Reforming public employee pension plans. A look at KPCC's public insight network, which makes listeners sources for news. The major stories from Orange County. A new art installation transforms over 100 LA lifeguard towers. France moves to ban Islamic face veils. Breaking up "too big to fail" banks. And exploring the world of taxidermy.
Schwarzenegger and Villaraigosa back pension overhaul
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have both called to reform the pension plans of public employees in California, saying that the retirement benefits are costing more than taxpayers can afford. Mayor Villaraigosa said that employee retirement benefits will take up 19 percent of the city's budget this year, and Governor Schwarzenegger said that pension reform will determine the economic well-being of the state- and should be the top priority. The mayor and governor both are pushing for less generous retirement plans for newly hired workers. How might the pension systems for public workers change?
Guests:
David Crane, Special Advisor to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for jobs and economic growth
Scott Adams, Pension and Investment Analyst, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Insight journalism goes public on KPCC
About a year ago, KPCC launched the Public Insight Network. It’s an effort to get KPCC’s listeners to become news sources for the station. How’s it work? Listeners are invited to tell their stories online. Today, the network has some 3,600 people in the coverage area who tell about their lives as they relate to the news stories we cover. This has brought in news tips for reporters and guests for the station’s talk shows. One tip revealed allegations of inmate abuse at the Chino prison. It connects the station to people who evacuated their homes during winter rainstorms. And it’s led to a series on laid-off teachers. Larry talks to Sharon McNary, who runs the network, about this interactive tool.
Click here get involved with the Public Insight Network and become a source for KPCC.
Guest:
Sharon McNary, Public Insight Journalism analyst for KPCC
Orange County news: Capistrano strikes and more
Larry and OC journalists Gustavo Arellano, William Lobdell, and Teri Sforza, discuss the latest news developments in Orange County.
Guests:
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, reporter for KPCC News
Gustavo Arellano, staff writer for the OC Weekly and author of Ask A Mexican
William Lobdell, co-publisher and editor of the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice, an online local paper. He also is a partner in the new web venture iBusinessreporting.com
Teri Sforza, staff writer for the Orange County Register
Portraits of Hope beautifies LA beaches
Visually transforming more than a 100 lifeguard towers along 30 miles of LA’s coastline, Portraits of Hope is a major civic engagement involving thousands of youth and adults from schools, hospitals and social service programs. The tower artwork will be created on temporary, professionally installed, flex thin-board panels that will be applied onto the outer surface of each tower structure. The installations will remain through the end of September 2010. Portraits of Hope co-founder Ed Massey joins Larry Mantle to talk about the project which debuts Saturday, May 1st.
You can volunteer with Portraits of Hope this weekend. Click here for more info.
Guest:
Ed Massey, co-founder of Portraits of Hope
Sarkozy moves to ban Islamic face veils in France
Nicolas Sarkozy wants to ban women from wearing face veils in public. Under the policy proposed by the French President, Muslim women would not be permitted to wear the niqab, which reveals only the eyes, or the burqa on streets, public transportation, or in markets and shops. The ban would apply equally to tourists. Sarkozy told his Cabinet that the full veil “hurts the dignity of women and is unacceptable in French society.” Belgium is considering a similar proposal. Would the ban empower women in France? Or just the opposite—would the prohibition of certain veils harm Muslim women’s free practice of their religion?
Guest:
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR correspondent in Paris
Breaking up "too big to fail" banks
Congress is weighing financial reform, but at least one leading economist says Senator Chris Dodd’s proposal will do nothing to stop the next crisis. Simon Johnson believes Washington has fallen under Wall Street’s spell over the past 20 years, and rather than propping up “too big to fail” banks, the government should force large financial institutions to size down. Which approach will have better long-term effects for the economy? And will legislators take his advice? Larry talks with Johnson about his book, 13 Bankers.
Guest:
Simon Johnson, co-author with James Kwak of 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown (Pantheon). Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund
Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy
What prompts people to stuff dead animals in lifelike poses? Melissa Milgrom started hanging out with taxidermists and asking questions. Is taxidermy a commemoration—and if so—does it celebrate life or death? Does preservation glorify the animal, or the person who resurrects it? Her book Still Life skins taxidermy’s last remaining practitioners, delving into the art and science of macerating bisons and sculpting puma tails.
Melissa Milgrom will be appearing at the LA Times Festival of Books on April 25th at noon.
Guest:
Melissa Milgrom, author of Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing)