The mayor of Carson talks about plans for an NFL stadium, how other hospitals handled infection outbreaks similar to UCLA's, 'Nightcrawler' director talks Oscar nod.
Hospitals in other states experienced a similar superbug
The antibiotic resistant bacteria at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles is believed to have infected 179 people and it may be responsible for two deaths.
The bacteria has been traced to the use of endoscopes, a medical device that can be extremely difficult to clean thoroughly. But the spread of superbugs is nothing new.
Similar incidents involving CRE occurred recently at hospitals in Seattle, Chicago and Pittsburgh. Procedures for handling this infection and others are being practiced by hospitals but it is far from routine.
Dr Alex Kallen from the Centers of Disease Control has helped investigate the issue and he joined the show to talk more about it.
Carson mayor is happy, but 'realistic' about possible Chargers, Raiders stadium
It's an exciting day for the Los Angeles-area city of Carson. Two rival NFL teams - the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders - announced Thursday night in a joint statement that they'll pursue a shared stadium in the city.
That is, if stadium deals in their own cities don't pan out soon.
The teams said in the statement that they are pursuing this stadium option because they haven't yet found solutions for stadiums in San Diego and Oakland.
The proposed $1.7 billion facility would be located at an old landfill site in Carson, just off the San Diego freeway. The city is 15 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, and is currently the home of the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team.
Carson's Mayor, Jim Dear, told Take Two that when you look at a map of Southern California, the city is accessible from "pretty much anywhere."
"Our location in Metropolitan Los Angeles is certainly the best location of any that have been looked at over the past few years," Dear said.
He's referring to other plans to bring NFL teams to LA. St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke is part of a joint venture to build a stadium at the former site of Hollywood Park in Inglewood. There's also the proposal for downtown LA known as Farmers Field.
However, Dear understands that the Carson proposal is in the very early stages, and hinges on the prospects of the Chargers and the Raiders not getting the stadium deals they desire in their cities.
"This is a situation where both teams, I'm sure, are going to work very hard to try to get a modern stadium in their markets," Dear said. "Now, if they're not able to, then they're looking to Carson."
Does he feel like his city is being used as a pawn for the Chargers and Raiders to get what they want at home? "We're looking at it very practically and realistically," Dear said.
Natural Resources Defense Council: Filthy apparel industry needs a green makeover
Mass market fashion has never been a particularly good steward of the environment. Trendy pieces are meant to be discarded after a few months of wear. But that's not the only detrimental effect of the apparel industry.
It's also responsible for a fifth of the world's industrial water pollution and 10 percent of all climate pollution. It's a trillion-dollar industry desperately in need of a makeover.
Cue the Natural Resources Defense Council. They've begun a "Clean by Design" project to help textile companies clean up their act.
NRDC scientist Linda Greer manages the Clean by Design project and she joined Take Two, along with George Black, an environmental reporter who has recently returned from Vietnam where he visited a blue jeans factory in the process of going green.
CDC doctor talks about fighting superbugs in hospitals
Yesterday we reported on a story about the spread of an anti-biotic resistant bacteria at UCLA's Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles.
A type of bacteria known as CRE possibly infected 179 people, and it may be responsible for two deaths. It's been traced to the use of endoscopes, a medical device that can be extremely difficult to clean thoroughly. But, the spread of superbugs is nothing new, as similar incidents involving CRE have occurred recently at hospitals in Seattle, Chicago and Pittsburgh. And procedures for handling this infection and others are being practiced by hospitals but it is far from routine.
Dr. Alex Kallen from the Centers of Disease Control has helped investigate the issue and he joins Tess Vigeland to talk about the issue.
Meet the man behind the Oscars' red carpet
Before the Oscars begin this Sunday, all eyes will be on the red carpet show.
The gowns, the glitz, the glamor -- but until then, the red carpet is all about hard labor. As the clock winds down Friday, crews kept hard at work, putting up bleachers and tents, laying the carpet, and keeping the tourists off it.
The carpet is over 600 feet long and more than 30 feet wide. Rolling out the carpet takes just as much planning, too. Joe Lewis is the red carpet king and he said planning for the big event starts early.
"It literally starts early in the summer, planning and the creative and the direction we're going to get from the Academy," he said.
Lewis said the carpet has to be durable because of the amount of traffic it sees on that one night. And in an effort to be sustainable, crews try to recycle some of the material.
Construction for the event starts 12 days prior to the big show.
"We progress everyday leading up to show week. Carpet is down now, barricaded off with plastic, and people are walking across it, not the general public," he said.
As for the rest of the time when it's not in use? The glamorous carpet is kept in a storage facility until the big day rolls around again.
