AirTalk discusses the latest on the Woolsey Fire, as thousands of firefighters remain on the line Tuesday, working to contain it. We also discuss the balance of power in U.S politics after the midterm elections; and more.
Woolsey Fire: At over 95,000 acres destroyed and 35% containment, firefighters make gains but continue to battle flames and strong wind
Thousands of firefighters remain on the line Tuesday, working to contain the Woolsey Fire, which has burned more than 96,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The fire broke out Thursday afternoon north of Bell Canyon and rapidly moved south through the Santa Monica Mountains, jumping the 101 Freeway and tearing through hillside communities in Malibu, eventually burning all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Two people were found dead Friday afternoon in the 3300 block of Mullholland Highway, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Investigators believe the driver may have become disoriented while escaping the area, but the investigation is ongoing.
For the latest, go to LAist.com.
Guests:
Eric Scott, public information officer for the Woolsey Fire and fire captain and paramedic with the Los Angeles Fire Department
Rick Mullen, Mayor of Malibu
A number of key national races are still too close to call, but one thing’s for certain: CA Dems seize supermajority in legislature
Georgia's still undecided race for governor will remain in legal limbo for several more days after a federal court put the brakes on final certification of the vote totals in one of the nation's hottest midterm matchups.
U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg late Monday ordered state officials to wait until Friday to certify final results in the race between Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams, and take steps to ensure that provisional ballots aren't improperly rejected. Meanwhile, the Georgia race, along with Florida's gubernatorial and Senate matchups, are among the final unresolved contests in a midterm election cycle in which Democrats have won the House, flipped seven governor's seats and reclaimed more than 300 state legislative seats in statehouses around the country.
The GOP maintained its Senate majority, and could still expand it. But it's looking to hold the governor's mansions in Florida and Georgia to deny Democrats important gains in presidential battlegrounds ahead of the 2020 election. Meanwhile, California is bracing for growing Democratic caucuses in both the Assembly and the Senate, a supermajority that pushes Republicans to the sidelines. A development that predicts that the tension in the statehouse will likely be between different shades of blue.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Domenico Montanaro, politics editor at NPR; he tweets
Laurel Rosenhall, political reporter for CALmatters, the nonprofit journalism site covering California; she tweets
John Myers, Sacramento bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times; he tweets at
The world’s worst-kept secret: NY and VA get Amazon HQ2
The two communities that learned Tuesday they are about to become homes to a pair of big, new East Coast bases for Amazon are both riverfront stretches of major metropolitan areas with ample transportation and space for workers.
But there are plenty of differences between New York's Long Island City and Crystal City in northern Virginia.
Set within eyeshot of the nation's capital, Crystal City is a thicket of 1980s-era office towers trying to plug into new economic energy after thousands of federal jobs moved elsewhere.
Rapidly growing Long Island City is an old manufacturing area already being reinvented as a hub for 21st-century industry, creativity and urbane living.
Seattle-based Amazon, which set out last year to situate one additional headquarters, announced Tuesday that it was splitting its project into two.
Los Angeles also put in a bid for the big Amazon project. Cities across the country have thrown all kinds of incentives at Amazon to lure the Seattle-based e-commerce giant to their communities, raising questions and objections from critics who feel that the money could be better spent elsewhere. Should Los Angeles actually be thankful that Amazon isn’t coming to our backyard?
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Elizabeth Weise, technology reporter with USA Today, based in San Francisco, who’s been following the Amazon HQ2 search
Bill Allen, CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, a private nonprofit public benefit organization
Chris Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics and director of the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecasting and Development