Today on the show, we talk about how LAUSD's new school year starts with extra security. Then, what does Gov. Brown's AB 1266 means for transgender students in public schools?; Tuesday Reviewsday: KT Tunstall, Wild Feathers, Washed Out; Border town deportations can be dangerous for migrants, plus much more.
What's next in the Hannah Anderson kidnapping investigation?
Sixteen-year-old Hannah Anderson was rescued this weekend after family friend James DiMaggio allegedly kidnapped her. DiMaggio was shot by police in Idaho where passersby has seen the two and notified authorities. The police says DiMaggio also killed Anderson's mother and younger brother.
For the latest on this story we turn to Kate Mather, a reporter for the L.A. Times.
How effective are Amber Alerts?
San Diego-area teen Hannah Anderson is back home with relatives, after her abduction last week.
State leaders are pointing to the value of the Amber Alert that was issued to mobile-phone users across California after Anderson was kidnapped. Some suggest the alert helped lead authorities to her location.
But the use of widespread text messaging continues to reverberate. Many Californians complained the text that went out in the late evening was disruptive, and some crime experts are questioning the effectiveness of Amber Alerts.
With more is Tim Griffin, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Nevada-Reno.
What AB 1266 means for transgender students in public schools
California is now the first state in the nation with a law protecting transgender students.
Governor Brown signed the bill yesterday, and it affects K-12 transgender children in public school. The law gives them the right to use whichever restroom or locker room they'd like.
They're also allowed to to join activities regardless of the gender they're born with. So, for example, they can choose to play either boys' sports or girls' sports.
The fight to pass this bill has been a personal one for 18-year-old Eli Erlick. She's a transgender high school graduate of Willits Charter School in Willits, and she's also the executive director of Trans Student Equality Resources.
'LA Adventures': Finding hidden treasures and day tripping by train in LA
It takes just $1.50 per ride to see L.A. by Metro, and as the system expands there are more hidden treasures you can reach in the city.
David Madsen and Elisa Makunga, co-authors of "L.A. Adventures: Eclectic Day Trips by Metro Rail Through Los Angeles and Beyond," took KPCC's Leo Duran on a tour of a few things you can see by train.
Free organ concerts every Thursday at 12:10 at the First Congregational Church of LA.
How To Get There: Take the red or purple line to the Wilshire/Vermont station. Walk five minutes to the church at the corner of W 6th St and S Commonwealth Av.
The Great Organs of First Church is host to free recitals every week. The massive instrument is considered one of the biggest church organs in the world.
"Sometimes it’s really frightening, sometimes it’s beautiful classical, and it’ll be broadcast through those 20000 pipes, which are all around the church," says Madsen.
The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live
How To Get There: Take either the blue, red, purple, or Expo lines to the 7th and Metro station in downtown LA. Then walk 10 minutes to the museum at S Figueroa St and W Olympic Blvd
Opened in 2008, you can check out a collection of Michael Jackson’s sequined jackets, test out your music skills in recording booths, and watch videos of great performances from past Grammy awards.
The Space Shuttle Endeavor at the California Science Center
How To Get There: Take the Expo line to the Expo Park/USC station, and walk 5 minutes through the rose garden to the California Science Center.
After making 25 missions to space, the retired shuttle docked in the center in 2012. Madsen says, "This is one of the single biggest tourist attractions in Los Angeles now."
Do you know a hidden L.A. gem you can get to by train? Tell us about it in the comments!
LA City Council to vote on curbside gardens
Today the LA City Council is set to vote on a motion that would allow residents to plant gardens on parkways. These small stretches of land between the sidewalk and curb are seen as fertile ground by urban gardeners.
Ron Finley is one such urban gardener. We introduced you to him a few months back, just before he gave a talk on guerilla gardening at the annual TED conference. Ron joins the show from his home in South Central LA.
Border town deportations can be dangerous for migrants
The Obama administration has deported more than 1.9 million people from the United States since 2009. That's a record number that surpasses deportations under President George W. Bush’s two terms in office.
A recent report by human rights group Washington Office on Latin America says certain deportation practices place migrants in danger — deportees are often released into some of Mexico’s most violent border cities, and often in the middle of the night, with no documentation, no money, no resources to protect themselves.
For the Fronteras Desk, Maria Ines Zamudio reports.
Testimony claims Michael Jackson was 'tapped out' and millions in debt
Believe it or not, it's been four months since the Michael Jackson trial began.
As the case slogs on, testimony has turned to the topic of the late pop star's finances. Turns out Jackson was pretty broke at the time of his death. For more on this, we're joined once again by Jeff Gottlieb of the LA Times.
Tuesday Reviewsday: KT Tunstall, Wild Feathers, Washed Out
Now it's time for Tuesday Reviewsday our weekly new music segment. Shirley Halperin, music editor of The Hollywood Reporter joins us today.
Artist: KT Tunstall
Songs: “Feel It All,” “No Better Shoulder”
Album: Invisible Empire // Crescent Moon (out Aug. 6)
First up is Scottish singer KT Tunstall, who some may remember from back in 2005. She had a pretty massive hit that year with “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree,” a song that catapulted up the charts after an American Idol contestant performed it. Known for performing live with a loop pedal that she controlled – talk about ambidextrous, she was practically a one-woman band. But on this album, her fourth, she’s going mostly acoustic and very mellow. The song, “Feel It All,” is the most rockin' track on KT’s latest:
This is a two-sided album, if there were such a thing these days. Instead of side A and B, we get two titles, “Invisible Empire” and “Crescent Moon.” Both halves are melancholy and reflective – songs about divorce and death, two life issues that KT seems to be working through. It’s a girl that hurting, maybe even torn. The album cover has her staring down a desert landscape wearing a cowboy hat and with her hair half-shaved – almost looks like a scene out of "Breaking Bad". This is her Nebraska, and she has the glowing reviews to prove it.
