A report released by the LAUSD Advisory Task Force states that, unless curbed, the district is facing a $400-million deficit by the 2020-21 school year. We analyze the district's options. We also discuss border authorities' plans to increase criminal proceedings for illegal crossings; look at the tightening of regulations for emotional support animals on planes; and more.
US border authorities plan mass prosecution of undocumented border-crossers. How would it work?
The LA Times reports border authorities are planning to significantly increase criminal prosecutions of people who cross illegally into the US.
Most people caught crossing into Southern CA are deported without facing charges. But it appears that policy will change. Should illegal crossers be charged? We’ll debate it.
Guests:
Claude Arnold, a consultant at Frontier Solutions, a crisis management firm based in D.C.; he is also a retired special agent with ICE for over a decade, holding various roles at the agency, including overseeing all aspects of ICE investigative mission in the L.A. area and in Southern Nevada
Jeremy Warren, criminal defense attorney in San Diego; he was part of a group of lawyers and judges that was briefed on the Trump administration’s proposal to fast-track the judicial proceedings of those who cross the border into California illegally
With Social Security costs exceeding its revenue, is the program in trouble?
For the first time since 1983, Social Security will have to dip into its trust fund to cover costs.
While this isn’t a complete shock, it’s an early move. It was predicted Social Security wouldn’t need to hit up its nearly $3 trillion trust fund until three years from now.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, lower economic growth projections were the culprit for the early dip into the program’s trust, which will be depleted by 2034. So is this an indication that Social Security is in trouble?
Guests:
Brian Riedl, economist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a New York-based conservative think tank; he’s been following the story
Michael Hiltzik, business columnist at the LA Times and author of the book, “The Plot Against Social Security: How the Bush Plan Is Endangering Our Financial Future” (Harper, 2005)
The myth of the midlife crisis: What middle age looks like in real life
Graying adults driving red Corvettes were just a glimmer in Elliott Jaques’ eye when he first coined the term “midlife crisis” at a psychiatric conference in 1957.
If only he could have predicted the decades of dread those two words would instill.
But an article recently published in The Atlantic argues that the original definition of a midlife crisis – internal strife caused by the realization that death is looming – has ballooned over time, making it more of a social construct than an actual experience.
A massive study formed in 1995 called “Midlife in the United States” (MIDUS) researches this relatively data-dry psychological stage in adulthood and has made some interesting discoveries. According to their data, though midlife crises are often portrayed as an inevitable experience only about 10-20% of adults experience one, and those individuals are often crisis-prone to begin with.
If you are currently in your middle years, what are your thoughts? Have you noticed a change in stress since transitioning into the fine wine stage of life? How have your priorities shifted?
Guests:
Pamela Druckerman, journalist and author of the recently released “There Are No Grown-ups: A Midlife Coming-of-Age Story” (Penguin Press 2018)
David M. Almeida, lifespan development psychologist and professor at Pennsylvania State University; he is a lead researcher for Midlife in the United States (MIDUS), a longitudinal study through the University of Wisconsin-Madison which investigates health and well-being during middle age
Lower enrollment and pension obligations cloud LAUSD’s financial future
The LA Unified School District Advisory Task Force released its report on Tuesday that identifies challenges the district is facing.
The report - titled ‘Hard Choices’ - calls on LA Unified to create a budget focused on students’ needs. Among the most pressing challenges was the budget deficit, a problem that would force severe cutbacks in programs and jobs.
The district will have a deficit of $400 million by school year 2020-21, according to task force co-chair Wendy Greuel. Unless fixed, the report says, the district will exhaust its savings. Compared to similar school systems, the Los Angeles school district is spending more on teachers’ pay and less on activities that could enhance student learning.
‘Hard Choices’ is based on the work of consultants, who delivered their analysis to LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner’s panel in March. Some conclusions in the report - notably those about salaries and benefits - are expected to be challenged by unions, reports the Los Angeles Times.
We take a closer look at the budget challenges the LAUSD is facing and how the district intends to address them.
Guests:
Wendy Greuel, co-chair of the LAUSD Task Force, which released a report this week looking at the financial challenges facing the district; former L.A. city controller
Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of the teacher’s union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)
David Tokofsky, a consultant strategist with the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents principals and other administrators working in LAUSD; former LAUSD board member and a former teacher in the district
With more airlines tightening the leash on support animal policies, what actually merits bringing one on a flight?
If you’ve flown commercially recently, maybe you’ve noticed that it seems like an awful lot of dogs are being allowed to fly with their owners in the airplane’s cabin. If so, you’re not alone.
Emotional support animals are typically household pets that a medical professional has deemed necessary for a person’s mental well-being. They differ from service animals, which complete rigorous training to become certified to assist someone with a physical disability like blindness or difficulty hearing.
In recent years, more and more airline passengers have been taking emotional support animals on flights with them, and it’s gotten the attention of not only other travelers, but the airlines themselves. And it’s not just dogs they’re seeing, but pigs and ducks and, in one instance, even a peacock.
Earlier this year, both Delta and United announced they would be streamlining their policies for emotional support animals by requiring passengers to give proof 48 hours before the flight that the animal is in good health and is up-to-date on vaccinations, and to acknowledge responsibility for the animal’s actions during the flight.
On Wednesday, JetBlue announced that it, too, would be narrowing its rules for emotional support animals on flights. United says it saw a 75 percent uptick in passengers flying with emotional support animals compared to 2016, and Delta says complaints about animals biting someone or relieving themselves during a flight have doubled since 2016.
What is the difference between a service animal, an emotional support animal, and a therapy animal? How do airlines see these animals differently? Have you noticed an increase in the number of airline passengers traveling with animals? If you have an emotional support animal or therapy animal, what has your experience flying with it been?
Guest:
Aubrey Fine, licensed clinical psychologist based in Claremont who specializes in human-animal interaction and animal-assisted therapy; he is also the chair of the steering committee on human-animal interactions for the American Veterinary Medical Association and author of several books on human-animal interaction, including "Handbook on Animal Assisted Therapy" (4th edition, Academic Press 2015)
Should CA require corporations to have at least one woman on board of directors?
California state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) introduced a bill (SB 826) that would require any California-based corporation that sell stock on a major U.S. exchange to have at least one woman on its board of directors by the end of next year.
The proposal wants to address the issue of the dearth of female representation on corporate boards. But critics question the constitutionality of such a proposal, among other things. Call us at 866-893-5722 and weigh in.
Guests:
Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, former president of the National Association of Women Business Owners; she wrote a book on this topic called “The Board Game: How Smart Women Become Corporate Directors” (Angel City Press, 2013)
Katherine Mangu-Ward, editor-in-chief for Reason magazine; she tweets
Life on Mars?! That’s a yes, according to new JPL study
New Mars discoveries are advancing the case for possible life on the red planet, past or even present.
Scientists reported Thursday that NASA's Curiosity rover has found potential building blocks of life in an ancient Martian lakebed. Hints have been found before, but this is the best evidence yet.
The organic molecules preserved in 3.5 billion-year-old bedrock in Gale Crater - believed to once contain a shallow lake the size of Florida's Lake Okeechobee - suggest conditions back then may have been conducive to life. That leaves open the possibility that microorganisms once populated our planetary neighbor and still might.
With files from The Associated Press.
Guest:
Kirsten Siebach, Martian geologist at Rice University