Disney buys movie, TV and production assets of 21st Century Fox, So Cal fires inspire LA to build more resilient infrastructure, LA City Council imposes developer fee to help build affordable housing
Working in farm fields during wildfire: 'It was full of smoke'
Building resilience into LA infrastructure
As fires continue to burn here in Southern California, the weather forecast today is sunny and 80 degrees. Even now, as we approach mid-December, the Los Angeles area has yet to experience any significant rain fall this season.
But rain will eventually make its way here. And climate scientists say it's likely to come in fast and furious bursts that will create a new set of problems. Is LA's infrastructure prepared to cope with our new normal of extreme weather and the droughts, wildfires and mud slides that come with it?
Andy Lipkis is founder of the community-oriented environmental group, Treepeople. He joined Take Two's Josie Huang to talk about how the city can become more resilient.
"The infrastructure that we built to protect public health and safety and meet our needs for water and sanitation and flood protection was built for a climate that we no longer have," Lipkis said. "That goes to the Governor saying fire is the new norm. What we're experiencing is early onset climate impacts with hotter hots, wetter wets, drier drys that are breaking through the design capacity of our infrastructure."
8-year-old's killer unlikely to see death penalty carried out anytime soon
The man charged with killing eight-year-old Gabriel Fernandez in 2013 was handed the death penalty Wednesday. Jurors decided on their verdict after hearing accounts of repeated abuse that led to the boy's death.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJILxUfTugI
Now the fate of 37-year-old Isauro Aguirre rests in the hands of the judge, who is likely to decide in March. If the recommendation holds, Aguirre will join some 700 California inmates currently on death row.
People sentenced to death in the state often appeal that decision, starting a process that can take decades. The last execution in California happened in 2006. A death sentence isn't likely to result in a timely execution, says Harry Litman, a constitutional law professor at UCLA:
For one, there have been no executions in over ten years, and when that happens in states like in Pennsylvania, a sort of stasis comes in. It's almost a fait accompli of there not being executions quickly and in bulk.
My best guess would be that he will be sentenced to death, but that it will be many years — the average is over 10 — until a sentence would be carried out. My best guess is it would never be carried out.
New LA fees on developers earmarked for affordable housing
What local child development experts want parents to know
The Ride: CA EV incentives, federal EV tax credits
The California Air Resources Board votes Thursday on a new funding plan for clean cars, trucks, buses and freight operations. Zero emissions vehicles of all kinds will be getting even more incentive money to help clean up California's perpetually bad air.
Funding for the 2017-2018 fiscal year includes $140 million for the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project which provides rebates of $2,500 to California buyers of battery-electric vehicles and up to $5,000 for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, if they meet certain criteria.
The budget also calls for almost $400 million in incentives for heavy-duty vehicles, including trucks, buses and freight operations such as ships and airplanes.
"We've long sought to have significant funding to help bring about cleaner freight equipment and facilities," said Melanie Turner, a public information officer with the California Air Resources Board.
This year's clean transportation funding package also includes $25 million in settlement money from Volkswagen, which will be directed toward so-called equity projects for disadvantaged communities that are disproportionately affected by poor air quality, Turner said.
On a national level, Bloomberg Politics reports that the reconciled federal tax bill announced Wednesday will preserve the $7,500 tax credit available to buyers of electric vehicles.
If at first you don’t succeed…you've earned a spot at the Museum of Failure
What do Harley-Davidson’s perfume, Bic’s pens “For Her” and Google Glass all have in common? They were all total flops.
That's the reason they’re all on display at the new Museum of Failure exhibition at the Architecture and Design Museum in Downtown Los Angeles.
“At the museum we have all kinds of different products,” said Samuel West, the creator and director of the Museum of Failure. “Technology, there's food, there's business models, medical instruments. As wide array as possible.”
The Museum opened in Sweden this past June and has been traveling as a pop-up since. The LA museum is its debut as a full-on exhibition, and there’s lots to see, including a wall of oreo packages with flavors ranging from "pumpkin spice" to the unfortunate "Swedish fish," as well as a salmon-colored Ford Edsel and fingerless gloves (so, you know, you don’t leave smudges on your touch screen phone).
There’s also this “groove stick.”
The idea behind this double pronged drumstick is that a drummer could play the cymbal on both the down and upstroke. The problem? To play any other drum in a drum kit, you would have to switch to a regular drumstick.
But not everything on display that failed initially stayed a failure. For example, the Roland TB-303 was a total flop when it was released in 1981. This bass synthesizer was marketed to guitarists so they could practice playing with a bass accompaniment. The issue was that it sounded nothing like a guitar bass.
“Then musicians just a few years later started experimenting with it in new ways,” said West. “It led to the development of acid house. And then hip hop. I mean, it’s iconic.”
If you’re into electronic music, you’ve definitely heard the Roland 303’s squelchy bass. Like in this Fatboy Slim single, “Everybody Needs a 303.”
The 303 exemplifies the message of the Museum of Failure, which is that failure is necessary to the process of innovation.
Director Sam West knows this well. In addition to running the museum, he’s a clinical and organizational psychologist, which means a big part of his job is going into companies and helping them create an innovative climate.
“I noticed how a big block to innovation is when people are afraid of failing and when there’s a culture in the organization of ‘don't screw up,’” said West. “The wall of Oreos is a good example of this evolutionary approach to innovation…you try a lot of different things, you don't know what’s going to be successful, so you have to experiment. You have to explore.”
For Angelenos brave enough to share their personal failures, there’s a “Failure Confessional,” replete with Sharpies, sticky notes and a private chair where you can air your dirty laundry.
“The studies show that 60 to 90 percent of innovation projects fail, so we need to accept that failure if we want any kind of progress. And it doesn't matter which area. This can be technology innovation, it can be social innovation, in your personal life. If you want progress, you need to take meaningful risks.”
To get inspired for your next failure, visit the Architecture and Design Museum in Downtown L.A.
The Museum of Failure exhibition will be there until February 4.