Today on AirTalk, we discuss the latest on the Trump administration's cancellation of nearly $1 billion in federal money for California's high-speed rail project. We also examine the tabling of state senator Scott Weiner's controversial housing bill; check in on Boeing and the FAA; and more.
Risk Of Orange County Dam Failure Elevated To High
The Army Corps of Engineers reports the dam protecting much of Orange County from catastrophic flooding urgently needs shoring up.
Prado Dam controls surges along the Santa Ana River. It protects 29 downstream communities housing nearly one-and-a-half million people. The dam sits along the 91 freeway where Orange and Riverside Counties meet.
As the LA Times reports, the Army Corps announced this week Prado Dam risk characterization has been raised from moderately urgent to high urgency. What does that mean?
Guests:
Louis Sahagun, staff writer for The Los Angeles Times who’s been following the story; he tweets at
Lillian Doherty, division chief of the operations division at the Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District
Martin McCann, adjunct professor, civil and environmental engineering and director of the National Performance of Dams Program at Stanford University
The End Of The End? Trump Pulls High-Speed Rail Funding
The Trump administration cancelled nearly $1 billion Thursday in federal money for California's high-speed rail project, further throwing into question the future of the ambitious plan to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately pledged to take the administration to court, though the state has not yet filed a lawsuit.
The "action is illegal and a direct assault on California," Newsom said in an emailed statement. "This is California's money, appropriated by Congress, and we will vigorously defend it in court."
The official word of the funding cancellation by the Federal Railroad Administration came several months after President Donald Trump first threatened to withdraw it.
His comments came in response to Newsom shifting the project's immediate focus to a 171-mile stretch of track in the Central Valley, saying there currently wasn't a path for the full line.
Newsom later said he was still committed to building the entire line but wanted to take a "building blocks" approach that first created a working line in the Central Valley.
The state has only about $20 billion available for the project at this time, far short of the estimated $77 billion it would take to complete it.
With files from the Associated Press
Guest:
Ashley Zavala, Sacramento bureau reporter for KRON 4 News in the Bay Area; she tweets
D.O.A: The Bill That Was Supposed to Solve CA’s Housing Shortage Is No More… At Least For Now
State Senator Scott Wiener’s controversial housing bill, SB 50 has been tabled by the Senate Appropriations Committee until the start of the legislative session in January 2020.
If passed, SB 50 would have rewritten zoning laws to allow taller apartment buildings and multi-family housing near transit and job centers.
Backers of the bill argued that it would create more housing for Californians, which has been a pressing need for several years, and would reduce commute times for workers.
Other housing advocates argued that new construction in urban centers would displace longtime residents.
Weiner and Governor Gavin Newsom both expressed disappointment in response to the committee’s decision, but Weiner
Thx @GavinNewsom. For the record, there was no “demise” of #SB50. It’s alive & well. It got nearly unanimous votes in each committee that was allowed to vote. At latest it’ll get a vote in January, but there are ways it could have a vote this year. This isn’t even close to over. https://t.co/f01SSR5y5M
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) May 16, 2019
, “This isn’t even close to over.”
Guest:
Matt Levin, housing and date reporter for the nonprofit news site, CALmatters, and for the California Dream project, a reporting collaboration between KPCC and other news organizations across the state
Checking In On The Boeing 737 Max
Daniel Elwell, the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration, says the agency is reviewing its certification procedures in the wake of two fatal crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max.
Still, in his testimony before the House Transportation Committee earlier this week, Elwell stood by the agency’s use of private employees to help certify planes.
The current process delegates certain aspects of the inspection to F.A.A.-certified employees at nearly 80 aircraft manufacturers. These private employees are only supposed to inspect parts of the plane that don’t directly pertain to its core safety functions. But in the case of the Boeing 737 Max, the problems with the MCAS anti-stall software ended up being a major safety issue – and some are questioning whether the practice has led to insufficient oversight.
Larry speaks with a reporter and an aviation expert to discuss what we’ve learned in the months since the second crash involving the Boeing 737 Max, and what it means for both Boeing and the F.A.A. going forward.
Guests:
David Gelles, writes the Corner Office column and other features for The New York Times’s Sunday Business section; he’s been following the story; he tweets
Thomas R. Anthony, director of the Aviation Safety and Security Program at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering; former manager of the F.A.A’s civil aviation security division for the Western Pacific Region, which spans from Arizona to Pakistan; he’s also a former air traffic controller
FilmWeek: ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum,’ ‘A Dog's Journey,’ ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson and Wade Major review this weekend’s new movie releases.
- "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" in wide release
- "The Sun Is Also a Star" in wide release
- "A Dog's Journey" in wide release
- "Aniara" at the Nuart Theater
- "The Souvenir" at The Landmark & Arclight Hollywood
- "The Serengeti Rules" at the Laemmle’s Monica Film Center
- "Slaughterhouse Rulez" at the AMC Atlantic Times Square
- "Trial By Fire" at Laemmle’s Playhouse, The Landmark & Edwards Westpark
CRITICS' HITS
Wade: 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum,' 'The Souvenir,' & 'The Serengeti Rules,'
Amy: 'The Sun Is Also A Star' & 'Photograph
MIXED FEELINGS
Wade: 'Aniara'
Amy: 'Slaughterhouse Rulez' & 'Trial By Fire'
Guests:
Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘Unspooled’ and the podcast miniseries “Zoom”; she tweets
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com
Prolific TV director Gail Mancuso dishes on her directorial debut, breaking Hollywood’s glass ceiling and mentoring young women in entertainment
You may not know her name at first glance, but there’s a good chance you’ve seen Gail Mancuso’s work.
The prolific director’s career in television spans three decades and she has her fingerprints on some of the most well-respected TV comedies out there. She began her career as an usher on TV talk show sets, which led her to become a script supervisor and eventually to an associate directing gig on ABC’s “Roseanne” in 1991. She would go on to direct much more TV through the late ‘90s, 2000s, and 2010s, adding shows like “Friends,” “30 Rock,” “Scrubs,” and more to her filmography.
In 2013, Gail became the first woman to win an Emmy for directing a comedy series for her work on “Modern Family,” an award she won again the following year for the same show. And this week, Mancuso makes her first venture into the world of film with “A Dog’s Journey,” which opens wide in theatres this weekend. But outside of her prolific directing career, Gail is also working to find and mentor the next generation of women TV and film directors. She is one of the founders of the Director’s Guild of America’s TV Director Mentorship Program, which pairs aspiring directors with veterans of the industry who guide them through the year in episodic television.
Today on FilmWeek, Gail Mancuso and her former roommate, KPCC FilmWeek critic Claudia Puig, join Larry Mantle to talk about making your first film in middle age, making the transition from TV to film and the barriers that women film and TV directors face.
Guests:
Gail Mancuso, Emmy-winning television director; her directorial debut is “A Dog’s Journey,” which is in wide release this week; she has directed multiple episodes of several critically-acclaimed TV series, including “Friends,” “Scrubs,” “30 Rock,” “Dharma & Greg,” “Modern Family” and more
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) and Gail Mancuso’s former roommate; she tweets