Students at Huntington Beach High School have been sent home for three weeks after possibly being exposed to measles earlier this month. The Orange County Health Department says is has confirmed 16 cases in the county so far. Also, California Assemblyman Kevin McCarty wants to create independent panels under the oversight of the California Department of Justice to investigate officer-involved fatalities, rather than local district attorneys.Then, should the US and the international community intervene as Boko Haram’s terror spreads?
Measles outbreak continues to spread as schools tell students to stay home
Two dozen students at Huntington Beach High School have been sent home for three weeks after possibly being exposed to measles earlier this month. School officials say a student that had the measles virus was on campus for several days and may have spread the incredibly contagious disease.
The Orange County Health Department says it has confirmed 16 cases in the county so far, six of which were unrelated to the Disneyland outbreak in late December. State law mandates that school-age children receive the MMR vaccine to protect against measles, mumps, and rubella, but parents who think that there are links between the vaccine and autism can have their child exempted by signing a personal belief waiver.
Measles can show up eight to 21 days after exposure. At first, symptoms are fever, coughing, runny nose, and bloodshot eyes. Within a few days, the fever spikes and the signature red, spotty rash begins to appear on the face and spreads down the body.
Guests:
Rebecca Plevin, KPCC health reporter
Dr. Helene Calvet, deputy public health officer with the Orange County Department of Public Health.
Dr. Shruti Gohil, associate medical director of hospital epidemiology at UC-Irvine Medical Center and assistant clinical professor of infectious diseases.
Calif. lawmaker wants independent office to investigate officer-involved fatalities
In the aftermath of high profile, controversial police-involved killings in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City, a number of states are considering legislation to change how such fatalities are investigated. California Assemblyman Kevin McCarty wants to create independent panels under the oversight of the California Department of Justice to investigate officer-involved fatalities, rather than local district attorneys. McCarty said local prosecutors are often perceived as too close to law enforcement agencies to investigate them fairly. "Is the current process fundamentally flawed and morally bankrupt? I don't know. Could there be a better process that brings more public trust and independence? Absolutely," McCarty said. The California Sheriffs’ Association is still reviewing the legislation that was introduced on January 6. Criminology Professor David Klinger, a former LAPD officer, says the legislation is unnecessary, harms investigative protocol and would slow down due process.
Is it worth creating the independent investigative body to avoid the perception that police officers are given special treatment by district attorneys?
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Kevin McCarty (D), California Assemblymember for Assembly District 7, which includes the communities of Sacramento, West Sacramento, Rio Linda, Elverta, and Antelope
David Klinger, author of Into the Kill Zone: A Cop’s Eye View of Deadly Force, and professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis; Former LAPD patrol officer
2015 Television Critics’ Association press tour previews year ahead in TV
The 2015 Television Critics Association press tour wraps up today in Pasadena. Television stars, writers, producers, and critics have all been at the Langham Huntington Pasadena Hotel for almost two weeks, giving and receiving a taste of what’s to come in 2015. There will be previews of shows that are premiering this year, renewal announcements for returning favorites, and plenty of Q&A sessions with the stars in and minds behind the biggest shows on the tube.
Guests:
Debra Birnbaum, Executive Editor for TV at Variety Magazine, has been covering TCA ‘15
Robert Bianco, television critic for USA Today, has been covering TCA ‘15
As Boko Haram continues its reign of destruction, is it time for the international community to intervene?
New satellite images released by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International show devastating destruction suffered by two Nigerian towns at the hands of the militant group Boko Haram. The aerial images provided by Amnesty were dated Jan. 2 and Jan. 7 and showed areas before and after an apparent attack. The group estimated that more than 3,500 structures were razed in one town.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called Boko Haram’s reign of destruction a “crime against humanity” and said he had talked to UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on forming a “special initiative” on Nigeria, according to the AFP.
The insurgent group first came to international attention last April, when it kidnapped close to 300 Nigerian girls from their school.
As Boko Haram’s terror spreads, should the US and the international community intervene?
Guests:
Drew Hinshaw, West Africa reporter for The Wall Street Journal
Charlotte Florance, Research Associate for Economic Freedom in Africa and the Middle East, Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, Heritage Foundation
Ann Buwalda, Esq., human rights lawyer based in Virginia and Executive Director of Jubilee Campaign, a non-profit organization which promotes the human rights and religious liberty of ethnic and religious minorities globally.
Supreme Court to take on same-sex marriage again
The Supreme Court said Friday it’ll take on the issue of same-sex marriage again, two years after it dismissed the Prop. 8 case and struck down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act. The issue at stake this time is whether states can outlaw same-sex marriage.
Justices will hear arguments in April on four cases concerning four states. The two cases from Ohio and Tennessee ask whether states that ban gay marriage have to recognize marriages performed in other states. The case from Michigan seeks to overturn that state’s ban on gay marriage. The case from Kentucky involves both issues.
Same-sex marriage is legal in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
A decision is expected by June.
Guest:
Greg Stohr, Supreme Court reporter, Bloomberg News, and author of “A Black and White Case: How Affirmative Action Survived Its Greatest Legal Challenge” (Bloomberg Press, 2006)
In search of my childhood bully
When Allen Kurzweil was young, he was bullied by a 12-year-old schoolmate by the name of Cesar Augustus. It’s unfortunately an all too common story, but what makes Kurzweil’s tale different is what he ended up doing about it. Haunted still as an adult, Kurzweil spent 40 years of his life looking for Augustus.
The search took him all over the world: from the slums of Manila, to a Park Avenue law firm, and finally to a federal prison in Southern California. In the new book, “Whipping Boy,” writer Kurzweil chronicles the almost obsessive journey he undertook to track down his childhood tormentor.
Guest:
Allen Kurzweil, a novelist, journalist and author of the new book, “Whipping Boy: The Forty-Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully” (Harper, 2015)