The new newspaper The Los Angeles Register debuts today. Does the city really need another newspaper? Then, the rise of armed groups in Mexico prompt hope, fear among LA's Michoacanos. Plus, Semana Santa huge boon for retail businesses in border towns, Shepard Fairey pays homage to album art in 50 Shades of Black art show, plus much more.
LA Register Debut: Does Los Angeles really need another newspaper?
Starting today, The Los Angeles Register, will be available at 5,500 retail locations throughout L.A. County. The new paper is the newest venture from Freedom Communications, which also owns The OC Register.
RELATED: LA Register launch: Publisher Aaron Kushner banks on pro-business approach
But the city already has one paper of record, the L.A. Times. Not to mention all the blogs, weeklies and magazines devoted to covering every angle of the city. Is there really a market for yet another paper?
For more, we're joined by Ken Doctor, a news industry analyst with the Nieman Journalism Lab.
NYPD shuts down controversial Muslim spying unit, SoCal Muslims respond
In the wake of 9/11, the New York Police Department launched a program known as the Demographics Unit.
The controversial unit tracked Muslims as part of an effort to stop terrorism threats, relying on databases which looked at where Muslims lived, shopped, worked and prayed.
Informants were placed in mosques and authorities monitored Muslims living in New York who adopted American surnames. Critics opposing the operation said it infringed on civil rights and privacy.
This week NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton announced they've disbanded the Demographics Unit.
For more on this decision and what it could mean for Muslims here in southern California we turn to Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for the Greater Los Angeles area.
Semana Santa a huge boon for retail businesses in border towns
This week throughout Latin America, people are observing one of the most important religious holidays of the year, Semana Santa, which signals the end of Lent and the nearing of Easter.
Many people in Mexico get time off work during the holiday and they use it by coming to the United States to shop.
Claudia Cruz from CNET Español has been monitoring the scene along the border in San Diego and she says that she's seeing plenty of families who have come over the border to buy things like electronics.
"I think that Semana Santa in addition to Christmas are two of the major shopping holidays for Latin American's to visit the United States," she said on Take Two.
Electronics, like the Playstation 4, can be as much as 50 percent cheaper in the U.S., compared to in Mexico, said Cruz. So, upper middle class and upper class families regularly make the pilgrimage to shop and going on vacation.
But why's it so much more expensive to buy things like the Playstation 4 in Mexico?
"It's import tax. Now, a lot of countries want to protect their local economies so they'll charge a higher tax for the importation of goods even if they don't have a strong electronics industry," said Cruz.
It's been a big boost to businesses along the border for a while now too.
For example, according to the NPD Group in San Antonio, Texas saw about a 40 percent increase in sales in 2013 for that single week.
Drug homicides in Mexico on the decline, but dangers remain
The bloody drug wars in Mexico have claimed the lives of more than 70,000 people since they began last decade.
The Justice in Mexico Institute at the University of San Diego has been keeping a tab on the number of homicides in Mexico since 2001, and they've just released their report for the past year.
Professor David Shirk, one of the authors, joins the show to explain.
Rise of armed groups in Mexico prompts hope, fear among LA's michoacanos
In Los Angeles, families with close ties to the Mexican state of Michoacán are playing a role in an effort to end the violent drug conflict in their home country, spurring a debate over the armed civilian groups that have risen to counter drug cartels.
The armed groups — known as autodefensas, or self-defense groups — have emerged as a potent force against the dominant drug cartel of the region, the Knights Templar.
Their success in driving out the Templars from key towns and cities in Michoacán has drawn support, but it has also raised questions in a region where the central government has lost control.
"The state of Michoacán has become a key battleground," said Brad Rowe, a public policy analyst at UCLA who specializes in drug violence in Mexico. "It’s a key crossroads for drugs to be moved through and there has been a huge shift in leadership in the drug trafficking organizations that work in the area."
About a year ago that began to change, when civilian groups began to take up arms and challenge the drug cartels themselves. In February, the groups seized key towns and cities and pushed out the Knights Templar. They've drawn support from civilians, both in Michoacán and in L.A., and several leaders have ties to California.
On a recent afternoon, Daniel Gonzalez, 50, a resident of Pico Rivera, spoke by phone to his daughter who lives in Tierra Caliente, the region at the center of the violence. He was concerned about a recent video she sent in which residents described abuses from the Knights Templar.
