Department of insurance is investigating Aetna after some troubling allegations, drought era water restrictions may become permanent, spring has come early.
7 ways you could soon be fined for wasting water
Starting April 1, water wasters could be fined $500 under new rules the State Water Board is considering next week. If passed, which is likely, the rules would be permanent. Max Gomberg is the water conservation and climate change manager at the State Water Resources Control Board. He joined Take Two to talk about the proposed rules and fines for water wasters.
Under the new regulations, the following wasteful practices would be prohibited:
1) Using potable water to wash sidewalks and driveways.
2) Allowing more than incidental runoff when irrigating turf and other ornamental landscapes.
3) Using hoses without automatic shutoff nozzles to wash motor vehicles.
4) Using potable water in ornamental fountains or decorative water features that do not recirculate the water.
5) Irrigating turf and ornamental landscape during and within 48 hours following measurable rainfall.
6) Hotels and motels laundering towels and linens daily without providing guests the option of using them again.
7) During a drought emergency, the serving of drinking water in restaurants and bars without it being requested.
How California will enforce the $500 fines
It's really going to be a function of community response -- if someone sees one of these practices going on and thinks it's bad enough to warrant a complaint. We won't have people patrolling the streets looking for this stuff, but if we receive a complaint and it looks like a severe violation, we'll look into it. Like any investigation, it will require actual evidence that the violation is taking place, so photos, having multiple people corroborate the story.
The most common water waste violations
The most common violation is the over watering of landscapes, so you've got a sprinkler system that hasn't been programmed in a while. It's running at night, the water's running off into the street, into the gutter. People are watering when it's raining. And then we have a lot of irrigation of turf in medians that the city is watering.
How much water is being wasted
We don't know how much water is wasted these ways. The reason for doing this is to be sure we're being efficient with our water use at all times across the state because climate change is already affecting our hydrology. We really have to be efficient as the state continues to grow and we deal with new challenging hydrology. It's about awareness and best practices.
The new water waste regulations will be permanent
The science of climate change is really clear in terms of what it's doing to the hydrology of California. It will be more extreme. We will have very wet years but also very, very dry years like some of the years we just experienced, so we have to deal with that new reality and be efficient with our water use. A lot of these regulations were already on the books in many local jurisdictions. We're saying this is now a statewide issue and we need to set the floor and have consistency of rules statewide.
California investigates Aetna for denial of coverage
The California Department of Insurance announced Monday it's launching an investigation into the health insurer, Aetna.
This follows a former medical director for the company saying he personally did not review patient records before deciding whether or not to approve coverage. Instead, he relied on information from nurses before making that decision. That's how he was trained by the company, he said.
This all came out as part of a lawsuit a young California man filed against Aetna for denial of coverage. CNN reported on it and then California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones took action.
"I directed the Department of Insurance to investigate Aetna's practices related to reviewing and denying requests for pre-authorization of treatment and requests for coverage of medical treatment," Commissioner Jones explained when he joined Take Two's A Martinez to talk about the new investigation.
Did Aetna violate any laws?
"California law is very clear that decisions with regard to coverage need to be made by medical professionals and be made by medical professionals that are licensed and who are at the appropriate level of skill and confidence to make the decision."
So, doesn't that include nurses? Or does it have to be doctors?
"In California, we have a number of levels of medical professionals. They all have different competencies, different levels of training, different levels at which they are licensed to make determinations."
The California Nurses Association says this case highlights "widespread abuse" within the insurance industry. Does that sound right to you?
"We routinely receive complaints from patients and medical providers about denials of coverage by health insurers. We have a process where we use independent medical professional physicians to review these denials. We encourage any patient or medical provider who has been denied coverage for treatment to contact us at 1-800-927-4357 to make a complaint. We will review the denial, and if it's a denial for lack of medical necessity by the health insurer, we'll submit that denial to our independent panel of physicians to review.
In approximately 50 percent of the cases that we received, we overturned the health insurer's denial..."
If your investigation reveals any wrongdoing on Aetna's part, what can you do to change policies and procedures so this doesn't continue happening, either with Aetna or any other insurer?
"The Department of Insurance and I as Insurance Commissioner have a number of remedies and sanctions available to us if we conclude that California laws have been violated. Those include penalties and also the capacity to order corrective action be taken. So, in many cases where we find wrongdoing, not only do we assess a penalty but we also require the health insurer to...make sure they don't violate the law again."
