We analyze and truth-squad three ads making the rounds in the LA mayoral race. Plus, the history of the hoodie, how Seth MacFarlane is drawing ire for his stint hosting the Oscars, and much more.
LA mayor race heats up with new ad
It is less than a week until the city holds elections, and most people in Los Angeles don't seem very interested in the race for mayor. That's certainly not the fault of the candidates. They've been engaging in sometimes firey debates at locations across the city. And they are running ads.
The latest is, by almost any measure, a stunner. It comes from candidate Kevin James. It is a bare-toothed attack ad, featuring look-alikes for opponents Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti as late-night gravediggers burying bodies.
To fact check and analyze this and other ads, Take Two speaks with Jessica Levinson, a long time city hall observer who teaches election law at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and Ken Wheaton, managing editor at Advertising Age in New York.
Calls for more border security continue in immigration debate
Border security is shaping up to be a major wedge issue in Washington's push to overhaul the nation's immigration laws. The unfinished Senate plan includes a so-called "trigger mechanism" that means the border has to be tightened before the nation's undocumented immigrants to have a path to citizenship. But violence and illegal border crossings are lower than they've been in decades. Molly Ball has been looking into the state of our borders for The Atlantic magazine. She joins the show from Washington.
How outside spending is changing the race to represent northeast San Fernando Valley schools
Next week, residents of the northeast San Fernando Valley will vote on their picks for Los Angeles school board, an unusual race where one candidate's firepower is far outpacing his opponents'.
The campaign to elect Antonio Sanchez has attracted just shy of $40,000 in direct donations and another roughly $895,000 to political action committees. As a result, he's been able to hire three paid staff members, had more than a dozen mailers go out on his behalf and was the subject of a commercial that aired during Lakers games.
By comparison, his two opponents together have raised only about $22,000.
“It’s humbling,” said Sanchez, 30, who decided to run after finding out that incumbent Nury Martinez was leaving to pursue a city council seat. “I recognize that there are high expectations and I want to make sure that I can fill those shoes.”
Maria Cano, a laid-off LAUSD administrator, is running against him on a platform that includes rehiring scores of district workers. She is none too pleased with his war chest. She makes cold calls twice a day to prospective voters, trying to stretch the $9,000 she's been able to raise so far.
“What’s at stake is whether voters can continue to see an election driven by the power of a democratic process or the power of money,” she said. “It starts sending the message that only those with money can make a difference.”
The slate to represent L.A. Unified's District Six, once 10 candidates, is now down to three. The third surviving candidate, fifth grade teacher Monica Ratliff, was amazed to learn how much had been spent on Sanchez's behalf.
“Somebody sent me a photograph recently of all the mailers they’d received. And I mean they literally covered this man’s table. And I just thought, wow, I just can’t counter that,” Ratliff said.
She wants to improve oversight on district spending and better prepare kids for college. To get the word out, one of the only methods she can afford is knocking on voter doors. So far, she’s visited about 400 homes. Ratliff has raised about $13,000.
All three candidates have been endorsed by United Teachers Los Angeles. It marks the first year the union representing L.A. Unified teachers has backed more than one candidate for a seat.
So far the union has yet to spend any money on the District six race, according to the most recent data available from the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission.
The real money in the race is coming from the Coalition for School Reform. The group, a political action committee created by outgoing mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to push back against the teachers' union, has gathered high-profile donations from Hollywood, $1 million from New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and $250,000 from former Washington D.C. school superintendent Michelle Rhee.
The Coalition is backing Sanchez and one candidate in each of the other two school district races. That means that Sanchez, a political newcomer, is the only candiate to receive the backing of both factions.
“What’s exciting about Antonio is that he not only believes in improving our schools and reforming education but he also has a labor background. So he can be a great candidate who can help bring both sides to agreement and help bridge that gap,” said Janelle Erickson, the Coalition's campaign manager.
UTLA President Warren Fletcher said the coalition’s support for Sanchez came as a surprise.
“On the one hand we were concerned," he said. "On the other hand Mr. Sanchez has been through our process. So none of the facts had changed that we had reviewed when we made our decision.”
Sanchez said he has friends on both sides.
“When I received the endorsement of the coalition I thought this is an opportunity to work with everyone,” he said. “UTLA is one of those organizations that should be heard. I want to work with them, at the same time I understand that we do need to make some reforms.”
Sanchez, who grew up in Pacoima, worked as a former San Fernando Valley area director for Villaraigosa. He also was a field representative for Democratic Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez. While the coalition refers to him as an "educator" in a campaign ad, his only experience in the classroom is working as a UCLA teacher's aid for a few months after he graduated from the university with a degree in Masters in Urban and Regional Planning.
