Today on AirTalk, we discuss Governor Newsom's plans to abandon the high-speed rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco and what this means for the segment of tracks still under construction in the state’s agricultural heartland. We also analyze a new study saying fathers are happier than mothers after becoming parents; and more.
‘Let’s be real’: Newsom says he’ll shorten bullet-train project -- but will anyone benefit from a Merced to Bakersfield ride?
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday he’s abandoning a $77 billion plan to build a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco and will focus instead on completing a 119-mile (190-kilometer) segment in the state’s agricultural heartland.
Voters approved a ballot measure in 2008 calling for the linking of Northern and Southern California, a rail project initially estimated to cost $33 billion and be completed in 2020. Subsequent estimates more than doubled the cost and pushed the timeline to 2033.
“Let’s be real,” Newsom said in his first State of the State address. “The current project, as planned, would cost too much and, respectfully, take too long. There’s been too little oversight and not enough transparency.”
Newsom pledged to finish the segment already under construction through California’s Central Valley. He rejected the idea critics have raised that it will be a “train to nowhere” and said it can help revitalize the economically depressed region. While that construction continues Newsom said the state will conduct environmental reviews on the entire Los Angeles to San Francisco route and push for more federal and private money to connect the valley to the state’s economic powerhouses, though he didn’t say how.
What will be the benefit of a high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield? Would anyone ride it? What do you think of Newsom’s move?
With files from the Associated Press.
We reached out to the High Speed Rail Authority. They declined our request for an interview but sent us this statement, attributed to Brian Kelly, California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO.
“The Governor has called for setting a priority on getting high speed rail operating in the only region in which we have commenced construction—the Central Valley. We are eager to meet this challenge and expand the project’s economic impact in the Central Valley.
Importantly, he also reaffirmed our commitment to complete the environmental work statewide, to meet our “bookend” investments in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and to pursue additional federal and private funding for future project expansion.
We welcome this direction and look forward to continuing the important work on this transformative project.”
Guests:
Mike Murphy, mayor of Merced
Andrae Gonzales, Bakersfield city councilmember
James Moore, professor of industrial, systems and civil engineering and director of the Transportation Engineering Program at USC
Elizabeth Goldstein Alexis, co-founder of Californians Advocating Responsible Rail Design
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, professor of urban planning and the associate provost for academic planning at UCLA; she is also a research associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University
The Triple Play returns as Dodgers, Angels gear up for MLB Spring Training 2019
Pitchers and catchers for the Dodgers and Angels officially report today, a sign that baseball fans everywhere know means that Spring Training has officially begun.
Position players will report a week later and both teams start their Spring Training schedule on Saturday, February 23rd, when the Dodgers face off against the Chicago White Sox and the Angels play host to the San Francisco Giants.
After finishing the 2018 season fourth in the AL West with an 80-82 record, the Angels are hoping to ride slugger Mike Trout back to the playoffs after an offseason during which the team didn’t sign anyone beyond 2019. They’ll be hoping to give Trout a reason to stay in L.A. long-term, as he has just two years left on the contract extension he signed in 2015 and would likely be the biggest free agent on the market if he were to decide to test his value.
Angels GM Billy Eppler did add starting pitchers Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill to the roster, no doubt in part to help fill the gap that will be left in the starting rotation by the absence of Japanese two-way phenom and 2018 AL Rookie of the Year Shohei Ohtani, who isn’t expected to pitch again until 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery late last year. The Angels will also begin this season with a new manager, Brad Ausmus, after longtime Angels skipper Mike Scoscia retired at the end of last year after 18 years leading the team. It’ll be tough sailing, though, as the Angels will need to knock off the Mariners, Athletics, and defending AL West Champion Houston Astros, all of whom finished with better records than the Halos last year.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, begin yet another quest for redemption. After falling to the Boston Red Sox in five games in the 2018 World Series, they will attempt to reach their third Fall Classic in as many years and finally end the now two decade-long World Series drought. They finished last season 92-71 and won the NL West for the sixth straight year.
Most of the big names from last year’s team are returning, though fans will notice the absence of slugging third baseman Manny Machado, who became a free agent at the end of last year after being traded to L.A. mid-season. The good news is 2016 NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager will return to his position at shortstop after missing most of 2018 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll reunite KPCC’s “Triple Play” of baseball experts – Larry Mantle, “Take Two” host A Martinez, “All Things Considered” host Nick Roman – to preview the 2019 season for both teams.
Guests:
A Martinez, host of KPCC’s “Take Two”; he tweets
Nick Roman, host of KPCC’s “All Things Considered”; he tweets
New L.A. City ordinance requiring contractors to disclose NRA business ties raises First Amendment questions
The Los Angeles City Council passed a law Tuesday requiring companies that want city contracts to disclose whether they have ties to the National Rifle Association.
Councilman Mitch O’Farrell sought the ordinance in the wake of recent U.S. mass shootings. He says the NRA has been a “roadblock to gun safety reform” for decades.
NRA attorneys had warned they’d sue if the ordinance passed.
Attorney Chuck Michel calls the move “modern-day McCarthyism” that would force NRA supporters to drop their memberships for fear of losing their livelihoods.
Is such a requirement constitutional, or does it violate the First Amendment’s right to free speech? What could that mean for the future of the ordinance? We discuss the legality of the measure.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guest:
Eugene Volokh, law professor at UCLA teaching free speech law; he tweets
Men’s Central Jail will be replaced by mental health hospital -- but questions still abound
On Tuesday, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to replace the Men’s Central Jail with at least one mental health treatment facility.
The facility would be under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health Services rather than the Sheriff’s Department. The county will also mull over constructing smaller, mental-health focused centers.
Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis voted against the move, saying that a large facility would be a bad setting for treating people with mental illness.
We check in with KPCC’s criminal justice and public safety reporter Frank Stoltze, who was at the board meeting yesterday.
Guest:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC’s criminal justice and public safety correspondent
New study says fathers are happier than mothers after becoming parents
A new study shows that men are happier, more satisfied, and less depressed after they become parents. Mothers said they were more depressed than women who did not have children.
Psychologists at UC Riverside looked at past studies that looked at people’s sense of well-being after having children. The three studies totaled more than 18,000 parents, ages 16 to 95. The first two compared people’s overall sense of well-being, and the third considered well-being while interacting with their kids. Overall, parents were happier when they were interacting with their kids, but men reported higher levels of happiness.
Why would men be happier than women upon becoming a parent? Do the results surprise you? As a parent or child, do these findings line up with your experience growing up or raising children of your own?
Guest:
Katherine Nelson-Coffey, lead author of the study on happiness and parenting, “Parenthood is Associated with Greater Well-Being for Fathers than Mothers,” which was recently published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin; assistant professor of psychology at Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee