The Muslim community remembers the UNC shooting victims, Christopher Hawthorne's 'Third LA,' a look back at some of the most well known sex-filled movies.
3 Muslim students murdered; Community now searches for motive
A shooting that left three young Muslims dead is shaking the North Carolina community of Chapel Hill.
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Chapel Hill police began receiving calls reporting screams and multiple gunshots coming from a unit in the condominium complex adjacent to the University of North Carolina. When police arrived they found the bodies of three students: husband and wife Deah Barakat and Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, as well as Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, Yusor’s younger sister.
The couple’s neighbor, 46-year-old used car parts salesman Craig Stephen Hicks, was arrested shortly thereafter and charged with their deaths. Police say the shooting appears to be motivated by a longstanding feud over the couple’s use of guest parking spaces.
Dan Barkin, senior editor for The News & Observer in Raleigh North Carolina tells Take Two that neighbors had previously expressed concern over Hicks’ disconcerting behavior. “We know that he was well known to the residents of this condo complex as an angry man--a man who was obsessed about parking violations of all things. They even had a community meeting that they surreptitiously held in this complex last year because people felt unsafe. “
Substantiating revelations is a recent posting about the incident by Yusor’s friend Amira Ata, detailing an incident in which Hicks showed up at the couple’s door with a rifle, visibly upset that they were playing a board game too loudly.
Even after learning about the couple’s history with Hicks, friends, family and many members of the Muslim community aren’t convinced that the shootings were motivated merely by parking spaces and noise complaints.
Edina Lekovic is public affairs consultant with the Muslim Public Affairs Council and she tells Take Two, “The law enforcement has immediately jumped to ‘well, it was a dispute over a parking spot,’ when there is just obviously so much more detail in the story that should be investigated.”
Still, in a recently-held news conference, Hicks’ wife Karen contends that the incident “had nothing to do with religion or the victims’ faith …"
In a statement given after the shooting, Deah Barakat’s sister Suzanne Barakat calls the slain students “gems” of the community. “We are still in a state of shock and will never be able to make sense of this horrendous tragedy.”
Los Angeles history enters 'The Third LA' era, critic says
Los Angeles has undergone plenty of changes in the last few decades, so much so that we may be entering a new era in the city's history.
This is the theory of Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic for the L.A. Times, and he calls this new era "The Third L.A.," which is also the title of a series of public lectures and reports Hawthorne is producing over the next few months. Southern California Public Radio will co-present these events with Occidental College.
Hawthorne says we are well in the throes of The Third L.A., which he says took hold in the 2000s.
"The city has really been negotiating a pretty major shift in its civic personality, trying to move past its dependence on the car, we’re building apartments instead of single-family houses, we’re building train lines, finally, instead of freeways," he said.
He began to talk with Occidental College President John Veitch about how to publicly discuss this shift.
"I think people have a real desire to understand it better and talk about it, and get a sense of really what’s happening. The more I thought about it, and the more I read into the history of L.A., it became clear that there's a little bit more to the story, it’s not just a transition from one L.A. to another. And in fact, there have been three really distinct phases of the city's modern development," Hawthorne said.
State of Affairs: Obama visits CA and Gavin Newsom announces 2018 run
On this week's State of Affairs, President Obama heads to California, endorsements keep on coming for Kamala Harris, and Gavin Newsom announces he'll run for Governor in 2018.
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, Professor of the Practice of Public Policy Communication at USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy and Carla Marinucci, Senior Political Writer for the San Francisco Chronicle joined Take Two for a look at the latest news in California Politics.
Liam Hayes releases his new album, 'Slurrup'
Alex Cohen is joined in the studio by Liam Hayes - previously known for playing under the name Plush - to talk about the release of his latest album.
A valet in your phone - new apps make parking easier, and maybe cheaper, too
Here in Los Angeles, we probably didn't invent valet parking. But we've certainly refined it. Once the domain of high-end restaurants and hotels, there are now grocery stores and barber shops that offer valet parking.
So no wonder somebody thought, "There should be an app for that."
Two new services, ZIRX and Luxe hope to transform the parking experience in much the same way Uber has revolutionized the business of finding a ride home. Both are easy to use, and relatively cheap. For $15 a valet will meet you at your destination, park your car in a secure garage, and return it to you when you're ready for it.
Everything is handled by the app - from offering you the name and a picture of your valet, to being able to track your car's parked location.
Right now, service areas are limited. For instance, ZIRX currently only serves downtown and a specific chunk of Hollywood. But it plans to expand, and is operating in other cities, including San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC.
Like Uber, no cash transaction is required - you register a credit card when you sign up for the app. The companies say no tip is required either, but in our one parking experience, the ZIRX attendant accepted an offered gratuity, with grace.
Consumers feel effects of West Coast ports labor dispute
An ongoing labor dispute between shipping companies and dock workers is clogging up the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. It's left ships out at sea, waiting to dock and unload their freight.
How might the backup affect consumers? Jock O'Connell is an International Trade Economist at Beacon Economics, and he told Take Two, it already has.
Health concerns increase in Nevada over natural asbestos
In a state known for gambling, there is a growing controversy over the potential gambling with lives.
Scientists in Nevada say natural erosion and commercial development are sending asbestos fibers into the wind.
But after sending up the alert, officials from the state health department forced one scientist to withdraw her presentation at a scientific conference.
Two other geoscientists, who work at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, say they've been vilified and shunned by state officials.
New York Times reporter, Deborah Blum recently wrote about this story and she joined the show for more.
Impact of Benzene in California's fracking waste water
Dr. Timothy Krantz of University of Redlands explains the impacts of the high levels of Benzene found in California's fracking waste water.
Jermaine Clement on the 'real' story of life as a vampire
Portrayed in film and TV, vampires are some of the coolest creatures around.
They're immortal, they're sexy, but if they were real, what would their life be like?
That’s the story of the new film, “What We Do in the Shadows.”
The film was written and directed by Jermaine Clement of Flight of the Concords fame and fellow New Zealand native Taika Waititi.
The history of steam in film
With "Fifty Shades of Grey" set to hit theatres this weekend, people have been talking a lot about sex and film.
But Fifty Shades of Grey is far from the first film to feature sex.
We’ll look back at some of the most well known sex filled movies with writer Mark Jordan Legan.
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Valentine's date or not, expect a hot SoCal weekend
It is Valentine's Day weekend, so things might get a little hot in some parts of the city. Ahem...
But wait, it's actually going to be hot everywhere in Southern California, whether you have a date, or not. Temperatures will hit the upper 80s, even the low 90s around the Southland. That's unseasonably warm for February.
And warm weather means lots of folks in SoCal will be hitting the beach over the next few days.
AJ Lester is an ocean lifeguard specialist for Los Angeles County. He spoke to Take Two from the pier at Hermosa Beach about the conditions on the beach and what lifeguards expect to see over the weekend.