It’s Official, Twitter Accepts Elon Musk’s Offer To Buy Social Platform. What Now?
Twitter has officially accepted billionaire and Tesla founder Elon Musk’s offer to buy the social media platform. But there are a lot of unknowns looming over the roughly $44 billion deal. The agreement comes just a couple weeks after Musk’s announcement that he’d buy the platform and just days after a deal appeared highly unlikely. Some, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have voiced their concern that Musk’s ownership of Twitter gives the entrepreneur too much power. Although Musk himself has said “freedom is the bedrock of a functioning democracy,” others say they worry what “freedom of speech” will look like under his leadership. Shannon Bond, NPR tech correspondent, and Karen North, USC professor of digital social media, join to discuss the potential timeline and impacts of the deal.
The Latest On The Sale Of Angel Stadium As Anaheim City Council Votes On Settlement To Allow Deal To Move Ahead
After legal challenges held it up in court for months, the deal for the City of Anaheim to sell Angel Stadium and the approximately 132 acres of land surrounding it could get the OK to move forward on Tuesday, but it will require a vote from Anaheim’s city council to ratify a settlement between the city and state over a lawsuit which claimed the deal violated state housing law.
Originally, the $320 million deal to sell Angel Stadium and about 132 acres of land surrounding it called for $150 million in cash from the buyer, a company in which Angels owner Arte Moreno is a partner, and $170 million in public benefits in the form of a public park and 466 affordable housing units. The state sued over the deal, saying it violated California's Surplus Land Act, which says affordable housing developers must get the first opportunity to buy public land that goes up for sale. An affordable housing advocacy group also sued, arguing the deal was negotiated in violation of California’s government transparency law, but an Orange County judge dismissed that lawsuit last month, and it’s unclear whether the plaintiffs plan to appeal. On Monday California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu announced the settlement of the other lawsuit in a joint press conference.
Per the settlement, the sale price of the land stays at $320 million but that sum will instead be paid with $246 million in cash and $74 million in public benefits. That $96 million in new cash represents 30 percent of the deal’s total value, the value of the fine that would have been levied against the city under the Surplus Land Act if a settlement hadn’t been reached. The City of Anaheim would put that $96 million into an affordable housing trust and use it to build about 1,000 affordable housing units off-site from the stadium,which would have to be underway within five years. But while the city and state sang the deal’s praises, others shared concerns. The affordable housing advocacy group that filed suit against the deal told LAist that the settlement was “a slap on the wrist” for the parties involved, and Anaheim City Councilmember Jose Moreno (not related to Angels’ owner Arte Moreno) told the L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin that he worried about the consequences of expanding affordable housing off-site as opposed to integrating those families into the housing on-site at the stadium.
Today on AirTalk, we’re joined by Alicia Robinson, a reporter who has been following the story for the Orange County Register, and Mike Lyster, chief communications officer for the City of Anaheim about how the city and state reached an agreement on a settlement, what the terms are and how it moves the deal forward, what it would mean for the development of affordable housing both around the Angel Stadium complex and outside, and what happens next, depending on how Anaheim City Council votes on Tuesday night.
How Can Big City School Districts Improve Student Achievement? New Book Goes Behind Success In LAUSD
You see a lot of headlines right now about challenges in L.A.’s public schools: declining enrollment, learning loss during the pandemic, and more. But extensive research from a team of UC Berkeley researchers shows student learning climbed in the city’s public schools in the first decades of the 21st century. What policies led to that change and who was behind them is the focus of the new book “When Schools Work: Pluralist Politics and Institutional Reform in Los Angeles” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022) by UC Berkeley professor of education and public policy Bruce Fuller. Today on AirTalk, Larry speaks with Fuller about his ten years researching LAUSD’s achievement gains, and why those gains haven’t always happened equally.
Breaking Down The Increase In Overdoses For Los Angeles County’s Unhoused Population
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health released new figures recently showing a 56% increase in deaths among the unhoused during the pandemic’s first year. The leading cause of death was drug overdoses. The first year of the pandemic saw 715 overdose deaths, 315 more than the year before the pandemic began. Increases were seen across all ages and ethnicities. Fentanyl was the cause of death for 45% of all overdoses.
Today on AirTalk, we get into these numbers and potential causes with Los Angeles Times reporter Christian Martinez, Rev. Andy Bales, C.E.O. of Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row and Veronica Lewis, director of the Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System.
Latest On Ukraine: Forty Countries Vow To Continue Supplying Ukraine With Weapons
Top military leaders from 40 countries convened at a German airbase on Tuesday to discuss ways to continue supplying Ukraine’s army with the most advanced weapons, now and for the long run. Like many other former Soviet republics, Ukraine has been relying on mainly Soviet-era equipment and arms. But the more they can absorb the advantages of Western weaponry and training the better positioned they will be to fend off invading Russian forces — exactly the transformation President Vladimir Putin wanted to prevent by invading in the first place. “We believe they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said. Even with a growing list of arms flowing into the country, the Ukrainians say they need more, including long-range air defense systems, fighter jets, tanks and multiple-launch rocket systems. Mr. Putin shows no signs of slowing his assault either. The Russian leader has demanded that Ukraine forswear membership in the NATO alliance. There is little prospect of Ukraine joining NATO, but Russia’s war has in fact brought NATO closer to Ukraine. The result has been a boost to Ukraine’s prospects for mounting a successful defense
Today on AirTalk, we’re joined by Patricia Schmorhun Hawrylyshyn, who lives in Ukraine and is helping internally displaced people. She’s been sharing parts of her experience with us since the war began.
With files from the Associated Press
White House Expands Availability Of COVID Antiviral Pill Paxlovid. We Look At How It Works And How To Get It
President Joe Biden’s administration announced Tuesday that it’s taking steps to expand availability of the life-saving COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid. The White House says it’s increasing outreach to doctors, letting them know the pill should be prescribed to eligible patients. It also announced the drug will now be distributed directly to pharmacies, in addition to existing distribution channels run by states. That’s expected to boost the number of sites from 20,000 to more than 30,000 next week and eventually to 40,000 locations. The administration believes distribution to pharmacies will make the antiviral pills more available to people, the way opening up COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies did last year. Regulators first approved Paxlovid, which is produced by Pfizer, in December. It was initially hard to find but supplies have risen as COVID-19 cases have fallen across the country and manufacturing has increased. Studies have shown that when Paxlovid is administered within five days of symptoms appearing, it can reduce hospitalizations and deaths among patients most likely to get severe disease by about 90%. Today on AirTalk, we take a closer look at what Paxlovid is and how to get it with Dr. Kimberly Shriner, director of Infectious Disease and Prevention at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
Looking to fill a Paxlovid prescrition? You can use this website to find a local pharmacy in your area that has the antiviral pill in stock.
With files from the Associated Press