The LA Archdiocese quietly added two-dozen new names to its list of members suspected of abuse. Then, new research shows lovers' heartbeats match up when they're together, an online auction is selling off Joey Ramone's private record collection, the Dinner Party guys are back with more weekend conversation fodder and much more.
LA Archdiocese quietly adds new names to list of members accused of abuse
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has quietly added two dozen members of the church to its list of clergy accused of child molestation without publicly addressing the circumstances about the accused members.
The additional names were found by BishopAccountability.org, a nonprofit organization that researches the Catholic abuse scandal. The names were disclosed on the Archdiocese's website with 12,000 pages related to its handling of abuse claims.
The Archdiocese has declined to release additional information about the members, such as the dates of the suspected abuse and where the clergy worked.
Dorner's evasion of police raises questions
Efforts are continuing today to identify charred human remains found in a burned-down cabin in Big Bear. They are widely believed to be those of fired LAPD officer Chris Dorner, who has now been charged with murdering of four people since February 3rd.
Investigations are also continuing into how he eluded police on a 6-day manhunt, and hid out in a cabin only feet away from the searchers' command post.
RELATED: Dorner's hostages come forward to clear-up misinformation
Joining us now to talk about where that investigation goes from here, is John Asbury, he's the crime reporter for the Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside County.
Correction: An earlier version of this page stated the Press-Enterprise was in San Bernardino County. It's actually located in Riverside County, but reporter John Asbury covers San Bernardino County.
Will Congress intervene before March 1 sequestration deadline?
Law enforcement officers furloughed, kids kicked out of Headstart programs, dangers to the safety of the food supply, and three-quarters of a million jobs lost.
Those are just some of the possible negative effects of sequestration, the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts that will kick in on the first day of March. That is, unless Congress intervenes.
And that's starting to look doubtful. With the latest on the looming budget cuts, we turn to Christina Bellantoni, political editor for the PBS Newshour.
A late Iraqi interpreter's family's long quest for US asylum
A young Iraqi interpreter was killed several years ago while working for U.S. troops. His Army captain has worked for years to get his family asylum status, and they're finally arriving in San Diego tomorrow.
From the Fronteras Desk, reporter Jill Replogle tells the story of the interpreter and Capt. Blake Hall's quest to insure his family's safe arrival in the U.S.
LA Unified school board race could break fundraising records this election
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's unprecedented $1 million donation Tuesday to influence Los Angeles school board elections ups the ante in a school board race that is on its way to breaking fundraising records.
The 2013 school board races have barely started and they have already attracted more than $4 million in donations. Compare that to 1978, when Bobbi Fielder spent $56,000 to win a seat on the board.
Unlike in Fiedler’s time, most of the money this year isn't coming from individual donations. It's coming from independent committees that can raise unlimited amounts of cash.
For years the teachers union was the outside group that spent the most. It got Mark Slavkin elected in 1989. But the scale was still much smaller.
“Mostly we were getting checks in the mail every day from individual teachers to $10, $12, $15," he said. "It was a massive, grass roots effort and at the end of the day all this combined, we raised just over $250,000.”
A decade later, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan challenged the teachers union’s stranglehold on elections, creating a mayoral political machine to oppose what he saw as a slow-moving, unaccountable board majority put in place by the union.
“I’m going to get myself 100% involved in education to make sure every poor child in this city has a quality education,” he said during a public affairs TV program in 1999.
Riordan recruited L.A. billionaires Eli Broad and Jerrold Perenchio to fund the Coalition for Kids. The group elected a school board majority in 1999.
The mayor’s office and the teachers union have been at it ever since.
“In politics, if you don’t play the game, you get squashed because your opponents will play the game,” said John Perez, who was president of United Teachers Los Angeles in 2003. “It was Dick Riordan, Eli Broad, and Jerry Perenchio that started this ball rolling downhill with tons and tons of money in school board elections.”
Perez said the teachers union took out a $1 million loan to battle the Coalition for the 2003 elections.
Spending jumped again in 2009. That's when new laws removed limits on how much independent expenditure committees for school board races could raise and spend. By this time L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had renamed Riordan’s group the Coalition for School Reform.