The primary election is March 5. If none of the candidates win more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face a runoff in May.
The three candidates for District 6 will speak at a forum at 6 p.m tonight, Feb. 27, at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima. The event is hosted by Families That Can in partnership with local charter schools.
Sequestration could mean longer waits at LAX
You've probably been unlucky enough to have flights delayed for weather…or mechanical difficulties. But now, get ready for the sequestration delay. Those across-the-board spending cuts are set to take place on Friday. To save hundreds of millions of dollars, the FAA is preparing to furlough staff and close air traffic control towers. KPCC's Ben Bergman joins the show with us more.
Golden State ticket sale warriors
The NBA season is heading into the home stretch and Clipper fans are feeling pretty good. But their potential opponent - if the playoffs were to start today - are no pushovers. The Golden State Warriors are currently eighth in points per game and third in rebounds.
But there's something else really good about the Warriors, their ticket sales. Brandon Schneider, the Golden State Warriors' Vice President of ticket sales and services, explains.
A brief history of the hoodie
The hooded sweatshirt is a ubiquitous part of modern life. You'll see it on the runways of fashion shows, at rock concerts, and on pretty much every street of every town in the US. But how did this particular piece of clothing become so ubiquitous - worn by skater punks and fashionistas alike? Tim Maly has written an essay about the hoodie and he joins Take Two with more.
Rep. John Campbell explains how sequestration is similar to the Mayan apocalypse
The clock is ticking down with just 2 days for the Congress to come up with a plan before 85 billion dollars in automatic, across the board spending cuts take effect.
Last week we spoke with Democrat Adam Schiff. We're joined today by Republican John Campbell. He represents the 45th district of California, which includes Irvine, Tustin, and portions of the cities of Anaheim and Orange.
Today we speak with Republican John Campbell from the 45th district.
A better way to navigate LA traffic?
Wouldn't it be nice if, say when you're driving to a place like Big Bear, you could know about road closures - because for example, there's a massive manhunt - before you get stuck on Highway 18 for hours on end? Well, as of today, you can - if you use the popular navigation app, Waze.
With nearly 40 million users worldwide, the Israeli startup has won drivers' affections with their traffic reports and accurate alternative routes.
Devindra Hardawar - National Editor at Venture Beat - helps us understand the app.
Guam's brown tree snake problem to be solved with air-drop of toxic mice
The brown tree snake, a mildly venomous non-native serpent, is worrying wildlife officials in Guam.
The snakes have devastated native animal populations on the Pacific making officials there try a novel approach: air-dropping poisoned mice.
We'll speak with Daniel Vice. He's the assistant state director with the USDA Wildlife Services in Guam.
LA's media landscape shifts again
The Bible of the entertainment industry has finally succumbed to the realities of the print media business.
Variety is becoming a weekly publication. The Hollywood Reporter already made a similar move - to its financial benefit.
Also this week came word that the Tribune Company has two investment banks looking for buyers for its newspaper properties including the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times.
Guest: Rick Edmonds, media business analyst for The Poynter Institute.
CA legislators ask the Academy to "disavow" MacFarlane
It's official - Seth MacFarlane will not be back to host the Oscars. The Family Guy creator tweeted yesterday that it was fun but there is "no way," he'd do it again. And even though the Oscars are long over, MacFarlane's crude show tune about topless celebrities titled "We Saw Your Boobs," continues to make headlines.
Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal and State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, both Democrats, lead the Legislature's women's caucus. Yesterday they sent a letter to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
In it, they ask the Academy to officially condemn MacFarlane's performance, which they say "crossed the line from humor to misogyny." The letter doesn't carry any legal weight, but it strongly urges the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science to "commit to using better judgment in their future choices of content and hosts."
Earlier this week, Take Two spoke with one of MacFarlane's Oscar joke writers - Patrick Meighan. He said there's no denying the bit was offensive.
"It's a song about boobs," Meighan remarked. "Anyone who was offended by that was right to be offended by it. But we still thought it was funny."
In response to the song, a YouTube performer Kevin Gisi crafted his own song.
Blogger tackles bestsellers of the last century
Reading the top-selling book from each of the last 100 years sounds like an invigorating intellectual adventure.
But the masses have historically had spotty taste, if you ask Matt Kahn.
This month, the Cal State Northridge creative writing student started making his way through the Publishers Weekly bestseller list from 1913. He's blogging about the books at Kahn's Corner.
He's already read Winston Churchill's "The Inside of the Cup" -which he liked.
But he found "The Eyes of the World" by Harold Bell Wright "melodramatic" with characters who behaved irrationally.
But he's committed to one book a week for 94 weeks. Not 100 -- because a few books took the honor two years in a row. And already some visitors to his blog say they plan to join him in his reading journey.