Indiana And North Carolina Primaries; L.A. Unified Middle School Assistant Prinicpal Charged With Sex Crimes Against Students; Mansionization Ordinance; Myanmar Cyclone; Theatre Of Genocide
Indiana And North Carolina Primaries
Larry gets the latest news from Indiana and North Carolina on primary day. Guests include Mark Barabak, political correspondent for the L.A. Times, and Jim Morrill, Political writer for The Charlotte Observer.
L.A. Unified Middle School Assistant Prinicpal Charged With Sex Crimes Against Students
An LA Unified middle school administrator has been charged with 13 felony sex-related counts involving three teenage girls. 39 year-old Steve Thomas Rooney, an assistant principal at Markham Middle School in Watts, has been charged with three counts of forcible lewd acts upon a child, six counts of lewd acts upon a child and four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse. Rooney had been investigated for molesting a student before while at Fremont High School, and he had actually been arrested for waving a gun at the accuser's step father. Although LA Unified officials removed the Assistant Principal from Fremont right after that incident, he was transferred to Markam Middle School soon after. Larry Mantle talks with LA Times staff writer Howard Blume about the story.
Mansionization Ordinance
The proliferation of oversized homes on small lots could come to an end in some parts of Los Angeles under an ordinance that will be considered today by the Los Angeles City Council. Under the "Mansionization Ordinance," single-family houses could have a maximum square footage half the size of their lots. The ordinance has been proposed by City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who is concerned that oversized buildings are destroying the character of L.A. neighborhoods. But the Chief Legislative Analyst found that limiting home sizes could have a negative impact on the local economy. Larry Mantle takes calls from listeners on the topic.
Myanmar Cyclone
Tragedy struck Myanmar on Saturday as a cyclone pounded the country for 10 hours, leaving behind a slew of destroyed boats, wreckage, flooded streets, and devastated families. 22,000 people have been killed so far, with another 41,000 missing. Myanmar officials are calling this the deadliest natural disaster in the country's history and a state of emergency was declared Sunday. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is located in Southeast Asia and is ruled by a military junta criticized for driving the nation into reclusion. Larry gets the latest from David Montero, correspondent for Christian Science Monitor, Rachel Wolff, Disaster Response communications for World Vision, Pyi Maung, a political refugee who left Burma 7 years ago and now lives in Southern California, Nyunt Than, President of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance, and Grace Michael, a Burmese American Political activist and member of U.S. Campaign for Burma.
Theatre Of Genocide
Kitty Felde, KPCC's Special Correspondent, spent two years covering the war crimes trials for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. When she came home, one of those stories wouldn't leave her alone. Her award winning play, "A Patch Of Earth," has just been published. She and Larry talk about the intersection between journalism and art.