The many steps to achieving asylum status, Southern California's waters fill with baby sharks, inside JPL's latest project heading to Mars.
The costs of sober living on the Orange County coast
His name is Cameron High. Says so on his driver’s license, and on his cannabis card. And he has the counterculture aura down pat — dreadlocks, the soft yeah-dude voice and bright conspiratorial smile.
That’s what he was flashing a few months ago, kicking back on a thin strip of lawn outside a Starbucks on the outskirts of Anaheim. His drug of choice had been Xanax, he said, and since coming here from Georgia just two years ago to kick the habit, the 22-year-old has stayed in 10 different sober-living homes in half a dozen cities.
“They call it the sober-living dance,” he said.
At many of these group homes, he said, there’s no sober in sober-living. They’re more like party houses, rife with the drug and alcohol use they’re supposed to prevent — temptations that may have contributed to High's problem: He was arraigned in a Santa Ana courtroom this week on felony drug charges.
Many of the homes in question, privately owned and in nice residential areas, are unlicensed, unsupervised and nearly impossible to regulate. When residents’ or their parents’ cash or insurance money dries up, they’re dropped off in town and join the ranks of the homeless.
It’s a problem all over the state, with the largest concentration of sober-living homes in Orange County.
California lawmakers are considering ways to monitor them, with five proposals that would establish new guidelines for how they are run and impose fines on some practices.
The homes don’t provide drug-rehabilitation programs. They’re meant to offer a supportive environment for like-minded peers recovering from addiction, sometimes in conjunction with a 12-step program. Local officials and patient advocates note that many of these places, like many licensed homes, do good work.
But not all of them.
A homeowner can make $10,000 a month or more by charging rent for typically six or so people, often through health-insurance payments. They may find a supply of residents through "patient brokers,” middlemen around the country who advertise to recruit drug-using, troubled youngsters looking for a change of scene in sunny California.
Those brokers can “sell” a block of patients to a recovery facility. Licensed venues often have financial relationships with unlicensed ones, and patients are sometimes shifted between them.
High was one of those recruits. Back in Georgia, he was dealing pills and in constant trouble with his parents and the law. Over the past two years, he has leap-frogged from Huntington Beach to Laguna Beach to Costa Mesa.
The local chambers of commerce have named this area the Orange Coast. But with the proliferation of sober-living homes here in the past decade came another name: Rehab Riviera.
California is home to 1,028 licensed drug-rehabilitation facilities, according to state officials, and some estimates peg the number of unlicensed sober-living homes at about 2,000 more. Roughly 15 percent of those facilities call Orange County home.
The small beachside community of Costa Mesa alone (population about 113,000) has an estimated 160 sober-living homes and rehab facilities, half of them unlicensed, according to city officials.
That’s a huge problem for Costa Mesa, as it is for other cities, some of which have had limited success in curtailing the spread of such homes with zoning ordinances, mostly restricting the concentration of them in certain areas. There are still complaints from neighbors about noise, secondhand smoke, too many cars.
But the bigger issue is residents turned out to the streets, a practice called curbing.
“It creates a big challenge for a small city,” said Rick Francis, a former city administrator in Costa Mesa who recently switched to a quieter job as assistant airport director at the John Wayne Airport. He calls curbing the number-one cause of homelessness in Costa Mesa.
“You suddenly have a lot of young, drug-addicted people living on the street. That’s a problem for police, for hospitals, for social services,” adding as many as 200 newly homeless a year just in Costa Mesa, he said. “They end up using up a lot of city resources,” he said. “We don’t have the social-service infrastructure to handle that.”
Francis cautioned that “this is not happening in all of the unlicensed sober-living homes. Many of them do great work and are invested in good patient care.”
The bills now making their way through the Legislature would:
• Allow the state Department of Health Care Services to revoke the license of a recovery facility for abuses by an unlicensed recovery facility associated with it, and would establish voluntary registration for unlicensed sober-living homes;
• Direct the state’s Department of Health Care Services to develop guidelines for handling unlicensed homes, particularly how to substantiate and investigate complaints;
• Establish fines for patient brokering, the recruiting and “selling” of patients to recovery facilities;
• Prohibit licensed facilities from makin g money through patient referrals; and
• Establish a pilot program to place the headquarters of a state health inspector in the city of Costa Mesa to investigate complaints about facilities in the surrounding area.
