Today on AirTalk, we discuss the latest COVID-19 headlines and give a breakdown of today's vaccine eligibility expansion for Californians ages 50 and older. Also on the show, we talk about what constitutes a hate crime under state law; learn about the bottleneck at the ports; and more.
DOC AMA: Vaccine Eligibility Expands to Californians 50+, J&J Vaccine Batch Fails Quality Test And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Dean Blumberg from UC Davis.
Today’s topics include:
Vaccine eligibility expands to all Californians 50 and older
Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine batch can’t be used after failing quality test
Pfizer says COVID vaccine protects for at least six months
Guests:
Carla Javier, KPCC/LAist reporter; she tweets
Dean Blumberg, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital
Latest Update on the City of Orange Shooting
Southern California police said Thursday the gunman who killed four people and wounded a fifth at an office complex knew all the victims either through business or personally. Orange police Lt. Jennifer Amat also revealed that the gunman had chained gates to the complex closed, forcing officers who responded Wednesday to engage him from outside. Police withheld the identities of the dead but said one was a 9-year-old boy. The others were a man and two women. The gunman was also wounded and hospitalized. Wednesday’s shooting happened in the city of Orange southeast of Los Angeles. When officers arrived, shots were ringing out at the building that includes a mobile home brokerage.
With files from the Associated Press
Read more of LAist reporting on the issue by clicking here. Her story will be updated.
Guest:
Jill Replogle, KPCC’s College Pathways reporter who has been covering this story; she tweets
Off The Shores Of Southern California, America’s Imports Are Caught In A Bottleneck
While the cargo ship caught in the Suez Canal captured international attention last week, another significant shipping drama continued to unfold— this one, off our own shores in Southern California.
Dozens of ships are anchored off the coast of Los Angeles and Long Beach, part of a bottleneck that has been ballooning since late last year. Ships are waiting an average of 7.9 days for berth space. Combined, the ports handle more than a third of container imports for the U.S., and the delays don’t stop once the ships are docked. In January, over 25% of imported containers at LA and Long Beach had to wait more than five days for handling. In June 2020, by contrast, 2% waited that long.
Today on AirTalk, we’re learning more about the bottleneck at the ports and what it means for the local economy. If you have questions, comment below or give us a call at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach; he tweets
Capt. Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, a ninety-year-old non-profit which operates the vessel traffic service for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
Jessica Alvarenga, manager of government affairs at the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA), trade association that represents terminal operators and ocean carriers operating in the West Coast on regulatory issues
Triple Play: It’s MLB Opening Day The Way It Should Be -- With Fans Back In Seats And A Full Season Ahead
This time last year, baseball fans in Southern California and across the county were lamenting the loss of Opening Day at its usual time at the start of April. Thanks to, you guessed it, the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball was forced to push back its season start three months to July 23rd, about a week after when the league’s All-Star game is typically played, which cut the usual 162 game schedule to a meager 60 games that fans couldn’t even attend if they wanted. But a year later, we’re turning the corner on the pandemic as a nation, and as state and local health departments continue to ease restrictions, it means baseball fans will once again be able to gather in person at stadiums across the country to enjoy a baseball game on Opening Day today, albeit at diminished capacity. The Dodgers and Angels will see their stands 33 percent full after the state health department reclassified L.A. and Orange Counties to the orange tier under the state’s color-coded reopening blueprint. But that restriction may not last for long if things continue to move in the positive direction with regard to the pandemic. Yesterday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he hoped to see stadiums at capacity by this summer.
The Dodgers enter the season as defending World Series champions and odds-on favorites in Vegas to repeat, with their season win total projected to be around 102, depending on the sportsbook. And with the majority of their main lineup and bullpen returning, they’re well-positioned for back-to-back boats. They start the season on the road today against the Colorado Rockies. The Angels kick off their season at home tonight against the Chicago White Sox, and they enter the season looking to make some noise in a division that is far from a sure thing. And with some new toys in the lineup and bullpen for manager Joe Maddon to play with, plus at the time of writing this) a healthy Shohei Ohtani, fans are hopeful this could be the start of a new era for Halos baseball.
