that the Metrolink engineer in Friday’s crash was text messaging. Twenty-five people died and more than 130 people were injured when the Metrolink train collided head-on with a freight train in Chatsworth.

  KCBS 2 reported during the weekend that the engineer sent a text message to a teenager just minutes before the crash. Kitty Higgins, a spokeswoman for the National Transportation Safety Board, spoke with KPCC’s AirTalk.

  Kitty Higgins: “We are subpoenaing the records, cell phone records of the engineer. We issued those subpoenas today. And we’ve also been in touch with the young men who are the train aficionados and their families and they’ve offered their full cooperation.”

  The commuter train engineer died in the crash. Higgins said the Los Angeles County coroner’s office is conducting an autopsy on the engineer. She said it may take as long as two months before the coroner releases the results.

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  • September 15, 2008 11:58 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Passengers return to Metrolink after crash

  Metrolink officials say they hope to resume train service north of Chatsworth this afternoon. Twenty-five people died when a Metrolink train collided with a freight train just beyond the Chatsworth station Friday. Commuters were able to board trains south of that station today. KPCC’s Brian Watt has more.

  Brian Watt: The first thing that they did was start looking for their train buddies. They wanted to make sure that all of their train buddies that they are used to taking the train with everyday, some for as long as 10 years, made it and were not affected by this trash on Friday. I walked onto a train and just saw a bunch of people hugging and with every new arrival of a commuter, there was this sigh of relief and “oh, how you doin’?”

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  • September 15, 2008 11:56 AM
  • Categories: Transportation

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa attempts to dispel fears about taking train

  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is offering free bus service as crews work to repair tracks damaged by Friday’s Metrolink crash. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rode the Metrolink train this morning alongside passengers at the Chatsworth Station. The mayor encouraged Angelenos to get back on the train.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “Commuters should show up to the station as usual. I want to dispel any fears about taking the train. Safety has to be our number one concern. Accidents can and do happen. Taking the train is still one of the safest and fastest options for commuters.”

  Metro will run the bus service until the track is repaired and normal train service resumes to all stations.

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  • September 15, 2008 11:54 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa rides train, encourages Angelenos to "get back on the train"

  Friday’s Metrolink crash damaged a section of track and disrupted train service. L.A. County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is running 26 buses between some stations to get commuters where they need to go today. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rode the train alongside commuters at the Chatsworth station this morning.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “I want to encourage all Angelenos to get back on to the train. Together we are making commuting as close to business as usual as we, as possible under the circumstances.”

  Passengers may get on the buses at the Moorpark Metrolink Station and get off in Chatsworth where normal train service will resume. Metro’s providing the buses free of charge. They’ll continue until crews repair the tracks and normal commuter rail service resumes.

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  • September 15, 2008 11:51 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Metrolink death toll now at 25; Metrolink spokeswoman quits

  The death toll from a passenger train accident Friday in southern California now stands at 25. Dozens of other commuters remain hospitalized, many in critical condition. The spokeswoman for the agency that operates Metrolink commuter trains has quit. KPCC’s Steve Julian has more.

  Steve Julian: Denise Tyrrell said within hours of the head-on accident with a freight train that the engineer failed to stop for a red signal. The National Transportation Safety Board came to the same conclusion, but Tyrrell had characterized it as “human error,” while the NTSB could take up to a year to determine the exact cause.

  Tyrrell’s statement stood until Sunday, when the Metrolink Board met behind closed doors. Members said after the meeting that Tyrrell was not authorized to release that information. This announcement outraged Tyrrell who told KPCC in an email that “Metrolink is responsible to oversee the engineer. We were, in fact, trying to take responsibility as soon as we knew we were at fault.” She added the federal government’s toes were stepped on, writing “Metrolink board members are unhappy that the NTSB is unhappy.”

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  • September 15, 2008 9:46 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Transportation

• Metrolink: Engineer's error caused wreck; 25 dead

  By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press Writer

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A commuter train engineer who ran a stop signal was blamed Saturday for the nation’s deadliest rail disaster in 15 years, a wreck that killed 25 people and left such a mass of smoldering, twisted metal that it took nearly a day to recover all the bodies.

  A preliminary investigation found that “it was a Metrolink engineer that failed to stop at a red signal and that was the probable cause” of Friday’s collision with a freight train in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said. She said she believes the engineer, whose name was not released, is dead.

  “When two trains are in the same place at the same time somebody’s made a terrible mistake,” said Tyrrell, who was shaking and near tears as she spoke with reporters.

  Authorities later announced that the effort to recover bodies from the Metrolink train’s crushed front car had ended, with the death toll at 24. It rose to 25 when USC Medical Center spokeswoman Adelaide DeLaCerda said a 50-year-old man transported to the hospital from the wreck died Saturday. She would not release his name.

  “It was a very, very difficult operation,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. “It was like peeling an onion to find all the victims there.”

  A total of 135 people were injured, with 81 transported to hospitals in serious or critical condition. There was no overall condition update available Saturday, but a telephone survey of five hospitals found nine of 34 patients still critical. Many were described as having crush injuries.

  Firefighter Searcy Jackson III, a 20-year veteran and one of the first to pull bodies from the wreckage, said he had never seen such devastation. The 50-year-old said his team pulled one living passenger from the train and cut the mangled metal to remove about a half-dozen bodies.

  “The metal was pushed together like an accordion,” Jackson said.

  Firefighters who extricated the dead from the wreck were rotated in and out of the scene to prevent emotional exhaustion, fire Capt. Armando Hogan said.

  “There are some things we are trained for, there are some things I don’t care what kind of training you have, you don’t always prepare for,” Hogan said. “This situation, particularly early on, with people inside the train, with the injuries, and with people moaning and crying and screaming, it was a traumatic experience.”

  The collision occurred on a horseshoe-shaped section of track in Chatsworth at the west end of the San Fernando Valley, near a 500-foot-long tunnel underneath Stoney Point Park. There is a siding at one end of the tunnel where one train can wait for another to pass, Tyrrell said.

  “Even if the train is on the main track, it must go through a series of signals and each one of the signals must be obeyed,” Tyrrell said. “What we believe happened, barring any new information from the NTSB, is we believe that our engineer failed to stop … and that was the cause of the accident.

  “We don’t know how the error happened,” she said. Tyrrell said Metrolink determined the cause by reviewing dispatch records and computers.

  National Transportation Safety Board member Kitty Higgins said her agency, which is leading the probe, is waiting to complete its investigation before making any statements about the cause of the accident. It hopes to complete its final report within a year.

  Higgins said rescue crews on Saturday recovered two data recorders from the Metrolink train and one data recorder and one video recorder from the freight train. The video has pictures from forward-looking cameras and the data recorders have information on speed, braking patterns and whether the horn was used.

  The Metrolink train, heading from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to Ventura County, was carrying 220 passengers, one engineer and one conductor when it collided with the Union Pacific freight, with a crew of three, about 4:30 p.m. Friday. It is common in California for freight and commuter trains to use one track.

  The crash forced the Metrolink engine well back into the first passenger car, and both toppled over. Two other passenger cars remained upright.

  By late Saturday morning, the Metrolink engine had been pulled out of the mangled passenger car, which was raised by a crane and surrounded by tarps. Bulldozers pulled away chunks of metal.

  “It’s the worst feeling in the world because you know what you’re going to find,” said fire Capt. Alex Arriola, who had crawled into the bottom of the smashed passenger car. “You have to put aside the fact that it’s someone’s husband, daughter or friend.”

  Police set up what they called a unification center at a local high school to try to connect worried people with information about friends or relatives who they believed were aboard the train.

  Families of eight of the dead had been notified and two women who were pronounced dead at hospitals were unidentified, coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.

  The only victim officially identified is Los Angeles police Officer Spree Desha, 35, of Simi Valley, who was riding the train home.

  Donna Remata, 49, also was among the dead, her youngest sister, Debra Nieves, said Saturday.

  Tyrrell, the Metrolink spokeswoman, said the engineer had driven the agency’s trains since 1996 and worked for a subcontractor, Veolia, since 1998. She said she didn’t know if the engineer ever had any previous problems operating trains or had any disciplinary issues.

  Veolia issued a statement Saturday calling the collision a “tragic incident.” The company said it is cooperating with NTSB’s investigation.

  Ray Garcia, a train conductor with Metrolink until 2006, said he knew the engineer involved in the crash for nine years and called him qualified and talented. He declined to name the engineer.

  “I’m very sad that that happened,” Garcia said. “It’s terrible.”

  Garcia said he knows the stretch of track where the collision occurred and believes engineers are warned twice with yellow lights before reaching a red light at the end of a siding.

  Tim Smith, state chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a union representing engineers and conductors, said issues that could factor into the crash investigation could be faulty signals along the track or engineer fatigue.

  He said engineers in California are limited to 12 hours a day running a train, although that can be broken up over a stretch as long as 18 hours.

  “Doing that for five or six days in a row, you have the cumulative fatigue factor that becomes are real bear,” he said.

  It was not immediately clear how many hours the train’s engineer had worked.

  Metrolink launched its service in Southern California in 1992. More than 45,000 commuters board Metrolink trains weekdays in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

  Until Friday, Metrolink’s worst disaster was on Jan. 26, 2005, in suburban Glendale, where a man parked a gasoline-soaked SUV on railroad tracks. A Metrolink train struck the SUV and derailed, striking another Metrolink train traveling the other way, killing 11 people and injuring about 180 others. Juan Alvarez was convicted this year of murder for causing the crash.

  Friday’s train crash was the deadliest since Sept. 22, 1993, when the Sunset Limited, an Amtrak train, plunged off a trestle into a bayou near Mobile, Ala., moments after the trestle was damaged by a towboat; 47 people were killed.

  _

  Associated Press writers Thomas Watkins, Raquel Maria Dillon, Greg Risling, Denise Petski, Josh Dickey, James Beltran, John Rogers and Michael R. Blood contributed to this report.

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  • September 13, 2008 6:24 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Death toll in LA commuter rail crash reaches 23

  By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press Writer

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities have raised the official death toll in the Los Angeles commuter rail disaster to 23 but they’re certain the number will rise.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Saturday that in addition to the 23 some bodies remain in the wreckage of the Metrolink train but it is hard to determine how many.

  The Metrolink train collided with a Union Pacific freight train Friday afternoon in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles.

  Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell says a preliminary investigation has determined that the Metrolink engineer failed to stop at a red light, causing the collision. The engineer is believed to have died in the crash.

  THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A spokeswoman for the Metrolink commuter rail service says the probable cause of the collision that killed at least 18 people was the failure of a Metrolink engineer to stop his train at a red signal.

  Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said Saturday the engineer worked for a subcontractor that has been used by Metrolink since 1998.

  She said she had no further details about the signal’s location and wouldn’t say if the engineer had survived Friday’s crash.

  The commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth.

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  • September 13, 2008 1:48 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Metrolink: Engineer error likely train crash cause

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A spokeswoman for the Metrolink commuter rail service says the probable cause of the collision that killed at least 18 people was the failure of a Metrolink engineer to stop his train at a red signal.

  Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said Saturday the engineer worked for a subcontractor that has been used by Metrolink since 1998.

  She said she had no further details about the signal’s location and wouldn’t say if the engineer had survived Friday’s crash.

  The commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth.

  —

  LOS ANGELES (AP) — The death toll from the head-on collision of a commuter train and freight train rose Saturday as crews retrieved an 18th body and said they could see several more in the wreckage of the deadliest U.S. passenger train accident in 15 years.

  Officials said they didn’t yet know why the Metrolink commuter train and the freight were on the same track in suburban Chatsworth.

  Deputy Fire Chief Mario Rueda said the chance that anyone was still alive in the wreckage was “very remote.”

  The last survivor was pulled out Friday evening, said fire Capt. Armando Hogan.

  “Words can’t explain or in any way console those who have lost loved ones, those who at this moment still don’t know what the condition or status of their loved ones is,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference. “I can only tell you that these firefighters and police officers have worked feverishly through the night.”

  The mayor reported the 18 confirmed deaths, and Los Angeles County coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter said that count did not include several bodies that could be seen but hadn’t been reached in the lower level of a mangled double-decker Metrolink passenger car.

  A total of 135 people were injured, with 81 taken to hospitals, the mayor said. Many were in serious or critical condition.

  Worried relatives and friends gathered at nearby Chatsworth High School to wait for news as rescue workers delicately dismantled the passenger car.

  Debra Nieves was concerned about her sister, Donna Remata, 49, who worked in downtown Los Angeles.

  “That was her train and she’s not home,” said Nieves, 41, of Long Beach. “But until I find out for sure that they found her, I’m not going to leave.”

