Governor Schwarzenegger announces a budget "framework." Felons as caregivers, and death penalty 101. Yes that's right cats and kittens, it's FilmWeek! KPCC film critics discuss the week’s new releases including Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, You Again, among others. TGI-FilmWeek! A close-up look at one of film's biggest legends, Cecil B. DeMille.
Schwarzenegger announces “framework” for a budget
California is now nearly a quarter of the way through its current fiscal year without a budget deal. Today marks 86th day of the standoff. But some progress was made yesterday when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that lawmakers had agreed on a “framework” for a budget agreement. Officials provided no details of the framework but said that it could be voted on next week. Is this the light at the end of the budget tunnel… or an oncoming train? How can we fix the broken system in Sacramento?
Guest:
Julie Small, KPCC's State Capital Reporter
Criminal caregivers: convicted felons provide health care on the state's dime
At least 210 workers with the Department of Social Service’s home health care program are convicted felons. Current rules allow California to hire convicts, and privacy laws often keep patients in the dark about their caregiver's past. Should someone with a record of violent crime be a home health aide? And given budget shortfalls, does the state have any other choice to fill these high stress, relatively low wage positions?
Guests:
Evan Halper, Sacramento Bureau Chief of the LA Times
Eileen Carroll, Deputy Director of Adult Programs, Department of Social Services
John Wilkins, spokesman, In Home Supportive Services Coalition
Will executions resume in California?: death penalty on trial
After a hiatus of more than four years, prosecutors are pushing to resume executions in California. The state’s lethal injection procedure has been revamped and a new $835,000 lethal injection facility in San Quentin is now ready for a scheduled execution next week. But many issues remain unresolved, including three pending lawsuits questioning the legality of the lethal injection procedure. Will executions resume? If so, who’s next in line? And why are there such long lags in the appeals process?
Guest:
Laurie L. Levenson, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School; former federal prosecutor
FilmWeek: Wall Street 2, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, You Again, Buried and Legend of the Guardians
KPCC film critics Wade Major of boxoffice.com and Andy Klein of Brand X discuss the week’s new film releases including Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, You Again, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Buried, Waiting For Superman, and Enter The Void, among others. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guest:
Wade Major, film critic, KPCC and boxoffice.com Andy Klein, film critic for KPCC and Brand X Charles Solomon, animation critic and historian for KPCC and Amazon.com
Mr. DeMille is ready for his (literary) close up
He’s one of the few directors of his time who became a household name. Cecil B. DeMille’s extraordinary film career began with silent movies and soared to spectacles like The Ten Commandments and King of Kings, for which he became known later. His reputation rests largely on the biblical epics he made, but his personal life was no morality tale. DeMille was married for five decades to his beloved wife Constance, but for most of the marriage he had three mistresses simultaneously. Author Scott Eyman joins us to talk about his appreciation for the legendary movie mogul as detailed in the new biography, Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille.
Guest:
Scott Eyman, author of Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille and literary critic for the Palm Beach Post