Cable channels speed up reruns to fit in more commercials
Everything in life seems like it's speeding up these days.
Cars, smartphones, news... and if you're watching TV and it seems like a classic show is going just a little faster? You're not nuts, some cable channels are speeding up TV shows... to fit in more commercials.
Joe Flint wrote about this for the Wall Street Journal and he joins Tess Vigeland to talk about it.
Inside the Oscars green room
This weekend millions of people will tune into this year's Oscars to take in the red carpet, the speeches, and of course, the dresses.
But there is one part of the show that few people ever get to see: The green room, the area where presenters prep and celebrities mingle.
Recently, Architectural Digest announced that this year's green room would be designed by Los Angeles–based design collective Commune.
We got a sneak peek into the room with Commune co-founder Roman Alonso.
Selma, Lord, Selma; Charles Burnett tells the story of Selma through a child's eyes
The civil rights epic, "Selma," is up for a Best Picture Academy Award this weekend.
But long before director Ava DuVernay told the story of the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama, there was another film about Martin Luther King Jr.'s pivotal 1965 civil rights demonstration.
"Selma, Lord, Selma" was directed by award-winning independent filmmaker Charles Burnett back in 1999. It's based on the first hand account of writer Sheyann Webb-Christburg.
He spoke with Take Two's Tess Vigeland about his production and why the story of Selma is still relevant today.
One year after 'Midnight Rider' accident, Sarah Jones is remembered
One year ago today, camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed in a train accident while on set in Georgia filming the movie "Midnight Rider." Her death sparked outrage from the film production community, as well as calls for renewed attention to safety violations on film sets.
Sarah Jones's family and friends called for a moment of silence Friday before the first shot of the day on movie sets across the country to remember Sarah and raise awareness about on-set safety:
Ted Johnson, Senior Editor at Variety, joins Take Two to discuss what's changed in the year since Jones's death.
'Nightcrawler' director on what local TV news says about LA
There's certainly no shortage of films that capture the grittier side of L.A.: "Chinatown," "Boogie Nights," "Less Than Zero." But none of these are quite as creepy as the film "Nightcrawler."
The film, written and directed by Dan Gilroy, stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis Bloom, an enterprising young man who makes a career out of filming car crashes, fires and crimes and selling his footage to local TV news outlets.
Gilroy joined Take Two to talk about the film, local TV news in L.A., and what it was like to hear he'd been nominated for the Oscar for "Best Original Screenplay."
The other Oscars: Tradition and modernity clash in 'Butter Lamp'
In the Oscar-nominated short film, "Butter Lamp," a photographer takes staged pictures of nomad families in Tibet in front of artificial backdrops like a big city or Disneyland.
But the film is, in many ways, more about the interesting little moments before the photo is taken.
It provides a look at how tradition and modern times merge in that country, sometimes seamlessly, sometimes with difficulty.
Writer/director of "Butter Lamp" Hu Wei and producer Julien Feret tell Take Two that they are incredibly proud to work on the first Oscar-nominated short film from China.
'McFarland, USA' recreates true California underdog story
"McFarland, USA" tells the story of high school runners who are transformed from field workers to champions with the help of a coach who never gave up on the teens' potential.
The Niki Caro film is based on the true story of Jim White, who landed in McFarland, California, in 1987 by way of a coaching job at McFarland High School in California's Central Valley. Many of the students there come from families of field workers, with some of the teens following in their parents' footsteps.
But White observes that his students have a talent for running, and he decides to form the school's first cross country team. From there, the rest is history.
"I had been looking for a long time for another movie that I could make in the same way, that had the potential for the same heart and humanity, and I thought, 'McFarland, USA' had those elements," said Caro, in reference to her 2002 film, "Whale Rider."
"McFarland, USA" official trailer
Kevin Costner stars as White, and the team is made up of seven young actors, three who hail from McFarland.
"It was never going to be a movie just with Kevin Costner and a bunch of brown teenage kids. Every one of those kids had to be impeccably cast with actors that could run," Caro said.
Caro hopes audiences walk away feeling pure goodness.
"In the tradition of underdog movies, obviously it feels good when the underdog wins. But when these underdogs win -- these scrappy underdogs -- it just feels great."
"McFarland, USA" hits theaters Friday.
Weekend on the cheap: celebrating Chinese New Year, the biggest fete in Hollywood and more
If your invitation to the Oscars got lost in the mail, don't worry. SCPR's Kristen Lepore shares her list of the best ways to spend your weekend in Southern California.
Some of the highlights include Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown, barista championships in Long Beach and Shaun White's snowboarding and music extravaganza in Pasadena.
Free weekend? Chinese New Year, Coffee Championships and Oscars viewing party