  The impact rammed the Metrolink engine backward into a passenger car, which rested on its side with the engine still inside it early Saturday, and accordioned the freight train cars. Two other Metrolink cars remained upright. Crews had to put out a fire under part of the train.

  Bulldozers were used to raise the commuter train’s engine and timbers were slid beneath it as firefighters worked to free a body pinned under the engine.

  Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said the goal was to eliminate every piece of metal and gradually work into the passenger spaces of the double-decker rail car.

  “There’s human beings in there and it’s going to be painstaking to get them out,” Ruda said. “They’ll have to surgically remove them.”

  His firefighters had never seen such carnage, he said.

  “It’s the worst feeling in the world because you know what you’re going to find,” said fire Capt. Alex Arriola, who had crawled into the bottom of the smashed passenger car. “You have to put aside the fact that it’s someone’s husband, daughter or friend.”

  Officials said there were 222 people on the Metrolink train and three Union Pacific employees aboard the freight train.

  Asked how the two trains ended up on the same track, Steven Kulm, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said: “We are nowhere near having any information on that.”

  Kulm said the federal investigation will be headed by the National Transportation Safety Board, while his agency will review whether any federal rail safety regulations were violated.

  Union Pacific spokeswoman Zoe Richmond said it is common in California for freight and commuter trains to use one track.

  Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said the Metrolink train left Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and was headed northwest to Moorpark in Ventura County. The trains collided at about 4:30 p.m. in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley, near a 500-foot-long tunnel underneath Stoney Point Park.

  There is a siding at one end of the tunnel where one train can wait for another to pass, Tyrrell said.

  “I do not know what caused the wreck,” said Tyrrell who broke down crying and was shaking. “Obviously two trains are not supposed to be on the same track at the same time.”

  Until Friday, Metrolink’s worst disaster was on Jan. 26, 2005, in suburban Glendale when a man parked a gasoline-soaked SUV on railroad tracks. A Metrolink train struck the SUV and derailed, striking another Metrolink train traveling the other way, killing 11 people and injuring about 180 others. Juan Alvarez was convicted this year of murder for causing the crash.

  That was the worst U.S. rail tragedy since March 15, 1999, when an Amtrak train hit a truck and derailed near Bourbonnais, Ill., killing 11 people and injuring more than 100.

  The worst accident in Amtrak’s 28-year history came on Sept. 22, 1993, when 42 passengers and five crew members died. The Sunset Limited plunged off a trestle into a bayou near Mobile, Ala., moments after the trestle was damaged by a towboat.

  _

  Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus, Greg Risling, Denise Petski, Josh Dickey, James Beltran, John Rogers and Michael R. Blood contributed to this report.

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  • September 13, 2008 12:35 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• At least 10 dead after commuter train collides with freight train in LA

  Update 8:16 p.m.

  By THOMAS WATKINS Associated Press Writer

  LOS ANGELES (AP) - A commuter train believed to have been carrying up to 350 people during the afternoon rush collided with a freight train Friday, killing at least 10 people, injuring dozens and trapping an unknown number of others in a mangled passenger car imploded by its own engine.

  Firefighters extinguished a blaze under part of the wreckage and were working hours after the collision to free people from the destroyed commuter car, which was left toppled on its side with the train’s engine shoved back inside it. Two other cars in the Metrolink train remained upright.

  The Union Pacific freight train’s engine was also turned onto its side, with the rest of the train splayed out like an accordion behind it.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at the scene there were between 10 and 15 fatalities, and 50 to 60 people injured.

  “This is the worst accident I’ve ever seen,” Villaraigosa said. “Clearly the injuries are going to mount and so are the fatalities.”

  Police Lt. John Romero said the death toll was 10 to 20.

  The crash “made a terrible sound, like a bomb, a huge noise,” said Julio Pedraza, 35, who lives and works at a nearby horse boarding facility. He said he saw passengers emerging from the wreckage, and he and others helped the injured, one with skin peeling off of his forehead.

  “They were yelling for help and crying,” Pedraza said in Spanish.

  Firefighters treated the injured at three triage areas near the wreck, and helicopters flew in and out of a nearby landing area on medical evacuation flights.

  Rescuers worked atop the wreckage and through breaches in the passenger car to reach victims. Dazed and injured passengers sat on the ground and milled about on both sides of the tracks.

  Surgeons were sent to the scene.

  Dr. Stephanie Hall, chief medical officer at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said three people in critical condition - two females and a male - were being treated at the hospital.

  “They are massive injuries,” she said.

  One of the largest medical facilities in the area, Northridge Hospital Medical Center, was told to prepare for the arrival of injured passengers, said hospital spokeswoman Christina Zicklin.

  “We are expecting some people. I don’t know the number yet,” she said.

  A male passenger told KNBC-TV he boarded the Metrolink train in suburban Burbank and was talking with a fellow passenger when the crash occurred.

  “Within an instant I was in my friend’s lap. It was so quick. It was devastating,” he said. The man was visibly injured, but able to walk with the aid of firefighters. The man said he was involved in a devastating 2005 Metrolink crash in Glendale and was talking about it with the other passenger when Friday’s crash occurred.

  The trains collided in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley.

  Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said the train left Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and was headed northwest to Moorpark in Ventura County. She couldn’t confirm how many people were on the train, but said that in rush hours there would usually be about 350 people on board.

  “We don’t know if we hit another train or another train hit us,” Tyrrell said.

  She said the Metrolink train was being pulled by its locomotive rather than being pushed. The push mode is controversial due to claims that it makes trains more vulnerable in accidents.

  The condition of the freight crew was not immediately known.

  Union Pacific spokeswoman Zoe Richmond said a freight train usually has a two-person crew.

  She also said it is common in California for freight and commuter trains to share the same track.

  “You see it a lot in California where commuter trains share tracks with freight trains,” Richmond said, adding she couldn’t speculate about the cause of the crash.

  The federal investigation into the crash will be headed by the National Transportation Safety Board, said Steven Kulm, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration. The FRA will conduct a review of whether any federal rail safety regulations were violated, he said.

  Asked about how the two trains ended up on the same track, Kulm said, “We are nowhere near having any information on that.”

  The crash happened in an area where the tracks form a “U” shape, about 2,500 feet wide. At the top of the bend is a 500-foot long tunnel that runs beneath Stoney Point Park, popular with climbers for its large boulders.

  The toppled passenger car was part of a Bombardier BiLevel coach, commonly used for regional railways from Seattle’s commuter rail Sounder to New Jersey Transit. Each double-decker car is about 16 feet high and 10 feet wide and can seat up to 160 passengers, depending on its configuration.

  The worst disaster in Metrolink’s history occurred on Jan. 26, 2005, in suburban Glendale, when a man parked a gasoline-soaked SUV on railroad tracks. A Metrolink train struck the SUV and derailed, striking another Metrolink train traveling the other way, killing 11 people and injuring about 180 others. Juan Alvarez was convicted this year of murder for causing the crash.

  —

  Associated Press writers Raquel Maria Dillon, Greg Risling, Denise Petski, Josh Dickey, James Beltran and John Rogers contributed to this report.

  (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

  LINK: L.A. Times Google Map showing crash location

  LINK: Metrolink Web site

  Families-only Metrolink information hotline: 1-800-371-5465

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  • September 12, 2008 8:16 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• Cal State officials say they'll need $150 million for next fiscal year

  Sacramento two month budget stalemate’s holding up California State University’s budget. But even before they receive final word on how much they’ll have to cut, trustees are already talking about future budget increases. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Cal State finance officials are expected to tell trustees that the university system will need $150 million more in the next fiscal year. They say they’ll need more money to cover rising costs for maintenance, employees, and academic research.

  State lawmakers are expected to cut CSU’s budget by about $200 million. University spokeswoman Claudia Keith says Cal State has to voice its needs early on.

  Claudia Keith: This is just, sort of, the first pass, if you will, of the ‘09-‘10 budget for our board. Since there’s so much uncertainty. It’s always done with that caveat. So, we’re just going forward and hope that, you know, higher education can get the priority that we feel that it needs.

  Guzman-Lopez: The Cal State’s formed a powerful coalition with its faculty union and students to push for more funds. Trustees will continue the budget talks at their November meeting.

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  • September 12, 2008 6:42 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Education

• Producers reach tentative agreement with casting directors

  Movie and TV producers have reached a tentative contract agreement, but not with actors who’ve been holding out for two months. The deal’s with the folks who look for actors when it’s time to fill a role. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: Casting directors and associates sift through stacks of headshots to find the right face for the right moment. They run auditions and help negotiate actors pay. Casting personnel joined the Teamsters Union a few years ago and bargained a contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

  The two sides spent a few days this week renegotiating that deal. Now it’s up to the 400 members of Teamsters locals here and in New York to vote on ratification.

  The two sides aren’t sharing contract details just yet. But the producers were quick to point out that it’s the fifth labor pact they’ve negotiated this year. They still don’t have a deal done with the Screen Actors Guild… but for now, the actors continue to work under the terms of the contract that expired July 1st.

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  • September 12, 2008 6:22 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy

• Pakistani officials express concern over U.S. military raids

  Pakistani officials are concerned about secret U.S. military raids in their country. Three months ago, President Bush authorized Special Forces to target suspected terrorists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

  Syed Ibne Abbas, Pakistan’s Consul General in Los Angeles, explained his country’s position to KPCC.

  Syed Ibne Abbas: “Any troops or forces which enter the territories of Pakistan will be certain violation of our serenity and we have the right to, you know, retaliate in a way we deem appropriate.”

  American officials want the Pakistani government to disband Taliban and al-Qaida “safe havens” at the country’s borders.

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  • September 12, 2008 6:17 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• State of California settles with insurance company HealthNet over policy cancellations

  The state of California is settling with insurance company HealthNet over its practice of canceling policies after customers got sick. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: You fill out the application, the company signs you up, and you start paying medical insurance premiums. Then you get sick or hurt and go after treatment. When you file the claims, the company cancels your policy, all the way back to the date you started paying for it.

  California’s Department of Insurance says that happened to nearly 1,000 HealthNet customers in four years. State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner condemned what he called a “use it and lose it” situation.

  Steve Poizner: We will not permit the illegal and the improper cancellations of people’s health insurance. And I’m gonna use this HealthNet settlement as a model to roll out new regulations that will apply to all health insurance companies in California.

  Watt: Poizner thanked HealthNet for recognizing its mistakes and agreeing to change its ways. The company will reinstate the cancelled policies, without collecting past premiums. It’s also on the hook for up to $14 million worth of medical bill reimbursements, and 3-and-a-half-million dollars in fines.

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  • September 12, 2008 4:11 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health

• Charles Drew University opens urgent care clinic

  Charles Drew University, the medical school that used to be affiliated with the shuttered King-Drew Medical Center, will own and operate a state of the art urgent care clinic in South Los Angeles. California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez praised the university for opening what he called a much-needed medical facility in the heart of South Los Angeles.

  Fabian Nunez: “I have no problem getting treated here myself. This is about as good of an urgent care center that you’re gonna find anywhere in the state of California.”

  Nunez joined other lawmakers and university leaders at a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning. The urgent care clinic will begin treating patients Monday morning. Drew University board members say they spent $1 million of the school’s endowment to launch the medical facility. Doctors there expect to treat about 15,000 patients a year.

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  • September 12, 2008 3:12 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Southland native leaves chairmanship of National Endowment for the Arts

  The chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, poet and Hawthorne native Dana Gioia, announced today that he’s leaving the job next year. More on the story from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: The once-embattled arts endowment has passed five pretty calm years on Dana Gioia’s watch. Not long ago, its grants to cutting-edge artists stirred opposition from conservatives who questioned why the agency should exist.

  Gioia helped restore its reputation to what he called “its rightful place as one of the premier institutions in the United States.” The son of an Italian-American father and a Mexican-American mother, Gioia graduated from Serra High School in Gardena.

  He earned a master’s degree in comparative literature from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford. His career combined both; he’s a published and widely anthologized poet who was also a longtime vice president at General Mills.

  At the arts endowment Gioia promoted “Operation Homecoming,” a compilation of stories by veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the spoken word contest Poetry Out Loud. He says he hopes to resume his literary life when he’s done at the National Endowment for the Arts.

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  • September 12, 2008 3:09 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Politics/Public Affairs

• Pakistani parliament condemns secret US military raids inside Pakistan

  In the war on terror, President George Bush authorized secret military raids inside Pakistan three months ago. Pakistan’s Consul General in Los Angeles, Syed Ibne Abbas, told KPCC that officials in his country have expressed concern over the decision to use tactical ground forces.

  Syed Ibne Abbas: “This is the first time that, you know, this has happened. And that’s precisely the reason that the national assembly of Pakistan, I would say, which is the Parliament of Pakistan, has condemned these attacks.”

  U.S. officials have maintained that Pakistan’s government isn’t doing enough to combat the Taliban and al-Qaida militants along their country’s border. The United States has conducted missile strikes in Pakistan for two years.

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  • September 12, 2008 3:01 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LAPD investigators believe large art heist was inside job

  LAPD detectives say they believe the theft of a dozen high-priced paintings last month from a San Fernando Valley home was an inside job. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The paintings, all insured, include works by Marc Chagal, Arshile Gorky, and Diego Rivera. A now elderly Encino couple assembled the collection over half a century. Tipsters have called a telephone hotline. Detective Donald Hrycyk, of the LAPD’s Art Theft Detail, says he’s following leads that suggest someone familiar with the house tipped off thieves.

  Donald Hrycyk: The fact that the victims are ordinarily surrounded by people that are at the house. And for just a brief amount of time on this one day, they were alone for less than an hour, and that’s the time that the art disappeared, of course gives one pause.

  Guzman-Lopez: A security system failed, Hrycyk said, and a housekeeper was out shopping for an hour when the artwork was stolen. The LAPD’s offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to recovery of the paintings and arrest of the thief or thieves.

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  • September 12, 2008 3:00 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Criminal Justice

• State Insurance Department settles with HealthNet over canceling customers' polices

  Nearly one thousand HealthNet customers who lost their medical insurance after they sought treatment can get it back, and get their medical bills paid. California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced a settlement with the insurer today. Poizner said he’s investigating other medical insurance companies over the business practice he calls “use it and lose it.”

  Steve Poizner: “You apply for health insurance. The health insurance company processes your application, grants you health insurance. Then you start paying premiums over a multiyear period. And then when you get sick or injured and go into a doctor or hospital and start receiving medical attention, claims get filed. And then the company actually cancels your insurance.”

  The settlement with HealthNet puts the company on the hook for up to $14 million in medical bills and 3-and-a-half million dollars in fines.

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  • September 12, 2008 2:00 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Health

• Southland broadcaster George Putnam has died at age 94

  Former newscaster and radio talk show host George Putnam died this morning. He was 94 years old. From the 1950s through the mid-1970s Putnam anchored the news on local stations including KTTV and KTLA. Michael Horn is President of CRN digital radio. He told KPCC’s AirTalk that Putnam helped inspire the fictitious anchorman that actor Ted Knight played on the Mary Tyler Moore show.

  Michael Horn: “That Ted Baxter character was actually patterned after him; when Ted Knight was trying to look for a way to go in that character, he studied George. I think he studied Jerry Dunphy a little bit. And George always said he got the best stuff from him.”

  Putnam went on to host the “Talk Back” radio show. It ran most recently on CRN digital radio. Audiences knew Putnam for his conservative views, but he claimed to be a “lifelong Democrat.”

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  • September 12, 2008 1:48 PM
  • Categories: Arts, Society/Culture

• David Long, California Secretary of Education, resigns

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Secretary of Education says he’s leaving his cabinet post. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: The governor appointed David Long 18 months ago to help make 2008 the year of education. Instead it turned out to be the year of defending education cuts. A huge budget deficit pushed Schwarzenegger to propose billions of dollars in reductions to public schools. A powerful coalition that included teachers unions fought the proposed cuts.

  The governor’s Secretary for Education has significantly fewer powers than the State Board of Education and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Long said in an interview with the Sacramento Bee that these divided responsibilities were a problem. In a three-paragraph resignation letter to the governor, Long didn’t indicate why he’s leaving. The veteran Riverside educator merely said it’s time for him to move on to another chapter in his life.

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  • September 11, 2008 7:06 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Nobel Peace Prize winners, students convene to discuss community service

  On the same day observances took place to remember the events of September 11, six Nobel Peace Prize winners arrived on the campus of Loyola Marymount University for a conference.

  At the three-day PeaceJam Global Call to Action, the Nobel laureates are exchanging ideas with 3,000 young people from around the world about community service projects. Jody Williams of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.

  Jody Williams: “I invite anybody who believes that youth don’t care: Come along with any one of us to a PeaceJam. Watch what those young people do. Watch them become empowered because we take the time to listen to them.”

  Also listening at the conference are Central American indigenous rights activist Rigoberta Menchu and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

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  • September 11, 2008 6:50 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• As house prices and rates drop, mortgage loan standards tighten

  Housing prices are dropping all over Southern California. So are mortgage rates. But it’s no good if you can’t get a loan. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde says the days when banks would lend money to anyone who could fog up a mirror are over.

  So you’ve found the home of your dreams. It’s a real bargain in a market driven by a flood of foreclosures. But what does it take to get a mortgage?

  Irma Vargas of the Beverly Hills/Greater L.A. Association of Realtors says it all depends on three things: Good credit, proof that your income is what you say it is, and a willingness to put a chunk of money down.

  Irma Vargas: “I think the crux is down payment. I don’t see too many – I’ve not done one lately where it’s no money down. The banks just won’t go for that. You’ve got to put some money down, even if it’s just 10 percent. And even there, they’re kind of hesitant. But if you’ve got 20 percent down, then it’s easier to get a loan, as long as you’ve got good credit. But the documentation has to be there now.”

  Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have dropped below 6 percent. That’s the biggest one-week drop in nearly three decades.

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  • September 11, 2008 6:43 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Society/Culture

• Presidential campaigns register new voters at citizen swearing-in

  This November’s presidential election will be the first time thousands of new American citizens will cast their ballots. Thirty-year-old Aldo Soriano was born in Mexico. He says he wanted to become a U.S. citizen so he could vote.

  Aldo Soriano: “Definitely, the most important issues, I think, is family values and crime. Make sure schools are doing good. All those things are pretty much, are very, very important to me.”

  Judges swore in more than 18,000 new citizens today during three ceremonies at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

  Volunteers from the John McCain and Barack Obama campaigns set up tables inside the facility to register the new voters.

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  • September 11, 2008 6:34 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Tina Allen, noted Southland sculptor, dies at 58

  A Southland-based sculptor who crafted internationally-known likenesses of “Roots” author Alex Haley and other prominent African Americans has died in Los Angeles. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall says Tina Allen was 58 years old when she died Tuesday.

  Cheryl Devall: When she was five years old, Tina Allen began to paint. Sculptor William Zorach took her under his wing when she was 10.

  During her career, Allen won commissions for monumental works like the 13-foot sculpture of Haley in his native Knoxville, Tennessee, and of George Washington Carver for the St. Louis Botanical Garden. She also created abstract works that emphasized African standards of beauty. On her Web site Allen said, “Our children must be able to say, greatness comes out of people who look like me.”

  In the Southland, Allen’s public sculptures include a four-story high relief at King/Drew Medical Magnet High School, and a bust of civil rights activist Celes King III at the intersection of Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Boulevards in Los Angeles. Allen’s ex-husband said she died of complications from a heart attack.

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  • September 11, 2008 6:30 PM
  • Categories: Arts, History

• California Board of Education adopts new physical education guidelines

  California’s Board of Education today adopted new guidelines for physical education in public schools. It sets P.E. standards that students will have to meet in every grade, and KPCC’s Nick Roman says they’ll start meeting them in kindergarten.

  Nick Roman: You have to start that early if you want kids to be physically fit… and to get the benefits that come with that. Kids in better shape are better in school, and they’re just plain healthier, too. So the new P.E. standards say that in kindergarten, kids have to learn how to move their bodies: Hopping, skipping, moving to a beat, even why it’s important to stretch your muscles.

  First graders should learn how to throw and kick a ball, and how to balance. Second graders should be able to jump rope, climb, and play fair.

  By the time senior year in high school rolls around, students will have to show some level of skill in some sort of lifelong physical pursuit, like running, cycling, swimming, or dancing. And they’ll have to demonstrate that they’re physically fit.

  It all sounds great… as long as the schools hire good P.E. teachers and give them the facilities they need for physical training.

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  • September 11, 2008 6:22 PM
  • Categories: Education, Health

• Downturn in real estate hits specific Westside markets

  DataQuick says Southern California home prices have dropped more than 30 percent since last year. But not all of the Southland is created equal. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde has the word about real estate on the Westside.

  Kitty Felde: Irma Vargas with the Beverly Hills/Greater L.A. Association of Realtors says home prices on L.A.’s Westside have dropped only about 8 to 12 percent, depending on the neighborhood. Foreclosures have hardly touched the upper end of the marketplace – the houses selling for 10 million or more. Vargas says the highest number of foreclosures can be found in Culver City condo conversions.

  Irma Vargas: A lot of these people when they bought in the last couple of years were stretching to get into the marketplace, and then were getting 100 percent financing. It was very available back then. So your equity is not there. And now that the prices have dropped, and let’s say something has changed in their lifestyle, or they’ve got to move, they can’t even sell it for what they paid for it.

  Felde: Realtor Irma Vargas says that means bargain hunters can snap up a two-bedroom condo in Culver City for the low to mid 300s. She says the market is flooded with condos, and it could take another six months to a year before that flood recedes.

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  • September 11, 2008 5:27 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Real estate foreclosures hit some Westside LA communities harder

  Home prices are falling. Mortgage rates are, too. But if you’re looking to buy, especially on L.A.’s Westside, the realtors who know say pick your neighborhood carefully. Irma Vargas of the Beverly Hills/Greater L.A. Association of Realtors says you won’t find any deals in Marina del Rey. She says look instead at West L.A., the Miracle Mile, and other neighborhoods.

  Irma Vargas: “Like for example in Culver City where we have a number of big condo projects where it’s what we call the lower end, entry level condos. We’re seeing foreclosures in there in greater numbers than say in Santa Monica where we’re not seeing even in the low end; there are a few, but the numbers are a lot less.”

  Vargas says prices have also dropped in what agents describe as the “mid-range” for the Westside, homes that sell from 2 to 5 million dollars. She says upper end homes, priced at more than 10 million, have not been affected by the real estate downturn.

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  • September 11, 2008 4:46 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• Thousands of immigrants become citizens today at LA Convention Center

  Thousands of new American citizens had reason to celebrate on this somber day in the history of their adopted country. Eighteen-thousand people took the oath of allegiance today at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Twenty-four-year-old Raymond Serrano from Canada was one of them.

  Raymond Serrano: “I’m not gonna lie. It’s just another day to me. Like, it’s awesome that I became a citizen, but the fact that it was September 11th wasn’t that big of a deal.”

  Serrano says voting is a big deal to him. He says that ending the war in Iraq is the most important issue that’ll influence his choice for the White House.

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  • September 11, 2008 4:42 PM
  • Categories: History, Politics/Public Affairs

• 18,000 new American citizens take oath of allegance today in Southern California

  This September 11th is bittersweet for thousands of new American citizens who took their oath of allegiance today in Southern California. KPCC’s Patricia Nazario stopped by the Los Angeles Convention Center for this afternoon’s swearing-in ceremony.

  Patricia Nazario: Officials swore in about 6,100 people during the 1 o’clock ceremony. It was one of three the convention center scheduled for the day. California Central District Federal Judge Dale Fisher took a moment to thank the group for changing her perspective about this solemn date in American history.

  She said that for the last seven years, September 11th has been a sad day. From now on, she told the new citizens, she’ll remember it differently. Many of the new citizens registered to vote in November’s election before they left the convention center. They named the war in Iraq and the lagging economy as factors that would influence their choice for the Oval Office.

  Note: More than 18,000 new citizens were scheduled for swearing in at the convention center today.

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  • September 11, 2008 4:09 PM
  • Categories: History, Society/Culture

• LA city officials gather to remember September 11th attacks

  Los Angeles City officials gathered today to remember the September 11th attacks. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze reports.

  Frank Stoltze: They gathered at the fire department’s training center north of downtown. A fragment of the ruined World Trade Center stands there as a memorial to the more than 300 firefighters who lost their lives on September 11th. Los Angeles City Fire Chief Doug Barry:

  Chief Doug Barry: “Let us all rededicate ourselves to serve as they served and renew our resolve to be courageous, committed, and to be self-sacrificing.”

  Stoltze: Bradley Burlingame of L.A. lost his brother in the attacks. “Chic” Burlingame was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77, bound for L.A. International Airport.

  Bradley Burlingame: “We grew up in Anaheim and he wanted to celebrate his birthday the next day by attending an Angels baseball game. Like you, on that morning I was immediately worried when I saw the events and I tried calling his cell.”

  Stoltze: His brother never answered. A short time later, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.

