Mexican drug cartels are sending agents to run operations deep inside the US; Mark Zuckerberg joins other tech leaders to form multimillion-dollar super PAC; Update on the murder trial of Rockefeller impostor Christian Gerhartsreiter; Stealth fees drive up college costs, plus much more.
Mexican drug cartels send agents to run operations deep inside US
Living in southern California, we often hear about drug cartel activity spilling over from Mexico, but law enforcement officials say that Mexican drug cartels are setting their sights beyond border states.
More and more, these drug cartels are headed deep into the U.S., and setting up operations in places like the Midwest. They're becoming so entrenched in places like Chicago that one of Mexico's biggest drug kingpins was recently named the city's Public Enemy No. 1. Even though he's never even been in the Windy City.
With more is Michael Tarm of the Associated Press' Chicago bureau.
Zuckerberg, other tech giants to form multimillion-dollar super PAC
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his former Harvard roommate Joe Green are reportedly forming a new super PAC. The group could raise as much as $50 million to lobby on issues seen as being key to technology.
The San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report on this potential political powerhouse. Reporter Carla Marinucci joins us for more on what effect wealthy tech innovators could have on American politics
Update on the murder trial of Rockefeller impostor Christian Gerhartsreiter
Remember the curious story of German immigrant Christian Gerhartsreiter?
Gerhartsreiter is a con-man who masqueraded as a member of the wealthy Rockefeller clan; It was just one of many identities he's assumed. He was unmasked in 2008 when he was arrested for kidnapping his seven-year-old daughter and leading police on an international manhunt. He now faces murder charges in the 1985 death of a San Marino man.
For more we're joined now by Mark Seal, author of a book about Gerharsreiter called "The Man in the Rockefeller Suit."
Business leaders tackle climate-change preparedness at San Diego forum
Raging wildfires, extreme heat, water shortages, rising seas — all problems that are expected to worsen as the effects of climate change take hold. But rather than just wait for disaster to strike, the city of San Diego has started taking action.
Last week, a group of climate scientists, insurance experts, real estate developers and city planners met to discuss how to better prepare for the challenges their city may face. The two-day workshop was organized by Ceres, a non-profit group that focuses on getting businesses and investors to think about climate change.
Cynthia McHale, director of the insurance program at Ceres, joins the show with more.
Hollywood Report: Industry employment hits a new low
We learned last week that unemployment in California fell to 9.6 percent. That's still two points above the national average, but it's the lowest rate seen in the Golden State since 2008.
Leading the way in providing new jobs: technology, tourism and construction. Not helping out: Hollywood. Employment in the industry has fallen to the lowest level in more than a decade.
Here with more on that and other Hollywood news, Rebecca Keegan of the LA Times.
'General Hospital' at 50: Celebrating a half-century of soap opera drama
Over the past 50 years, Port Charles, New York has seen its fair share of drama, including family feuds, organized crime, men who are cryogenically frozen, and women who are murdered.
The fictional city is the setting of the longest running soap opera in history, "General Hospital." The show has outlasted other daytime dramas like "All My Children," "Guiding Light" and "As The World Turns."
Here to tell us how is Barbara Irwin, co-director of Project Daytime, a research project examining daytime television. She's also Chair of the Communication Studies department at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY
Stealth fees driving up the cost of college
To get a higher education, you don't need an accounting degree. But having one might be helpful to find out what you're actually getting charged.
A new report by ProPublica shows that several schools around the country say they're keeping down tuition costs. But at the same time, more and more fees are popping up on bills --- and those might not be part of the official price tag that prospective students look at.
At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the flagship of the UMass system, mandatory fees are more than six times the cost of in-state tuition.
For California students, that cost can also add up.
Within the 23-campus California State University system, six schools have adopted some form of what's called a "student success fee" since the beginning of 2011. The annual fees, which different campuses have been using to cover a broad array of things from technology to mentoring programs to athletics, range from as little as $162 to as much as $430 a year depending on the school.
ProPublica reporter Marian Wang authored the piece, "Course Load: the growing burden of college fees," and she explains how these stealth costs are driving up the price of higher education.
College a tough adjustment for many military veterans
A week after leaving the Marines, Desiree Escarcida launched her new life as a college student. It was a disaster.
“I got home and took my uniform off. The next morning it was done. That’s it. Everything was gone,” Escarcida said. “The depression started at that moment and no matter how hard I fought, it got worse and worse with every day that passed.”
Escarcida is part of a growing wave of veterans attending college under the Post 9/11 GI Bill and many of them have struggled to return to civilian life. Some veterans say they feel isolated on campus, struggle with mental illness and feel like they can’t succeed.
Some student veterans like Escarcida, 23, struggled to pass classes. She was used to taking orders and being surrounded by fellow Marines – people who underwent the same training and held the same values.
Attending classes at Palomar College in San Marcos was different. She couldn’t relate to her classmates, many of whom were fresh out of high school, and some made negative comments about the military. She said even the school’s veteran center was uncaring.
“People were snobby. They weren’t helpful,” Escarcida said. “They just threw you at a computer and told you, ‘Do this.’”
Escarcida created a difficult schedule, and no one from Palomar’s veteran services warned her about the risks, she said. She ended up failing two classes and dropped out of another. She only passed one class that semester – a math class — with a D.
“I was so shaken up by what I was doing. It was so fast-paced, and being out of school for four years, I wasn’t ready,” Escarcida said.
Escarcida is one of an increasing number of veterans who have received financial assistance from the Post 9/11 GI bill, which went into effect about four years ago. The federal government has provided more than $23 billion in educational benefits on expenses such as school tuition, housing and books for veterans and their families under the bill.
Failing classes or dropping them, in some cases, can mean that veterans will have to pay tuition back to the government.
A fresh start
Escarcida ended up paying the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs $150 for dropping her English class. When her boyfriend got out of the Marines, the couple decided to make a fresh start at Fullerton College. The community college in Orange County was more friendly toward veterans; she got help from other vets, and her grades improved.
“Right off the bat, the veteran work studies were extremely knowledgeable, very helpful, very warm people,” Escarcida said. “It was almost like being back in the Marine Corps again. Just being around people I was familiar with.”
Student veterans are underdogs on college campuses, said Paul McKinley, director of Fullerton’s Veterans Resource Center. And some still struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder – and professors and fellow students don’t always know their needs.
“A lot of veterans want to see every entrance to the classroom so they can see where the ‘enemy’ is coming in,” McKinley said. “Sounds like little things but those are huge obstacles for our veterans suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).”
At Fullerton College, the student veterans resource center has veterans tutor other vets. There is also training offered to staff on how to deal with student veterans.
But support for veterans on other campuses varies and the VA doesn't require schools to track veteran graduation rates. Even if there is help available for struggling veterans, some choose not to take it.
Fullerton College student Christopher Walker said one professor told him he might have dyslexia. After accommodations were made to help him learn, his grades improved.
“I had to learn how to ask for help. That was my big thing at school,” Walker said. “I had to learn how to open my mouth and say, 'I don’t understand this. Who can help me?'”
Veterans who need more time
Dan Caldwell, a political science professor at Pepperdine University, is organizing a faculty committee that will help student veterans. He’s a former Naval officer and said there have been instances where he has given student veterans with PTSD more time to work on their papers, similar to students in extenuating circumstances.
“Just as if someone had a broken leg, I would not ask that person to run a marathon. And some of our returning veterans have mental broken legs, and they need the help of fellow citizens to recover in order to run the marathon,” Caldwell said.
But Caldwell said a professor has no way of knowing if a student is a veteran or if they have PTSD, unless the student tells them. Caldwell said he gets to know his students – his largest class is 30 people. But that’s not likely to happen at larger universities where lecture halls fill with hundreds of students.
Not all veterans struggle with school. Some student vets told KPCC that their time in the military has helped them become better students because they are more disciplined in their studies. But for those veterans who are struggling with their transition to student life, having more support in school helps.
At a bowling alley near Fullerton College, Escarcida joins other student veterans to hang out.
Escarcida said it’s a time for the student veterans to kick back and have fun. She feels at ease here, knowing that even if she gets mad or starts cursing, her friends won’t think anything of it. They’ll tell her to “just chill out.”
“They’re all loud and rowdy and acting like idiots, but we’re used to it because the same way everyone is acting here is how we act [when we’re hanging out] in the Marine Corps,” Escarcida said. “It’s a comfort zone.”
Escarcida hopes to one day go into wildlife research. She has dreams of transferring to a four-year college. She says she can handle it, even if there is little veteran support.
“When I was at the other school, I really worried about that,” Escarcida said. “Now that I am here, I don’t worry about it so much.”
The Post-9/11 GI Bill at a glance
Who qualifies?
- People who have served at least 90 days of military service after Sept. 10, 2001 and received an honorable discharge.
- To receive full benefits, veterans need to have served 36 months of active duty service or been discharged for a disability connected to their service after 30 days of service
- If veterans have served less than 36 months, they can receive 40 to 90 percent of benefits under the bill, depending on how long they served.
- Veterans can also transfer their educational benefits to their spouse and children if they meet additional requirements.
Benefits include:
- Tuition and fees
- Housing allowance
- Books and supplies (up to $1,000 per year)
- Rural benefit payment
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Is a Dodgers-Angels Freeway World Series on its way?
The Dodgers have the second highest Opening Day payroll in baseball, just behind the rich, free-spending New York Yankees. In Anaheim, the Angels' position as number seven on the list have also thrown some money around.
