Pope Benedict XVI, 85, announced his resignation, citing waning physical and mental strength. Then, we look at the status of the hunt for fugitive Christopher Dorner, Connie Rice talks about race relations within the LAPD, safety concerns surface as discount buses boom in Los Angeles, military veterans join forces to take on Hollywood, and much more.
The manhunt for Christopher Dorner continues
The manhunt for triple murder suspect and former LAPD officer Chris Dorner is entering its sixth day. Over the weekend, Mayor Villaraigosa announced a $1 million reward for information about the case.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck stated that the department would take another look at Dorner's disciplinary hearing and his subsequent removal from the force: "We're going to reopen the investigation. I'm not doing this to appease him; I'm doing this to let the public know what the police department does."
Connie Rice on Dorner and race relations in the LAPD
The case of Christopher Dorner has raised some questions about the LAPD and its treatment of black officers. It's a subject that Connie Rice knows very well.
The L.A.-based civil rights attorney has represented dozens of black officers over the course of the past two decades, and she has interviewed hundreds of cops about race relations within the force.
Rice is currently the co-director of the Advancement Project, a non-profit group focused on racial justice and she's also a member of Southern California Public Radio's board.
Pope Benedict XVI, 85, resigns due to waning physical and mental strength
Catholic Church parishioners are waking up today to the news that Pope Benedict the 16th is stepping down. It's been nearly 600 years since a Pope resigned from leading the Roman Catholic Church.
Benedict, 85, says he has no specific medical conditions forcing him to retire, but he says he no longer has the mental or physical strength to lead the more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide.
This news comes as the Los Angeles Archdiocese is surrounded by controversy over recently released files detailing cases of sexual abuse in the church. KPCC reporter Brian Watt joins the show from Saint Monica's Church in Santa Monica.
Safety concerns surface as discount buses boom in Los Angeles
The spotty safety record of a tour bus that crashed near Yucaipa that left eight dead and 20 people injured after the driver said his brakes went out as he drove down a mountain road has ignited concerns about how authorities regulate commercial vehicles.
The incident comes as the discount bus business is booming in Southern California, surging by 30% in the last year alone.
RELATED: Search details of the more than 300 commercial bus companies in California
The reason for their popularity is self-evident: it's cheap. Some offer advance tickets for as little as $1 to popular destinations such as the San Francisco Bay area and Las Vegas. Passengers ride in comfortable seats and some buses have free WiFi.
On a recent afternoon behind downtown L.A.'s Union Station, passengers heading for San Francisco lined up to board a Megabus, the fastest growing discount bus company in the market. As they left, another Megabus pulled in from Las Vegas.
“I like the scenic routes, and it’s cheaper,” said Selitha Butler, who was returning home from visiting family in Nevada.
Megabus, which has long offered cheap rides in the East coast, opened its Los Angeles hub this past December. The UK-based company had tried to expand into Los Angeles in 2007, but that was before the recession and ridership was too low to justify the routes back then. Now, with the economy still weak, it’s seizing the moment and using social media to market the cheap rides. It has over 95,000 Facebook fans and more than a few real-life ones.
“I love, love it," said Los Angeles resident Tracy Seehall as she stepped off the bus from Las Vegas. "For a dollar, you can’t go wrong, you gotta try it!”
Bus travel is clearly not without its risks. Since 1990, there have been more that 180 motorcoach crashes and fires in the U.S., which have killed 334 people, including the eight in Yucaipa last week.
Megabus has had 6 fatal bus accidents in the last two years -- three of them from tire blowouts. Its California operator, Pacific Coast Sightseeing Tours & Charters, has a sterling safety record.
Discount buses used to be limited to curbside coaches known as "Chinatown buses," which were concentrated in New York City and the northeast corridor of the United States. A series of safety violations, punctuated by the deaths of nearly 20 passengers in two major accidents, led federal authorities to crack down last spring.
The Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates the industry, shut down 26 bus operators in six states along I-95 in May 2012. That was a rare action, but it repeated it on Friday, when itshut down Scapadas Magicas, the National City company that owns the bus that crashed in Yucaipa.
The agency relies on state law enforcement officials to inspect the buses, then tracks safety for every legally operating bus and motor coach company in the U.S. In California, that responsibility falls to the California Highway Patrol.
CHP inspectors rate buses in several categories, including vehicle maintenance, hours-of-service compliance and driver fitness. If a bus racks up enough violations, it lands on a federal watch list for increased inspections.
In California, 58 of 354 legally operating commercial bus companies are on the list, including Scapadas Magicas.
According to inspection records, that bus was cited four times in the last 24 months -- twice in a period of two months for out-of-service brakes. But on January 9, just one month before the fatal crash, the bus went through a safety audit performed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and was given a satisfactory compliance review -- the highest rating possible.
It's an imperfect system, complicated by federal transit laws like the SAFETEA-LU act, a sweeping piece of legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005. A small provision in the law made it illegal for the CHP and other state enforcement agencies to perform enroute bus inspections of buses on the list unless they witness an infraction.
“That’s a problem," said Steve Keppler, a former bus inspector and executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, a trade group for bus inspectors.