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  • September 11, 2008 4:05 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• OC health clinics start to see housing market fallout

  Operators of some Orange County health clinics are worried they could get the raw end of the deal if state lawmakers make budget cuts. Eighteen licensed facilities comprise the Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics.

  It says those clinics have lost more than $5 million in state payments because legislators can’t decide on a budget. Ed Gerber of the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange says the shortfall of money from the state collides with the sluggish real estate market.

  Ed Gerber: “We’ve gotten in the last six months about 40 loan officers, real estate agents and loan processors that have applied here at the clinic to receive healthcare because they have no where else to go. If they show their W-2 forms or they show their tax returns, it appears that last year they made over $100,000. But so far this year, they’ve made nothing. And they have nowhere that they can go to receive health care.”

  Gerber says his clinic’s already used $200,000 from its reserves. That’s equal to one-quarter of its annual budget.

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  • September 11, 2008 4:01 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• 3000 young people attend conference with Nobel Peace laureates

  Six Nobel Peace Prize winners are attending the PeaceJam global conference that began today on the campus of Loyola Marymount University. The non-profit PeaceJam aims to create a new generation of leaders by allowing young people to exchange ideas with Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

  Thirteen-year-old Sasha Kanji of Malibu is one of 3,000 young people from around the world at the conference. He plans to present his latest project to Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

  Sasha Kanji: “I just went to Sudan, and I went to refugee camps. Not on the Darfur side, but the other side. And I helped and I’m actually building a school there, because their schools there are just– you see it and it’s just like a dirt floor with a bunch of rubble and rocks.”

  Kanji says that despite the condition of the schools, education is the only way out for the kids in the refugee camps. Central American indigenous rights activist Rigoberta Menchu and Jody Williams of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines are among the Nobel Peace laureates in attendance.

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  • September 11, 2008 3:58 PM
  • Categories: Education, Society/Culture

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa remembers Angelenos lost in September 11th terrorist attacks

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa led a ceremony today marking the seventh anniversary of the September 11th attacks. He said many people who called L.A. home lost their lives that day.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “Seven years ago, we lost Angelenos like Daniel Brandhorst, Rick Gamboa, and their bright three-year-old adopted son David, who after visiting family in Maine cut short their vacation so they could all fly home together.”

  The family was on United flight 173, the plane terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center’s South Tower.

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  • September 11, 2008 3:26 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Fire Department helping Gulf Coast prepare for Hurricane Ike

  There’s a Southland connection to the Gulf Coast region preparing for Hurricane Ike. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the role the Los Angeles City Fire Department is playing.

  Cheryl Devall: Among more than 300 Californians in place to help emergency responders in Texas are 45 members of the L.A. Fire Department. They include 27 members of the urban search and rescue task force, standing by in San Antonio.

  Another 14 members of the fire department’s swift water rescue team are also in Texas, and four L.A. firefighters are assisting the Federal Emergency Management Agency overhead team. Personnel from the California National Guard are also in Texas to help with hurricane preparations, evacuation, and relief efforts.

  Note: The hurricane is moving across the Gulf of Mexico toward Galveston and Houston.

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  • September 11, 2008 3:23 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa marks September 11th anniversary by lowering city flags to half staff

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ordered all city flags lowered to half staff today to mark the seventh anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks. Villaraigosa said that today is a time to acknowledge the sacrifices of the people who died.

  He added that it’s also a time to dedicate ourselves to making sure that we’re safe. On that note, Villaraigosa told KPCC’s AirTalk he feels that L.A. still isn’t getting enough counterterrorism money from the federal government.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “We don’t get near what we need when you think that New York, Washington D.C., and L.A. area probably the three top priority targets, if you will. Or targets of opportunity.”

  Villaraigosa said that nearly 80 percent of the region’s critical assets are in the city of Los Angeles.

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  • September 11, 2008 12:11 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger says he won't sign budget without rainy day fund

  California Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines says a budget deal could be days away. The state spending plan is more than two months overdue. But Governor Schwarzenegger says any plan that hits his desk had better help to fix the state’s budget process. Schwarzenegger spoke with the California Report’s John Myers.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I think the most important thing is that we get budget reform, and if we cannot put a rainy day fund together so that we never get into this problem again, we’re not going to have a budget. I’m not going to sign a budget.”
  John Myers: “Regardless of the date on the calendar?”
  Schwarzenegger: “Regardless of the date of the calendar.”

  Villines told KPCC yesterday that budget reform will be part of any budget deal. The late budget has hurt institutions that rely on state funding, including hospitals and child care centers. The governor suggested that people who feel they’re suffering because of the late budget should go to Sacramento and “raise hell” with lawmakers.

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  • September 11, 2008 11:22 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Lawyers fan out to schools to spark student civil liberties discussions on 9/11 anniversary

  For the seventh year after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Southland lawyers are fanning out to public school classrooms today to spark discussions about civil liberties. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: After the 9/11 attacks, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy urged classroom discussions about freedom and basic rights. L.A. Unified and the L.A. County Bar Association answered the call.

  This year 175 volunteers, mostly lawyers, are visiting six high schools. The students have a vague recollection of 9/11, says Beverly Hills attorney Elaine Mandel. And, she adds, that makes for spirited discussions about civil liberties.

  Elaine Mandel: Last year, one of the issues was about principals being able to search students’ backpacks without any kind of prior notice or any kind of rationale, other than the principal selected a particular student. And I said, “What do you think about that, is that OK?” And a number of the students said, “Sure, I don’t have anything to hide. Bring it on.”

  Guzman-Lopez: The scenario for this year’s discussion is timely: a fictional presidential candidate who’s preparing for a debate wants to know young people’s thoughts on rights versus security.

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  • September 11, 2008 9:42 AM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Angels clinch American League West title

  The Angels beat the New York Yankees today in Anaheim, 4 to 2. That win, coupled with a Texas loss a few hours later, clinched the American League West title for manager Mike Scioscia’s team. KPCC’s Nick Roman says the Halos have never shined so brightly.

  Nick Roman: It took the Angels 19 seasons to make the playoffs for the first time. Now it seems like a trip to the post-season is built into the team’s schedule. By finishing first this season, the Angels will rack up five playoff trips in seven years.

  Since they began this remarkable stretch, the Angels have added about a million fans to their turnstile count. They used to draw about two million fans a year. That put ‘em in the middle of the pack in the American League. Now only the Yankees draw more fans to the stands than the Angels.

  More fans mean more money for talented free agents. This season, it was centerfielder Torii Hunter, who’s second on the team only to slugger Vladimir Guerrero in home runs, RBIs, and runs scored.

  But the Angels have a productive farm system, too. It produced four of their five young starting pitchers, plus relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez. It’s heaven on earth for Angel fans… and it figures to be for years to come.

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  • September 10, 2008 6:15 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• Assembly minority leader Villines: budget impasse may be near an end

  We may be near the end of the state budget stalemate. Republican Mike Villines, the Assembly’s minority leader, has been meeting regularly with the governor and legislative leaders, and he tells KPCC’s “Patt Morrison” that he thinks a budget could be only days away.

  Assemblyman Mike Villines: “I’m just optimistic that we can have something maybe put together over maybe the next seven to 10 days, if not less. And so we’re working towards that. We’re just trying to work to a compromise that does not include taxes, but still maintains some Democrat priorities. And I think we can get there.”

  Lawmakers have spent the summer arguing over whether to raise taxes, cut spending, or borrow money. Villines says Republicans have proposed “stop-gap” spending bills that would have kept money flowing to health, education, and social service programs. But Villines says the Democrats and the governor won’t go along.

  Villines: “The most critical thing we can do is make sure that we’re taking care of people. The fact that we can’t get a budget done is our fault, and that’s something we have to deal with and that’s our problem. But there should not be innocent victims in this.”

  Villines and most other Republicans in the legislature have pledged to oppose any tax increases. Democrats say balancing the budget can’t come through spending cuts alone.

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  • September 10, 2008 6:09 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• California schools make contingency plans as budget stalemate continues

  California public education officials are describing a doom-and-gloom scenario for school districts if Sacramento’s budget impasse continues. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Education labor unions and California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction say the impasse will keep billions of dollars from reaching school districts this month.

  That’s causing high anxiety, but not panic, at those districts, says Wendy Benkert, head of business services at the Orange County Department of Education. The county’s 27 school districts launched contingency plans months ago.

  Wendy Benkert: First they’re going into their reserve accounts; they’re using up their reserve accounts to pay their current expenses. Once they exhaust that funding, they’ll borrow money from other restricted funds that they’ll end up having to pay back.

  Guzman-Lopez: Restricted funds include money for child development and adult education services. Benkert says it’s unclear how districts will pay employees in these departments.

  If there’s still no state budget once that money runs out, Orange County school districts have the option of borrowing from a board-of-supervisors-approved education investment pool. Benkert says that one school district is getting in line to borrow $25 million next month from that fund to make its payroll.

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  • September 10, 2008 5:55 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Educators push for budget that can adequately fund school costs

  State educators’ unions and California’s superintendent of schools are warning that two-and-a-half billion dollars won’t get to schools this month if legislators don’t pass a state budget. They’re pushing for a budget with some tax increases.

  Jim Novak, assistant superintendent of the Palm Springs Unified School District, says the outlook there is serious but not critical. The district started tightening its belt in January, and later cut $3.5 million from its budget. Novak says that whatever budget passes had better stick.

  Jim Novak: “So I’m crossing my fingers that the legislature’s wise enough to know to settle a budget that we can live with throughout the rest of this year, and we don’t have to suffer through any type of midyear cut, halfway through the school year.”

  Like most other school districts, Palm Springs Unified is borrowing from existing funds to cover payroll and other costs.

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  • September 10, 2008 5:30 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger deploys emergency responders to help with Hurricane Ike

  As Hurricane Ike heads toward Texas, Governor Schwarzenegger’s Office of Emergency Services has deployed more than 300 emergency responders to help officials there prepare for the hurricane. Kelly Huston with the state agency says many of the California personnel were already in the region.

  Kelly Huston: “We have eight swift water rescue teams, we have three right now which are urban search and rescue teams, and then folks from the National Guard, and then some of our emergency management personnel. They’ve already been there for Gustav, now they’re waiting for Ike. They’re on an extended deployment.”

  California also has sent state and local firefighters, along with helicopters and C-130 aircraft from the National Guard. As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Ike is a category two hurricane with winds up to 100 miles per hour. Forecasters expect it to hit the Texas gulf coast near Corpus Christi early Saturday morning.

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  • September 10, 2008 4:46 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Episcopal bishops oppose gay marriage ban

  Nine of California’s Episcopal bishops voiced their opposition today to Proposition 8. That ballot measure would amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages. KPCC’s Brian Watt was at the Los Angeles Cathedral Center, where Episcopal clergy and laypeople urged voters to reject the proposition.

  Brian Watt: A statement from the nine Episcopal bishops says that allowing same sex couples to marry enhances Christian values like monogamy, commitment, love, and mutual respect. Reverend Jon Bruno is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

  Jon Bruno: “I must vote no on this effort to rewrite our state constitution with language of exclusion rather than inclusion.”

  Watt: His message resonated with Warner Traynham, retired rector of St John’s Episcopal Church in L.A.

  Warner Traynham: In this country we used to have laws prohibiting the marriage of blacks and whites. Those laws discriminated against black people and excluded them from the community. We got rid of them as an act of love.

  Watt: Proposition 8 will appear on the November ballot. Opponents of the state Supreme Court’s ruling that granted marriage rights to same-sex couples collected enough signatures to put the question to voters. The court’s decision in May overturned an earlier statewide ballot measure against same-sex marriage.

  Note: The Los Angeles City Council also weighed in today on the debate over same-sex marriage. The Council unanimously approved a resolution in support of federal legislation that would eliminate language defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

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  • September 10, 2008 4:26 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Religion/Spirituality

• LA to work up menu law that might be dropped

  The Los Angeles City Council has ordered up an ordinance that would require restaurant chains to provide calorie information about their menu items. But KPCC’s Nick Roman says there’s a good chance the ordinance won’t be necessary.

  Nick Roman: The bigger fast-food chains began posting nutritional details inside restaurants years ago. The L.A. ordinance would require them to put that same info on menus and menu boards. That way, you’d know for sure how many hundreds of calories that giant cheeseburger packs.

  You could still order it, but at least you’d know. L.A. City’s menu ordinance is a twin to one in the works in L.A. County. But it’s possible neither will ever take effect, and their supporters say that’s fine. Here’s why: there’s a bill on the governor’s desk that’ll require calorie counts on menus and menu boards statewide.