Climate change may be to blame as SoCal flowers bloom weeks early
This shouldn't be happening right now. But cherry blossoms are in bloom a month early at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge.
Tulips should be just an inch or two high, but at the moment, they are jutting up to a foot out of the ground.
It's likely happening because of climate change.
"We have many flowers blooming early," says Rachel Young, the Gardens' director of horticulture. "It's the warm weather."
Los Angeles was 4.5 degrees hotter than usual in January, according to the National Weather Service.
It's a boon for visitors who want to see as much color as possible.
"It's a great season for us for camellias because it's so warm," she says. "They're all kind of blooming together. It's kind of like a super bloom."
That comes with a trade-off, however.
"It's definitely a sign of stress," Young says. "It's really a problem for everyone in Southern California in that we will struggle to water all of the plants in our homes and gardens."
Lilacs at Descanso Gardens, for example, bloomed in the fall when they were supposed to do so in the spring. That may mean there will be less of a lilac bloom in the coming months.
Young cautions that the change in SoCal's climate could affect more plants than those at Descanso, too.
She believes the warmer temps may cause an early boom of California poppies and also affect the wildflower season.
Disneyland prices jump, but megafans will still follow
If you want to visit Disneyland, it'll help to be as rich as Scrooge McDuck. Most ticket prices to get inside the SoCal parks jumped last Sunday. It'll be an extra $100 for annual pass holders, for example, and $30 more for the SoCal Select Pass.
It's because building the new Star Wars Land, coming next year, isn't cheap.
"It's been widely reported that the project is going to cost Mickey in excess of a billion dollars," says Robert Niles, founder of Theme Park Insider.
There's another piece to price increases, however: the belief that they'll deter some people from going, thereby making the parks less crowded for other visitors.
But that type of magic doesn't work on megafans in the Magic Kingdom.
"You'd think it's the other guy that's going to stop going to the park, not you," he says, "because we have no intention of not going ourselves."
Niles says the Disney brand is so strong that despite any increases, there are still legions of people who will go at any price.
Happy Galentine's Day!
February 14th is Valentine's day, this we all know. But Monday, February 13th...is Galentine's day.
What's Galentine's day?
Let's let Leslie Knope answer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgAOcNNMPKI
Amy Poehler played Leslie Knope on the comedy series "Parks and Recreation," which is where the holiday comes from. But since that episode aired in 2011, it's been adopted by ladies everywhere.
You can find gift guides, do-it-yourself instructions for the perfect Galentine's day brunch and even locations hosting Galentine's day events.
So, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate friendship between the ladies. We asked some KPCC gal pals to send in their Galentine's day messages.
Here's what they had to say:
"You gorgeous domestic Queen of feral felines,
You colorful culinary princess of vegetarian cuisine,
You adorable culturally confusing house broken puppy,
You intoxicating positive exotic peacock."
-Mimi Morales, Hollywood
"Happy Galentine's Day to my ladies full of multitudes. You encourage me to be my most authentic self, even if sometimes that means pouring gin into my beet juice or taking ballet class one day and learning knife skills the next.
Thank you for living your lives so true to yourselves that it makes me want to do the same. I don't know what I'd do without you and I am grateful for you all.”
-Myra Hassaram, Los Angeles
“Happy Galentine's Day—best day of the year! You all inspire me daily and I love seeing the force you bring into the world. You are my best cheerleaders and it heartens me to see ladies celebrating ladies.”
-Liz Singleton, Los Feliz
"To my dear lady friends on Galentines' Day,
You are fierce, brave, brilliant, and beautiful. You tackle the working world with gusto and make time to support your family and friends. I still remember every inside joke, all the high fives, and the way you squeezed my hand after that horrible breakup. Though some of you are very far away, I toast to you this Galentine's, because you deserve all the waffles and frittatas your hearts desire."
-Libby Denkmann, Pasadena
To hear the Galentine's day wishes, click the blue play button above.
Dita Von Teese goes from burlesque queen to French style pop songstress
Every week we get a preview of new music for our feature Tuesday Reviewday. Following are this week's picks from music journalist Steve Hochman.
Album: “Game Winner”
If there was ever a song tailor made for A Martinez, here it is: A concept EP inspired by a love for basketball, made by a lifelong Lakers fan, Los Angeles-based keyboard player and composer Joey Dosik. What’s more, he wrote and recorded this while recovering from surgery after tearing an ACL in a regular pick-up game. Here's his song, "Game Winner."
Dosik may have come of age in the Kobe Bryant era, and the song “Competitive Streak” includes sly references to his formative heroes Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but his musical tastes clearly run to the time Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West were winding up their careers in the early ‘70s. The sensual balladry of Marvin Gaye and the Spinners comes to mind, the former particularly on the slinky “Running Away.”
Now, he’s no rookie. A protege of Quincy Jones, he’s collaborated with Vulfpeck, Nikka Costa and many others, and toured with Lake Street Dive. But this expanded EP is his point-guard moment, a chance to make a name for himself, the homemade release recently picked up by national indie label Secretly Canadian. This is just a start. He’s got the ball. Now let’s see what he does with it.
Album: “Love Is an Army”
There's a theme running through Janiva Magness’ recent work. Her last album, for which she had a 2016 Grammy nomination for contemporary blues album, was titled “Love Wins Again.” Now, after a 2017 EP to recharge her batteries by plumbing the depths of some classic blues standards, she returns with “Love Is an Army.” Love, it seems, is a fight for her. But more to the point, it’s what keeps her fighting.
A long-time Los Angeleno, the Detroit-born Magness has been fighting her whole life. Her parents both committed suicide when she was young and she was raised in a series of foster homes, before taking to the tough road of trying to build a life as a blues singer. It took a long time, but the work paid off and recognition came, not just the Grammy nomination but seven Blues Music Awards from the Blues Foundation, including 2009’s B.B. King Award as Entertainer of the Year, becoming only the second woman to win that, Koko Taylor being the first.
The confidence earned through her work and the recognition shows more than ever in “Love Is an Army,” her 14th album proving a breakthrough to new levels for her as a writer and singer in a series of songs about speaking up, persevering and finding your strengths, even while fighting off heartbreak. the opening song “Back to Blue” deals with communication breakdowns on a personal level but sets the stage for some cultural breaks that come later on the album, such as the look into the immigration debate on “Home.”
And she has put together quite the army to help her with this battle. In addition to assembling a band that included drummer Stephen Hodges (who’s played with Tom Waits) and bassist Davey Faragher (of Elvis Costello’s Imposters), she and producer/guitarist/co-writer Dave Darling recruited a stellar troop of guests, including such vaunted veterans as Texas singer Delbert McClinton and Memphis-Chicago harmonicat Charlie Musselwhite, plus North Mississippi hill country guitarist Cedric Burnside and former Poco steel guitarist Rusty Young.
Some comparisons have been made between this album and Bonnie Raitt’s career and personal breakthrough “Nick of Time” 20 years ago, and the comparison has merits. But this breakthrough belongs to Magness — and her army.
Album: “Dita Von Teese”
Dita Von Teese is best known as Hollywood’s key revivalist and modernizer of bawdy burlesque, as well as for her brief marriage to Marilyn Manson in the mid-‘00s. But on her debut album, she shows a softer side. A very sexy softer side, mind you. But not played for shock, nothing salacious and, befitting the burlesque tradition, not fully revealing. And yet it allows her to show some things we’ve never seen of her.
“Dita Von Tesse” is a collaboration with French musician Sébastien Tellier, and in large partit's an homage and 21st century update of classic ‘60s collaborations of another bombshell, Brigitte Bardot, with another French figure, the brash musical polymath Serge Gainsbourg. Now, those are two true French heroes, and there’s no way for Von Teese and Tellier to compete, and to their credit they don’t try. But using that model as their guide, they more than hold their own.
Von Teese has made no bones about not being a singer, but she needn’t be so modest. She’s no Adele, of course, but the breathiness of her voice unaffectedly fits nicely in the Gallic-pop tradition running from Bardot to Stereolab. That’s pretty much where Tellier’s music sits as well. Lush music provides perfect showcases for the coy come-ons, nicely gimmick-free — no cooing or moaning or anything — Von Teese inviting the listener along on relatively innocent trysts, such as on the tropical “Rendez-vous.”
Heck, Von Teese even does a fine job en Français on “La Vie Est Un Jeu” — “Life is a Game” — spiking the song with laughs and giggles, playful not provocative. It’s a Teese tease, in the best way.