The violence of Monday night in Baltimore gave way to a quieter night last evening. Also, last night Santa Monica’s city council discussed an ordinance that would severely restrict short term rental activity. Then, a spate of incidents involving other players during the 2014 NFL and college football seasons that call into question how potential NFL players’ character is evaluated.
Longtime residents react to relative calm in Baltimore
The violence of Monday night in Baltimore gave way to a quieter night last evening. A combination of 10 p.m. curfew, large police presence, and community pushback against the rioting combined to do the trick.
Nevertheless, things are far from normal in the city. The Orioles are playing today's game at Camden Yards without any fans in attendance. Major League Baseball decided to keep fans away in case violence continued into today. However, the Symphony Orchestra invited people to come out for a free concert, in an effort to bring the city together.
Friday is a big day in the ongoing story of Freddie Gray's death. Prosecutors are expected to get preliminary results of the investigation into how Gray died. It's unclear at what point results will be publicly released.
Guests:
Lance Lucas, President of the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce
Antero Pietila, a former reporter who worked at the Baltimore Sun for 35 years. He’s the author of “Not In My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City” (Ivan R. Dee, 2010), a book that looks at the racial history of Baltimore
Governor Brown speeds up goals on greenhouse gas cuts
Citing an urgent need to limit global warming, California Governor Jerry Brown set a new, interim stage of greenhouse gas cuts for the state: emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
Brown's executive order is loftier than a federal goal that also aims to curb global warming, but it gives the state more time to achieve it. Brown's plan lacks specifics, but he previously has cited increasing renewable electricity sources, reducing petroleum use in vehicles, doubling the energy efficiency of existing buildings and make heating fuels cleaner as ways to reduce emissions.
Is the goal realistic? What sectors would the cuts come from?
With files from the Associated Press.
READ MORE HERE
Guest:
Ellen Hanak, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California; director of the Water Policy Center at PPIC
Santa Monica law to crack down on vacation rentals seems likely
Last night Santa Monica’s city council discussed an ordinance that would severely restrict short term rental activity.
Current law in Santa Monica prohibits renting less than 30 days, but it isn’t stringently enforced. The Mayor of Santa Monica, Kevin McKeown, proposed the new regulations to ban “vacation rentals” where the host of the property leaves while the visitors stay. But allow for “home-sharing,” where the rental host stays on the premises while renting a room to a visitor. Also, the ordinance would require short-term rental hosts, to have a business license and pay taxes.
Additionally, vacation rental sites like Airbnb and VRBO would be required to report data about the short-term rental to the city. Supporters of the new measure complain their neighborhoods are noisier with less parking. They have concerns that apartment complexes are being used as vacation rentals instead of renting to people wanting to live long term in the city, making for a greater dearth of housing. Supporters say, homeowners should be able to rent out their properties to help offset the costs of owning or just to make necessary income.
Read the full story here
Guests:
Mayor Kevin McKeown, Mayor of Santa Monica
David Owen, Regional Head of Public Policy for west coast Airbnb
Robert St. Genis, Director of Operations at The Los Angeles Short Term Rental Alliance, which advocates for Angelenos renting out properties
How new military guidelines will shape future of US-Japanese relations
Responding to building economic and military pressure from China as well as the perceived North Korean nuclear threat, President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have reached an agreement on new defense guidelines that give the Japanese military more freedom to act unilaterally in defending itself and its allies.
Prime Minister Abe is visiting the White House this week to discuss the new guidelines, and held a joint press conference with Mr. Obama Tuesday morning.
Known as the Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s military has been tightly restricted since World War II. A 1960 treaty requires that the U.S. protect Japan from external aggression, and under another agreement, made in the late 90s, Japanese forces could only protect the U.S. military if it was directly defending Japan at the time. The new agreement would allow Japan to defend U.S. military forces even when they aren’t working in direct defense of Japan.
Both Japan and the U.S. are concerned about China’s military rise, the potential nuclear threat from North Korea, and the conflict in Yemen, which U.S. officials worry may create an opening for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to attack the U.S.
What does this agreement mean for relations between Japan and the U.S.? Is this enough to counter potential threats from China and North Korea?
Guests:
Phil Ewing, senior defense reporter for POLITICO, joining us from the Pentagon.
James R. Holmes, Ph.D., professor of strategy & policy at the U.S. Naval War College. He’s also the co-author of “Red Star Over the Pacific: China’s Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy.” Dr. Holmes is a former Naval surface warfare officer and a Gulf War veteran.
The parental breaking point: Video of Baltimore mom reading son riot act goes viral
Through all the unsettling and often graphic video footage that has been broadcast of the Baltimore riots, one video of a mother laying into her son with her right hand after discovering him among the rioters in the streets has gained national attention.
Toya Graham, a single mother of six, said in a CBS News interview that she went to pick up her son from the mall because she heard trouble was starting in the streets. When she got there, she found a group of protesters throwing rocks at police, her son among them. If you haven’t seen this yet, well, watch what happens next:
Since going viral, the video has earned Graham praise on a national scale, with some even calling her “Mom of the Year.” #Baltimore mom started trending on Twitter not long after the video hit the internet. Graham told CBS that she is “a no-tolerant mother” who “didn’t want her son to be a Freddie Gray.”
What do you think of the Graham’s actions in the video? Would you have reacted in the same way? Has your child ever done something so unbelievable that it pushed you over the edge? What was the breaking point for you? How did you react when it happened?
CALL US WITH YOUR COMMENTS AT 866-893-5722.
Dissecting NFL player evaluation process as Draft Day 2015 looms large
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was supposed to be one of the NFL’s brightest new stars after being drafted out of the University of Florida.
Now a convicted murderer, Hernandez has traded in the Patriots’ red, white, and blue for prison jumpsuit orange, and his multi-million dollar contract for a lifelong deal with the supermax Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Hernandez’s case is only the most extreme of a spate of incidents during the 2014 NFL and college football seasons that call into question how potential NFL players’ character is evaluated. Former Heisman Trophy-winner and Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel checked into rehab this offseason after his rookie year for alcohol dependency. Pro-bowl running back Ray Rice was suspended from the league after video surfaced of him punching out his then-fiancee in an elevator.
And now there are questions surrounding the character of Jameis Winston, a quarterback from Florida State University who is expected to be the first overall pick in this year’s draft. While talented, off-the-field incidents involving shoplifting crab legs and screaming obscenities on the FSU quad as well as rape allegations have brought Winton’s character into question, leading many to wonder whether he will flourish or implode in the NFL.
What is the process NFL teams use to evaluate players’ character? Is enough being done to identify players with troubled pasts who could pose a risk to themselves or teammates? Are there players in this year’s NFL draft who might not be drafted as early because of character issues? How do you identify a player with character issues?
Guests:
Mike Tanier, NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report
Russ Lande, former NFL scout for the then-L.A. Rams and Cleveland Browns, founder of GM Jr. Scouting LLC. He’s also the College Scouting Director for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League