  It’ll take effect in three years and it’ll apply to chains with at least 20 outlets. That would set a single standard for nutritional info across California, and it would preempt local menu ordinances. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year, but the California Restaurant Association backs this one, so it figures he’ll sign it.

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  • September 10, 2008 3:16 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA/Ontario air traffic controllers speak out about near miss

  Sharp eyes and a fast warning helped a pair of air traffic controllers head off a runway disaster at LA/Ontario International Airport. It happened last week, but authorities just released the details. A small plane was seconds from touching down, but without its landing gear in place. A Southwest Airlines pilot spotted the problem, and called out a warning to air traffic controllers Bruce Bradigan and Carlos Rodriguez.

  They quickly alerted the pilot of the small plane, who pulled up, circled, and came in again, this time with his landing gear down and locked. Controllers Bradigan and Rodriguez spoke to reporters today about the near-disaster.

  Bruce Bradigan: “The amount of damage that could have been done, and what could have happened and realizing we averted it, makes you feel good.”
  Carlos Rodriguez: “I agree with Bruce. And you know, as air traffic controllers, we’re mandated to work at 100%. And thank God, Southwest saw 0-4 Yankees gear up ‘cause there probably would have been an accident and you would have been here for another reason.”

  The pilot of the small plane flies daily to Ontario from Big Bear. An official from the Federal Aviation Administration says the incident is under investigation. The pilot could have his license suspended or revoked.

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  • September 10, 2008 2:32 PM
  • Categories: Transportation

• 7th LA County baby this year left at 'safe surrender' location

  For the seventh time this year, a Los Angeles County infant has landed unharmed at a “safe surrender” location. Details on the story from KPCC’s Cheryl Devall.

  Cheryl Devall: The baby boy’s mother left him at a hospital in Valencia, where medical staff say he’s in good health. L.A. County has placed him in protective custody until Children and Family Services finds an adoptive family for him.

  The county’s “safe surrender” program allows adults to deposit newborns at designated places, like hospitals and fire stations, without facing penalties, if the child shows no signs of abuse. County authorities intended the program to reduce the number of abandoned babies.

  In seven years, the program has accepted 69 infants. The mother of this week’s surrendered child says she found out about “safe surrender” by reading a brochure. To learn more about the program, go online to babysafela.org.

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  • September 10, 2008 12:45 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Health, Society/Culture

• Episcopal bishops oppose Proposition 8

  Nine Episcopal bishops in California are voicing their opposition to Proposition 8. The ballot measure would amend the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages in the state. Reverend Jon Bruno is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

  Jon Bruno: “As bishops, we have said we do not believe that marriage of heterosexuals is threatened by same-sex marriage. Christian values of monogamy, commitment, love, mutual respect, and witness are enhanced for all by providing this right to gay and straight alike.”

  Proposition 8 will appear on the November ballot. Opponents of the state Supreme Court’s ruling in May that granted marriage rights to same-sex couples collected enough signatures to put the question to voters.

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  • September 10, 2008 12:25 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Religion/Spirituality

• World's largest particle collider passes first test

  The world’s largest particle collider passed its first test this morning. Scientists successfully sent a beam of protons clockwise around the full length of the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile underground ring near Geneva, Switzerland. Then they sent a beam counterclockwise.

  Scientists hope to collide two beams into each other, with the goal of recreating conditions a split second after the Big Bang. Julian Bunn is a scientist in Caltech’s Center for Advanced Computing Research.

  Julian Bunn: “It’s certainly the first time since the Big Bang that these conditions have been recreated on the Earth. We believe that by recreating those conditions, we’re able to get a much better understanding of what’s going on.”

  Bunn told KPCC’s AirTalk that scientists hope the experiment will teach them more about the source of dark matter and provide a better understanding of the physical world. Scientists hope to begin collisions in the next couple months.

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  • September 10, 2008 12:15 PM
  • Categories: Science/Technology

• California emergency teams head to Texas in preparation for Hurricane Ike

  Three urban search and rescue teams from California are heading to Texas today in preparation for Hurricane Ike. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the state’s response.

  Cheryl Devall: As the ninth named hurricane of the season advances across the Gulf of Mexico, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged support to the people of Texas. “Californians know firsthand the havoc that natural disasters can wreak,” the governor’s statement said.

  Three-hundred-sixty-four personnel from California will help Texans in case the storm lands there as early forecasts indicate. The emergency teams include California National Guard members, swift water rescue teams, state and local firefighters, and coordinators from the governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

  The state’s also sending two helicopters and two fixed-wing aircraft to support the Texas Air National Guard if needed. As a precaution, emergency officials in Texas have ordered evacuations in the Corpus Christi area.

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  • September 10, 2008 11:47 AM
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs

• LA County supervisors want 'watchdog' to watch Health Services Department

  L.A. County supervisors plan to put the troubled Department of Health Services under a microscope. KPCC’s Nick Roman says they want to assign an overseer to stop a series of bureaucratic foul-ups at Health Services.

  Nick Roman: Supervisor Gloria Molina called for a “watchdog” to counter what she calls the “lousy management” at Health Services. She says the department’s bosses are “frightened of telling us the truth.” The move follows reports that more than half the employees who worked at the now-closed King-Harbor Hospital failed to pass tests for on-the-job competency.

  At least 10 percent of King-Harbor’s ex-employees had criminal records, and two-thirds of those workers, about 100 in all, stayed on the county payroll after the hospital closed. Personnel managers at Health Services decided those workers had “no job nexus”… nothing to disqualify them from county jobs.

  Supervisor Molina wondered how an ex-con could work at a hospital, with fragile patients, expensive equipment, and lots of drugs, and not have a “job nexus.” She and her colleagues want a report back next week that sketches out how a Health Services “watchdog” office will work.

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  • September 9, 2008 5:20 PM
  • Categories: Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Budget dealing continues in Sacramento

  Governor Schwarzenegger met with the Assembly caucuses from both parties today. He’s trying to shore up support for his budget proposal, which may come up for a vote tomorrow.

  The plan includes cuts to state spending and a bigger “rainy day” fund for tough economic years, like this one. But the governor’s budget plan also calls for a temporary state sales tax hike to balance the books, and Republican minority leader Mike Villines says GOP lawmakers don’t like that.

  Mike Villines: “He would have to take taxes out of his plan, and he’d have to have a reform that really would work. We have a lot of respect for what he’s putting on the table in terms of the rainy day. But we really have to be talking about a spending cap… some modified spending cap. Otherwise, we’re going to be in this position every year.”

  But those changes would alienate Assembly Democrats. They oppose a spending cap, and have said repeatedly that raising taxes has to be part of any solution to close the state’s $15 billion deficit.

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  • September 9, 2008 5:17 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• OC women's shelter may close because of state budget woes

  Orange County’s largest shelter for battered women may be forced to close its doors because of the state budget stalemate. KPCC’s Susan Valot says the shelter relies on state funding to stay open, money that’s disappeared as lawmakers battle over the budget.

  Susan Valot: Over the past three months, the Women’s Transitional Living Center has lost $310,000 in funding because California lawmakers haven’t been able to agree on a state budget. The facility in North Orange County has had to dip into its reserves. But now, the Center’s Rocio Watson says those reserves are gone. They need nearly $100,000 by Friday of next week to keep their doors open.

  Rocio Watson: We have lives at stake here. We’re talking about families who fled in the middle of the night – many of them came into our facility in the back of a police car, severely battered – whose lives are in danger if they have no place to go. If we shut our doors, those women and children will have no place to go.

  Valot: Right now, more than 120 women and children call the Women’s Transitional Living Center home. They’re victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. Watson says this is the worst crisis the Center’s faced in its 31-year history. She points out it’s going to take more than passing a state budget. Watson says even if the budget passed today, they still wouldn’t get the money in time to pay their bills next week.

  Note: The Women’s Transitional Living Center is hosting a fund-raiser tomorrow night, at a restaurant in Fullerton, to try to make up the funding shortfall.

  Link: Women’s Transitional Living Center

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  • September 9, 2008 4:59 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety presents findings on teen driving to Governors Highway Safety Association conference

  Auto accidents kill more American teens than any other cause. But states have hesitated to raise the driving age; most, including California, allow 16-year-olds behind the wheel. Russ Rader with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety told KPCC’s Patt Morrison that the accident rate is lower where the youngest drivers face restrictions before they qualify for full licenses.

  Russ Rader: “States have been very successful at reducing teen deaths over the last 10 years, through phased-in graduated licensing programs that phase in a license over time to give teens more experience in less-risky situations, and taking them out of the most risky situations, like driving at night and driving with other teens in the vehicle. And that has reduced 16-year-old crash rates, for example, by about 40 percent over the last 10 years.”

  Rader’s organization supports raising the driving age. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety presented its findings today to the annual conference of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

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  • September 9, 2008 4:17 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Society/Culture

• Influential American Muslim Wallace/Warith Deen Mohammed dies at age 74

  A son of the Nation of Islam’s founder, who led many African-Americans into the faith after breaking with his father’s beliefs, has died. Relatives of W.D. Mohammed said he died in Chicago today at age 74. KPCC’s Shirley Jahad has the story.

  Shirley Jahad: The Web site Beliefnet has called Warith Deen Mohammed “perhaps the most influential American Muslim ever.” He was the son and successor of Elijah Mohammed, founder of the Nation of Islam. After his father’s death 33 years ago, the younger Mohammed embraced a more orthodox, scholarly approach to Islam.

  In sharp contrast to the fiery Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, W.D. Mohammed described himself as mild-natured… a quiet speaker who didn’t seek the spotlight. The rift between the two men persisted for years, but recently they shook hands in a kind of quiet truce.

  By some estimates, 20 percent of the country’s 3-and-a-half million Muslims are African-American. Most are followers of W.D. Mohammed or other orthodox teachers. The head of the Muslim Center in Detroit, where Mohammed spoke to a convention late last month, praised him as a reviver of the faith who “brought a whole lot of people to the correct worship of Islam.”

  Link: Beliefnet article on W. Deen Mohammed

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  • September 9, 2008 4:02 PM
  • Categories: Religion/Spirituality

• LA Mayor Villaraigosa praises LA-based clothing manufacturer American Apparel

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today stopped by the garment district headquarters of American Apparel, one of the top clothing brands in the country. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports that the company announced some important milestones.

  Brian Watt: American Apparel said its worldwide workforce recently topped 10,000 employees. What warranted a visit and tour from Mayor Villaraigosa is that 2,500 of those workers started this year at factories in the Los Angeles area. Members of the company’s largely Latino workforce, wearing colorful “Legalize LA” t-shirts, welcomed the mayor.

  Antonio Villaraigosa: At a time when plenty of business owners and clothing stores are cutting their losses and shipping production overseas, American Apparel is expanding here in its hometown, benefiting our workforce.

  Watt: … And the city’s tax base, he said. The mayor also applauded the company for paying its workers what he called a “living wage.” American Apparel officials said that’s often twice the minimum wage or more. The company’s also given its factory workers almost 2 million shares, $18 million worth, of American Apparel stock.

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  • September 9, 2008 2:52 PM

• Mayor Villaraigosa visits American Apparel as company announces employment milestones

  Los Angeles-based clothing maker American Apparel announced today that it’s hired 2,500 workers in Southern California this year. The company’s Marty Bailey said that brings the company’s Southland total to more than 6,000 employees.

  Marty Bailey: “We support the highest earning apparel workers in the world here, many earning more than double the minimum wage. We provide so many benefits like access to health care, subsidized lunches, MTA passes, life insurance, and our new medical facility here in the building.”

  Bailey said that last month, American Apparel gave almost 2 million shares of company stock to its factory workers. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa toured the company’s garment district headquarters and applauded its efforts to provide what he called “living wage jobs.”

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  • September 9, 2008 2:45 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• Pass rates for California's high school exit exam are down

  Education officials announced today that pass rates are down for California’s high school exit exam. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the details.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: About one in 10 seniors statewide from the class of 2008 hadn’t passed the exit exam by graduation day in June, said state education superintendent Jack O’Connell.

  Jack O’Connell: Part of that can be attributed to special education. This is the first year we require special education students to also pass the high school exit exam.

  Guzman-Lopez: Lawyers representing special education students had fought in court to stop that requirement, but they agreed to a settlement this year. A little over half of California’s special education 12th graders last June passed the exit exam.

  More than two-thirds of special education students have learning, speech, or language problems. O’Connell praised students who took the exit exam for the first time. Tenth graders who took its English and math portions are passing at a higher rate on their first try.

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  • September 9, 2008 1:21 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Teachers union president opposes Proposition 11

  Every 10 years, California redraws its political lines. This November, California voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution, and take away the power of state lawmakers to redraw their own district boundaries. Yesterday, KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde heard from the “yes” side. Today, we hear from the opposition.

