Today on Air Talk we'll discuss the City of Compton as it contemplates declaring for bankruptcy, take a look at the KPCC series on the sex trade in Los Angeles, the ripple effect for California residents caused by the Northern Arizona power station, the bumpy road of the Presidential campaign trail and an interview with Nancy Segal, Author of Born Together—Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study. Plus, the latest news
Compton considers bankruptcy and joins a line of cash strapped California cities
Another California city is in financial hot water. Compton joins Stockton, Mammoth Lakes and San Bernardino in considering bankruptcy to deal with spiraling debts.
According to senior officials at a council meeting in Compton last night, the city has a 43 million dollar deficit and has burned through a 22 million dollar reserve fund. Compton has until September 1 to decide on a course of action, when the city will run out of funds to make payroll. This comes amid claims of fraud, misuse of funds and financial waste. The credit reference agency, Standard and Poor's also indicated issues with Compton's finances last week, when it placed a credit watch on some of the city's bonds. S and P has also called for a full, independent financial audit of the city's affairs.
Should bankruptcy be an option for cities in financial trouble? What safeguards should be put in place to protect city funds? What concerns do you have about how officials are managing city dollars? Do you worry that your city could be next?
Guests:
Bob Wieckowski, California Assemblyman (D) representing the 20th District centered in Fremont; Wieckowski authored AB 506 which outlines how California municipalities can pursue bankruptcy; he is also a personal bankruptcy lawyer
Carroll Wills, Communications Director, California Professional Firefighters based in Sacramento
Walking the tracks: KPCC series examines sex-trade in Los Angeles
From South L.A. to the San Fernando Valley and points in between, police estimate there are 17 different prostitution "tracks" in Los Angeles.
Residents and businesses near those tracks say sex solicitation is a crime against the neighborhood. Johns and prostitutes are often in a revolving door from the streets to arrests and back to the street.
Erika Aguilar, KPCC crime and safety reporter, toured the track along Lankershim Boulevard in Sun Valley. Neighbors encounter sex-trade workers in fast food joints and parking lots.
KPCC's Ruxandra Guidi reported on a similar pattern in Walnut Park. There community activists ask police to crack down. But police say they're stretched thin. Gang activity and violence are a bigger priority.
Other than arrests, what systemic solutions exist for johns, prostitutes and residents? What effect would decriminalization or legalization of sex solicitation have?
Guests:
Erika Aguilar, Crime & Safety Reporter, KPCC
Ruxandra Guidi, Immigration & Emerging Communities Reporter, KPCC
The big ripple of Arizona’s Navajo Generating Station
The Navajo Generating Station is a coal-fired plant in Northern Arizona that supplies electricity beyond the state’s borders, into California and Nevada. The plant also powers water pumps for the Colorado River. Because of those interstate interests, the LA Department of Water and Power owns a sizeable chunk of the plant, over 20%. But when it comes up for review in 2019, the plant could shut down.
Federal regulators will likely ask the power plant to meet cleaner emission standards, to reduce pollution known as “light extinction” over the Grand Canyon, less than 100 miles away. Meeting those standards could cost over $1 billion in capital improvements.
However, the plant might not have the resources it needs to get cleaner and greener. DWP may pull out in 2019 to save money. If operators can’t find other sources of revenue, the plant could shut down entirely.
A shutdown could have a big impact on Arizona’s economy. A study from Arizona State University projects that closing the Navajo Generating Station would cost Arizona 3,000 jobs a year, mostly held by Navajo tribe members. Not to mention $20 billion between over the next 30 years.
California’s growing population wants energy and water. Arizonans want jobs and revenue. And Americans want the Grand Canyon to stay clean and beautiful. Which interests will prevail? And can there be a compromise between environmental standards, regulation and the economy?
Guests:
Roger Clark, Program Director, Grand Canyon Trust
Erny Zah, Director of Communications, Navajo Nation’s Office of President and Vice President
More dustups on the campaign trail
Despite those clamoring for his tax returns, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has steadfastly refused to release other than the past two years, causing many to wonder what he’s hiding.
This week, the Obama campaign unleashed an ad attacking GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney for, among other things, squirreling money away in offshore accounts. Without directly accusing him of using them as tax shelters, the implication is clear: millionaire Romney is hiding his assets from Uncle Sam in order to dodge the IRS.
But is that really the case? What is the purpose of having holdings in Switzerland, Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, if not to avoid paying U.S. taxes? As Romney has explained, “some foreign entities are formed to allow foreign investors to invest in the United States,” which could be good for the economy, right? What’s the real story?
Meanwhile, both sides are ratcheting up the attacks. Obama’s campaign is pressing Romney’s record at the helm of Bain Capitol, saying the company invested in firms that shipped jobs outside the U.S.
Romney went on the talk show circuit this week to demand an apology from the president (he’s still waiting). Meanwhile, Romney supporters this week equated Obama with socialism, being un-American and Chicago ‘felons.’ Who should apologize first? Are both camps going off the deep end? How much bloodier can this campaign get?
Guests:
Jonathan Wilcox, Republican Strategist; former speech writer for Governor Pete Wilson
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist; former senior Obama advisor in 2008, who now runs the Los Angeles office for the Dewey Square Group
James Hines, Richard A Musgrave collegiate professor of economics at the University of Michigan
How twins separated at birth inform the nature versus nurture debate
It’s a phrase that has firmly ensconced itself in popular language, particularly when talking about parenting. But where did the idea of “nature vs. nurture” come from? The answer is the now infamous Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA).
In this study, researchers focused on the tale of identical twins who were separated at birth and adopted by different families. It wasn’t until they were 39 that they met, and they were surprised to find they both suffered headaches, bit their nails, smoked Salems, took up woodworking and even vacationed on the same beach in Florida. In fact, their adoptive families also coincidentally named each twin Jim.
Nancy L. Segal, who spent nearly a decade working on the Minnesota Study, has just authored “Born Together—Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study.” What unique perspective does Segal bring to this old debate? How important are genetics in the way a child turns out? Not all identical twins are as similar in personality and habits as the two Jims, so what explains those common themes when they weren’t even nurtured in the same way? Does it have to be nature or nurture? Can’t it be both?
Guest:
Nancy Segal, Author of Born Together—Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study (Harvard University Press); Distinguished Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences and Director of the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton