Newsom proposes extending the California Medi-Cal coverage to an additional 138,000 undocumented people at a cost of about $260 million a year. We also check in on the ongoing negotiations between LAUSD and UTLA; look into the steady decline of Cancer rates; and more.
On the edge of picket lines: LA Unified, teachers union remain at odds as strike deadline looms
Los Angeles Unified School District and United Teachers Los Angeles remain on the precipice of a strike on Wednesday as last-minute attempts at negotiations have failed to produce an agreement.
The strike is scheduled to begin on Thursday if the district and teachers’ union are unable to come to terms, but a pending legal challenge could push the strike’s start date to the beginning of next week. In the meantime, LAUSD has said that schools will be open as usual on Thursday morning and after school programs will run normally.
Today on AirTalk, Larry Mantle talks with KPCC education reporter Kyle Stokes, who has been following the negotiations every step of the way. For more on this story, head to LAist.com where you’ll find our guide for LAUSD parents in the event of a teachers’ strike.
Guest:
Kyle Stokes, KPCC K-12 education reporter; he tweets
Uncanny burgers: the quest to make the ‘meatiest’ vegetarian burger
Call it a culinary oxymoron.
But a lot of efforts have been put in by chefs, food technologists, restaurants to make the veggie burger more “meat-like.”
The latest example comes courtesy of the company Impossible Foods, which two years ago introduced discerning eaters to its meatless burger -- which uses a molecule called heme to make it taste like meat.
Now, the company’s at it again with the launch of a new vegan burger -- and it tastes so much like the real thing that it gave one reporter (at least) a kind of heebie jeebies after eating it.
We explore the phenomenon of meatless foods that try to taste like meat -- and the ensuing cognitive dissonance that sometimes follows.
Guests:
Matt Simon, science and tech writer who has covered the science of the “bleeding” Impossible Burger for WIRED; tweets
Ricardo San Martin, director of the Alternative Meats Lab at UC Berkeley, which works to develop plant-based meats, dairy substitutes, and alternative sources of fat and protein
Bev Cain, president of Sandelman, a market research and consulting firm focusing on fast food restaurants and casual dining
LA guns for the Super Bowl: Checking in on the Rams and Chargers playoff push
This weekend, for the first time in over 30 years, both of Los Angeles’ football teams will compete in the NFL playoffs.
Less than a few years ago, Los Angeles didn't have an NFL team and now, just like every other major sport, it has two.
It’s been 33 years since LA has had two teams in the playoffs, with the Raiders and the Rams back in 1986. The Rams and the Raiders however came up short that year with the Raiders falling in the divisional round to the Patriots, while the Rams were shut out by the eventual Super Bowl champions the Chicago Bears in the NFC title game.
The Rams have had a stellar year finishing off the regular season with 13 wins and 3 losses, clinching their second straight NFC West title, after defeating the Detroit Lions back in the first week of December. The Rams have had back to back playoff appearances since hiring head coach Sean McVay in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Chargers finished their regular season with 12 wins and 4 losses, and clinched a well deserved AFC playoff berth with their December 13 victory over their AFC west rival the Kansas City Chiefs. This will be the Chargers first playoff appearance since 2013 and will be their first playoff appearance as the Los Angeles Chargers.
Be sure to tune in this weekend as the Rams will face off against the Dallas Cowboys at home in the LA Memorial Coliseum this Saturday at 5:15 P.M. while the Chargers will play the New England Patriots in Foxborough at Gillette Stadium this Sunday at 10:00 A.M.
Are you a Chargers or a Rams fan? Are you both? Who do you think will win? Could we see an LA vs. LA Super Bowl? Give us a call at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Gary Klein, reporter for the LA Times covering the Los Angeles Rams; he tweets
Jason Cole, Editor-in-Chief of FanSided.com, a fandom-focused sports, lifestyle and entertainment network of more than 300 websites; former NFL reporter for Bleacher Report; he tweets
Governor Newsom proposes to expand Medi-Cal to over 100K undocumented young adults
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed state-funded health coverage for 138,000 undocumented young people and a reinstatement of a mandate that everyone buy insurance or face fines.
Newsom also proposed giving subsidies to middle-class families that make too much to qualify them under former President Barack Obama's health care law. He signed an order giving the state more bargaining power in negotiating prescription drug prices. And he sent a letter to President Donald Trump and congressional leaders seeking more authority over federal health care dollars and policies.
Newsom was elected following a campaign that leaned heavily on his promise to provide health coverage to everyone. His actions hours after he took the oath of office take a step in that direction but the $760 million price tag will require approval from the Democratically controlled Legislature. California has a projected surplus of $15 billion.
Medi-Cal, the state's version of Medicaid, is jointly funded by the state and federal government and provides coverage to one in three Californians. California uses state money to extend Medi-Cal coverage to people living in the country illegally up to age 19. Newsom proposes pushing back the cutoff to age 26, covering an additional 138,000 people at a cost of about $260 million a year, according to Newsom's spokesman, Nathan Click. His order directs state agencies to explore letting others, including employers and private insurers, join the state's purchasing pool.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Michelle Faust Raghavan, health care reporter at KPCC
Almas Sayeed, deputy director of programs for the California Immigrant Policy Center; she tweets
Avik Roy, president of The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a non-profit think tank; the policy editor at Forbes and former policy advisor to Marco Rubio, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney; he tweets
Cancer rates steadily decline over past 25 years projected to continue
A new study from the American Cancer Society says less people are dying from cancer today and cancer deaths have been on a consistent decline for the past 25 years.
Cancer rates spiked in the 20th century-- an increase credited to high tobacco use-- and have lessened by 27% since the early 1990’s. While a statistical gap between white and black cancer patients has lessened, according to the report’s analysis income is growing divide between cancer survivors and victims.
Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States and the study suggests that about a third of new cancer diagnosis are connected to behavior, and are therefore preventable. The study also highlights a drop in certain types of cancer such as lung, breast and prostate cancers-- likely due to earlier detection and advances in cancer treatments. AirTalk gets the latest on medicine’s fight against “the big C”.
Guests:
Dan Theodorescu M.D., director of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedar Sinai; urology specialist.
Deanna Attai M.D., breast surgeon and clinical professor in the department of surgery at UCLA; tweets
New study says half of US adults reporting food allergies don’t actually have food allergies
A new JAMA study out this month says of 1 in 5 adults who reported a food allergy, only 1 in 10 were actually found to be food allergic.
Does that mean your shellfish hives and foggy brain after eating gluten are just an imagination?
Not necessarily.
According to Ruchi S. Gupta, lead author of the study, “Prevalence and Severity of Food Allergies Among US Adults,” food allergies may become more common and severe into adulthood, but current research tends to focus on food allergies in children or are only secondary analyses of existing health data.
There’s also a clear line between a food allergy and food intolerance. For example, someone with a milk allergy cannot drink milk at all. Someone with lactose intolerance can — they’ll just have terrible bloating and gas.
In order to safely determine a food allergy, the study stresses getting diagnosed by a physician. We speak with Dr. Gupta for more.
Guest:
Ruchi S. Gupta, M.D., lead author of the study, “Prevalence and Severity of Food Allergies Among US Adults” published recently in the journal, JAMA; professor of pediatrics and medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine