The Los Angeles City Council voted to ban e-cigarettes with the same restrictions as regular cigarettes. Should pennies and nickels be eliminated? California's prison system is weighing changes to solitary confinement. What type of changes are being proposed?
LA City Council bans e-cigarettes just like the real thing
Electronic cigarettes will be prohibited in Los Angeles workplaces, bars and outdoor public parks under a city ordinance passed Tuesday. The ban essentially treats e-cigarettes the same as tobacco products, although there is not evidence at present showing any harm is caused by vapors exhaled from e-cigs.
Still, some public health advocates argue e-cig manufacturers are targeting young people, which could mean the devices are a "gateway" habit leading to tobacco use. Critics of the new ordinance say this ban could deter current tobacco smokers from the using the products, thereby doing a disservice to public health.
What's your reaction to the ban? Is it an overreaction to ban them even from outdoor spaces, or is it responsible since harms are unknown?
Guests:
David Zahniser, LA Times reporter covering Los Angeles City Hall, local government; LA Times coverage of the e-cigarette ban can be seen here.
Mitch O’Farrell, Los Angeles City Councilmember for the 13th District which includes parts of Hollywood, Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Atwater Village
Mark Kleiman, Professor of Public Policy at UCLA School of Public Affairs and the editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis
Should we do away with the penny and the nickel?
Pennies and nickels just aren't worth what they used to be anymore, literally. Nowadays, it costs 1.8 cents to make a penny, and 9.4 cents to make a nickel, according to the U.S. Mint. Given the discrepancy, many economists have long called for the elimination of the two coins from our currency system. They are just too expensive to produce. The federal government spent about $104.5 million on their production last year.
As such, President Obama's recently-released budget proposal for fiscal 2015 has called for alternatives for the money-losing penny and nickel.
"These studies will analyze alternative metals, the United States Mint facilities, and consumer behavior and preferences, and will result in the development of alternative options for the penny and the nickel," the budget says.
Guest:
Jeffrey Sparshott, reporter at the Wall Street Journal who’s been following the penny and nickel story
California’s prison system weighs changes to solitary confinement
At any given time, roughly 12,000 inmates in California prisons spend their time in isolated units with little opportunity for human contact. Inmates assigned to Security Housing Units - or SHUs - have been deemed too violent to be placed in general population and can spend up to 23 hours a day in isolation. Violations that can place an inmate in the SHU include prison gang affiliations, attacks on prison staff and violent mental health issues.
Last summer, prisoners staged a widespread hunger strike in protest of conditions inside the SHUs and the often vague timelines for getting out. Many of the prisoners have been kept in isolation for years, or even decades.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR, has been working on some changes for how prison officials identify gang members and sentence them to isolation.
The CDCR is also incorporating a "step-down" program, that allows inmates to reintegrate into the general prison population from isolation within three to four years.
State legislators have cast doubt on the proposals, saying they don't go far enough to address the system's fundamental problems.
Why does California house so many inmates in isolation? What are Security Housing Units used for and how can they be reformed? Do the CDCR’s proposals go far enough to address the big picture?
Guests:
Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley and chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee
Scott Kernan, Retired Undersecretary of Operations, California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Margo Schlanger, professor of law at the University of Michigan
Report calls for major L.A. Fire Department overhaul
An independent review of the Los Angeles Fire Department has called for the major organizational overhaul at the department.
The report was conducted by the global consulting firm PA Consulting and was commissioned by the city. The 80-page review found "significant cultural, organizational, process and technology challenges which seriously impair the department's performance."
The report comes in the wake of a series of embarrassing revelations. The Los Angeles Times found that 20% of new recruits hired in January by the LAFD were relatives of firefighters. Then it was discovered that LAFD workers get, on average, $43,000 a year in overtime.
Guest:
Andrew Rea, who led the LAFD review commissioned by the city for PA Consulting. He is now a managing director at Navigant Consulting, a consulting firm working with the city to implement some of the recommendations
Frank Lima, President of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, a union representing thousands of firefighters
Showtime: The power and pageantry of the 1980s Lakers
In the 1980s, the Los Angeles Lakers redefined professional basketball—transforming the sport into a full-on spectacle in line with the excess of the era.
A freewheeling fast-break offense, 19-year-old ‘Magic’ Johnson’s signature no-look pass, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s unstoppable skyhook, scantily-clad Laker Girls, and celebrity spectators were all hallmarks of what became the most exhilarating show in professional sports.
That opulent era—known as “Showtime” is the subject of author Jeff Pearlman’s book, “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s.” Drawing on nearly 300 interviews, Pearlman provides an all-access pass to one of the NBA’s greatest dynasties.
Among the behind-the-scenes details and surprising anecdotes are stories of Magic Johnson’s booze-soaked house parties, the firing of Pat Riley and the Stepford-like lives of the Laker wives.
Do you remember the heyday of “Showtime” in the 1980s—when the Lakers won 5 championships and the hardwood floor at The Forum was the hottest stage in town?
Guest:
Jeff Pearlman, author of “Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s” (Gotham, 2014). He is also the author of numerous books, including the New York Times best-sellers “Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton” (Gotham, 2012) and “Boys Will Be Boys” (Harper Perennial, 2009), a biography of the 1990s Dallas Cowboys