Today on the show, we check in on some of the damage caused by the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Northern California early Sunday morning. Plus, we'll take a look at the lawyer representing the Michael Brown family, who also represented the Trayvon Martin family. 'The Simpsons' mural makes its way to the real Springfield, the drama surrounding fantasy football and much more.
Napa recovers after the earthquake
This weekend residents of Northern California were awakened by a dramatic 6.0 earthquake.
The quake caused a lot of damage, one of the buildings that suffered a large amount was the Goodman Library - it's home to the Napa Historical Society.
Nancy Levenberg is the society's Executive Director and she joined the show to talk about the historic downtown area and how residents are coping.
Predicting earthquakes
There was a little bit of good news that came out of yesterday's earthquake.
A few Berkeley scientists were able to get a 10-second warning BEFORE the shaking reached them. That alert came from a prototype of an earthquake early warning system.
Its success yesterday is prompting calls from officials to expanded it to the entire state. We talked about it with our science reporter, Sanden Totten.
Lawyer for Michael Brown family becomes central figure in civil rights cases
Hundreds of people lined up in the sweltering heat to say farewell to Michael Brown. His funeral is being held at the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis. What follows will be a long and complicated trial to determine whether the shooting of the unarmed teen by a police officer was justified.
Representing Michael Brown's family will be Benjamin Crump. The 44-year-old Florida trial lawyer has plenty of experience with high profile cases with civil rights implications. He also represented the family of Trayvon Martin. Buzzfeed's Adrian Carrasquillo recently wrote about Crump's sensibility and powerful delivery when dealing with these cases.
You can read Adrian Carrasquillo's profile on Benjamin Crump here.
UC researchers study why protests turn violent
The violent clashes between protestors and police in the days following the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri have raised questions about why some demonstrations turn violent and others don't.
Nick Adams, a sociologist and fellow at UC Berkeley's Institute of Data Science, is leading a team of researchers looking into thousands of Occupy movement protests to find out how and why interactions between police and protestors turn violent.
Fantasy football not just for fans, players can join high-stakes leagues too
For millions of fantasy football fans, it's that time of year again. With the NFL season less than two weeks away, fans are drafting players for their fantasy teams. These virtual teams depend on the real-life performances of NFL players, which is why it comes as some surprise that those same players are allowed to play in fantasy leagues too. They can draft themselves, teammates or other players around the league.
And not just the friendly fantasy leagues without money at stake; we're talking high-stakes games with big pots of money. And it's all perfectly legal.
Nando Di Fino of the Fantasy Sports Network says the NFL embraces fantasy football, but when it comes to high-stakes games, "It's always going to raise some kind of antennae and cause some kind of concern when it gets to be hundreds of thousands and even million-dollar prizes involved."
Female Muslim basketball player fights ban on headscarves
This week, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) will vote on whether to change its ban on Islamic headscarves. The organization says headscarves worn during play pose a safety issue and take away from team uniformity, but players like Indira Kaljo, who wear headscarves for religious reasons, say the ban is discriminatory.
Kaljo has been playing basketball since she was 9-years-old and has played professionally in Europe. But since deciding to wear a hijab last year, her future career in basketball has come into question. She says that while she loves the game, if the ban isn't lifted, she'll have to hang up her shoes and retire.
Iranian-American judge barred from hearing cases with Iranian nationals
An Iranian-American immigration judge in Los Angeles is suing the US Department of Justice. She was barred from hearing cases involving Iranian nationals. The order came after the judge attended a public event that featured prominent Iranian Americans.
Some legal watchers say it's unheard of, and could have broad implications for federal immigration judges in and out of the courtroom. The California Report's Steven Cuevas has more.
On The Lot: Remembering Richard Attenborough, celebrity activism and more
What's the latest in Hollywood? We can answer that, because each week
- from the Los Angeles Times - joins us for "On The Lot" - our regular discussion of entertainment.
This week, Guardians of the Galaxy guarded the top spot in the box office, but it was the indie film called "The One I Love" that set a Hollywood precedent, we remember the late Richard Attenborough, celebrities are taking sides in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and Rebecca heads off to Telluride Film Festival for the start of Oscar season.
California prisons and mentally ill inmates
Earlier this month the California Department of Corrections introduced new policies related to mentally ill prisoners. The reforms were in response to a well publicized order from a federal judge who said that use of force and solitary confinement of mentally ill inmates was unconstitutional.
While many of the reforms have been put into operation, prison officials have not yet created a plan that deals with inmates housed in Special Housing Units - the high security unit often referred to as the SHU.
We talk about it with LA Times reporter
State lawmakers have until the end of week to tackle bills
It's the home stretch in Sacramento. This is the last week of the legislative session. Come midnight on Sunday, lawmakers must tackle all sorts of contentious issues before they adjourn for the year. Capital Public Radio's Ben Adler brings us up to date on some of the biggest bills in California, like the plastic bags and ride-sharing companies.
American rice farmers look to China as the next big market
Rice is such a staple of the Chinese diet that the country could eat through America's annual production in a mere 17 days. Lately, China has been looking to other countries to bolster its supply and American rice farmers are keen to take advantage of the opportunity. But as Los Angeles Times reporter David Pierson explains, there are some significant regulatory hurdles in the way.
Small Washington town takes center stage in marijuana ban lawsuit
This week, a lawsuit over bans on marijuana businesses in Washington heads to Superior Court in Pierce County, just south of Seattle. It involves a fight over pot retailers in the small town of Fife, and it could potentially derail Washington's new system for legalized marijuana. From Seattle Public Radio station KUOW, Amy Radil explains.
Martin Starr on being Hollywood's surly nerd in HBO's 'Silicon Valley'
Martin Starr in "Silicon Valley" on HBO
You could say actor Martin Starr is Hollywood's surly nerd.
If you don't know his name, you might recognize him from his roles as Bill Haverchuck in "Freaks and Geeks" or as Roman DeBeers in "Party Down" on Starz. Now, he stars as Gilfoyle, master coder and devoted Satanist , in the Emmy-nominated HBO show "Silicon Valley."
In an interview with Southern California Public's Radio's Take Two, Martin Starr talks to A Martinez about his acting career, his geek status, and whether he can really code.
Martin Starr plays Bill in the short lived "Freaks and Geeks"
But Starr 's talents aren't just limited to TV. He raps as well, and performs with the band Common Rotation in Los Angeles.
An only-in LA multicultural musical mashup
The Latin alternative band La Santa Cecilia and the Yuval Ron Ensemble sound nothing alike. La Santa Cecilia draws from rock, cumbia and jazz, while Ron's group combines music from the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. These musical and cultural differences are exactly why they joined forces for the Voices of L.A. Festival, which is all -about cross-cultural collaboration.
Marisol Hernandez, lead singer of La Santa Cecilia, says the first rehearsal for two bands was a bit awkward: "It's like starting a relationship, a friendship, you know? You're kind of shy and we're kind of all in different sides of the room and then slowly started mixing up when the music started."
Once the bands started jamming, they found their different sounds actually complimented each other. Ron said the different approaches meshed, even though his band played with ancient and acoustic instruments while La Santa Cecilia played with more modern and louder instruments.
"What's really cool for us is to hear La Santa Cecilia play Latin rhythms on top of our Middle Eastern rhythms," Ron said. "And it gives us a whole new feeling to groove and to enjoy our music from the Middle East."
Not only did they find similarities in each other's music, but also in their cultures. They each wanted to connect people from different backgrounds through music and saw the Voices of LA Fest as a perfect way to engage the people of Los Angeles.
Miguel "Oso" Ramirez — percussionist for La Santa Cecilia — says they want Angelenos to be open to exploring the different cultures that make up the diverse city. He used a classic L.A. experience as an example: "If I go from the 110 freeway West and I go to this neighborhood, I can see this, I can smell this, I can taste this, I can listen to this and it can affect me in a positive way."
La Santa Cecilia and the Yuval Ron Ensemble perform Tuesday, August 26th at 7:30 at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes in downtown Los Angeles.