Pasadena Unified is considering school closures in the wake of declining enrollment

Pasadena Unified is considering school closures in the wake of declining enrollment

Pasadena Unified is holding a final town hall this evening to receive public comment on its plans to close and consolidate its campuses. A decline in enrollment is the main driver of the campus closures. The school district has had multiple staff layoffs in recent years due to the lack of students and said that consolidating campuses will help them fit the district to the new student numbers. The closures are being guided by an independent consultant agency, Total School Solutions, and the School Consolidation Advisory Committee, which consists of parents and teachers who are providing recommendations for the consolidation process. The Board of Education will ultimately vote on how to proceed in May. Joining us to discuss the recommendations that have been made and the next steps is David Wilson, reporter at Pasadena-Star News, who covers Pasadena Unified.

2 major proposals are on CA’s November ballot

A controversial proposal in California to temporarily increase taxes on billionaires has enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, a labor union backing the measure said Monday. The proposal, backed by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West, would impose a one-time, 5% tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 billion and who were living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. This comes amid another qualifying proposal that was approved for November’s ballot last week to require California to verify proof of citizenship when a person registers to vote — and require voters to provide identification at polling places. Today on AirTalk, we discuss both of these California ballot proposals; joining us to discuss the voter ID ballot initiative is Rick Hasen, professor of law and political science and director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA. After that, we dig into the billionaires' tax ballot measure with Darien Shanske, professor of Law at UC Davis, and David Kline, vice president of communications and research at California Taxpayers Association.

With files from the Associated Press.

Following the box office success of ‘Michael,’ we revisit what makes a good biopic

Biographical films about musicians have been popular for decades, serving as both a nostalgia trip for fans and a visual document of their lives. Most recently, the music biopic Michael, on the rise of Michael Jackson, became a massive box office success over one weekend, racking up $219 million globally. Despite the film receiving some backlash for what it wasn’t able to include (some of which was due to legal reasons), it does serve as a recent example of the challenges these types of film productions face. So today on AirTalk, we thought we’d dig into what makes a good or bad biopic. Joining us this morning for this conversation is LAist film critic Tim Cogshell. We also want to hear from you: what’s a good example of a music biopic? Call us at 866-893-5722 or email atcomments@laist.com.

In-depth with LA Mayor Karen Bass

On Monday, Larry was joined on stage by candidate for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass at Loyola Marymount University for a conversation about what Bass has accomplished in her first term, and what she hopes to do in a second. Bass has served as the 43rd mayor of the city.  Prior to running for the office, served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and in the California State Assembly in which she served as speaker for her final term. She spoke with Larry about her Inside Safe homelessness program, lessons learned from her response to the January 2025 fires and more.

How political science students are understanding this election cycle

Over the past three weeks, Larry Mantle has been at Loyola Marymount University hosting in-depth conversations with candidates vying to be the next governor of California, as well as mayor of Los Angeles. The conversations have been held in front of an audience of students, most of whom are studying political science. As this live event series comes to a close, Larry sat down with students Rylee Goldfarb, Aolanni Jimenez Gonzalez, and Bri Barragan about how what they are learning in the classroom melds with what they are seeing on the campaign trail this year. Also joining the conversation is their professor (and founding director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles) Fernando Guerra.