In addition, Orange County District A ttorney Tony Rackauckasrecently launched a task force on sober-living homes and has vowed to crack down on them.
And U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, a Pasadena Democrat, has introduced a bill in Congress that would direct the federal Department of Health and Human Services to develop best practices guidelines for recovery facilities.
Sober-living homes are protected by the federal Fair Housing Act. That law protects the right of individuals with disabilities to live together.
“There’s a lot of concern with the group homes that are unlicensed, but they’re protected by the Fair Housing Act,” said state Sen. Ed Hernandez, an Azusa Democrat and author of the revocation proposal.
“A drug dependency is considered a disability.... So there are limitations on what we can do in the Legislature.”
That’s as it should be, according to Sherry Daley, governmental affairs director for the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals, a trade group representing recovery facilities.
“These homes are not licensed, and they shouldn’t be licensed,” Daley said. “They’re where people live and come together in a communal living arrangement.”
The not -in-my-backyard sentiment from municipalities is understandable but unwarranted, she said. The homes are legal and here to stay, she said, so cities should work with them rather than against them.
“It just comes down to how do you achieve sober-living homes living with the community in harmony,” Daley said.
Cameron High said he had to travel pretty far inland to find a sober-living home that really was sober, one in Anaheim where the residents are older and a little more serious about giving up drugs. For this reason, his drug use and attraction to the easy, big-money payoff for dealing them have grown during his time in California.
“Out here it’s crazy,” High said. “Orange County looks like it’s all nice, but behind the scenes, it’s bad. I never even saw heroin and meth until I came out here.
“I’m thinking, I may have to go somewhere else,” he continued, “... because around here, there’s just too much stuff around, and too many people I know who pull at you, you know? So yeah, maybe it’s time, ... and that means getting out of Orange County.”
That could take awhile. At this writing, High remains in jail on charges of possessing drugs with intent to sell. He has pleaded not guilty.
Why Central American asylum seekers face very long odds
By now, most have heard about the "caravan" of asylum-seeking migrants, who recently reached the end of a month-long journey to California's southern border. About 1,200 people were part of the group when it started; today, just 200 sit in limbo in Tijuana.
The AP reports that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner told the asylum-seekers that the San Ysidro border crossing had reached its capacity: an announcement that some found surprising, considering that the border inspection facility has a capacity of about 300 people.
When asylum seekers can formally apply isn't clear. What is plain, however, is that the men, women, and children who do request asylum in the US face some very long odds: about 80 percent of applications are denied, says Niels Frenzen, director of the USC Gould Immigration Clinic.
Frenzen explains why:
The reason that, ultimately, 80 percent of Central Americans seeking asylum are going to be denied if they get to the immigration judge hearing is that they can't show that the harm is linked to a protected factor like race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. They can show they're being threatened or they have been severely harmed; they just can't link it to something that is protected by the refugee laws.
(Answer has been edited for clarity and brevity.)
A private highway across the I-15 for big cats and other critters to be one of the world's largest wildlife crossings
Coexisting with wildlife has proved to be a unique balancing act for urban areas across Southern California. Sprawling development has expanded options for people but put animals in a tough position as their habitats are sliced up by roads and freeways.
When wildlife becomes isolated without routes to explore new territory, their chances of survival greatly diminish. The mountain lions of the Santa Ana and Santa Monica mountains are a prime example of what happens when a population cannot travel and becomes too inbred. You can even see crooked-tailed big cats in the area– an indication of health problems caused by a lack of genetic diversity.
Southern California is at the forefront of creative solutions to such problems. A stretch of land along Interstate 15 in Riverside County was recently purchased by The Nature Conservancy to develop a series of crossing areas so wildlife can have safe passage through the ten-lane freeway. And passage through I-15 means big cats in the Santa Ana and Palomar mountain ranges would have a path to one another, solving the inbreeding problem. It would also allow all local wildlife a chance to escape wildfire and drought.
The Nature Conservancy and their partners are still in the research and fundraising stages so it will take a number of years before any structures are put into place. Whether an underground tunnel or overpass above the freeway would best serve the area is yet to be determined, but conservationists are intent on getting the ball rolling.
For local wildlife, the stakes are high. "If we don't find a way to connect wildlife across the highway, populations of mountain lions will likely be lost in the next 30 to 50 years," said Trish Smith, an ecologist with the Nature Conservancy. "It's kind of the canary in the coal mine with regards to warning us that there's problems with passage across our highways."
Great White sharks could be good for beachgoers (but a horror movie for sting rays)
Summer is approaching and, across Southern California, beachgoers from San Onofre to Ventura are gearing up to splash in the Pacific.
So are teams of young Great White sharks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8qhNbu3w7o
SoCal's favorite beaches have become regular hang-outs for juvenile white sharks. They've been making a comeback along the coast thanks to conservation efforts that have restored marine life - there's just a lot more to eat in our warm, shallow waters these days.
That's why the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach is getting behind Assembly Bill 2191 now making its way through the legislature. The proposed law would increase resources for shark research and strengthen collaboration between researchers and first responders, including lifeguards.
The pros of having great white sharks (yes, you read that right)
Marine mammal populations have rebounded along the coast and that's resulted in a little too much of a good thing. So, as the top guy in the food chain, white sharks help keep marine mammal populations at a health level.
White sharks may also help protect people from another aquatic attack. "One of their favorite things to eat are stingrays," said Chris Lowe, Director of the Shark Lab at CalState Long Beach. "Stingray populations have exploded over the last 50 years– in fact, thousands of people are injured by stingrays in Southern California, every year. So, what if those baby white sharks hanging out at your favorite beach, are actually keeping you safer from being stung by a stingray."
Shark Lab's wish list: high-tech ocean gadgets
There's still a lot that's unknown about the behavior of our local white sharks, which is why researchers are asking for more funding. Exactly where the mothers give birth to their young isn't even clear yet. But with the technology available today, Lowe is confident we could learn a lot more about shark behavioral patterns– knowledge is is very useful to lifeguards in keeping beachgoers safe.
Tagging technology has advanced to provide realtime reports of shark movement. Drones can be used to identify what kind of shark is in the water, since great whites have other shark companions out there. "We have underwater selfie-stations and the sharks are curious and swim up and take a selfie," said Lowe. "And then we can use those video-pictures to help identify those individuals based on unique facial features."
It's not all "Jaws" out there
Yes, shark bites are a real danger. But young sharks, like the ones hanging around our beaches, are a far cry from a Spielberg movie-monster. "I would argue that baby white sharks don't even they're a white shark yet," said Lowe. "They're still afraid of everything because they don't know what a predator is yet."
Despite the increased presence of sharks, there hasn't been a pattern to cause much alarm. "Even though people are amongst those sharks all the time, they don't seem to be bothering with people," said Lowe.
But common sense in the water is still a good idea. For swimmers and surfers it's best to keep a keen eye on your surroundings. "Watch wildlife," said Lowe. "A lot of wildlife is very much in tune to predators in the ocean and if you see the seals or sea lions acting weird around you or trying to get up on your surf board, it's probably time to get out of the water."
Lowe is hopeful that if we learn enough about coexisting with white sharks, instead of fearing the beach, it could be a plus for tourism. "There may be a time when people actually come to Southern California to see a white shark."
To no one's surprise, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ broke a bunch of box office records
What shattered both worldwide AND opening weekend records in the month of April?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwievZ1Tx-8
An elite team of superheroes operating under the Marvel brand "The Avengers."
Monday's numbers are in for film "Infinity War" and the Avengers team this time around helped rake in an estimated $258.1 million, blowing past the record previously set by "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Overseas it made about $382.8 million, bringing up the worldwide total to $641 million.
An impressive total on the count that it doesn't include the second biggest box office market in the world: China.
"This was an expensive movie. It cost about $300 million to produce," said Vanity Fair's Rebecca Keegan, "that doesn't include marketing and everything else. But clearly, it hit the mark with movie-goers and seems poised to play well into the summer."