The Coalition’s campaign manager, Janelle Erickson, said the group supports candidates who’ll push for reforms to teacher evaluations, grow charter schools, and support Superintendent John Deasy.
“What’s at stake (is) our superintendent who’s turning our school district around and what’s at stake is a reform minded, progressive school board,” Erickson said.
With Mayor Villaraigosa’s help, the Coalition has raised more than $2.5 million – including the $1 million from Bloomberg, which is likely a reflection of the two mayors’ close work on education policy.
The candidates themselves have received hundreds of smaller checks, and those donors run the gamut. They include district teachers, administrators, charter school employees, Hollywood writers and producers, and owners and employees of businesses that are or could do business with the district.
“We see the charter school operators are obviously players in the big money piece, they stand to make money, buying favor,” said longtime PTA leader Scott Folsom. He is running as a write in candidate for LA Unified board because he opposes what he says is the privatization of public education through charter schools.
There are two other committees raising money to influence the school board races.
One is the SEIU labor union, which represents secretaries and other non-teaching staff, raised $329,000 as of mid January. The other is the longtime leader, the teachers union independent expenditure committee, which has raised $740,000 so far.
“I think it's unfortunate when the exceptionally wealthy or those who control lots of money, think that because of their money that they’re entitled to dictate how the children of Los Angeles are educated,” said Gregg Solkovits, the head of the teachers union committee.
The record for independent expenditures in LA Unified school board races was set in 2009 at $4.5 million, only $1 million less than what the independent groups have raised so far this cycle.
Many more donations are expected to come in the next few weeks leading to the March 5th primary election. For those seats that are not decided in March, the campaigns will reset and rev up for a June runoff – with more fundraising.
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How modern-day couples find 'Love in the Time of Algorithms'
It's Valentine's Day, so you're probably seeing lots of images of Cupid with a bow and arrow. But these days, the God of love might want to add a calculator to his tool kit.
That's because many people are finding romance through the $2 billion on-line dating business that uses complicated mathematical formulas to match people up.
Dan Slater joins the show to decode some of those and talk about new book, "Love in the Time of Algorithms: What Technology does to Meeting and Mating."
New research shows lovers' heartbeats match-up when together
Well whether you meet a mate online or off, new research suggests you may be syncing up with your partner in unexpected ways.
A new study out of UC Davis appears to confirm the wisdom of countless love songs: That two hearts in love really do beat as one.
Jonathan Helms is the romantic who decided this would be a good topic for some scientific research. He's a doctoral student in psychology at UC Davis and the lead author of this study.
After 3 decades in politics, Wendy Greuel hopes to win LA's top job
Wendy Greuel didn’t grow up thinking about politics, but as the student body president of John F. Kennedy High School in the San Fernando Valley, she got an opportunity that would change her life – she met then-Mayor Tom Bradley.
She was 17 at the time. As a student at UCLA, Greuel interned in the Mayor’s Office. Her first job was as an assistant to Bradley in the Office of Youth Development.
“I had fallen in love with Tom Bradley — in a good way,” Greuel said during a recent interview in her Boyle Heights campaign office.
As she crisscrosses the city for her mayoral quest, Greuel — who has served as L.A.'s City Controller since 2009 — likes to cite her work with Bradley. She invokes his name so much that two of her opponents — including Councilwoman Jan Perry, who is African-American — have a running bet to guess how many times Greuel mentions the former mayor during a debate.
Though the late mayor was a true mentor and personal friend to Greuel, there’s another reason for talking about the icon. The legacy left by Bradley, who led Los Angeles for 20 years, still carries weight in the city, according to Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.
Greuel's connection to Bradley "would mean more for older voters,” Sonenshein said. “Now, it’s also true that in Los Angeles city elections, older voters turn out disproportionately. There are many older voters, and many voters in Los Angeles even who are not quite so old, who knew Tom Bradley … when he actually was in office.”
Bradley was famous for building coalitions and relationships during his tenure, from 1973 to 1993. Greuel says his leadership style still influences her.
“He just was quiet [and] subtle,” she said. “When he needed to, he was a big advocate and I think I learned from him that that’s the way to govern, that’s the way to get what you need.”
