Why the U.S. oil boom hasn't lowered gas price at the pump; 'Tattoo Nation' explores body art's rise from taboo to commonplace; 'Laugh In' announcer Gary Owens weighs in on 'Tonight Show''s move to New York; UCLA scientists test possible 'cure' for meth addiction, and much more.
DTSC second-in-command under investigation for ethics violations
An agency known as DTSC — or the Department of Toxic Substances Control — is charged with monitoring California's hazardous waste. Recently the group Consumer Watchdog has been investigating the DTSC and has claimed that the agency is falling down on the job.
Based on those complaints, the Fair Political Practices Commission announced yesterday that it is launching a probe into the DTSC's chief deputy director. For more on this we're joined now by Vicky Nguyen, an investigative reporter with NBC Bay Area.
View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.
Bureaucracy makes China's pollution problem a tough fix
California has some of the nation's toughest environmental regulations, and those regulations might be something that the state tries to export when Gov. Jerry Brown makes a trip to China next week.
The governor is expected to sign several environmental agreements with China. Pollution in that country has been an ongoing problem. A recent study shows that air pollution contributed to 1.2 million deaths in China in 2010 alone. There's also been some significant problems with water pollution. Just last month, 16,000 dead pigs were found in rivers that provide drinking water to Shanghai.
But despite these issues, environmentalists have struggled to enact any reform in China. Barbara Finamore is China Program Director for the National Resources Defense Council. She explains how pollution in China compares to what we see in the US.
Why the US oil boom hasn't lowered prices at the gas pump
Gasoline prices in Southern California have dropped from the near five dollar levels they reached at the beginning of the year, but prices at the pump are still well above $4 per gallon. Meanwhile, the country is reaching the point where it is producing more oil than it imports, mostly thanks to new methods of extracting oil, such as fracking.
So if we suddenly have all this oil, how come we're paying so much for gas? Reporters at Bloomberg News have been asking that question as well. Reporter Asjylyn Loder joins the show with more.
Federal program helps divert smugglers from criminal life
Federal prosecutors in the Southern California border region deal almost exclusively with one of two crimes: smuggling drugs or smuggling people. But, not all smugglers are created equal. The U.S. Attorney's Office runs a program that gives low-level smugglers a chance to get straight with the law, before they get a record. Jill Replogle from the Fronteras Desk reports.
Brenda is an attractive 27-year old with pretty impressive job credentials. (I was asked not to use her last name so as not to compromise her job prospects.)
At her tidy San Diego apartment, Brenda showed me her Emergency Medical Technician certificate and tells me about the Medical Billing course she just finished.
“I want to be a surgeon,” she said. “I want to do brain surgery.”
A felony for alien smuggling could put a serious damper on those plans, and Brenda knows it. At least now she does.
But a few months back, when she agreed to drive into the U.S. from Mexico with a guy hidden in her backseat, she was only thinking she’d soon have a couple thousand bucks to pay that month’s rent for her and her five kids.
“And I really needed it,” she said. “And I thought it was going to be super easy and just, drive across, that’s all.”
But the border agent who checked her passport asked to look in the back of her car. She got caught and cuffed.
But instead of being put behind bars, she was offered this deal: Plead guilty, then commit to a yearlong, court-supervised program that — if you play by the rules — let’s you get on with life with a clean record.
“This program is designed to target individuals who are starting down the path of criminal activity,” said Barbara Major, one of five federal magistrate judges who handle cases under the smuggling diversion program.
“It does something other than just put people in prison,” Major said. “It gives them the opportunity to turn their lives around.”
The smuggling diversion program is unique in the federal justice system. Participants are required to follow an individually tailored plan that can include everything from drug rehab to English classes.
“We help them find work, we write resumes, mental health counseling,” said Nancee Schwartz, the defense lawyer who proposed the program and represents all of the participants.
Schwartz has rowdy, white-blond hair and a sign behind her desk that reads, “I’M NOT POLITE.”
This program is her baby. It's really more about social work than lawyering, she said.