"Yes, we’re afraid, both my wife and I are scared," said Gonzalez, whose grandchildren, sister and 92-year-old mother all live in Tierra Caliente. "But someone has to do this kind of work."
The government has tried to exert control by assigning a new head of security to Michoacán and pledging nearly $3.5 billion in aid. But it’s also been ambivalent about the self-defense groups -- at one moment sanctioning their efforts and the next, cracking down on certain factions.
The recent arrest of one popular leader drew protests by michoacanos in front of the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles. One of those demanding support for the autodefensas was Genesis Godinez, 55, of Fontana, who said she is in regular contact with her family in Michoacán.
"We have to keep fighting against the criminals," she said. "We just can’t continue the way that things are. If the government doesn’t do its the job, then let us do it."
But not all are in agreement.
At the protest an argument erupted when a man approached the protesters. He said the solution to end the violence would have to come from more than a choice between the government forces and the autodefensas, both heavily armed.
"I don’t support any of the two," said Pablo Hernandez of Santa Ana. "Let me tell you this: a bullet out of one of them kills just the same as if it comes from the other. And in a crossfire, what’s going to happen? Innocent people like us would fall."
The michoacano community in the U.S. has deep roots in the States and close ties to Mexico. The graph below shows the average time immigrants from the U.S.'s largest Mexican communities have been in the States. About one third of michoacanos in the U.S. have been here for over 15 years. Slightly over one third have arrived in the past five years.
Obamacare: Confusion, cost keep some Californians uninsured
If you haven't purchased health insurance yet - you've missed yesterday's final, final, final deadline for this year. While more than 3 million people have signed up for coverage in California, many have not.
KPCC's Stephanie O'Neill tells us what's keeping them among the uninsured.
Sports Roundup: NBA playoffs, Lebron James, Lakers season ends and more
The NBA playoff picture will be in full focus by the end of the night, will the road to the Stanley Cup go through Southern California? And college kids might finally get to eat.
All this means it's time for sports with Andy and Brian Kamenetzsky, who've covered sports for the L.A. Times and ESPN.
The NBA's regular season ends tonight and while the 16 playoff teams are locked, only two of the eight match-ups are set in stone, and that's the Houston Rockets vs. the Portland Trailblazers and the Indiana Pacers vs the Atlanta Hawks. I would imagine that makes tonight a great night for basketball fans?
Let's drill down on the Clippers and what their different scenarios might be?
Over in the Eastern Conference the most interesting team for me is the two-time defending champion Miami Heat. It was four years ago when Lebron James teamed up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to sign with Miami. Who could forget what James said at a rally when he was asked how many titles he plans to win:
He's still a long way from seven, but what do you think about his chances for #3?
Also, tonight, the Lakers end arguably the worst season in their history. This team has set the franchise record for most losses in a season. How will this year be remembered?
Eight days ago, University of Connecticut basketball player Shabazz Napier said he sometimes went to bed starving because he could not afford food. Now the NCAA has responded.
There's always been a debate on whether or not to pay college athletes but Brian if the day comes when athletes get classified as workers how much money could they command on the open market?
The NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs begin tomorrow and both the L.A. Kings and Anaheim Ducks look pretty good don't they?
Shepard Fairey pays homage to album art in 50 Shades of Black art show
L.A.-based street artist Shepard Fairey made a name for himself 25 years ago with a sticker campaign featuring the late wrestling legend, Andre the Giant.
In 2008, he created the famous red white and blue campaign poster featuring the word HOPE for Barack Obama. Fairey's designs can also be found on the cover of albums by the Black Eyed Peas, The Smashing Pumpkins and Anthrax.
Tonight, he hosts the opening of a new exhibit, 50 Shades Of Black, at his Subliminal Projects gallery in Echo Park.
50 Shades Of Black features pieces inspired by the 12-inch record cover format and is inspired by Shepard Fairey's love for music like British punk rockers the Clash. Fairey joins Take Two from his gallery to talk about the new exhibit and some of the first albums that influenced him.
Interview Highlights:
On his motivation for "50 Shades of Black":
"When I think about how I want to reach an audience, I just wanted to make pieces that were inspired by something that gave me so much pleasure. So I started doing these tributes to the 12-inch record formats…Now that people are looking at teeny, 25-pixel things on their screen that represent the mp3, it's not quite the same. I wanted to bring that tactile side of the music experience back to the show and just do these pieces that are tributes to the 12-inch formats. So I have 50 pieces that are on LPs that I have collaged on top of and printed new images. I have put all my favorite records in a record store installation in the space with two turntables. People can take any of my records, whether it's rare, whether it's signed, listen to it and hopefully put it back."