Politicians and staff who have worked with Greuel since the 1980s describe her as someone who builds and maintains relationships. After working for Bradley, Greuel did a stint at the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development during Henry Cisneros' tenure in Bill Clinton's administration. She also spent time at DreamWorks Studios. That company's principals — David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and, especially, Jeffrey Katzenberg — are big backers of her campaign.
In 2002, Greuel made a run for the Los Angeles City Council, facing off against then-Assemblyman Tony Cardenas. The two were locked in a contentious race that resulted in Greuel beating Cardenas by just 225 votes. The next year, Cardenas was elected to another Valley district and the two spent seven years sitting side-by-side in the council chamber.
“She’s a serious legislator and so am I, so we got along just fine and we ended up working together,” said Cardenas, now a member of Congress.
“When you used to see Wendy in committee, she would be very thoughtful," Cardenas recalled. "She’d do her homework and if she had to ask a bunch of tough questions, she didn’t do it in a way that people felt insulted or attacked personally. She just focused on the issue at hand."
For the Greuel campaign, the issue currently at hand seems to be the gathering of major endorsements. The unions representing police officers, firefighters and DWP workers are backing Greuel. The L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce supports her, as well. That's drawn criticism from observers who say those endorsements are a sign that Greuel would be beholden as mayor.
Jack Humphreville is a contributor to the website City Watch, and a frequent critic of the Department of Water and Power and its union, Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
"Obviously the IBEW is very powerful," Humphreville said. "They put a lot of money into campaigns, [so] it really makes me question whether she's going to be independent or not.”
So far, IBEW’s political action committee has spent $272,000 on Greuel's behalf. Following her endorsements from the public safety unions, she announced a plan to hire more cops, firefighters and paramedics by the year 2020. The proposal has been widely panned as unrealistic, given the city's current finances. But, Greuel says she understands her goals can only be reached through political pragmatism.
“As the mayor, I’m going to ensure that I have my 8-to-10 votes,” Greuel said, referring to the support she'd need from the council to pass her initiatives or the annual budget.
“I always think of the relationship between the mayor and council like a marriage. Your first year – it’s wonderful, it’s like your honeymoon … but what happens is, mayors forget. Just like marriages some times ... after a year, you have to work at it."
If elected, Greuel would become L.A.’s first woman mayor.
KPCC's Voter Guide
View your March 5 ballot, research & choose your candidates. Save, print, email, &/or text yourself your choices!
City Hall Pass: LA Mayor race, celebrity endorsements, and Measure A
It's City Hall Pass, Take Two's ticket to all the latest political news coming out of downtown Los Angeles with KPCC's political team of Frank Stoltze and Alice Walton.
The Dinner Party: A cheetah's best friend, Jack Paar, and Trader Joe's
Every week we get your weekend conversation starters with Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam, the hosts of the Dinner Party podcast and radio show.
On today's show the guys tell us about how some zookeepers are pairing up their captive cheetahs with dogs to helps calm their scaredy-cat tendencies. Then, this week in history back in 1960, host Jack Paar walked off the Tonight Show set after finding out that NBC censored one of his jokes. We'll take a look back at that piece of TV history. Last, which name-brand items are lurking underneath Trader Joe's labels.
Joey Ramone's record collection, passport, other personal items up for auction (Photos)
The Ramones, the legendary punk band from Queens, spent 20 years influencing and shaping the American punk and by extension pop music scene. You can hear and see that influence today in the sound of bands like Green Day and the Strokes.
Their look, leather jackets, t-shirts, torn jeans and sneakers expressed a minimalism that was reflected in their stripped-down, short, simple songs. The Ramones' final show was at the Palace in Hollywood in 1996, and by then, Joey Ramone had already been diagnosed with lymphoma which eventually led to his death in 2001.
Now, 12 years later, fans can finally own a piece of Joey's life and legacy as nearly 100 records along with a variety of other personal items is going up for auction online.
"Joey left behind lots of things, and one of the coolest things I think is his Rolodex," said RR Auctions vice president Bobby Livingston. "It's got business cards from EMI records and Geffen records, and he was also fond of Japanese restaurants in the Bowery, so there's lots of those too. Or if you want to call Lucinda Williams."
