California Will Lift Mask Mandate As Omicron Cases Fall. But Not So Fast, L.A. County
California will end its indoor mask requirement for vaccinated people February 16, as coronavirus cases drop around the state. Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted Monday that California’s case rate has fallen 65% since the peak of the Omicron surge, and hospitalizations have stabilized. The state’s decision impacts counties like Orange and San Diego that did not already have their own mask mandates in place, but L.A. County’s mask mandate will remain in place as long as COVID-19 transmission remains high, according to L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. L.A. County’s criteria allows for masks to come off outdoors at childcare facilities, K-12 schools, and outdoor mega events after the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 drops below 2,500 for seven consecutive days. The rates of hospitalizations are falling fast, so when could L.A. County hit that magic number? Today on AirTalk, Larry is joined by KPCC and LAist health reporter Jackie Fortiér.
With files from Associated Press and LAist
SoCal’s First Super Bowl In Almost 30 Years Is Here -- Why It’s Back After So Long, And What It Was Like Last Time
In February 1993, the last time the Super Bowl was held in Southern California, Bill Clinton had just been sworn in as president, Whitney Houston sat atop the Billboard 100 chart with “I Will Always Love You” and the idea of a smartphone was barely fathomable. That year, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills 52-17 at the Rose Bowl, O.J. Simpson tossed the coin at the start of the game and Michael Jackson put on a halftime show that remains one of the most-watched events in television history. This Sunday, nearly 30 years later, the Super Bowl is back in Southern California. But, why did it take so long for the NFL to bring its biggest game back to America’s second-most populous city? And what was the process of bringing the game to Southern California then versus now?
Today on AirTalk, we’ll get answers to those questions from Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee CEO Kathryn Schloessman, who helped negotiate and plan this year’s Super Bowl, and L.A. sports executive Alan Rothenberg, who was on the Los Angeles Sports Council in 1993 when the Super Bowl last came to Southern California.
Snubs, Favorites And Projections: Breaking Down The Academy Award Nominations
The nominations are in! The 2022 Academy Award nominations from Best Director to Best International Feature were announced this morning. Grab your popcorn as Larry talks with John Horn, arts and entertainment host for KPCC and LAist, and Thelma Adams, film critic and long-time expert awards predictor for Gold Derby, who break them down and share the latest projections.
You can join Larry and the FilmWeek critics for the 20th annual Oscar Preview show in person live at the historic Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, March 20. Learn more here.
COVID-19 AMA: California’s Indoor Mask Mandate To End, Lessons Learned From The Pandemic, And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, professor of epidemiology and community health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Topics today include:
California’s indoor mask mandate will expire on Feb. 16 for the vaccinated
- L.A. County’s mandate will remain in place until transmission levels fall
- Lessons learned as we enter year 3 of the pandemic
- The future of the pandemic is becoming more clear
- Deer populations could harbor the coronavirus long term
- The BA.2 variant of Omicron is spreading rapidly across Europe
- Previously uncatalogued mutations of coronavirus are popping up in California sewage
- California appears close to changing school masking rules
With Union Participation Down, But Union Approval Up, We Look At The Current State Of The Labor Movement
If you were just following headlines, it may have seemed like the U.S. labor movement saw massive gains in 2021. Workers in Buffalo, New York successfullyunionized the first Starbucks store in the U.S.; Kellogg's workers won out at the bargaining table after a3-month strike; andthe standoff betweenIATSE Hollywood crew members and AMPTP producers ended with a new contract. While the attempt to unionize the first Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama flopped last year, the National Labor Relations Board found Amazon had behaved improperly and a second vote is now underway.
But beyond those headlines, 2021 was a dismal year for unions: only 10.3% of workers were organized, continuing a decades-long decline in union participation. At the same time, 68% of Americans approved of labor unions in 2021. Today Larry looks into the current state of the labor movement in the U.S., whether union membership's decline can be turned around, and more with Tobias Higbie, Chair of the Labor Studies interdepartmental degree program and Associate Director of the Institute for Research on Labor & Employment at UCLA and Josh Eidelson, labor reporter for Bloomberg News and Businessweek.
As Iconic Series ‘Arthur’ Comes To An End, Tell Us The Kids Shows That Made An Everlasting Impact On You
The hit PBS show Arthur is airing its 25th and final season this month, bringing a tear to the eyes of many who grew up watching and learning from the infamous aardvark and his friends. Officials say the award-winning series will still be watched through reruns.