On some of the music that influenced his work:
"I have several Clash references in the show. There's a death or glory piece with a skull and it's got some of the lyrics. There's another piece called "C'mon Everybody," which was originally done by Eddie Cochran in the '50s, first generation rock ‘n’ roll, but covered by the Sex Pistols. I have a girl looking through records, kind of like [The Clash's] "London Calling" sleeve, where it's a girl and a guy looking through records, but different illustrations. But she's wearing a leather jacket like Sid's and a necklace like Sid's with a lock on it. Basically, there's two generations of "C'mon Everybody" represented within one picture."
On the dying art of the album cover:
"I'm nostalgic for it, because the record itself was such an important part of my evolution and growing up in South Carolina where there wasn't a lot of creative culture—you know, the record package itself might be the only cultural artifact in the entire equation. So it was very valuable to me. Now with the internet, there is still a lot of creativity but there's value to it. I hope it never goes away."
Exhibition Dates:
April 16 – May 17, 2014
Opening Reception:
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
8 – 11 pm
Free to Public
RSVP Required:
rsvp@subliminalprojects.com
Subliminal Projects
1331 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
213.213.0078
How the fundraising game will change after the Supreme Court's McCutcheon decision
A recent Supreme Court decision has opened the door for a lot more money to flow into political campaigns.
The Republican Party launched a super committee to accept huge donations made possible by the McCutcheon versus the Federal Election Commission ruling.
So which party stands to benefit most by this change in law?
Joining us to explain are political strategists Mike Shimpock, who works for the California Democrats like Congressman Adam Schiff and Congresswoman Judy Chu, and Reed Galen, a Republican political consultant and former campaign manager for John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Makers of Turbo Tax lobby Congress to keep tax prep costly and time consuming
Hopefully, by now, your taxes are all filed and the IRS has everything it needs from you.
Now that you're through it, wouldn't it be nice if this process were easier and less expensive?
According to one report, Intuit, the makers of Turbo Tax who are based here in Southern California, spent $11.5 million lobbying Congress. Not to simplify the process, but to prevent people from being able to file federal returns for free.
Emma Roller has been writing about this for National Journal and she joins the show with more.
Humans' cognitive development peaks by age 24, says study
We usually think of being "over the hill" at 40, but our brains may see the other side of the mountain even earlier when it comes to the speed of our motor skills.
A new study out of Simon Fraser University conducted experiments with over 3,000 participants playing video games to determine the peak of their cognitive development. They also looked at how we adapt as our brains get older.
Joe Thompson is one of the researchers of this study and joined us to share the findings.
The Millennial work-life revolution in Seattle
Millennials — the term for young people between 18 and 33 — are beginning to change things.
They are the first demographic group to rival the baby boomers in size, and they're creating new demands in everything from living spaces to work styles.
In the first of a two-part series, Carolyn Adolph from Seattle station KUOW looks at how millennials are changing what it means to go to work.
Scientists mix spider DNA with goat embyros to produce special silk proteins
Believe it or not, scientists have genetically modified goats with spider DNA to secrete spider silk in their milk. The silk is incredibly strong and is being harvested for medical uses, like replacing ligaments or making protective material with the strength of kevlar.
Host A Martinez speaks with Cat Ferguson, science writer and contributor to Take Part about her recent article on these spider goats.
Drake's Bay Oyster Co. takes fight to the Supreme Court
An oyster farm on the Northern California coast is taking its fight to stay open to the Supreme Court. It's the latest move in a years-long legal battle by Drakes Bay Oyster Company in Marin County.
The farm is located in a federally protected wilderness area, so the government ordered it shut down in 2012. Here to tell us more about the case is Bob Egelko, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
California farmers look to oil industry for water
The state's historic drought means many farmers in the Central Valley are still struggling to keep their crops alive. Reservoirs and wells are running dry.
But, the California Report's Lauren Sommer says farmers in Bakersfield are getting extra water from an unlikely source: the oil industry.
Jay-Z to bring his Made In America music fest to Downtown LA
Jay-Z is coming to LA. Today the rapper appeared with mayor Eric Garcetti to announce that his Made in America music festival is coming to downtown's Grand Park come Labor Day.
KPCC's Alice Walton was at the press conference and joins the show with more.