Despite calls to save water, Southern California saw an an increase of more than 2 percent in use for February compared to the same month in 2013, according to a report released Tuesday. Also, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti has unveiled a detailed strategy for environmental sustainability in Los Angeles. Then, Mary Norris dispenses her wisdoms on vexing spelling, punctuation, and grammatical issues we encounter everyday.
Green lawns, big lots of some LA neighborhoods show uneven water conservation
Despite calls to save water, Southern California saw an an increase of more than 2 percent in use for February compared to the same month in 2013, according to a report released Tuesday.
Among the worst offenders are La Cañada Flintridge, Malibu, Beverly Hills, and Rancho Palos Verdes. Now a possible sliding scale of water restrictions could mean 35 percent cuts in usage for those locales and 20 percent for cities conserving water already.
Read more: California Drought: Under proposal, city of LA would need to cut water use 20 percent; Beverly Hills, 35 percent
Read more: Heavy water user La Cañada among cities that might have to cut usage by 35 percent
What is a fair way to demand water conservation? What can neighborhoods with heavy water users do to conserve? How will this affect the cost of water?
Guest:
Molly Peterson, KPCC Environment Correspondent
Reddit tries banning salary negotiations to eliminate gender pay gap
Reddit is banning salary negotiations in an attempt to eliminate the gender pay gap at the company.
Details are scant, but in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, interim CEO Ellen Pao explained that one reason behind the decision is because men are traditionally stronger negotiators than women.
“Men negotiate harder than women do and sometimes women get penalized when they do negotiate,” Pao told the Journal. “We come up with an offer that we think is fair. If you want more equity, we’ll let you swap a little bit of your cash salary for equity, but we aren’t going to reward people who are better negotiators with more compensation. We ask people what they think about diversity, and we did weed people out because of that.”
What do you think of Reddit’s latest move? Does it turn away qualified candidates? Does it really level the playing field for all employees?
Guests:
Joelle Emerson, CEO and cofounder of Paradigm, a consultancy in the Bay Area that works with tech companies to cultivate a diverse workforce
Rebecca Kieler, career management consultant based in the Bay Area with 20-plus years of experience in the field. She’s worked with companies such as Sun Micro Systems, Johnson & Johnson, and Yahoo
Remembering Stan Freberg, the 'father of the funny commercial'
Chances are good that if you watch commercials or listen to radio shows today, you’ll hear Stan Freberg’s influence.
The advertising legend, comedian, and radio host died Tuesday at the age of 88 from what his family said were a number of age-related illnesses.
Freberg was born in Pasadena, and became a giant in the advertising and radio industry, thanks to his satirical, and often off-the-wall, style of writing. Instead of making comedy albums like stand-up comedians did, Freberg went into the studio and recorded what he called “audio moments,” which featured sound effects and actors.
His most famous work may be “Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America,” which comedically goes through American history from Christopher Columbus to the American Revolution, with Freberg playing many of the main characters.
What do you remember most about Stan Freberg’s work? What is the legacy he leaves in advertising? In comedy?
Guest:
Jeff Goodby, advertising executive and the co-founder of Goodby, Silverstein, & Partners, an advertising agency in San Francisco
Garcetti’s pLAn for a greener city
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti has unveiled a detailed strategy for environmental sustainability in Los Angeles.
Dubbed the “pLAn,” the proposal pinpoints 14 specific areas to be reformed in the next 20 years. With a strong focus on water conservation, solar power and energy-efficient building, pLAn sets specific milestones to be met in the years 2017, 2025 and 2035.
The mayor says his plan will be used as a blueprint for city planning.“I intend to use the pLAn as a tool to manage the city,” Garcetti writes in the report. “Reviews of our department General Managers will incorporate whether they are meeting the goals of the pLAn. The outcomes in the pLAn that require additional funding will receive priority in my annual budget process.”
Some of the mayor’s top concerns include addressing the effects of climate change (like drought, extreme weather, extreme heat days), developing transit infrastructure, preparing the city for a big earthquake, creating more Green Jobs and improving air quality. A full text of the report can be found here.
Mayor Garcetti says that he wants L.A. to be a sustainability leader. Will his plan get us there? Is the mayor’s plan too ambitious? What do you think should receive a priority? Should environmental sustainability be a priority in the city?
Guests:
Matt Petersen, Chief Sustainability Officer for the city of Los Angeles
Daniel Freedman, board chair and co-founder of the Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative. He is also an environmental lawyer at the L.A. firm Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell.
For PBS Frontline, correspondent in Yemen embeds with Houthi fighters
On Tuesday, aid workers warned of an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Yemen saying at least 560 people, including dozens of children, have been killed in recent weeks.
The World Health Organization says 100,000 people have fled their homes as fighting intensified between Houthis and forces loyal to the embattled president. The situation is extremely fluid and confusing, but in a new documentary for PBS Frontline, independent journalist Safa al Ahmad was able to gain rare access to Houthi militias and learn more about their aims and strategies.
“The Fight for Yemen” is available at PBS.org/Frontline
Guest:
Safa al Ahmad, Independent Journalist, PBS Frontline's "The Fight for Yemen"
New Yorker copy editor on grammar, language and the art of flawless copy
Mary Norris has the distinction of working with some of the world’s biggest literary names as the copy editor of The New Yorker.
She has spent over three decades at the venerable publication, but that’s not her only career. How she found her calling is the subject of her new memoir, “Between You & Me.” Along the way, Norris dispenses her wisdoms on vexing spelling, punctuation, and grammatical issues we encounter every day.
Guest:
Mary Norris, copy editor at the New Yorker. Author of “Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen” (W. W. Norton & Company, 2015)