Los Angeles Reaches Settlement In Long-Running Homelessness Lawsuit
This morning Los Angeles City officials and a coalition made up of downtown residents, business owners, and some formerly homeless people announced a settlement in a long-running lawsuit over homelessness in the city. The agreement “would require opening enough beds over the next five years to accommodate 60% of the city’s unsheltered population in each City Council district,” according to The Los Angeles Times. The exact number of beds will depend on the results of January’s annual Point-in-Time homeless count. The L.A. Alliance for Human Rights sued L.A. city and county in March 2020, saying government officials hadn’t done enough to end the region’s homelessness crisis. L.A. County was not part of the settlement announced today.
Today on AirTalk, Larry gets details on the settlement and looks back at the saga that brought us to this point with Ethan Ward, unhoused communities reporter for KPCC & LAist.
California Continues Paving The Way For Nation’s First-Ever Reparations To Descendants Of Slavery
Earlier this week, California’s first-in-nation Reparations Task Force voted on a major decision to determine who would be eligible for such reparations from the state. After almost eight hours of emotional, and at times, contentious debate and testimony, the vote came down to a five to four split, with five members voting to limit reparations to those with a direct lineage to an enslaved African American or to descendants of a Free Black person living in the U.S. before the 19th century. Four other members voted “No,” instead arguing to expand eligibility to the 2.6 millions Black Californians who continue to suffer the harms of slavey’s legacy from inequality in housing, employment and education, among other things. The Task Force still needs to decide how California residents will prove their eligibility and what kind of reparations they will receive.
Today on AirTalk, Larry speaks with the Reparations Task Force Chair Kamilah Moore, who is also an attorney and justice scholar, and Task Force member Cheryl Grills, a clinical psychologist at Loyola Marymount University about this week’s decision, the testimony they’ve been hearing from Black Californians, and where their work will go next.
All meetings will be open to the public for comment. The next meeting takes place in San Francisco on April 13-14. To submit a public comment for members to consider at the meeting, please email ReparationsTaskForce@doj.ca.gov.
Celebrating The KPCC/LAist “Backbone Staff”
While most of you probably know KPCC from the reporters and hosts you hear on the air, our station requires the contributions of so many talented, unique individuals whose names aren’t said at the end of a news story. These are the people who truly make KPCC and LAist: who keep our broadcast equipment running, who put on our pledge drives and help secure sponsorships and donations, who put together the pre-recorded spots you hear between shows, who make sure our facilities at the Mohn Broadcast Center are operating smoothly, who get you the news even if you can’t catch every show, and who keep our websites humming.
Today on AirTalk, we’re highlighting some of these amazing people who work at KPCC/LAist, and whose tireless efforts are critical to what you hear and read every day. Today, we’re joined by our current and former AirTalk engineers, Evelyn Bocanegra and Parker McDaniels.
FilmWeek: ‘Morbius,’ ‘Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Come Off,’ ‘The Bubble’ And More
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Lael Loewenstein, Wade Major and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases on streaming and on demand platforms.
In ‘Until The Wheels Come Off’ Doc, Tony Hawk Grapples With Growing Older And Identity Consumed By Skating
Tony Hawk and skateboarding are almost synonymous. Can you really have one without the other? Even now, in his 50s, the legendary skateboarder is still pushing boundaries in the sport. The new documentary “Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Come Off” explores Hawk’s deep-rooted connection to skating and how it’s impacted other aspects of his life. KPCC’s John Horn talked with Director Sam Jones about the film, which premieres on HBO April 5.