Should Uber and Lyft be able to pick up passengers at LAX? Also, Donald Trump has created a sentiment around immigration that seems to have shifted the terms of the primary race and the focus of the conversation to a topic many of the other Republican candidates desperately wanted to avoid. Then, what would happen of Los Angeles police only pulled people over for imminently dangerous road behaviors?
Debating stringent background checks of Uber/Lyft drivers at LAX
Yesterday, a Los Angeles Council Committee discussed ridesharing access at LAX.
Lawmakers reviewed an action by the Board of Airport Commissioners to approve a Non-Exclusive License Agreement for Transportation Network Companies such as Uber and Lyft to begin operating at Los Angeles International Airport.
This follows news last month that some ride-sharing drivers have felony conviction records. Michele Hanisee, Vice President of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys, says as with taxi drivers, ride-sharing drivers should be subjected to fingerprint-based background checks through the Department of Justice and screening of DMV records.
Should Uber and Lyft be able to pick up passengers at LAX? The city's Airport Commission has already given its blessing to the companies and Mayor Eric Garcetti is also a proponent.
Guests:
Mike Bonin, Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 11th District including large swaths of West LA; Bonin voted in support of a policy giving ride-sharing vehicles LAX access
Paul Krekorian, Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 2nd District including the east San Fernando Valley; Krekorian voted against a policy giving ride-sharing vehicles LAX access
Amid flip flops, Trump shifts 2016 conversation to immigration, raising question of what could be accomplished
In the first republican primary debate earlier this month, Donald Trump notoriously announced to Fox moderator Chris Wallace that, “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be talking about illegal immigration.”
At the time, it was fodder for GIFs and the butt of political jokes, but just a few weeks later, that sentiment seems to have shifted the terms of the primary race and the focus of the conversation to a topic many of the Republican candidates desperately wanted to avoid.
Since June, Trump’s policy on immigration has vacillated from one vague idea to another, but this week he put in writing on his website his first position on the matter. It details his ideas to deport undocumented immigrants en masse, seize the remittances they send home, get Mexico to pay for a border wall and abolish birthright citizenship--ideas which have historically idled at the edge of Republican politics.
Trump’s specifics have coincided with yet another jump in his polling numbers, effectively putting his counterparts on notice and forcing them to take positions on immigration reform. That focus is also raising new questions about the future of immigration reform in this country and what could be accomplished under a Republican administration.
Is it a strategic move on Trump’s part? And does it help or hurt the Republican party?
Donald Trump's Plan for Immigration Reform
Guests:
David Fahrenthold, reporter for the Washington Post who’s been covering Donald Trump’s immigration policy
David Carney, CEO, Norway Hill Associates, Inc., a political consultant firm based in New Hampshire. Former political director of the George H.W. Bush White House and was a top political strategist for the Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign
Alfonso Aguilar, Executive Director, Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles; He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 as the first Chief of the Office of Citizenship within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; he’s also an attorney with the law offices of James G. Roche, offices throughout the U.S. including L.A. and Orange county
Legislators, first responders, & drone advocates discuss the buzz with drones
State legislators are working to paint a much clearer picture of what is and isn’t allowed when it comes to flying drones as the clock ticks down on a September 11 deadline to pass new legislation regulating drone use.
A group of interested parties including NASA, drone manufacturers, and law enforcement agencies were invited to Tuesday’s meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management in Sacramento to share their thoughts on the benefits and risks of personal drone operation. First responders and emergency managers also weighed the pros and cons of using drones as a cost-effective way to do things like search for lost hikers, help fight fires, keep an aerial eye on crime scenes, or follow suspects.
The bills being considered would regulate many aspects of how drones operate, including rules for flying over private and government property, how collected surveillance footage is stored and monitored, and how far private drones must stay away from emergency responders. State fire officials are worried after several incidents in recent weeks of private drones flying too close to emergency response operations.
How should the state regulate drone operation? Do you think this is an issue best left to the federal government? What are the benefits and risks of first responders and law enforcement using drones? What are the privacy concerns at play?
Guests:
Lt. Barbara Ferguson, sheriff’s legislative liaison for San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. She was at Tuesday’s meeting in Sacramento
Richard Hanson, government and regulatory affairs representative for the Academy of Model Aeronautics, was at Tuesday’s meeting in Sacramento
LA County health officials want to make restaurant grading system tougher
LA County health officials want to overhaul the restaurant health grading system, reports the Pasadena Star-News. The new system, if put into place, would make it harder for restaurants with prior health writeups to get an A rating.
The recommendation is part of a report health officials sent to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The report came in the wake of a review of close to two years of restaurant inspection data conducted by the Los Angeles News Group -- which the Pasadena Star News is part of -- that found that many restaurants were given high grades despite having incurring major health violations.
Guest:
Stephanie K. Baer, reporter for the Los Angeles News Group. She and reporter Daniel Tedford conducted the review on county restaurant inspection data that led to the potential overhaul of the restaurant health grading system
Bill Chait, restaurateur in Los Angeles and co-owner of the restaurants Republique and Bestia
Jeff Nelken, food safety expert, consultant, and food safety auditor in Los Angeles.
Angelo Bellomo, Director of Environmental Health for the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health.