  Kitty Felde: Proposition 11 would take the job of redrawing Senate and Assembly district lines out of the hands of the State Legislature. Instead, the job would go to an independent commission representing most political parties. Marty Hittleman, President of the California Federation of Teachers, doesn’t like Prop 11 for one basic reason: under the plan, he says the majority doesn’t rule.

  Marty Hittleman: “Since the Democrats have been able to, elected the majority of the legislature, they should have more power. And to say this board would be composed of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four independents just means the minorities get veto power.”

  Approval of a new redistricting map would require three “yes” votes from each political group. Hittleman says the only way to get around the gridlock in Sacramento is to elect enough Democrats so they control two-thirds of the State Senate and Assembly… enough votes necessary to pass a state budget.

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  • September 9, 2008 12:43 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Teachers union president opposes redistricting measure

  This November, California voters will decide whether someone other than politicians should draw the state’s political boundaries. Proposition 11 would turn part of the job of redistricting over to a citizens commission.

  Marty Hittleman, the president of the California Federation of Teachers, opposes the measure. He says it’s “badly thought out” because the rules say a commissioner must have no contact with the political system. Hittleman says lobbyists, candidates, and relatives of politicians are all barred from applying.

  Marty Hittleman: “So in the end you’re gonna, very likely, to have 14 people who know nothing about redistricting, that are not statistically savvy, and in the final result, is just a guess.”

  Proposition 11 won’t affect congressional seats. State lawmakers, the majority of them Democrats, would maintain the power to redraw congressional districts.

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  • September 9, 2008 12:40 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Ballot proposition would let citizens tackle redistricting

  The November ballot will list a dozen different ballot measures, including one that would put the power to redraw political districts in the hands of an independent commission. Jeannine English, the President of California AARP, says Proposition 11 takes aim at the political gridlock in Sacramento.

  Jeannine English: “Politicians are not being held accountable for their failure to work constructively across party lines and to solve those major problems. And because the legislature draws their own districts and basically chooses their own voters, 99 percent of the incumbents are reelected, whether they do the job or not.”

  The redistricting commission would have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, along with a lesser number of independents. Political candidates or their relatives would be barred from the commission. So would lobbyists and big-money political contributors.

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  • September 9, 2008 12:25 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• California releases results for high school exit exam

  The California Department of Education has announced that passing rates on the mandatory exit exam are down for the class of 2008 compared to the previous year’s class. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has more on the data released today.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Just over 90 percent of seniors in the class of 2008 passed the exit exam by the time they graduated in June. That’s about 3 percent fewer than the previous year’s seniors, and 1 percent fewer than the class of 2006.

  California’s made the exit exam a centerpiece of its education accountability program. Results are folded into the Academic Performance Index, and seniors who don’t pass either the English or math portion are denied high school diplomas.

  Policymakers have devoted tens of millions of public dollars for exam workshops to help students pass or take the test over. School districts offer help to students for two years after their senior year. The exit exam tests knowledge through 10th-grade English and seventh-grade math.

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  • September 9, 2008 10:06 AM
  • Categories: Education

• Proposition 11 would allow citizen panels draw political districts

  Ever wish you were in charge of redrawing the boundary lines of state lawmaker’s districts? This could be your year. Voters in November will decide whether to take the job of redistricting out of the hands of state lawmakers and give it to an independent commission. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde outlines Proposition 11.

  Kitty Felde: Backers of Proposition 11 blame the gridlock in Sacramento on lawmakers who don’t have to work across party lines. That’s because they drew their own district lines in 2001 to make it virtually impossible for anyone from another party to knock them out of office. Jeannine English, President of California AARP, says the solution is Prop 11. It would amend the state constitution to allow citizen experts to draw the districts of state office holders.

  Jeannine English: There is a process that will be established by the state auditor to make sure that 60 of the most qualified people will be selected based on relevant analytical skills, ability to be impartial, and appreciation for California’s diverse demographics and geography.

  Felde: Commissioners cannot be lobbyists, political candidates, or family members of a politician. The measure only applies to state offices. Congressional districts would still be drawn by the state legislature.

  Note: Tomorrow, we’ll talk to the “No on Proposition 11” side.

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  • September 8, 2008 7:25 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Los Angeles puts goats to work clearing Downtown brush

  L.A.’s Community Redevelopment Agency is trying a no-tech, eco-friendly way to clear brush on a Downtown hill. A herder has trucked in 100 goats from a ranch in Chino. They munch on the weeds and bushes of Angels Knoll at the corner of 4th and Hill Streets.

  Passers-by have been stopping to snap photos and to simply ask “Why?” Daughn Alan of Valley Village wondered whether some Downtown dwellers might get the wrong idea about those goats.

  Daughn Alan: “They’re sitting there, and this being an area where there is a lot of hunger, I’m sure it’s crossing somebody’s mind that that might be dinner on the hill.” (Laughs)

  The Community Redevelopment Agency says the goats will spend two weeks on the hill. They’ll stay overnight with their herder and a security detail, and they’ll clear the brush for less than half the cost of human labor.

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  • September 8, 2008 7:25 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Troubled Locke High School re-opens as charter school under Green Dot

  Administrators outside one Los Angeles public high school put out a new sign for the first day of school yesterday. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez says its message is “Under New Management.”

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Teachers’ frustration over low test scores, poor maintenance, and student fights at Locke High School last year led to a revolution. Most of the faculty voted to secede, and to reorganize Locke as a charter school under Green Dot Public Schools.

  Math teacher Fernando Avila, who’s worked at Locke for nine years, says people at the school have urged changes for a long time.

  Fernando Avila: I remember when I was here, maybe my second and third year, the state would come by and threaten and say, “If the API doesn’t improve, we’re going to take over the school.” And there would be a few number that would be like, “You know what, bring it on, come on in, get rid of everybody, rehire, start new, start fresh, let’s give these kids a better education by getting rid of a lot of the teachers that weren’t doing their jobs.”

  Guzman-Lopez: Uniforms are mandatory for students. More security personnel patrol the campus. Green Dot has divided the 2800-student school into six semi-autonomous campuses. The company runs small start-up campuses in working class neighborhoods. This is the first large campus Green Dot’s converted into a charter.

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  • September 8, 2008 7:08 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Hungry goats put to work clearing brush in downtown LA

  One hundred goats have taken over a hill in downtown Los Angeles. I kid you not. L.A.’s Community Redevelopment Agency brought in the bearded beasts to wolf down weeds and brush at Angels Knoll, the corner of 4th and Hill Streets. Brent Anderson of Torrance, who noticed the goats as he walked out of Grand Central Market, likes the idea.

  Brent Anderson: “Yeah, they should bring in more; they should bring in other animals. Horses. Any type of grazing animals would be great for this environment. Better than hearing the lawn mowers in the morning. And they don’t smell as bad as I thought.”

  The Community Redevelopment Agency says the goats will spend two weeks on the hill. They’ll stay overnight with their herder and a security detail. For less than half the cost of human labor, they’ll get the brush out of the way. Then, the goats will head back to their home turf – a ranch in Chino.

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  • September 8, 2008 7:06 PM
  • Categories: Environment

• Locke High School in Watts reopens as Green Dot charter school

  Locke High School in Watts opened for classes today. But for the first time in 41 years, Los Angeles Unified School District administrators are not running the place. Low test scores and student brawls afflicted the campus last year. Most of Locke’s teachers voted to secede from the district. They chose the Green Dot charter schools company to take over.

  Green Dot founder Steve Barr says Locke needed tender loving care, and then some.

  Steve Barr: “All the adults are on one mission that we think every kid can learn. Every kid is in a uniform. We have high expectations for every kid. And every dollar that the taxpayers have put forth have gone to the school site. So that enables us to have class size at 25-to-1, and it enables us to put resources where they belong, at the school site.”

  Barr says it’s going to cost $20 million a year to run Locke. Most of that money will come from the state, and Green Dot fund raising will help supply the rest. Green Dot didn’t fire teachers, but it did require every one of them to re-apply. About one-third of last year’s teachers returned. Green Dot pays a little more, but the benefits aren’t as generous as they were under L.A. Unified’s teachers’ union.

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  • September 8, 2008 5:40 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Summer gang reduction program leads to drop in violence

  At a Baldwin Hills park today, Los Angeles city officials applauded a gang reduction program they say reduced crime in some areas this summer. KPCC’s Brian Watt reports.

  Brian Watt: The Summer Night Lights program kept eight city parks open until midnight four nights a week between July 4th and Labor Day. It gave kids and families more to do at those parks, from movie nights to marble-shooting tournaments. The result: an 86 percent drop in homicides in the areas around those parks during the summer. The mayor’s gang reduction czar, Jeff Carr, said the program also hired 10 at-risk young adults to run the activities at each park.

  Jeff Carr: And we said, you have an opportunity to work hard this summer, earn a little money and put that in your pocket, 2,600 bucks for the summer. But the most important thing is that you have an opportunity to rewrite your story and the story of your neighborhood. And that story includes you all being heroes rather than villains.

  Watt: To pay for the program, Carr raised nearly $1 million in private donations. Many of the donors have already committed to keeping the lights on late again next summer.

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  • September 8, 2008 5:13 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Anita Page, one of the last surviving silent films stars, dies at 98

  Seventy-five years after she surprised Hollywood by turning her back on MGM, one of the last surviving silent film stars has died. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall has more on the career of Anita Page.

  Cheryl Devall: As a teenager petite, blonde Anita Page moved from her native Queens, New York to California. Her breakthrough role arrived 80 years ago opposite Joan Crawford in the silent melodrama “Our Dancing Daughters.” The two female leads were rivals for the love of a Jazz Age millionaire.

  Although Page’s character died, her career took off. Her deluge of fan mail included marriage proposals from around the world, including one from the future Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. In the movies, Page’s co-stars included Buster Keaton and Clark Gable.

  While Page appeared in a few early sound films, including “The Broadway Melody,” the first talkie to win the Best Picture Oscar, she decided to retire when her MGM contract expired. At the time, she was 23 years old. Anita Page’s later life included a 54-year marriage and, in the last dozen years, a few low-budget horror movies. She was 98 when she died Saturday in Los Angeles.

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  • September 8, 2008 2:37 PM
  • Categories: Arts

• City officials offer stats as evidence that summer gang reduction program worked

  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Police Chief Bill Bratton, and other city officials say a gang reduction program the city tried this summer worked. The Summer Night Lights program kept eight city parks open until midnight four nights a week with activities for young people and families. At Jim Gillian Park in Baldwin Hills, the Mayor’s gang czar Reverend Jeff Carr said people who live in gang-plagued areas are very clear about what they need.

  Jeff Carr: “They want more police officers ‘cause they don’t feel safe, and they want more programs for kids, and I think what we tried to with this was to marry that together, and to say, you know what? We need to make places safe, particularly the parks, and we also need to give kids something to do. And that’s really what we did this summer.”

  The mayor and police chief said that areas around the eight parks saw a 17 percent drop in violent crime and an 86 percent reduction in homicides during the summer.

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  • September 8, 2008 2:28 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Federal government takes over mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

  Financial and housing-related companies listed on the Dow Jones Stock Exchange traded heavily today in response to the weekend’s federal takeover of mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Treasury department spokesmen are saying that the government had to act to stabilize these giant institutions, and that shareholders may eventually benefit if the housing market recovers. Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics told KPCC’s AirTalk he’s not so sure about that prediction, because the mortgage crisis has so weakened Fannie and Freddie.

  Christopher Thornberg: “The kind of losses they’re facing on their portfolios are enormous relative to their equity. Equity holders are wiped out. These losses are going to dip into the debt part of their holdings and as a result of that, Uncle Sam’s going to have to pony up cash. And there’s really, I mean, we should just be realistic about that. This is going to cost taxpayers.”

  Thornberg said he doubts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have survived without government intervention.

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  • September 8, 2008 1:01 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy

• House Speaker Pelosi proposes new economic stimulus package

  California lawmakers returned to Washington today after a month-long recess. One of the big issues they plan to tackle is the economy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has proposed another stimulus package to get the economy moving. Jack Shaw of Market News International says the Bush administration is wary of the idea.

  Jack Shaw: “She suggested something in the range of $50 billion allocated for highways, and state governments and other needs. The administration was quite cool to that. Republicans in Congress have been quite cool. But it seems with the unemployment numbers jumping up to 6.1 percent, that this is going to be a bigger issue.”

  Congress approved a $168 billion stimulus package earlier this year. The Bush administration has argued that the first package is still boosting the nation’s economy, and that it’s too soon to consider another one.

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  • September 8, 2008 10:58 AM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs

• California prison guards union launches drive to recall Governor Schwarzenegger

  Governor Schwarzenegger likes to say “I’ll be back.” But the California prison guard union has other ideas. The California Correctional Peace Officer’s Union today launched a drive to recall Governor Schwarzenegger. KPCC’s Julie Small reports.

  Julie Small:There’s no love lost between the prison guards and Schwarzenegger. Contract talks with the governor have stalled for almost two years while California’s prison conditions deteriorate and overcrowding persists. But the union’s Lance Corcoran says that’s not why the corrections employees are circulating petitions to recall the Governor.

  Lance Corcoran: This is a governor that’s utterly failed. We have one of the largest deficits in California history and one of the longest budget stalemates.

  Small: Corcoran says the union’s gathering the signatures it needs to launch a recall petition drive. Then guards will hit the streets to gather the 555,000 voter signatures needed to hold special election to recall the governor. That’ll happen after the November election. A spokesman for the governor dismissed the prison guards’ recall campaign as a pointless effort to intimidate Schwarzenegger into approving the union’s contract.

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  • September 8, 2008 10:56 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs

• Riverside County Superior Court opens new courthouse in Coachella Valley

  To help ease a crushing backlog of criminal and civil cases, the Riverside County Superior Court is opening a new courthouse in the Coachella Valley. KPCC’s Inland Empire reporter Steven Cuevas has the story.

  Steven Cuevas: The new courthouse, in a Palm Springs business park, will handle civil cases. These are disputes that, ordinarily, judges would hear in Riverside Superior Court. But the Riverside court is so backed up with high-priority felony cases that civil cases can languish for months or years.

  Court officials say that’s because there aren’t enough judges. The county’s presiding justice says the court should employ about 130 judges and court commissioners. It has about 85. Earlier this year, the county began hearing some civil cases in a converted elementary school in Riverside. It also deployed a special “judicial strike team” to help lighten the case load.

  Since March, the county’s managed to whittle down the number of felony cases by 12 percent, to about 5,000. Even so, the court dismissed the cases of more than two dozen criminal and civil defendants last month because it could not guarantee their right to a speedy trial. Prosecutors immediately re-filed all of the criminal cases.

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  • September 8, 2008 10:39 AM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• California superintendent prepares to release exit exam results

  State education officials are set to release the latest results from the California High School Exit Exam Tuesday. KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez offers this preview.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Last year 93 percent of the class of 2007 had passed the English and math portions of the exit exam. The exam tests a student’s knowledge of math through seventh grade and English through the tenth grade.

  In the last two years, the state’s denied diplomas to high school seniors who fail either portion. About 40,000 seniors from the class of 2006 hadn’t passed the exam by the time their fellow students donned their caps and gowns. But the state encourages students to retake the standardized test. California has poured millions of dollars into exit exam workshops, available to students for two years after their senior year.

  Those funds have muted some education advocates’ complaints that students at crowded schools with less experienced teachers are at a disadvantage when they take the test.

  State Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell is set to unveil the exit exam results in Sacramento Tuesday morning.

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  • September 5, 2008 6:32 PM
  • Categories: Education

• San Bernardino Sheriff's Department gears up for grueling Mud Run

  Hundreds of people will be sloshing across miles of mud and other obstacles this Saturday in San Bernardino. It’s the county sheriff’s annual Mud Run. And while competitors may get a little mud in their eye, KPCC’s Steven Cuevas says it’s all for a good cause.

  Steven Cuevas: The money raised from the 5 and 10 kilometer footraces benefits the C.O.P.S. Foundation. It’s an organization that assists the families of officers killed in the line of duty. After a 10-year absence, Sergeant Rob McCoy says the Mud Run was long overdue for a comeback.

  Sergeant Rob McCoy: To bring us and the community together in a positive environment.

  Cuevas: Yeah, yeah… but what about the mud? And the machine guns? That’s what ya really need to “motivate” slackers across the muck and mire.

  McCoy: We have machine guns that shoot blank rounds. You’re running and dodging up and down mounds of dirt and through the mud. We also have the department’s bomb arson detail. They’re going to detonate explosions during the race from the bomb pad.

  Cuevas: So should people maybe leave the Lycra at home and wear Kevlar and combat boots?! (laughter)

  McCoy: The boots might be a good idea, because shoes tend to kind of come off in the mud!

  Cuevas: Anyone can watch or participate in the Mud Run. The entry fee is $45 per runner. More than 1500 have already signed up. The Mud Run is being held at the sheriff’s training academy in San Bernardino. It starts at 9:00 in the morning.

  Link: SBSD Mud Run Web site

  Link: Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.)

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  • September 5, 2008 5:56 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Sports/Recreation

• Triathlon leads to traffic being diverted Sunday

  Triathletes will be showing what they can do, and diverting auto traffic, from L.A.’s beaches to downtown Sunday. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski has details.

  Brooke Binkwoski: The Los Angeles Triathlon, a combination of swimming, running, and bicycling, starts near Venice Beach. After the swim portion of the race, the action moves along Venice Boulevard into downtown. About 2,500 athletes are registered for the eighth annual competition. This year’s finish line is the L.A. Live Nokia Plaza, near downtown’s Staples Center.

  Competition and traffic officials start closing roads for the triathlon before dawn. The cycling and running portions are either 31-miles or 22-miles, depending on whether competitors take the elite course or the amateur one. Either way, roads along the route will be closed to vehicle traffic for most of Sunday. For more information, including route maps, go online to LATriathlon.com.

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  • September 5, 2008 5:24 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles defend Clean Trucks plan in federal court Monday

  The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will defend their Clean Trucks plan in federal court Monday. KPCC’s Molly Peterson reports that a trucking industry group says the ports’ programs are illegal.

  Molly Peterson: After October 1, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles plan to limit access to trucking companies that agree to bring in cleaner, newer trucks. The port of L.A. has set a further condition: that drivers be employees of those companies, not contractors. The American Trucking Association, or ATA, argues ports can’t require signed agreements from cargo carriers, because that’s like making a law, and that’s a federal power.

  In the last month, ports say 4,000 trucks have signed up to carry goods under the new plan, including some companies that belong to trucking associations. Santa Clara law professor Steve Diamond says that’s evidence that the ports’ plans are like a contract negotiation, not a regulation.

  Steve Diamond: “The ports say we want to buy something under the following terms and conditions: anybody interested? Lo and behold, two of the largest trucking companies in the ATA say, our ATA has it wrong, this is a great idea. we’re on board. That’s a market test and it succeeded.”

  Peterson: A federal district court will first decide whether to stop the program before it takes effect. The court’s expected to decide on the merits of the plan in a future hearing.

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  • September 5, 2008 5:20 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• Local 'We Remember Walk' pays tribute to victims of 9/11

  Events across the nation this week will commemorate the 7th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001 and its 3,000 victims. KPCC’s Debra Baer has details about a walk in Sherman Oaks Sunday with a special focus on the first responders who continue to suffer health effects from the attacks.

  Debra Baer: The annual “We Remember Walk” starts at the Sherman Oaks Galleria and ends with a ceremony several blocks away at Los Angeles Fire Station 88. That station’s search and rescue team was the first to travel to New York after the attack on the Twin Towers. Walk organizer Reverend Bill Minson with Tuday Ministries says he’s calling on Congress to pass a measure that’s stalled for years, the 9/11 Health and Compensation Bill.

  Bill Minson: Be they a firefighter, first responders, or construction workers, utility people, there are many people that are sick and desperately ill, losing their homes. This piece of legislation would make an enormous difference.

  Baer: Reverend Minson produced a documentary about first responders’ heath problems for a foundation that focuses on their needs. He says he’ll deliver a DVD of the movie to each member of Congress this week. Sunday’s “We Remember Walk” begins at 11 at the corner of Ventura and Sepulveda Boulevards.

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  • September 5, 2008 5:17 PM
  • Categories: History

• First West Nile Virus victim in San Bernardino County this year dies

  A 48-year-old Rialto man is the state’s third West Nile fatality this year, and the first in San Bernardino County. County health officials did not identify him, except to say he apparently suffered from pre-existing medical conditions that made the virus worse. It’s not known where he contracted the virus.

  It’s generally transmitted by mosquito bites. Jack Raney is a West Nile survivor from Riverside County. He now leads a support group for other survivors. He says the severity of this year’s West Nile Virus season should come as no surprise.

  Jack Raney: “We knew this was gonna happen, and I don’t like to sound like the boy who cried wolf, but with the rains, the foreclosures, it was inevitable. And I wish it would be represented in the media how dangerous it is, can and will be.”

  Most people who get West Nile Virus won’t get sick, or they may only have flu-like symptoms. Health officials want you to wear long sleeves and long pants at night, use insect repellent, and dump or drain standing water. It doesn’t take much for mosquitoes to breed. Vector control officials across the state are warning that this could be the most severe West Nile Virus season in four years.

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  • September 5, 2008 5:13 PM
  • Categories: Health

• Hospitals and clinics in danger of closing if lawmakers don't pass budget

  Hospital and clinic staff whose livelihoods depend on Medi-Cal, the public medical insurance program for the poorest Californians, rallied in Sacramento today. They say their facilities are in danger of closing if lawmakers don’t pass a budget soon.

  Charles Guenther, chief executive of a rural northeastern California health care provider, accused the legislature of criminal negligence. He said that without a state budget, his company will begin closing facilities in two to three weeks.

  Charles Guenther: “We are the largest employer in the region. And if the hospital closes, more and more people will walk away from their mortgages and create an utter depression for decades to come.”

  Guenther said the state owes the company more than $1 million in back payments. His company’s chief financial officer used his credit card to pay last month’s electric bill. The state budget is more than two months late.

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  • September 5, 2008 5:09 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Health, Politics/Public Affairs

• Inglewood PD places officers involved in latest shooting on leave

  The Inglewood Police Department has placed seven officers and a field sergeant on leave. They were involved in last weekend’s fatal shooting of a homeless man who had a toy gun, the fourth fatal police shooting in Inglewood in four months. KPCC’s Brian Watt has details.

  Brian Watt: A department statement says the eight won’t return to patrol duty until they get more training and are evaluated by police officials and the Inglewood City Council. The sergeant has 20 years on the job. The experience of the officers ranges from one year to 17 years.

  The Inglewood PD says in Sunday’s incident, a homeless man, Eddie Franco, had a toy gun in his waistband. Officers couldn’t tell it was a toy. When Franco reached for his waistband, the officers fired at least 40 rounds. The police statement included a photo of the toy gun. The tip of the barrel is orange plastic. The rest of the barrel is shiny silver, like a real gun.

  The statement says none of the officers took part in the three other officer-involved shootings in Inglewood in the last four months. Four independent probes into the string of shootings are underway.

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  • September 5, 2008 4:18 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice

• Surfers and celebrities gather in Malibu this weekend for longboarding competition

  Surfers and celebrities will hit the waves all weekend during a longboarding competition in Malibu. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski says they’ll be making waves for a cause.

  Brooke Binkowski: The weekend-long Malibu Surfing Association Classic’s going down next to the Malibu Pier. The Classic’s the longest-running longboarding contest in southern California.

  The Association’s 45th annual surfing contest will be at Surfrider Beach, a spot surfers around the world flock to for its longboarding waves. More than 250 surfers are competing in this year’s Classic. So are some high-profile hobbyists, including bassist Flea Balzari of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, and actor Chad Lowe.

  They’ll help raise money for the Surfrider Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving beaches and keeping oceans clean. The nonprofit Malibu Surfing Association was created in the 1960s as one of California’s first surf clubs. The event is free and open to the public.

  Link: Malibu Surfing Association Classic

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  • September 5, 2008 4:15 PM
  • Categories: Sports/Recreation

• Author Ray Bradbury to speak on keeping downtown Long Beach library

  The effort to preserve downtown Long Beach’s main library has a new ally who’s set to deliver a fiery speech tomorrow afternoon. More on the story from KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman-Lopez.

  Adolfo Guzman-Lopez: Writer Ray Bradbury underlined the importance of books to a free society in his classic Fahrenheit 451. The novel portrays a future in which leaders censor information by burning books. Bradbury’s speech is about the importance of books today and the role of libraries tomorrow.

  In Long Beach that’s a hot topic. A proposal from city hall would close the main library downtown while city leaders scout for money and a location for a new one. They say that it’s too expensive to fix the current building, and that the proposal would help the city close a budget deficit.

  Library supporters say that library use is up and that the downtown area’s library patrons would lose out. The proposal would increase hours at outlying branch libraries. Long Beach elected officials are pinning their hopes on a November parcel tax measure that would generate more than half a billion dollars for the library and other building projects.

