Former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka has been indicted by a grand jury for obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Also, Governor Jerry Brown has just released his revision of the state’s 2015 operating budget. Then, researchers predict Southern California could see more than twenty extremely hot days averaging above ninety-five degrees.
Former Undersheriff, head of LASD internal investigations facing federal obstruction of justice charges
The man who used to be number two in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is now seeing the criminal justice system from the other side.
Former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka has been indicted by a grand jury for obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. William Carey, who used to head up internal investigations for the LASD, was also indicted for obstruction of justice as well as perjuring himself on trial.
We reached out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for comment, but they deferred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has yet to respond to our request for comment.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Guests:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC crime and public safety reporter
Celeste Fremon, creator and editor of WitnessLA.com and an award-winning journalist specializing in gangs, law enforcement and criminal justice. She is the author of“Downfall,” a piece which details the fall of Lee Baca in the March 2014 issue of Los Angeles Magazine.
Peter Eliasberg, legal director for the ACLU of Southern California
Gov. Jerry Brown releases CA budget revision
Governor Jerry Brown has just released his revision of the state’s 2015 operating budget.
In it, he expands the state’s spending plan, giving an extra $6 billion to public schools and community colleges.
The budget expands California’s programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, doubling the previously proposed budget to $2.2 billion. He also sets aside $1.9 billion to pay down state debt and adds $1.9 billion to the state Rainy Day Fund. In addition, the budget includes a two-year tuition freeze for UC students.
Are you happy about Gov. Brown’s changes?
California State Budget: 2015-15 May Revision
Guests:
Ben Adler, capitol bureau chief for Capital Public Radio in Sacramento
John Myers, Sacramento bureau chief for KQED
What if Angelenos wrote about New York the way The New York Times writes about us?
“Southern Californians are overcoming their fears of subway germs, and reversing the American directive to go west. They're finding that New York is more than a capitalist prison that runs on the fumes of the finance industry and nostalgia for CBGB.”
So wrote Ann Friedman in a satirical op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, imagining what it would be like if Angelenos wrote about New York in the way The New York Times has a tendency to write about Angelenos.
What’s behind the notorious east coast bias? And could it ever exist in the reverse?
Guest:
Ann Friedman, a writer in Los Angeles who is not moving to Brooklyn
Constitutional amendment aims to expand Board of Supervisors in state’s larger counties
California could see an increase in the number of elected supervisors in some of its larger counties.
Introduced this week by Senator Tony Mendoza, Senate Constitutional Amendment 8 is intended to help with the lack of representation in some of California’s largest counties.
The amendment would require any county with more than two million residents to add two seats to its board of supervisors. The measure would also maintain funding of the expanded board.
The amendment would have to be approved by a two-thirds vote of the legislature, and then by a majority of Californians during the next statewide general election in 2016.
Senator Tony Mendoza who represents LA’s 32nd district covering parts of Los Angeles County and Buena Park will join us to explain the measure as well as LA Board of Supervisors Don Knabe to share his opposition of expanding the boards.
We’ll also get a look back at past board decisions with former LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
Guests:
Tony Mendoza, Senator for the 32nd Senate District
Zev Yaroslavsky, former LA County Supervisor
Don Knabe, Supervisor on LA Board of Supervisors 4th District
LA is looking at a lot more extreme heat by 2050
It’s going to be getting a lot hotter in LA, according to a study released this week by UCLA’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.
The study shows that by the year 2050 Southern California could see more than twenty extremely hot days averaging above ninety-five degrees. This is more than double the amount of hot days LA currently experiences.
J.R. DeShazo, director of UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation joins us to discuss what is causing this drastic rise in temperature and which areas of LA will be most vulnerable to these extreme heat waves in the years to come.
Guest:
J.R. DeShazo, Lead Investigator of the study and Director of the Luskin Center for Public Policy and Urban Planning at UCLA
Cokie Roberts on the impact of ‘Capital Dames’ past and present
Jessie Benton Fremont, Harriet Lane, and Varina Davis.
Although these names may not be as renowned as suffragist Susan B. Anthony, they played a pivotal role in American history, particularly during the the Civil War.
In today’s politics, the names Hillary Rodham Clinton and Carly Fiorina are familiar to those who pay attention to the burgeoning race to cross the 2016 finish line. But it is yet uncertain how these women will influence the race and in what shapes their footprints will land on the ever-changing landscape of American history.
What connections can we make between the women of Washington then and now? How do women from the past affect our understanding of women in the present?
Guest:
Cokie Roberts, commentator for NPR; her latest book is “Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848-1868”
Wait, what? Why you have a shorter attention span than a goldfish
If a new study by Microsoft is correct, you might be feeling pretty antsy by the end of this sentence.
After surveying 2,000 Canadian participants and measuring the brain activity of 112 more, Microsoft discovered that, since the year 2000, average attention span decreased a whole four seconds. The researchers chose the year 2000 as a starting point because this year marked the unofficial beginning of the “mobile revolution.”
Over the past 15 years, attention spans have dropped from 12 to eight seconds. That bowl-dwelling, glittery housepet? Nine seconds. The study authors theorize that our brains have adapted over time; constant exposure to multiple streams of digital media have resulted in a weaker attention span.
Don’t worry, baby boomers: you probably haven’t gone full goldfish just yet. 77% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 said that they reach for their smartphones to stave-off boredom. That number drops dramatically to 10%, among people over the age of 65.
Do you feel like technology has had a negative effect on your attention span? What about the young people in your life?
Microsoft Attention Spans Research Report
Guest:
Sandi Mann, senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire