Zuckerberg's Internet.org initiative aims to bring online access to all; Fukushima toxic water leak may get upgraded to 'serious incident'; Summer Food: Cooling down naeng-myun style in Koreatown; Lawmakers seek audit on circumstances of prison sterilizations; Weinstein Co. signs streaming movies deal with Netflix, plus much more.
Zuckerberg's Internet.org initiative aims to bring online access to all
On Tuesday, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a brand new initiative to bring Internet access to people around the world who don't have it. The group is called Internet.org and the goal's to get affordable Internet to the 4 billion people who lack access.
With more is Don Clark, a technology editor for the Wall Street Journal.
Fukushima toxic water leak may get upgraded to 'serious incident'
Japan has struggled to contain the fallout from the nuclear disaster that struck Fukushima after the devastating earthquake and tsunami back in 2011. Reports emerged yesterday that 80,000 gallons of highly contaminated water have been leaking out of a storage tank.
The water is so contaminated that standing 18 inches away from it for an hour would expose you to five times the amount of radiation that the average nuclear workers gets in a year. Japan's nuclear watchdog said today that it plans to dramatically raise the rating of the leak to a "serious incident".
For more we're joined by Dr. Arjun Mahkijani president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.
Loyola Law School reduces incoming class size after alumni job complaints
Classes begin at Loyola Law school this week, but this year there are about 20 fewer students than usual. Loyola decided to reduce the size of its incoming class after alumni complained that they couldn't find jobs.
The school is not alone. A survey by Kaplan Test Prep found that 51 percent of law schools have reduced their incoming classes.
For more on this trend and what it means for the future of law, we're joined now by Jordan Weissman, who wrote about this for The Atlantic.
Are AP classes really worth the investment?
Before college-bound students even *think about taking the LSATS they've got to get through high school.
Hundreds of millions of federal dollars have been spent nudging more students into Advanced Placement classes. Enrollment nearly tripled but a close look at those students test scores show that it might not be worth the investment.
Stephanie Simon, Senior Education Reporter at Politico has been looking into it.
What is 'common core' and how will it affect LA schools?
Students in L.A. Unified have been back in school for just over a week now, and they're probably starting to see some changes in the classroom as schools implement new curriculum standards.
Forty-five states, including California, have adopted new education guidelines known as Common Core. But a recent poll by Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup shows that most Americans aren't familiar with these new standards.
KPCC's education editor Evelyn Larrubia joins the show for a primer on what Common Core is and how it affects L.A. schools.
Sports Roundup: Puig-Mania, Kobe Bryant and more
Puig-mania hits South Beach, turns out Lebron James is just like most normal guys and the NCAA may not be soulless after all. This means it's time for sports with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, who have covered the sports scene for the L.A. Times and ESPN.
On tap today:
The legend of Yasiel Puig continues to grow. He's had an interesting last couple of days, but Puig was benched for yesterday's game versus the Marlins. Came in as a defensive replacement in the 6th, then had his first at bat in the 8th, score tied at four.
Puig's trip to Miami has been chock full o' drama. After snapping their 10-game losing streak Sunday in Philly, Puig and some teammates roll into Miami at around 1 a.m. Monday and head straight to a South Beach nightclub where they party with LeBron James.
They lost again Monday night with Puig striking out twice, then he yells at the media because his night out was on TMZ. Yesterday, he showed up late to the ballpark, saying that he got caught in traffic. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly fines him and benches him although he says he was already planning on giving him a night off anyway. Then on the first pitch he sees hits a home run.
Puig's boss Magic Johnson says it doesn't matter to him if his team parties as long as they stay in first place. Magic never turned down a party when he was running the Lakers in the '80s but back then there were no cell phone cameras and no TMZ either. Are they grown ups or in this day and age are they flirting with disaster?
The Lakers jersey has always been one the NBA's classiest and most popular. Purple and gold, simple but elegant. Now they're adding a twist to the tank top by adding sleeves.
At least the name on front of the jersey stays the same. Although, the name Lakers has more to with their Minnesota roots than anything in L.A.
While Kobe Bryant seems to be well ahead of schedule in his recovery from surgery on his Achilles, he may be attempting something that in sSouthern California could tougher than coming back from surgery: Kobe is trying to sell his Newport Coast home for $8.6 million. Four bedrooms complete with a library, gym, hair salon and shark tank.
The NFL season is right around the corner, but why is the team making the biggest headlines right now is one from 40 years ago.
Finally, we were all set to have another story of why so many people hate the NCAA, but a miracle happened. They actually found a heart. What happened?
Weinstein Co. signs streaming movies deal with Netflix
There's a new power couple in Hollywood — Netflix and The Weinstein Company. The two have inked a deal that will allow Netflix to stream movies like "Inglorious Basterds", "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The Butler" come 2016.
Joining us now for more on this is Andrew Wallenstein, editor in chief of digital for Variety.
State of Affairs: Wrangling over the LA DWP union contract
Today we have a special edition of State of Affairs, our look at politics throughout California.
The Los Angeles City Council has scheduled another closed door meeting today to discuss a new labor contract with the powerful union that represents Department of Water and Power workers. At the center of contract negotiations lie more than 600 Byzantine work rules.
Mayor Eric Garcetti has argued that streamlining those rules could save the DWP millions of dollars.
Joining us now for a look at the high-stakes-wrangling over the contract are KPCC political reporters Alice Walton and Frank Stoltze.
Lawmakers seek audit on circumstances of prison sterilizations
California lawmakers today are expected to seek an audit of California's bullet train project. They want to look into how land in the Central Valley is being purchased and whether land owners will be able to appeal.
Also on the docket is a state audit of the legally questionable practice of sterilizing women in prison. This follows last month's report from the Center for Investigative Reporting that said at least 148 female inmates had received unapproved tubal ligations in California prisons.
As Pauline Bartolone of Capital Public Radio explains, it's part of the state's dark history with a discredited social philosophy.
App Chat: What teens are using to chat these days
If you have kids, communicating with them can get tough during their teenage years. Instead of trying to speak to them directly, leave notes around the house, or even email them, you can try a chat app.
They're apps that let you communicate with people via your smartphone, and they've become wildly popular with users of all ages around the world, most likely including your teenager.
Jacqui Cheng, editor at large for Ars Technica, is back for our weekly app recommendation segment, App Chat.
Line
This is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. It lets you send stickers and messages and is extremely popular internationally.
WhatsApp?
This is a messaging app that is compatible with nearly all smartphones, so it's popular among people who have a lot of friends using different platforms. You can do group messages on it and share images/video like you can with most other apps, but you can also share your location so people can meet you easily wherever you are. The biggest appeal here is that it's so widely cross-platform. The features are about what you would expect for a messaging app, but since it's so compatible, it has an appeal over something like iMessages or even Facebook Messenger
Viber
This is sort of a cross between Line and Skype, in that it allows for group messaging and can do fun things like stickers, but it also can do VoIP and text messages over your phone's data connection. It's cross-platform, too, so you can easily chat with friends on multiple platforms without worrying about compatibility. The interface is a little more "fun" than something like WhatsApp, too.
Summer Food: Cooling down naeng-myun style in Koreatown
Now for another in Summer Food series, where we introduce you to our favorite meals to eat on those sizzling hot summer days. Producer Meghan McCarty brings us a hot weather specialty from Korea.
We all remember the big Korean hit from last summer. You know, that catchy little tune that shall remain buried deep in the annals of pop culture history never to be mentioned again.
Today, producer Meghan McCarty introduces us to the Korean hit of her summer, naeng-myun. It's a cold noodle dish and it's got a bit more substance than that frothy K-Pop single.
McCarty teamed up with food blogger Angela Kim and headed to Koreatown to seek out the perfect bowl of naeng-myun. On Kim's recommendation, the pair decided on Chosun Galbee, a restaurant known best for its Korean barbecue. Kim says one of their best-kept secrets is their naeng-myun.
"If you want to get a little more advanced there's two types of naeng-myun. There's mul naeng-myun, which literally translates as cold water noodles," said Kim. "Also there's bibim naeng-myun, and that one is a very spicy mixed dish. It's sweet and spicy."
Sometimes the dish can be difficult to eat because it's made with very long noodles, but a server will likely ask you if you want the noodles cut with scissors. Each restaurant may take liberties with the presentation.
"Everyone has their own little way of serving it," said Kim. "Sometimes you'll even see ice floating next to it or some frozen broth just to make it even icier. It's a very simple dish."
A simple, yet delicious noodle dish that cools you down but doesn't fill you up? That is what we call naeng-myun style.