Seems like, with each release of a big movie franchise, a new record is broken. Anyone else getting record-breaking fatigue yet?
But this movie is really in kind of an elite club, I think. Beating out 'The Force Awakens,' this is not just, 'hey this is the biggest opening in April or the biggest opening for such and such movie,' this is just legitimately huge.
And it looks like it can break into this elite $2 billion dollar club by the end of its run and that's where 'The Force Awakens,' 'Titanic,' and 'Avatar,' are the only three movies that have done that."
Plus:
- Like nearly all the biggest movies these days, "The Avengers: Infinity War" was rated PG-13, but movie ratings are less important than ever to the business, as digital distributors like Netflix skip the ratings process. Is it the end of ratings as we know it?
- Bill Cosby’s conviction in the first major case of the #MeToo era, but don't think it'll affect how future sexual assault cases against high-profile defendants play out.
On The Lot, Take Two's weekly segment about the business of entertainment and Hollywood, airs every Monday.
Golden State, meet the Red Planet
Get ready for blast off. For the first time, a NASA mission to another planet is launching from California. The Insight Mars lander is scheduled to take off Saturday from the Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California.
Usually missions like this are based in Florida, but that creates a sort of traffic jam.
"We can come to the west coast which is relatively less congested and relieve some of the pressure over there on the east," said Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator for the InSight mission. "Plus it's cool to be able to show off a launch to about 10 million people in Southern California for the first time," he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=LKLITDmm4NA
What will InSight do?
InSight is going to study the interior of Mars. Scientists know a lot about Mars already from previous missions, but this is the first time they'll get this data about the inside of the planet, Banerdt said.
The lander will carry a seismometer and a heat probe to measure seismic waves from Mars quakes and read temperatures below the planet's surface.
When we live here in California, we feel earthquakes maybe two or three times a year, but at CalTech they have seismometers and they're measuring dozens of earthquakes everyday. We don't feel them, but they're happening in Japan, they're happening in South America. By the time those waves get to California, we can't feel them, but they make little vibrations in the ground that those seismometers measure and we're doing the same thing on Mars.
Studying these tiny seismic waves and the subtle differences in temperature as you move deeper and deeper into the planet will help the team learn about the makeup of Mars' interior.
"It’s like going to the doctor’s office. We’re going to take its temperature. We’re going to listen to its heartbeat," Banerdt said.
What will this teach us about Earth?
Learning about the inside of Mars will tell scientists more about the planet's early history so they can try to figure out how Mars and other rocky planets, like Earth and Venus, formed, Banerdt said.
We don't know a lot about the earliest history of the planet Earth, and so we don't understand how it took its path to where we are today, where it's a cool place to live and summer vacation is great versus Venus which is about the same size as the Earth but is about 300-400 degrees hotter and maybe not such a great summer vacation place. How those planets diverged is one of the great questions of planetary science.
Mars is the best source of information about the beginnings of rocky planets because it's big enough to have undergone the same planet-forming processes that Earth did, but it's less active inside, Banerdt said. Earth has a lot going on, and under its surface, plate tectonics and movement under the planet's crust have erased any evidence of what Earth was like in its earliest days, but that's not true on Mars.
"We think that by going to Mars we'll be able to get the clues to the early formation processes that have been lost on the Earth but are locked in this deep interior vault on Mars," Banerdt said.
What happens after launch?
Once the mission launches, it will take about six and a half months to reach the red planet.
The actual landing process is pretty complicated, Banerdt said. When arriving on Mars, everything InSight needs for its trip from Earth to Mars will be jettisoned. Then it's time to approach the atmosphere; InSight has a heat shield that will actually burn off as it hits Mars' atmosphere. Once speeds decrease a bit, the lander pops a parachute to slow it down more. As it approaches the surface, the parachute is dropped and rocket engines take over to help the lander reach the surface safely.
"And then the fun starts! Once we're on Mars, we have to unfold our solar panels, we have to get our instruments on the surface. There's a whole choreography that goes on once we get on the surface," Banerdt said.
The InSight mission will last for about two years, but if they receive more funding from NASA, they could continue after that.