“I reflect on the amount of diapers I've bought, shoes I've bought,” Schwartz said with a wistful smile.
The diversion program tries to address the reason an individual chose to break the law. Did they need the money to survive, like Brenda? Did they have a drug problem?
All of the participants have monthly court dates with a judge who evaluates their progress.
At a recent session of diversion court, the judge ordered a client to write a 300-word essay starting with “I want my life….”
Brenda said a judge ordered her to take her kids to the park once a week.
But it’s not all so fluffy. Judges also order GPS monitors strapped onto participants’ ankles, and arrest warrants for those who fail to show up for drug tests or court dates.
“You know you don't get to spend a year just sitting around waiting for the felony to disappear,” Schwartz said. “We expect you to make some changes, we expect you to put in the hard work.”
Schwartz and others involved with the program are quick to note that the men and women given the option to participate are at the lowest level of the smuggling business.
"They're taking big risks for small amounts,” she said. “And most of them are shocked when I show them how much the people are being charged to be brought north by comparison to what they're being paid. You know, they feel pretty exploited."
Even if you have no sympathy for criminals, the fact is, federal officials say, there just isn’t enough space in local jails and prisons, or enough resources to prosecute everyone who breaks federal law.
Brenda only recently started the program, and she said just having someone there to push her is a big help.
“Like I said, I’ve always been on my own,” she said, “and I’ve never really had that support, you know, or that backbone of, come on, you can do this.”
And there’s a big stick: failure could mean going to prison and a felony record.
“So I know that I gotta, how do you say that, shape up and fly right,” she said.
That's exactly what the program is intended to do. Because the alternative, incarceration, just isn’t very good at rehabilitating offenders. More than half of individuals who serve sentences in federal prison will go on to commit other crimes.
In comparison, of the 137 people who have graduated, just five have re-offended.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego hopes to expand the program. Low-level drug smugglers could be the next ones offered a path away from prison.
'Laugh In' announcer Gary Owens on 'Tonight Show''s NY move
Yesterday, after weeks of speculation, NBC made the official announcement that the Tonight Show will leave its current home in Burbank and move to New York. Come next spring, Jay Leno will give up his post as host of the late night show and Jimmy Fallon will take over from the Big Apple.
For more on yesterday's big announcement and what it means for the city of Burbank, we're joined now by Mr. Burbank himself, former Laugh In announcer, Gary Owens.
What's behind the British 'invasion' of so many US film and TV roles?
When it comes to late night TV, most hosts are born here in the U.S., but when it comes to dramas and sitcoms on television, many shows star actors from across the pond.
Take the show "Hannibal," which debuts tonight on NBC, about the famous cannibal character Hannibal Lecter. Englishman Hugh Dancy plays the brilliant FBI profiler Will Graham working with Dr. Lecter.
So how do British actors master the American accent?
Many of them call dialect coach Claudette Roche. She's worked on shows such as "Boardwalk Empire," "NCIS" and "American Horror Story." She joins the show to talk about why we're seeing so many foreign actors on the small screen and how they pull off American accents.
Interview Highlights:
On why so many British actors are being cast in American film and television:
"There's a perception that English actors are more highly trained and just a little bit better. A producer friend of mine is working on a film and he needs to cast the star, and the character will have to speak in many different American accents. He said we was going to England to look at the talent there, and I said 'Well, that's quite odd, why wouldn't you just stay here?,' and he said, 'Well why would I because they're much more trained?' I said, 'Well you know they're quite trained here. You need American accents and you'll need varied American accents!' And he said 'You're right, let's go to Australia, we'll look at Australians!'"
On the different perception of acting in Britain compared to the U.S.:
"They really devote themselves to their craft. They're not trying to openly be stars, the goal is to be a working actor. So when they come here they have such well rounded resumes, they've done stage productions, period pieces, they've television, they've done radio, they've done commercials. Whereas here in Los Angeles, there's a focus on what kind of actor do you want to be? Do you want to do film, do you want to do television, do you want to do sitcoms? And they try to keep you in that box. Whereas the English actor does everything. There's no stigma for an English actor to have done a commercial, and a television show, and then star in a film, and then go back to doing stage and TV."
On how difficult it is for British Actors to master the American Accent:
"They really have to study. When they're in school they are working on their varied English accents and their varied UK accents. So they come here and they have really polished their accents. Sometimes when they get here they just need to fine tune."
On why the American southern accent is easier for British actors:
"The southern accent sings, there's a beautiful melody to a southern accent that is reminiscent to an English example. The Standard american example is very flat, there isn't much melody to it, so it’s actually easier for an english actor to do a southern accent and or a New York accent."
Update from Obama's San Francisco DCCC fundraiser
Last night in San Francisco, President Obama kicked off a series of eight fundraisers he'll hold across the country this year to raise money for the Democrats in the midterm elections. Sitting president's parties don't historically fare well in the midterms and guests last night paid thousands of dollars for some facetime with the president.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carla Marinucci had a front row seat and she joins us now with more on last night's events.
RELATED: Read Obama's full remarks from the DCCC fundraiser
City Hall Pass: Mayoral endorsements, city controller race, and more
It's Take Two's ticket to all the latest political news coming out of downtown Los Angeles with KPCC's politics editor Oscar Garza and and politics reporter Alice Walton.
How Rawlings makes baseballs for the big leagues
It's an amalgam of cork, rubber, wool, leather and cotton and weighs about five ounces. If you are really good at throwing it, catching it, or hitting it, you can make a lot of money.
We're talking about a baseball, and joining us now is Mike Thompson, senior vice president for marketing at Rawlings, the firm that makes baseballs for the majors leagues.
The Dinner Party: Spirit nests, milk vodka, and more
Every week we get your weekend conversation starters with Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam, the hosts of the Dinner Party radio show.
On tap this week: Artist Jayson Fann creates human-sized "spirit nests" that mimic bird nests, British farmer Jason Barber's milk vodka is the hot new poison for celebrities, and this week in history celebrates the birth of chewing gum.
LAFD seeks women for first new firefighter hires in 5 years (Photos)
The Los Angeles Fire Department is hiring new firefighters for the first time in five years. There are 13,000 applicants, but fewer than 150 will attend the academy. KPCC's Hayley Fox says the LAFD hopes many of those accepted will be women.
'Tattoo Nation' doc explores body art's journey from taboo to trendy (Photos)
One in five Americans have a tattoo, and although is quite common to sport ink, it wasn't always so. For years, tattoos were considered a sign of rebellion — meant for the likes of sailors and criminals.
The new documentary "Tattoo Nation" explores how the tattoo has evolved from an fringe practice to an elevated art form and how southern California played a key role in that evolution.
Corey Miller, the film's narrator and owner of the Upland tattoo shop Six Feet Under joins the show.
"Tattoo Nation" opens at the ArcLight in Los Angeles on Friday April 5. Click here for ticket information.
SHARE YOUR TATTOO STORIES:
We know a lot of you out there have ink of your own, probably each with its own story and significance. We want to hear about them! Share with with us in the comments below, on our Facebook page or tweet us a pic and story
.
Host Alex Cohen has some ink of her own. Below are three with special significance:
Left: Heart and horseshoe: "I got this one in Oakland in 2001 by a fantastic artist named Scott Silvia. I had fallen in love with my then boyfriend, now husband. I felt very lucky in love - thus the heart and horseshoe. Updated in 2012 with the letter R by artist Andrew Moore."
Right: Horseshoe and ladybug – "I got this one in Pasadena in 2012 by artist Andrew Moore. This one celebrates my beautiful daughter Eliza, my ladybug, hence the E hidden in the ladybug. Not yet 2, Eliza has already developed a deep love of tattoos, temporary ones, of course."
Alex's first tattoo: Rose and moon: "I got this one when I was 17 at a tattoo shop in San Francisco’s Mission District. I lied and said I was 18 so I could get it. It was done by a female artist – and there weren’t many of those around back then. It does have some personal meaning to me, but looking at it now it seems so juvenile and rinky dink. Have been considering covering it for years!"