The Ramones lead singer's records show his eclectic taste in music. Dating back before 1977, there's everything from Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones to Pat Boone and the Righteous Brothers. In addition to the records, there are also personal letters, handwritten song lyrics, his passport, wallet, leather jacket and several t-shirts, all worn by Joey Ramone.
Livingston says the Ramones, Joey and Johnny in particular, were avid collectors and had a relationship with East Coast- based RR Auction for years.
"Every time Joey and Johnny would be on tour in the Northeast they would come see us and buy autographs from us. One time Joey came and wanted a set of Rolling Stones autographs from the Brian Jones era, and he had no money, he had to go outside to our offices and ask his manager for the cash to buy the Rolling Stones," said Livingston. "Another time they invited us backstage, and here in Boston you've got rock royalty, Aerosmith and people like that from Boston, and they were all backstage and the Ramones totally ignored those people and just wanted to talk to us about their autograph collections."
Joey Ramone's memorabilia will be for sale from Feb. 14 until Feb. 21.
NFL may widen field to help protect players from injury
Over the years, the National Football League has tweaked its game to make it safer for its players. For example, the league has rules barring a player from crashing into another by leading with his helmet.
Players are banned from grabbing opponents by the back of shoulder pads, then dragging him to the ground, but now, the league is looking north to Canada.
The Canadian Football League's field is 35-feet wider than it's American counterpart and NFL might explore that as option.
Here to talk about the possibility is Cindy Boren, deputy sports editor for the Washington Post.
Set the mood for romance en Español this Valentine's Day
As all of you know, it's Valentine's day, and let's be honest, guys, we need as much help as we can get when it comes to getting your swoon on.
Setting the mood with music is one way to make the night memorable. To help all of us out, we now turn to music critic Isabela Raygoza. She brought songs in one of our favorite romance languages, Spanish.
Poncho - "Take My Hand" (Argentina, 2013)
This is an Argentinian electro-pop trio that emerged in 2010 with their debut, Poncho Total. "Take My Hand," is a joyous ride around with your lover, have some fun, not afraid to break the law and make new ones. I think it's a good first impression and it leads to a pretty fun night automatically, and you can't go wrong with dance, you know?
Gaby Moreno - "Quizás, quizás, quizás"
Gaby Moreno, who's from Guatemala, she's now L.A.-based, does this classic song from the 1940's originally done by Cuba's Osvaldo Farres, it's probably ones of the most covered of today, called "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás." It's a song about longing with a certain sense of uncertainty. It's been translated to "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps," so many bands have already done it, including Cake.
Carla Morrison's "Hasta La Piel" from Déjenme Llorar (2012)
This track is indeed the work of a young poetess with lyrics that come from the heart. It's a truly gorgeous romantic polka ballad about love and heartbreak and the radiant things it inspires.
Juan Cirerol - "Eres Tan Cruel"
This is Juan Cirerol from Mexicali. He takes on the Ranchera Nortena mantle by singing Mexican songs in traditional form with a lot of punk rock attitude.
Bajofondo - "Pide Piso" (Uruguay/Argentina; 2013)
Empresarios - "La Secretaria" (a remix) (USA; 2013)
Your Best Exes: Listeners' tales of lost love
Despite it being Valentine's Day — a time to cherish the ones you love — we thought it would be a great idea to hear from you about the loves you lost.
We asked you to tell us about your best exes. Maybe you wanted to lose them, but sometimes you still love them but know you're better off broken up.
We heard from people like Kate Anthony here in LA:
Yet, she says they managed to stay close out of love for their son. In fact, during their divorce proceedings, their lawyers got confused, because they were getting along so well:
There's also the ex who can still be a reliable shoulder to lean on. Nicole Caffey up in San Francisco thought she would never speak to her former fiancé again, but then that changed with one sad event:
Those are both heartwarming stories of people staying friends with their exes. But that's not that case for Jose Vargas in La Habra. He and his ex grew up together in high school, but after he left to go to college and she stayed home, he realized they were just on different paths.
So he doesn't really stay in touch with her, but he says she was his best ex because they were an important part of each other's lives growing up.
Let's finish out with the story of Lori Van Cleese from Monrovia. She stayed friends with her best ex after they broke up, but when he passed away, that's when something special happened: