On AirTalk with guest host David Lazarus, a new injunction bans drug dealers from entering Skid Row. The solution to California's budget woes: tax the rich? Military families separated by war. How to teach your kids about money. And the car Americans love to hate- the Yugo.
Do gang injunctions work?
Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich filed an injunction yesterday targeting drug dealers and gangs in the skid row area. Eighty known criminals, so-called commuter drug dealers, would be prohibited from traveling to skid row, where drug deals are common, and often involve recovering addicts and the homeless. Will the ban reduce crime? What, if any, sway will a new law hold over career criminals? What will enforcement look like and who will carry it out? Guest host David Lazarus gets the skinny.
Guests:
Blake Chow, Commander, Operations-Central Bureau, Los Angeles Police Department
Andy Bales, CEO, Union Rescue Mission
Gary Blasi, Professor of Law, UCLA
Kevin Michael Key, Community Organizer, United Coalition East Prevention Project
Fixing California's budget: tax the rich?
In an effort to avoid further cuts to education and social services programs, Democratic Assemblyman Warren Furutani is proposing a temporary tax increase for Californians making over $250,000 per year. The tax hike, which would end after five years, would range from 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent, creating a new top tax rate of 11 percent. Will taxing these higher-earners solve California's budget problems?
Guest:
Bob Stern, President of The Center for Governmental Studies
Warren Furutani, California State Assemblyman, 55th District
Separated by war: the wives left behind
The toll of war in Iraq and Afghanistan is generally measured in casualties, but there's a more common cost to which we pay little attention – the families left behind. That’s why Steve Lopez has been visiting Camp Pendleton, reporting for the LA Times and SoCal Connected, on the “unheralded service of military spouses and children.” Guest host David Lazarus talks with Lopez about how these unsung heroes manage to hold down the family fort while their loved ones are deployed overseas.
SoCal Connected airs tonight on KCET at 8 pm, and Friday at 8:30 pm.
Guests:
Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times Columnist
Tammy Gallagher, wife of Tim Gallagher, a Marine Staff Sergeant in the 1st Battalion LAR- Light Armed Reconnaissance- who left yesterday for Afghanistan
How to teach your kids about money
So you’re on vacation in Hawaii with your eight-year-old son, and he turns you to and asks, “Daddy how much is this vacation costing? Can we afford this?” And then there are those nagging questions about how much you make and how much your house costs. You want your child to learn the value of money, how to manage it, and how to save and spend wisely, but how do you teach those lessons? Personal finance columnist Kathy Kristoff joins David Lazarus to talk about teaching kids about money.
Guest:
Kathy Kristoff, Personal Finance Columnist for the Los Angeles Times
The Yugo: the car we love to hate
When the Yugo came to the United States in 1985, buyers flocked to the hatchback and its $3,990 price, making it the fastest-selling first-year European import in U.S. history. But its poor quality soon made drivers turn on the vehicle, and resulted in numerous bad-car jokes. Why does the Yugo have a rear-window defroster? So you can keep your hands warm while you push it. In his new book, Jason Vuic chronicles the history of the Yugo and examines how- fair or not- it became infamous as the worst car of all time. What makes the Yugo the car Americans love to hate?
Guest:
Jason Vuic, writer of The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History (Hill and Wang). He is an assistant professor of modern European history at Bridgewater College in Virginia.