What Trump's new corporate tax cut means for California, what happens to kids when their parents are deported, El Michels Affair reimagines Wu-Tang sample tracks.
Local businesses may benefit from possible corporate tax cut
President Donald Trump has promised a series of tax reforms will be announced on Wednesday. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported what they expect to be the centerpiece of his plan: cutting the corporate tax rate to 15 percent.
"It looks like a huge change, but it may not be as big as it sounds," said Bhagwan Chowdhry, Professor of Corporate Finance at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
He told Take Two's A Martinez that the average corporate tax rate currently sits at 35 percent, that doesn't necessarily mean all corporations are paying that. "Many corporations, especially multinationals, are able to shield their profits by putting their profits and subsidies in other parts of the world."
Chowdhry believes that if this tax cut becomes a reality, local businesses stand to gain a lot. "If you are a simple business that's not a multinational ... that does not use an army of lawyers and accountants to shield your taxes, you get to benefit from it because this creates an even field," Chowdhry said.
"Imagine there's a corporation that has operations in the Netherlands and other parts of the world They, in fact, are paying much lower taxes, even much lower than 15 percent. Whereas if I'm a simple business I don't have subsidiaries abroad, I'm probably paying closer to 35. This would create an even level playing field and would give an advantage to those who are more local and have a much simpler tax status. "
To hear the full conversation, click the blue player above
What happens to a child when a parent is deported?
Two million kids in California have parents who are living here without legal status. And with the Trump administration ramping up deportations, the fear of separation is higher than ever.
Romero Avelica-Gonzalez made headlines last month when he was taken into custody by ICE agents just after dropping his 12-year-old daughter off at school in Lincoln Heights.
What happens to a child when a parent is deported? And what if that parent is the only caregiver that child has?
Elizabeth Aguilera has been reporting on this for CALmatters. She joined Take Two's A Martinez who also shared his own story of when his mother left the country.
To listen to the interview with Elizabeth Aguilera, click on the blue media player above.
4 ways to protect yourself from knock-knock burglaries
"Knock, knock."
"Who's there?"
Burglars.
It may sound like a corny joke but the punchline isn't so funny. Property crimes are on the rise in San Fernando Valley and it's because of the increase in "knock-knock" burglaries.
"Basically they go up to the front door and either knock on the door or the windows of the selected residence to determine if anybody is inside..." explained Detective Armando Monarrez, who oversees the LAPD's West Valley police department's burglary unit, "If they're confident that the residence is unoccupied they will scale sometimes the sidewalls or gates to access the rear yard and eventually break into the home by either smashing the windows or rear doors..."
Here are the four things you need to know about this type of crime.
1. Warning Signs
- Red flags:
"If you hear someone knocking at your door and you're obviously looking to see who's at the door and these people are wearing gloves or avoiding eye contact or facial contact with cameras. That's a red flag in itself."
- On a cell phone:
"If they're at your front door and on they're on a cell phone, they may be contacting or in communication with a group that's just waiting to burglarize the home."
- Missed calls:
"Pay attention to multiple calls into the location or on your cell phone. If you're getting all these missed calls, they may be checking to see if you're there, at the residence."
2. Make your presence known
"If you do happen to find that someone's at your front door, you want to make sure that your presence is known, but in a way that you're not trying to be confrontational. So, just simply asking, 'who's there?' or 'what's going on?' I mean that's a good way to approach it. Most of the time the people who made contact with these individuals, they spook them and they end up leaving the area because...they're trying to avoid the confrontation."
3. What to do if they get in your home
Call for help:
"We've actually had, quite a few cases...when the resident does come home and notices that the front door is unlocked or they notice that there's noise inside...You definitely do not want to go into the residence, you want to wait until the police arrive and clear your home...make your presence known...there's nothing wrong with saying:
'who's there? who's inside the house? I just called the police and they're on their way.' It's better to say that they're on their way then to tell them, 'I'm going to call the police,' because that kind of gives them the feeling that they still have time. But when you're telling them that you've already made the call and the police are on their way, it rushes them and it creates this sense of urgency that they need to get out of there as quickly as they can.
4. Under no circumstances should you engage
Don't be a hero:
"Give them an avenue to escape. You don't want to block their way, you don't want to confront them, you don't want to get into a fight with them, so make sure you try to keep a safe distance away from open windows or whatever the case may be..."
To listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.
California legislature considers new restrictions for charter schools
Charter schools have grown a lot over the last decade. Today over half a million students are enrolled in California charters.
This week, the California legislature will considering changes to how charter schools are allowed to open and operate.
These bills get to the heart of the debate; should charters be held to the same accountability standards as traditional district schools?
Take Two's A Martinez sat down with KPCC's education reporter, Kyle Stokes to sort out what these bills could mean for the future of California's charter schools.
Interview Highlight
I think the way to think about this really complicated mess of bills is; what set rules do you want a charter school to operate under? It's a really complicated entity when you think about it. A charter school is not run by a school district. It's run by non-profit organization in most cases. There are some other kinds of outside groups like for-profit corporation but it's mostly non-profit groups.
So, should they be held accountable to the same standards that state law hold a non-profit corporation, or for a public school or any other government agency that receives public funding like a charter school does?
To listen to the interview with Kyle Stokes, click on the blue Media Player above.
Tuesday Reviewsday: El Michaels Affair, Tash Sultana and new music from Netflix's Dear White People
Every week we get a raft of new music to listen to. This week, music supervisor
brought in a few selections.
EL MICHELS AFFAIR
Album: Return to the 37th Chamber
Songs : Tearz (feat. Lee Fields & The Shacks) and You're All I Need (feat. Lady Wray)
In 2009, Leon Michels and his band entered the 37th Chamber, now they've followed up with a return.
Throwback funk soul and samples that hiphop heads will recognize and appreciate are featured released, with a little help from his friends.
TASH SULTANA
Album: Murder to the Mind - (SINGLE)
Melbourne singer Tash Sultana is a beatboxer, singer, guitarist and pedal loop aficionado. Don't know what that is? Check out Tash performing her first hit, Jungle.
She's a major talent whose debut EP "Notion" pushed her into the spotlight. She's back with a new single, a growing fanbase, and a story to tell.
REGINA CARTER
Album: Ella: Accentuate The Positive
Song: Crying in The Chapel
Jazz violinist Regina Carter is an Ella Fitzgerald devotee, and her new album is a testament to that as she covers Ella's covers over several tracks, including the standout "Crying In The Chapel". Here she is talking about her love of Ella Fitzgerald, and how she uses her violin as a voice to channel Ella.
from
on Vimeo.
WOLFIE
DEAR WHITE PEOPLE- A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES SOUNDTRACK
Song: Obi Wan
Justin Simien's follow up to the 2014 film of the same name debuts as a 10 episode series for Netflix on April 28th. The soundtrack is sort of an extended playlist some parts indie, some parts alt pop and rock, some parts classic material old soul- a reflection of the diversity of the characters.
Here's the song, "Obi Wan," by Wolfie.
(click on the blue arrow to hear the entire segment)
Unheard LA - how a community deals with the death of a police officer
Recently our live events team launched a live personal storytelling series -- we're calling it "Unheard LA" ... Hidden stories of Southern California.
It's a three-part series of live shows in different venues around our sprawling and too-often disconnected metropolis.
Today we heard from Joshua Rigsby. He lives in Whittier and shared his thoughts about his community the day after police officer Keith Boyer was shot and killed.