  Note: Writer Ray Bradbury is scheduled to speak at 2 tomorrow afternoon in the main auditorium of the downtown Long Beach main library.

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  • September 5, 2008 3:02 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• LA County Fair opens today in Pomona

  It’s opening day at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona. KPCC’s Cheryl Devall runs down what’s on the menu.

  Cheryl Devall: All the savory, sugary, and chewy fried foods anyone would want… but that’s just for starters. Along with the eats, carnival rides and games there’s a petting zoo in the Big Red Barn, pony rides, and, for bigger buckaroos, western riding and rodeo competitions. If you’re into another kind of horsepower, look for the hot rod, mini-monster truck, and NASCAR exhibits.

  Gardeners, chefs, and pet fanciers will display their best. And until well after dark, musicians of just about every variety will be on hand to play: high school marching bands, mariachis, rock, country, and jazz ensembles, and more. The 86th edition of the nation’s biggest county fair continues through September 28th.

  Note: Admission to the fair is one dollar until 5 o’clock today. For more information, go online to LACountyFair.com.

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  • September 5, 2008 2:45 PM
  • Categories: Society/Culture

• North Hollywood middle school featured during McCain convention speech

  A North Hollywood middle school made a cameo appearance in last night’s acceptance speech by Republican presidential nominee John McCain. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde went to Walter Reed Middle School to find out why.

  Kitty Felde: It was a puzzling picture: flashing behind John McCain on a giant screen was a shot of Walter Reed Junior High School, the old name still on the outside of the building. But John McCain wasn’t talking about education at the time. So why the shot of a Valley school? The Republican National Convention Committee said they’d “get back to [us]” on that.
  
  

  James Mathers: I don’t think it’s a mystery. I think it’s only because he wanted to appear that one of his many homes was in Studio City.
  
  

  Felde: Filmmaker James Mathers is not a John McCain fan. He happens to live across the street from Walter Reed Middle School.
  
  

  Mathers: I think it’s an obvious mix-up with the Walter Reed Army Hospital, and it makes me a little nervous that they would make those kind of mistakes, and that he may well end up being the president.
  
  

  Felde: James Mathers, by the way, is the brother of “Leave It To Beaver“‘s Jerry Mathers. The principal of Walter Reed says the school didn’t give permission to use its facade during the speech, nor is its use an endorsement of any political party or view.
  
  

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  • September 5, 2008 2:05 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• McCain spokesman says McCain has broken with Republican Party many times

  Now that the nominating conventions are over, the general election is in full swing for the presidential candidates. Senator John McCain last night accepted the Republican Party’s nomination, a week after Democratic Senator Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech.

  In his address last night, McCain played up his reputation as a “maverick.” Democrats have argued that McCain has mostly fallen in line with President Bush’s policies. But McCain spokesman Rick Gorka told KPCC’s AirTalk that the Arizona senator has broken with his party plenty of times.

  Rick Gorga: “I think the first example would be campaign finance reform. Bush fought it and ultimately had to sign it because he didn’t have a choice. McCain went on with Joe Lieberman to form a couple of different pieces of legislation. One that was dealing with climate change.”

  McCain’s “maverick” status will likely be the subject of future debate. McCain and Obama face off in their first debate three weeks from tonight.

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  • September 5, 2008 1:04 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Police arrest almost 400 anti-war marchers on final night of Republican convention

  Police arrested almost 400 anti-war marchers on the final night of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

  Protester: “We must and we will bring our voices to the Xcel Center tonight in massive protests. (cheering) The vast majority of Americans oppose the war, which shows how out of touch McCain is with the American people.”

  But demonstrators never made it to the Xcel Energy center. Their permit expired before delegates began arriving for the evening speeches. Police in riot gear blocked off bridges to stop protesters from getting to the convention center. That led to a tense standoff.

  Demonstrators engaged in a series of sit-down protests. Police used percussion grenades and tear gas to try to break up the demonstration. The police detained at least 19 journalists, including two Associated Press reporters, along with protesters. The journalists were issued citations and released.

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  • September 5, 2008 11:17 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• LA Congressman Becerra defends earmark to improve LA traffic safety

  There’s been a lot of criticism of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s harsh words for federal “earmarks.” She’s against them now, but wasn’t when she asked for federal dollars as a small town mayor. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde says one big city congressman is defending one of his earmarks spent to improve traffic safety in L.A.

  Xavier Becerra: Traffic has become a bear.

  Kitty Felde: L.A. Congressman Xavier Becerra says it’s also become dangerous. He pushed for matching federal funds to pay for left-turn signals, crosswalk stamping, and pedestrian countdown counters at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Western, just west of downtown. That’s where an 8-year-old girl was killed three years ago when she tried to cross the street on her way to school.

  Becerra: This is an earmark where I am more than willing to let anyone take a microscope and take a look at what it did. And it’s unfortunate because it’s a $155,000 earmark that’s done some phenomenal good. But it’s juxtaposed against that earmark for a bridge to nowhere.

  Felde: An earmark was supposed to pay for Alaska’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.” The project was later canceled, but Alaska still got half the money for other uses.

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  • September 5, 2008 11:14 AM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Academic Performance Index results show half of California's schools performing below targets

  The latest school test scores are in, and the news isn’t good. The Academic Performance Index measures the progress of California public schools from one year to the next. According to this year’s API, half of the state’s schools are performing below their targets, including many in the Inland Empire. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas has the numbers.

  Steven Cuevas: All but a handful of the two dozen school districts in the region failed to meet those state and federal performance targets. But that doesn’t mean all the elementary, middle, and high schools in those districts are struggling. Take San Bernardino Unified, for instance. True, most of its schools failed to reach the state test score improvement target. But several other schools did well, according to federal standards that measure improvement.

  It’s a similar story for Coachella Valley Unified schools. That’s where lots of Latino migrant farm workers send their kids. Not surprisingly, those students struggle with English. But the district’s API score is up 36 points. And individual schools in the desert district are showing improvement that beats out all but the highest performing schools in the Temecula, Redlands, and Lake Elsinore school districts.

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  • September 4, 2008 5:14 PM
  • Categories: Education

• Governor Schwarzenegger tired of waiting for state budget, prods legislature to pass compromise budget

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says it’s time for Sacramento lawmakers to buckle down and pass his budget. KPCC’s Brooke Binkowski has the story.

  Brooke Binkowski: The governor says he’s tired of waiting for a state budget, and so are the people of California. He’s prodding lawmakers to pass his compromise budget almost a month and a half beyond its deadline.

  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: It is sad to say that our legislators are ideologically locked in, and they’ve put themselves in the corner. Now they don’t know how to get out of it. And I think it is sad not to see people in Sacramento do what they’re supposed to do, which is to represent the people of California, and to work for the people of California.

  Binkowski: At Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank, Schwarzenegger fronted a news conference with doctors, nurses, and lawmakers. He said that legislators are the only Californians who aren’t feeling the effects of the state’s budget crisis.

  Schwarzenegger: Who is suffering is the patients in this building in this hospital. The children are suffering, the vendors are suffering. All of those different people out there that are not being getting paid now will be suffering, and I think that is a sad story and I think that we can do much better than that.

  Binkowski: The governor’s compromise bill includes a temporary one-cent sales tax, cuts in state-funded programs and services, and more partnerships between the public and private sectors.

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  • September 4, 2008 4:37 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Governor Schwarzenegger praises Republican VP nominee Palin

  California’s governor is offering high praise for his Alaskan counterpart. Schwarzenegger told reporters in Burbank that he felt Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin did a bang-up job in last night’s speech at the Republican National Convention.

  Arnold Schwarzenegger: “What she said, I think all of it was, you know, I think a straight 10, and I think that she’s a great contribution to the ticket, to McCain. And she’s a great executive that has proven over the last two years’ extraordinary things that she’s accomplished, so I wish them all good luck.”

  Schwarzenegger said he did not attend the convention because he has to stay in California to hammer out the long-delayed state budget.

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  • September 4, 2008 2:46 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• Former House speaker Newt Gingrich predicts Republican VP nominee could lead to Republican victories

  Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich predicts that Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s addition to the Republican presidential ticket could play havoc with the electoral map. Gingrich told KPCC’s Patt Morrison he believes that if Palin catches on with various groups, she could help to put 10 to 12 typically Democratic states into play this election.

  Sarah Palin: “She has a potential appeal to hockey moms, to blue collar voters, to people who come out of small town and rural background, to hunter and fisherman, to a range of people that aren’t normally what you think of as Republican politics. If she catches on in a serious way, she also could be very intriguing on college campuses as the youngest candidate in the race.”

  Palin is 44 years old. Democrats have questioned Palin’s experience. She’s been governor of Alaska for less than two years, and was mayor of Wasilla, a small city near Anchorage, before that. Palin accepted the vice presidential nomination last night at the Republican National Convention.

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  • September 4, 2008 1:34 PM
  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs

• School starts again, including at schools now under LA mayor Villaraigosa's stewardship

  It’s the first day of school for many students in the L.A. Unified School District, including those at the 10 underperforming schools under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s stewardship. The mayor has set some lofty goals for those schools.

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “In the first year we expect to double the success in the API rate, double our English test scores, our math test scores. We are going to focus on the dropout rate at the two high schools that we have. We have a target of reducing the dropout rate by 3 percent at these schools in the first year, and then each year we are going to build on that. Attendance rate, college-going rate, school safety numbers, parent satisfaction, are all going to be part of our parent report card.”

  Villaraigosa spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle. The mayor took a bus tour of his 10 campuses on opening day, welcoming students back to class.

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  • September 3, 2008 3:52 PM
  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs

• USC breaks ground on new center for stem cell research

  Philanthropists, lawmakers, and doctors broke ground today on the first stem cell research center in the state. The facility at USC Medical Center in East Los Angeles is the first of 12 to be built in California. Carmen Puliafito is dean of the university’s Keck School of Medicine.

  Carmen Puliafito: “The reason that stem cell research is so exciting to us in the medical field is that certain diseases, such as cardiac failure, Parkinson’s Disease, macular degeneration, provide unique opportunities where we can use stem cells to regenerate some of the body’s parts that may be broken or worn out.”

  Voters approved the creation of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine four years ago. The initiative authorized $3 billion to set up stem cell research centers throughout the state.

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  • September 3, 2008 3:24 PM
  • Categories: Health, Science/Technology

• Pack of bobcats take over foreclosed home in Lake Elsinore

  Neglected foreclosed properties can create all kinds of problems: dying lawns, peeling paint, dirty swimming pools. Add another nuisance to the list: squatters. KPCC’s Steven Cuevas isn’t talking about the two-legged kind.

  Steven Cuevas: A foreclosure in the Riverside County town of Lake Elsinore has apparently become a den for wild bobcats. Neighbors spotted the felines lounging in a backyard and slinking across a wide fence. People occasionally spot bobcats wandering through the neighborhood.

  But animal control officials say the critters usually move on. It’s unusual, but not surprising, for them to settle in a populated area. Backyards offer easy access, shelter, and ample water from a timed sprinkler system.

  Animal control officers have posted warnings in the neighborhood cautioning homeowners to keep a close watch on their children and pets. The pointy-eared, stubby-tailed nocturnal creatures usually feed on small prey like birds and squirrels. But they can go after larger animals like small dogs and housecats.

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  • September 3, 2008 3:21 PM
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment

• LA's number of summer homicides lowest since 1967

  Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton says he’s proud that the number of homicides has dropped in Los Angeles this summer.

  Bill Bratton: “This year we had a remarkably quiet summer, remarkable in the fact that we had 84 homicides. It sounds like a lot but in the year 1991 we had 323 in the same period. You’d have to go back literally to 1967 to a time when the city had fewer homicides than what we had this summer.”

  Bratton spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle. The police chief credits the hiring of more police officers, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s anti-gang initiative, and detailed crime mapping as factors in the smaller number of homicides.

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  • September 3, 2008 3:03 PM
  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History

• Dodger Manny Ramirez named National League player of the month

  The Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres tonight, just one (or two, depending on who wins the Arizona game) game out of first place in the National League West. KPCC’s Special Correspondent Kitty Felde says one of the team’s most popular players got a boost today: the National League named Manny Ramirez its Player of the Month.

  Kitty Felde: He’s only been a Dodger since the end of July. And since the trade, the team hasn’t really been playing that well; its record is 15 wins and 16 losses. But boy, have the Dodgers been hitting. Credit Manny Ramirez. Since he arrived in L.A. from Boston, Ramirez has been on fire.

  He’s hit .414 with ten home runs and 29 runs batted in. His 1,701 career RBI’s put him one behind Reggie Jack