On Today's show we'll take a look at a new report on the faulty design of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, what's behind the latest brew-ha over Hollywood development plans, a guide to dining out ethically in L.A., what all those baby boomers expecting a large inheritance might be getting instead and we'll sit down with Andrew Blum, author of Tubes: A Journey to the Center of The Internet as well as Ava DuVernay the director of the critically acclaimed Sundance picture "Middle of Nowhere." Plus, the latest news.
Problems continue for the San Onofre nuclear power plant
Later tonight, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will present preliminary findings from its investigation of the San Onofre power plant. The plant has been shut down since a radiation leak appeared on January 31, and officials expect it to stay shuttered throughout the summer months while experts determine the cause of, and solution to, the problem.
Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, is not waiting for results to be released from the NRC. The organization has filed a petition to keep the plant closed until both regulators and the public are able to review the situation.
Friends of the Earth is pointing fingers at Southern California Edison, which failed to report design changes in plant tubing to the NRC, and the NRC itself, for not making public said design changes. The group is asking for the plant to go through a license amendment process, which will include public review akin to a legal trial.
How will these requests affect the timing of bringing San Onofre back up to speed? Is there any way for the plant, Edison and the NRC to fight Friends of the Earth? What will be revealed in the first step of NRC’s investigation later tonight?
Guests:
Ed Joyce, Orange County Reporter, KPCC
Dave Freeman, former head of the federal Tennessee Valley Authority and a senior adviser to Friends of the Earth
Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer, Fairewinds. Fairewinds provided expert witness assistance to the Friends of the Earth commissioned report into San Onofre
Raising the roof in Hollywood
Los Angeles’ most iconic neighborhood could be expanding its borders -– vertically.
City planners say that Hollywood’s population is expected to increase exponentially over the next 18 years, triggering the need for 13,000 additional residences. Their proposed solution? High-rise apartment buildings – some up to 75 stories, if development proponents have their way. They envision a livable, urban neighborhood, no car necessary, teeming with skyscrapers and bustling with city life.
Nearby hillside residents oppose the plan, contending it would change the area’s character and corrupt Hollywood’s world-famous skyline, which includes the Capitol Records building and views of the Hollywood sign. The two sides cite conflicting numbers when it comes to current and future residency, while proponents of the plan project a population of nearly 250,000 in 2030, critics contend it will be less than 190,000.
The matter is set to come before city council on Tuesday. Would you like to see Hollywood reach new heights? Or do you like the view of Tinseltown the way it is?
GUESTS
David Ambroz, Hollywood resident and board member of the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council
Sarajane Schwartz, President, Hollywoodland Homeowners Association
Dining ethically: A guide for foodies in LA and nationwide
When you dine out, you may watch what you eat to stay healthy, but have you ever considered the ethical implications of what you’re consuming from that restaurant? How do the nation’s major restaurants treat their employees? Do they get paid sick leave? Benefits? Fair wages? Good working conditions?
These are just some of the details to be found in a report the Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United) compiled and released to the public. In the 2012 ROC National Diners’ Guide, consumers can find wage, benefit, and promotion practices of 150 of the most popular restaurants and chains in the United States.
Among the good are In-N-Out and Five Guys Burgers and Fries. And some of the worst restaurants for workers are California Pizza Kitchen, Taco Bell, and Cheesecake Factory just to name a few.
Jot Condie, President and CEO of the California Restaurant Association said that ROC United is trying to smear the reputation of the food industry by generalizing.
"If there are laws that are being broken, then certainly restaurants and restaurant owners should be held accountable for that. But to say that this is industry-wide and ubiquitous just is not true, and that's what they're trying to convey," he said.
Condie said the restaurant industry works at a very thin profit margin, averaging 2 to 3 percent. He added that the monetary constraint and hope to keep menu prices low means restaurant owners have to make budget cuts in other places.
"There's not a lot of room for movement, particularly in the independent segment of the industry, which is the vast majority of the restaurants in the L.A. area, 51 percent are minority owned. If they could offer health benefits and paid sick leave and other benefits, they absolutely would. The industry is passionate about their employees," he added.
ROC United Co-Director and Co-Founder Saru Jayaraman said that chain restaurants have no excuse for providing unethical working conditions when the restaurant industry as a whole has been one of the few industries not as badly hit by economic strain. According to Jayaraman, the chains have announced record profits of $630 billion this year.
