Recapping the LA mayoral debate

Recapping the LA mayoral debate

Last night, a number of candidates vying to be the next mayor of Los Angeles took to the stage for a debate jointly hosted by the Housing Action Coalition and Streets For All, organizations focused on housing and transportation policy. L.A. city councilmember Nithya Raman, housing activist Rae Huang, and tech entrepreneur Adam Miller debated potential policy decisions. Notably absent from the debate were current L.A. city mayor Karen Bass and reality television star Spencer Pratt. Today on AirTalk, we recap the mayoral debate that was with Kavish Harjai, LAist transportation correspondent who was at the debate last night.

New effort aims to restore Santa Monica’s dunes

A century ago the wide flat beach of Santa Monica was far narrower. Many beaches in the Santa Monica Bay were artificially widened from the 1930s through the 1960s. The sand came from an ancient system of coastal dunes that extended from LAX all the way to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Now, change is coming again to this iconic stretch of beach. For a decade, The Bay Foundation has been figuring out how to bring back pieces of those ancient dunes. So far, the nonprofit has restored small patches of dunes on beaches from Point Dume to Manhattan Beach. Their latest, and largest dune restoration effort so far, will extend about 30 acres south of Santa Monica pier to the border with Venice. Announced last month, it’s possible thanks to a partnership with the city and a $2 million state grant. The nonprofit first installed dunes in Santa Monica in 2016 — “installed” meaning they put in a simple rope and little wood fence around about 3 acres, then scattered a bunch of native dune plant seeds. Nature did the rest. For more on this effort, we’re joined this morning by LAist climate and environment reporter Erin Stone.

With files from LAist.

Here’s what to know about vasectomies as ‘Vas Madness’ continues

Although there is a variety of contraception options, one of the most straightforward options, particularly for many cisgender men, has been a vasectomy. A minor medical procedure that’s considered low-risk, the operation consists of a surgeon blocking the tube that carries sperm, stopping it from entering semen and exiting through the urethra. Given the need for limited activity in the first couple of days following the operation, many men have found March an ideal time to get the operation, with March Madness basketball giving them plenty of entertainment to watch. So with us being in the middle of what’s been deemed by some as ‘Vas Madness,’ we thought we’d do an explainer on vasectomies with Jesse Mills, MD, clinical professor of urology at UCLA and director of UCLA Urology.

Should screens be in schools?

Long gone are the days of dimly lit classrooms, overhead projectors, and fun, wet-erase markers on transparent worksheets. Today, the modern classroom can be a lot brighter, lit primarily by the blue light of screens. The use of smart devices in the classroom has been a hot debate for teachers, parents, and students on K-12 campuses across the U.S. for over a decade now, with no real consensus on the issue in sight. Despite some initial research suggesting that the effects of excessive screen time not only hinder academic growth but can also affect child development, schools are struggling to find an antidote to the apparent dependence that many students have on their devices. How will bans on devices even be enforced at school? Is there any happy medium? Isn’t the evolution of technology supposed to coincide with the evolution of education? With all these unanswered questions, today on AirTalk, we explore just what having screens in the classrooms could mean for students. Joining us today are Jared Cooney Horvath, PhD in neuroscience and Director of LME (learning made easy) Global, an education consulting company, Elizabeth Tipton, Professor of Statistics and Data Science at Northwestern University, and Arnold Glass, Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University. We also want to hear from you! Do you think screens should be allowed in the classroom? What are some ways teachers can moderate device usage? Are you a student in a classroom with a lot of screen usage? Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or email us your comments at atcomments@laist.com.

Hysterectomies are common, let’s talk about them

 Hysterectomies are the second most common surgical procedure amongst women after c-sections. A hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus, and in some cases may also include the removal of the cervix, ovaries, or fallopian tubes. There are a number of reasons someone may need a hysterectomy including pelvic prolapse, fibroids, and various gynecological cancers. In the last few decades, with the invention of laparoscopic and even robotic surgery, hysterectomies have become safer and require shorter recoveries. Today on AirTalk, we take a look at this common procedure not often discussed, its various modes, and the reasons for needing a hysterectomy