Today on AirTalk, we discuss the latest COVID-19 news. Also on the show, we talk with restaurant and brewery owners about the yellow tier reopenings; break down the latest EDD news; and more.
COVID-19: Where We Stand In LA County, Vaccine Expansion, Mask Guidance And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Kimberly Shriner, infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
Today’s topics include:
CDC Director: mask guidance based on science
LA County still reporting decline in COVID-19 cases
Teens can get vaccinated, but some remain wary
Some aren’t ready to give up masking and maybe never will be
Gov. Newsom says he won’t require vaccine for prison staff
LAUSD to launch vaccination campaign for students
Guest:
Kimberly Shriner, M.D., infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena
The Latest on CA’s EDD And Its Growing Backlog
California’s employment development department has had ongoing issues throughout the pandemic, from issues of fraud to the growing backlog of calls. In this time, the department has managed to assist many struggling Californians, with 86.4% of claims having been paid to individuals in a week's time after they receive certification.
The department has also looked for measures to assist their lack of manpower, having added a callback feature for individuals who have waited 15 minutes in the EDD’s queue, allowing representatives to reach out to callers who may have had no chance of receiving assistance prior.
Today on AirTalk, we update you on the latest news surrounding California’s EDD and also answer some of your questions. Join the conversation, call us at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Loree Levy, deputy director for California’s Employment Development Department
Daniela Urban, executive director of the Center for Workers' Rights in Sacramento which advocates for workplace justice
Checking In With SoCal Bars And Restaurants Now That We’re In Yellow Tier
Last week, L.A. County entered the yellow tier, which means expanded indoor capacity for most businesses.
L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer told LAist that this could make a significant difference to bars, who will now “be able to provide indoor service with a limit on their capacity, at 25%. So, a small number of people will be able to be served indoors at bars, it's really at 25%, no more. But that, for some places, will be a very big difference."
We check in with bars and restaurants around Southern California - and we want to hear from you if you own or work in the drinks or restaurant industry. How was this past year? Has the yellow tier made a difference? What further loosening of restrictions will make a difference for you? Call us at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Frances Michelle Cannon, executive director of the L.A. County Brewers Guild; she is also the associate editor for the craft beer news site and podcast TheFullPint; she tweets
Jennifer Feltham, co-owner of Sonoratown in Downtown Los Angeles; she tweets
Sandra Cordero, executive chef and owner of Gasolina Cafe in Woodland Hills
Kim Prince, Owner Hotville Chicken in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw area
Armando De La Torre, Jr., Co-owner and operator of Guisados, which has multiple locations in the LA County area, Georgia's Burger Stand in Boyle Heights and Playita Mariscos in Silver Lake
AT&T Teams Up With Discovery+ In $43 Billion Merger
AT&T will join its media operations with those run by Discovery to create a new company in a $43 billion deal that run its CNN, HBO, TNT and TBS with channels like the Food Network and HGTV. With the agreement Monday, AT&T is easing back from a yearslong push into a streaming entertainment sector where big players are slugging it out with increasingly large war chests dedicated to premium and original content.
The newly formed and publicly traded company will enter a streaming arena that has been flooded in the past two years with new players including those owned by AT&T and Discovery, which operate HBO Max and Discovery+, respectively. It is a major directional shift for AT&T which squared off with the Justice Department less than three years ago in an antitrust fight when it wanted to acquire Time Warner Inc. for more than $80 billion. That was a fight to expand into entertainment that AT&T won. It’s not immediately clear what the new company would mean for customers, but it will likely allow the bundling of streaming services. For example, Disney offers its viewers Disney+, Hulu and ESPN. A standalone streaming service for CNN is also a possibility. The combined media company will still be outsized by rival streaming services.
With files from the Associated Press
Guest:
John Horn, KPCC arts and entertainment host; he tweets
California’s New Attorney General Rob Bonta On His New Role And Pledge To Focus On Hate Crimes
Last week, California’s new attorney general promised an increased focus on hate crimes, saying there is “a state of crisis” because of increases in attacks on Asian Americans since the coronavirus entered the U.S. after originating in China.
Rob Bonta announced a new Racial Justice Bureau within his California Department of Justice and said he will hold a virtual meeting with the mayors of the state’s 13 largest cities later this month to discuss hate crime.
About half of hate crimes go unreported, they are difficult to prosecute because the law requires something to show they are driven by racial or other discrimination, and they affect many races, religions and sexual orientations, he said.
But “make no mistake, right now we’re in a full on state of crisis, a full on state of emergency, when it comes to hate violence against the Asian-Pacific Islander community,” he said.
Last week, two Asian American women were stabbed in an unprovoked attack in San Francisco, and a Los Angeles County jail inmate was charged with hate crimes after he knocked down and repeatedly punched a jail employee who is Asian American.
Bonta, a Democrat, is the first Filipino American to hold the state’s top law enforcement post, and used his first news conference since taking office April 23 to highlight the problem. Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed the former Assemblyman to replace Xavier Becerra, who became the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary.
Guest:
Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California; he tweets