Wednesday night, as part of KPCC’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Not A Gala,” Larry Mantle, Nick Roman and A Martinez, a.k.a. The Triple Play got together for a small group of generous KPCC donors to talk a little baseball. Today on AirTalk, we’ll share a portion of that conversation with you as we get ready to kick off the 2021 MLB season.
There are still events to come in KPCC's "I Can't Believe It's Not A Gala" series! For more information, including how you can get tickets, click here.
Guests:
Nick Roman, host of KPCC’s “All Things Considered”; he tweets
A Martinez, host of KPCC’s “Take Two”; he tweets
Hate Crimes, Explained In The Context Of California Law
A 65-year-old Filipino woman was stomped and kicked outside a Manhattan apartment complex Monday, an assault that has garnered widespread outrage after surveillance footage was shared across social media. This targeted attack came less than two weeks after the Atlanta spa shootings, where six Asian women were killed.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, crimes targeting Asian Americans increased by nearly 150%, according to data compiled by the Center for Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. The first spike occurred in March and April 2020, when citywide lockdowns began to take form.
Despite these statistics, hate crimes are often underreported by victims or undercounted by law enforcement.
A recent study from Survey Monkey and AAPI Data found that Asian Americans were least likely to report hate crimes. The data found that 35% of Asian Americans and 33% of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders felt uncomfortable reporting hate crimes to the police.
Of the other minority groups surveyed, 30% of Latinos, 32% of Native American and 31% of Black people expressed discomfort reporting hate crimes to law enforcement.
In California, lawmakers are resurrecting bills from 2017 aimed at tackling hate crimes. One proposed legislation would establish a statewide hotline through the California Department of Justice for hate crime victims and eyewitnesses.
The state recognizes hate crimes as offenses “where a victim is singled out because of their actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.”
Even with a state statute, classifying an act as a hate crime is fuzzy at best.
Today on AirTalk, we discuss with a legal expert about what exactly constitutes a hate crime in the context of California law. Questions? Call us at (866) 893-5722.
Guest:
Jerry Kang, distinguished professor of law and Asian American Studies at UCLA; founding vice chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at UCLA from 2015-2020; he is the co-author of “Race, Rights, and Reparation: The Law and the Japanese American Internment” (2d ed. Wolters Kluwer 2013); he tweets
Quarantine Cooking: As We Emerge From The At-Home Stage Of The Pandemic, How To Develop Healthy Daily Recipes
After a year spent largely indoors, many home cooks have been indulging in their favorite comfort food recipes to distract from the daily stress wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
But sugary, indulgent dishes (though delicious!) aren’t necessarily the foods that make us feel our best. As we move to the post-vaccine stage of the pandemic, which will ideally see us venturing out into the world more, some of the recipes that sustained us during the past year are not the ones we want to keep up going forward. And as we begin to see farmer’s markets swell with spring and early summer produce, it’s hard not to find inspiration for a new cooking season that could see us safely and regularly invite friends over for dinner parties. Whether you are looking for ways to swap out ingredients to make your favorite recipes healthier, hoping to cook food that makes you feel more energetic, or simply wondering what to do with all those extra sweet potatoes you picked up from the grocery store two weeks ago, we’re here to help.
Today on AirTalk, we’re taking your cooking calls. Looking for healthy breakfast recipes other than eggs and toast? Have a health issue that necessitates you change your diet, and not sure what to cook? Give us a call at 866-893-5722 or comment below.
Guests:
Linda Shiue, a San Francisco-based physician, chef, founder of a healthy cooking program for patients and author of the cookbook “Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well and Be Healthy with Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes” (Hachette, 2021); she tweets
Noelle Carter, chef, food writer and culinary consultant for Noelle Carter Food, a website sharing recipes, cooking techniques and helpful kitchen tips for the home cook; she is the former director of the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen; she tweets