King-Drew Medical Center Plan to Phase Out Its Trauma Unit Status; Hotel Workers Negotiate for a New Contract; New County Seal Creates Controversy; Organic Foods
King-Drew Medical Center Plan to Phase Out Its Trauma Unit Status
LA County Supervisors said today that they have a plan to close down the trauma unit at the troubled King-Drew Medical Center. This move is seen as part of a year-long effort to save the hospital as it undergoes training and restructuring. Patients with severe trauma will have to go to other area hospitals. The Board of Supervisors plans to take a vote on this next week. Joining Larry is Jim Lott, executive Vice President for the Hospital Association of Southern California, Marcy Zwelling-Aamot, Immediate Past President of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and a member of the Los Angeles County Hospital Commission and a former emergency room physician at Harbor General, and Dr. Tom Garthwaite, Director, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
Hotel Workers Negotiate for a New Contract
Three thousand hotel workers in LA have been without a contract for several months. They are demanding higher wages and benefits and a reduction in their workload, but their key demand is a two-year contract that would expire at the same time as hotel workers in six other cities and Hawaii. This global expiration date would give the employees more leverage to negotiate their next contract. Saying they have offered a “really good” five-year package, the Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council rejected the contract demand. On Monday evening the hotel workers voted to authorize a strike. Larry Mantle discusses the issue with Tom Walsh, Secretary/ Treasurer of Local 11 of UNITE/HERE, and Matthew Wakefield, an attorney with the firm of Ballard, Rosenberg, Golper and Savitt, representing the Los Angeles Hotel Employers Council.
New County Seal Creates Controversy
To avoid a lawsuit by the ACLU, the LA County Board of Supervisors has redrawn the County Seal, removing the cross to avoid any perception of a conflict between church and state. The removal of the cross has created controversy, but so have other changes the supervisors have made to the seal. Not many people have cared about, let alone noticed, the county seal until recently, but the changes have incensed many County residents. The new seal is being considered today for a vote by the LA County Supervisors. Joining Larry is John Eastman, Professor of Law, specializing in constitutional law and legal history at Chapman University School of Law, and Ben Wizner, staff attorney for the ACLU.
Organic Foods
Last year, Americans spent about $10.4 billion on organic foods. It seems that more and more consumers think that organics provide a safe, non-toxic alternative to conventionally-grown foods. But, is that really the case? Industry critics say that there is not enough evidence to support the claims that organic foods are better for you. Add into the mix the environment, farm laborers, and non-toxic pesticides used by organic farmers that may contain e-coli and salmonella, and it’s a complicated picture. Guests join Host Larry Mantle to discuss the belief that organic foods are safer and more nutritious, versus eating conventional foods that have trace amounts of pesticides that have been approved by the FDA. Larry speaks with Vanessa Bogenholm, chairman of the board of the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and owner of DB Farms, Ken Green, PhD., Chief scientist at the Fraser Institute and an Adjunct Scholar at Reason, and Dr. Ewen Todd, M.D., Director of the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University.