AirTalk provides you with the latest details on the Cranston Fire in Idyllwild. We also discuss the future of LA’s electrical grid; analyze what the detection of an underground lake could mean for life on Mars; and more.
Cranston Fire: Looking at the arson investigation, air quality, evacuations and more
The fast-moving Cranston Fire in San Bernardino National Forest appears to have been caused by arson, according to fire officials.
The blaze has led to widespread evacuation orders to all of Idyllwild, Pine Cove and Fern Valley. The fire was started about noon Wednesday and quickly grew to more thousands of acres by nightfall. An arson suspect has been detained in association with the fire.
AirTalk provides you with the latest details, including looking at the arson investigation, the fire’s impact on air quality, and more.
To see a map of the current fire locations, click here.
To view current air quality conditions, click here.
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guests:
Kyle Stokes, KPCC reporter who is at an evacuation center in Banning High School in Wilmington, California; he tweets
Tom Pierce, a fire investigator with Pierce Fire Investigations based in Bakersfield. He has been involved in fire service since 1974, and has worked with the National Fire Academy, the California State Fire Marshal's Office, and many other law enforcement organizations
Char Miller, professor at Pomona College where he teaches in the environmental analysis and history departments
Tiffany Raridon, resident of Idyllwild
In the midst of summer power outages, we discuss the future of LA’s electrical grid
Southern California is experiencing another wave of heat that is likely to break daily records in some areas today.
Meanwhile, utilities are hoping to avoid power outages by preparing extra workers and asking people to keep to limit AC use.
The entire state is in Flex Alert, which means people are being asked to turn off lights they’re not using and to stop using big appliances before 5 p.m. and after 9 p.m., to prevent power outages.Southern California summers have been getting hotter and they will likely continue getting hotter, so this isn’t a problem that’s going away.
So how can L.A.’s electrical grid keep up? What’s being done to update the system ahead of next summer? And what can people do in the meantime to conserve energy?
For advice on how to conserve energy, visit www.flexalert.org/save-energy
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guest:
Marty Adams, chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
What the detection of an underground lake could mean for life on Mars
A new report in Science Magazine details the first discovery of stable liquid water on Mars, about 1,500 meters below the surface – a finding that drastically increases the chance the planet could host life.
Researchers at Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics detected the lake using a radar instrument on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express, which has been orbiting Mars since 2003. The radar (the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding, or MARSIS for short) transmits radio waves toward Mars, which reflect back and give information about the planet’s surface and below.
Over the course of three years, MARSIS consistently detected a 20-kilometer wide area with a distinctive reflection under the planet’s south polar ice cap, indicating the presence of a material different than the ice above it and rock below it. Scientists are pretty sure it’s water, able to maintain its liquid form in subzero temperatures thanks to massive amounts of salt lowering its freezing point.
The extreme salinity and low temperature don’t make this specific lake promising for life, but its presence indicates other subsurface lakes in warmer areas of the planet may exist – and possibly be more hospitable. Guest host Libby Denkmann speaks with The Planetary Society’s chief scientist Bruce Betts about the findings and the likely next steps for the science community.
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guest:
Bruce Betts, chief scientist at The Planetary Society
Check in on Idyllwild’s Cranston Fire and Yosemite’s Ferguson Fire
The Cranston Fire in Idyllwild has burned more than 4,700 acres, and at just 5-percent containment. Over 2,000 homes and 3,2000 people have been evacuated.
In Northern California, Yosemite Valley is also experiencing evacuations due to the Ferguson fire. The national park was closed at noon Wednesday during the height of tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada.
Over nearly two weeks, flames have churned through 60 square miles of timber in steep terrain just west of the park. The fire was only 25 percent contained. Mandatory evacuations are now in place in several communities while other people have been told to get ready to leave if necessary.
We check in on both fires.
With files from the Associated Press
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guests:
Jacob Welsh, public information officer for the Ferguson Fire with the US Forest Service
Lyn Sieliet, public information offices for the San Bernardino National Forest
Sam Atwood, spokesperson at the South Coast Air Quality Management District
Afif El-Hassan, M.D., volunteer physician with the American Lung Association; he is also a pediatrician and asthma doctor at Kaiser Permanente in Orange County
Should LAPD put an end to predictive policing?
Controversy is brewing over the Los Angeles Police Department use of data through the so-called predictive policing program.
The department uses software technology to fight crimes in certain neighborhoods by analyzing data. Operation LASER and PrepPol, both began in 2011, are the two most criticized programs. Critics argue that racial profiling is central to such technology. At a Police Commission meeting on Tuesday, activists and civil liberty groups engaged in a heated debate with the department over its use of such program.
Opponents argue that the programs can lead to discrimination against minority groups. Certain information, they argue, such as parolee data and gang member identification allows the LAPD to racially profile using proxy data, because Latinos and blacks represent a high percentage of those tracked groups.
Among those opposing the police department's data-driven program are the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a watchdog group that studies police surveillance and has accused the police department of racial profiling. Meanwhile, the LAPD said race is not used directly in the data.
Should the LAPD put an end to its predictive policing program?
With guest host Libby Denkmann
NOTE: AirTalk contacted the Los Angeles Police Department and invited them to participate in the conversation, but they declined our request.
Guest:
Hamid Khan, organizer with Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a watchdog group that studies police surveillance and has accused the police department of racial profiling
WeWork just went meat-less
WeWork, the shared workspace company imposed a new policy this month saying that they will no longer be serving red meat, pork or poultry at company functions, and it will not reimburse employees who order meals with meat at company-organized events.
WeWork declined an interview but the new policy is said to be a decision that was driven largely by concerns for the environment and to some extent, animal welfare. The company has nearly 6,000 employees and the policy was their way of raising consciousness about the environment. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the production and distribution of red meat such as beef and lamb is responsible for 10 to 40 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as common vegetables and grains.
Although conscious eating may positively impact the environment, this policy leads to a bigger question of whether WeWork enforcing vegetarianism is imposing too much of their corporate values on employees' personal lives.
Has WeWork gone too far? Have you experienced policy implementations in your workplace that you felt were imposing values on you? If you are a vegan or vegetarian evangelist, what is the best way to go about encouraging people to make the switch? Call 866.893.5722.
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guests:
Heather Bussing, employment lawyer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she tweets at
Preeta Sinha, co-founder of One Green Planet, a publishing platform focused on issues pertaining to animal welfare, sustainable food and environmental protection; founder, Food Monster, a phone app that provides vegan and meat-free recipes