He said the law is completely different for big rigs, which can be stopped simply for having a poor safety record.
“It’s hard for me to fathom why we can stop trucks roadside but we can’t stop buses,” Keppler said. "I think passengers are a bit more precious cargo than freight."
As a result, only about 30,000 of the approximately 3.6 million inspections conducted of commercial vehicles each year are on tour buses. That's a tiny fraction of the buses owned by more than 500,000 legally registered carriers in the U.S. Federal law does require bus companies be inspected at least once a year.
Of equal concern is public access to bus safety records. Passengers waiting for the Megabus at Union Station said they weren't concerned about safety, but wouldn't know how to find out whether the bus they were about to board was safe.
The safety reports are published on a federal website, but it’s hard to find and harder to navigate. A consumer who want to check would need the ID number of the bus she's about to ride or the name of the company--which many times is not the same as the name it's doing business under. For example, searching “Megabus” produces no records. That's because it uses different operators in each of five regions. Safety records are listed under those operators' names.
“I understand this stuff, but it took a long time for me to understand it because it’s never simple,” said Dan Ronan, a safety inspector and official with the American Bus Association, which represents more than 1,000 motor coach companies in North America. "If you’re an average person, you’re sitting down to look at this thing, it’s gonna confuse you."
In light of the Yucaipa crash, California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein say the Department of Transportation needs to hurry up and implement changes required by a transportation law known as MAP-21, which President Obama signed nearly a year ago. It includes safety regulations such as anti-ejection measures that the senators said are urgently needed.
Report: Climate change to equal more fires, insect infestations in US forests
A new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says climate change will dramatically reshape America's outdoor spaces in the coming years.
The report compiled data from more than 1,000 studies. David Peterson, a research biologist with the USDA, joins the show to discuss the implications of this new report.
Hollywood Monday: The DC connection, weekend box office and more
L.A. Times film writer Rebecca Keegan joins the show to discuss the latest industry news coming out of Hollywood.
Today we'll talk about the overlap between Washington, D.C. and Hollywood, from Bill Clinton's endorsement of "Lincoln" to "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O. Russell's part in calling for mental health legislation.
Are digital projectors driving out drive-ins?
When Hollywood stops distributing movies on 35mm film at the end of this year, that leaves the few drive-in theatres around the country in the lurch.
All theatres, indoor and outdoor, will soon be required to use digital projectors. But while indoor screens got financial assitance to make the transition, outdoor theatres were left struggling to figure out how to afford the more than $70,000 it takes to switch.
Already, the number of drive-ins have plummeted from their height of more than 4,000 in the late 1950s, to less than 400 today. And so theatres that closed for the winter may stay closed, dimming more screens across the country.
Kipp Sherer from Drive-Ins.com explains how some theatres are managing to hold on, and where the audience is still coming in droves to sustain these classic venues.
Obama expected to give an 'aggressive' State of the Union address
Tomorrow night President Obama will deliver his fifth State of the Union Speech. He has a lot of ground to cover — budget deals, spending cuts, gun control, immigration — In all, the President will be speaking for about an hour.
But here on Take Two we do things a little quicker. We want you to send us a tweet
and give us your abridged version of the State of the Union, in 140 characters.
So what is Obama expected to say to the nation tomorrow night?
For more we turn to Glenn Thrush, Senior White House Reporter for POLITICO.
The end of the Waxman-Berman political machine
Sherman versus Berman was the biggest local political story in last Novembers election. The battle between two Westside Democrats who ended up running against each other because of redistricting. In the end, Congressman Brad Sherman won the contest against his colleague, Howard Berman.
The defeat not only marked the end of Berman's 30-year congressional career, it was also the symbolic end for what was once the state's most powerful political machine.
Reporter Shane Goldmacher has written about that machine in the National Journal, and he joins us now from Washington.
'Silver Linings Playbook' triggers a discussion about mental illness
The Oscar nominated film, "Silver Linings Playbook," tells the story of several people seeking to find a strategy to deal with their mental illnesses. It's been called out by doctors, educators and audiences everywhere for its ability to help remove the stigma of mental illness.
Recently, the Museum of Tolerance hosted a panel discussion with the filmmakers, experts and leading voices in the field of mental health. The film's director, David O. Russell, told Alex Cohen he was inspired to make this film because the topic hits close to home.
Russell made the film primarily to help raise awareness about people like his son. Russell's own son, Matthew, also appears in the film. He plays a nosey neighbor trying to write a report on Pat's struggle with bipolar disorder.
The movie is also resonating with another audience as well: Military veterans.
Jake Clark, is one of the founders of the Warrior Meditation Project, a center in Malibu which helps returning veterans struggling with the effects of post traumatic stress. Clark says, like Bradley Cooper's character, a lot of veterans return home without a job or a place to live, and many are dealing with failing relationships.
Military veterans join forces to take on Hollywood (Photos)
It's another night in Hollywood. Another networking event. But this is not your typical club.
Framed photos of military veterans line walls draped with patriotic bunting.
This is the basement of American Legion Post 43, just several blocks away from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And it's here where casting agents and studio executives mingle with more than 100 veterans looking for their big break.
"This is a roomful of shakers and movers," said Skye Marshall, a former Air Force medic who moved to Los Angeles to act. "I'm here to shake hands and kiss babies."
The group Veterans in Film and Television has been holding these meetings at the American Legion for the last year to help veterans network.
In Hollywood, it's all about who you know but military veterans typically have few - if any - showbiz connections. They're also getting a later start to their careers than other performers.
Searching for support
Co-founders Kyle Hausmann-Stokes and Mike Dowling are themselves Iraq War vets who were looking for a support system as they pursued entertainment careers.
"It's tough to transition back to the civilian sector," said Hausmann-Stokes, who led military convoys in Iraq as an Army staff sergeant.
Hausmann-Stokes said he returned from Iraq in 2008 with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. He couldn't shake memories of roadside bomb blasts and enemy fire.
"I was trying to make it in film school at USC," Hausmann-Stokes said. "It was hard. It was really hard. I didn't have anybody to collaborate with or even commiserate with."
Dowling, who worked as a military dog handler in the Marines and wrote a book about the experience, felt similarly as he went on acting auditions.
"I would always meet the same guys because we go out for the same roles," said Dowling, who is 33 and a former seargent. "And a lot of them were former military just like I was. And we would all agree that we should meet up more often and help out each other because this industry can be really tough, obviously.
The two became friends after meeting at a party, and soon got to work setting up a Web presence for veterans in entertainment. On the group's Facebook page, veterans post industry tips and audition dates for one another - magnanimity that members say is rare in Hollywood.
The group's networking meetings started to draw Hollywood bigwigs who wanted to show their appreciation to the troops. Past guests have included Tom DeSanto, producer of the Transformers movies and Kurt Wimmer, the screenwriter behind action hits like Salt, starring Angelina Jolie.
"Time is required in the trenches"
Another speaker is one of the best-known vets in Hollywood -- comedic actor Rob Riggle, who's fans know from The Hangover, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Riggle was in the Marines for 23 years, serving in Kosovo and Afghanistan. On the side, he chased a second career in comedy.
"And just kept at it for many, many, many years," Riggle said. "I think that's what a lot of young people don't realize is how much time is required in the trenches.... Pardon the pun."
He didn't know any veterans to help him up the Hollywood ladder. Mentoring other vets wasn't top of mind either. Then he met Dowling on the set of a commercial for the game Call of Duty.
"He was very persistent in talking to me which can be annoying but for whatever reason he was a Marine and he didn't annoy me," Riggle said. "'And he told me about this organization. I liked the fact that veterans in Hollywood get together, and we help each other. Because that's what it takes sometimes."
More than just stunt coordinators
Riggle is the rare veteran-turned-actor who gets recognized on the street. But it wasn't always this way. Last century, military service was more common and during certain wars, compulsory.
And veterans were some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Elvis Presley. Steve McQueen. Mel Brooks.
Jimmy Stewart actually took a break from acting in World War II to fly Army planes. He went onto earn the Distinguished Flying Cross twice.
But these days, with 1 percent of the US population in the military, veterans are less visible in Hollywood. Veterans are more likely to work as technical consultants and fight coordinators than to be plastered across a movie billboard.
Veterans doing it for themselves
Hausmann-Stokes said one of the missions of Veterans in Film and Television is to recast the industry's image of veterans.
"People in the industry don't necessarily think of miltary veterans as being artists, thespians, directors and producers," Hausmann-Stokes said. "They think of us as clean-cut action people and they don't know all the incredible stories we have to tell."
Hausmann-Stokes went ahead and founded his own production company Blue Three - named after his call sign in Iraq - and directs public service announcements geared at veterans for the federal government like this:
Skye Marshall just joined Veterans in Film and Television. She wants to keep her career momentum going. After three years in LA, she recently guest-starred on her first network show, The Mentalist on CBS, as a woman whose van was involved in a kidnapping.
"The cops show up and she gives them a really hard time," Marshall said. "I already have a kind of sassiness about me."
For Marshall, the best part of networking with veterans is knowing they have her back the way they would on the battlefront.
As for the casting director from the show Glee, standing a few feet away from Marshall - that's just a bonus.
This is part I in a series on military veterans in Hollywood. Click here to listen to part II.
Bearing the costs of helping kids adjust to chronic illnesses
Children with conditions like asthma, Down syndrome, and diabetes need all sorts of support services to thrive, not just survive. But many of these services are not strictly medical.
As the Affordable Care Act takes shape in California, embracing hundreds of thousands of children with special needs, the insurance industry is bracing for a battle. The California Report's Elaine Korry has the story.
Salinas Hospital trains interpreters to serve immigrant population
In the Salinas Valley, small farm towns like Soledad and Greenfield dot Highway 101. Most farmworkers here are from Mexico, and an increasing number are indigenous people from Oaxaca and other Mexican states.
In fact, almost one quarter of all indigenous Mexicans in California live in this region. They speak languages like Mixteco, Zapoteco, and Triqui. If they speak Spanish at all it's as a second language. That can create complex language barriers in work, school, and healthcare.
Salinas Hospital Trains Interpreters to Serve Immigrant Population by