Angela Kim recommends these L.A. restaurants for their naeng-myun:
Kosher tacos debut on the US-Mexico border
The Southwest border is a place where people and cultures collide and inevitably blend into one another. For El Paso artist Peter Svarzbein it was the perfect setting to introduce a food experiment that compliments his latest project.
He combined his experience as a Jew growing up on Mexico's doorstep to create a new twist on an iconic dish. Fronteras Desk reporter Mónica Ortiz Uribe reports on the Kosher Taco.
On a July afternoon, the kitchen at Chabad Lubavitch in El Paso was hotter than a desert full of burning bushes. No surprise, considering the amount of cooking that went on that day.
Chef Jose Cazares sipped a Dr Pepper in between each flip of his spatula. He fried clumps of shredded potato, or latkes, in a pan. Latkes are the traditional Jewish dish served during the Hanukkah holiday. But that's not all he cooked.
"We did six whole roasted kosher chickens, a pico de gallo, roasted green chiles, an Israeli salad" he said.
All this preparation was aimed at creating the main attraction: a kosher taco.
Levi Greenburg, assistant rabbi at Chabad Lubavitch, supervised the entire process.
"Kosher is dietary laws that are set forth by God in Torah, in the Bible, to the Jewish people," he said.
The kosher taco is the brainchild of Svarzbein, local artist and photographer.
"I actually muled 50 pounds of kosher meat from Albuquerque down to El Paso," he said.
Svarzbein paired his kosher taco experiment with a video exhibit he created on Latino crypto jews. These are the descendants of Jews who forcibly converted to Christianity as far back as the Spanish inquisition in the late 1400s. The Spanish called them 'marranos' or pigs.
"The reason they called them 'marranos' was because they would force them to eat pork to the bone to show how Christian they were," Svarzbein said. "Really it was an identity through food."
Pork is not kosher. Svarzbein's idea of joining a taco and kosher food is a nod to the Jews who fled to Latin America, particularly Mexico, to escape persecution.
"So in a way having a kosher taco is a way to take that power back and to positively identify oneself through food consumption," he said.
And thus was born Conversos y Tacos, a gourmet taco truck touring the streets of El Paso this summer.
There are three different kosher tacos to choose from. There's the chicken shwarma taco. Then the brisket taco that comes with a pickle. And finally a taco prepared with smoked beef from Ari White's famous kosher barbecue in Yonkers, New York. Each order comes with a latke and jalapeño dipping sauce.
Leslie Garcia sat at an outdoor bench with a table full of relatives.
"They're wonderful. They're delicious," she said.
Garcia is a pastor at a non-denominational Christian church, but her family has a Jewish past.
"Our great-great-grandfather fled during the inquisition and fled through Mexico," she said. "Our whole family ended up in California, except my father opened up a business in El Paso and we are El Pasoans."
It's almost as if the Garcia family is living the kosher taco. They grew up Mexican-American and Christian. But since they discovered their Jewish roots, the family simply combined both cultures.
"We celebrate Christmas, but we like Hanukkah and we do Hanukkah so that they can understand this is where we came from," she said.
The Jewish community in El Paso is small, making kosher food hard to come by and expensive. So the taco truck is a special treat for local Jews. For Svarbein it's also an opportunity to educate. There are those in El Paso who know little or nothing about the Jewish faith.
"For me it's about creating this space of understanding of dialogue," he said. "There's places where cultures can blend together and where you can create something different something new something fresh."
Verdict is still out on San Bernardino County's solar moratorium
The sun-rich Inland Empire is prime country for solar farms, but if you ask the locals, they might say there are too many.
Residents aren't the only ones that feel that way. County officials say they're overwhelmed by new applicants and need time to set up new rules. A few weeks ago, San Bernardino County quietly imposed a moratorium on the construction of new solar energy projects.
Tough news for some, given it's one of the most coveted, sun-rich regions of the world. The California Report's Steven Cuevas has the story.
Piecing together the clues behind the rash of sea lion deaths
It's been a grim time for Southern California sea lions. The creatures have been dying at an alarming rate and hundreds have washed up on shore, gravely malnourished.
Scientists have been baffled by this phenomena and have yet to nail down a cause. Now as new pups are being born, wildlife experts are wondering if this next generation of sea lions will be able to survive.
Wired science reporter Nadia Drake joins the show with more.