Artist: Washed Out
Songs: “It All Feels Right,” “Paracosm”
Album: Paracosm (out Aug. 13)
The next album worth paying attention to is from the artist known as Washed Out, who some people may know from the "Portlandia" theme, which is in fact a Washed Out song (called “Feel It All Around”). Although the name sounds like a group, Washed Out is actually a person, Ernest Green, who hails from Georgia and is really the poster child for the “Chill Wave” movement.
Take a listen to “Paracosm,” the title track from the album which comes out today. I actually had to look up the word paracosm, which I’ve now learned is “a detailed imaginary world, or fantasy world, involving humans and/or animals, or perhaps even fantasy or alien creations.” Thank you, Wikipedia.
It’s an appropriate name for a record that has a surf-like essence to it. Sometimes the waves come in all gentle and sometimes they crash onto the shore with more intensity. It’s a bit of a departure from the dreamy synth-pop of his previous release, as Ernest Greene recently said, it’s “very much a daytime-sounding album.” And that’s certainly true for a song like “It All Feels Right.”
Artist: Wild Feathers
Song: “The Ceiling,” “American”
Album: S/T (out Aug. 13)
Here we have a band from Nashville giving a reverential nod to great power pop bands of the 1970s – the ones who can write a good bridge, like this one from the song “American.” You don’t hear the air-guitar worthy riffs inspired by the likes of Tom Petty, Neil Young and The Band on the charts which are heavy on the EDM, hip-hop and pop, but these guys have a song that is definitely reacting as they say in the music business. It’s called “The Ceiling,” check it out:
You can definitely hear the Nashville-ness in their sound, but it’s also worth noting that Memphis is but 200 miles away because there’s an awful lot of Big Star-esque goodness to be heard too, along with hints of the Black Crowes and Ryan Adams. A very promising debut from a band that’s bound to cross over – or at least one can hope.
Chris' Collection: Toy cameraman
Chris Nichols is an editor at Los Angeles magazine, but he's also a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Southern California's history. Every so often he comes by and he brings in one of his treasures.
Today he brings in a toy cameraman that was once used for the Kraft Television Theater of the 1940s and '50s. It was a promotion that you could get if you mailed in enough box tops to Kraft.
The challenges facing Affordable Care Act outreach workers in LA
One of the biggest changes under the Affordable Care Act soon will take effect: the nationwide Medicaid expansion.
In California, it means about 1 million more uninsured residents will be eligible for Medi-Cal starting next year. Outreach workers are already heading into communities with a high number of uninsured residents, including South LA.
RELATED: FAQ: What is Healthy Way LA? What are the links to Medi-Cal and health care reform?
KPCC's Jose Martinez says some of the challenges these workers are encountering sound very familiar.
Valley Fever cases have tripled in the last 10 years
Now for an update to a health story we've been covering: The potentially lethal disease known as Valley Fever. The disease is caused by an airborne fungus that thrives in dry, dusty conditions, and over the past 10 years, rates of the disease have tripled.
Rebecca Plevin, reporter for Valley Public Radio, joins the show with an update.
Mexican president Peña Nieto submits proposal to open PEMEX oil reserves
The Mexican oil giant PEMEX could soon be opening to foreign investment. Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto put forward his proposal yesterday to make a fundamental change to the state-owned oil company, which has been under-performing in recent years.
RELATED: Peña Nieto proposes opening Mexico's oil reserves to foreign companies
The move would shake up an industry that has been nationalized for more than 70 years. Here to tell us more about Peña Nieto's plan is Tim Johnson, a reporter with McClatchy newspapers based in Mexico City.
What's the next step in Elon Musk's Hyperloop plan?
On Monday we had some fun speculating about how billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's planned transportation system might work, but now we've heard from the man himself.
RELATED: Update: Inventor Musk shares plans for high-speed 'Hyperloop' travel (PDF)
Musk unveiled the alpha plan yesterday afternoon, saying that his Hyperloop could get you from L.A. to San Francisco in 30 minutes for one-tenth the cost of the proposed high speed rail route.
Bloomberg reporter Ashlee Vance spoke with Musk about his plans. He's writing a book on the founder of Tesla, SpaceX and Paypal and got the inside scoop on the Hyperloop.
Beachcombing: 'Beach Runners' keep California's shores free of nasty bacteria (photos)
Grab your shades and sandals. It's time for another installment of KPCC's Beach Combing series, where we look at issues facing our waters and shores.
Today, some good news. Over the last decade, the water quality at California's beaches has improved dramatically. KPCC's Science Reporter Sanden Totten tells us that's in large part thanks to better monitoring.
The military as an environmentalist?
When you think "military," you probably don't think "environmentalist." But it turns out Defense Department properties -- like the Navy-owned island of San Clemente, or the area around Camp Pendleton -- boast the highest density of threatened and endangered species of any federal land management agency. And huge swaths of military terrain have become de facto wildlife refuges for all kinds of animals.
Songs in the Key of LA: 'Lead Me, Guide Me'
This summer we've been telling you about a project called Songs in the Key of LA. It's a multi-platform collaboration between the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and USC professor Josh Kun.
Kun and his students culled through thousands of pieces of sheet music in the library's collection to find songs about the Golden State. One of the tunes they discovered is called "Lead Me, Guide Me."
Join Josh Kun tonight at 6:30 pm for GRAMMY U presents: Civil Rights Radio (Music as Politics) featuring special guest Wale