"The restaurant industry right now is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of the economy, and the Department of Labor has reported that seven of the lowest paying jobs in America are restaurant jobs, and the two absolute lowest paying jobs are restaurant jobs," she continued.
Jayaraman argued that restaurants make decisions not based on how much profit they'll receive.
"I don't think that's a matter of profit. It's a matter of choice, in terms of what people decide to prioritize with regard to long-term sustainability, in terms of sustainable employment conditions and/or sustainable profits," she said. "We've got restaurants in every segment – fine dining, family style, casual, and fast food – that do well by their workers, so they seem to prove that you actually can do better."
GUESTS
Saru Jayaraman, Co-Director and Co-Founder, Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC United); Director, Food Labor Research Center at UC Berkeley
Mr. Jot Condie, President & CEO, California Restaurant Association
The state of the estate
If you’ve put off saving for your retirement years because you’re expecting a windfall inheritance, you may be in for a shock. Baby boomers who’ve counted on mom and dad’s money may now be facing the fact that their inheritances are dwindling – or disappearing.
Thanks to a diving economy and parents living much longer than expected -- these days, the 85-and-over age bracket is the fastest growing segment of the population -- anything left under the mattress is going to cover those extra golden years. Adult children may feel resentment as they find themselves stretching their savings to help their parents financially instead. Parents may struggle with disappointment and guilt at not being able to leave their kids the bequest they had promised.
How is that affecting the family dynamic? If you’re a parent, son or daughter faced with a changing financial picture, how do you approach this subject with sensitivity?
GUESTS
Liz Pulliam Weston, personal finance columnist, MSN.com and author of "Easy Money," "Your Credit Score" and "Deal with Your Debt"
Delia Fernandez, president, Fernandez Financial Advisory, LLC and certified financial planner
In a wireless world, the Internet’s pipes and tubes rule
Need the answer to a question? Google it. Need to remember a friend's birthday? Look it up on Facebook. While reference books and maps gather dust on the shelf, the likes of Google and Facebook wouldn't exist without the Internet, the information superhighway that powers our lives. Yet even though we operate in a wireless world, the Internet is a physical being.
In his new book, "Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet," journalist Andrew Blum charts the journey of the network of cables and servers that make up the Internet; from its humble beginnings in Los Angeles to the latest addition to the world wide web's communication link stretching from Europe to Africa. Running unseen along railways, highways and under the seas, Blum looks behind the scenes at some of the world's major Internet users, and answers questions on how one of the greatest innovations of the modern age is protected from cyber-vandalism.
How has your life changed with the advent of the Internet? What skills have we lost due to the Internet? If you have children, how do you make them aware of how to find and source information without 'googling' it? Or do you think the Internet has broadened the horizons of education beyond what can be found in books?
Andrew Blum, Author, Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet (Ecco); journalist whose articles and essays have appeared in Wired, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Business Week, Metropolis, Popular Science, Gizmodo, The Atlantic, Architectural Record, and Slate, among many other publications.
Ava DuVernay and the 'Middle of Nowhere'
Last night, the Los Angeles Film Festival kicked off downtown at L.A. Live. The event, which took in over 5,000 submissions from upwards of 30 countries, runs until June 24th.
One film which made the cut, Ava DuVernay’s “Middle of Nowhere,” is a story about a woman in South-Central L.A. who must reconfigure her entire life when her husband goes to jail for an eight-year sentence. The movie will premiere as a gala event, complete with the red carpet treatment just like Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love,” the festival’s opener. DuVernay has already had the opportunity of screening her film in front of a festival audience, as it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. She received the award of Best Director at that event, and it’s notable that she is the first African-American to win said prize.
“Middle of Nowhere” is slated for a limited theatrical release in October, but DuVernay hopes exposure within Los Angeles will raise the movie’s profile. What inspired DuVernay to write and direct such a story? What is she hoping to share with the Los Angeles audience?
GUEST
Ava DuVernay, director and writer of “Middle of Nowhere” and “I Will Follow,” founder of The DuVernay Agency, later known as DVA Media + Marketing, which provided marketing and publicity services for more than 100 film and television projects by directors such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Mann and more.
Middle of Nowhere Trailer