Since it seems L.A.'s baseball teams have cash to burn, should fans count on both winning a lot of games and maybe giving the city it's first ever Freeway World Series?
Here to help us answer that question is Mark Saxon who covers baseball for ESPNLA.com.
LA and San Francisco vie for West Coast's tallest skyscraper
Baseball isn't the only source of rivalry between LA and San Francisco. The two California cities are also competing to have the West Coast's tallest skyscraper.
In San Francisco, the planned $4.2 billion Transbay Transit Center planned for South of Market is said to include what will be the West Coast's tallest building.
For more on this we're joined by Edward Lifson, a cultural critic and senior lecturer at USC's School of Architecture.
Does God love gay Christians? Writer Jeff Chu's search for an answer
The first line of the traditional Sunday school song, "Jesus Loves Me," goes: "Jesus loves me, this I know/for the Bible tells me so."
Writer Jeff Chu wanted to know the answer to a pivotal question inspired it: As a gay Christian, does Jesus love him?
After all, houses of worship remain closed to him, and controversial congregations like the Westboro Baptist Church have no qualms about loudly shouting, "God Hates Fags." So Chu made a pilgrimage around the country to get a better sense of how different Christians feel about gays and lesbians.
His journey is chronicled in the new book, "Does Jesus Really Love Me? A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America."
RELATED: Click here to read an excerpt of this book
Interview Highlights:
On what the song "Jesus Loves Me" meant to Chu when he was young:
"It was truth. I would sit in my grandparent's living room and every morning when we weren't at school, we would read the Bible and sing hymns together in Chinese and English, and pray. That was my childhood. Back then it was really reassuring, especially when I was younger, and then when I was having these strange feelings that I didn't know how to account for, that's when things got a little more confusing. Then you layer on the questions about sexuality in the context of a conservative Christian home, and it's very very confusing. Questions of whether Jesus really does love me, whether this means I'm going to hell, is this something that I can make go away. I have very mixed feelings now when I hear that song."
On when he knew he was gay:
"I think I knew as I as going through puberty, I had some crushes on classmates, but you don't have the language for it at that age, necessarily. Sometimes I look at kids now growing up with Glee and all these other figures in the media. We didn't have that when I was a kid, so I was left just with the feelings and no way to articulate them."
On his first experience with how gays are viewed in his particular religion:
"This was my 9th grade Bible teacher. He was one of our favorite teachers because I think because he was younger and so we could relate to him more. It turns out that he had a relationship with a man, he was married to a woman at the time and we were all called into chapel one day, and our principal awkwardly got in front of us and said, 'Mr. Byers has had a homosexual affair with another man.' And some of my classmates tittered because of the redundancy. I was just struck dumb with fear though, because someone had named the thing that I hadn't been able to, and I thought, Oh my gosh, if anybody every discovered that I had those same feelings the same thing could happen to me."
On what spurred him to take on this project:
"After I came out, I searched for books that would allow me to sort out the issues for myself, and instead what I found were a lot of polemics. There were conservative books that said, you have to make better choices, because this is wrong, and you can choose to be straight. There were books on the other end of the spectrum that said, it's all OK and here's why. But I felt like I was being shouted at by those books, I never felt like I was being left room to decide for myself. What I really craved was experience. So what I did was I traveled and I asked people for their stories and I went from one end of the spectrum to the other. I went to Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, which clearly believes God hates fags, and I went to the other end of the spectrum which is a denomination which is predominantly gay called the Metropolitan Community Church, and I even went off the church spectrum to talk to atheists and agnostics who grew up in the church to understand why they're no longer there."
On learning about Westboro Baptist Church's stance of gays:
"What Westboro believes is that we're being punished today because we tolerate people like me. We tolerate and enable homosexuals to live freely. They think that that is one of the signs of how far we have fallen as a nation and this is the hardest thing for people to understand...they really believe they are doing the most loving thing possible by warning us all that if we continue down this path that we're going to burn in hell. They said to me, 'What kind of people would we be if we knew you all were going to hell, but we didn't warn you of it? God hates you, but we love you because we're telling you.' If you accept that they have this framework, then you can understand how it's logical to them. It's just that its so foreign to the rest of us and the language that they choose is so incendiary, and so intentionally incendiary, that its just impossible to accept."
On what's being left out of the current marriage equality debate:
"I wish there were more of an understanding, first of all, from the side of people like me, who want DOMA to be overturned and want marriage equality. I think there has to be an understanding of how deeply rooted some of the viewpoints are on the other side. This isn't just a matter of law, it's a matter of faith, and for people like most of my family, whatever the court decides is somewhat irrelevant, because they don't see marriage as a legal arrangement anyway. It's a spiritual and moral one, and we can't have a full discussion without acknowledging that and recognizing that this is what people believe. I don't mean that we cow tow to those beliefs, but we have to acknowledge that they should be a part of the conversation, and I think that's what's been missing."